Father's Day Card

I know it's a little late, but here is my Father's Day Card. I love this card!

This card is super simple and a breeze to make with the Medallion technique I learned at SplitCoast Stampers! On the SCS tutorial, they used a scalloped edge. (Check out the tutorial here.) I decided to take it to a more "manly" level and do the rope border by Fiskars.I also added distressed stripes with the Cuttlebug and further distressed them with Tim Holtz's Walnut Stain. The stamp is Studio G. The rest is my stash (finally using it up). I bought nothing, only used what I had. Yeah me!

Cuttlebug Challenge Blog - Be Inspired Challenge #16

We were supposed to take Marissa to Disneyland today, but she got sick, so we are home, so... I decided to take a few minutes and do this (made a card)!
This week's challenge was to use distressing. I chose to sand and use Tim Holtz Walnut Stain ink.


First, I sanded my cardstock. (This would allow the ink I am going to use to absorb into different areas, giving it an old feel.) Then I applied the walnut stain ink to the Cuttlebug embossing folder, on the non-raised side, and sent it through, dry-embossing it. The edges are then torn and re-inked to add the "old-paper" feel and look to it. *I was trying to find a more versatile way of using a Halloween-type folder. I *think* I succeeded, don't you?
Then I added the sentiments and embellishments. The purple words "Dust Off the Cobweb" and "is here!" are embossed with Ranger's Puffy in purple, and "Spring!!!" is embossed in hot pink glaze. I left a flower floating on the web for effect.


Hope you like it. You can see more takes on the challenge and check out a challenge of your own on the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. Good luck! Toodles for now! lisa

More Cards and a Little Bit of Happenings...

You'd think by now I'd be doing more layouts... Nope! Got some more cards done this week. I belong to a card club and hadn't sent the ones from November or December, or the Christmas cards I signed up to do. So... I put a simple gift in pre-made Christmas cards and made the November and December cards, plus all of the previous belated birthday cards (from August on, in my group), and all of the February Birthday cards. I am so caught up now!

Now... I can begin working on more layouts.

I will be printing picks from Walgreens, as they currently have a special of "print 50 for $5.00. Not too bad... They are quick and easy. But if you know me... I have to have them sent to me (instead of 1-hour photo), as I much prefer the matte finish. I can do so much more with it - add chalks, erase around, ink better, etc. Where a gloss picks up fingerprints WAY too easy for my taste and repels a lot of the things I like to do to photos.

So... here's a little bit of what's been goin' on here. I've been "stripping" a day bed. I intend to deep white-wash it to blend with the room, but am still working on it. There is a solvent that is "safe" for the environment (orange gel stuff - YUCK!). Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well. So... here's a little bit of me in my "stripping" clothes! Yeah!

I found some pretty vellum and striped paper on Monday and had to make a card with it. So, here is my "masculine" card. The sentiment is George with the Cricut and is chalked then distress-inked in pond green.

Marissa had a birthday (or two...). She should have had 3 by the time Super Bowl Sunday KickOff hits... We did a cake with Daddy, before he went to work; then... we had some friends over. Marissa wanted a BIG HUGE cookie with M&M's for that... Sunday will be Princess cupcakes (from Hello Cupcake!) with a little adjustments here and there. She will also have a princess-type party with Scene Setters (thank you, Karen!). She'll love it.

I also made this card (today) for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. We were supposed to create a card based off a sketch, and here is my take on it. Although the entries had to be posted by yesterday (so much for my anti-procrastination campaign...), I still went ahead and did it, just so I kept up with them. It's a little corny and says, "a little bubbly?"... It's intended for my friend after she gives birth to her (now) overdue daughter #2. The circles are punches, then either reversed inked or inked after dry embossing with the Cuttlebug. The sentiment is stamped in silver then heat embossed with a holographic glitter. Uh... I was a little off in my stamping, as I miscalculated the spacing and so the "l" and "y" of the bubbly is WAY off. But... I still think it looked cute.

I then tried to distress it and can't figure out how all of you get it to look just right without leaving lines or the paper curling up (and ink running!) when you spritz it with water. So... anyone out there? HELP me! (Just leave a comment or e-mail me. I am always looking for tips and tricks. Thanks for everything. I'm tired and gotta go to bed... Toodles for now! lisa

New Cards from the Weekend

Ok, sorry late in posting these, but I have been busy with my weight loss blog (see link in sidebar). I've also been blog surfing, trying to come up with ideas and inspiration. But... I'm ready to post these cards I made over the weekend.

This card was made (quickly) on Saturday for a Quincenera (Girls 15th [Coming Out] Birthday Party) that I didn't know I was going to until that morning. For the scalloped circles, I used Mini Monograms and my Cricut. The sentiment is George and Basic Shapes. I inked a Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, then ran one of the scallops through, the other scallop went through without the ink, then I layered them. I love the Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch, so I used that too. Underneath it all are two ribbons, a purple and white striped organza over a wide silky satin white ribbon. I sponged the card and the envelope and added some bling to the center of my scallops, as well as Stickles on the sentiment to make the card sparkle.

It may look a little off center, as it was initially meant to go horizontal, but I had printed the inside poem to read portrait-style, so I had to quickly change it. But, I think my "Birthday Blessings" came out okay, don't you?

And Sunday, while I waited for my brakes to be done (yes... I waited AT HOME!), I made 6 cards to catch up with the 2008 card club. I still have 6 more to make, then I can finally sign up for the January 2009 Card Club. I should be finishing those tomorrow. So... there are six of these:

The card club cards are supposed to be blank on the inside, so I just wanted to add a little sparkle to the starry night and Stickled (with a sponge) around the "Way to Go!" (done with the George Cartridge and my Cricut). The chipboard button is from the $1 bin at Michaels. The snowflake border at the bottom is Martha Stewart (on clearance at Michaels). I lined the inside with plain white paper for ease in writing and also to accentuate the border on both sides.

I will be entering both of these cards in the Cricut Christmas Noel Challenge #1 on Scrapbook Bingo... Watch Out Girls! I'm comin' to win it!!! LOL! Just kidding, but sorta serious. Toodles for now! lisa