Mindy, Run Mad . . . .

Here is my namesake, one of the New Julie Nutting Doll stamps from Prima, may I introduce "Mindy". And although I am not as physically proportioned as she, I bonded with her immediately, and felt a connection like no other.

All of the products used on this tag, are New releases. The tag is from the Prima Hancock Park Tag Pad, the large fabric flower from the Prima La Tela Collection, and the tiny sparkly Dazzles flowers from the Tiny Flower Stickers pack from Hot Off the Press.

I colored Mindy's dress and hair with my copic markers, and added sparkle with corresponding Wink of Stella markers. The washi tape was added at the bottom of the tag, with the Dazzles flowers attached in various empty spots on the tag.  I colored the Prima fabric flower with Lindy's Stamp Gang Desert Moon Purple Sage Glitz Spritz before attaching to the tag with Fabri-Tac adhesive. The doll stamped image and framed verse were popped up with foam tape to give dimension, and the sage colored bow was attached with a pop dot.

I love how this doll image has "attitude" and a certain shyness, just like ME! The framed sentiment I used on this tag says, "Run mad as often as you choose, but do not faint!" I don't know who Julie had in mind when she named this doll stamp, but I will always "imagine it was me" as long as I live, and will enjoy stamping with her for years to come.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy your time with family and friends.Spring is almost here, and very soon we will be complaining of the heat of Summer.  At least we can dream, can't we?

Texas Independence Day!

Hi Everybody! This weekend we celebrate Texas Independence here in our fair state! I usually don't mail out too many cards for this day, but a friend, Mark Jetton, who owns Deadbeat Designs Stamps celebrates by having an Independence Day card challenge on his blog . Most of the stamps Mark makes are Texas themed stamps, although he does have many others that may be used for multiple occasions

If you are interested in "good, old fashioned, wood mounted, top quality rubber stamps", then check out Mark's web site Deadbeat Designs.and do some serious shopping. 

I submitted two cards to his challenge, but am waiting for his posting of the contest before I describe my cards. You can visit his blog to vote on which cards you like best, beginning this weekend. Using scraps left over from my submissions, I put together this card to send to a friend who used to live here in San Antonio.

I took an A2 size card base and added two strips of brightly colored washi tape to the top. I then popped up the Texas banner from Deadbeat Designs on foam tape and centered it on top of the tape. I then stamped the large "happy" stamp from Winnie & Walter, along with a little handwriting for the sentiment on the front. The Texas shape stamp with the swirl filigree is also from Deadbeat Designs, and it was popped up on foam tape to cover a tiny doily stamping I didn't like after stamping it. To finish off the card, I used my clear Wink of Stella marker to add a bit of twinkle to the images.

Periodically, I enjoy using my "scraps" to make a few cards, thus using up some of my spare stampings and scraps of papers. (they stack up so quickly)  I hope you all have a great week, and visit with me again soon.  

Mindy

Saying Hello, with Love!

I thought I was finished making Valentine's Day cards this year, but I was wrong!  Some friends of mine started their own stamp company, Winnie & Walter, LLC.. As of the first of the year, 2014, they kicked off their opening with four beautiful clear stamp sets with coordinating downloadable Cut Files.  One of the sets I fell in love with,  The Big, The Bold, and The Happy was sold out almost immediately.  I patiently waited for it to come back in stock, and then placed my order.  While waiting for the stamp sets to ship, I received the coordinating downloadable Cut Files, and immediately made these lovely cards. 

I printed out the "love" and "hello" files with the black backgrounds in the 3"X5" size, and then trimmed around them to leave a small white border.  I then mounted them on colored card bases and used some dies from Impression Obsession and Hot Off the Press to decorate each one.  For the Love Card, I used the decorative Hearts die from HOTP/ Paper Artsy to cut the filigree heart, added a strip of hearts washi tape across the top, and tied a bow with a white ribbon.

For the Hello Card, I used the IO Grapevine Wreath die, and decorated it with the Memory Box tiny Flock of Birds die. Again I used a strip of polka dot washi tape across the top of the card to tie in the black board look color.

Today, (Friday) I received my stamp sets in the mail, and cannot wait to start stamping with them.  I hope you will go by their web site at www.WinnieWalter.com, and see what they have to offer. Also, check their blog, because they have the most wonderful design team assembled, who have shared sample cards using their beautiful stamp sets. I hope you all have a wonderful Super Bowl weekend, and if you aren't into football that much, maybe you can make some beautiful cards to send for Valentine's Day!

