Wish I Was on the Beach-Twinkling Tuesday

Mother nature is a cruel jokester. We got snow today! Not the usual snow we get in April in Southern Ontario, but real, stayed-on-the-ground snow! I had even put away my boots! Most snow we get this time of year doesn't accumulate or get thick enough to keep you from wearing shoes! So my first thought for this week's Twinkling Tuesday challenge was this lighthouse stamp because I would sooooo prefer to be at the beach! The actual challenge was "In With The Old", use an old stamp that needs some love. Funny story about this stamp; I entered a swap once called 'Favourite Stamp'. Well the lighthouse stamp was brand new and therefore couldn't be my favourite but I used it for the swap anyway.

Yeah, I know, not funny yet right? What I didn't tell you yet was that it was a swap where one card is sent to your partner, the other however was submitted to a magazine! I was shocked about two months later to find out I was going to be published! WOOO HOOO!! So they phoned me, but never having been published before, I didn't realize that they were writing down what I was saying for a blurb in the magazine! Of course they asked why was this stamp was my favourite! Clearly I couldn't admit that it was a brand new stamp for fear I would be disqualified from being published so I just prattled on about loving the beach and wishing I was there! I think I am safe to admit this now in public because the cards was published and they can't exactly take back the free issues I got as compensation!

This image is watercoloured except for the sea grass which was so thin I chose to use markers; old olive for the grass in the foreground and artichoke in the background. The watercolour paper is distressed along the edges with chocolate chip ink and gold rub on paste as well as burned with a heat gun. The entire image is distressed with close to cocoa marker in the SU! colour spritzer giving the fly specked look. The image itself is 6" tall even though you can see I left virtually no extra watercolour paper beyond the image. This means that even with 12x12" paper, you can't do a top fold card. I really wanted it that way, (though I'm not sure why) so I matted the image with riding hood red paper, 1/8" border, then added a picture frame style backing, you know the ones that hold the frame up if it is on a table? It is large enough to still work if you want to write a message inside. It looks much better IRL, I had to colour correct it to keep it from looking too dark to the sky looks washed out and overall a bit too orange-y. Gotta save up $ for a photography class!

Be sure to play along with us! Try your hand at this challenge and upload to PCP or SCS with MTTSC17 or your blog so we can see what you create and leave a link at the main challenge blog. Don't forget to visit the Twinkle Team to see their work giving some new lovin' to some old stamps! Links on sidebar!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: UK
Ink: chocolate chip-SU!, Stazon black
Paper: Strathmore watercolour paper, SU! riding hood red CS
Accessories: SU! colour spritzer, metallic rub-on paste, gold sand dollar charm, hemp twine-all UK, close to cocoa, old olive, artichoke markers-SU!, shell-Dress It Up!, 0.2 Copic Black Multi-Liner (fixing missed areas of stamping)
Techniques: distressing with heat gun, watercolour

Romance Isn't Dead! Hubby Made Me A Card!

I can't believe I haven't shown this to you already! I meant to do it ages ago! My hubby made me this cute card for our anniversary last November, isn't that sweet? He mostly used stuff that was already on my craft table and printed the photo on the computer. Yeah, the ribbon is rumpled (he chose it because it was out on my desk, not realizing that I iron it before I use it) but it really shows how much he loves me and you better believe that romantic gestures are few and far between in our relationship. It was so funny hearing the story of how he made it. He was telling me how he didn't know where I keep anything or what to put where or which glue to use. So he used what was out but he didn't know how the ribbon stays on or how to tie it properly :) Guess it occasionally pays to leave your craft area messy!The fold of the card has punched holes in it using the Crop-a-dile to thread the ribbon through. Figures a man would use the one tool that most closely resembles pliers! I think it is a pretty good job considering the only other cards he has made are the ones printed on those card blanks you get from Staples with tons of clip art and word art! He even managed to find the right size of envelope! Thank you, honey!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Newborn Spencer Thank You

There is a challenge going around lately I've seen on a few blogs; remake one of your earliest cards. This isn't exactly one of my earliest cards (are you kidding, those are embarrassing!) but I wanted to show it here and I wasn't sure I had kept a photograph because I made these when Spencer was a newborn. I looked for it and I did have the presence of mind, even with a tiny baby, to take a photo. YEAH! But when I saw it, I was vaguely disappointed. I remember thinking it was one of the best cards I'd ever made and at the time, it could have been up there. So rather than just post the original card, I decided to remake it and show both!

The reason I wanted to show this card was the nifty opening. I figured I would need a lot of thank you cards, in fact I think I might have started then before he was born. OK, I realize that could seem presumptuous but every new mom gets gifts for the baby right? Anyway, I wanted a layered look but didn't want to use up my entire stash of paper. So I came up with a neat way to have my cake and eat it too! This card is not folded, the banana layer is just a 4.25x5.5". the celery panel is held in place only with the brad in the upper corner and the semi-circle made with the slit punch at the bottom. The celery layer swings up and out of the way to read the message underneath! This uses a lot less paper than making full cards and I think it is pretty interesting was well. I just hope everyone figured it out and didn't think my hormones got the best of me and I was sending out cards with no message!

