Rainy Day Creations

This One Sheet Wonder (OSW) I created let’s me cheat a little.  heheh  It allows me to use an entire sheet of 12X12 (for 6 cards); or if I can’t bear to part with the entire sheet, it allows me to use just half of it (12X6 for 3 cards).

For Father’s Day I needed several cards.  I had 2 full 12X12 sheets of designer paper with a masculine theme/feel that I thought looked good together even though they were not by the same manufacturer.  So I only had to use half of each sheet to make up a full 12X12 OSW.  Plus, since they were doubled sided, I had 4 different patterns to play with!  Is this clear as mud?  lol!

Maybe some pictures will help!  Here is the set I made.  There are 3 Father’s Day cards and 3 masculine birthday cards.

Here is the template and a picture of the cut papers.  Laying the pieces out like this prior to making the cards helped me make sure that each pattern was used 3 times.

 
(Click on the images to enlarge.)

This template also allows for a strip of coordinating paper for the inside of each card.

Finally, here are closeups of each card with their recipes below.

Stamps: Great Impressions “C322 - Happy Father’s Day”

Papers: SU! Very Vanilla; Memory Box “Sapphire”; Reminisce “Father” DP; Moxie “Tool Time” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”

Accessories: May Arts 1-5/8″ Twill; Circle Nestabilities; Cuttlebug; SU! “Photo Corners” Punch; Screw Brad

Stamps: Katie & Co. “Happy Birthday”

Papers: SU! Whisper White; Memory Box “Sapphire”; Reminisce “Father” DP; Moxie “Tool Time” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”

Accessories: May Arts 5/8″ Twill; Circle Nestabilities; Cuttlebug; SU! “Photo Corners” Punch; Screw Brad; Twine

Stamps: SU! “Wonderful Favorites”

Papers: SU! Whisper White; Memory Box “Sapphire”; Memory Box “Sapphire” Notecard; Reminisce “Father” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”

Accessories: SU! “Photo Corners”, “Large Star” and “Star” Punches, SU! Rope; Star Brad

Stamps: SU! “Celebrate Everything” and “It’s Your Birthday”

Papers: SU! Very Vanilla; Memory Box “Sapphire” Notecard; Moxie “Tool Time” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”

Accessories: SU! “Photo Corners” Punch and Rope, Hammer and Wrench Brads

Stamps: SU! “All Holidays”

Papers: SU! Whisper White; Memory Box “Sapphire”; Reminisce “Father” DP; Moxie “Tool Time” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”; SU! Black Marker

Accessories: May Arts 5/8″ Twill; SU! “Photo Corners” Punch; Argyle Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug, Hammer and Wrench Brads; Twine

Stamps: SU” “Starring You”

Papers: SU! Very Vanilla; Memory Box “Sapphire”; Reminisce “Father” DP; Moxie “Tool Time” DP

Inks: Memento “Tuxedo Black”

Accessories: May Arts 5/8″ Twill; Circle Nestabilities; Cuttlebug; SU! “Photo Corners”, “Large Star” and “Star” Punches; Star Brads

Hope you have a wonderful day.  for dropping by.

Today over at Splitcoaststampers the Inspiration Challenge is an on-line store called Skeem where you can find beautiful candles and perfumes.  The  inspiration for my project came from the candle pictured here on the left.  It reminded me of a piece of double sided designer paper that I purchased several months ago.  I had not yet done anything with the 12″ X 12″ piece, so I decided to do a One Sheet Wonder (OSW) with the entire sheet.  I’m such a paper hoarder which means that doing a project that would use up ALL of the paper was a big deal for me!  lol

Here is the finished project.  The set consists of 6 cards and my favorite little box (template by Leslie Miller) in which to put them all.

Below each card is pictured individually.

On this first card I did a little stitching in the lower right hand corner.

And the box with an elastic band to hold it all together…

I had so much FUN!!  And I don’t seem to be suffering any negative effects from using that entire piece of designer paper!  Oh and for anyone interested, here is the template I created for the OSW.

  
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps: SU! “Priceless” and “Fun & Fast Notes”

Papers: SU! Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Baja Breeze; Making Memories “Hillary Lace Flower” Designer Paper

Inks: SU! Old Olive and Not Quite Navy

Accessories: SU! Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Brads, Flower Fusion Felt Flowers, Paper Piercing Template and Tool, Photo Corner Punch; Cuttlebug; Oval Nestibilities; 1/2″ Circle Punch; Embroidery Needle and Floss; Primas; GG Ribbon; Elastic Cording

Ever since seeing this post over at mel stampz, I have wanted to try making my own embossing template.  The new set “Central Park” from SU! had the perfect stamps to give this a try with an outline stamp of a stem and 3 leaves and a filler stamp for the the outline.

