Previous month:
September 2012
Next month:
November 2012

October 2012

Tuesday T&T Something Old And Something New

SON1
Let's start with the new.  I fell in love with the Mitten Die Set.  I also liked the Cover-A-Card Knit stamp.  When I saw the two and the sold Vintage Ornaments they reminded me of when my grandmother would knit images into her projects.  Here's how I did mine:

Backgrounds:

  1. Stamped Cover-A-Card Knit on white cardstock with Creamy Brown Fluid Chalk ink.  Stamped Cover-A-Card Nordic Christmas with Warm Red Fluid Chalk ink.

Images:

  1. Die Cut the Mitten using the Cream Brown Knit background.
  2. To match the Solid Vintage Ornament Large to the knit pattern I used the Kissing Technique:
    1. Took my Knit background off of my Mega Mount and laid flat.
    2. Found the center of the mitten (a row).  Mounted the Solid Vintage Ornament on my grid-lined acrylic block, lining the little pointed bottom up with the center line on the grid.  I have many sizes and they are wonderful for aligning sentiments too.

      SON2Sipag03

    3. Inked a section of the CAC Knit stamp with Warm Red ink.  Lined the bottom of the ornament with a knitted row on the stamp, pressed down, lifted and stamped on a remnant piece of white cardstock.  Trimmed around it and mounted, lining it up with the center knitted row.
    4. Made a stencil using the Solid Vintage Ornament Small inked and stamped on remnant white cardstock.  Cut it out and traced around it (after centering it on a knitted row) on a remnant piece of the Creamy Brown Knit cardstock.  Mounted it in the center of the Warm Red Vintage Ornament Large.
    5. Did 3 die cuts of the spruce from the Twig Wreath Die Set using a remnant of green cardstock.
    6. DIE023

    7. Now for the old.  I used a leftover from an earlier die cut of holly berries, from the same Twig Wreath Die Set, as a tiny poinsettia for the center of the mitten.  Mounted on top of the spruce as shown and added some Stickles red and yellow glitter.

  3. The cuff of the mitten was done by using the cuff of the Lg. Solid Mitten rubber stamp to get another stencil.  I traced the places for the ribbon and cut them out.
  4. The ribbon was threaded and then a bow mounted.
  5. The mitten was mounted on white cardstock and trimmed around for the edge.

Assembly:

  1. A white piece of  5.25"X10.5" cardstock was folded and the top inside was trimmed with a piece of the Nordic background.
  2. The sentiment Elegant Merry Christmas was stamped under that with Warm Red ink.
  3. Added a pearlized heart bead with a small boutonniere pin to the bow and 3 pearl stickers in the lower right-hand corner.

That's it for today.  I will see you back here for our next challenge, "A Gift For You", on this Thursday, November 1.  If you want more details go to the bottom of the post found HERE.   Happy Halloween, everyone!!

 

 Shirley

 

SUPPLIES:

DT Thursday And Our Challenge Winner!

The winner of our "Have A Bewitching Halloween Challenge" is Katie Bondroff.  Congratulations, Katie .  Thanks for joining in the fun and happy shopping too!

DT Thursday

Our Design Team member hostessing today's DT Thursday is Laura Fulcher.  She has a great treat for everyone.  So take a look at the sneak peek below and then hop on over to her blog, HERE, then head on back here to check out the details of our next challenge!

IMG_9585 (3)

Our Next Challenge

On November 1, we start our "A Gift For You Challenge".  For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges, the guidelines are below:

  • Ending time for this challenge is Wednesday, November 7, at 10 p.m. EST.
  • Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of the November 1 post.
  • The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our on-line store.
  • The winner is picked using Random.org.
  • The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
  • The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on November 8.
  • All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

Have some fun, invite a friend to create too, have a stamping party and/or create your card using all IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of the challenge post.  If you have questions please email me.

If you need inspiration you can check out the 2012 Card Galleries at the top of the blog.  Also, there are direct links to their their DT posts, the stamps,  and more card samples in our on-line store too! 

Hope to see you all at our challenge next Thursday!  Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 


Tuesday T&T It's Still About Those Dies!