Live, Laugh, and Love

Birthday Greetings, sent to someone special. I created this card for someone special who had a birthday this past week. I began by folding a sheet of printed scrapbook paper from the Ledger Stack Paper pad from DCWV, Die Cuts With a View. I took one of the 6" X 12" sheets and trimmed it to 6" X 8", and then folded it at 3 1/2", leaving approximately 3/4" for the back of the card which I then added a strip of blue and green swirly washi tape.

Then using the Live, Laugh, Love Clear Stamp Set from Oriental Trading Co.stamped the phrase on the front panel using the Memento Rich Cocoa ink. On a separate sheet of white card stock, I stamped the Pure Innocence "Love is in the Air" girl from My Favorite Things and colored her in with Copic markers. I then fussy cut around the figure and stamped a "Happy Birthday" banner, and cut around it, too.  To attach it between her outstretched arms, I cut a tiny slit in each hand and slipped each end of the banner through the slits.  I then cut a slit in the front of the card and slid the little girl image in the opening.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful here in Texas. Friday, the temperature never rose past the high 30's, yet today it was up in the high 60's.  Sunday it is supposed to be up near 72, bright and sunny.  Monday another Polar Blast will come through and drop the temps down into the 20's and 30's again by Tuesday. Roller Coaster weather here in So. Texas, and they wonder why we are always sick!  Take care, and stay warm.

Mindy

Love You!

Greetings, it's Friday! The weekend is here!  Another fun Valentine's Day card filled with hearts, lace, and lacy butterflies. Enjoy!

I began this card with a delightful dimensional background paper. The white areas of the paper are flocked, and very fuzzy. I accented the background paper with a strip of chevron stripe washi tape across the card.  I then got out my Cuttlebug die cut machine and cut out the lace heart die from Paper Artsy- Hot Off the Press from metallic white card stock. Then using the Paper Artsy Butterfly dies, cut out two butterflies and colored them with my pink Wink of Stella Glitter pen. Since the metallic stock has a glossy finish, I brushed on a layer of the glitter, and then dabbed it with a paper towel, giving it a mottled finish.  I used the same technique on the chipboard words from Maya Road. These chipboard letters are porous though, and after the first layer of Wink of Stella marker, I decided to add another layer of color on top of the chipboard. All of the elements were glued down with Ranger Glossy Accents. When adhering the butterflies, I only glued down the bodies of them, that way the wings are loose, and could be curled and crimped to give dimension.  I also added a tiny bow die cut, again colored with the Wink of Stella marker.

I hope you have enjoyed my Valentine's Day cards this year. They will be sent out to my Valentines next week. I love you all, and hope you will send and receive handmade cards this year.

Mindy

Sweet Memories

Today's cards is a rather simple design, using a few supplies, and only takes a few moments to put together. It could be considered clean and simple, because it is basically a one layer card, with a strip of washi tape at the top for a color pop!

To start, I cut an A2 size card from stock with a top-fold opening.  The using a K&Co. Rub-On Magic glitter set, adhered the stick-on stickers on the front of the card. The stickers are made from a double-sided adhesive, you just cut them out of the sheet and rub them on your card, like rub-ons. When you remove the safety sheet, you then sprinkle loose glitter included in the kit, on the adhesive and then tap off the loose remaining glitter. If you apply the glitter, one color at a time, you can keep the excess and put it back in the resealable tubes.  I used both the red and pink glitter on these designs. The pink, was adhered to the large heart, and the scroll border.  The red, to the small heart and the sentiment. I also used my Quickie Glue pen to lay down a little glue in the flower inside the large heart, and then sprinkled some of the red glitter onto the flower.   After dry brushing some of the loose glitter off the card that wasn't glued down, I sprayed the card front with Krylon Workable Fixatif, to lightly seal in the glitter that clings on to the adhesive images.

I don't use loose glitter much, because more of it sticks to me than the card, in most cases. I do like the look of glitter, and usually use markers and glitter mixed with glue (Stickles) to add bling to my cards. When I do use the loose stuff, my "glittering" personality shows for at least a week!  Have fun, and try a new product or technique this week in your card making and crafting!

