Little One, Happy Birthday

Several of my friends celebrated their baby's first or second birthdays this past year. I couldn't help but create cards for them. I even created a gift bag for one.

Welcome Baby Sienna

I won the poll. I guessed right! Baby Sienna was born on a special day. MY BIRTHDAY! Right away, she became a special baby to me.

To help her mama (my friend) celebrate her little girl's red egg/1 month party I gifted her with thank you cards she could send to friends & family who gifted Sienna.

What I loved about these cards is that I was able to use paper that was very similar to the paper her mama used on the party invitations. Plus, it has a bit of an Asian flare to them.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

It's funny to me how a card can appear as "meh" to one person and "wow" to another.

I won some Eric Carle "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" stickers at a scrapbook crop retreat. I used them on this card. At the end I though this card was just "meh". But then I shared it with others and one by one they were all "wooo... wow...". I'm amused! What do you think of it?

Stick to 'em

Sometimes it takes a sticker to make the card what it is. So easy and super fun to put together.

Snowflake stickers.

Vroom vroom... beep beep. 3D car stickers made these super cute!

Same pack of car stickers on a different background. Simple but the effect goes a long way.

Emboss It!

Embossing is one of the simplest ways to make a simple card look fancy.

I used the Cuttlebug to emboss these. The Cuttlebug is portable and easy to use. Last fall I got myself a Big Shot. I'm in love!

I had paper flowers. I glued them down first and then embossed.
The flowers look like they're part of the paper. Pretty effect!

Another example of flowers embossed into the paper. Easy but lovely effect.

These cards were made for a work event to thank senior leaders for volunteering.
I was honored to hand craft these for them.

Peekaboo... Happy Birthday!

My little nephew is a HUGE fan of all the Sesame Street characters. Elmo was one of his favorites. For his birthday last August, this was the card I gave him.

I used a scallop punch for Elmo, circle punch for his eyes, cut out his nose, and used remnants of an eighth note sticker for the eyes. For the mouth I trimmed a punched 1/2 circle and of course for the polka dots I used my circle punch. The "2" was cut out from my Slice machine.

It took me a long time to make the card but it was worth it.

Happy Birthday Little Z!

100 Followers, 100 Following

Woohoo! A Pinterest milestone.

Today I hit an equal number of followers and those I follow. What are the chances it happens at the same moment!

Yippeeee! Come follow me on Pinterest.

Stampin' Up Kick Off

February 4, 2012 was the kick off for my new business as a Stampin' Up Independent Demonstrator.

Off to a great start, eight friends came out and joined me for a fun evening of desserts and paper crafts. 

Table all setup with catalogs, adhesive, and wish lists. 

Ready, set, CRAFT!

Each guest received a Tea Holder favor which contained a bag of tea and a cookie.

This treat favor was inspired by Niki's Tea Holder.

Project 1: Sour Cream Container
My upline Charlette taught me how to do this.
It's such a simple project to put together but the effect goes a long way.
Hide some candy inside and VOILA!, it's a party favor.

 Project 2: Valentine's Day Card

 Project 3: Happy Birthday

What's a party without a raffle and prizes for upcoming hostesses?

Overall, I think the workshop was a big success! It was a lot of work and time to put one together but seeing how much fun everyone had doing the crafts was reward enough. After all, Stampin' Up is more than just the paper and stamps. It's the people and sharing what you love to do with them!

Time to plan for the next one!

The Card Swap

My BFF lives on the other side of the country. We're both avid crafters and participate in Stampin' Up workshops from time to time. Recently we found out that we both purchased the same paper punch; the pennant punch.  We decided it would be so much fun to create a card for one another using the same punch.  Then we thought it would be even more fun to keep it going.  Each round would have a different theme.

For each round one person picks a tool, craft item, theme, or technique and both of us must create a card for the other using it. Then with a personal message handwritten inside it gets dropped in the mail to surprise the other. Our first round's item was Stampin Up's Pennant Punch.

I made her a colorful strip of pennants.

She made me a turkey. I was tickled to find her in my mailbox.

Next round's item is Chip Board. Yikes! I've never really used chip board before so I guess I'll be learning something new.

What fun!