ATD1

I was inspired by DT member Kittie Caracciolo's post HERE.  I didn't have the tree line die, so I improvised with Fancy Trees and this is what I did:

  1. Cut 3 of the plain trees using Fancy Trees Die set and green cardstock.   Trimmed the stars at the top as shown.  Put each diecut through the paper crimper, 2 horizontally and 1 vertically.
  2. Embossed a pieced of white Laid cardstock with dots.
  3. Cut a piece of white laid cardstock 4.25"X5.5".  Mounted a 3.75"X5" green cardstock to the laid.  Cut the embossed dots cardstock to 3.5"X4.75" and mounted on top.
  4. Tore 3 pieces of leftover Cover-A-Card Dots paper (it had been stamped with Versamark, Stamp and Bond added, embossed until clear, and then Deco glitter added and embossed again).  They were layered as shown.  Added a little bit of glitter to the 'snow' torn edges with a glue pen.
  5. The trees were mounted using glue dots and 3D pop dots.
  6. Pearl stickers were added with Glossy Accents and QuickStik (great for picking up little things you need to glue (learned this from Kittie too!).
  7. Used one of the trimmed stars and a piece of cardstock from the die cutting to make the star shown and added a pearl in the center.
  8. Made a bow with the bow-easy, mounted with a glue dot, and added a little peal pin.
  9. Last I did the inside of the card and the envelope as shown below.  Two more diecuts.  One trimmed down for the envelope and with both stars left on top.  I used a glue pen and glitter below the trees.  The sentiment is Merry Bright Cheery.

ATD2

How To Use Dies

With Their Coordinating Stamps

I had a question from one of our customers who asked how to use the our dies with their compatible stamps and so I asked our Design Team how they used them.  This is what Dina said, and rest of the team agreed with her:

This is what works for me:

1. Stamp the image.
2. Cut the die on a scrap piece of paper.  (Clear would work good too).
3. Lay the scrap piece of paper over the stamped image, aligning it so your stamped image is centered in the opening or negative cut. Tape the die cut paper in place on an outside edge or 2.
4. Position the die in the negative die cut, and tape it in place, then cut.

Thank you, Dina, for the great answer and tutorial as well!  That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by to look and share.

 

 Shirley

 

SUPPLIES:

Have A Bewitching Halloween Challenge

This has got to be fun!!!  I can't wait to stop by the Design Team blogs to see their creations.  You can take a look at them and then come on back and find out how you can join in the fun too!

Challenge Guidelines

Hope to see you back here with your own creations by Wednesday, October 24.  Additional details are below and at the end of the post with the Inlinkz.

  • Ending time for this challenge is a week from this Wednesday, October 24, at 10 p.m. EST.
  • Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of today's post.
  • The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our on-line store.
  • The winner is picked using Random.org.
  • The players are notified of the winner by email the night it ends.
  • The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on October 25.
  • All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

If you have questions on how to take part or start a gallery or blog to post your card, email me and I will be glad to help if I can.  If you need inspiration you can check out the 2012 Card/Die Galleries at the top of the blog.  Also, there are direct links to the stamps, their DT posts! 

Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 


Tuesday T&T Quick Christmas Card

CTB1

It was really easier than I thought it would be.  I reaplaced the top after a second look, I didn't like it at all.

CTB2
Tree:

  1. I started with a leftover piece of white cardstock from one of my CAC stampings, 2.75"X11" and came up with the above.  Knew I would be stacking and would need the space above the diecut.
  2. CTB3CTB4

  3.  I used my ATG Gun to tape the pieces on the back.  I actually lined up the pieces by using the embossed portion of each eyelet.  The tape goes down to the bottom of the eyelet so it will catch the glitter later.
  4. I needed an extra piece of white cardstock mounted to the bottom portion, again taping all the way down each eyelet.
  5. Next I did "rounding".  I trimmed all the way up to the first eyelet hem line, rounding the corners as shown.
  6. I stopped where the embossing line of the diecut stopped on the top piece.  I drew an apex from those points, using a ruler, and trimmed the peak as shown.
  7. Dipped the whole thing in glitter.  If you click on the photo you will see how the tape picked it up.
  8. Used the holly leaf and berry diecuts from the Twigs Wreath die set and red and green cardstock remnants as shown.  Attached them with Glossy Accents and dusted them with glitter too, so the edges could pick it up.
  9. Laid the tree on red cardstock and trimmed, "rounded it", as shown.
  10. Used a leftover gold finding for the top of the tree.  Attached with a large glue dot and dusted with glitter.  Added Stickles Christmas Red glitter to the middle.

