Halloween Card Pressies!

I received two really cute Halloween card pressies in the mail from cardmaking buddies.  My first card from my friend Charlene sports a wonderful broom-riding witch scene with ghosties lurking here and there.  I love the scary, foggy background created using the chalkboard-sponged technique.  It is such a darling witchy scene with lots of detail.  I just love this spooky card...you can almost hear a wind whistling in the dark and the ghosts swish to and fro and the little witch whisks from here to there in the dark night sky!   Below is a peak for you of  my happy mail card, and my big thank you to Charlene for my first lovely Halloween treat!

My second card pressie was from my fun-loving, cardmaking buddy, Sandy.  I remember our crafting shopping trip to Impress Stamps in Tukwila when she bought this Memory Box Halloween die that she used to make my sparkly shaker card window.  I had to buy one as well, but with wedding planning taking over my schedule of late, I did not get a chance to make or send any Halloween cards this year.  But, I certainly plan to try this die out next year!  Sandy also used her WRMK Photo Fuse Tool to make her shaker envelope and buried it in a double-layered card front that was embossed with a spider web behind the shaker circle.  The WRMK Photo Fuse Tool is the very tool she gifted me for my birthday that I love, love, love!  Aren't the little Halloween colored sparkles in the shaker window cute!  Below is a peak at my card pressie from friend Sandy, with my special thank you to her for such a wonderful Halloween treat!

Another Christmas Class Card!

For my second card from the Running Scissors card class presented by Darcy Christensen, Regional Manager for American Crafts, I used a Nordic patterned tag and decided to do my foil transfer in red using the American Crafts Minc heat machine.  I had an idea in mind to use this patterned tag with an overlay of a glittery white reindeer, using a punch I had recently purchased, so I decided to wait until I got home to finish the card.

I also wanted to use a red card base and a second layer of the white glittery paper to coordinated with my little reindeer.  I added white cake sprinkles for snow and some mini red sequins from home to complete my shaker.  Once again, I used the WRMK Photo Fuse to size seal my shaker bag to the exact size I wanted.  Of the sentiment tags package we were given, I chose the red with white Merry Christmas.  I am super pleased with my results using these clever tools.

Recipe:  SU cardstock: Real Red.  Core'dinations Silk Glitter: Opulent Opal.  Jen Hadfield Gold Dot Foil.  Heidi Swapp Minc Tags (Nordic pattern), Minc Reactive Foil: Red.  Paper Studio punch: Reindeer XXL.  American Crafts: Remarks Holiday Dimensional sentiments.  Pink Posh: red mini sequins.  WRMK Photo Fuse sleeve.  WRMK Photo Fuse Tool.  Cake Sprinkles (snow).  (Size: 4-3/8" x 5-5/8").

Christmas is Coming!

I've been attending several fun cardmaking events and have made about 20 of my Christmas cards so far.  Tonight, I went to a great event at the new Running Scissors scrapbooking store in East Hill Kent.  Darcy Christensen, Regional Manager for American Crafts, was visiting the store to give a card class and demonstrate two new American Craft tools, the WRMK Photo Fuse Tool (which makes wonderful shaker card envelopes) and the Mini Minc Machine using the Minc transfer foils.  Note: There are other brands of heat transfer foils on the market as well, such as: Therm O Web Deco Foil, iCraft Deco Transfer Foil, etc.

We were given six white card bases, envelopes, embossed gold foil paper, vellum foil, Minc Tags to use with the Minc foil and the Minc Heat Transfer machine, Photo Fuse sleeves to use with the WRMK Photo Fuse Tool to make clear shaker envelopes, sequins, white cake sprinkles (for snow), washi tape, and American Crafts Holiday dimensional sentiment tags.  We also received paper cutting instructions for the six samples cards Darcy had created for the class.  We started with mostly different Minc tags than Darcy used plus a few that were the same.  She challenged us to come up with six cards that were different than hers.

For my first card that I completed at the store, I chose to make my snowflake red with the red transfer foil.  I added not only white cake sprinkles for snow but some round red, green sequins with a few gold star sequins to coordinate with the gold foil dot background.  I added the kraft sentiment tag with holly berries and finished it off with holly berry washi tape at the top.

It was so much fun to use the new American Craft tools.  I have my own brand new WRMK Photo Fuse tool and have used it a few times in the past few weeks, and loved every moment.  I hard of applying foil via heat transfer, but had never seen the Minc Heat Machine in action.  It was impressive, and I love the results.

Recipe:  SU Whisper White cardstock.  DCWV Foiled Cardstock Stack.  Jen Hadfield Gold Dot Foil.  Heidi Swapp Minc Tags (snowflake).  Minc Reactive Foil: Red (used with Minc Heat Machine).  American Crafts: Remarks Holiday Dimensional sentiments.  American Crafts Christmas Sequins & Buttons.  Cake Sprinkles (snow).  WRMK Photo Fuse sleeve (made with WRMK Photo Fuse Tool).  (Size: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2").

A Spooky Kitty for Halloween!

