Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Auction Item for Friend's School

I picked up a few recipe boxes from Michael's after Christmas -- they were $1, so I couldn't resist!  Then my friend asked me to donate an auction item for their school's fundraiser.  And I thought, how perfect to use one of the boxes!  My orginal idea was to spray paint the boxes and start from scratch.  But looking at the colors more carefully, I thought, "No, those colors look like Pear and Tulip."  Well the pear is a really good match.  Tulip is close enough for government's work.  And I thought no one would go up to the box with a color swatch, so I would be good to go.  Besides, I wanted to incorporate blue so the tulip should work.

The next problem was removing the Christmas out of the box.  There was a reindeer and the words "Holiday Recipes" printed on the top.  That's okay, I'll just spray paint the top.  That was my next plan until I opened the box and saw that the inside has the same red with white polka dot pattern.  So much for spray painting!

The top was covered with the back of Silouhette background paper.  And then I was going to use Wishes to create a card top.  Well, I couldn't get inspired, until I thought of the flower!  That would be perfect!  The flower and the leaves could be the top.  I pulled out Sky reinker and added to some water.  I then soaked the flower in the blue water for about an hour.  What I learned was that there wasn't enough re-inker in the water or that the color sky is too light for dying paper (you could barely tell that there was any color on the flower).  That was easy to remedy with a sponge dauber and ink.  I used Crystal blue and then went back in with Indian Corn Blue to make some highlights.  For the leaves, I cut Pear cardstock in the shape of leaves.  I then used a stylus to emboss the veins, which I sanded, and then added some pear ink to darken some of the spots.  Last but not least was the button for the middle of the flower.  After I glued my flower on the top (which should have been facing the other way -- I had the box backwards), it was missing something.  That's when I went in with the glitter glue and added the dots.



Next was the ribbon.  I had some extra ribbon (that we no longer are selling as of February 1, 2011) and thought, "Okay, how about using this?!"  So I pulled the center white floss to scrunch the ribbon (it's Sweet Leaf, by the way).  I used Liquid Glass to adhere it to the box.

Now for the front.  Looking from the front, the box still said "HOLIDAYS" to me.  That's when I thought about putting "CARDS" on the front.  It would bring in the blues that I wanted and would break up the red and green.  Friendship alphabet Large fit the bill.  I stamped the letters in Crystal Blue and then sponged them with Indian Corn Blue, cut them out and adhered them to the front (well I thought it was the front.  I went to open the box and found I had adhered my word to the back of the box -- which is when I discovered that my flower was on backwards).  Once I removed the word, I put it on the front!  And then added the flower because something was missing and I was able to tie the flower into the front from the top.




Whew!  Last was the inside dividers.  The box came with dividers but they said "Holiday Recipes" and had the reindeer again -- that wouldn't work.  To keep with the floral motif, I randomly stamped flowers on some cut white cardstock.  I did use the dividers for the upper tabs.  I punched those out of the existing cards.  I made a divider for "Happy Birthday," "Friendship," and "Thank You."  The Friendship tab has 15 cards while the other two have 5 each.

Okay, I'm done.  :)

January 2011 Stamp of the Month Samples

I went out of my comfort zone with the bodice stamp within the Find Your Style stamp set.  I like the results!

The colors are from the Hooligans paper packet, minus the gypsy, so are Pear, Black, Lagoon, and White.  Both cards are from the the same 8" x 3.5" Wishes pattern -- Top It Off.


Happy Birthday Friend

A Friend...



















The differences between the two cards are the accessories, the distressing, and the sayings.  For the left card, I edged distressed with the edge distressor. I used Hit the Spot stamp set to stamp the background circles, and added sparkles to the Pear buttons (from the mini-medley packet).  The saying is from the Stamp of the Month (SOTM) stamp set.  The Happy Birthday card features sanding.  I randomly put two sized buttons under the Pear cardstock and sanded over the button.  Those two buttons are on the top of the card, once I rolled them in Lagoon ink and embossed with clear powder (I did the same to the pear big brad).  The card is distressed with Lagoon ink.  Orginally I also inked the white base but then that took away from the inner parts so I went back to just the plain base.  The Happy Birthday is from For Every Occasion stamp set, while "friend" is from the SOTM set.

What's the same?  The bodice is raised with 3D foam tape.  The pattern is the same too.

All CTMH Products:
X5762 Lagoon Cardstock
X5764 Pear Cardstock
1386  Black Cardstock
1385  Daisy White Cardstock
Z2105 Black Ink
D1452 Find Your Style (SOTM)
Z1339 Pear Mini-Medley
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

in addition, for the left card:
Z2163 White Daisy Ink
C1406 Hit the Spot
Z1327 Blue and Green Sparkles
Z1398 Wings Level 2 Assortment
Z1297 Edge Distressor

in addition, for the right card:
D1187 For Every Occasion
Z2195  Lagoon Ink
Z671  Clear Embossing powder
Z1294 Sanding Kit
Z1096 Neutral Assortment Embroidery Floss (black)
Z1368 Metal Assorment Bitty Brads
Z1366 Metal Assortment Brads

Monday, January 10, 2011

Lucky Layers Find Your Style

This card features our newest Wings paper packet and our January stamp of the month, Find Your Style.  The card is again from Wishes, the pattern is called Lucky Layers, and is a standard sized card.


The butterfly was embossed and then sponged with Juniper, Sweet Leaf, and Vineyard Berry ink.  I took the idea from a fellow consultant because I LOVE the way it looks.  Then I cut it out -- and because I'm anal, I cut out the antennae -- and mounted it with 3-D foam.  The bottom two brads are actually button brads (with two holes in each).  We'll be making this card during my January workshop.  :)

All products are CTMH:
X7135B Wings Paper Packet --Level 2
D1452 Find Your Style (only available through January 31, 2011)
Z2157 Vineyard Berry Ink
Z2165 Juniper Ink
Z2153 Sweet Leaf Ink
Z891 VersaMark Ink
Z670 Black Embossing Powder
Z555 Craft Heater
Z1279 VersaMat
Z1252 Cutting Knife
Z726 Sponge Daubers
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Holiday Card Heart to Heart Challenge

Happy New Year!  I know that Hanukkah has been over for almost a month.  I thought I'd post this card for the Heart to Heart Challenge, but the blog site isn't cooperating (I can't upload the picture!).  So, I'll miss the contest deadline but I trust you'll enjoy the card anyway.  :)

This "Simply Said" card is from Wishes and measures 3.5" x 8".  All paper pieces are sponged in chocolate ink.  The menorah is elevated with 3D foam.



All Products are CTMH:
X7127B  Magnifique Paper Pack
C1380  Judaic Commentary
D1352  It's Your Day
Z1327 Blue and green assortment Sparkles
Z2111  Chocolate Ink
Z2195  Lagoon Ink
Z2194  Sky Ink
Z2162  Honey Ink (flames)
Z2301  Autumn Terracotta Marker (flames)
Z2366  Tulip Marker (flames)