Stamp, Embellish, Emboss... VOILA!

This is one of my favorite cards to make right now.  I can't wait to try it again with another style stamp.

Simple to do but looks so fancy!  Stamp,emboss (Cuttlebug), apply to card, embellish.  Ready!

Good Deal

I LOVE it when you purchase a craft item or something that was on sale or was a good bargain.  Perhaps at the time you don't have any idea what you're going to do with it but you know that someday it will come in handy.

This is what happened with these Father's Day cards.

One day while browsing The Paper Source store I paused in front of the clearance rack.  It wasn't much past Christmas time so they had a lot of holiday items.  If you know The Paper Source it is dream land to girlie girls who love everything paper.  They sell beautiful stationary, special event, unique paper goods, some of which you can design yourself.  But, because they sell such beautiful things they're prices are a bit of an investment.  But, if your'e lucky you might find something you need on the clearance rack.

And, there they were.  Plain stickers in circle and rectangular shapes.  I have no idea why I would need these stickers but I had this hunch that someday I might need them for envelope seals or invitations or cards or something. 

More than half a year late as I brainstormed father's day cards I remembered these delightful stickeres.  And, I remembered the little letter stamps that I had also bought one sale, many moons ago.  The letter stamps were also one of those items where I thought "I know I can use these" but because they are individual letters and trying to line them up in a straight line to stamp out a word was just more than I wanted to deal with.  But, one letter at a time, that's more my style.

Voila!  Stamped stickers to spell out brother or dad.  I  LOVE IT!  My investment in these sale items have totally paid off.

Can't wait to make more cards with these stickers and stamps

Organizing Acrylic Stamps

One of my favorite things to do is to find a new use for something I already own.  It excites me!  (Hmmm... is it a sign that I need a life?  Nah.  Just means I find joy in the simple things of life.)

I heard about this idea on someone's blog or website eons ago and have been wanting to do this for ages.  Finally, I have.  This is a safe way to store and organize your acrylic stamps. 

Tools:

- Old CD jewel cases
-Tombo (or any rolling dry adhesive used for paper crafts)
-Dry White Out (the kind that rolls)
-Pen

Putting it together:

You'll need an empty old CD jewel case.  Recycle.  Be green!

Your packaged acrylic stamps.

Peel off the stamps, one by one.

Arrange them on the inside of the jewel case.

On the printed side of your acrylic stamps packaging, cut to fit the jewel case.  You will use it as a cover label.




Use your dry adhesive roller to place clear adhesive to the front of your label.  I personally love Tombow adhesive.



Place the label on the inside of the cover.  When you close the case, you will see the labels right side up.
(apologies for the side view in this photo)

To give you a base to label the case, I used a Papermate dry white out and ran it across the edge.  It makes it easier to see your label when you store it.

Write on the label.

Ready to store.  My craft desk (transformed from an IKEA office desk) has a CD holder area.  You can use a CD box or any other method you prefer to store your new acrylic stamp cases. 

Tip:

Rolling the white out on the edge of the case was a little tricky because there isn't much width to work on.  Roll slowly so as not to cut into the white out tape.  "Eat Your Yummy Cupcake" was the first one I did.  Not so pretty, I think.  I got better with practice. 

How do you store your acrylic stamps (or even regular wood based rubber stamps, I'd love to hear your ideas)?

Leave me a note.

Criss-Cross Cards

I recently made Criss-Cross Cards for a friend.  She needed Thank You cards for her parents and Bridesmaids.  Splitcoast Stampers gave me the criss-cross inspiration. 

Cards for the Bridesmaids

Front:

Back:

Thanks to another friend in common, she helped me cut out the names on her Cricut. 

*Sigh* I dream of owning a Cricut.  It's enhanced with a little gem.  Pretty, eh?

 

Cards for the bride's parents:

Outside

Inside

You can't really see it, but the middle panel has a square area where she can write her message. 

The square is enhanced with the petal border.

The above cards took a substantial amount of time considering the materials, layering, and cutouts.

But, I love the way they turned out.

Two more cards I made for my bride friend. 

The butterflies were purchased on etsy.  How fun!

 I hope the receivers enjoyed receiving these as much as I loved making them.

