It's Never Too Late... (T Tues)

Hello, Tuesday readers!  The project I want to share today is a work in progress.  It's a...Christmas mini album!  Now, I know that February is NOT the popular time to make "December Daily"-type albums.  Obviously, people make those in December.  And they work on them daily (in theory).  But that never made any sense to me.  Why take on a huge extra project during the busiest month of the year?  So, I've never made a December Daily.

Supplies: B/W paper from Fancy Pants; all other paper from Simple Stories; punch from All Night Media; white pen from Ranger; black pen from Zig.

However, this year I noticed that I have a BIG stack of photos from December.  If I were to put them all on regular 12x12" layouts, there would be so many that December would dominate my 2013 scrapbook.  So, I decided it was time to make a mini album.  It's kind of like a December Daily...just not made in December...and not worked on daily.  :)

~album & supplies~

I'm using a regular "brag book"-sized photo album (brand unknown), which I received as part of a Christmas gift.  I'll eventually decorate the cover to make it look more festive.  As for supplies, I'm mostly using pieces from the "December Documented" collection by Simple Stories.  The journaling cards and cut-apart sheets are just the right size to fit my mini album.

Supplies: papers from Simple Stories; pen from Zig.

Above is an example of a single-page "layout" in this album.

Supplies: papers from Simple Stories; stickers from Echo Park; pen from Zig; photo editing from walgreens.com.

And here's a double-page "layout," about my collection of European paper angels.

Supplies: paper from Simple Storeis; tape from We Call Her Happydaks; teardrop cab from Olla Podrida; pens from Zig.

The album has slots for 52 photos, but I don't have quite that many.  The sleeves that don't end up holding photos will hold greeting cards and other memorabilia.  Above is a Happy New Year card from one of my Russian friends.

Supplies: papers from Simple Stories; label sticker from October Afternoon; decorative stickers from Doodlebug; tape from We Call Her Happydaks; dots from Craftwork; pen from Zig.

The double-page layout above shows text trimmed from a Christmas bread wrapper (on the top) and a Bev Doolittle Christmas card (on the bottom).

I'm enjoying working on my album bit by bit, with no pressure to finish it by any certain deadline.  It's nice to make a page or two while sipping a cup of tea...although lately I've been more into cocoa with Valentine sprinkles.  :)

I'm joining in with Elizabeth and Bleubeard's Tuesday "tea party," and I'm eager to see what everyone else in the group is up to today.  Happy T Day!  :)

Открытка "Вечная любовь" / "Eternal Love" Card (Belle Fleur & The Card Concept)

 

Supplies / Материалы: red burlap & dotted cardstock / красная ткань и красный картон (Canvas Corp.); kraft notebook paper / коричневая бумага из блокнота (Cachet); floral kraft paper / цветочная бумага (Neenah); label sticker/ клейкая этикетка (October Afternoon); clock face/ циферблат (We Call Her Happydaks); paint & glitter/ краска и блеск (Ranger); stash items / накопившие вещи: postage stamp / почтовая марка & bits of lace & twine / куски кружевы и шнурочки.

Привет!  Получила вдохновение для этой Валентинки из русского блога Belle Fleur и из канадского блога The Card Concept.  Сначала расскажу о Belle Fleur.  Они там дали вот этот рецепт (вниз, на графике).

Hello!  I got inspiration for this Valentine card from the Russian blog Belle Fleur and the Canadian blog The Card Concept.  I'll tell you about Belle Fleur first.  The DT there had a card recipe.  The recipe, shown in the graphic above, calls for four items--a heart, trim, glitter, and flowers.

Снимки деталей показывают мою интерпритацию рецепта.  Сердечко--на старой почтовой марке.

These detail shots show how I interpreted the recipe.  The heart is on an old postage stamp.

Я употребляла и кружеву и шнурочки.

For trim, I used both twine and lace.

Цветочки--напечатаны на бумаге.  И блестки--ну, блестки везде!

The flowers are printed on the kraft paper.  And the glitter--well, it's everywhere! 

Here is the photo prompt for The Card Concept.  I used the red and brown colors of the house from the photo.  As far as texture goes, I think you probably already noticed it--burlap, lace, twine, glitter, etc.  :)  I'm entering my card in the "Freestyle Collage" category.

Вот фото-вдохновение из The Card Concept. Я использовала красные и коричневые цвета домика.  Надо было использовать текстуру на открытке.  Думаю, что вы, наверное, уже заметили текстуру моей открытки--ткань, кружева, шнурочки, блеск и т. д. :)  Сделала "фристайл коллаж".

Спасибо, что заглянули сегодня на мой блог!  Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Snowman Card (Cupcake Inspirations & Scrap Africa)

ETA: This card made the "Sweet Six" (top six) at Cupcake Inspirations!

