Travel Fun

I’ve had quite a few emails about this one. This is one of the projects I designed for the Caardvarks Sheetloads/ShortCuts challenge!

From the outside, it looks simple enough. I used Night of Navy cardstock for the base and layered it with Taken with Teal. I made some waves using my circle punches in Ballet Blue and then markered the little boat from Nursery Necessities in coordinating colours, cut them out and adhered them with dimensionals. The top text is using the Contempo Alphabet which I got for FREE (being a demo has it’s rewards!).

However, the neat stuff is on the inside:

On the upper flap, I made a pocket with some Real Red cardstock and punched half of a 1 3/4″ circle in the centre. This is used to keep tissues or wiping cloths in their place.

The lower portion was layered with Whisper White cardstock and then I took two silver brads and added a heavy window/acetate sheet. This acts as a wipe off travel play board! I also took a strip of Ballet Blue cardstock and adhered it in a loop for the wipe off pen.

What a fun and easy type project to make over the summer for family trips!

Thanks Sarah!

In keeping with the theme of acetate/window sheets this week (check out Caardvarks for a great challenge!), I’ve decided to share a thank you card that is going to a great friend. She is a Mary Kay Consultant and totally responsible for me looking so good (most of the time).

I started with a Regal Rose card base and layered it with Basic Black (as per the Mary Kay colours).

The swirl from Baroque Motifs was stamped in Whisper White craft ink and embossed with Irridescent Ice embossing powder to give it a little sparkle. I didn’t want this to be the focal point, just an extra detail.

The “t” panel is Whisper White layered with Regal Rose. I then adhered the “t” from the sticky cuts pages to the acetate sheet and added chunky black glitter. Next, I stamped “hanks” from the thanks stamp from Thank You Kindly in Jet Black StazOn. 

I always find it hard to adhere acetate so I decided to use silver brads in each corner. Lastly, I added two ties of gingham ribbon to the upper right of the panel.

The elements of this card are really quite simple but super spectacular in real life!

Did you know that Stampin’ Up! has window sheets? Oh yes, Mary, they do! Just go to my SU site and search the store for “window”! But here is a little show of what they look like!

From left to right: 

Flower Fantasy Printed Window Sheets*: 12″ x 12″ sheets, Images printed in Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, and Whisper White.

Seasonal Pieces Printed Window Sheets*:  12″ x 12″ sheets, Images printed in Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Whisper White.

Clearly Thanks Printed Window Sheets*: Printing is in opaque white and images are perfectly sized to be used as standard-size card fronts (4.25″ x 5.5″),  2 sheets (7 mil) , 8-1/2″ x 11,” each with four 4″ x 6″ printed designs.

Medium Window Sheets:  7 mil thick, 2 sheets of 12″ x 12″ acetate.

Thick Window Sheets: 20 mil thick, 2 sheets of 12″ x 12″ acetate.

*can be cut with Sizzix Big Shot, punches and craft and rubber scissors.

You’re a BLAST!

Well, its the 5th of the month which means a new challenge and sponsor over at Caardvarks! Yes, RUN on over there to check it out!

The sponsor this month is Short Cuts/Sheetloads of Cards. They adorned the DT with some amazing gift card holders and acetate (both clear and frosted). Our first task was to work with this sketch.

So, although the sketch is all squares, I decided to do it in all circles – just to be different.

The card base is clear acetate and this always presents a problem when gluing things but I think I may have gotten this problem solved on this particular card.

I made a rainbow spectrum on the inside of the card using my circle scissor cutter in Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore and Tempting Turquoise and then added a small black strip to the seam to cover any imperfections in that design.

Along the front, I tied on some black gingham ribbon so it looks like it’s sitting right on the black on the inside. Clear?

I then used my Circle Scissor Cutter to cut a circle of Basic Black and Confetti White. I stamped the rocket from Pun Fun in Jet Black StazOn and watercoloured with my aquapainter and coordinating inks. On the inside of the card, I adhered another Confetti white circle to cover where I’d glued and another to write on overlapping the spectrum.

Lastly, I added a couple of star details and the sentiment from Pun Fun on a small oval punched out shape.

Stay tuned for quite a few more projects using acetate (or window sheets) over the next few days!

Have a great day!

Hi My Friend

I needed a kick start to my mojo so I flew over to SCS for their weekly colour challenge. This week’s challenge was to use Kraft, So Saffron and Not Quite Navy – three colours I truly love!

This card was something totally different in my head then what it ended up being and I’m not really sure if I’m out of my mojo rut after this!

I started with a Not Quite Navy card base and layered it with So Saffron. I decided to round the bottom corners on the card. I then added a layer of Very Vanilla. On this layer, I stamped the small butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly in stamped off Sahara Sand as this is the closest to Kraft ink I could get!

I knew I didn’t want to use an abundant amount of Kraft so I decided to bring it in by using chipboard. I used a large circle of chipboard (which I coated in Not Quite Navy craft ink). I wrapped it with saffron grosgrain and tacked it down with Not Quite Navy brads.

To keep with the circular/dotted theme, I stamped a larger butterfly in So Saffron and Not Quite Navy and cut it out. I added it to the chipboard circle with a dimensional.

Lastly, I wanted to add one more detail to add the word “friend”. In this case it is from Fundamental Phrases. I wanted it to be different and not predictable. So, I stamped it on some So Saffron designer paper and punched it out with a 1″ circle punch. I then ran some acetate through my Sizzix Big Shot and the Baskets and Blooms die to cut out the small flower. 

I adhered the circle behind the acetate flower with a glue dot (it is behind the button) and then onto the card with a dimensional.

Sorry for the dark photo as well but the lighter I went, the more the acetate didn’t show up!

Thanks for your patience with my mojo….I hope it’s not on vacation too long!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Today is Canada Day – a day to celebrate our great country.  We are planning on some awesome family time at the beach and my daughter has been feverishly making flags to put in our garden.

Today is also the first day of the new catalogue! Now, it doesn’t go live until 11am PST so you’ll all have to wait for the sidebar updates and my newsletter (no point in sending it out without proper links now….).

Have a wonderful day everyone and I’ll be back to posting new and great stuff soon!

I ‘heart’ U – an Artisan Award Entry

Hello Everyone! I’ve finished a three week stint of working outside the house and I’m back into crafting mode. That said, I haven’t created anything new yet so I’ll post something I made a while back for Stampin’ Up!’s Artisan Award.

Let’s see….I wanted to make a 3″ x 6″ card so I made a backing piece of Basic Black and a slightly small full card to mount on to it. Make sense?

The Whisper White layer is actually layered with Vellum Cardstock on which I stamped the large swirl from Baroque Motifs and embossed in black. Along the bottom I added a strip of Real Red that was stamped with the “xoxoxo” stamp from Holiday Blitz and I sponged the edges of this quite a bit.

I knew I wanted a scalloped edge on the bottom but not your normal scallop edge so I punched out 3/4″ circles and then around them with the 1″ circle punch for an open scallop bottom.

The chipboard has been covered with Basic Black craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The chipboard heart was first covered with Black Craft Ink and then Tombow Multi Adhesive and coated in chunky red glitter.

For a finishing touch, I added some striped organza ribbon along the top in a bow. Yes, a bow – I never use these! But this card warranted a bow, I think.

I’ve only got a couple more entries to show you I think….but I’ll get my tush upstairs into the craft room and do some new and exciting crafting this week!

Tropical Wedding – an Artisan Award Entry

This is one of my Artisan Award entries for this year and, like many of the projects, turned out significantly different then my original plan!

The size of this card is 5″ x 5″.

I started with the Pink Flamingo designer paper as my inspiration. I just love that paper. I cut out a number of different flowers and put them together with dimensionals and added a little glitter to the top. Now, what to do with them?

I used my Sizzix and cut out two leaves from the leaves #2 die in Old Olive. I sponged them and stamped them with Itty Bitty Backgrounds and added a “congratulations” from A Perfect Day rub ons.

The card is layered with Riding Hood Red and Summer Sun. The Whisper White layer has been run through my Sizzix Big Shot with the swirl texture plate.

For the centre panel, I stamped the outline flower from Eastern Blooms randomly in Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango and Summer Sun. I then covered the piece of paper with Versamark and heat and stick powder, heated it and then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds over it and heated it again. This panel is layered on Riding Hood Red. Next, I cut out a scallop envelope in Tangerine Tango with my Sizzix and adhered behind this layer. It turned out as a sort of lever piece so I thought to myself, what do people give at weddings? Money! So I decided to make the front panel open so you could put your monetary gift right inside! Like this…..

For this section, I used a 3″ x 3″ mini envelope as my pocket for the monetary gift, added another cut out flower from the designer paper and made a tag to match. By looping ribbon around this layer and using velcro, it is the perfect closure.

WOW, I thought this write up would be longer. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy this one.

Remember, many of the colours used on this project, namely Riding Hood Red and Tangerine Tango, are retiring in 5 days! Contact me or your local demonstrator to place an order for these coloured products right away!

More Soccer!

This is the second of my weekend soccer cards – this one being for my daughter’s team, the Red Devils.

I was inspired by Amy’s sketch this week on Prairie Paper & Ink.

I used a Basic Black card base and layered it with Real Red. For the centre panel, I stamped random images from Just Soccer on some Whisper White cardstock and layered it on Basic Black.

I made the soccer ball using my Circle Scissor Cutter. For the black pieces, I first punched out 1 3/8″ circles in black cardstock and made a template and cut them to size. I then drew lines to meet the corners and to give dimensionals.

For the upper right, I used some retired star rub ons and layered a couple of stars.

Once I put the soccer ball on the layer, it just didn’t pop, so I added a strip of Rockabilly designer paper in Kiwi Kiss to mimic grass.

I wasn’t sure about putting a sentiment on the front, I just couldn’t figure it out. So I decided it didn’t need one!

$1000 Party!

I know many of you are sad to see lots of the stamp sets and accessories go from the Last Chance List. So, why not get them before they are gone?

Join in the fun of my $1000 Party and get not only the things you wish that are retiring but also some wonderful hostess benefits. Here is how it works:

• Accept the “challenge” of being one of my 10 hostesses
• Show the catalogue to family and friends and get orders totaling $100 before s/h and taxes (or just spend that yourself!)
• Give the order to me by 9pm on June 29th

Not too bad, huh? But what do you get out of it?

Well, all 10 orders of $100 will be pooled to place a $1000 order and all the benefits will be divided by a draw format. 

• One hostess will receive a level 1 hostess set
• One hostess will receive a level 2 hostess set
• One hostess will receive a level 3 hostess set
• Seven hostesses will receive $27 in FREE product

That is a total of 10 prizes! Please let me know ASAP if you’d like to join in the $1000 Party fun! You can take up more than one spot and get more than one benefit as well!

3 spots were taken within an hour of my first email, so get your RSVP in to me ASAP! Just contact me at carriegaskin@shaw.ca

This offer is only available to Canadian customers.

Soccer Saturday

Today was the final game for my son’s soccer team. One thing you may not know about me is that I’m the Team Mom for both my son’s and daughter’s soccer teams. So, I had to make special cards for the coaches – ones that matched the team colours!

I was inspired by the Sketch Challenge on SCS this week and used it as my starting point. The colours were easy to pick as they are the colours of my son’s team, The Sharks.

The card base is Going Gray and is layered with Basic Black and then Bravo Burgundy. The far left panel is black cardstock layered with a piece of Rockabilly Specialty Designer paper.

Next, I made a layer of Going Gray on which I stamped the shark from the kid’s tattoo kit I. I used Basic Gray ink for this layer. I also rubbed the ink pad on all sides of this layer and added the layer on with dimensionals.

Lastly, the largest layer is basic black and layered with Whisper White. On the white layer, I stamped the shoe from Just Soccer in Basic Gray. I then stamped the soccer ball from the same set on some scrap white cardstock and punched it out with 1 3/8″ circle punch and adhered with a dimensional. 

I folded up the lower corner of this layer and added a star brad from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit. To the top, I added a Going Gray rounded tab on which I stamped “thank you” from a brand new set, Teeny Tiny Wishes. The tab is attached with two silver brads.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s card, I’ve got another great soccer one coming tomorrow!