maria's craft room

Holiday Wishes From A Friend

I received this beautiful card from my friend today.  My photography skills just don't do it justice.  It caught my eye as soon as I walked into her craft room (a.k.a. La La Land) and I broke off mid-sentence to ooh and ahh over it.  The hilarious part is that she was going to mail it to me and I ruined the surprise!  The base of the card is always artichoke.  Layered on top is very vanilla along with a square of each of the always artichoke designer papers from SU.  The tree image is from SU's Season of Joy set and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Take a Bough set.  Vintage brass hardware, vanilla taffeta ribbon, always artichoke and old olive inks round out the list of supplies needed to create this beautiful work.

Until next time...M

Christmas Spirit

Ok...the picture is a little fuzzy, but you'll have to trust me that this is the best gift card holder I've made to date.  And - as always - my best work happens when I least expect it.  I was waiting upstairs while my husband handled a visit from a cable repair person and I decided to pop into my craft room.  I had to spend my time doing something, right?  Anyway, I took a scrap of BasicGrey's Fruitcake paper and came up with this.  I didn't record exact measurements, but I took the gift card and held it up to the paper and made sure I cut it large enough to go around the gift card, then I scored it, folded it and sealed it with a center seam up the back.  The lid was cut and scored slightly larger than the base and used the back side of the plaid Fruitcake paper.  A tag, ribbon, twine and a Papertrey sentiment (perfect as this was a DD gift card) finished the presentation.

Supplies:

Ink:  Always Artichoke

Cardstock:  BasicGrey Fruitcake, SU very vanilla

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink Holiday Treats

Other:  SU mellow moss taffeta ribbon, natural hemp twine, SU vintage brass eyelet, crop-a-dile, SU small tag punch

Have you been to Ellen Hutson LLC and checked out the 7 Gypsies bracelets?  Ellen is offering kits as well as plain bracelets.  I bought a few plain ones to play with and this is the first one I finished.  I had to use the SU Dashing designer paper because it's just so festive and if I'm going to wear a holiday bracelet (I usually dislike bracelets) it had better be worth it.  It did take me a while to figure out how to use my pliers to close the links without breaking the disks.  I've not tried to make jewelry before, so those of you that have experience would be able to whip one of these together in no time.  I've already started on a second one in a different color scheme.

Until next time...M

Sneak Peek

Here's a peek at what I've been working on lately.  I know, I know, I'm stuck on this particular layout.  All I can say is get used to it for a bit! I'm not big into snowmen, but this little guy is so cheerful it's impossible not to like him.  I've modified the design a bit from other cards I've seen, but I was definitely inspired by cards on Splitcoast and on Valerie Stangle's blog.  The base is stamped with white craft ink and the sentiment is done with basic black.  It's not easy to tell from my picture, but I colored in the image using SU markers and then went over the brim and pom pom on his hat with a Copic Spica clear glitter pen.  I've not found any in the craft stores near me, so I ordered my Copic glitter markers from Ellen Hutson LLC.  After all the layering I punch pierced (I think I'm coining that phrase) each scallop to add interest and then attached the whole thing to the card using dimensionals.  To finish it off I added two vintage brass brads. 

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black, white craft ink

Cardstock:  SU really red, whisper white, old olive, river rock, SU designer paper Dashing

Stamps:  SU Merry & Bright, Warm Words

Other:  Always artichoke 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, SU 1 1/4 and 1 3/8" circle punches, scalloped circle punch, SU vintage brads, SU real red and old olive markers, Copic Spica clear glitter pen

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am recovering from my turkey coma - how about you?  I think I consumed enough butter, sugar and bread puddings/stuffing to last a lifetime.  Not to mention the pumpkin roll!  I prefer pumpkin roll to pumpkin pie.  For those not 'in the know', pumpkin roll is a log-type roll of pumpkin spice cake surrounding a sweetened, cream cheese filling.  It's fantastic.  Anyway, I made a few Thanksgiving cards this year and mailed them to close friends and family that I wouldn't get to see during the holiday.  I thought I'd share some of them with you.  On the card above and to the left I tried the oval punch pumpkin as my focal piece.  It's hard to see, but to get the dimensional effect I colored the edges of each SU really rust cardstock oval with the SU really rust watercolor crayon.  Then I ran over it with my aquapainter.  It gave - in my opinion- the perfect amount of shadow.  I mounted it to a 1 3/8" whisper white square and mounted that on a Marvy scalloped square of old olive.  To give some interest I dotted the center of each scallop with a white souffle pen. Below and to the right is a picture of the verse inside each of the cards I made.  I don't know about you, but I don't have a whole lot of Thanksgiving stamps.  Basically I have one set and I've just stretched it out over these cards so that I didn't have to repeat too many elements on the card fronts.  I can force myself to sit down and mass-produce items but I prefer to make original pieces whenever possible. These are a couple of other cards I made.  I used my watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter to color the pumpkin images.  I used a white souffle pen on the one on the right and I pierced each scallop of the one on the left.  I'm not sure I am in love with the way the checkered ribbon is tied - I used my crop-a-dile and punched two holes and put on two SU vintage brads.  Ah - it was better than just leaving two unfinished holes.