Mindy

Independence Day 2013

Happy Independence Day Weekend, Everyone!  Since the fourth is mid-week this year, many will be celebrating this weekend, and some may wait till next weekend.  Any way you look at it, the Fourth of July is a good time to celebrate! Today's card is red, white, and blue, but the traditional Patriotic theme is not there. Instead, I have chosen an everyday type theme to "Celebrate" our Independence Day.

The card began with a stock base of royal blue card, and the words "Independence Day" cut from the Cricut Word Collage Cartridge cut from white stock, and the letters glued to the card front of the card with Tombo Mono Multi liquid glue. I then found a Mary Engelbreit Name Tag, that I stamped "4 th of July" on from a Fiskars Holiday Stamp set. I added a few stamped stars, and a few small die cut stars to the tag before gluing it to the front of the card. Next, I have been playing with scanning some of my rubber stamps into my computer, so I took one of the images of a Julie Nutting Doll Stamp, and shrank it down to 50% of it's regular size, and printed it out on my computer. Now the 4" image was just the perfect size to place on my landscaped A2 card base, so I colored her in with my Copic markers. I needed something else "Red" to add to the color scheme, so I added two strips of washi tape to the top left corner, and used large dimensional Zot Dots to pop up the doll image over the washi tape. I then took my Silver Outliner Gel pen and drew some stitching lines around several of the elements, and the card frame to give it a little sparkle.

I hope you will enjoy the time with your family and friends this weekend. Be safe, and celebrate sensibly. And Have a Great Weekend!

Mindy

HATS OFF TO YOU!

Happy Sunday to all out there! Here is another Graduation card I made in my quest to find a design I like,  to send to a sweet girl who is graduating from college.

Here is how I did it! I started with a black card stock base card and added a sheet of background paper from the "Almanac" 6 X 6 pad by Prima.  I then added a strip of  black & white polka dot washi tape across the paper, about 1/2" from the bottom of the card.  I then stamped my Pure Inocence-"Freckles" girl stamp from My Favorite Things on a sheet of ivory card stock and colored her in with my Copic Markers.  Like the card before, I wanted her dressed in the traditional cap & gown, so I drew on the outline of the gown, and colored it in with my black copic marker, right over the clothes that were on the stamp. The mortarboard "hat's" were all stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink from my Lawn Fan set,"Hats Off to You". I cut each out leaving a small ivory border around each. Then I used foam tape to adhere the graduate and the flying hats to the front of the card.  The sentiment, "hats off to you" came from the same Lawn Fawn set as the mortarboard, and I just stuck it to the card right above the washi tape.

I am entering this card in the Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday Challenge- "Congradulations Graduates"!

Can't you just imagine seeing all the "hat's" flying in the air at the end of the graduation ceremony? I remember years ago when I graduated, the Principal told us that if we "flung our hats into the air" at the end of the ceremony we would be severely punished!  What was he gonna do?  We HAD just graduated!
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, the first weekend of summer! (Yikes!)  Where does the time go?  See you soon!
Mindy

Yipes! Stripes!

Yipes! Stripes! A horse in his striped pajamas!  Today's card has been sitting on my desk for several weeks, with no special theme. I had these zebra striped cards from a box of animal print cards by Die Cuts with a View, yet had never used the zebra striped ones. I finally found a wonderful zebra stamp, and stamped it on a white kraft tag a month or so ago with Memento Tuxedo black ink. I used my copic markers to shade around the zebra stamp to give depth, and around the letters on the banner stamp "Bannerific" from Lawn Fawn. I also had a small black accent tag that I decided to use behind the zebra for more umpff!  I cut around part of the zebra's body with my Xacto knife and made a pocket for the tag to fit in, before adhering the white tag to the front of the card.  I then attached my "LOVE" banner below the white tag, and added a strip of numbered washi tape to the tag edge.

Although it doesn't show well in the photo, I adhered a black & red gingham check ribbon tied in a bow, to the small black tag before sticking it in the pocket. I haven't decided what to write on the black tag yet, it is for a dear friend who has a birthday coming up in the next week and a half. I will have to use my white gel pen to write a message on the black tag, so I will have to hunt down the white pen. (I always have trouble finding the white pen, I should buy several and leave them all around the house so I can find one when I need it.) 

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post. I was busy doing my taxes, and I guess they took longer than I expected. But thank goodness they are done now, and I can get back to my card making and art journaling. I would much rather work on art than taxes!  I hope you all have a great weekend, and aren't stuck indoors doing YOUR taxes at the last minute. I will be stamping and having FUN!  See you again soon.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling. . . . .

Happy Wednesday fellow papercrafters and cardmakers!

Today's post is a St. Patrick's Day card that I made, and I really like the way it turned out. I started out with a 4" wide strip of dark green card stock and cut it at 6" long.
I then scored it at 1" from the end and attached a rectangle of light green stock 4" x 41/2" overlapping just as wide as my red-line tape. This completed the card base.

For the embelishments on this card, I cut two more scraps of card stock; one from a peach and green muted background 3" square, and one dark green stock 2"x4".  The dark green piece was the leftover from the 4" strip cut from the 8"x8" paper pad. I adhered one strip of a yellow and green print washi tape and a strip of beige tape measure style washi tape leaving a space in the middle for my handwritten sentiment banner, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling".  I then handstamped the double dot strip clear stamp from Paper Wings Productions on the left side of the card, and stamped some clover plants from the Louise clear stamp set also from Paper Wings Productions. The stem with leaves stamp and teeny heart stamps made the clover plants, then I colored them in with my Copic markers. I printed the leprechan from an online copyright-free image and colored it with copics also.  To add just the right amount of bling I dabbed a bit of Stickles in Firefly to his shirt, tie, and socks. Foam dots poped him up from the surface of the card, and a bit of peach twine was tied in a knot above his head.

I have a bit of Irish in me, but it must be just a wee bit, because the Guinness makes me woozy! (even a wee bit!) I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead, and try to make some cheery St. Patty's Day cards. (even if you aren't Irish!)

Hugs & Kisses Inchie Card

Greetings to All!
Today's card is a relative to the Valentine Inchie post a few days ago. On that card, as you recall, I mounted 6 inchies equidistant from each other on the front of the card. Each one of the inchies was an individual picture.

In this post I am stamping a beautiful daisy stamp from AMuse Artstamps on a 2" X 2" square of stock with tuxedo black Memento ink, coloring it in with my Copic markers, and then splitting it in half  both ways to get four inchies. I then mounted them on a 2 3/8" square of craft card stock, and then mounted the entire square on the front of the card. I also took two strips of washi tape and stretched it across the card front for a banner that I also tied with twine. For the sentiments, I used the Heart to Heart clear stamp set from Hot Off the Press/Paper Wishes. "Hugs and Kisses"stamped  at the bottom below the washi tape, and "It Tales a Long Time to Grow an Old Friend", next to the inchies.

Inside of the card I stamped, "We"ll be Friends Forever!" and I ran another width of washi tape near the bottom of the card. For the BLING factor on this card, I added an adhesive pearl to the center of the inchie flower on the front.  So, now you have seen two different ways you can use inchies on your greeting cards. Like I mentioned before on the previous post, inchies are quick and fun to make and can be added to a card in just moments. So the next time you need to jump start your mojo, just get out your tiny stamps and stamp up some inchies!  Have a nice weekend, and I will see you again on Monday!

You Are ONE of a Kind !

Greetings fellow Paper Artists!

Today's post is a beautiful heart card done in the folded paper technique of Iris Folding.

I have always loved the look of this ancient art of paper folding, but have never had time to try it. I saw a video of it done on the Paper Wishes webisode several weeks ago, and decided to send off for the template they sell. It is called Teresa's Iris Folding template #1 by Hot Off the Press and Paper Wishes. (photo of template shown below)  As far as I know, there are many folding patterns and designs you can use. HOTP and Teresa Welch have simplified the process and brought together a template that shows a basic folding pattern, and several designs that you can fill to make a beautiful card or scrapbook embellishment.

First, you trace and cut out the shape you want to fill on the front of your card base. You then turn the card over and temporarily tape it to the layout pattern, centering the pattern on your cut out.(as seen below)  You then pick two or four coordinating pattern papers to make your design.

