Treat Yourself Cardmaking Crop Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to my little blog!

If you've just stumbled here, keep reading, you'll figure out what is going on pretty quickly! If you are participating in the CardSwaps Treat Yourself Cardmaking Crop Blog Hop, then you are in the right place!

My favorite online hangout, Cardswaps forum is hosting an awesome crop this week. How do I know it is awesome when we have just started? Because we have rocked this party before! Trust me, you want to come on over and have fun with us!

Challenges and games will be posted August 8-11, 2012 and you have until 11:59pm EST August 14, 2012 to get your projects posted to the appropriate thread. If you haven't participated before, no worries! There are many members (including me!) that will be around to offer support and encouragement. You will be able to find out all you need to know in the forum, you can start here at the thread for new members.

At the end of this blog hop, you will be taken to the crop and I sure hope to 'see' you there! One of the games is a word scramble, collect the letters along the hop and unscramble them to be entered into the drawing for a prize for one lucky hopper! You will be given details at the bottom of this post. Don't skip ahead! Keep reading...

Alright then...you should have arrived here from Golda's blog, if not, go back to check out her blog and collect your letter. Then come back here and hop on. If you want/need to start over, feel free to go back to Brooke at the Cardmaker Magazine blog.

The blog hop "theme" goes with the crop title of "Treat Yourself". You'll be seeing lots of different types of projects, since it was left up to each of us what to do, as long as it somehow conveys a way the hostess "treats" herself. We were also each asked to share something about a way that we unwind or treat ourselves. (Be honest, who immediately thought 'chocolate'?)

The project I created was inspired by something I found on Pinterest. (Hmm, an awful lot of my projects start that way nowadays, and that's a good thing!) Anyway, I treat myself by spending time in my craft room. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Duh, don't we all?" But let me explain...I treat myself by spending time trying out new techniques in my craft room, better?

Case in point, today's project:

Based on the pin above, which was only a picture and did not provide a link to any instructions, I turned these...

into this!

Just kidding! This might make it a little more clear!

What do you think, cute? I'm thinking that this will be a birthday card you definitely would not see a duplicate of at the party!

You can tell just by looking that it is not difficult to make, it took the longest to find 10 strait and smooth popsicle/craft sticks!

So, here are my easy instructions to make this project.

1. Sort your craft sticks to find 10 strait and smooth ones.
2. I did not have this, but I recommend using a line of temporary adhesive to secure your craft sticks to the work surface. It will save you some time in rearranging and straitening them after you lift each stamp and the stick comes up with it.
3. Stamp your scene. This could be anything you want!
4. Bundle your sticks into a pile and send them off to make someone's day!

See, I told you it was easy!

Supplies:

• Craft sticks: Loew-Cornell
• Stamps: Inkadinkado, TPC Studios & Studio G
• Inks: Memories, Colorbox, Stampabilities & Martha Stewart
• Ribbon: Ribbon Trends

One of my dream places to be is by the sea. It seems to me that I have always loved the water, I have no idea when that might actually have started. By some definitions, my name (Meredith) means 'royalty of the sea', so maybe my parents started me off with that! I treat myself as often as I can with trips to the seaside, although since I live in New Mexico, that is not often! So, since I am not able to be there physically, I surround myself with images and colors of the sea. One of my favorite images is one that I took of the arch at the end of Baja California while on a cruise there.

I also seem to gravitate toward seaside images while cardmaking. Here is an additional project using the craft sticks as above, only they are affixed to the card base. I feel that the sentiment on this card fits me perfectly...

In case it is difficult for you to read, it states, "The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever".