"Praying For You" Cards

This set of cards has been on my mind for awhile now.  I've been wanting to make them for a specific person in my life.  For this blog post, I'm going to call her Sunshine to protect her privacy.  With her birthday coming up, it seemed a good opportunity to create a card set that she can share with special women in her life who might be in need of prayer. 

Although I've never really told her this before, she was one of the pivotal people in my life that drew me closer to Christ.  I was just a teeny bopper at the time.  As we all know, those years can sometimes make or break a person.  From the inside I felt incredibly broken, emotional, and lost.  She came into my life through my brother and as I got to know her I began to see God in a different way.  As a Catholic, I only knew God through the priest but through her I learned that one can have a personal relationship with Him. This is not a reflection on Catholic beliefs but rather a description of my own path in following Christ.

It all started with Sunshine and Amy Grant.  Sunshine loved to sing and her passion was contagious..  If my memory serves me correctly, I think Sunshine sang in church but she also sang in something like a glee club or performance choir.  As a "Glee" wannabe, this intrigued me.  I admired this talent of hers.  It just happened that Amy Grant was one of her favorites.  Through her I slowly became familiar with Amy Grant's music, never knowing that Christian music could sound like any other popular top 40 song on the radio. I learned every song on Amy's "The Collection" album and played it over and over.  The song lyrics brought me comfort and encouragement.  Her voice was an inspiration. I began to reflect on my own faith and what I believed in; drawing closer to God.  The Collection remains one of my all-time favorite albums.

There was also something different about Sunshine than I had ever known.  She loved the Lord in a personal way.  As I got to know her over the years and often followed her to church on Sundays, my relationship with Him began to change as well.  Who knew you could have a personal relationship with him.  The first time I prayed with her I actually cried.  I had never experienced anything like it.  They were partially tears of fear but also curiosity.  What does praying like this mean?  I didn't understand, but I learned.  I learned about the power of prayer.  To me, prayer is a beautiful way to have a relationship with God.  Now, I am often moved and healed in when in prayer.

Since all those many years ago, I have grown deeper in my walk.  Her faith inspired me and now I walkwith Him.  Life is FAR from perfect, filled with pit holes, bumps, and scratches, but because I know Him and continue to know myself better through Him, each day is hopeful and when I lean on Him I know that everything will be ok.

So, these cards were inspired by and made for Sunshine.  I keep her in my prayers.

To Copic or not to Copic

...that was my question. 

I was once a Copic virgin.  Had no idea what a Copic marker was.  I attended a Stampin' Up event where the hostess had the most outrageous collection of Copic markers.  The array of colors had me at "hello".  The smoothness in which they colored enamored me.  Curiosity let out this cat!  There is something incredibly fabulous about these markers but other than the fact that I couldn't stop coloring with them left me stumped.  Why are these markers so special?

And thus my hunt for the truth began.

Art stores, high quality craft stores... they had them.  I would walk by them and admire all the delightful colors, gently marking them on the little scraps of paper they offered below the case.  I wanted one.  Oh, I wanted one bad!  But, oh my gosh are they expensive, often ranging in the $6 area for one (Yes, ONE!) marker.  I can't just have one marker.  I can't just have two.  These colors are much too pretty and would require a collection.  How far away is my birthday?  Christmas? An opportunity for a special gift? 

Time passed and each time I passed by a case, I would lust after them.  In the end, I just couldn't validate paying that price.  And then a little crafty angel (ok, my friend Laurie) told me about this store called Cranberry Hill Mercantile.  I was looking for rubber stamps and she suggested they might have a good selection.  She was not kidding!  I'll discuss stamps in a separate story. At CHM, the Copic markers are lower priced than at other retailers.  I was so surprised, so I invested in just a handful of colors.