Background & Assembly:

  1. Stamped Cover-A-Card Dots with VersaMark on white cardstock. 
  2. Added Stamp & Bond powder, heated with heat gun until clear, added glitter, and heated again to dry. 
  3. Used the die as a stencil to get the background for behind the tree.
  4. Mounted the ribbon followed by the tree and 3D pop dots.
  5. Mounted the bow.

Inside Of Card:

  1. Inside on the left I stamped the sentiment Blessed Christmas.

That's it for today.  If the dies have caught your eyes you can see them all and more HERE.

Our Next Challenge

Hope to see you back here on this Thursday, October 18, for our next challenge "Have A Bewitching Halloween".  The guidelines are below:

  • Ending time for this challenge is a week from this Wednesday, October 24, at 10 p.m. EST.
  • Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of the October 18 post.
  • The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our on-line store.
  • The winner is picked using Random.org.
  • The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
  • The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on October 25.
  • All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

If you need inspiration you can check out the 2012 Card/Die Galleries at the top of the blog.  Also, there are direct links to the stamps, their DT posts, and more card samples in our on-line store! 

Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 

SUPPLIES:

 


DT Thursday & Our Party Time Challenge Winner

The winner of our "Party Time  Challenge" is Paula Huiras.  Congratulations, Paula .  Thanks for joining in the fun and happy shopping too!

DT Thursday

Our Design Team member hostessing today's DT Thursday is Daniela Dobson.  She has a real treat for everyone.  So take a look at the sneak peek below and then hop on over to her blog, HERE.  Then head on back here to check out the details of our next challenge!

Count your blessings altered coaster Daniela Dobson

Our Next Challenge

On October 18, we start our "Have A Bewitching Halloween".  For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges, the guidelines are below:
  • Ending time for this challenge is next Wednesday, October 24, at 10 p.m. EST.
  • Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of the October 18 post.
  • The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our on-line store.
  • The winner is picked using Random.org.
  • The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
  • The winner's name will be posted with the DT Thursday post on October 25.
  • All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

Have some fun, invite a friend to create too, have a stamping party and/or create your card using all IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of the September 20 post.  If you have questions please email me.  My email is right under my name near the top of the sidebar to your right.

If you need inspiration you can check out the 2012 Card Galleries at the top of the blog.  Also, there are direct links to the stamps, their DT posts, and more card samples in our on-line store! 

NEW DIES

We have new dies in our online store, if you haven't been by in the last couple of weeks.  You can see them HERE.  I think wee have some outstanding Halloween dies and stamps this year!!!

Hope to see you all at our challenge next Thursday!  Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 


Tuesday T&T Twisted Christmas Duo

Holly w Tree
This is not a repeat of my OWH card.  I wanted to have both done by then, but it was not meant to be.  One of the images, the background and the card fold are the same, but from there it is different:

  1. If you missed OWH you can see how I did Holly, the Round Die Cut above, altered tag below, and the background HERE.
  2. The die cut and embossed Fancy Tree was painted with Twinking H2O's.  The star at the top of the tree was die cut 3 times.  Two of the stars were attached to the sides of the bottom tag.
  3. The sentiment, Much Love, was stamped with Memento Express Truffle on Natural cardstock.
  4. The tiny stars from the center of the larger die cut stars were painted and mounted in the lower left hand corner of the card.
  5. Glitter was used to enhance the stars and Viva Decor Ice White Pearl Pen was used on the tree.  Pearl stickers were added to the center of the stars with the sentiment.

Snowmen w Snowflakes
My second card also used the twisted easel fold.  It is so easy to do.  The people to whom I have given it say they love the way they can put it on their desks, etc. to enjoy.

Main Images:

  1. Snowman Trio was stamped with Memento Toffee Crunch, painted, and cut out.  The snow hill on the left and the tree on the right were stamped, cut out, embossed from the back and mounted.  A  Sakura glue pen was used to add glitter to the snowmen and snow.
  2. Stamped Merry Little Christmas sentiment on white cardstock.   Die cut sentiment with tag from Flags die set.  Cut one more flag to have matching knotches at both ends.  Taped together and added holly and berries from Twig Wreath die set.