My daughter, Michele, and I decided we wanted to make the youngest daughter and sister, Jackie, a Deco Mesh Halloween wreath for the door of her new residence.  We like the ones we made for ourselves so much that we wanted to share our craftiness.  Below is a peek at Jackie's Happy Halloween witchy wreath.  She so loves to decorate for Halloween, and I'm just positive that this may become her very favorite decoration of all.  I know she will LOVE it.

Next, I decided the crafty Halloween wreath could only be accompanied by a crafty homemade card made by Mom (that would be me)!  I decided to spend the afternoon designing my first Halloween card of the season by using some of my new cardmaking dies that I have recently purchased.  One of my favorite purchases is a Poppystamp die, which is a scary kitty face, appropriately called Kitty Cat Face.  To go along with the kitty, I thought my new Spooky word die from Stampin' Up's Seasonal framelits would be perfect.  A little black cardstock, some glitter paper, some dies, some punches, and voila, it is done.  I do just love that Kitty Cat Face die!

Now, I needed a little verse that matched the front card design, and one that certainly speaks of lurking cats on Halloween!  With a bit of research and a dollop of imagination, I came up with this little verse for my card inside.

Recipe:  Darice cardstock: Midnight Black.  The Paper Company cardstock: Victoriana 5-pack (tan).  Recollections Glitter Pad: Haunted (orange).  SU Gold Glimmer.  SU: Seasonal framelit dies (spooky - Holiday 2015).  Poppystamps die: Kitty Cat Face.  EK punch: ZigZag.  Recollections rhintestones.  Computer verse (font: Homemade Apple).  Size 5" x 6".

An Avid Seahawks 12th Woman Has A Birthday!

One of my good friends and cardmaking buddy is having a birthday today, and she is an avid Seahawks fan. . .a true dyed in the wool 12th Man!  I decided she certainly deserved one of my handmade Deco Mesh Seahawks wreaths for her door, so my daughter and I scheduled a fun-filled craft night and put our 5th Seahawks wreath together for Charlene's birthday!  See my October 4th post for my son's birthday, which shows a picture of our wonderful wreath, if I do not say so myself!

As with my son's birthday, also a 12th Man fan, I thought Charlene should have a Seahawks birthday card, but with a little more of a feminine twist to it than for my son.  I found a cute little daisy-like flowered paper in Seahawks colors in a digital paper collection called Paisley Park by Happy Heart Creations.  Out of all possibilities, I thought this would be perfect as Charlene has quite the green thumb as well!  

Once again, I got to use my new WRMK Photo Fuse Tool to make my shaker card sealed envelope to hold my shaker football confetti!  Don't you just love the Seattle skyline with the Space Needle in the shaker box background?  Here is a peek at the Seahawk's creation for my friend's birthday!

Recipe:  SU Whisper White cardstock. BoBunny Double Dot: Kiwi.  The Paper Studio: Tiny Polka-Navy Tonal.  Happy Heart Creations: Paisley Park collection (digital paper).  Core'dinations Glitter: Ball Gown.  Spellbinders: Classic Scallop Squares; Classic Squares LG.  Impress die: Seatltle Skyline.  WRMK:  Deco Corner Chomper; Photo Fuse Tool/ Waterfall 4x4 sleeve.  Party City: Football Confetti.  Pink Posh sequins.  Offray: 3/8" Navy satin-sheer.  Computer-made sentiment / verse:  Shelley Font.  Inside:  Stash: Button Dots (Copic colored).

Seahawks Birthday Card for 12th Man Son!

For my son and his wife, I made a Deco Mesh Seahawks wreath, and gave it to both of them for their birthdays.  Since Mark's wife's birthday came first, and just before the first pre-season football game, the wreath was bestowed on Ginger's August birthday so they could enjoy it from the very beginning of the Seahawk's season!   Now, it is time to celebrate my son's birthday, so I thought I should make him a little Seahawk's themed card to remind him of his early birthday present. 

I decided on a shaker card with a die-cut of the Seattle skyline beneath all the confetti.  My ulterior motive was that I wanted to use my new birthday tool that I received from one of my dear cardmaking buddies: the We R Memory Keepers Photo Sleeve Fuse.  Such a clever tool it is, and after using it, I am overjoyed with the results.  WRMK sells album sheets or Waterfall Sleeves and either can be used with Photo Fuse.  You can make any shaker baggie to hold your shaker confetti by sealing the edges to the size you desire, filling it with your confetti or shaker materials, and sealing it closed.  It has a tool for heating to trim excess edges, but I found for a shaker, a pair of scissors works just as well.

First, here is the wreath I gave Ginger and Mark for their birthdays...GO HAWKS!

Below is the Seahawk's shaker card front that I designed, which is followed by the coordinating inside design and my computer verse.

Recipe:  SU cardstock:  Whisper White, Night of Navy. Recollections: Punch Floral Green.  Digital paper: Digimania Seattle Seahawks (24 designs).  Impress Cards & Crafts dies: Seattle Skyline; Stitched Happy Birthday Square Frame (I removed happy birthday using frame only).   WRMK: Photo Sleeve Fuse Tool; 4"x4" Waterfall Photo Sleeves; Deco Corner Chomper.  Treehouse Studies sequins.  Party City: Football Confetti.  Recollections: silver brads.  Hobby Lobby: 3/8" Ribbon Boutique Navy Sheet Metallic.   Computer-sentiment. Computer verse. 