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a very food-inspired crafter.  Who knew that there even was such a thing!  But it's true.  Almost every Tuesday I join in with Elizabeth's T-Tuesday virtual tea party.  And now I'm getting into the weekly challenges on Cupcake Inspirations.  I made this card...

Supplies: lined journaling card from KaiserCraft; spray mist & upcycled packaging from October Afternoon; all other paper from American Crafts; stamping ink from Hero Arts; stamp from Stampin' Up; snowflake pendant repurposed as mask; corner punch from Creative Memories; tape from 3M/Scotch; burlap cloth from Canvas Corp.; sewing thread from Singer; embroidery floss from DMC; colored pencils from Empire; assorted sequins from my stash.

...inspired by this week's challenge image.  Are those snowman cupackes cute, or are they cute?!  :)

I'm also entering my card in the current challenge at Scrap Africa.  This time around their challenge is to use a recycled item.  That's my favorite thing to do!  (Hence my blog name...Green Crafting.)

I cut the white layer for my card from this piece of packaging material.

Instead of cutting into a full sheet of 12x12" white cardstock, I cut the white layer for my card from an old piece of October Afternoon product packaging.  This is a trick I use pretty often in my crafting.

Here are a couple detail shots of my card.  Above, you see the snowman.  I stamped him three times (black ink on blue paper, green ink on blue paper, and black ink on white paper) and pieced together cuttings from the various stampings.  I added pops of color with pencils.

To further suggest snow, I misted a snowflake background and stitched on an assortment of sequin "snow."

Snow is something we've been having a lot of lately here in Minnesota.  It seems like when it's not snowing, the temperatures are dangerously cold (windchills approaching -40 degrees, which is the same temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celcius).  Finally today we are having a day that is both dry and not too cold, and I intend to get out and enjoy it a bit this afternoon...before it snows again tomorrow!  Hope that you're having a good weekend, too!

Pattern-Blocked Card

Hi!  I have a question for you all.  I know what color blocking is.  But is there such a thing as pattern blocking?  If so, then that's the technique I've been really into using on my cards lately.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; patterned papers from Lily Bee; stickers from Bella Blvd.

I like to cut patterned paper into rectangles [blocks], mat the rectangles on either a solid or another pattern, and then use embellishments to connect the rectangles.  I used this technique on the card above.  The big chevron print is divided into two blocks, and the blocks are connected by the round sticker.
 

The houses inside the card are fussy cut from Lily Bee paper.

By the way, this is a Christmas card, though it may look more like a housewarming card.  In December my husband and I donated to the charity Habitat for Humanity, in honor of some of our relatives.  This donation was in lieu of a Christmas gift.  Since I didn't have a physical gift to wrap and place under the tree for these relatives, I made them this handmade card--with a habitat/home theme--and put that under the tree instead.

I think this is the last Christmas card from 2013 that I have to share on my blog.  I have one more Christmas-related project to share, though, so look for that in a future post.  See you then!

Christmas Tea & Thanksgiving Flowers

Hello!  As happens every week around this time, a virtual tea party is on at Elizabeth and Bleubeard's blog.  Everyone is invited to join in the fun by linking up with a beverage-related post.

Today I want to show you a really cool card that my Polish friend sent me for Christmas.  (Christmas was a while ago, but it was a busy time, so I'm only getting around to showing these photos now.)

The card contains a plastic packet of real tea, taped into a teabag-shaped window!  How adorable is that?

I can't read Polish, but my friend wrote me a note inside the card to let me know that this was black tea with cinnamon and apples.  The little pieces of dried apple rehydrated when I steeped the tea.  Not only did this tea taste wonderful, but it also smelled really good...like the aroma of a freshly baked apple pie.

If only I knew how to read tea leaves!  I think these might mean that trying to design a handmade version of this teabag card is in my future.  :)

As long as I'm sharing a Christmas card out of season, I might as well share another card out of season, too.  :)

Supplies: cardstock from Wausau Paper; decorative paper & floral die cut from Doodlebug Design; ribbon from Scrapbook Fantasies; sticker from Bella Blvd.

Here's a Thanksgiving card that I made.  I made it quite some time ago, and it was published in the November 2013 issue of Scrap n' Art e-zine.  I enjoyed combining floral patterns when I created this card.

Well, I'll let you know if I have any luck creating my own version of the tea bag card.  In the meantime, I hope you're all well.  I look forward to hopping around and visiting blogs today.

Cupcake Inspiration Card

Some friends of mine have a wedding anniversary coming up, so I made a card for them.  I started with a plain text-printed card base from Canvas Corp. and transformed it with paint, stamping, glitter, etc.  The photo below shows my card sitting on top of an identical plain card base.  You can see how different my final card is from its starting point.

Supplies: card base from Canvas Corp.; paints & "Stickles" glitter from Ranger; swirl stamp from Paper Inspirations; stamping ink from Tsukineko; sticker phrase & heart sticker negatives from Simple Stories; assorted colored pencils.