Backgrounds:

  1. CAC Reverse Quatrefoil was stamped length wise on white cardstock with Memento Summer Sky.  Two pieces were cut 4"x5.25" were cut.  One was mounted on a 4.25"X5.5" piece of white cardstock.
  2. TOP Card front:  Sticky Paper and the Snowflakes die set were used to cut 2 die cuts of each.  The paper was peeled off and the 'sticky' sides placed in Crystal glitter in a Gladware storage container.  They were added randomly with Glossy Accents, some overlapping the margins, and trimmed.
  3. BOTTOM (of Twisted Fold):  A 4.25"X9.75" piece of white cardstock was folded at the 5.5" mark of the 9.75".  The short half measured 4.25"X4.25".  The second piece of the CAC background was mounted on the 4.25"X5.5" side.   Cut a piece of white cardstock 3.75" x5.0" and centered that over the mounted CAC.  Mounted last snowflake in bottom left corner.

6a00d8345b4ccc53ef017c325853a2970b-800wi 6a00d8345b4ccc53ef017d3c86b681970c-800wi

Assembly:

  1. Folded the 4.25"X4.25" (left side of card fold) from bottom left to to upper right center to form a triangle.  Unfolded and taped bottom triangle as shown in right photo above.
  2. Mounted Snowman Trio on top Cardfront.  Mounted a bow in center of one snowflake and pearl stickers in the others.  On the one on the bottom of the card fold a 5mm heart pearl sticker was added.
  3. A leftover piece of the Quatrefoil background was cut to 2 7/8"X1 3/8" and the corners were rounded with a punch.  The sentiment was mounted to that.  3D pop dots were added to the top and glue dots to the bottom.

That's it.  Sometimes I think it's too detailed, but I always try to think of those that are just learning.  Hope you enjoyed the 'double take'.  See you back here on Thursday for our DT treat and for the winner of our Party Time Challenge too.  Have a great week and thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 

 Shirley

 

HOLLY CHRISTMAS CARD: SNOWMAN TRIO CHIRSTMAS CARD:

OWH World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!

Wcdhop
I was so excited to be invited to celebrate World Cardmaking Day with OWH. If you haven't heard of this wonderful group you can find out more HERE.  They MAKE cards and send them to deployed troops so they can use them to write home to their loved ones.   Thank you, Sandy and your team, for all you do for our troops.

Holly Friend 2
I chose to use Holly because she can be used as a Christmas angel or an everyday angel.  To make my card I:

Images:

  1. Stamped Holly on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock with Espresso Truffle ink, painted with Twinkling H2O's, added glitter as shown.  When dry I applied Glossy Accents over all of the glittered areas.  (Cards without glitter sealed on top cannot be sent to deployed areas).
  2. Stamped sentiments, Best Things and An Angel, with Memento Rich Cocoa on Neenah Classic Crest Natural cardstock.
  3. Processed 2 Circle Shaker die cuts.  Antiqued edges with acrylic stamp block and rubbed against die cuts with Memento Rich Cocoa.
  4. Mounted first Circle die cut on Best Things sentiment as shown.
  5. Cut two pieces out of the remaining die cut as shown below.   Overlay the other two with tape.  Trim the edges as shown.  Mount over An Angel sentiment and trim as needed.  I antiqued the edges added little glitter dots and added Glossy Accents over those too.

DIE001A DIE001C

Twisted Easel Card Fold And Background:

  1. Stamped CAC Nordic Stripes with Memento Angel Pink on Neenah Classic Crest Natural twice lengthwise on an 8.5"X11" piece of cardstock.
  2. Cut one piece stripes going east/west 5.25"X4.0".  Cut the second piece stripes going north/south 4.0"X5.25".
  3. Cut a piece of Natual cardstock 4.25"X5.5".  Mounted the east/west stripes on it.
  4. Cut a piece of Neenah CC Natural cardstock 4.25"X9.75".  Score it at 5.5".  Folded The 4.25" side as shown and tape the bottom triangular part as shown below.
  5. Mounted the north/south stripes on the bottom right side of the card.

CUT CDSTCK SCORE1 CUT WhereToTape

Assembly:

  1. Mounted the angel to the round die cut with sentiment and mount it to the cardfront with east/west stripes.
  2. Tied bow and mount it.
  3. Taped the lower side of cardfront with tape as shown on the right above.
  4. Mounted angel and sentiment, lining up from left edge to right bottom right side of the card.  The right side of the card will overlap the top portion.
  5. Use 1/16" pop dots for the top portion of the An Angel sentiment and glue dots to the bottom.
  6. Added a 5mm half pearl heart to the bottom corner with Glossy Accents.  (Always mount pearl/rhinestone, etc. stickers with Glossy Accents or glue.)  Sticker does not mean it will...stick that is.  ;-)
  7. As a final touch, if this card was going to OWH, I would include a note paper as shown above.  That way the soldier can decide how much they really feel like writing.  Some like to write more, others less.  If they are in a combat zone, paper might not be readily available.

