Take Me Back in Time

Hello everyone,

A couple of years ago I took a card class. In the class we made two masculine cards, something I had not done before and it has inspired me to make more. I gave one of the cards that I made in the class to my father and the other to my husband. My husband still has his card and my father framed his and hung it in the garage beside his adored Mustang.

I recently made another card for my dad, a vintage car card. He said that he is going to frame this one as well and hang it beside the other one.

I have to say, I think the Art Deco Cricut cartridge has to be my favorite cartridge so far. I say this but I haven't cracked open my Outdoor Man cartridge yet. It may be a tough choice and they may both become my favorite.

Lets start at the back of the card. I saw this technique online a while back (I can't remember the source, sorry), where you ink the flat side of the embossing folder and then emboss the paper. What a fantastic technique. It allowed me to add colour to the flat portion of the paper and not the embossed portion of it. I did a test where I did not ink the embossing folder but inked the embossed pattern instead. As you can see, the test sheet did not make it to the card. I much prefer the lighter red embossed pattern and the dark brown background.

In keeping with the vintage look, I inked the edge of each framed paper. This is a technique that I use often and find that it gives the paper - patterned or solid colour - a little more pop.

I absolutely love how this card turned out and from my father's reaction you can tell that he loved it too.

Until next time, Happy Paper Crafting!!!!


Used from my inventory:

• Recollections cardstock
• EL-017 M-Bossabilities
• Walnut stain distress ink
• Big Shot
• Scotch Advance tape glider
• Cricut Expression
• Art Deco Cricut cartridge
• Stampin'up 2-way glue pen
• Paper and cardstock from my leftover pile

Love is Blind

Hello everyone,

I had so much fun with this card.

The card was inspired by a quote I found online "Love is Blind, why is lingerie so popular?". So true. Unfortunately the author of the quote is unknown.

I used the Cricut Expression and the Tie the Knot cartridge to create the bustier and bling'd it up with some xmas red stickles.

I find that the Spellbinder large classic scallop cutout creates a feeling of a window, like looking into someone's boudoir.

I wanted the entire card to have a lacy feel to it. I stamped swirl designs on the red cardstock and applied the black trim to the inside edge of the card. The black trim is leftover iron-on applique that I used in the design of my sister's wedding dress. Surprisingly enough the applique bonded to the card when I heated it with my Marvy embossing heat tool. I don't think I would use the heat technique if I were to use the applique on something that would be handled often. The bond is not as strong as using glue.

I am submitting the card in the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #217 "Anything Goes".

Hope you enjoyed. Until next time, happy paper crafting!



Supplies used from my inventory:

• Recollection 110lb cardstock
• Cardstock from my leftover pile
• Spellbinder Classic scalloped oval large
• Xmas red Stickles
• Cricut Expression
• Tie the Knot cartridge
• Big Shot
• Jet black Archival Ink
• Iron on trim - source unknown
• HP Deskjet F4280
• Stampin'up 2-way glue pen
• Tombow glue
• Marvy embossing heat tool
• Autumn Leaves - Swirls V:I stamps



Inventory Book

Hello and happy sunshine everyone,

I was inspired... hmmm... not strong enough of a word to describe my excitement to do this project, I was energized by Ranger Ink's "Organize Your Ranger Products" section of their website. In this section they provide beautifuly presented colour swatch charts that you fill in with the products that you have. I felt like I was playing bingo when I filled in the swatch chart for my distress inks.

They also provide coloured label sheets. You print the labels, punch them out with a circle punch and place the label on the cap of the Adirondack Dabber, the cap of the Distress Stains, etc. It all depends on which labels you have printed and what products you own.

If you haven't seen "Organize Your Ranger Products", it's a must see.

The Upcycling book by Danny Seo inspired the front and back cover of the inventory book. I used the leftover flooring from our new basement bathroom to create the cover. The flooring was not sturdy enough on it's own, especially if I wanted to stand the book up in my library. I gave the flooring some strength by glueing it to a photo mat board.

Inside the book I have various sections. The sections are divided as follows:Ranger products; Copic markers; Other inks; Stamps; Cricuit cartridges; Dies; and Embossing folders and plates;



I have incorporated the Copic image for my personal use.
I have not, nor will I sell this inventory binder. 

 

The book may seem like a lot of work to create and a lot of work to complete but I created the book to keep me organized on a couple of different levels.

I like having my friends come over and play in my studio. I enjoy sharing the tools and products I have. However, I came to realize that as they used my stamps, removing them from their sets, I was lost by the end of the day. I couldn't remember where the stamps belonged and was not able to return them to their proper home.

On the other side of the organization coin, I like to remove my tools and products from their original package and place them within my own organizing system. The upside to this is that things are placed in a more logical, easy to use, easy to put away system. The downside is that I don't have the name of the stamp set or the name of the company included on the item's new home. As you can see, in the inventory binder, I have indicated the name of the item, the company, if it's a stamp I have also included how many are in the set, if I have the coordinating die and if they are cling or wood mount (which will tell me where to find them).

To my surprise, as I was recording the various stamps that I own, the stamped images were inspiring different projects. A stamped image provides a better visual than the stamp itself.

When starting a project, I don't have to search through my supplies for inspiration, I can flip the pages of my inventory book for that perfect ink, stencil, stamp, cartridge, etc. The great thing with the book is that it is portable (obviously). If I want to assemble my ideas on the bus as I commute to work and home, I can do that.

I created the dividers using the We R Memory envelope punch.

I created the holes for the book binding using a cardboard template and the Crop-A-Dile. I laid the spiral on some heavy cardboard cut to an 8.5 x 11 size sheet and made a pencil mark at each place the spiral touched the cardboard then I used the Crop-A-Dile to make uniform holes all along the edge. I paperclipped the template to the printed pages, about 10 pages at a time and punched all the holes. I repeated this process until the entire book was punched. To assemble the book, I threaded the spiral into the stack of papers, one hole at a time.

I am very happy with my inventory book. My only fear is that I am going to run out of pages. However, that's a minor fear because I can simply undo the book, use my template to punch more papers and then reassemble the inventory book.

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Until next time, happy paper crafting.