Supplies:

• Craft Sticks: Loew-Cornell
• Stamps: Crafty Secrets & Impression Obsession
• Ink: Tsukineko Versafine
• Cardstock: Wausau
• Other: hemp twine

Unscramble It game for hoppers: You will be unscrambling a word once you collect a letter at each blog you visit. Once you collect ALL the letters, the last hostess in the blog hop will direct you to the thread in the forum where you can find all the details you need to enter the drawing. All hoppers collecting the letters, unscrambling the word or phrase, entering the game by following the directions in the forum and leaving feedback on EVERY blog in the hop WILL be entered into a random drawing held on August 15, 2012. ONE lucky hopper will have their name drawn and will win a prize! The winner will be posted in the forum on the game thread for Treat Yourself Unscramble It. So, make sure you visit every blog and find the letters.

Your hints are...its a phrase, it has three words, and its a way to keep balance in one's life.

My letter is...E

Now, be sure to hop on over to Jeanette's blog on the way to the forum to get all your letters and unscramble the phrase. Check out the challenges (I'm in charge of two!) and play some games! Its a lot of fun!!!

Here is the complete list of blogs on the hop, in case you get lost somewhere.

Brooke Smith -CardMaker blog 

Jane

Susan

Margaret

Trudy

Golda

Meredith --- You are here!

Jeanette

Colleen

Laura

Ivanka

Marlene

Anya

Angelina

Ana

Ashley

Lora

Thank you for visiting!

Meredith



Tutorial: Color in Your Soul

Welcome! 

I'm glad to see you found your way over from the Cardmaker crop forum.

My challenge to you for today is to use the following coloring and embossing technique to make a tag.

Believe it or not, we're going to take our paper tags from this...

to this!

If you didn't get a chance to read the supply list on the forum here then go ahead and gather them now.

You'll need:

• cardstock base for your tag
• ink in several colors (I used distress inks)
• blending tool
• clear embossing ink
• background stamp
• image stamp
• clear embossing powder
• heat tool
• embellishments to your liking

Start by cutting your cardstock to the size you would like your tag to be. Mine is a large one, almost three inches by six inches.

Use some lighter ink color(s) and a blending tool to color the cardstock as a background for your tag. I used two colors (yellow and green) and randomly blended them over the tag.

Using a darker ink, stamp your background stamp on the tag. Don't be afraid to stamp something other than the traditional strait background here...I angled my stamp and used it more than once, to vary the lines.

For this step you will want to line your supplies up and have them handy. Stamp your image with clear embossing ink, then cover with clear embossing powder. Shake off the excess powder. Some stampers find it handy to wipe the surface of the cardstock with a static cling eraser thingamajig to keep the embossing powder from sticking to anything other than the ink...you decide.

The fuzzy looking spots are the unmelted powder covered spots.

Use your heat tool to melt the embossing powder, I love how shiny it is!

Use a darker ink and blending tool to color over the entire tag, including coloring over the clear embossing. Don't worry, you won't ruin it!

halfway colored

all done!

Now use a paper towel or rag to wipe the excess ink off the embossing, revealing the original colors beneath the embossed image!

Finish up by embellishing the tag any way you would like to to finish it. I made a larger tag and finished it as a bookmark, since reading is often one way that I am pampering myself!

Supplies used for my tag:

• Cardstock:(cream,gold)Recollections;(green)scrap
• Inks:(embossing)Versamark;(colors)Ranger Distress Ink
• Stamps:(text background)Stampabilities;(sunflowers)Local King Rubber Stamps;(sentiment)Inkadinkado
• Embossing Powder:(clear)Recollections
• Ribbon:(cream)Best Value Organdy Ribbon Joann's;(green)Offray;(brown polka dot)The Ribbon Boutique Hobby Lobby
• Punch:(vintage label)McGill

I look forward to seeing your creations on the forum board here and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Thanks,

Meredith

Trying a New Technique

So I'm hiding out from the heat in my craft room...trying out some new (to me) techniques and creating away! I love the relaxed schedule of summertime! 


I'm improving on my blending distress inks, and decided to try the 'double sponging' technique that I learned from this tutorial to see how I would do. 


I used a text background stamp, which fits right in to the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays: to use text in your Clean and Simple design. 


