Category Archives: card making

If You’re on my Christmas Card List . . .

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stop reading right now. You’re gonna see this year’s handmade Christmas cards.

Here they are . . . .

Snowmen One

I made these using some stickers from Penny Black, purchased at the old Stampers Warehouse before it closed. Man, that was sad and I sure do miss that great store. The paper is just some random winter-themed paper I bought God knows how long ago.

Here’s another set . . .

Snowmen Two

Again, these are the same Penny Black stickers. I embellished the cards with some Glitter Glue in the color way “Icicles,” giving the snow on the snowmen’s hats and such a touch of sparkle. A couple of the cards have a small snowflake – a button minus the shank – glued on for extra effect.

And when I run out of snowmen stickers, I’ll make these . . . .

Reindeer card

They were made using a Penny Black rubber stamp and some glittery red stuff. I sold four of these cards at the weekend’s craft show at Albany Middle School. Yes, only 4. The big hit at my table was my husband’s origami ornaments and my mother-in-law’s domino Christmas necklaces – more on those in another post. It was NOT a jewelry show. I think I sold only 2 necklaces and 1 pair of earrings. Ugh.

 

Albany Middle School Craft Fair

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This week, in moments here and moments there, I am trying to get ready for the Albany Middle School Craft Fair. This is the third year this local middle school has held the event, and it is the first year I am participating. I hope it turns out to be fun, first, and worth the time and energy, second. because if we can’t have fun with what we make, what the hell is the point?

School craft shows can be hit or miss for the artist. Once, when visiting my mother-in-law in rural Wisconsin, I went with her to one where she was showing her fabulous domino jewelry, which she sells for between $5 and $20. It was in a school gym and it was fairly well-attended – but people would walk up to the table, pick up Naomi’s painstakingly-made work, and say – I MEAN OUT LOUD – “Huh, I could do that.” Or, worse, “Oh, this is just a domino.” Yeah, corn-fed hick, you could make it, but would you actually put down your cheese curd long enough to get up off your ginormous butt and actually do it? My mother-in-law did and she’s standing right here so would you shut your pie hole?

(Sorry, tirade over. My apologies to Wisconsin.)

Okay, so I think I have enough jewelry for the show, so I’ve been concentrating this week on cards. I’ll also be taking Naomi’s domino jewelry – perfect for kids to buy for moms and sisters, etc. I’ll also have my husband’s fabulous origami ornaments. Each star ball takes more than 30 piece of  3″ x 3″ paper and then I add a needed hanger. Here’s some of what I have made, both this week and in the past and will have at the show. If you’re in or near Albany, Calif. this Sunday from noon to 3, please stop by and support your local artisans, even if it isn’t me. And the go to my friend Janie Rose’s open studio held at her house a mile or so away in El Cerrito.

Some cards I made

 

Naomi's Dominos

 

Terry's origami ornaments

 

Craftapalooza

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I have a had a most crafty weekend! After cooking Thanksgiving for 12 people and working 5 hours of Black Friday at the yarn store mostly by myself, I told myself Saturday was my day to do whatever I damn well pleased.

Art Yarns Summer Flies - Unblocked, but done!

I started the morning finishing the Summer Flies Shawlette with the ArtYarns Rhapsody light and Beaded Silk. It is glorious. I am deeply, truly in love with it. The experience of knitting it was so satisfying because of the gossamer feel of the yarn that I am tempted to buy another two skeins. We’ll see. I think I’d like to make a lace scarf this time. I made the longer version of Summer Flies by adding on the pattern called “My Version of Summer Flies” that can be found on Ravelry. If you do this, know that you will need both skeins of Art Yarns, but you will have some of each left over. I did mine using the Beaded Silk for all sections named “Ridged Eyelet” except the first one, because it is so high up behind the neck no one will see it, so why waste the silk? Then I used the Beaded Silk for the very last 3 rows and the bind off. One more important thing – bind off using a needle two sizes larger than you used on the rest of the shawl – a 10 for me. Otherwise the bind off is a bit tight. I may have to take mine out and work it again.

