Nutzy the Flying Squirrel for Freshly Made Sketches

My daughter loves all sports, but baseball is her first love.  She has been able to sit though nine innings since the summer she was two.  Every year Santa Claus brings her season tickets for the Richmond Flying Squirrels so wouldn't it make sense that their mascot, Nutzy would be featured on her birthday card?  I had cut him out of a bumper sticker.  Can you say tedious?  The baseball is a 3D sticker from Paper House.  It had two layers of foam tape which was a little too 3D for me, so I peeled off one layer.  The layout comes from Freshly Made Sketches:

 

 

 Now I am off to bake a gluten free birthday cake!  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Black, White, Whisper, and Tulip (retired) cardstock

Ink:  Tulip (retired)

Stamp:  Say It in Style (retired)

Embellishment:  Flying Squirrels RVA sticker, 3D sticker from Paper House

Too Much Fun With Atlantic Hearts?

 

I have been having way to much fun with this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

This is what happens when you have to build up inventory because a shop wants to sell your cards, lol!  Four of these also meet Heart 2 Heart's Challenge to use a C,T,M, and H in some way in your project, be it the letters, a product, or a technique. 

Paper:  Black, White Daisy, and Tulip (retired) Cardstock
Ink:  Tulip (retired) and Black 
Stamps:  Swirl Around, Together Forever from Love Doily,  Musical Notes from Universal Backgrounds (if you want it, Hurry because it will be retired January 31), Happy Valentines Stamp of the Month (inside)
Embellishments: Black Shimmer Trim, Black Sparkles
Other:  Heart cut with Nestabilities run though my Cuddlebug

 

 

Paper:  Black, White Daisy and Cotton Candy Cardstock

Ink:  Black

Stamps:  Swirls Around, Love from the Stamp of the Month set, Scandinavian Wishes, Mad About You Stamp of the Month (inside) 

Embellishments: Base and Bling Floral Accent (Hurry if you want it because it is scheduled to be retired) with the Clear Sparkle replaced with a Pink Sparkle, Black Sparkles

Other:  Hearts cut with a Nestaibilities die cut and Cuddlebug

 

 

Paper:  Black, White and Belle la Vie Pink Cardstock
Ink:  Black
Stamp:  Scandinavian Wishes Stamp of the Month, Happy Valentines Stamp of the Month
Embellishments: Pink Sparkle, Silver Shimmer Trim, Silver Glitter Glitz
Other:  Flower cut with Cricut and Art Philosophy Cartridge, Heart cut and given Texture with Nestabilities and Cuddlebug

Paper:  For Always My Reflections Paper Pack, Black, White Daisy and Ruby Cardstock
Ink:  Black (inside)
Stamp:  Mad About You Stamp of the Month (inside)
Embellishments:  Frosted Assortment, Clear Sparkle, Black Shimmer Trim, Clear Sparkle Flouishes
Other:  Heart cut and given Texture with Nestabilies and Cuddlebug

Paper:  For Always My Reflections Paper Pack (retired), Black, White Daisy, and Ruby Cardstock
Ink:  Ruby (sponged on to heart to camoflague the white core
Embellishments:  Base and Bling Floral Accent (Hurry and order as they will be retired January 31), Black Sparkles
Other:  Love cut with the Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Heart cut and given Texture with Nestabilities and Cuddlebug

Paper:  Black, White Daisy and Tulip Cardstock
Ink:  Black
Stamps:  Swirls Around, Mad About You Stamp of the Month (inside)
Embellishment:  Black Sparkle
Other:  Heart cut with Nestabilities and Cuddlebug and popped up with Foam Tape

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

A Freshly Made Laughing Lola Valentine

 

 

 

 Here is another Valentine using less than conventional colors.  This one is based on this Freshly Made Sketch :

Laughing Lola is such a fun paper to play with!  I sponged the edges of the plaid paper with Black to make it pop even more.  Then I replaced the clear sparkle in the Base and Bling Floral Accent with one from a long retired Avonlea Cardmaking Workshop On the Go and threw in a few extra sparkles while I was at it.  The sentiment comes from a Christmas stamp set, "Scandinavian Wishes."  Why let the original intention of a stamp limit your use of it?    Here is the inside: 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Laughing Lola, Laughing Lola Purple and White Daisy cardstock, Gray Glitter Paper
Ink:  Black
Stamp:  Scandinavian Wishes (retired)
Embellishments:  Base and Bling Floral Accent (to be retired January 31), Sparkles from the Avonlea Cardmaking Workshop on the Go (retired)

New Beginnings

The theme of this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge, "New Year, New Beginnings," could not be more appropriate.  Have you noticed the "Shop With Me" link below my profile?  That's right, I have signed up to be an Independent Consultant for Close to My Heart!  I welcome any tips or advice that my consultant friends would like to share.  In addition, while shopping in an eclectic neighborhood boutique, (you know, the kind where the owners actually talk to you), the subject of cards came up.  I referred them to my blog, which they checked then and there, and they would like to carry my cards on consignment!  Since people keep telling me I should sell my cards, I am going to give it a go.     

Now for the cards:  I used one of the stamps sets that came with my new consultant kit, "Swirls Around," and this sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges to make three cards.

First I tried playing with Roxie which was retired a few years ago:

 

Along with my new stamp, this card features resist embossing done with a new twist for me.  I embossed on B&T paper so that a pattern shows though the stamped design and the sponging.  I used Smoothie ink because that is the featured color for this week's Color My Heart Color Dare.  I think there may be a bit of Tulip hiding in the plaid, but I hope Sarah will overlook that. I sponged the heart with black to help it stand out and popped it and the brad up with foam tape.  Here is the inside:

Next up I played with Laughing Lola to make a valentine(ish) card featuring nonconventional colors:

I popped the clear sparkle out of the flower and substituted a pink sparkle.  I also sponged the heart with black ink to give it some pop.  Here is the inside of this one:

Lastly I went back to resist embossing for this card which can be a friendship card or a birthday card:

I love the Base and Bling Floral Accents and am sorry to see they are going to be retired.  You had better believe I have stocked up on them just like I did with the colored sparkles that were retired with this catalog.  For the inside I tried one of the other stamps in the set:

This is a new year with new adventures waiting.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Laughing Lola, Roxie (retired), Smokey Plum, Dessert Sand, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Smoothie, Cotton Candy, Black, Buttercup, and Smokey Plum
Stamps:  Swirls Around, Love Doily. Fabulous You
Embellishments:  Base and Bling Floral Accents (to be retired January 31), Pink and Purple Sparkles (retired), Copper Designer Brad (retired)
Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder

Freshly Made Masculine Card

Here is a quick card using Close to My Heart's Pro Player paper and this Freshly Made Sketch:

I am not usually a "banner" person, but I liked the CAS feel of this layout.  The sentiment was stamped with Ruby pigment ink and embossed using clear detail powder.  After attaching my banners, I used my ruler with guide holes to make a line of straight, evenly spaced holes for neat stitching.  I even sewed rather than glued the button on after using the button as a guide to poking the holes.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Pro Player, White Daisy, Pacicfica and Whisper cardstock
Ink:  Ruby pigment ink
Stamp:  Say It in Style
Embellishments:  Coats and Clark upholstery thread, button from an old Black Mini Medley
Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder 

Penguins With Heart

 

The minute I saw the "Winter Wishes" hostess rewards stamp, I knew I had to get it for my nephew who has loved penguins ever since he was a baby.  Most kids have a Teddy bear; David had a Mr. Popper penguin.  Although I used this stamp for his Christmas card, there was no reason not to use it for his birthday card, too.  I wanted to use this Atlantic Hearts which turned out to be more complicated than I anticipated:

Do you see that design element that runs across the card behind the bottom smaller square?  I started out thinking I was going to use Shimmer Trim but then decided baker's twine better fit the playful mood of the design in my head.  Either way, I was going to have to fussy cut the penguin and pop him and the lower small square up over the twine. Fine.  Except that, although my fussy cutting skills may have improved, those snowflakes and that fringe and pom-pom were still beyond my ability.  That meant using the masking technique to stamp the parts I could not cut out on the background and then layering a cutout of his body popped up over the stamping. 

I started by stamping the image once on cardstock and once on a Post-it Note and cutting out both penguin bodies.  It would have been a lot easier if the all the parts I needed to stamp on the background would have fit on the one square.  Unfortunately, the snowflakes and most of the fringe had to be on the lower small square while the pom-pom and part of the fringe had to be on the larger square, so I arranged the White Daisy squares according to the layout, positioned the Post-it Note penguin and stamped the penguin over the Post-it Note so that when I removed it, only the snowflakes, fringe and the pom-pom showed.  Next I attached the Black backing layers to each square.  If I had attached the background layers first, the surface would have been too uneven for the stamp to transfer well.  I know this because on my first attempt I had already glued the white squares on their respective black squares.  After a disastrous stamping, I had to remove the white squares, cut new ones and try again.  Now the fun really began.  I arranged the squares and the penguin so that everything in the stamped image lined up (which took some wiggling) and then glued the penguin to the smaller square only.  Next I stamped the sentiment on the larger square, glued it to the  background square, then wrapped the twine around, and used foam tap to attach the "penguined" square and the other small square.  Yes, lining it up with the pom-pom and last bit of fringe was a challenge.  Lastly I used foam tape to attach the whole thing to a card base.  With the front finished, I could finally work on the inside:

The sentiment comes from "Card Chatter - Birthday" which is one of my favorite sets and, unfortunately, scheduled to be retired at the end of the month.  The sentiments are in two parts, one for the front and one for the inside.  The beginning of each sentiment ends in the "to be continued" three dots which I do not like.  One of the great things about acrylic stamps is that if I know I will never use part of a stamp, I can just cut off the offending part rather than having to fool with masking it off each time I use the stamp.  I did not intend to use the red Stickles on the border.  I first colored in the loops with a Cranberry marker, but because the loops were so small, they looked almost black, so I covered them with the Stickles.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go visit Atlantic Hearts and see what others have created with this sketch.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Black and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Wintry Wishes (available as a hostess gift through January 31), Card Chatter - Birthday (to be retired January 31), Frosted Cardmaking Workshop (to be retired January 31), Snow Flurries, Snowflakes
Ink:  Black and Cranberry, Cranberry alcohol marker
Embellishments: Black Mini Medley, Red Stickles, Red and White baker's twine from A.C. Moore (I cannot find my CTMH version)

Saying Good-bye to My Daddy

 

When I was a toddler, my mom gave me a laminated picture of my daddy to help me remember him when he was out at sea.  I carried it all over the place.  On December 15, 2013 Daddy left for his final cruise.  I combined my picture with some other mementos to make the shadowbox above to honor him.

 

 

 

The picture of him holding me has always been my favorite of the two of us.  Judging from its condition, Mom was wise to laminate my keepsake picture.  Although I distressed some of this project's other elements with Cashmere ink, this photo needed no distressing.  I made no attempt to flatten it, attaching it with just a bit of removable adhesive in some key spots.

 

 

 

 

I have always had trouble with journaling because my handwriting is not the best (which is one of the reasons why I love Studio J so much).  I prefer to use the computer when I have to write more than a few words on a pieced page.  When using Word with the magnification set at 90%, the text on my moniter appears the same size that it will print.  This allows me to make sure that what I am typing will fit the way I want it to.  I am particularly pleased with the journaling on the circular piece.  To make it fit the curve, I first drew a template on lightweight copier paper.  Next I typed out the text.  Then I attached the copier paper to my moniter using a Post-it note and, looking through the template, used the space bar to position the beginning of the text on the left edge and the enter key to break the text where needed on the right edge, continuing line by line until the text fit within the template.  After printing the text on cardstock, I cut out the copier paper template, laid it over the text, traced the shape, and cut it out. 

 

 

I have to thank my brother-in-law for picking up some of the shell casings from the gun salute after the funeral.  Yes, Daddy was given full military honors.  I should also mention that my layout was inspired by this one from Stuck on Us Sketches:

The only 12 inch square shadowboxes I could find had black or white frames.  When I have time I will paint the frame of this one a warmer white and maybe distress it a bit.  I plan to enter this in the first December Heart 2 Heart Challenge, the theme of which is "All Framed Up."  It has been a while since I played a challenge or even played in my craft room for that matter.  Isn't it funny how when you most need paper therapy, you don't have the time for it?  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Tommy (soon to be retired), Outdoor Denim, Colonial White and Cashmere cardstock
Ink:  Cashmere
Embellishments:  metallic stars by Jolee's Boutique bought at Michael's