I had done some research as well to find out more about the markers and one thing led to another and eventually I found a class.  So,recently I took a class from Irina who owns La-la Land Crafts.  She was a wonderful teacher who carefully and patiently explained the basics of Copic Markers.  I was amazed by its capabilities of being refilled, tips being changed out, the forgivingness when coloring.  She basically said, "all you ever knew about coloring, throw it out the window".  She wasn't kidding!  Our task for the evening was to use between 2 and 4 colors and practice "shading".  Sounds simple, but I had the darndest time doing it.  For many years now, I've been thinking I had at least a bit artist talent.  But, with Copic, I no longer think so.  Irina would come over and show me how to visualize the shadows in the stamped image.  Simple, I swear she made it look simple.  Then, I'd try.  FAIL!  She reminded us that it will take practice and the more we do it, the better we will become.  I walked away completely unsure of my own abilities in being creative and a bit overwhelmed by the diversity and complexity these markers are capable of doing.

So, for now, I have my mini set.  I would like to expand one or two colors to a short series of the same shade so I can practice the shading technique.  I suppose I'll need to win the lotto to afford more.

All this said, I feel like a professional.  I was told Manga artists, architects, and artists often use these delightful little tools.

Happy Sunshine Days

One of my favorite songs of all time is by Katrina and the Waves "Walking on Sunshine".  I hear that song and I can't help but stand up and groove along.  Perhaps my affinity for this season is because my birthday is in the summer.

This birthday I got special crafty gifts.  One of the gifts was a flip flop stamp.  Ooooh, aaaaaah!  I love it!

So, I created a few cards using this special stamp.  Can't wait to do it again!

Card Flavor is a Personal Preference

I just sold my fourth card today.  Excited is an understatement! 

Watching my buyers browse through some of my inventory is interesting.  I have my own opinion of which cards I love and which ones I laugh at because they're ridiculous, but so do my buyers.  Everyone has a different style, flavor.  It amazes me that some of the cards come across appealing while others are rejected.  Can't help but wonder what makes a product appealing to another person?  And, should an artist create to please others or to please themselves?

That said, I will continue to make cards from the heart because it is impossible to please other people.  But, I can promise creative cards from the heart.  Each one is carefully planned and created, often inspired by the world around me and the people I meet.

I think a good artist is one who approaches their craft with authenticity and truth, whatever that might be.

Made From the Heart

Made from the heart for you, originally uploaded by studiojulz.

Reflecting back to Christmas 2009, my first cards began to emerge.  Using what I had learned from Stampin Up, I started to design my own cards using similar materials of cardstock, paper squares, stamps, ribbon, and glitter.

In this green Joy card, I got a little creative by putting fine glitter on the ribbon of the "gift". Neat effect, don't you think?

The best gift of the season was hearing my sis-in-law comment that she really liked my cards. A lovely compliment, indeed!

Stampin Up: Ribbon and Glitter

Stampin Up with Rosie, originally uploaded by studiojulz.

Last November (2009), I attended my first Stampin Up workshop. Rosie, my demonstrator wanted to share how easy it was to create a beautiful card with just a few simple materials like ribbon and glitter. Since it was close to the holidays we made one Thanksgiving card and several Christmas ones.

Having been a scrapbooker for years, it was this event that opened my eyes to the joys of cardmaking. It's like scrapbooking but after each card, you're done! I love it!

Cardmaking Event for Operation Write Home [OWH]

I recently participated in a Meetup with a crafting/scrapping group.  This was my first time with this group and had a really good time meeting three other women who enjoy creating with paper as much as I do.  As we chatted and shared crafting tips we made many, many cards for Operation Write Home (OWH).  I'm not sure what the final count was but I know between myself and another girl over 30 cards were made.

Check out some of the cards I made for OWH.
OWH's mission is to support our nation's troops with hand made cards so they can write home to their loved ones.  I later found out that there are only three women in our country who receive these cards before they are sent to the troops. It's a thankless job for a good cause.

A surprising detail: NO GLITTER allowed on the cards!  What?! No glitter?  To a crafty person saying no glitter is like saying no milk to a baby.  But, the reason makes so much sense.  Glitter, no matter how well it's glued on has a tendency to flake off.  And a soldier on the front lines who may have opened a card just before heading out to the field may end up with some glitter on them.  At night when the enemy has on their night gear or lights are flashing, guess what will reflect off their bodies and put them in harms way?  Yeah, glitter.

It felt so good to be crafting for a cause.  Sending love to our troops.  Thanks for all that you do.  Your bravery and courage is outstanding!