Cards, cards and more cards!

February provided many opportunities for hanging out in the underground, making cards.

Of course there were Valentines to be made:

I used a template from the Silhouette store to make this one.

The sentiment is a stamp; it is attached to patterned cardstock.

This is not a traditional valentine, but one I made for my husband. The RV is a Silhouette “print and cut” from a photo of our recently purchased RV. I also did a cut from chipboard and glued the printed and cut image to it. The sentiment, Oh the places we will go, is cut from an old dictionary. 

Birds are cut from patterned paper using the Silhouette Portrait.

Love the intricate cut of the bird cage, also from Silhouette.

A birthday cutout from the Silhouette store; the contrast doesn't show as well in the photo.

One more card to make for February! Must get busy!

New Year Cards

I decided years ago getting Christmas cards mailed was one holiday stress I could eliminate. Instead I take advantage of the post-Christmas calm and send Holiday or New Year cards.  It is a much less busy time so I can add a more personal touch and I can respond to the notes I receive.

I only send to folks I do not see on a regular basis and those that are not my Facebook friends. And, yes I do enclose a brief Christmas letter. I find it very disappointing to receive a card from someone with whom I have not been in touch and find just a signature. I want to know what is going on in their lives!

I had almost enough cards from previous years to send this season (maybe someone will get the same card two years in a row, but really, does one ever notice?) I needed about 5 more, so while HR was occupied watching bowl games, I made enough to finish this year’s mailing.

My New Year resolution is to improve my photos! I am open to suggestions from you. 

The designs were cut with my Silhouette Portrait.

Using Microsoft Publisher, I printed the inside sentiments on white card stock, two from an 8.5 X 11-inch sheet. After they were cut, I scored and folded and attached the front.

And par for the course, I ran out of tape runner!  If I make a quick trip to the store this morning I can still get these in the mail in time for folks to receive them before New Year's Day.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and your stockings were filled with craft supplies. (I wish I had told Santa in addition to kneaded erasers, blending stumps and fresh cutting blades I could use some tape runners.)

My New Year wish for you is for many hours happily crafting! 

One Snowy November Day

See what I did yesterday! 

Thanks to my good friend, Tracy, I have lots of paper with which to choose in making gift bags and cards. That is exactly what I did yesterday.

My Silhouette Portrait got quite a work-out!

I found the Xyron Create-a-Sticker to be useful for adding adhesive to the thin fonts.

I used templates from the Silhouette Store to cut these gift bags.

Instead of scoring the fold lines, it cuts perforated lines; not good. Apparently there is a way to score the lines, so a little research is in order. These are small bags. I really like the papers! 

I found a template on Aunt Annie's Crafts blog for using 12-inch scrapbook paper for making a bag. It is really easy, especially with the Martha Stewart Scoring Board.

My template for the bag below.

For larger bags it would be very simple to disassemble a store-bought bag and use for a template.Would be really cool to use hand painted newsprint!

Play time must come to a halt until after Thanksgiving. The studio needs a cleaning and some organization so I will be able to start on Christmas projects as soon as we return from Texas. 

Prayer Flags and Cards

So nice to come above ground and spend some time in the garden this week. With the early daffodils at their peak and the tulips in full bloom, I am pulled between the garden and the studio for the use of my free time. I want to be both places!

It is the season and I had the pleasure of introducing prayer flags to a local garden club at Ephemera Paducah on Thursday. They had a ball with the stamps, stencils and paint!

 

I think some were surprised with their artistic talents.

 

 

 

 

The Prayer Flag Project has become popular with our local garden clubs; I look forward to seeing the little flags flying in gardens throughout the city this summer.

 

 

 

Back in The Underground, I made cards for the RubberMoon blog and wrote my first ever post ever as a Creative Design Team member. Want to see them? Hop on over to their blog and take a look! These will go to Operation Write Home.

The press release for the OWH card making event scheduled April 19 at Ephemera Paducah went to the media this week. Our first ever OWH event, we have no idea how much participation to expect. We are encouraged by the interest shown by the media. Kristin (owner of Ephemera) and I did an interview this morning for the local newspaper and Kristin has one scheduled with our local NPR station.

Also, this week I created a somewhat belated thank you note; often I have to weigh timeliness against handmade; for this couple, handmade won. This one was especially fun as I used a map from an outdated atlas and vintage lace from a stash my mother-in-law gave to me.

 

 

Classes have resumed after spring break at PSAD. We are now into charcoal drawing. I love it, but it is quite messy. With my AADD, I know I will have charcoal smudges everywhere! I am trying very hard to remember to not leave the easel and work on a card or flag without first washing my hands. And what about the white base and drawers on the new cardmaking station ….well fortunately charcoal washes off easily!

Speaking of the cardmaking station, Handy Randy added a pegboard and paper roll holder this morning. I love the free newsprint end rolls from the newspaper but they were a bit awkward to use. Not anymore!

I am off now to do a bit of organizing!

It's in the Cards!

Inspired by The Art of Corresponding classes at Ephemera Paducah, here are the Thank You notes my friends and family received after Christmas. With my AADD, I wasn’t able to stay with one particular style or technique.

I used the Silhouette Portrait to make this card. Although there is a significant learning curve, it is amazingly fun to use!

 

 

I saw a tutorial on OWH about using the 6 X 6 sheets, headed out to Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon, bought a 6 X 6 pad and made these two cards using two coordinating sheets from the pad. The technique made selecting papers very easy.

 

 

Tangling white on black is a technique I had wanted to try. I like it!

 

On this one, I drew the Pussy Willow branch and used the Silhouette to cut a cardinal image.

 

This one is my favorite as I love mixed media! Not knowing how the embellishments increase postal rates, I hand delivered it to a neighbor.

 

This coming Thursday (January 17), we will be making Valentines in the Art of Corresponding class at Ephemera Paducah. I hope to do some embossing. Since I do not own an embosser, I will take advantage of the embosser at Ephemera. One of the reasons I love these classes is I don’t have to buy and store all of the so many tools!

 

Hand Crafted Cards

              

Yesterday I came above ground and moseyed over to EphemeraPaducah for a card making class. The Art of Correspondence is a pretty good deal. For $20 you can make 10 cards and have the use of hundreds of stamps, a variety of papers, paints, paint pens, punches and lots of ephemera. In addition you will be inspired by the proprietor, Kristin Williams, as well as other local artists.

I only completed these two cards in the two hours as I was a bit overwhelmed with the choices, taking longer to make decisions. More accomplished artists whipped out several.

                       


I didn’t get this one completed. It needs something but I don’t know what. Any suggestions?

 

 

When I signed up for the class, I had the grand idea that I would send hand crafted Christmas cards to everyone this year. Given my crafting speed (or lack of) I have rethought this idea. Maybe I will get a few made to send to some special people.