Sorry about the smudge in the upper right corner. In retrospect, I think I like the larger font better. I think the giraffe is a bit dark but I am still learning my Copic markers. I am not used to the paper I am using either. The white streak down the front of the giraffe is my attempt at a highlight with the blender pen. On SU! paper I am used to, I might get little to no ink movement with the tiny amount of blender I applied. With the Neenah cardstock I was using, well, you see the results and I went very lightly! If I was going to make this again, I would also use a background stamp on the yellow layer. Maybe some subtle lines. I would really like to have used a Cuttlebug folder but they don't quite fill a whole 4.25x5.5" piece of paper and I didn't want to re-cut my yellow layer.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPES
Original card
Stamps: Bundle of Joy, whimsical alphabet
Ink: celery, chocolate chip
Paper: confetti white, celery, banana CS
Accessories: silver brad, markers, slit punch All products SU!

Remake card
Stamps: Bundle of Joy-SU!, Hero arts alphabet
Ink: celery, chocolate chip-SU!
Paper: confetti white, celery, banana CS-SU!, Neenah white CS
Accessories: brad-UK, button-SU!, Copic markers, silk ribbon-UK, banana SU! marker (dyeing ribbon), celery SU! marker(edging), MS cornice punch, taffeta ribbon-SU!

Silver Damask Card

Have you ever seen a card that was so gorgeous you just had to remember it and make one of your own?? I was blurfing along, saw THIS card by Sharon Johnson and ***LOVED IT***. I don't often CASE (Copy and Share Everything) quite so obviously but this was too pretty to pass up! I actually like hers better but I am quite happy with my version. This card of Sharon's was a remake of an earlier card she had in her SCS gallery; apparently doing a remake of an old card was a recent challenge. Funny thing is, the other card I was working on tonight is a remake of an earlier card I did! You will get to see it soon.

I didn't have any grey ribbon, it wasn't until I had nearly finished that I realized that the original might actually be black but looks grey with the white ribbon under it showing through. I wanted to use silver cardstock for the main panel but I wasn't sure if metallic paper would emboss well and I didn't have time to experiment (she used kraft cardstock). I hadn't seen someone put beads on BOTH ends of the stick pin before so I copied that too. I think her card must be larger than mine because I wanted to use a panel at the bottom with a sentiment and the same punched edge but I ran out of room. The close-up shows a bit better the real colour and the twinkly crystals! The patterned paper does have a hint of taupe tones to it, somewhere in between both photos is the real colour.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Gel*a*tins
Ink: versamark
Paper: going grey, shimmery white CS, patterned paper-
Accessories: pin, beads-pretties kit by SU!, silver spacer beads-UK, white EP-UK, ribbons-SU!, black foam dots-Jody Morrow, silver paint pen-Pilot, label 1 nestabilities, rhinestones-Swarovski
Technique: heat embossing

Musical Thanks

This is the second card for my second So Sketchy layout. I made it as a thank you for my girlfriend, Rebecca, the one who makes the crocheted flowers. She is a wonderful pianist and piano teacher. She helped the kids work on a song for the congregation party I mentioned a while ago. She had them all over to her house to rehearse and although there was no piano at the party, she did record herself playing onto a CD for the kids to sing to. My son, Jameson, is a real performer at heart and loved every minute of the attention even though he was one of about 15 kids!  At the end, Jameson stretched his arms out wide, TA-DAH style, a few other kids did too, you could tell he was so proud of himself and LOVES an audience! Everyone thought it was great, especially me! So this card is for Rebecca; hope she enjoys it. ETA: I gave it to her last night, she loved it! The music paper is real vintage music I bought for about 10 or 15c each sheet! It is  yellowed with age and the edges are imperfect and dog-eared ~ exactly how I like it! I even decorated the inside, I NEVER do that.

This one was very fun but it is tricky getting the woven paper strips to stay straight! TIP: If you want to try this, work from the center out and put a bit of adhesive between each layer. Just a bit, that way, if you get out of square, you can adjust it! Use more adhesive on the layers that will be cut on an angle because the paper tips want to stick up. I tried stamping the large treble clef image from a retired SU! set on the flower, it looks cool, but not like a treble clef because it was too big! If I'd remembered that I have a music wheel stamp, I would have used that. Yes, I am in the un-illustrious position of beginning to forget which stamps I own! ***GASP*** One more quick thing, you probably can't see it, but the vanilla CS has a diagonal texture to it! Cool huh?

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: treble clef-retired SU!, thank you-Elegant Notes SU!
Ink: Stazon black
Paper: patterned paper-Clear Impressions, vintage music sheets, black CS-SU!, ivory Bazzil CS
Accessories: sheer ribbon-SU!, gingham ribbon-UK, paper flower-Scrapbook Sally, button-UK, black embroidery floss
Technique: paper weaving