TIPsy Tuesday - Mitered Corners

This card fits today's Splitcoaststampers color challenge to use Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Melon Mambo.  Since I didn't get the card made ahead I had planned for TIPsy Tuesday, I just combined the challenge and the mitered corner frame.

Yesterday's blog post with the Fishing layout also uses mitered corners with the stripe paper cut a different direction for an interesting effect.  

Here is my method of mitering paper corners.  It uses overlaping paper rather than trying to cut all the corners at angles and butting the edges together.  This way is easier and more forgiving if your cuts aren't perfectly straight.

1. 
   
   Cut paper in strips the width you want your frame. In my case, I cut stripes out of designer paper to get the desired colors eliminating the So Saffron that was also in this DSP.
2. Glue down the long sides.  Lay the smaller lengths on top.

3.  Mark the intersection point with a pencil mark on the short pieces.

4.  Remove the paper and draw a line connecting the corner of the paper with the pencil mark.

5.  Cut along that line leaving a hair more paper on the outside of the pencil line.  You can always cut off extra as needed.

Extra tip:  I chose to cut the diagonal lines on the shorter pieces because if I messed up, I wasted less paper. 

So frame a photo, frame a card, it's easy and an impressive to use those checks and stripes!

Note:  The idea for flower stems laying over the polka dot came from Julie Ebersole's blog at  Paper Trufflez

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Petal Pizzazz, Kind and Caring Thoughts (greeting) by SU!; Polka Dot Basics by PTI

Ink:  Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand and Melon Mambo

DSP:  Delicate Dots (SAB '09)

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Sahara Sand

Button:  Fabric Store

Hooked on Fishing

Dillon is the one hooked on fishing.  He had been fishing before but the day these photos were taken was when he caught his first fish and the fishing bug really caught him, too.  Unfortunately, the fish were a bit small to cook - or no one wanted to clean them.  Anyway he had lots of fun and I did too in creating this layout.

Journaling: 
Grampa Fincher promised Dillon a fishing trip if he got straight A’s in school. Dillon held up his end of the bargain, so they headed off to the pond at Riverbend Park on Sunday morning. After a few tries, they found the right fishing spot and… Dillon. Began. To. Catch. Fish! He got really excited on the first ones. After awhile he got so confident he rejected Grampa Fincher’s advice on where and how to fish. A small turtle found the fish and began to help itself. Eventually they headed back in true Fincher tradition hiking up a steep hill all the way. Still Dillon is…

Project Notes:

• Lenny helped me with this layout by dictating the journaling to me.  He also created the fish hook from a piece of silver wire and even tied my knot.  (He frowned heavily at the knot I tied and redid it in an official fishing knot. Maybe I should get him to start tieing the bow knots on my cards :-)

• The letters for "on" are really a "b" and an upside down "u."  A pair of scissors works wonders to turn letter stickers into what you really need them to be.
• One of those cute little fish brads from Fancy Pants holds the line in place.  The hemp twine runs between the teeth of the brad before it goes through the back of the paper.
• I kept rotating the striped paper border strips to get the mitered corners to match up.  I had to fudge a little as the paper wasn't just perfect.  Just depends on the paper as to whether this will work out.  You don't need to miter every piece - just one piece per corner.

Thanks for your visit.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for TIPsy Tuesday on Mitering Corners. 

Ingredients:  Designer Paper:  Jersey Shore by SU!; Paper Studio for journaling block
Brads and journaling tag: Daily Grind by Fancy Pants
Chipboard letters:  Basic Grey
Ink:  Brilliant Blue, Only Orange by SU!
Stickers:  American Crafts and Doodlebug
Font:  Problem Secretary Normal from dafont.com

CASEd Pennant Card

This is based on one of my favorite Kristina Werner designs.  I knew I had to CASE her pennant card from this week's Finally Friday post with video -->  http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=3044 

The only major difference is that I stamped my clouds right on the background using cloud stamps from the Whooo Loves You  - Valentine's - set.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Whoo Loves You by Hampton Arts; On Your Birthday by SU! for greeting.
Cardstock:  Aqua Mist by PTI
Ink:  Versamark; Chocolate Chip by SU!
DSP:  Farm Fresh by October Afternoon, Nook and Pantry by Basic Grey

Project 365 Wk 8 - In and Out

I got my weeks mixed up but I think I'm back on track now with last week being week 8 of the year.  We were Out and About more last week having breakfast with friends, getting in a hike on the one pretty day, seeing customers, and shopping.  Also I got ready for stamp class.  It was a nice change.  I was beginning to feel like a hermit cooped up here watching it snow every few days. 

My favorite photo of the week was the one we took of ourselves looking in the new mirror.  Several good pictures called for a two page layout - the first since Week 1.  My challenge this week was to embrace the "white" space.  That is really, really hard for me to do.  I tend to fill up the pages so leaving that entire bottom half of the first page and top of the second page blank was super difficult.  Still, after adhering the last embellishment to the right hand page, I forced myself to put down the stamps and scissors, back away from the table and leave well enough alone! 

Project Notes:

• To determine the size of the photos, I cropped and then arranged them in my photo editing software.  I added "In" and "Out" for the title, then printed and trimmed to arrange on a traditional page. 
• Mini journaling cards from an 8x8 Fancy Pants paper pad helped fill in some of the space between the photos.
• The black and white pointed square design was cut with the Cricut and Scal software using a design I downloaded from the Craft Edge (developers of SCAL) forum.
•  The printing looks distressed and fits in with the paper but it actually either a dirty or faulty printer.  Cleaning the printer goes to the top of my to-do list.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Fabulous Flowers by Hampton Arts
Ink:  Basic Black, Basic Gray by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock:  River Rock, Soft Sky by SU!
DSP:  Daily Grind by Fancy Pants, little strip of blue from Marrakesh by Basic Grey
Stickers:  Marrakesh by Basic Grey

Tri-fold class card

This is the last card from our class last Saturday.  One of our attendees, Betsy, loaned me this pretty set from Close to My Heart.  It was the first time I had used any of their products and I loved the images and the packaging.  Unfortuntely, I forgot to write down the name of this set.  It has many lovely nature images - we weren't sure if they were flowers or weeds but they make up nicely with the greetings. 

• This tri-fold card is scored with sufficient paper to overlap and tear the edges. 
• I suggested they distress their greeting block with Soft Suede and that gave a pretty effect to the card.
• The image is stamped off with Soft Suede ink on the Kraft cardstock - a combo I really liked.
• I had to go to a darker cardstock for the deep red color to match the ink.  When you tear cardstock, the color often lightens.  A good reason to have a bulging stash of paper!  :-)

This month we do Birthday cards on March 20.  This Saturday is our regular SU club by our demonstrator Jean and I'm the hostess.  Lots of fun events coming up.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Close to My Heart
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede by SU!
Cardstock:  Very vanilla, Kraft, Not Quite Navy by SU!; Scarlett Jewel by Papertrey Ink
Fibers:  Sam's Club kit

Two Challenges from Splitcoast

"How on earth am I going to make Always Artichoke go with Basic Gray and Crushed Curry?"  was the thought going through my head as I worked on two challenges from Splitcoaststampers.  I almost gave it up and did only the card sketch portion.  But then, that is why they call them challenges, right?  So after fussing awhile longer and wishing I had some designer paper to lead the way, I realized there was some in the stash.  The one on the left is not Stampin' Up! but it meets the color requirements.  Of course, I really loved the colors once I got finished.

Project Notes:

• Although it didn't photograph well, the dark green button in the center is the perfect color and really pretty.  It was from my stash which I replenshed today on a trip to my favorite fabric store with my Mother.  Check your local fabric store for a "button" box or see if they sell damaged or partial pack buttons in bags for a reduced price.
• Stampin' Up! designer paper in single colors and the pattern packs available for Hostess sets have a solid color sheet great for punching borders using intricate punches.  Often this is easier than punching regular cardstock.  The solid gray here is the reverse of the white and gray pattern.
• Cut DSP so their is a not-so-busy area for stamping the greeting.

To see the other challenge entries, follow these links:

CC260 Always Crushing Basics --> http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=482343

Sketch Challenge 270 --> http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=482473

Thanks for stopping by!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Petal Pizzazz and Upsy Daisy (for greeting) from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock:  Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Whisper White

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Basic Grey and Always Artichoke

DSP:  Raspberry Lemonade and Basic Gray from SU!; polka dot is from October Afternoon

TIPsy Tuesday - Inspiration TV?

Where do you get inspiration for your cards and scrapbook pages?  I love to browse blogs, on-line galleries such as Two Peas and Splitcoast, and scrapbooking magazines.  There are oodles of challenges to get us going on our cards and pages, too.  There are also many non-papercraft related ways to get inspiration.  Most any magazine with its staff of professional graphic designers can be inspiring.  I still mourn the loss of House and Garden which had the best photographers. 

Another place to get inspired is television.  Yes, when you are unwinding with the Housewives or watching a favorite comedy, look at the set or the clothes.  There are some cool ideas just waiting for you to turn them into cards.  Since the first time I watched Modern Family (ABC, Wed. 9:00 p.m. ET), I've wanted to lift the color scheme from Claire and Phil's living room for a card.  Their walls are a perfect match to Bordering Blue.  The draperies and pillows are a deep orange with a hint of saffron.  Finally, on Sunday I made the card above using those colors and I love it!  It is a departure from my typical colors and look.

So I actively looked on Sunday when we watched the Housewives for inspiration and found it at Bob and Lee's home - the two most wasted talents on that show (but that is another matter).  They have some framed pictures in their living room that inspired this simple card.  I was going more for style but ended up with a great color combo.  Rarely do I use Creamy Caramel, yet I really like it as the background for this simple, more masculine card.

Project Notes for both cards:

• I'm low on orange buttons so I sponged Only Orange craft ink on a small round piece of chipboard and then stamped an image with Whisper White for the embellishment of the top card.
• For the "Life" card, I wanted to emphsize the tone-on-tone flowers so they are stamped in a red color on the orange background. 
• I wanted the words to show but not take over so I stamped them in Basic Gray rather than black.  Colors will definitely change when stamped on a colored cardstock.

So tune in - in more ways than one - to your favorite shows looking for style, form and colors you can employ in your crafting.

Ingredients:  For birthday card:  Stamps:  On Your Birthday (greeting) from SU!; Polka Dot Basics from PTI; Plenty of Paisley from Paper Studio; Circles and dots from Inkadinkado
Ink:  Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Only Orange, So Saffron; white gel pen
Cardstock:  Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron
Ribbon:  So Saffron from SU! (SAB '09)

Life card:  Stamps:  Fabulous Flowers from Hampton Art; Make it Count from SU!
Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray
Cardstock:  Dusty Durango, Creamy Caramel

Cheery start to March

Here's a cheery card to kick off the month of March.  This year, I think we'll take March winds over the snow.  Last year, we had our only snow on March 1 and delighted in finally having snow.  Boy, how things change.  We are ready for spring.  Lennny has already been asking me when we will start planting our glad bulbs for the year. 

Project Notes: 

• Once again the designer paper led the way on colors.  This is an oldie but goodie stripe from American Crafts.  I'm already looking for some new DSP that has a large variety of colors.  It is hard to work in extra colors that aren't in the DSP.
• I stamped lots of flowers in various colors and then just played with the arrangement.  This was one of 4 cards - all similar yet a little different.
• For the stamp set, I chose one that had very defined edges on each stamp making the flowers easier to cut.
• The smallest flowers are stamped with a SU! set and the matching Boho Blossoms punch.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Deco Flowers from Paper Studio; One of a Kind by SU!; Inkadinkado for greeting.

Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, Kiwi Kiss from SU!, the pink and blue are from Colorbox fluid chalk

DSP:  American Crafts

Cardstock: Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss and Whisper White from SU!