Friday, April 27, 2012

Just saying 'Hello'

So, have you ever wanted to send a card to some just to say 'hello', only to find that none of the cards in your stash say 'hello' in the way that you want to say it???  Well, it's certainly happened to me, so you know I had to do something about it.

Here's one of my latest handmade greeting card creations....




I think you know what I am going to say...I love this card!  :o)  I love handmade greeting cards.  I think it's just perfect.  It gets right to the point.  And I created this card using scraps from my supplies.  I just love the pop of color that the polka dotted chartreuse ribbon adds.  And of course I had to add butterfly trails.  Oh, and I dabbed the letters with my favorite Tim Holtz Distressed Ink (Vintage Photo) to age them a bit.  

Here is a list of the supplies that I used to create this handmade greeting card:

Base card - Paper Source Cardstock - Chartreuse
Designer Paper 
Paper Source Cardstock - Fig
Me $ My big Ideas Alpha chips Letter Sticker 
Jute Twine
Perfect Pearls - Pearl
K&Company - Susan Winget - Adhesive butterfly sticker
Textured Cream Cardstock 
Tim Holtz Distressed Ink - Vintage Photo

I hope you like it!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. 



Some of my "Must Have" products and tools



Remember, creativity never stops, so do something creative every day!









Thursday, April 26, 2012

What a beautiful day...

Hi Crafters!

What a beautiful day!  That's the name of one of my recent handmade greeting card creations.  I designed it as a 'Thinkin' Of You' card.  (No 'g'.)  As always, I love this card.  When I look at it, I can't help but smile.  I love cards that have raised embellishments.  I think it creates interest.  Don't get me wrong, I also like non-dimensional cards or flat cards, but I am primarily drawn by 3D effects that raised elements on a card create.



Of course I used my Pazzles Inspiration machine to cut out most of the images: the sun, the clouds and the grass.  The flowers and buttons were in my supplies.  Not sure where I got them from because, like most of you, I pick up supplies from so many places that it's hard to keep track.  :o)

I hope you like it!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.


Some of my "Must Have" products and tools




Remember creativity never stops, so do something creative every day!









Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A reason to create...

Hi Crafters,

Some times we are faced with reasons to create that are not the most pleasant.  However, a card can always help to express our thoughts.

Such was the case for me today.  I needed to create a 'Sympathy' card.  These can be one of the most challenging types cards for me, because like you, I hate sadness and the causes for it.  But today, I had to put my feelings aside and create.  Here's what I came up with...

The creative inspiration for this card was the swirl border element.  I cut it using my Pazzles Inspiration.  I stumbled across it last night while looking for new images to download.  When I saw it, I had to have it.  I then cut it out on what I thought was a piece of never-to-be-used scrap paper.  I should know better than that...scraps are never scraps.  They are just waiting to be used.  After I cut out the swirl border, I knew I had to use it on a card.  

I designed the card around the swirl border embellishment. To keep the card soft, I stamped the sunflower with Versamark and dusted it with Perfect Pearls.  The colors that I used were: Green Patina, Perfect Gold and Forever Green.  I purposely kept my color scheme clean and to a minimum.  I used a sort of Butter Yellow piece of paper that coordinated with the Perfect Pearls, as well as a piece of Chocolate cardstock from one of my favorite stores, the Paper Source.  The sentiment was stamped using White Stazon Ink.  I wanted it to be sort of a muted finish so I was not very heavy handed with the ink.  I then added three butterflies that I punched out with one of my Martha Stewart punches for a finishing touch.  

It's a simple and elegant card.  Perfect such an occasion.  


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***New Addition***
I'm often asked what are the tools that I use when paper crafting.  So I've added a few of them below.  I'll try to update this section often to give you a good idea of what I use. 

Some of my "Must Have" products and tools




Remember creativity never stops, so do something creative every day!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A Little Sunshine

Hi Crafters!

I needed to make a card for a friend that was feeling a little under the weather.  I had this idea of designing a card that gave the illusion of looking into a beautiful yard on a gorgeous summer day.  I thought that would add a little 'pick-me-up' to my friend's day.

So here's what I came up with....



To create this card I used some of my all time favorite tools and embellishments.  First I started with a piece of Paper Source card stock in Chartreuse.  I cut it to 10x7, scored at 5 and folded. I then used my Pazzles Inspiration to cut the fence that I designed, the cute little bird and to write the sentiment. I decided to hang the sentiment tag on a sign post to really convey the idea of looking into a yard.  I used jump rings from my jewelry making supplies to hang the sign.  To finish off the design,  I added some Jute Twine and butterflies, as well as flowers and buttons to create the imagery of the sun.  And finally, I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen to fill in some of the negative space along the edges.

I love this card.  It makes me smile.  :o)

I hope you like it!

Remember, creativity never stops, so do something creative every day! 




 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Creative Clutter

Hi Crafters!

Have you ever had a creative block?  Yes, I know...creativity never stops...but it can become blocked for a day or two.  And that certainly happened in my case.  I knew I had to do something about it.  So my creative juices starting flowing.  

The first thing that I had to tackle was my workspace...or lack there of.  Like many new crafters, when I first began to craft regularly, I didn't think about my workspace.  I simply bought supplies and began creating cards, journals, earrings, et cetera. However, a couple of years later and I found myself surrounded by a creative clutter.  A mess.  LOL   While I had purchased various storage containers and whatnot to keep myself somewhat organized, I didn't take into consideration my workspace.  I literally worked at my dinning room table.  :o(  

However, thanks to two of my good friends, Varsha and Amber, I now have a beautiful work space.  Varsha would always say; "Sheila, you need more space.  Your crafts are taking over."  And, honestly, she was right - no argument from me.  Well, as life would have it, Varsha invited me to visit a friend of hers, Amber.  I had remembered Amber from a brief meeting several years ago, but since then had only seen her in passing.  I am SO glad that Varsha suggested for all of us to hang out.  It changed my creative life!!! 

Why? I'll tell you why.  Amber is fabulous at creating functional spaces.  Her dwelling space is right out of a magazine!  And I loved it.  She and I collaborated, and by that I mean, she came to place, observed my 'workspace' and all of my supplies and then designed what has turned into a WONDERFUL creative functional workspace for me.  

I have pictures to share, however, I was so excited for Amber to create this space for me that I forgot to take pictures of the 'before' space.  I have a couple, but honestly they don't represent the real-deal.  To give you an idea of my original workspace...my dwelling space is a one bedroom apartment.  Although a very nice size, it's still a one bedroom.  So I was using my dinning room space as my crafting space.  Between cardstock, embellies and my Pazzles Inspiration cutter, I could no longer see the table top.  I think you get the idea - besides, I am having going into shock just thinking about it - LOL 

Lesson learned....a cluttered work space is cluttered creative space.  So I encourage you to de-clutter and get back to creating!!! Everyone needs a little Amber in their life!  (Seriously, she's like a little Nate Berkus!)  THANKS AMBER!!!  
But now...I L-O-V-E my new space!!!  And so do all my visitors!  

Brace yourself, the first few photos are not pretty.....don't judge me...LOL 




Before....





After...




Side by side comparison photos...




Remember creativity never stops, so do something creative every day!