You then cut out strips of paper, the size is in the directions, and fold them where indicated. Then you start placing them around the guide in numerical order as shown on the template. This is much easier to follow from the instructions, rather than me telling or showing you. Each strip of paper is taped down with cellophane tape to the base of the card. When all of the strips have been placed and taped as per the diagram, you trim the excess paper strip ends and cover the back of the design with a piece of cover stock sealing in all of the pieces of paper. To finish my card, I taped around the edges with a printed washi tape to seal in my strips of paper. I then  outlined the heart with a fine line of Dazzles, also made by Hot Off the Press for Paper Wishes. My banner sentiment is from the HOTP clear stamp set titled Heart to Heart, and I just cut a simple banner shape and inked the edges with a lime green chalk ink pad to correspond to the patterned papers I used in the heart.

This card was a lot of fun to make, and the Iris Folding was not as hard as I expected it to be. The template came with a butterfly and a flower shape to fill, so I may try these at a future time. I hope you will try something new in your paper arts and stamping, and until next time, have a "Love"-ly Day!





Valentine Inchie Card

Hello Everyone! Today's Valentine Special Card is one made with Inchies. If you don't know what inchies are, or haven't heard of them before, stick around and I will give you a little history of them.

Inchies are 1" X 1" tiny works of Art! They can be hand stamped, hand drawn, painted, etched, embossed, any type of  artistic medium can be used and any art technique.  Mine are stamped and mixed-media today, and I used them on an A2 card, with a Valentine or Love theme. To begin, I covered a base card with a sheet of 6 X 6 printed paper from the "Ruby" paper pad from My Mind's Eye. Since it was printed with tiny hexagons, I cut out around the little shapes to give the paper a detailed edging.  I then cut out 6 each one inch squares of white card stock, and 6 each squares of red card stock to give each one a small border. I used various stamps with Love Letter Red Memento ink that were a heart or love theme, such as the Wedding Couple, and Love Bird from AMuse Artstamps, along with a single daisy stamp and LOVE square from my stash. The square on the bottom right I covered in red heart washi tape and then glued a tiny wooden heart from Artchix Studios on top.  The sentiment "Happy Valentine's Day!" was stamped in Tuxedo black Memento ink and then I centered it on a banner from the Bannerific clear stamp set from Lawn Fawn.  I also raised two of the squares with a foam dot to give the card texture, along with the banner to make the whole card POP!  In addition to the tiny stones in the daisy centers for bling, I also added a sheer red ribbon up top on the fold of the card.

When I am stuck for inspiration when making a card or art project, I sit down at my stamping table and play with my stamps. Sometimes I color the images, and sometimes I leave them plain. If the image happens to be larger than 1",  you can then punch out 1" squares of the design or use your paper cutter to cut the image into 1" X 1" squares. Usually the inchies are matted with a solid color background before they are used on a project. However, if you separate a larger image into the inch squares, you don't need a background before reassembling them on your card or project. You just assemble them like a mosaic, and leave a small border around each piece.

So, know you know about inchies!  Why not try stamping some out this weekend and make a unique design with them. You will soon be collecting  lots of little inchies to use in your art projects and cards.

Keep a bowl full on your desk for that next special card or tag. You will LOVE them!  See you again soon.

Victorian Valentine

Victorian Lady and Peacock feathers! What else could be so enchanting? Today's Valentine card is a glossy finish background of peacock feathers from DCWV (Die Cuts With a View) mat stack, mounted on a greeting card base.  I also stamped one of the Victorian Ladies from the Hero Arts Stamp and Die Set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored her in with Copic Markers. She was double stick taped to the left side of the card, opposite the printed peacock feathers. The sentiment medallion was also pre-printed on the background and had a very glossy finish. Even the Staz On ink blurred when I stamped it, so I had to wipe it off and stamp the sentiment on a scrap of regular printed paper and adhere with double stick tape. (I guess in my old age, my hands are a little shaky, even with my stamping block!)

Below the medallion, I added a length of lime green adhesive lace along with a strip of red and white washi tape.  To complete the bling on the Valentine card, I made tiny hearts from hot pink Stickles and let them dry until they were firm to the touch.  When they were dry, I cut out around them and adhered them to the peacock feather "eyes" with Glossy Accents.

I hope you are enjoying these Valentine cards that I am making. Hearts are one of my favorite shapes, so Valentines Day must be one of my favorite days for making cards. I hope you get some ideas for creating some Valentines of your own this year. Until tomorrow, happy stamping!