Here is the completed card:

And a closer view of the focal point:

As you can see in the tutorial linked above, the sequence to make this is sponge the background, stamp the overall background, clear stamp and heat emboss the focal image, then use a darker ink to sponge over the focal image. It looks so intricate for how little time it takes!

I did some fun masking for this card, the yellow and green background edges were created by tearing the painter's tape and using it as a mask, then when I couldn't find the right color brown ribbon to use across the middle, I used the strait edge of the painter's tape to create a mask and sponged on the brown. In real life it looks like suede...so cool!

Supplies:

• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (wild honey, peeled paint, vintage photo)
• Stamps: Stampabilities (faded text background), Studio112 (Dandelion wish)
• Other: cardstock and buttons from stash

Thanks for looking!

Meredith

Guy to Guy Cards

I've made an effort to pick up some papers more suitable for 'guy' use lately, and the sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches seemed like a good place to start using them. 


I like the simplicity of this sketch, although if you take a look through the work that others are posting, there are some truly lovely interpretations! I think my favorite so far is this one, I love, love, love her color combo!

I made two, with a couple more to come today...these are destined for OWH...I'm making an effort to design cards that the heroes will feel comfortable sending to other guys. 

Supplies:

• Patterned paper: Recollections
• Cardstock: Bazzil (brown), unknown (cream)
• Ink: TPC Studios
• Stamp: Hero Arts
• Other: canvas fabric

Thanks for looking!


Meredith

Some Days are Better than Others...

...and yesterday was not one of those days!


I'm experimenting with some new (to me) techniques, which can sometimes mean a few 'oops' before getting the hang of it. 


Case in point...blending and silhouette stamping for the One Layer Wednesday Challenge...


Since the current challenge is to make a card size other than A2, I thought that it would be nice to make a quick set of 3"x3" notecards to send as a little gift. 


I started by masking the edges of the notecard, blending in a background, stamping an image, then stamping and heat embossing a sentiment...and ended up with this...

Not too bad, but the sentiment gets lost in the image, and I was not careful with the embossing powder, so there are flakes of it all around the sentiment...so, not gifting material.

Next up was this notecard...

Nicer...and I like it...except for when I picked it up to put it in the 'keep' pile...

I noticed that I had oriented the stamping the wrong way...the card opens backwards!!!

Ugh! Next try...I changed up the masking a bit to mask in from the edges, leaving the edges to be colored by the distress ink as well.

I ended up with this creation...

Hmm, I like it, but the white space is too large...it doesn't seem to be in proportion to the rest of the space...you know?

So, try again...this time with 1/8" strips masked around the edges...

Eureka! I love it! I added buttons to accent the intersections, stamped and embossed a sentiment...it is definitely what I was going for...and looks great for giving!

And then...

Really? I let my work surface get so messy that I totally messed up the back of the card!!!

That's it! I gave up for the evening and watched some Netflix! And today...cleaning up the craft room is what is on the agenda!

Thanks for reading my rambling!

Meredith

Supplies:

• cardstock: stash
• ink: distress inks by Tim Holtz and memento ink
• stamps: floral silhouette by hero arts and sentiments by tpc studios

Sketch Challenge

I'm enjoying making cards regularly again, and managed to put one together today to fit the sketch challenge over at the Stars & Stamps blog for Operation Write Home. 

I'll be putting together some additional cards following the same sketch later tonight...it goes together quickly, but looks nice!


Supplies:

• patterned paper:my minds eye
• ribbon:hero arts
• stamps:sentiment:tpc studio, flower:inkadinkadoo, frame:our daily bread
• die cut:spellbinders

Thanks for looking!


Meredith

Technique: Paper Weaving

Hello, hello!


If you are visiting from the Cardswaps message board, welcome! If you stumbled upon my blog from another place and decided to look around, why, you're welcome too!


I'm responsible for the weekly challenge on the Cardswaps board this week, with the assignment of 'technique'. If you have no idea what I'm referring to, please click through to the board and read all about it...then join in on the fun!