Halloween Wreath. . .Let's Try It Again!

Back in August, I tried my first Deco Mesh wreath, making a Seahawks wreath for myself and my daughter-in-law's birthday.  My son, Mark, is an avid fan and Ginger has become one as well.  Because her birthday falls just prior to football pre-season, she was selected to receive the prized Seahawks wreath!

Well, I'm at it again.  While browsing through Michael's Craft store one day in September, my daughter, Michele, and I saw some darling Halloween items that we thought would make a great Deco Mesh wreath.  We were sold immediately. . . let's do it again!  We purchased on the supplies, but of course, all the other craft stores had to be visited to make sure we got just the right items.  Don't you hate it when you stop short, thinking you have everything you want or need and later find something you loved even better at another store but missed out on it.  Well, not Carlene. . . she doesn't stop until all possibilities have been addressed!

We so loved our Seahawks wreath and I have now made a total of four all together, so our methods have been honed and perfected more and more each time we've made a new wreath.  This time we were sure we wouldn't have to revisited craft stores making numerous returns of things we didn't need or want like we did when we made the Seahawks wreaths.  We've even shaved off about four hours of labor time as well!  Our first wreath took us over 12 hours to make since we were really in the learning curve.  I found by the time I made my fourth Seahawks wreath, I was down to eight hours.  Now, Michele is faster than I am, so she can probably finish in not more than seven hours.  They are time consuming and parts become a bit tedious, but oh the result is so worth it!  Michele and I made one together for sister, Jackie's new door.  Take a peek at mine. . .Halloween, here we come!

A Bridal Shower for My Daughter

My youngest daughter, Jackie, is getting married in January.  Sister, Michele, and sister-in-law, Ginger, are planning a shower in November.  One of Ginger's tasks was to decide on the invitations.  She thought it might be just the thing to make homemade invitations.  As the cardmaker in the family, I was invited to participate.

Jackie's wedding colors are black and red, and the "daughters" decided they would follow her colors for the shower theme; thus, the invitations would be black and red as well.  Ginger did quite a bit of research on the web looking at different invitation ideas, but as she has not joined Pinterest, she had no idea what she was missing!  She found lots ready-made card ideas that she thought looked nice, and her search helped her decide that she wanted to incorporate  black and white damask paper and perhaps some red glitter paper.  She sent me several pictures of ready-made invitations that she found of both inside and outside designs.  Her favorite had a bouffant wedding dress on the front and she liked a ribbon band under the invite information on the inside.  She had the idea of the card front meeting in the middle with the bride dress opening on one side in order to see the inside invite.  What she described was a gate-fold card, and it would be easy enough to incorporate that idea.  At this point she turned it over to me to come up with some design ideas.

Over the past few years, I had seen several dress cards using a folded doily, and I thought that might be a good idea, so I went searching on line for some cards incorporating that idea to refresh my memory and also to find a tutorial on how to fold the doily for my wedding dress idea.  The tutorial that I settled on is by Angie Gittles: Paper, Paws, Etc. (dated 5/6/12).  I did some modifications to Angie's instructions, because she uses a 4-inch doily for her dress.  I decided that since my dress was a long wedding dress, that a 6.5-inch doily might be better, and I must say it turned out to be perfect.  I also modified my bodice attachment by not leaving the skirt point down, but using it as part of the anchor for the bodice attachment.  I also trimmed my bodice straight on the bottom and placed it on the front of the skirt over the point because I planned to use a red ribbon sash, which would bury any cut edges.  I also drew a template of the finished dress onto white cardstock and fussy-cut it out to be adhered  over the back side of my dress to hide any raw paper edges and the ribbon sash attachment that would show when it was placed on the gate fold, as part of the back side of the dress shows when the card is opened (how much depends on the angle or amount that overlaps on the opening side).

Though I had a few pieces of black and white damask paper, I did not have enough to make 14 invitations...so shopping I did go!  I was truly surprised at how few pieces of black and white damask there were to choose from, but I did finally find a pattern at Michael's that I thought would be okay.  At first I thought the pattern might be too large, but actually, when the card was finished, I decided it was more than okay!

Ginger, Michele, and I spent the following Saturday making our shower card invitations, and we were totally pleased with the outcome.  We all loved the bit of red glitter paper used and also the cute little sentiment, He popped the question!, which was answered on the inside with,  And she said yes! 

This is the finished inside invitation to coordinate with the outside design.  We were very pleased with the outcome!  (Note: for privacy, I have overlaid a substitute inside without the address or email account.)

Recipe:  SU cardstock:  Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Red Glimmer.  Recollections: Hollywood & Vine Swing Time.  Recollections 6.5-inch White Doilies.  Offray 1/4" red satin ribbon.  SU punches: Full Heart (retired), Artisan Label (retired). EK punch: Scalloped Scallops Border.