I was inspired by a site called Cupcake Inspirations, where the prompt image was a set of cupcakes topped with sparkly pink sugar.

Here's a close-up that shows how sparkly the stenciled hearts on my card are when they catch the light.

Stenciling with Stickles and the negative pieces from old sticker sheets is a favorite technique of mine.  It works best with simples shapes, like these hearts.  Besides being fun, this type of stickers-into-stencils recycling is also a great way to get a little more mileage from sticker sheets.

The weekend is upon us, so I'll close by saying: Have a great weekend!!!  Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Awesomesauce Tea

Hello, creative friends!  In my last post I mentioned that one of my goals for 2014 is to explore the art of collage.  Well, I also have a second goal, and that is to make more cards.  Scrapbooking is still my first love, but last year I made more cards than ever before, and I want that trend to continue this year.  Here's a card that I made recently.
 

Supplies: white cardstock from Pulp; purple cardstock from Wausau Paper; stickers & patterned paper from Bella Blvd; corner punch from Creative Memories; watercolor paint from Angora.

I made this card to thank a friend who jump-started my car on a particularly cold night back in December.  She is indeed awesome.  It's another cold and snowy day today here in Minnesota...the perfect day to warm up with Tuesday Tea on Elizabeth and Bleubeard's Blog!

This week I decided to show you my favorite kind of tea: Prince of Peace organic oolong tea.  The tea bags come in a big box, which lasts a long time.  I would describe the flavor of this tea as "gentle."  It goes with everything, and it's never too strong or overwhelming.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to have tea with me today!  Now I'm off to visit other people's blogs.  See you soon.

10 on the 10th: Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 10

This elementary equation is the formula I'm going to follow for my "10 on the 10th" monthly destashing project this year.

Here's a sneak peek of what's to come later in this post...

Here is how it's going to work.  For each month, I'll put together a kit consisting of: 2 sheets of patterned paper, 2 sheets of cardstock, 2 types of embellishments, 2 "throwaway" items, and 2 nonconsumables.  Unlike last year, my goal is to use up every last item in the kit, except, of course, for the nonconsumables.  I'll make a layout and a card, then use the remaining scraps to put together a collage.  (Collage is something I want to explore during 2014.)  On the tenth day of each month, I'll blog about what I've made with my kit.

These are the nonconsumables and throwaway items that I used this month.  I was trying to get rid of some Christmas stuff.

January's kit has a "peacock" color scheme, and it is made up of items that I acquired in 2013.  I figured this would be a good way to use up some of last year's pretty papers, and to make way for some new goodies at the same time. 

~peacock colors~

Here are my ten items:  

1. oscilloscope patterned paper from Basic Grey
2. moon patterned paper from Studio Calico
3. teal cardstock from Bazzill
4. white speckled cardstock from Wausau Paper
5. embellishment: cut-apart cards from Bo Bunny (already partially used)
6. embellishment: cut-apart alphabet letters from Studio Calico (already partially used)
7. throwaway item: tissue paper from Christmas gift wrapping
8. throwaway item: cardboard packaging from Advent calendar
9. nonconsumable: stamp set from My Mind's Eye
10. nonconsumable: mandala mask (actually a pendant/charm, but I'm using it as a mask)

Here are the flipsides of the papers.  Sorry that they're a little chopped up, but I had already started working on my projects when I realized I should photograph the flipsides.  :)

Are you ready to see what I made?  First up is my layout, which uses the oscilloscope paper as the background.  As an electrical engineer, my husband is no stranger to oscilloscope readouts, so this paper suited him well.  I cut out a single "E" (for electrical engineer) from the alphabet paper and based my title, "It Takes a Double E to Make a Geek," around that.  The journaling says, "Here's a photo (from the 1990's) of Scott at work.  He's a 'double E'... that is, he's an electrical engineer.  In this day and age (unlike when I was a teenager), it's cool to be a geek...and Scott's my favorite geek of all."  :)

Additional supplies: stamping ink from Hero Arts; spray ink from October Afternoon; thread from DMC; pens from Zig; household paper clip.

Next up is my card, which is for my sweet friend Tania.  I used the letter "T" from the alphabet paper to make a monogram for her.

Additional supplies: spray ink from October Afternoon; stamping ink from Hero Arts; thread from Singer; corner punch from Creative Memories.

After making the card and the layout, it was time to make a collage with my scraps.  I created a nighttime landscape.  The Advent calendar packaging forms the base of the collage.  I'm not sure yet how I'm going to use this collage.  Maybe it will become part of a scrapbook page, or maybe I'll use it for something else.  For now, I'm just going to remain open-minded about it and continue to explore the art of collage throughout the year.

So, how do you like my slightly-revamped take of "10 on the 10th" so far?  Next month I'll be working with a violet-based kit; tune in on February tenth to see what I will have made from it!