That only took me to about noon on Saturday. So it was on to the elliptical (I had a lot of spice cake on Thanksgiving) and then lunch – turkey sandwich, what else? Then I went up to my studio and finished a set of greeting cards I am making to sell Sunday, Dec. 4 at a craft fair at Albany Middle School. My goal with all the cards I am making for this show is to use up what I have, dammit! So I had these little party hat buttons, and I chopped off the button shank, and here you are.

Birthday Cards

Then I started another set of cards with some K and Company butterfly stickers I have that match some of their Wild Saffron paper I also have. These were fun to make – a little corner punch and some letter tiles I had and – done. Three are blank on the inside and three say “Thinking of You” inside.

Wild Saffron Cards

Then I got out some glass tiles I bought at the BABE Show with Lisa and I slapped them on some washi paper I also bought there. The hope is that these will become earrings. I’ll attach some bails to the backs and wire-wrap some Swarovski crystal bi-cones that will dangle from the bottom. Think I’ll ask $10 per pair because they are so easy!

THEN I got really ambitious. When Ellen and I went to TNNA last June we were in the ladies’ room washing our hands when I noticed the bracelet on the woman at the next sink. It was a series of flat circles she had crocheted around and then connected in an asymmetrical fashion and adorned wit beads. It was green and purple – my favorite. t was really cool – looked like mod bubbles. Now, did I take a picture? NO! Because I am stupid. But I have remembered, and Ellen and I ordered some of the disks and I have picked up a few more of some different sizes since then.

Wouldn’t it be cool to use the Art Yarns Beaded Silk I had left over from the Summer Flies to make a bracelet?

YES IT WOULD!!!!! TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT I MADE LAST NIGHT:

Here’s what I did – I had three sizes of cabone rings – which are made by Boye and available at craft and sewing stores – 1 inch, 3/4 inch and 1/2 inch. I used a small crochet hook – it doesn’t matter too much what size – to crochet around them in small groups. I made two groups that consisted of three disks, one of each size. Then I made two groups of two, one of the 3/4 inch and one of the 1/2 inch. Then I crocheted around two single 1/2 inch rings. Then I laid them out on the table and monkeyed with them – I arranged them into several shapes, decided on this one, and then used the tails to close the crochet around the rings and to connect the groups. I sewed in all my tails. Then I used Fireline to sew on the beads – coin pearls and Swarovski crystals, some framed by size 8 silver seed beads to make them fit in the circle. Then I attached the clasp.

I FREAKING LOVE THIS. I am going through my stash to see what little schnibblets of silk and other nice yarn I have left from other projects to make some more. So if you wanna make this, get to K2Tog or Michaels or Joanns before I do and buy up all the Boye rings.

And that was just Saturday. Here it is Sunday morning! Check with me on the next post. Of course, meanwhile my house needs to be cleaned  . . . .

Dress Up Cards

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While my mom was here last week, she and I went to Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley and wandered their many aisles of fun things. I came away with a couple of fun stamps, including “Fancy Dress” made by Hero Arts. Mom and I rushed home and up to the craft room. Here are some cards we came up with.

Fancy Dress Cards

Mom and I had a great time doing this. We could use up my scraps of patterned paper and we didn’t have to break open any new packages of anything to complete them. They work in any color and would be great birthday cards, prom cards, maybe even wedding cards.

To make these cards, you will need:

8.5 x 11 inch colored cardstock, cut in half for cards

Stuff you will need

patterned paper cut to 5 x 1.5 inches

colored background panel to coordinate with the above

White panel cut to 2.75 x 3.75 inches

Fancy Dress stamp by Hero Arts

Sentiment stamps – I used “ohh la la!,” “birthday wishes,” and “I hope we’re never too old for ice cream and fancy dresses”

Colorbox black ink pad, clear embossing powder, embossing heat gun

Brush-tip markers to color dress

double-sided tape, scissors, bone folder

embellishments such as adhesive rhinestones, ribbons, buttons, flowers, glitter glue, etc.

More stuff you will need

1. Cut colored cardstock in half to make card. Attach patterned paper to front of card about .75 inches from fold of card.

2. Stamp Fancy Dress using Colorbox pad and emboss with clear embossing powder. When dry, attach to colored cardstock panel and attach panel to left side of card as shown below.

3. Color dress LIGHTLY with markers. Embellish as you like. I like glitter glue (Stickles brand) and rhinestones. Make sure to let dry thoroughly.

4. Stamp sentiment in lower right corner of card.

Fancy Dresses

detail

detail

Have fun with these. You can put ribbons around the waist, you can attach mini hangers to the straps, etc. Sass ‘em up.

Oh, Yeah – Wallpaper Cards

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Making wallpaper cards

Yesterday’s post promised wallpaper cards in the title. And I forgot to include them! So here they are.

When I was home for my step-cousin’s wedding last month, my mom let me go through her stash of old wallpaper, which she uses for cardmaking, and take home what I wanted. I picked out a lot of vintage-inspired wallpaper samples and am making them into blank note cards. I got the idea from my friend Chris Reeder, who gave me a package of similar cards for my birthday one year. They were so pretty, I haven’t used them yet. THANKS, CHRIS. But I have made perhaps a hundred copies of these great cards and sold them in my Etsy store.

Here are some pictures of the current crop.

Wallpaper cards

I look for wallpaper that has a big print on it, and then I cut out one or two – sometimes three, if I am lucky – sections of the paper that measure 3.75 x 5 inches. I then mount that wallpaper on a piece of coordinating cardstock in a solid color that will make a section of the wallpaper pop. Then I mount all of that on a white card that measures 4.25 by 5.5 inches. But what makes these really special, I think, is that I use dimensional glitter and Perfect Pearls to create a little bit of texture on the wallpaper. It is important NOT TO OVERDO IT with this stuff. Just add a little glitter to the ends of a couple of rose petals, or a pearl dot in the flower centers, for example.

il putti

For example, on this angel, I will add a bit of glitter to a small part of his little drape. Maybe a touch on the wings. AND THAT’S IT.

Also, don’t think that you have to center the image – a flower, an angel, a deer, a bird – in the center of the card. Sometimes it is more interesting if you use only a part of the image – like a section of a big flower – and let the eye and the imagination fill in the rest.

Then just box ‘em up and give ‘em as gifts!

Easter and Wallpaper Cards

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Easter Cards

Where has the time gone? Easter is this weekend! ALREADY. Seems like we just got done with Christmas, doesn’t it? So I did what I failed to do at Christmas and made some cards for friends and family.

These are so easy. To make them, you will need:

8.5 x 11 inch cardstock

pastel colored paper or cardstock, cut to 4 x 5.25 inches

Martha Stewart bunny punch

Fiskars corner heart punch

small pom pom balls

“happy spring” stamp

Bunnies

Brilliance ink pad, color Orchid

patterned scrap paper, glue, double-sided tape, scissors, toothpick

1. Cut white cardstock in half and fold each half to make size A-2 cards. Cut pastel paper or cardstock to 4 x 5.25 inches. Use Fiskars corner heart punch to decorate all four corners. Adhere pastel paper to white card with tape.

2. Punch a variety of bunnies from patterned scrap paper. Arrange bunnies in groups of four with three identical bunnies and one contrasting bunny. With glue and toothpick, adhere bunnies to card in a straight line. You can arrange them all in one direction, or have the contrasting bunny face the others, as I have. Glue pom poms to make bunny tails.

3. Stamp sentiment under bunnies.

See? Couldn’t be easier. Happy Easter!

Fall Cards

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My mom was recently here, and as she is also a cardmaker, we decided to spend some quality time together making some, well, CARDS. And, as it is autumn, what better theme to focus on? Here’s what we came up with . . .

