Sunday, October 2, 2016

WCD Holiday Card Swap Video and Pics

World Cardmaking Day 2016 was a great day!

I participated in a card swap at my favorite local scrapbooking store, The Paper Cottage, in Beavercreek, Ohio.  About 25 ladies and one gentlemen participated.  Each person was asked to make a six-month commitment on the first Saturday of each month to create 10 cards and an 11th card to enter into a contest.  The customers at the store will vote on the cards, choose a winner, and that winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the store.

Here is a video featuring the 10 cards I received.


This is the card I gave to participants.


Here are pictures of the 10 cards I received.



I hope you're inspired to start your Christmas cards early.  I know that whoever you send them to will treasure them for years to come!









Saturday, October 1, 2016

World Cardmaking Day 2016

Today is the day - the day I am promising myself to make time for my passion and my love...papercrafting!

I have been through so much since 2012 - the amputation of both my small toes, almost dying from pneumonia in 2014, and now an infection in my foot, ankle, and bone that has resulted in two surgeries, not working since March, and still in danger of a possible amputation.  But you know what, out of the bad so much good has entered my life and I appreciate every moment on earth that I've been given!!  I'm not going to waste another day not devoting time to this blog and my paper!!

Papercrafting, and specifically cardmaking, is such a joyous, simple way to express love and kindness to so many friends and family members.



October 1st, 2016 is World Cardmaking Day and I am participating in a card exchange at a beautiful local scrapbooking store, The Paper Cottage, in Beavercreek, Ohio with one of my best friends, and fellow card makers, Terri Barlage.

The card exchange theme is holiday and I have created Christmas cards to trade with the lovely people this morning.  We are required to use three techniques/embellishments and I have used six.

  1. Stamping
  2. Heat Embossing
  3. Die Cutting/Punching
  4. Foiling
  5. Ribbon
  6. Bling

To create the card base, I stamped the snowflake background (Hero Arts) on craft paper and added gold foil stripes in the middle.  The technique I used to create the foil stripes did not utilize a Minc or a laminator.  I placed 1/8" adhesive strips on the cardstock and then pressed the foil on the adhesive strips with my finger.  I have a Minc and love it; but I wanted to use a technique that anyone could recreate.

Moving on to the wreath, I used the Martha Stewart branch punch to cut three shades of green cardstock to create the wreath on the cards.


I used a toilet paper cardboard roll, to keep the center clear and circular on the card, and then layered the branches around the roll.  I stamped "Merry Christmas" with Versamark Watermark ink on red cardstock and heat embossed the words in gold.  To jazz up the wreath, I added red jewels to mimic berry clusters and then placed a red glittered bow on each one.  I am horrible at tying small bows; but there is a technique to create small ribbon bows with a fork!  Check out Lisa's video on her Pufftique YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd8UGb5kSoY - and learn the fork technique in less than 2 minutes!


Hope you enjoy this Christmas card inspiration!  It's not too early to start working on your holiday cards - start early and make it a stress-free process by working on them just a few minutes each day.  I promise - they'll actually turn out better because you allow time for your items to dry between steps.



Wednesday, June 1, 2016

I'm spending my summer with Tim Holtz!

Did that get your attention?!  My husband and son are going to have to share me with another man this summer - Tim Holtz!

Today I started the "Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101" Online Card Class that's part of the Summer of Creative Chemistry Series that goes through the end of August.  Even though I've had the honor of taking an in-person class with Tim Holtz and used his products, I'm really looking forward to practicing the different techniques with all of the awesome products featured in the three classes I'll be taking on-line.

I hope sharing my summer school homework will inspire you to take time for yourself, enjoy your hobby, and be passionate about paper!


For our homework, we had tag assignments that featured the three following techniques (view the tags below from left to right):
  1. Blended Spritz & Flick (Distress Colors Used - Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber, Mowed Lawn, and Tumbled Glass)
  2. Brushless Watercolor (Distress Colors Used - Fired Brick, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Gathered Twig)
  3. Wrinkle-Free Distress (Distress Colors Used - Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean, Abandoned Coral, and Fired Brick)