May Card Kit

Do you love having cardstock pre-cut for you? Then this is for you!

This month’s card kit items are listed below, and the price of the Card Kit is $15. This kit includes all of the consumable supplies you will need to create 12 cards. Shown is just 1 example of a card you can make with your kit. Purchase the kit, and receive 3 additional full color samples for “alternative” cards you can make with the contents of your kit! In addition, you’ll receive detailed, step by step instructions on how to complete each of the 4 card designs.

Already have the inkpads and stamp set needed to make the cards in this kit? Just buy the Card Kit! Don’t have some (or any) of these items? See the “Add-on Products” list to pick out and order what you need to complete the cards. Just want the Card Kit to make your own designs? Go for it!

Orders for the Card Kits must be received by May 15th. You will receive your kits by the end of the month.

Special Offer for May! Purchase the Card Kit and receive the Coordinating Set, Stitched Exotics at 15% off!
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Purchase the Card Kit and Coordinating Stamp Set by April 30th and not only will you receive the 15% discount, you’ll also receive the Coordinating Jumbo Wheel, FREE ($8.50 Value).

The Card Kit ($15) Includes:
§ 12 Pieces of 5 ½“ x 8 1/2” Real Red Cardstock
§ 12 Pieces of 5 ½” x 1” Old Olive Cardstock
§ 12 Pieces of 5 ½” x 2” Taken with Teal Cardstock
§ 12 Pieces of 2 ¾” x 2 ¾” Chocolate Chip Cardstock
§ 24 Pieces of 2 ½” x 2 ½” Whisper White Cardstock
§ 12 – 6” Pieces of Chocolate Chip Twill
§ 12 – 2” Pieces of Chocolate Chip Twill
§ 12 – 2” Pieces of Real Red Gingham Ribbon
§ 1 Teaspoon of Assorted Real Red Beads
§ 12 – Whisper White Envelopes
§ Step by Step Instructions to complete 4 different card designs using the kit pieces

Add-on Products:
§ Real Red Classic Inkpad ($5.25)
§ Old Olive Classic Inkpad ($5.25)
§ Taken with Teal Classic Inkpad ($5.25)
§ Chocolate Chip Classic Inkpad($5.25)
§ 5 Petal Flower Punch ($15.95)

§ Stitched Exotics Stamp Set ($33.95) $28.86 with the purchase of the Card Kit

Other Optional Purchases:
§ 1/8” Hole Punch ($8.95)
§ Stampin’ Dimensionals ($3.95)
§ Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive ($3.95)

Please Note: I am glad to ship kits directly to you! If the kit needs to be shipped, there will be an extra $3 shipping charge.

Contact me today to order your Card Kit and see how quick and easy card making can be right in the comforts of your home!

Time Well Spent Swarm Box

I attended a Cricut Swarm last weekend in OKC. I had a blast. It's always fun to work on my scrapbooks and pull out my Cricut. I worked on several pages while there and hope to have them done soon. We had a challenge during the event. We were given this box/paper vase to decorate however we liked. I had brought along a few of my stamps to work on a scrapbook page for my class this weekend. I thought this box screamed Soft Subtles flowers.

One of the ladies was kind enough to give me some wire to make the butterflies fly off the box. The paper at the bottom of the box is from a mat stack we were allowed to take from. I didn't win, but am still happy with my creation.

SCS Sketch Layout 171

I made this card when the layout sketch was posted last week, but didn't take a picture till yesterday. I wasn't sure about the simple layout when I saw it, but I really like this one. I can see it used for many quick cards.

I stamped and colored the image from "Pun Fun" first and then cut it out using my coluzzle. The layers are one size bigger than the last. I used a signo gel pen to make the white dots. The top and bottom edge are rub-ons. The sentiment was punched out with the word window punch. I love this years In Colors and will miss them in August. Colors on this card are River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, and Whisper White. The coffee in the cup is Close to Cocoa.