You can see her as a Christmas Angel HERE.  That's it for today's post.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Off to checkout the other OWH posts and thanks for stopping by to look and share.

 

 

 Shirley

 

SUPPLIES:

Party Time Challenge

A great new challenge and our DT members are ready for you to check out their blogs below.  Let them know what you think while you are there:

We invite you to join in the fun too.  For those of you who aren't familiar with our challenges, the guidelines are below and at the end of the post:
  • Ending time for this challenge is next Wednesday, October 10, at 10 p.m. EST.
  • Use the Inlinkz thumbnail format at the end of this post.
  • The drawing is for a $25 Gift Certificate for use in our on-line store.
  • The winner is picked using Random.org.
  • The players are notified of the winner by email that night.
  • The winner's name will be announced on the October 11 post.
  • All entries are posted in the Customer Card Gallery under Card Galleries at the top of the page.

Have some fun, invite a friend to create too, have a stamping party and/or create your card using all IO stamps, and then post it using the Inlinkz at the bottom of today's post.  If you have questions please email me.  My email is right under my name near the top of the sidebar to your right.

If you need inspiration you can check out the Card Galleries at the top of the blog.   There are direct links to the stamps, their DT posts, and more card samples in our on-line store!

AND YOU CAN FOLLOW US:

  For even more Impression Obsession news and inspiration find us on:

See you back here for DT Thrusday and the winner of this week's challenge will be announced too.  Thanks for stopping by to look and share!

 

 Shirley

 


Tuesday T&T Embossing With Dies

SnowflakeWreathTest
Blame it on Dina Kowal.  When I saw what she did with the Leaves Die on her card for the DT "It's All About the Dies" Blog Hop, I tried it a little bit differently with the Snowflakes Die.  Here is what I did to make the card above.

Main Image:

  1. Die cut the Twig Wreath on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock.
  2. Turned the die cut over and sealed the center portion back with glossy accents and my needle nose applicator bottle shown under supplies.  If you have questions, please ask.
  3. Stamped Blessed Christmas with French Blue Fluid Chalk ink in the center.
  4. Threaded Hobby Lobby ribbon through the wreath, tied in a half knot, and used a Bow-Easy Bow mounted with a glue dot.

Background Cardfront & Folded card:

  1. Cut a white piece of cardstock to 5.0"X5.0".
  2. Used the 3 Snowflakes Die randomly with the emboss sandwich until the 5"X5" piece was cover with embossed snowflakes as shown.  I placed them together just touching for each time I put them through. (Put it through 3 times).
  3. Used foam brayer with French Blue Fluid Chalk ink over the embossed snowflakes.  Ink brayer lightly and roll over snowflakes lightly to get the feel of it.  It's easier to add than take off.  You want the embossed white areas to show.  I had not used Chalk ink for other than stamping.  This really felt like soft suede to me when dry.  :-)
  4. Added Viva Decor Ice White Peal Pen to dots here and there.
  5. Mounted to 5.25"X5.25 piece of white cardstock.
  6. Added pearl 1" boutonniere pin with pearl glass heart to bow.

Edge On Folded Card:

  1. Folded a white pieced of cardstock 5.5"X11" in half for card.
  2. Line cardfront up with left-hand (top) fold.
  3. Line up die from Border Duo 2 with bottom edge of cardfront.
  4. Tape in place with removable scotch tape.
  5. Remove cardfront and run folded card through your die machine.  (Cut top and bottom).

Envy And Inside Card (Top):

  1. Use one of your snowflake dies and emboss the top portion of the inside and then sponge over it lightly.
  2. Then mount your cardfront as shown.
  3. Use one of the snowflakes on a corner of the envelope and then sponge over it.

Thanks for stopping by to look and share.  See you back here this Thursday for our "Party Time Challenge".  If you want more details check out the bottom of our Saturday post HERE.

 

 

 Shirley

 SUPPLIES: