It's a Mask-erade

Here's another card idea that I saw on Pinterest.  I loved the technique but of course didn't have any of the stamps the original artist used so I got out my book of stamp images and searched for those I thought would work.  This is actually four different stamp sets, proving that you can mix and match to your heart's content!  The first step is to mask off the portions of your cardstock that you want to leave blank.  In this case, I masked off the bottom 1" and the top 2" of the white cardstock (post it notes are great for this).  I sponged Sweet Leaf ink all over the part that wasn't covered, daubed it a bit with some Cashmere ink, then stamped all the black images that you see.  After that I removed the masks and continued with the happy birthday and the roses.  It looks tricky but it's so easy!

Smiles, Caron

Welcome Autumn!

Yesterday was the first day of Autumn, my favorite time of the year...well, it was when I lived up north.  Down here it's mostly the rainy season and the temperature is still too hot for my liking.  However, that doesn't stop me from creating with the season in mind as shown in the card above.  I used A1130 Quick Cards - Bountiful Season stamped in Autumn Terracotta.  The dimension comes from stamping the image twice and then cutting out the leaf and pop-dotting it on top of the other one.  A little sponge daubing on the edges and tracing of the leaf veins with a brown marker and voila!  I finished it off with some dots of our Glitz Glitter Gel in bronze (Z1483).  Now if only I could see some leaves like this in person...

Smiles, Caron
PS: You can see a larger picture just by clicking on it.

Thrifty Thursday

Take a look at the card above and see if you can tell why it's a thrifty one.  Give up?  It's made with scraps and it comes together in no time which means I save not only time but money as well!  I saw the design on Pinterest (my favorite spot for inspiration) and knew that I wanted to recreate it with my own spin.  It's a very simple design but figuring out how to not only make this card but also how to stretch my supplies so my customers could make it in class...now, there's where I had trouble since I've had to be very strict with my spending of late so my supply is limited.  Then I came across my pack of Pemberley papers.  I had a bunch of pieces left over from other projects and I realized that most of them were just big enough for the flower and the squares.  A snip here, a snip there, careful placement of my Cricut blade and voila!  I was able to stretch those little bits to create 17 more cards just like it.  I felt like I had squeezed every last ounce of usefulness out of my paper and it was awesome!

The moral of this little story is to save your scraps!  You never know when that little 1 inch square will be the perfect touch for a work of art :o)

Smiles, Caron

For Keeps!

Several of my students have asked to make a keepsake box using the My Creations card box.  This little beauty is the perfect size to sit on a desk, on a bureau or anywhere you would like to add a little extra something.  I used the La Belle Vie papers and our opaque flourishes and this is the result.  I think it's quite pretty if I do say so myself!

This is such a simple project but it packs a lot of punch.  At only $4.95 for the box and just one or two sheets of paper, it's also a bargain.  You can bling it up like I did or just add a few stamped images.  This is one time you can think outside AND inside the box!
Smiles, Caron

Strange happenings!

I don't really know how or why but my other blog just disappeared.  Rather than tear out any more of my hair trying to fix things, I decided to just start a new blog.  It's kind of like moving to a new house.  You have to unpack everything and figure out where it goes in the new place.  Bear with me as I do that here.  Please take note that the blog address is changed.

Smiles, Caron