Until next time!   M

Update:  edited to correct name of stamp set

Supplies (combined for all three):

Ink:  SU basic black, chocolate chip

Cardstock:  Papertrey white, SU really rust, old olive, SU Fall Flowers designer papers

Stamps:  SU Thoroughly Thankful, SU Warm Words (grateful stamp)

Other:  SU choc chip taffeta ribbon, SU black grosgrain ribbon, SU checkered ribbon, SU vintage brads (brass and black), SU brass eyelets, SU small oval punch, 1/16 circle punch, 1 3/8" square punch, Marvy Giga scalloped square punch, white souffle pen, distressing tool from SU cutter kit, SU really rust and old olive watercolor wonder crayons, Quickutz die cuts from a good friend for pumpkin stem and vine

With Sympathy

A good friend lost a family member recently and so I created this card for her.  I used the tone-on-tone method at the bottom of the card.

Until next time...M

Supplies: 

Ink:  SU River Rock

Stamps:  SU Stem Silhouettes

Cardstock:  Papertrey white, SU River Rock, Blue Bayou

Other:  SU vanilla organdy ribbon, Sakura Glitter pen

I Did It!

Ok - maybe this isn't such a big deal to most people.  But to a technically challenged person like myself it's HUGE.  I finally finished testing a bunch of different softwares so that I could learn to watermark my pictures!  Next up is to learn how to operate my camera so I can improve my picture-taking abilities. 

For now, here's a gift card holder that I made earlier this week.  It's a trick most everyone has seen:  seal an empty envelope and then cut off the left third.  Take the larger piece and run it through a crimper (I used a Fiskars one).  Attach a piece of decorative paper to the un-crimped piece and this now becomes the 'lid'.  Embellish at will, fill with the gift card and make someone smile.

Supplies:

Ink:  SU Classic Chocolate Chip

Cardstock:  BasicGrey Infuse, SU Whisper White and Chocolate Chip

Stamps:  SU Think Happy Thoughts

Other:  SU Whisper White envelope, May Arts ribbon, Maya Road 'Air' velvet flower, SU vintage brad, SU 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, SU scalloped circle punch

Happy Thoughts

So I've been working on a few projects lately and haven't had much time to work on cards.  I finished two quick ones today and thought I'd share.  This first one is a birthday card and I needed it to be simple.  It's a standard A2 size with the fold at the top.  I just added some velvet flowers and dew drops (or 'baubles') to patterned cardstock, distressed the edges, stamped the sentiment and went with it.  This card accompanied a framed piece I'd made using the same patterned cardstock and velvet flowers.  The dew drops look very dark in the photo but in real life are much lighter and coordinate with the pink in the cardstock.

Supplies: 

Ink:  SU Classic basic black

Cardstock:  Papertrey's white cardstock, BasicGrey Phoebe, and Crate Paper's Conversation (the green piece)

Stamps:  SU Short and Sweet

Other:  Maya Road 'Air' velvet blossoms, The Robin's Nest dew drops, SU light pink taffeta ribbon

The second card I finished today was slightly more involved but still fairly quick.  It's an A2 card w/the fold at the top, and I used five different SU punches to achieve the design.  First I stamped the sentiment on SU Whisper White cs using SU Classic Choc Chip ink.  I punched this out using the 1 1/4 circle punch.  Then I punched out a 1 3/8 circle of SU Old Olive cardstock and used the SU scalloped circle punch on SU Really Rust cardstock.  I attached all three pieces using double-sided tape and then punched a 1/16" hole in the center to allow for the brad.  I used a SU crystal brad and a Prima flower to finish off the focal piece, ultimately mounting it to the card with dimensionals.  I used the SU slit punch to create the scalloped border at the bottom and secured that to the card base.  Then I layered on the tan piece of designer paper and tied the Soft Sky ribbon...then attached the focal piece.

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU Classic Chocolate Chip

Cardstock:  SU Fall Flowers, Whisper White, Old Olive, Really Rust;  Papertrey Ink's white cardstock for the card base

Stamps:  SU Think Happy Thoughts

Accessories:  SU Soft Sky ribbon, SU olive rhinestone brad, SU 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 circle punches, SU scalloped circle punch, SU 1/16" circle punch, SU slit punch

Manly Birthday Wishes

So has anyone else struggled to make 'masculine' cards?  I normally have a tough time but this one almost created itself.  I had just been to a bridal shower and I had 'bride and groom' on my mind.  Think of a groom in a black tux with a silver vest, white shirt and black bow tie.  And then look at my card...see it?  Anyway, I have almost never used my SU Going Gray pad and I felt really good about digging it out.  And the silver paper is from an old Sizzix Texturz pack.  I've had the pack for over two years and never used it...it was one of those things I saw in AC Moore and had to have.  I guess I just had to have it sit in a drawer!!!

