Monday, August 31, 2015

For You Cupcake

We have some beautiful little girls at church with birthdays coming up. I wanted to personalize a card for each of them. That was easy to do in the coloring of the stamped image girl. It was easy to color their hair the color of the girls' hair.
Alicia is  beautiful little Hispanic girl so I made her card with black hair and brownish skin. Leza is a sweetheart with red hair so that's what her card has!

Materials needed:
Sweet Thing stamp by Penny Black
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set--Stampin' Up
Melon Mambo card stock--SU
Birds of a Feather patterned paper-SU
Word Window punch
Modern Label punch
Pastels
Q-tips/cotton swabs
hair spray
Coordinating patterned paper 2 1/2 x 3 1/2"
Dahlia adornments--SU
Brads
Glue Dots
Stampin' Dimensionals

I love using pastel chalks. It's one of my favorite mediums! I use cotton swabs to apply them and then apply a quick coat of hair spray. The hair spray is not acid free so don't use it in items you want to archive. The hair spray will brighten the color of the chalks and keep it from smearing.

Things are layered as you see in the picture. I popped the image with the Stampin' Dimensionals.
Have fun with this card!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Sewing Cards for Shoeboxes

I can remember when I was a little girl having sewing cards to play with. I loved them. Of course, that was long before all the technology age. These days you never see children with this types of activities. But then in the countries where our shoeboxes go, things are different. The children don't have access to the technology that our kids in the US have. Sewing cards can still be a great gift. It is a wonderful way for small children to develop their fine motor skills and might even help them in learning beginning sewing skills. IMO, the sewing cards will be great for our girl or boy boxes for the 2-4 age group.


There are a lot of options for making sewing cards for you boxes. One way is to use foam sheets. You can buy rectangle sheets like these 
 at any craft store or stores like Wal-Mart, etc.

You can draw or trace patterns on these and then cut them out. You can trace cookie cutters, get patterns out of color books or use my patterns. more patterns
You can also find foam figures that can be used. I found rabbit and chick shapes on sale after Easter. I also found butterflies that I was able to buy at Michael's with a 40% coupon. 





Materials needed:
Foam and shapes to cut or pre-cut foam shapes
1/4"  circle hole punch
yarn or shoe laces
tape or white glue

1. After you have your shape or have cut out your shape, punch holes around the edge at least 1/4" from the outer edge. Holes should be punched about 1/2" apart but it doesn't have to be exact.
2. Cut a length of yarn about 30". Tie a pony bead on one end and wrap the other end with tape. You can use masking tape or scotch tape. Another way to do the end is to dip it in white glue and let it dry to make a stiff end.  When I started, I was using just the yarn but then I found 8 pair of shoe laces for $1 at Dollar Tree. Shoe laces actually work best but unless you can find them cheap they can get pretty expensive.
3. Pack them 4 in a sandwich size zipper bag with 4 piece of yarn or shoe laces in each. We thread one of these so that the child will have an idea of what to do with them.


You will want to put 4 different shapes and/or colors in each bag to give the child some variety. 

This is a very simple item that you can put in shoe boxes. Your children can help you make these and be more involved in the packing. Packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child is one of the best ways that I know to teach your children about sharing and missions. 


Monday, August 10, 2015

A Little Bird

I picked up a Martha Stewart Hand Lettering Kit not long ago at my local Michael's and I've been playing around with it. My friend, Milie Jones, does lots of hand lettering and it looks great but any time I've tried hand lettering, I didn't like the looks of it. There are so many times that I want a title or a greeting that I just don't have a stamp for... So with Martha's guidance, I've been practicing. Here is my first card that I've done hand lettering on. I don't think it's too bad but I hope with more practice, I'll improve.


Materials needed:
Fine tip pen for lettering
Pencil
Flock Together patterned paper (SU, retired) 4 x 5 1/4 & 3 1/2 x 4 1/4" 
  These two pieces were the front and back of one sheet
Marina Mist card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Feather Stencil by Jenni Bowlin
Marina Mist ink
sponge
button
Candy Dots
glue dots
Stampin' Dimensionals

1. After the paper is cut to size, I stenciled the feather on the patterned paper. I place the stencil how I wanted it and placed a small piece of scrap paper on each side of the feather I planned to stencil. You might want to use a bit of repositional tape to hold it in place. I dabbed the sponge on the Marina Mist ink pad.Then I dabbed it on to the stencil. I used side swipes on the edges to get a good look on the feather.
2. Next, I hand lettered the greeting I wanted. I draw lines to keep my letters straight with pencil first. Then I use pencil to do my hand lettering. If you don't want to get the Martha Stewart kit, I know that many card making magazines and web sites, have info about hand lettering. After I've got the letters in pencil, I go over them in ink. Always give the ink a bit of time to dry before you erase the pencil marks. If you don't, you could smear the ink and then you have a mess. I know. I've made plenty of messes.
3. Add the Candy Dot to the left of the lettering and a button to the top left. Use glue dots to adhere the button.
4. Adhere the striped patterned paper to the card stock. The place dimensionals on the back of the feather piece and place on top of the patterned paper. 

The card can be used for many different things. Think of all the times someone has said "well. a little birdie told me." You can send a card for that! 

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Popped Daisy

For today's card, I've used materials that I've had around my craft room for quite a while. The Uppsy Daisy stamp has been retired from Stampin' Up for a few years but it's still a great stamp.




Materials needed:
Upsy Daisy stamp set (SU retired #111710)
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
Subtles Candy Dots (SU #130933)
Basic Pearls (SU #119247)
Gumball Green ink pad
Marina Mist Striped Organdy Ribbon (SU retired)
White card stock, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" & 2 1/2 x 5 1/2"
Glue Dots
Stampin' Dimensionals
Brilliant Blue Acrylic paint
Stipple brush or other stiff bristle brush
Word Window punch

1. Score and fold the 8 1/2" piece of white card stock at 4 1/4."
2. Open the card stock up to paint. Pour a small amount of acrylic paint onto a plate. Dab the brush into the paint and then dab it on to the card stock. Be sparring with the amount.

When the card stock is covered with paint, allow time to dry. The amount of time needed will depend on how thick you put on the paint.
3. On the other piece of card stock, stamp the daisy image in Gumball Green ink.

Stamp twice across the width of the card stock. Cut out the image along the top of it.
4. After the paint is dry, stamp the daisy image on top of the blue painted card stock with Gumball Green ink. Stamp two images next to each other across the bottom. Stamp a third image in the center, higher than the other two.
5. Add several pieces of dimensionals to the back of the cut out daisy piece. Be sure to put enough to support the card stock. Lay this carefully on top of the painted and stamped card stock, lining it up with the bottom.
6. Stamp a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set with Gumball Green on white card stock. Punch this out with the Word Window punch. Rub Gumball Green ink on around the edges of the punched greeting and adhere to the top right corner of the card. Place Candy Dots on the outside edges of the punched greeting. This will give it the look of brads without having to have a brad go completely through the card.
7. Add 3 small pearls on to the flower image.
8. Tie a small bow out of the Marina Mist ribbon and adhere to the top left corner with glue dots.

Have fun using a different media other than just the stamped image. 

Monday, August 3, 2015

World of Dreams



Materials Needed:
World of Dreams stamp set (#134186 SU)
Versa Mark ink pad
Coastal Cabana ink pad
Clear Embossing powder
Heat Tool
Crisp Cantaloupe card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Coastal Cabana card stock 3 3/4 x 5"
Scallop Dots border punch
Corner Rounder punch

1. Punch the border on two sides of the Crisp Cantaloupe card stock. Lay aside.
2. Stamp the image from the World of Dreams stamp set on to top left of the Coastal Cabana card stock using  Versa Mark ink. Sprinkle clear embossing powder over the stamped image and shake off any excess. Use a heat tool to melt the embossing powder. 
3. Stamp your greeting on the bottom right of the Coastal Cabana card stock with Coastal Cabana ink.
4. Round the top two corners on the Coastal Cabana card stock.
5. Adhere the punched Crisp Cantaloupe piece on top of the Lost Lagoon card stock lining up the bottom right hand corners.
6. Adhere the stamped Coastal Cabana card stock on top of the Crisp Cantaloupe lining up the bottom right hand corners. 
Have fun punching and embossing!