mini accordion album - what fun!

So did you see the first ever SBCfest over at Scrapbook.com? I happened to catch some of the videos and in this one Andrea L totally inspired me to give a mini album a try. I had never created one of these! SUCH fun. 

So many ideas. So many supplies. So many hours ;) I'm just going to share some photos of the completed project. It's on its way to Australia as we speak.

Action Deutschland PP

Essentials by Ellen rectangle dies

Renke numbers die

Waffle Flower greenery die

PTI tag dies

Lawn Fawn Milo alpha stamp

 inks, vellum, stickers, washi, sequins, pearls

Unfortunately I'm way too late for her birthday so I decided a little book to record this moment in time could be fun too rather than a card. I used the letters of her name in page titles (9 plus cover) with interactive pieces for lists of favorites - movies, fashion, eats, etc. Also included a few pages where she can add special photos - her at 30, her cake, etc. Used all the fun techniques too - shaker, flaps, belly band, pockets.

Hope she has as much fun completing it as I had making it! Have you ever made one of these? If not, I strongly recommend it. How about in a smaller size to hold a gift card? I know there are more of these in my future ;)

I'm playing at:

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies October

Cut it Up - #262 Big

commissioned birthday cards

And today's summer programming, more commissioned birthday cards. 

Requested for a brother whose car is his pride and joy. I made three to choose from...

TAWS car stamp

Artemio cityscape stamp

Winnie and Walter sentiment stamp

Right at Home Holidays are on the Way die

washi tape

Renke die

Inkystamp sentiment

alcohol ink background, embossing powder

And for a butcher ;)

Neat and Tangled Hot Dog stamp

Inkadinkado sentiment

Have a great week!

more milestone birthday cards

Summer programming coming your way the next few weeks...

First up some milestone birthday cards. 

Can you tell we have quite a few friends who are winemakers?!?

Renke Happy Numbers die 

Little B Block Out die 

Rayher Alles Gute die

Have a great weekend! 

tag a la therese for day 3 of ellen hutson christmas tags

I actually look forward to this every year - Ellen Hutson's 12 Days of Christmas Tags - though sometimes my lack of planning ahead with holiday preparations gets in the way of crafting. Like in 2021. Dang.

But two birds with one stone... Got all my Christmas cookies baked with DD. I'm gifting neighbors cookies this year. DD recently moved into a new apartment and she's decided to gift her new neighbors with cookies too. So of course I offered to make some tags for her cellophane bags.

Enter Ellen's tag event. And Therese's bold and graphic Feliz Navidad tag. And exit stage left. 

Actually, I was inspired to use my new hexagon dies. And make a layered tag. And stamp a sentiment in a foreign language. But that's where the similarities end.

Meet my tags, a la Therese but more DD's style.

A couple close ups...

Action Deutschland Hexagon die

Alexandra Renke Waldtiere 1 die

Alexandra Renke 5 Tannenbaeume die

Klartext 13 mal Frohe Weihnachten stamp

Aldi patterned paper pack

I'm hooking up over at Just Add Ink too where they're looking for Christmas Gift Card Holders or Tags as well as at Happy Little Stampers AG with Die Cuts for December.

simon says stamp - united we craft

So I gotta be honest. When the Corona virus came to town, my mojo just got up and went.

I know everyone has a load to bear during this. Mine is worrying about my Dad who I should be moving back to his house right now after his snowbirding for the winter. But that ain't happening. Instead he's hunkering down in his apartment in the senior living place. And I'm prayin' we make it through to the other side. Perhaps this is why I haven't been in my craft room.

But I was glad to get the kick in the butt to participate in this fabulous United We Craft Party Simon came up with. And getting a commission for a couple kids' Easter cards helped too. (Too funny, my friend texted me "Are you in home office? Could you make..." I'm always in home office ;)

Enter Faberge Egg die.  Which is from the recent Lucky to Know You release at Simon Says Stamp.

First up for a three-year-old. Can you spot the egg?!?

 SSS Faberge Egg die

SSS Happy die

fabric, thread, pom pom, googly eyes

Got the idea from Pinterest. Why not make the bunny's head with a nice big egg? Since I'd just been in a face mask sewing mode (here's where I got the pattern), I used some fabric scraps for the ears. And whiskers from all the threads I'd cut off while sewing! Even stitched the PP onto the cardbase. Sweet. Interactive (eyes) and tactile. (Inside reads "Easter" from the fancy part of the egg die.)

Then for the 7-year-old...

 SSS Faberge Egg die
Savvy grass die
Alexandra Renke rabbit die
Action Deutschland cloud die
Basic Grey PP, glitter CS, sequins

I thought she could have fun with the various layers (I glued two cardbases together to have three panels before die cutting). Even stamped some pink eggs all over the card so she could go on an egg hunt ;)

Of course for a girly card I couldn't not use some glitter cardstock and add some iridescent butterflies.