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Mom and Fall Cards

To make them, you will need:

Autumn-colored cardstock cut to 4.5 by 12 inches, folded in half to make card

tree stamp

“happy fall” stamp

Embossable ink pad, brown ink pad

embossable glitter

heat gun

decorative ribbon

double-sided tape

mounting tape

decorative paper

coordinating cardstock for matting

img_0751

Mom's cards

1. Stamp tree image with embossable ink. Sprinkle on embossable glitter and knock off excess. Use heat gun to emboss. Stamp sentiment with brown ink. Cut out image. With coordinating cardstock, cut out panel that is 1/4 inch larger all around than panel with stamped image. Adhere image to coordinating cardstock.

2. Cut decorative paper 4 inches by 5.5 inches. Cut coordinating cardstock to 4.25 inches by 5.75 inches. Adhere paper to cardstock with double-sided tape. Adhere decorative ribbon, as shown, to paper and cardstock panel. Adhere to front of folded card.

3. Use mounting tape or squares to adhere stamped image to front of card.

Simple! Here are more pictures . . .

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My Fall Cards

I just used whatever leftover autumn paper I had in my scrap drawer. I did not purchase anything special to make these cards. More details below . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

img_0754

Detail - Happy Fall

Becky’s Cards

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My girlfriend Becky, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., has sent me a couple of cards this year that I just loved. I thought they were so beautiful. In fact, I thought they were so beautiful that she BOUGHT them. Guess what? SHE MADE THEM. Here’s a couple of pictures:

Pressed Flower Card

Pressed Flower Card

Isn’t this pretty? It was made with real wildflower, or dried flowers of some kind, and they were somehow adhered to the white panel, then mounted on the green and the red panel, and then mounted on the card. Really beautiful – and I don’t know how she did it.

Then came this card:

Lady Card

Lady Card

Isn’t this pretty? And it was three-dimensional, one of my favorite things to do with cards. I think it really makes them pop. I think this was done with rubber stamps and decorative scissors, but again, I am not sure.

Listen, Becky, I know you read this blog. Will you please leave a comment here and tell us how you made these – did you design them yourself, copy a picture in a magazine or did you take a class? If you took a class, tell us where so other folks can sign up, too, if they’re in your area.

Asian Cards

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I have made a bunch of cards recently, most of them over the weekend. At first, I was just cutting and taping away with cardstock and scrapbook paper, relying heavily on the beauty of the embellished papers to carry the impact of the card. I made a couple of sets, which I am selling in my Etsy store. Here are some pics:

Girlie Girl Cards

Girlie Girl Cards

To make these, you will need:

embellished 12×12 paper – something embossed, metallic or glittered

matching 8.5 x 11 cardstock and a few coordinating colored and white scraps

punches – one scalloped, one smaller oval

rubber stamps with sentiments and some ink

Blue Butterfly Cards

Blue Butterfly Cards

coordinating ribbon

embellishments – brads, sequins, etcs

adhesive (double-sided tape)

1. Cut cardstock in half width-wise. Fold each half in half again to form two cards, 4.25 x 5.5 inches. Set aside.

2. Cut embellished paper into pieces that measure 4 x 5.25 inches.

3. Decide where to place ribbon – in the corners, across the bottom or top or running down the sides. Cut ribbon to fit and adhere in place on back of paper. Adhere embellished paper to cardstock.

4. Cut a scalloped edged oval from a coordinating scrap. Cut a plain oval from a white scrap. Stamp sentiment on white scrap; mount scrap on scalloped oval. If desired, decorate oval with brads, sequins, or other embellishments. Mount sentiment onto card.

5. Further embellish the card with glitter, sequins, beads, etc in a manner keeping with the original design of the paper.

Girlie Girl detail

Girlie Girl detail

So I made a couple of sets of those. Okay – four different ones over the last week or so. Like I have nothing better to do. Sigh.