For more cards using sketch number 171 check out SCS here.

Life's A Breeze

Here are two simple cards that look complicated. They both have the same concept and used the same stamp set.

The card base is Sky Blue. I then wheeled the "Something Fishy" jumbo wheel onto the Ballet Blue cardstock using Ballet Blue ink. I placed the wheel so it was somewhat off the bottom of the strip. I didn't want that wide of a strip to be on my card. I then tore the top edge to mimic the top of the water.

Little by little I tore a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock to form the beach. I tore a little bit and then a little more so it lined up where I wanted it to. It is always easier to tear more than to start over, so don't tear too much the first time.

Using my markers, I colored in the various objects from the "Life's A Breeze" stamp set. I stamped them out on Whisper White cardstock before cutting them out. I drew a few lines on the beach with my Creamy Caramel marker to simulate sand edges. On the second card I also edged the beach with Close to Cocoa.

The sun is simple. Take a small square of Summer Sun and stamp the words in the corner. Then punch it out with the scallop circle punch to form the sun edges.

It sounds complicated and lots of steps, but these cards came together very quickly. You can do as much or as little as you like. It can also be easily expanded into an entire scrapbook page.

Sticky Heart & Cosmo Glitter

Here is one of the cards we made at club last week.

The heart is covered with Cosmo Fine Glitter. The scallop edge was made with the corner rounder. White Gel Pen for the dots. The ribbon is the new Chocolate Twill Ribbon in the Occassions Mini catalog. I like the smooth feeling to it. The ribbon slide is from the silver Hodgepodge Hardware collection. The little flower is from the tri-flower punch. It has a silver brad for the center.

This is the card that I did when playing with the sticky cut letters. I used the regular glitter on here. It sparkles well, but I like how the fine cosmo coats better. The star is done with a rub-on and both star punches. "Hooah" it's an army thing. The key tag punch was used to make the dog tags. The silver cord is retired, but worked the best for this project.

Same card--Three openings

For club the other night we used chipboard for one of the projects. I was done making the sample and laid it down on the table. When I looked at it, the card was now facing a new direction. I thought, well that could work also. I couldn't decide which way I liked better. I figured why not let the club members choose which way they want to make the card face. One of the members mentioned to me that she missed the month we did center opening cards. This one was perfect so I made a third sample really quick and all are pleased.

The only real difference in the three openings is which side you stamp the stars and where the score line goes.

For the first two the score line is in the middle at 4-1/4". The stars are stamped at the top by the fold (card #1-bottom opening) or by the opening on the side (card #2-side opening).

For the third card (center opening) score the card base twice, 2-1/8" from each side. Now the two sides should meet in the middle. The blue and red panel covers up the small gap in the center. The card is shown slightly open.

For all the cards I used the corner rounder with the guide taken off to make the scallop edge. The wide strip of red is 5/8" Red Grosgrain Ribbon. The star chipboard piece was coated in Whisper White Craft ink. There is a small star rub-on in the center of the red star punched out with the large star punch and then adheared to the chipboard piece. The stamped stars are from the set "Classic Backgrounds".

Try taking one of your cards today and turning it or making a center fold.

Last Baby post for awhile

I know it has been all baby this last week here. This is the last item I have to show you. It was a card I made quickly one morning to go with her gift. I had a few of the "Nursery Necessities" stars on scallops left over after making the diaper cake. This one came together very fast. This layout is classic and works for any quick card.

The pattern paper is from "Spring Fling". I like the color combination of the bashful, celery and banana. I folded down the edge to reveal the other side of the paper. A quick sentiment from the same stamp set, two brads and done.

Special Shower Card

Yesterday was the baby shower. I was getting ready to go to bed the night before and didn't feel happy with any of the cards I had made to be the card I gave with my actual gift to her. I mulled over it for awhile and decided I would get up early in the morning and make her a new card. I wanted it to be really special and have a special design to the card opening.