A little background...I spend way too much a bit of my time on the computer looking around and enjoying others creativity, mostly on Pinterest. (Which, by the way, if you do not know what that is...keep your sanity, stay away!!!) (Just kidding...if you want an invite, just message me on the board, and I'll be happy to send you one.) I came across this delightful card and filed the idea for later...well, happily, later finally came!


This week, we're going to give our trimmers a workout, while making some paper weaving! I've given directions for the size weaving that I made...but you can change it up to make whatever size you want!


Start by gathering the supplies you'll need for the paper weaving:

• cardstock 'base' for the weaving (mine was 6" x 6")
• strips of paper cut to equal widths (mine were 1/2"), and long enough to cover the 'base', you need enough to cover the base width and height...so, 24 for me (my base is 6 inches high and the strips are 1/2 inch wide, so it will take 12 strips to cover the width, then the height of my base is 6 inches, so it will take another 12 strips to cover the height)
• dry adhesive
• that's it!

I used paper from a coordinating pack I picked up at WM on clearance, its really bright, as you'll be able to see in the final pictures.

Next, run a single line of your dry adhesive across the top of your 'base' cardstock...I tried to take a picture of this...but it is beyond my meager photography skills to take a picture of clear adhesive on white paper!

Start applying your strips in whatever order you like across the top of the 'base'. Keep the strips right next to each other, trying to leave no space in between them. All going vertically across the 'base'.

Continue until the 'base' cardstock is covered completely.


Now, don't mind my two pieces that stick up from the top...it is just because the strips I used had patterns on part of them that I wanted to be a part of the design...there is no need for you to do the same!

Now take the strips that you still have, and start weaving them one at a time, over and under the vertical strips, these will make your horizontal layers.


Look closely at the picture and you will see that the first horizontal strip is on top of the first vertical strip, under the second, over the third, under the fourth, and so on...all the way across the base. Snug it up next to the top, just by sliding it up.

Grab your second horizontal strip, and start weaving it...but take the opposite side that you used for the first strip. In other words, weave the strip under the first vertical strip, then over the second, under the third, over the fourth, and so on.

Then slide that second strip right up next to the first horizontal one!

Continue alternating weaving the strips, always making the next one weave the opposite of the strip above it...be sure to snug the strips up tightly against the one above it.

Until you get to the end of your cardstock 'base', and it is fully covered. Doesn't it look fabulous!?!

Now, you need to secure the weaving, so that when you use it, it does not shift and come loose. You are going to think I'm crazy, but grab the bottom of the weaving and lift it up. It should pretty much stay in place as you lift it...that is why you were careful to snug the strips up next to each other.

Pull the weaving out of the way, and apply adhesive to the base...how much is up to you and should depend on how you are planning to use the weaving. If you will be leaving it in one piece, you will need to do the edges. If you are planning to cut it up, more adhesive would be better...you can see that I put quite a bit on, and you will see why, later.

Lay the weaving back down, carefully, you don't want any wrinkles at this point! If your strips came a bit loose, just use your fingers to snug them together before you lie them down on the adhesive.


Once the strips are stuck to the base, trim the overhanging edges even with the base. 

Voila! You have a masterpiece of paper weaving!


Now, what can you do with it?


One option, is to die cut a shape from the weaving...

...and use it as a fantastic element on a card!

And just in the spirit of full disclosure...I may have gone a bit crazy fitting die cuts into the space left on my weaving leftovers from the first element...

But look...they make such great elements for the inside, too!

Here is the complete card...including a matching envelope for sending.


I am also entering this first card in the challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments ~ Quilts 


The first quilt pictured has such bright colors, they are so lovely! 

Here are some other options for using your woven element...

Stitch around the weaving and make it a main element...

And these cards are for entry into the Shopping Our Stash weekly challenge ~ red, white & blue and/or stars & stripes. Don't they fit perfectly?

Use strips made of a punched border...

Use two contrast colors, one for the vertical strips and
one for the horizontal strips and leave the edges uneven...

Have fun weaving!


Thanks,


Meredith