Then something inspired me to dig through my rather large collection of rubber stamps. I haven’t really done much rubber stamping lately – mostly, I have restricted my rubberstamping to the sentiments on the cards, as in the examples above. But once I began poking through my drawers of rubber stamps, I was reminded why I was attracted to the craft in the first place: the possibilities of color and design are almost limitless. But also overwhelming – which can stop you in your creative tracks, if you let it. I could kind of feel that coming on, so I decided to pick one stamp and do one fairly simple design. Here’s the finished product:

Medallion birthday card

Medallion birthday card

That got the juices going. So I dug through another drawer marked “Asian” and found a beautiful stamp I bought from Judikins years ago. More than a year ago, I made up some basic cards after I bought the “Far East” scrapbook pad at a craft store. Suddenly, the pieces came together. Here are the cards:

Purple Geisha Card

Purple Geisha Card

Very simple, yet full of impact, no? These cards measure 4.5 x 6 inches. For the medallion, I stamped the image with clear embossing ink and heat embossed it with a powder called “verdigris.” It’s a mix of teal and gold – like tarnished copper. For the Geisha, I stamped the image with Color Box black, heat embossed it with clear embossing powder and then decorated the image with lavender glitter glue. I mounted it on coordinating lavender cardstock, punched two holes at the bottom for two silver brads and mounted the whole thing on the base card with dimensional mounting tape. I love it! I’ll have these for sale in my individual card basket for $3.00 each when I do my next craft show in Oct.

Medallion detail

Medallion detail

Purple Geisha detail

Purple Geisha detail

Itty Bitty “Vintage” Gift Cards

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So, I can be a little compulsive. Just a little. The other day, I went to the craft store and came home with not one, but 4 (!!!!!) new pads of K & Company papers. I know they are not the only paper manufacturers out there. But for my $$ they make the prettiest paper of the highest quality. At least among the things I can get at my craft store.

Life's Journey

Life's Journey

One of the pads is called “Life’s Journey.” And the first pattern is a collage of miniature photos of collaged greetings inspired by vintage papers, photos and doodads. It looks like this, and there are three per pad:

Collage Page

Collage Page

What could I do with these? They are too small for me to make full-sized greeting cards. But gift cards! With a few doodads, printed paper and a tiny stamp, I could create one gift card per mini-collage that would in the end kinda look like the original mini-collage. And what a great way to use up my scraps and stuff! There are 42 mini-collages per page. Here’s what I came up with:

Buncha Gift Cards

Buncha Gift Cards

Below, I’ll show you some of them up close. To make these cards, you will need (in addition to the Life’s Journey paper)

cardstock cut to 6 inches x 3 inches, folded in half

lots of printed paper squares cut to 2.5 inches square

postage stamp-edged scissors

scraps of white or cream-colored paper or cardstock for insides

scraps of cardstock in different colors

small greeting stamp (like “for you”)

adhesive, brads, buttons, flowers – anything you might like to stick on the cards.

Black Gift Card

Black Gift Card

1. Adhere squares of printed paper to folded cardstock. Cut out white or cream-colored cardtsock or paper that measure 2.5 inches square and adhere to inside of card for greeting.

2. Cut out all the mini-collages using postage stamp-edged scissors. Adhere min-collages to small scraps of coordinated cardstock or paper and trim close to postage-stamp edge.

3. Adhere mini-collages to folded cards, off-center and slanted as

Gold Gift Card

Gold Gift Card

shown.

4. If you are using a stamped greeting on the outside, stamp it now, following placement shown at left.

5. Adhere all other doodads as shown in examples. If you are using flowers, glue down their petals so they fit in envelopes. Affix brads, buttons, glitter, etc.

Not so hard, huh. BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM and it took more time

Maroon Gift Card

Maroon Gift Card

than I originally thought.

Now you have to make envelopes. This is easy if you have a template. Mine is from Stampin’ Up. Pick out some nice paper – not cardstock – that matches your gift cards, cut ‘em out, fold ‘em and glue ‘em. Only thing left to do is for me to get these up in my Etsy store in packages of six!

Here’s what you need for envelopes:

Envelopes

Envelopes

Okay, now every one get busy and send me what you come up with. This took me a good 4 days of working here and there – in odd moments – to complete.