I started with my usual 4.25" x 11" piece of cardstock, scored it in the middle and folded it.  I stamped the Papertrey star image on Whisper White cardstock and used Basic Black classic ink for the sentiment.  I then used my SU ticket corner punch because...well, I was just determined to.  Anyhow, I went to mount it on the silver Sizzix paper and found the texture gave me the perfect excuse to use my favorite thing - glue dots!  I love these things.  When I went to add the brads I couldn't decide between pewter or black so I used both - pewter on top w/black on the bottom.  After that I mounted the silver to the black cardstock using - yep - glue dots.  I finished off the front of the card with some May Arts ribbon and then lined the inside with white cardstock so I had a surface to use for my message.  (Forgot to take a picture of the inside, but I stamped some little stars in there to balance the design.) 

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU Classic Basic Black, Going Gray

Paper:  SU Black and Whisper White cardstock; Sizzix Texturz silver

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink Text Boxed

Other:  SU Vintage brads, May Arts ribbon, SU ticket corner punch

Hip to be Square

If you're like me you're hearing Huey Lewis's voice inside your head right now!  Anyway, I was making Christmas cards and became 'stuck' in a rut.  Every card began to look the same to me...and so I broke out and tried some 5.25" square cards.  This one was fun to do.  It's pretty self-explanatory, except for the tree.  I followed Nichole Heady's example  http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/countdown_believe/index.html, and after stamping the tree image using SU's Classic Old Olive ink I used an aqua painter to go over the image and effectively watercolor it.  What you can't see from my photo (here's where I lament about my photography and editing skills) is that I colored the berries using an aqua painter and the ink from the top of my SU Crisp Cranberry inkpad and then went back over them with a clear glaze pen.  It gave the tree image the perfect amount of interest.  I distressed the Cranberry Crisp matting with my Cutter Kit, stamped the sentiment in Old Olive and used Old Olive grosgrain ribbon as my accent.

Supplies:

Ink:  SU Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp

Paper:  Bazzil cardstock, Basic Grey Fruitcake, SU Very Vanilla and Cranberry Crisp

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink's Believe set

Other:  SU Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Sakura clear Glaze pen

Lost in the Details

So I've often been told that I tend to become lost in the details.  That is a great trait when it comes to papercrafting...not so great when it comes to photo editing and preparing blog entries.  I've spent time each day for the past week trying to learn how to cleanly add a watermark to my photos.  I didn't like the trial software I used on my first post because the company's watermark appears, too.  I downloaded a free trial of Photoshop Elements but I've been having THE WORST TIME trying to figure out how to do it.  I've tried following online tutorials and I just am not 'getting it'.  And so I decided to put out some entries with non-watermarked work while I continue to figure this out. 

M

And so it begins.

My name is Maria and I love to craft.  You name it and I've tried it at least once, probably twice.  It all started one day when I was about four or so.  My mom sent me outside to play and gave me the top to a gift box, a bowl of homemade paste (flour she mixed with water) and a pile of fallen leaves she'd had me collect from the yard.  I glued the leaves to the box to make a collage and haven't looked back since.

These days I'm hopelessly addicted to papercrafting.  I still dabble in crochet and knitting (watch out family - more hats and scarves at Christmas this year!) but stamps, patterned paper and embellishments currently rule my world.  While I have the best of intentions to scrapbook more I always seem to find myself making cards.  And that's not a bad thing!

I am partial to Stampin' Up! (SU) images and products so you'll see a lot of them here, but I have begun a love affair with Papertrey, Bellas and Gina K, too.  I am having so much fun mixing and matching across product lines!!!

I am excited to try this whole blogging thing and share some of my card designs.  While I'm confident about my designs, I consider myself a novice when it comes to photographing my work and navigating this blog space.  And while I have to admit that I am stressing a bit about learning how to do this properly, I can't wait for the day when I can look back at this post and laugh at myself for my lack of computer savvy.  Like, for instance, my lack of ability to get the date stamp out of this picture!!!

My first major hurdle has been to learn how to watermark.  I'm still trying out various software but all of the free trials have their own watermark imbedded in the trial software...and so I have the software designer's 'LAJ Design' stuck at the bottom of this photo!

I thought I'd start with a Christmas card (timely, no?).  I have been trying to get myself to use stamp sets that have been gathering dust lately.  When I saw this Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper I immediately thought of the little tree from Loads of Love.  And this is what happened!  I started with a 4.25" x 11" piece of SU Mellow Moss cardstock, scored it and folded it in half. Then I stamped the background stamp from Oh, So Lovely (SU) on the bottom using Always Artichoke Classic ink.  Then I stamped the sentiment from SU Short & Sweet in Chocolate Chip.  I secured the Basic Grey patterned paper using CM double-stick tape (fantastic stuff) and then tied on some SU Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, securing it with glue dots (LOVE glue dots!!).  I stamped the tree image in Always Artichoke on white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, colored in the trunk using a brown marker and matted it on a Basic Grey Fruitcake scrap that I distressed using my SU Cutter Kit.  I finished the whole thing off by adding a piece of SU Hodgepodge Hardware and two MM brads.

Until next time...M