Popup Floral Card

Hi everyone! can you believe this is the last weekend of the month. I will be busy helping a friend finishing moving. But before I need to get to work I wanted to share this card that it took me a full week to make. A lot of the time spent was in tweaking to get elements the correct size. This card was inspired by a card that was posted on the Finding Time To Create  blog found here .

I really wish the pictures  were better because it really is beautiful inside and out.  Like usual I did some experimenting to fix a couple of mistakes.

 Originally the scallop panel was cut out of yellow cardstock. Which you will see when you look at the open card. Opps! I stamped with my music stamp upside down on one side and not a clear image on the other. Instead of discarding the card base I brushed gesso over it and laid scrunched up plastic wrap and placed a book on top. After the gesso was dry I painted with ivory acrylic paint and sponged on a purple color.The picture doesn't really show the resulting texture.

The flower wreath was a free file during the week before Easter. I remembered why I quit using this particular cardstock to cut out delicate shapes It tore in one place when I was carefully taking it off the mat. Heat embossing powder to the rescue. I heat embossed where it was torn and  before the melted powder was cool held the pieces together with the end of a paint brush. Then covered the whole shape with embossing powder. The shape really sparkles as I used a glitter embossing powder. The butterfly is the outline of one of the original files which came with my Cameo. I painted it with metallic watercolors and then used a black marker for the body part and scrap floss for the antennae.

I was playing with ribbon and decided to go with my grosgrain ribbon. However, it looked too blah. I stamped on a small piece with the music stamp but didn't like it. I ended up using an Inkadinkado background stamp. The small pattern was perfect. I found that Stazon ink worked better than Ranger Archival.

I decided instead of circles to use flowers for the inside of my card. I did go with half circles. The flower petals are painted with two different acrylic paints and then because I didn't glue the flowers exactly when I glued them together edged with Extreme glitter paint.  Since I had used gray cardstock I used gesso on the half circles while I had the gesso out. Then I used bubble wrap coated with acrylic paint and stamped over them. When that was dry I stamped with the same color of Stazon ink I had used for the ribbon. The stamps are part of a Fancy Pants large stamp set that because it is so large is not stored with the rest of my stamps and I forget about it. :-( 

 With the believe sentiment being so fancy I decided to not add another stamp on the half circle.

On the scallop I had gotten some gesso when I did the front. I edged the scallop using a broad marker and then used the same glitter paint that I used on the flowers. Down under the flower there is space to write a personal message to the person who will be receiving this card. I hope it will bring them delight and that they will know that someone is thinking of them.

Do you throw something out you messed up or do you try to come up with a creative way to fix it?

Lol! ignore the stains on my table. This table has seen a lot of use and even for awhile was used in a shop as a work bench. I don't think anything could ruin it now. ;-)

I have lots to do so that is all for now. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Birdhouse Shape Card

Hi everyone! I really felt today like things could wait while I crafted. For some reason I've been derelict in spending at least fifteen minutes a day playing and I was missing it. When this week a birdhouse cutting file was free from Silhouette I decided to see if I could turn it into a shaped card.

If you are going to turn this file into a shaped card you will have to make an extra shape to adhere to the front of the card base.. The roof will extend over the card base  but will only be visible on the back of the card. The reason for this is when you weld the two birdhouse shapes to make your card base you are going to have to overlap to have a decent fold. I am pleased the way the card turned out.

After cutting all my pieces out of gray cardstock which I'm almost out of I had fun with paint. Years ago my sister had given me some fabric dye paint which I never opened. When I was trying to decide what colors as I was looking through my stash I realized those colors would be perfect. I used a sponge brush and painted red oxide on the base and was pleased how it does look like wood. On the front and side shape I used adobe. I will be looking to see if I can find more DecoArt Fabric Dye Paint as my cardstock didn't buckle at all using it. Also it was really quick drying.

After the paint was dry I embossed with The Paper Studio wood-grain embossing folder. (Hobby Lobby has it online at half price just in case you wish to buy this folder. Not that I'm trying to enable anyone to spend money for craft supplies. LOL!)

I painted the curlicues with a combination of the two paints. The circle I colored with a marker. I decided instead of using the perch that was part of the file to cut a piece from a skinny craft stick. Of course if you were going to mail this you would want to use the cardstock perch unless you were mailing it in a special box.

I'm thinking of seeing if I can find a tiny bird to place on the perch. Also I'm debating about perhaps placing some small flowers on the side. Would you leave this like it is or would you add to it?

Weather is suppose to be nice this weekend and as long as it is not rainy I may get a kite out and fly one.  It has been awhile since I've had my kites out and lately there has been enough wind to do so. LOL! If you tell me to go fly a kite that is just what I'll do. Maybe my next project should be a kite shaped card.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Give Away And A Blog Worth Checking Out

As many of you who follow me know I do not usually highlight any one blog or even post give aways. However, this is one give away you are not going to want to miss. In fact this is one blog that is on a must read list. You will not only find tons of inspiration but also learn how to do some cool techniques. Also Roni so generously shares templates and card sketches. All of this for free and you know how I love free. Here is the link for the give away.
http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com/2014/04/25-million-give-way.html

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Vintage Handbag

Roni at Ink Stains posted a cute vintage handbag along with a template and I decided that I wanted to make one. Here is the link if you wish to download the template:
 http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com/2014/04/vintage-handbag-card-template.html

Although the template was easy to trace in Silhouette Studio Version 3 it was not that easy to cut. For some reason after I had cut it out with heavy grey cardstock to make sure it would cut out correctly and went to cut it out of fancy cardstock the program decided to cut the fold line instead of perforating it even though I didn't even have the color of the fold line checked for cutting since I was going to score it manually. I will be happy when Silhouette fixes the bugs in this version and I know they are working overtime on that. For that reason I ended up using copy paper as I didn't want to waste all my pretty cardstock. I'll be able to salvage most of the piece of the cardstock but it still did not make me too happy.

I decided to cut the clasp off of the copy paper as well as off of my wood trim pieces. With the knife tool it was easy to cut the clasp off. As well as to make my wood trim. I drew an oval and used the  subtract option in the modify menu for my wood piece to modify it so that it wasn't a straight line across.

The clasp was colored with gold Inka Gold on both the front and back. I went ahead and clip a small section on each side and slipped the clasp in to close.  For durability sake I think it would be better to just tuck one ball behind the other.

I embossed my blue copy paper handbag using a Teresa Collin's embossing folder. I don't know the name of  the folder. I then glued the copy paper down on the gray cardstock. The inside of the purse is gray color. 

Using this stripe paper I found at a thrift store and a wood-grain embossing folder it really looks like wood. As you can tell from the photo a little bit of the white of the paper shows through but I think it gives the trim more of a vintage look. The trim is on both the front and the back. 

I didn't have eyelets nor did I have chain for the handle. I would have loved to have used them on this project. I guess those are two products I need to put on my list of things to buy. You would think with all of my crafting supplies I would have such things. I did however have this ribbon which is the perfect color. :-)

This was a fun project and I plan to add a sentiment on the inside. I may even add a gift card for my granddaughter to buy a book at a bookstore. 

Looking at the template I don't think it would be too difficult to turn this into a cute bag to fill with some goodies. It definitely would make a cute Mother's Day card which would be quick and easy if someone needed to make one.

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Where has time gone? I can't believe that Sunday will be Easter and that April is already halfway over. Wishing you a Happy Easter if you celebrate Easter and Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Bunny Shaped Card

Silhouette offers a free file every week. Sometimes I don't know what I'm going to do with the file when I download it. Often I'll just use a part of it or use it in a totally different way. That is the case with this week's file. It originally was designed to be sewn as  a bag but I decided to make it into a card.

After welding the head to make a card I cut everything out of white cardstock. The inside ears and mouth is colored with chalk. The pupil of the eyes and nose is colored with a marker. I used buttons for the eyes and Scrap Floss for the whiskers. I curled the ears forward to give him a little bit of character.  I think this would be cute if a person had flocking to add.

I don't know what I'll be working on next although I have a file I would like to cut out and turn into a card. In the meantime I will be helping a friend move.  Then after that is over hopefully I can get back to my crafting.

Wishing you  Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Egg Card

Yesterday was a beautiful day. After finishing this card I went for a long walk with my dogs.  Spring is here and before I know it Easter will be here. A friend sent me a image that I used as an inspiration for this card.

I downloaded Version 3 of Studio and it did not want to play nice. I was going to cut the flower flourish in the middle of an oval shape but it didn't cut where it was suppose to. Not being one to waste I decided to go ahead and use the flower flourish. Since it was cut out of gray cardstock I went and colored it with Inka Gold.

I had previously cut out the Kraft card base and after figuring out how to cut a card base like this out of white using version 3 I decided to go with the Kraft. It just looked better to me. The embossing folder I used is a Sizzix retired folder. I now wish I would have used a little narrower ribbon I have in this same color at the top where there is a line or even tied twine there.

The oval shapes are cut out of scrap card stock. I love how the tulip in the pattern cardstock ended up on the oval. If you look at the pattern oval you will see a little bit of yellow which is why when I saw the scrap of yellow on my desk I thought it would be perfect.

I have an Easter card I want to make if I can get a file to cut right. There are some things I like about Version 3 of the Studio software but if you have not installed it I would wait until some of the bugs are ironed out. Right now if I cut perforated lines I then have to go back and click on a function like draw and then click on the selection icon so I can change to the cut lines.For some reason the program freezes so I can't just select the lines I want to cut. I do not like that perforated and cut lines can't be cut out in one pass. Or that every time I do one thing I have to click on an unrelated icon before I can do what I want. It will be nice once the bugs are out and things work the way they are suppose to work.

Not tank top weather yet but warmer so I can have doors and windows open to air out the place. Over the weekend a friend brought back my carpet cleaner so I will be busy cleaning the carpets this week. Of course the boys and I will also take advantage of this warm weather to do more exploring. How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Tulip Frame Card

Hi everyone I had company last week and then my Internet went down. I thought of trying to post using my Smartphone but I don't think I'm that smart.

I played with paint and glue and even took some pictures of the process yesterday but then when I woke up this morning and saw the dried panel I decided to do something else today.  That panel and another panel I did with paint and glue will just have to wait until the muse comes and whispers in my ear what to do with them. ;-)

I found on my hard drive where my external drive had copied several files which I thought were lost for ever. Among them is a charming Tulip Frame by Pamela A Conner which she made using dingbat fonts. I also found at Hobby Lobby Inka Gold  on sale so you know me I had to play.

Last week  at My Creative Classroom the emphasis was on stickers. I've been hoarding these dimensional stickers I found at a dollar store for a couple of years. If I ever find more I definitely will buy the store out.

Oh you want to see the finished card. O.K drum-roll please.

While straightening up my file drawer I found some yellow cardstock. I thought that would be perfect for the card base.  I decided to use the scallop card base which I created a couple of years ago. Sure better than trying to use decorative scissors to get the same look. I edged the scallops with Red Gold ink using a cotton swab.

As I said the frame is a file by Pamela A. Conner. I cut the file out with some confetti cardstock which I've had for a long time. While cleaning I found a piece which had been printed on one side when I forgot to take the cardstock out of the printer and went to print something else. I decided to cut this file out with that first as a trial. Figured if it didn't cut right I wasn't out anything.  Of course like usual when I do something like that I end up using the trial piece in the finished project. LOL!

Using a cotton swab I colored the frame with Lava Red and Gold Inka Gold. When the Inka Gold was dry I buffed it to bring out the shine. I decided to go ahead and use the inside piece from the frame. I inked the edges with Red Gold ink and then placed the dimensional sticker. I pop dotted the panel then on the card.

The weather is once again beautiful. Of course the joke here is if you don't like the weather wait fifteen minutes and it will change. The boys and I walked to the park on Sunday when it was clear only to get hailed on while there. Of course by the time we got home the sun had come out and the hail had stopped. So if you don't see me around for awhile I'll probably  be enjoying the weather with my dogs outdoors taking photos.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again.