Back from TODA!

I am back from the TODA conference.  For those of you wondering what TODA is, it is the Texas Orchestra Director's Association.  Yep, orchestra teacher/director is my day job.  :)  I love it.

Today's card is inspired by my days at the conference and a friend who was also there.  We had  a blast and have a ton of ideas to take back to school in a couple weeks.  But until then, I insist on enjoying the rest of my summer!

The colors turned a bit brighter when I scanned the card.  It looks more pink than the real thing and I'm not a wiz with editing photos.  The background is a very pale purple, with leaves stamped in VersaMark ink.  The other paper is a shade I would call rose.  Once again, VersaMark makes the perfect non-color for stamping.  If you aren't familiar with the VersaMark ink, you should get some.  It basically darkens the paper you are stamping on a few shades.  It is always the perfect contrast color!  Both the stamps I used came from StampinUp!

Summer Scheme

I was inspired today by a friend's Facebook post of some flip flops she crocheted.  The base was a bright green and she added a cute white flower with a yellow center.  The color scheme was so vibrant and summery I had to put it on a card!  It became a thank you card for the OWH box.

The flower and sentiment are SU! stamps from the A Greeting for All Reasons set.  The fancy border is a Martha Stewart punch I picked up on sale (love it!).

Enjoy!

Wow!

So I saw this awesome card on Split Coast Stampers and thought I would give it a try.  It  took an hour to make!  I usually aim for 10 minute cards, so if I ever make this card again it will have to be for something incredibly special.  It is also huge (6"x6" when folded, 12"x12" when opened), so it will never get mailed anywhere.  But here you go.

 Folded

Opened

*Jamie*

Variations on a Design

Last night I found myself wanting cupcakes.  Seeing as I already have ice cream at the house, I didn't run out and get a cupcake or cupcake mix.  So I settled on making cupcake cards.  The blue one will be sent to OWH, but the pink one will have to go to a friend...because I couldn't resist using a glitter background.  There is a bar of pink at the top, too, but my scanner refused to pick it up.  I rescanned several times, but it is just being stubborn!

Enjoy!

No Card Today :(

No card today...I am taking a professional development class.  It's a little slow-moving for me, which is why you're getting this post.  :)  Check in tomorrow for another crafty card. 

Red, White, and Black

It's Saturday!  And I spent the majority of my morning cleaning just because I had the itch to do so.  Afternoon called for craftiness though, so I came up with this card to go in my OWH box.

The background is simple, white cardstock.  Red ribbon creates a pop (the ribbon came from a bag of remnants I bought at JoAnn Fabric).  The black background is 3-3/4"x3" and the white is 3-1/2"x2-3/4".  I inked the white edge with a little bit of "real red" ink for additional contrast.  The sentiment is actually two stamps from the same Stampin Up! set.  I have no idea the name of the set :(  The roses in the upper left are ribbon roses I picked up at Michael's yesterday from the dollar bin.  There were a dozen roses in the set!

This next picture has nothing to do with cards, just thought it was cute.  While I was working my tail off cleaning this morning, my dog decided it was a great time to nap at the back door...

Happy Crafting!

Two in a Row!

Yes, aren't you incredibly lucky?  Two days in a row!  This is another birthday card inspired by the Mario games.  I just borrowed Mario Galaxy from my brother (yes, I know I'm behind) and am enjoying it so far.  Video games are really just a summer thing for me.  It gets really tricky playing them during the school year between classes I teach, classes I take, concerts, and all the extra stuff that comes up.  But during the summer, bring it on!

The mushroom was paper pieced together.  The only ink is the little hint of white on the eyes.  Getting "1 up" to look decent was a pain.  I wanted the original 8-bit graphic look.  So I took black paper and cut 1/4" strips.  Getting them to line up without tweezers was a trick!

Enjoy!

Birthday Card

It's been a while since my last post, mostly because I had to go visit family.  Not my favorite trip, but my grandmother is getting up there in age and I needed to go see her.

Today's card is a birthday card that I made for a friend a couple months ago.  At the last moment, it was decided that we would get her a different card to go with her theme.  I never wrote in it, so it will get used in the future.

I love the simple, yet elegant color scheme and it was so easy to make!  The lovely foil paper came from a pack one of my friends gave me called The Black Currant Stack (found at Hobby Lobby).  The rest is just basic black and white cardstock.  Cut the black cardstock to your card size - I used 6.5"x5" for this one.  I cut my foil paper half an inch smaller (6"x4.5") to get a nice border.  The center black square is 3 1/4"; the white square is 3".  Cut black cardstock into a 2"x5" rectangle for the background.  For the cake itself I started with two white pieces of cardstock - one 2.5"x1.25", the other 2"x1" - a clipped the top corners with my corner rounder.  I outlined the edges in black ink to make it pop a little more.  The pink foil on the cake was cut to width, then free-handed.  I added the dots and cake topper with a black craft marker.  Assemble and voila!

Fourth of July Weekend

It's Fourth of July weekend here in the US, celebrating our Independence Day.  Most normal crafters are busy posting their most patriotic designs.  Me, however, not so much.  Why?  Because when you are designing cards for Operation Write Home, you have to have holiday cards ready months in advance.  (They have to get to the shipper who packs the cards, make it overseas, get to individuals, and make it back over the ocean -which can take a while.)  So today you get to see a Christmas card instead.  :)

 

Now, I am slightly annoyed at my scanner right now, but there isn't much I can do about it.  The coolest thing about this card is that it is actually on a transparency sheet.  The blue background paper lines up with white on the inside so there is room to write.  The white embellished paper came in a handmade paper pack I bought at Hobby Lobby on a whim.  Mr. Penguin is from the Stampin' Up! punch pals. I colored him using my ever wonderful craft markers.  He is mounted with a dimensional dot for the 3D effect.