To make the template, I stamped the outline image 3 times on SU!’s Whisper White card stock and cut them out.  (A light weight cardboard could also be used.  However because of the tighter cutting required for this particular image, I opted to use card stock making it a bit easier to get into those more difficult areas with my scissors.)

Next I glued the 3 pieces together and trimmed any overlaps that occurred from the images not being cut out exactly the same.  This is important in order to get a deep, crisp and clean embossed line.

Once the template was finished I ran it through my Cuttlebug.  Be sure to use an embossing mat on the opposite side of the card stock from the template.  This single image is actually the reverse of the stamped image.

With this template, it can be run through in either direction!

You can also use the positive or negative side of the embossed image.  Here I have used my stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the filler stamp was positioned right over the embossing.

The positive:

The negative:

I added some faux stitching around the negative embossed image.

Here is the finished card.

Well I was having so much fun that I decided to play some more.  This time I started by embossing my card stock with the Swiss Dots embossing folder before using my Central Park template.  Just for some embossing interest, I used the negative embossed Swiss Dots for the positive Central Park embossed image.  And rather than using the filler stamp for the leaves, I distressed the embossing by rubbing my ink pad over the entire image several times.

And the finished card… TOO FUN!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and beautiful Easter!

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Masculine Card: (SUO)

Stamps: “Central Park” and “On Your Birthday”
Papers: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Old Olive, and  DSP “Bella Bleu”
Inks: Certainly Celery and Basic Black
Accessories: Old Olive 1/4″ Twill Ribbon, Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon, Basic Gray Corderoy Button, Brads, Photo Corners Punch

Feminine Card:

Stamps: SU! “Central Park” and “On Your Birthday”
Papers: SU! Whisper White, Taken with Teal and Certainly Celery; DCWV Designer Paper
Inks: SU! Certainly Celery and Taken with Teal
Accessories: SU! Fleurette, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Border Punch and Brad; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder; Primas; Flatback Pearls; May Arts Ribbon

Probably my biggest addiction, even more than collecting actual stamps, is designer paper. PAPER!!! I love it!! But I find that I don’t use it because then it would be gone. D’oh. So I have begun to quarter my 12″X12″ sheets. This way I have FOUR… YES FOUR pieces of paper. I can let my little hoarding self use one or two of these pieces and still have some left!! Woohoo!! Well it works for me. LOL!!

So that is where I started today, with a quartered piece of 12″X12″ designer paper.  To make sure that there was absolutely no waste of my precious paper, I created another 6″X6″ One Sheet Wonder (OSW) template.  I just love making these.  They also work, of course, for all of the 6″X6″ pads of designer paper available now.  And I created a sketch (which I almost followed!  lol) that can be used with the pieces from the OSW that will make into four cards.  Here’s the template for the OSW.

I needed a couple of masculine birthday cards and a couple of wedding cards.  Since this was a double sided patterned paper, it worked out perfectly with the stripes on one side and the blue toile like floral on the other!  Plus my 10 Designer Centers & Borders from JustRite had everything I needed for sentiments all in one set!

Here is the sketch.

If you decide to give this OSW/Sketch design a try, please let me know.  It would be so much fun to see what you have created!

Happy Crafting!!!

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Stamps: JustRite 10 Designer Centers & Borders

Papers (all SU!): Whisper White, Baja Breeze (wedding only), Kraft and Chocolate Chip (birthday only),  DSP Parisian Breeze

Inks: SU! Chocolate Chip Marker

Accessories: Brads, SU! Photo Corner Punch, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot Embossing Folder (wedding only), Argyle Embossing Folder (birthday only), SU! Taffeta and Satin Ribbon Rose (wedding only), SU! Rope Twine (birthday only)

The new Shady Tree Studio floral images that were recently released are so beautiful, and I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to craft with first.  So, I chose all 5 and made a set complete with a matching gift box.  (Sometimes indecision can be a fun thing!)

When you use designer paper (dp) do you often end up with lots of little bits and pieces of it which are then generally wasted.  Well, to prevent any waste, I came up with a template not long ago that uses 2) 6″X6″ pieces of dp.  This works well with all of the 6″X6″ paper pads available now.  And all of the pieces of dp used on the box and the 5 Shady Tree cards came from those 2) 6″X6″ pieces.

Here are the templates.

I used ALL of the paper on both of the 6″X6″ pieces of paper.  Even the little 1/4″ square was used on the box with the brad.

I have used this template before but made 6 cards with it rather than just 5.  Instead of having corner pieces on the cards, I had 6) 3″ X 1-1/2″ panels.  So only 2 corner pieces remained with that template.

Hope you can join me over at the CLASSroom for lots more pictures and details about the cards.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!! 