Saturday morning I had an idea in my head of what type of card I wanted to do, but didn't know what I wanted the front to look like. I pulled out the Soft Sky Designer Series Paper and the Double Stitched Ribbon to match. I wanted the paper on the inside and the ribbon on the front. I wanted to have a large contrast in shades, so I pulled out some Night of Navy cardstock. What else to put with it was now the question. I tried some Blue Bayou, but it just wasn't working the way I envisioned. I had a thin Soft Sky mat around a large Whisper White panel all backed by the Blue Bayou and Night of Navy. It just didn't look right. I played with the yellow for the moon. I had some ducks. It just wasn't working.

So ditch the Bayou and make the soft sky bigger, changing back to the prints paper to match the inside. Make the Whisper White mat much smaller. Loose the ducks. Picked Barely Banana for the Moon. Give it a Night of Navy mat. Pulled out the Hodgepodge Hardware and some Pastel Brads. The front is now done.

On to the inside. The basic came together easily. I had picked the prints paper at the start. I wanted the Night of Navy mats and accent around the oval. I pulled out a retired sentiment to stamp in Navy. A little bit of River Rock Double Stitched Ribbon with some White Taffata ties. The stars are Barely Banana with the small star punch and put on dimensionals.

I am pleased with the card now. She loved it and everyone was asking me how to make the special fold for the tunnel card. I followed the directions in the SCS resource section.

Evolution of a card

Sometimes fate takes a hand while stamping. You start down one path and then it takes a curve and you end up with something else. Though I am sure that the original thought in my head would have been nice, what I ended with works very well for me also.

The original thought was to have a window punched in the corner to reveal one of the elephants inside. You would open the card and the family of elephants would be lined up. I stamped the elephants in Almost Amethyst using my stamp-a-ma-jig and decided there wasn't much room for me to write my message inside. This card was to go with my gift for the baby shower. So I turned the card out and made the elephant row the front. I sponged some grass under their feet. The stars and moon are stamped in Barely Banana and the sentiment from "Wonderful Words" is stamped in Certainly Celery to match the grass.

Then I started to look at the card. I do like it. I then glanced at the "Wonderful Words" stamp set and noticed the "Thank You" stamp. I thought this card would be cute for the mom-to-be's thank you cards to her guests. I didn't however want to stamp the elephant a ton of times as she needs over 20 cards. So I thought I could cut down on the number of stars and just use one elephant. Here is the result. These will be nice and much easier to do in bulk in one sitting this afternoon.

I don't normally do one layer cards, but I am happy with these. I used Naturals White for the card base, so it was more sturdy. All the images are from "Nursery Necessities" except the sentiment.

Diaper Cake

Stamping can be used in many decorative ways and this was fun to make. It is the centerpiece at a baby shower I am hosting this weekend. It is made entirely of diapers. Some plans for diaper cakes show them as being unfolded, placed around the wheel of diapers and then held together with rubber bands. For this one I kept the diapers folded in half and held each round with cardstock strips and sticky strip. I also liked how it gave a ruffled edge look to the cake.

Most diaper cakes are then decorated with small baby items. I decorated mine with stamped images. I stamped the star from "Nursery Necessities" in three different colors (Barely Banana, Certainly Celery and Almost Amethyst). I punched them out with the large star punch and layered it on a Bashful Blue 1-3/8" circle and a Whisper White Scallop Circle. The stars are up on dimensionals and the whole thing is attached to the Bashful Blue strips around the cake with dimensionals.

I can't tell you how many diapers are in the cake as that is one of the games this weekend. I will tell you that each layer is a different size diaper. I started at the top with a few of the smallest size. On my table I layed out the strip of cardstock to go around the next layer and then layed down the diapers in a long fan. I rolled the diapers around the center with the aid of the cardstock. I had to do this several times to get them just right. For each tier I started the same way and then just added more layers of diapers and cardstock strips to hold it in place.