The 'wow' effect without the extra stamp

Oh, my!  It's half way through October already.   I've done a few Christmas cards but I haven't really gotten into serious production yet.  If I don't get going, I'll turn around and it will be Thanksgiving.

I have worked some on my Mother's card design.  She uses at least 25 cards so I have to come up with something where I have enough of the materials.  Also I want to think about postage this year.  The last two years I've made her cards that required extra postage - one square one and one lumpy one.  She can do this; however, there isn't any reason I can't design a pretty card that only needs one stamp.

This got me thinking of a few things that give holiday cards a special look without overpaying the mail carrier:

• heat embossing - my all time favorite technique makes any holiday card look as good or better than Hallmark.  The card above has the ornaments embossed in Stampin' Up!'s silver powder.  A plus for this card is the stamps came from the $1 store.
• embossing folders - in my case, I don't have this tool - yet.  (I've been thinking seriously of getting a Big Shot.)  
• flat ribbon - fold ribbon around a layer and adhere to the back of a side that will end up covered or use a banner of one or two ribbons for a pretty effect without the knot and bulk. Again the card above uses a fancy ribbon but it lays flat.
• Baker's twine rather than ribbon.  
• Stickles for some extra sparkle particularly on snowflakes
• Pretty designer papers. There are more and more holiday papers every year and now we can get them in 6x6 pads so you don't have to invest a lot to have beautiful papers to adorn a card.  Embossed or glittered papers as shown on the card above give you the effect without the extra work.  
• A 4" x 9" card for a letter envelope.  It is fun to do a different size but many take extra postage.  A card finished 4" x 9" fits in a regular business envelope.  
• Speaking of envelopes, stamp an image on the envelope for an extra handmade touch that costs nothing and takes very little extra time.

Avoiding bows, brads and flowers really help reduce the bulk.  The card shown above does have a brad, but it could easily be left off.

Are you making holiday cards this year?

Thanks for visiting!

Hexagon Card

This card uses a sketch from Pamela's World of Scrap. Just a few hours left to get in a card for her challenge. Her sketch uses scattered circles, I went with hexagons and did it the super easy way.  I just cut around some hexagon shapes in this Fancy Pants paper, added a few punched flowers, stamped on a few dots, popped up a Cosmo Cricket sticker and that was it.

Last post I had a quick layout.  This is not a trend.  The layout on my table now is taking some time. I've been fussing with it off and on all day.  I just looked at it and it still needs something.  What thing, I'm not sure.  Some layouts just need to sit there and marinate overnight until I can figure out what is missing.  Maybe it is my brain that is marinating.  I don't know.

Anyway, it is nearly 9 and two of my favorite shows are about to come on at the same time - The Good Wife on CBS and Revenge on ABC.  We've chosen to watch Revenge this evening and catch The Good Wife on-line later in the week.

Hope you have a good start to your week!

Enjoy these days

This is probably one of the fastest layouts I ever did.

I used a Studio Calico mask on the background with some Clay mist.  Then added the banner from the Saturdays collection by Little Yellow Bicycle.  I cut a few embellishments from the papers and added some paper strips and Washi.  Then the title and it was done.

Mainly I wanted to showcase this great photo my stepdaughter took of the kids.  This wraps up my vacation photos from this summer.  Now I'm ready to go through all the papers and pick some for a mini album to make as a gift.

Thanks for visiting today!

Busy week

Oh, I wish I were here.  Here is Hilton Head's beach at sunset a couple of weeks ago.  I'm not there of course, I'm here having one of those days.

I'm sorry I won't have a Tuesday Tip post today. This is a busy work week and this morning I spent half the morning creating something and the other half the morning taking it apart.  Urrr!  I've got some uncooperative fabric.  I think things are back on track but I'm behind.

So, later in the week, I'll post a layout and card from last weekend.

Hope everyone is having a more productive week.

World Cardmaking Day Challenges

Happy card making day!  Hope everyone is getting to do some crafting today.  I feel like I've been on withdrawal the last few days.  I've fiddled a bit with a Christmas card design I'm planning for my Mother's cards all week but have only completed one card and haven't scrapbooked at all!  So I'm happy to have some time to make cards.  You practically have to make one on World Card Making day, right?

Here are some challenges I've come across all with prizes:

World Card Making Day with a big, big prize!  The catch to this one is that you have to actual mail in your card and it won't be returned.   The cards will be judged.  I was intimidated at first figuring they would want super elaborate cards, but the blog hop showing last years winners had a more clean and simple style. Clean and simple isn't always the easiest for me either.  I'm somewhere in between.  I still may give it a shot. Contest ends October 15.

Pamela's World of Scrap has several sketches and contests with prizes.  My card below is for one of her sketches.

Artfuldelight has a monthly sketch which is similar to one of Pamela's.  The card at right is for this one.

Operation Write Home has a blog hop and challenge.  If you are making Christmas cards for OWH, the deadline for submitting is coming up soon so be sure to check their 'mailroom' portion of their site for details.  Of course you can always make another type of card and submit it any time.  I keep a priority mail box in my scraproom and just add to it as I make cards.  When I get 30 or 40 which is about what one box will hold without squishing too much, I send it in.  These two have already been placed in the box for my next shipment.

I loved getting to use some wider ribbons that have been in my stash a long time.  Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fun crafting weekend.

Our preferred route

We enjoyed a fall trip to Hilton Head Island week before last.  We've never been quite this late in the year.  Really, you couldn't tell it was fall there.   You can tell it isn't summer though because the crowds are gone and the prices were lower.  We could actually cross the highway on our bikes without much of a wait at all.  It reminded us of how quiet the island was when we first starting going there.

When we started going to HH  Island over 20 years ago, we took an exit of I-95 that was labeled as a route to the island.  It is a very unpopulated stretch of road and I just love it.  It is true low country and we still go this way.  Finally this year, we stopped part way and I took a couple of photos.

Here is the journaling from my page:

This used to be the route to the island.  Now the exit sign doesn’t even say Hilton Head Island.  They really want you to take the new highway further south.  We still choose this two lane route beneath the moss dripped trees, beside old growth forests and marshes.  There are a few homes, a scattering of businesses and a church or two.  Mostly though it is still the untouched low country.  With little traffic, it makes the perfect break from busy I-95, setting a mood for beach walks and bicycle rides to come.

For the page I used some Simple Stories Harvest Lane papers along with this woodgrain background paper from their Take a Hike line.  I also mixed in some Autumn Spice papers from Lily Bee.  These coordinate really well with the Harvest Lane collection.  The stamp set I won as blog candy last week had some good circular images including the bottle cap that says "Slice of Life."

In addition to the pattern papers, I cut up some old maps finding the sections of highway we drive and including them as banners.

I hope this stretch of road continues to be largely undeveloped and brings us that bit of low country before we even get to the island.

Thanks for visiting!

Perfect Pearls Background

I've tried Perfect Pearls before with little success.  The finish always rubbed off meaning I definitely could not use it for Operation Write Home cards and really didn't want to use it for other cards.  I didn't think anyone would appreciate receiving a card that left behind a residue.  Yuck!

Well, finally I learned a technique that worked.  Kristina Werner did this video a few weeks back creating a beautiful background by embossing a background image in clear on a watercolor paper and then painting Perfect Pearls over the top.  I just love the look.

The background stamp is from my last Two Peas order.  It was half off Basic Grey/Hero Arts stamp that is definitely on its way to being a favorite.  For the butterfly, I cut several from vellum with my Cricut and then stamped and embossed.

I spent forever trying to find a pretty frame to cut before finally just using an edge punch.  Sometimes it is fun to do new things and other times, it is better to just stick with the basics :-)

Thanks for visiting today!

Up to the Falls - Video

Happy Tuesday!  I have a layout and video today.

Last spring I did this layout using 3 photos and I really liked the arrangement.  So with 3 photos to work with again, I used the same design for the layout above.  Here is the sketch:

Feel free to use the sketch for your pages.  If you publish the pages on your blog or other site, please give a link back to this post.  The video goes through from sketch all the way to the final embellishments.

Emphasis is on the stamping on the background and choosing embellishments. There are some tips if you are nervous about stamping on your pages.  This starts about 4 1/2 minutes into the video.   Stamps really make your pages your own.

I also cut some designs from pattern paper for embellishment.  Sometimes I find it tough to use these cute prints in large amounts.  The little wooden stars from Studio Calico are a great accent.  I think they are the casual version of rhinestones or pearls for scattering over your layout.

Watch at YouTube



The focus of this layout was more on the hike than the actual falls.  Jaime and Dillon rushed ahead and Nai Nai practically drug her feet with every step and stayed back with us 'old folks.'  She is not a nature lover.  She complained all the way then suddenly asked us, "Which kid is your favorite, me or Dillon?"  Lenny responded, "You mean right now?  Right now which is the favorite?"  It was funny.

Thanks for watching!