Monthly Archives: June 2007

Take Two….We had so much fun last week, we decided to bump it up and do another challenge this week too! If you are just tuning in, every few weeks a few of my friends and I take two products, usually a paper line and a stamp set, and each come up with a card design. We don’t peek before-hand, we all hit publish at the same time. It is so fun to see the designs and ideas using the same product. It is always so interesting too…they all have their own distinct look. It all started back in February, when I first started blogging. I was musing on how I loved the creativity of stamping, how you could take the same products and create a myriad of designs.

It is actually getting harder and harder to find stamp sets that we all own! This week we’ve widened the challenge a little to make it work. For this challenge, Lizzie Anne is going Cosmo. Any Lizzie Anne Designs stamp set with any Cosmo Cricket paper line. I have a hunch that you may see a lot of Dutch Girl but I’m not sure…you (& I) will have to check out the links and see. 🙂 If you are reading this…LOL…the links are live so check below for my card and make sure you check out the other links too! Lindsey, Michele, & Trudee always have some fabulous ideas for you.

Bonjour Fleurs

For this card I started out with the 5.25″ square Certainly Celery card base. I decided to use my Crop-a-dile to punch holes along the top edge, lined up with each of the mini scallops that were already in the patterned paper. I chose this paper from the Dutch Girl line because one…I love it and two…the flowers reminded me so much of my favorite Lizzie Anne Designs set, Jolies Fleurs.

For the main image, I stamped the flower with black ink and then watercolored it. The little flourish is also part of the stamp set and I stamped it in Certainly Celery and then stamped the sentiment (Simply Sentiments). To highlight the flower, I added four tiny rhinestones from Hero Arts Gemstone strips. The Celery mat around the image was distressed with my little pink Heidi Swapp distressing tool.

The flower embellishment is the large flower of the set stamped onto whisper white cardstock and then watercolored as well. If you look closely, you’ll see that I tried to imitate the coloring of the row of tiny flowers that run  across the top of the patterned paper print. For the center of the flower, I added a Prima flower and then set it all together with an Extra Large Eyelet from We R Memory Keepers. In keeping with my Crop-a-dile theme this week, I wanted to give you some examples of different products available that can be used in the Crop-a-dile.

Putting it all together, I ran white dotted eyelet ribbon through the eyelets before adhering the layer to my card base. I then added a strip of this huge Celery ric rak from May Arts that I love! This can be purchased from Starlitstudio. The stamped flower and image layer were then adhered to the card front with some foam double-sided tape from the dollar store. I love how it elevates the features of the card slightly but still makes it easy to fit in an envelope.

Cosmo Cricket “Dutch Girl” paper & dotted organdy ribbon were purchased from Jacksonbelle and the stamps are from Lizzie Anne Designs.

Crop-a-dile: Setting the Depth Guage

The depth guage on the Crop-a-dile seems to be one of the great features that is pretty much ignored. If you haven’t tried it out, it is really worth using. The depth guage makes it very easy to get an even line of eyelets, snaps or just punched holes along the length of an edge. 

Simply set the guage to the depth you desire and firmly turn screw to tighten. Slide edge of cardstock up to hilt and punch. Slide along and punch again. Fast and easy! 🙂

Supply List:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rose Red, Certainly Celery – Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: Dutch Girl line – Cosmo Cricket

Stamps: Jolies Fleurs, Simply Sentiments – Lizzie Anne Designs

Ink: Black, Certainly Celery, Bordering Blue, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa

Other: Huge ric rack – May Arts, Extra Large Eyelet & Crop-a-dile – We R Memory Keepers, distressing tool – Heidi Swapp, dotted white organdy ribbon, Prima Flower from Itty Bitty Bag – Prima

I wasn’t going to do the sketch challenge today. I already had finished a card for a Take Two challenge that I’m posting shortly (make sure you come back to check it out!) and with many things to do…well, you get the idea. I happened to take a peek at the sketch challenge and just couldnt’ resist. I need another Father’s Day card and this idea just popped into my mind. 🙂 If you’d like to try out this sketch, you can check it out at SC127.

Seaside Father’s Day

For this card design, I started out with the sketch as you know. If you are not quite sure where you want to go, a sketch is a great place to start!  It takes a lot of the designing stress out for you and allows you to be creative within the limits of the sketch. I also knew I wanted to design a card using the Crop-a-dile…my focus for the week. I decided to go with an acetate panel for the layer and attach it with eyelets. If you missed my Crop-a-dile tutorial Sunday, you can check it out here.

The acetate layer is stamped in black stazon with the shells from the Along the Shore set. I pulled this out of my For Sale pile and thought I’d give it one last whirl. 🙂 The shells are very visible in person…it was just hard to get the pic to show everything well with the acetate there. I also wanted to attach the acetate to the card in a ring of eyelets. Because you cannot do this with the hinge in the way, I added a layer of patterned paper that had been sponged, and embossed with the Script embossing folder on my Cuttlebug. I set the acetate layer and all the eyelets around the design before adhering it to my main card base of Brocade Blue.

Quick Tip: To highlight the edge of your acetate layer, run the edge over a Stazon pad for definition.

For the little cross panel that is part of the sketch, I added my sentiment and image. The small strip worked perfectly for the seagulls and I also stamped Guenuine Article from Stamp of Authenticity. I love that stamp! The “father” stamp is from Everyday Flexible Phrases….a fabulous set that works for every occasion and is perfect for tucking in little words as part of the design. The strip is set to the left with more eyelets and I tied four strips of hemp cording through them to add some texture and enhance the rustic look.

I’m really pleased with it and it feels so great to have that Father’s Day card done!

Supply List:

Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery – Stampin Up

Patterned Paper: My Mind’s Eye

Stamps: Stamp of Authenticity, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Along the Shore – Stampin Up

Ink: Close to Cocoa – Stampin Up, Black Stazon – Tsukineko

Other: hemp, Cuttlebug & Script Embossing Folder – Provocraft, eyelets – Making Memories, Crop-a-dile – We R Memory Keepers, aceate – Staples Business Depot

I actually hadn’t planned on uploading a card today. I REALLY need to be cleaning my desk. Of course, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know what happens when I go to clean my desk. 🙂 I found this card, almost done and decided to finish it. I had started it for the Yo Yo Yellow challenge a couple weeks ago and discarded it as it just wasn’t working for me. Well, today I decided it was worth salvaging and while I’m not thrilled with it, it is a nice cheery card to send someone who isn’t well or is going through a hard time. I know that I said that my cards this week would use the Crop-a-dile but I’m making the exception today as this was a quick finish…perfect for a busy day. Perfect also for a cold, rainy day here! I need a little sunshine! 🙂

Sunny Flowers

The beautiful Penny Black image on this card was stamped onto SU watercolor paper with black Stazon ink. I then watercolored the image with Yo Yo Yellow, Old Olive, & Pink Passion and my aquapainter. The black embossed sentiment is from a Lizzie Anne Designs sentiment set. I love the script and it is so perfect for almost any occasion. Tied around the card design is some sheer organdy ribbon from May Arts. It is difficult to see in the photo, the little metal tag says “believe”. The edges of the watercolor paper were distressed purposely to add interest to the side of the large, simple panel. The last little touch I added, you can’t see it. 🙁 I used my Sakura glitter pen to highlight hte flower centers and a few places on the leaves to add a little reflective “sunshine”.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Black, Old Olive, Yo Yo Yellow, Watercolor paper – Stampin Up

Stamps: Penny Black, Lizzie Anne Designs

Ink: Black Stazon & Versamark – Tsukineko, Yo Yo Yellow, Old Olive, Pink Passion – Stampin Up

Other: Edge Distresser – Heidi Swapp, Black Embossing Powder – Stampendous, green ribbon – May Arts, Aquapainter – Stampin Up, metal embellishment – Imaginisce