For more ideas using this fun die, take a look at this post.

I hope you are all doing OK with your "loads". Hang in there and craft away. An idea I thought I'd share with you... I put together packages of five hello/thinking of you/birthday cards from my stash (in recycled cellophane stamp set bags) and dropped them off in neighbors' mailboxes with a note saying "no time like the present to send a handwritten greeting to brighten someone's day".

United we got this!

light and airy confirmation card

Stopping by today with a card I made for a confirmation. I was inspired by this card. Check out Silke's grid on IG if you're feeling in the mood for light and airy collage design... She does it like no one else.

I do not have as light a hand as Silke, but I used up a little more PP  ;)

 Rayher Konfirmation die

Papertrey Bookprint Alpha die

Charlie and Paulchen Sommer Trio die

Alexandra Renke Angel Wings die

Winnie and Walter Audrey die

Alexandra Renke Kreuz im Kreis die

Heidi Swapp gold ink spray

nymogarn

Studio Calico PP

Basically, I just pulled out a PP pad and some dies which I thought fit the confirmation theme. Die cut some pieces and then spent way too much time arranging and rearranging them until I got something I was happy with ;)

Thanks for looking. Have a great week.

I'm joining:
Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies March

pti september blog hop

It's been way too long. But this month I'm joining the Papertrey blog hop fun. Our weather is perfectly aligned with the autumn feel of this inspiration photo so I was totally motivated to play along.

Wanna see?

 PTI Autumn Pattern Pieces stamp

PTI Rosie Posie die

PTI Scripted die

PTI Leave it be stamp

Hero Arts ombre ink

Alexandra Renke Kranz die

Altenew watercolors

Nuvo drops

Pretty much created itself. I'd seen this card of Betsy's and wanted to give the technique a go. Die cut several of the only PTI leaf die I own. Watercolored them. Stamped them with veins. Spritzed with perfect pearls. Stamped a hint of a plaid pattern down my cardbase and adhered the leaves, catching the vibe of the inspiration photo tablescape. Added a few Nuvo drops for more color and voila!

I'm looking forward to seeing the gallery with all its autumn beauty. Thanks for coming by.

I'm stopping by at:
Cards in Envy - Feels like Fall
The Cat's Pajamas - Fall

 Time Out - #118

spring is in the air - part 2

I've got spring on my brain. Can't help but think it's coming. One of these days.

And it helps that I got some happy mail from Alexandra Renke! Did you see yesterday's post? Back with more Cross in a Circle today.

Alexandra Renke Berries and Wreath die

Alexandra Renke Cross in a Circle die
Simply Graphic Rectangles die

Impression Obsession Easter Seals stamp

My apologies. The same sun that is making me all spring-y is also making photos of white cards extremely difficult! Here. Maybe you can see the heat embossed sentiment. 

When's the last time you rounded a corner on a card?!?!?!

Alexandra Renke Berries and Wreath die

Alexandra Renke Cross in a Circle die

Impression Obsession Easter Seals stamp

And this last bit of gelli print was still laying around. Not anymore. This time with neon bunnies peeking through. I'm getting kind of tired of this design ;)

 Alexandra Renke Berries and Wreath die

Papertrey Ink Egg die

Impression Obsession Rabbits die

Impression Obsession Easter Seals stamp

Can you believe March is on its way?!? Hope you're enjoying your weekend! I'm joining the fun at Simon Says Wednesday - Create your own BG and at AAA Card Challenge - Die Cuts Only.

spring is in the air - part 1

Well, it's in my air at least! As I write this we have had sunshine and blue sky (and freezing temps) the whole week. Can't help but think spring is coming. One of these days.

It helps that I got some happy mail from Alexandra Renke with some springtime dies too!

I had some pastel-y scraps just waiting to make it to a card so I decided my new Wandering Rabbit would get his very own scene.

 Alexandra Renke Wanderhase die

Essentials by Ellen Wild Garden die

Savvy Stamps Flower Blossom 1 die

Simon Says Stamp Heart in a Box with Love die

With the exception of the lightly inked rabbit, everything else was leftover and added to a leftover dip-dyed-in-leftover-Easter-egg-dye panel.

And then I had to move on to the new Berries die. Not that there are neon pink berries anywhere I know of, but I wanted to use my leftover marbled cardstock from this bloom. This Easter card was born.

 Alexandra Renke Berries and Wreath die

Papertrey Ink Easter stamp

Channeling my inner Renke DT, I kept it very white. There's a sentiment there tho, see it white heat embossed along the left edge?

And then since Easter was on my brain, why not use this wonderful new Cross in a Circle die? Another leftover dip-dyed-in-leftover-Easter-egg-dye panel and some of the less neon-y berries and voila!