The party has gotten so big over at Sharon’s blog that today “Stamp Simply Celebrates” is spilling right over onto mine!!  With Christmas almost here and lots of mailing to do, I think that Gift Cards are one of the best ways to send a little love to family and friends.  Well every gift card needs a holder, and there is a template and a whole gallery for inspiration that uses that template over on Splitcoaststampers (SCS).  That’s because it was SCS’s Sketch Challenge #101.  So your challenge is to make a gift card holder.  Now if you have a different design that you like or want to try, no worries.  Go for it!

Splitcoaststampers SC101 Gallery

Template/Instructions

Now I have some really USEFUL Blog Candy that I hope any and everyone can use.  Nope… it’s NOT stamps.

Yup!!  It’s a gift card!  LOL  I will send the winner their choice of the two gift card holders above WITH their choice of either of the two gift cards shown!!  The first card for Target has a $20 value.  The second card for Starbucks also has a $20 value.  I’m not a coffee drinker, but I can tell you their hot chocolate can’t be beat!!  To enter just leave a comment ON THIS POST.  If you play in my challenge, please come back here and leave me a link to your creation!  I REALLY want to see them all as I LOVE these little things.  Oh and as a fun twist… if you do play and leave me a link here… you will automatically have a second entry for my Blog Candy!!  Woohoo!!  I will use random.org on Friday, December 12th at midnight PST to pick the winner!

For some wonderful inspiration I have some sample makers!!  Check out their beautiful creations:

Janine - 2BKrafty

Jennifer - The Buck Stamps Here

Darlene - Dar’s Crafty Creations

AJ - The Willow Garden

A couple of Christmases ago my DDIL Kimberly and I stamped our hearts out making these fun holders.  Here are some that she made.

Here is a peek into the Dirty Dozen Fan Club gallery over on SCS from August of last year.  (I had such fun with these.  They are scratch ‘n sniff… chocolate and apple scented!)

And here are some others that I have made for wedding or new baby gifts.

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

Remember:  Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during the 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!!   You DO NOT need to have a Blog to play — uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED.  When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08.

Have a wonderful Sunday!  Hope you can play along in my challenge!!!  These holders are so quick, so easy and SO FUN!!

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Recipe for my Christmas Gift Card Holders:

Stamps: SU! ‘Winter Post’

Papers: SU! Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, ‘Holiday Treasures’ DSP

Inks: SU! Chocolate Chip Classic and Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive Markers

Accessories: Metal Photo Corners and Brads, Designer Label Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Cuttlebug, Die Cut ‘Vintage’, Gift Wrap Ribbons, Kaiser Rhinestones

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS POST

I just love making these little miniature boxes.  Aren’t they cute!

Last week I made one for a door hanger project and promised a template for it this week.  So here it is.. more or less.  lol

I tried to make it such that the template actually printed to the size/measurements shown on the template.  However, I could not get it to be exact.  Sorry I’m so computer challenged.  However because of the angles and shape of the template it is relatively easy to tell where the folds and cuts go without doing any measuring.

So the easiest thing to do is simply print the template, cut it out and then just trace around the outside of it.  As long as the proportions are kept the same, the template will work fine to make a smaller or larger size box. When I printed it out the longest measurement (which shows as 9″ on the template) was just over 8″ in actuality.  So it printed a little smaller.  The picture of the boxes at the top of this post shows this smaller box in front (”friend”) and the actual measured to scale box is shown in back (”thanks”).

If you do want to make a box the exact size as the template and you want to measure it, I have all the measurements on the template in a 1/16″ scale, ie 4/16″ instead of 1/4″.  This was just to keep it consistent.

Here is the template:  4blog115boxtemplate.jpg

Here are some pictures of the box construction.  Just a note.. on the “Flap” I used a corner rounder punch to round the corners.  On “Bottom B” and “Bottom D” I used scissors to snip off a small triangular shape at the angled corners as shown in the pictures below.

All folds are in the same direction.

The Glittering Christmas paper on the green box is from Flourishes.

And it’s done!  If you have any questions, just ask.  I will answer them as soon as possible which will most likely be next week.  Got a big weekend planned.  Tonight is a craft night of sorts at our church, and I will be teaching a couple of ladies how to make a few cards.  And then tomorrow is my 17 year old son’s homecoming dance.  There are 14 couples in his group.  He has organized the whole thing, has everyone showing up at our home for pictures to start the evening off (14 couples and parents) and then 2 huge limos will come to take them to dinner and the dance, etc.  Plus they are all returning here around midnight after their haunted house adventure to watch a movie in our little home theater.  Should be some crazy fun.  He is my last of 4 sons and I am cherishing every minute of it.  They grow up so so so fast…

Finally… the BLOG CANDY!  A Muse has just released the coolest set called “Hero Mail”.   $2 from the sale of each set goes to Operation Troop Aid.  Well I just love the set, and so I bought 2… one for me and one for you if you are the winner!  I’ll have it up on my blog sometime next week.  It’s a perfect set for Veteran’s Day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Oh and if you do make a box or two and post them somewhere, PLEASE leave me a link.  I would LOVE to see them!!

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Stamps: SU! Everyday Flexible Phrases

Papers: SU! DSP Autumn Vine, Really Rust, Sage Shadow; PTI White

Inks: SU! Really Rust Classic

Accessories: SU! 1/2 inch Striped Grosgrain; McGill Leaf Punch

My “Siberian Iris” set from Fourishes arrived yesterday! Couldn’t wait to play with it! I made a couple of fun little baskets.

I took some pictures along the way in case anyone wants to make one, too.

First decide what size and shape you want your “basket” to be. Here are some examples or ideas. I also included a template with each section numbered 1-7.

You will need to make and cut out a template of your desired basket shape. Then trace around it 4 times placing each one side to side. On the 5th section do only 1/2 (or a little less) of the basket shape. Then do one more full basket shape and finally a 7th section which is just a tab for gluing. This 7th section should be less than 1/2 the width of your template (and the same width or less of section #5). Be sure to add a couple of tabs on sections #2 and #6 with the #6 tab being a little taller. If you want to have three decorated sections, add another tab to section #4. This tab should be the tallest of the three as it will be the back row. Cut out your basket and score all the sides. Fold the basket so that the tracing lines will be on the inside of the basket.

To add patterned paper, make another template that is 1/4″ less in height and width than your basket template. Trace 4 of this smaller basket shape on the back of whatever patterned paper you are using. (This step is optional. You can, of course, stamp images on the basket or even leave it plain.) Turn your cut out basket over so that all the tracing marks (if you have them like mine does…) and adhere your patterned paper to sections #1-4.

Apply adhesive to the outside of sections #5 and #7.

Adhere section #7 to the inside of section #3 to form a rectangle. (If section #7 is smaller than section #5, make sure it is glued on section #3 far enough away from section #4 so it equals the measurement of section #5 and forms a rectangle.)

Adhere section #1 to the outside of section #5.

Make sure that your sections will fold flat for mailing.

Decorate as desired!

Basket 1 - Celebrate
Stamps: “Siberian Iris” and “Many Sentiments” both sets from Flourishes
Papers: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, DP is SU! “Prints”
Inks: Jet Black Stazon, Always Artichoke Marker, Reinkers in Always Artichoke, Old Olive, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Eggplant GG Ribbon, Rhinestone Brad, Butterfly Punch

Basket 2 - Happy Mother’s Day
Stamps: “Siberian Iris” from Flourishes
Papers: Always Artichoke, Lavender Lace, Very Vanilla, DP is SU! “Prints”
Inks: Always Artichoke, Lavender Lace, Always Artichoke Marker, Versamark, Chalks in Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Always Artichoke, Old Olive
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Rhinestones, Prima, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Ticket Punch

**These little baskets were designed using a folding technique from a card in my mother’s vintage collection. It was a Hallmark Historical Collection card and was a reproduction of a card printed in the late 1800’s by Raphael Tuck & Sons, London.**

Lori Craig has organized a Bible Verse Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers. “We’ll each create an on-going altered journal, rolodex card, scrapbook page, ATC or recipe card project… Each month we will choose a verse and get to stamping. We’ll add that piece to our collection.” Here is my first scripture card, the storage box and dividers.

Isn’t this a wonderful idea and challenge! I am just now joining in for the month of April. I plan to make this more than just a year long project.. perhaps a life long project. The scripture card hangs from the picture hooks in plain view all month. As I create the next month’s card, I will simply take the old one off from the hooks and file it under the month in which I created and memorized it. It will be easily available if I choose to refer back. Oh and another easy change each month could be the ribbon around the hangers. Thank you, Lori, for such a meaningful and awesome challenge!!

The finished box measures 5-3/4″ wide X 4-1/2″ tall X 3″ deep. Each scripture card measures 4″ X 5-1/4″. The center of the holes for the eyelets on the scripture card are 5/8″ from the top and 1″ from the side of the card.

The holes for the brads are placed 1/8″ from the top and 1-1/4″ from the side fold on the box.

These are just the regular inexpensive picture hangers that measure 7/8″ in length. The holes for the brads are placed 1/8″ from the top and 1-1/4″ from the side fold.

Each divider card measure 4-1/2″ X 5-1/2″ not including the tab.

Box and File Cards
Stamps: Full Calendar, Sanded
Paper: So Saffron, Always Artichoke, SU! DP “Le Jardin”
Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: Tab Punch, Brads, Picture Hangers, GG Ribbon or Organdy Ribbon

Scripture Card:
Stamps: A Light Unto My Path, Carte Postale, French Flair
Paper: So Saffron, SU! DP “Le Jardin”
Ink: Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Jet Black Stazon
Accessories: Jumbo Pewter Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Rhinestone