Alexandra Renke Berries and Wreath die

Alexandra Renke Cross in a Circle die

Papertrey Ink Easter stamp

Hope you enjoyed. More coming tomorrow. A bit more neon-y...

I'm joining the fun over at:
AAA Cards - Die Cuts Only

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Make your own BG
Inspired by all the Little Things - #80

Die Cut Divas - Love is in the Air

Mixed Media Card Challenge #1

Oh the fun we're gonna have! Have you heard? There's a new monthly challenge in town, The Mixed Media Card Challenge (MMCC for lazy me) and our first challenge starts today. Woohoo.

Wondering what it's all about? Basically a card with ...

TEXTURE

DIMENSION

TECHNIQUES

Check out this link. Challenge owner, Shery R., has elaborated on what we are expecting of you.

I am thrilled to be a part of the design team cuz there is some amazing talent creating some amazing cards here. You must check it out - even those of you who don't like to get inky fingers (yep, I know you're out there ;))

Each month there will be a new challenge with a theme. And an additional element which is optional. So the theme of Challenge #1 is "A Touch of Nature" (optional element: tag). Which basically means create a card,  reflect nature (however you interpret that) and include a tag in some way if you'd like. And rememer ...  texture, dimension and techniques.

Here's what I made.

And here's what I did:

1. Stamped card base with triangle BG using gray, teal and purple. Just inked up the stamp randomly.
2. Stamped white CS panel with triangle BG in black.
3. Distressed panel with gray, teal and purple.
4. Stamped panel with coffee stain stamps using water.
5. Stamped panel with small leaves using gray, teal and purple. (should have taken a photo here)
6. Stamped black leaves on panel and onto card base.
7. Mixed embossing paste with black acrylic paint and applied through doodle and dots stencils.
8. Die cut tags from panel.
9. Paper-pieced tags onto card, a few with foam adhesive.
10. Stamped sentiment onto vellum, applied purple ink to reverse and stapled onto card.
11. Scrubbed inky fingers ;)

Texture? Yep, embossing paste, staples.
Dimension? Yep, sentiment on vellum, raised tags.
Techniques? Yep, distress inking, stamping with water, paper piecing.

Messy. But I'm still claiming that it's a CAS card. Thus "cassy". Me likey.

So, how 'bout it? Give some technique you've been dying to try a go. Or pull out those old acrylic paints. Or grab or make a stencil. Channel your Dyan Reaveley and get messy. Make a card. C'mon and join us!

p.s. You're gonna love this... the challenges run from the 1st to the 25th every month. EZPZ.

Supplies organize your life:

Paper:  cardbase The Paper Studio, Neenah

Stamps: triangle BG Kaisercraft, coffee stains STAMPlorations, tiny leaves Alexandra Renke, big leaves Claudine Hellmuth, sentiment Kesi

Ink : Distress Iced Sprice, Peacock Feathers, Shaded Lilac, Memento Black, StazOn

Tools: dots stencil TCW, doodle stencil Pink Paislee, die PTI

Other: structure paste, acrylic paint

8 to go (clean and simple, feeling sketchy, deconstructed sketches, SSS)

This post could also be titled "Rock, Paper, Scissors". It's got 'em all.

Check out this amazing paper collection from Alexandra Renke here in Deutschland. It's all about stones. Love it. Got me some. Had to make some invitations with it. (If you don't know what's up with me and my invitations, you can find out here.)

Took my new PP, my Dieversions die and these sketches and went to town.

Clean and Simple #295

Feeling Sketchy #93

Deconstructed Sketches # 156

I'm also hooking these up at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where it's all about Friends. If we didn't have 'em, I wouldn't be making all these invites!

I love the speech bubble sketch, but had to work with my "party time" circle. So this happened. Oh well.

Now if I had been clever, I would have taken a closer look at my PPs for guidance on the placement of the circles on the first card. Don't ya love the "flow" of the images on this next card. And, well, I had to tweak the sketch a bit to get my die cut nestled into the "flow".

Here's a closeup so you can see the small pattern stamped in Delicata gold on the vellum backing the die cut. Which is dark gray, BTW. Looks blue here :(

On the last card I stayed pretty true to the sketch. Even kept the banner! But mine looks kinda not so good. The elements are too stretched out. Ugh.

But I love these papers. And the fact that I've only five more invites to go! I'm guessing my folks would probably like these best - they've always been great fans of greige. The house I grew up in was painted "Adobe Gray" (no clue why I still know that). Just googled it and it's all about software today. Proof that I'm getting old ;)

Thanks for visiting. I'm off to watch some soccer -go team USA- if I don't fall asleep on the couch!

Supplies:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, PP Alexandra Renke, vellum

Stamps:  herringbone BG Impression Obsession, sentiment STAMPlorations

Ink : Versamark, Delicata gold

Tools: die Dieversions, circle punches EKS

Other: