Much Love to American Crafts scraps

I enjoy using ds papers because I can use up the scraps faster :) I was able to make two cards like this. The sentiment is a My Favorite Things acrylic stamp. The primas are Making Memories (I thought I'd used them up; I counted out exactly 6. But when I put the brads thru, I realized some stuck together. So I have 3 left for another day.) I used SU! dimensionals to mount the floral panel.

You Are Fabulous & Get Well Soon

I used up a little stash!

See, what happened was...
I am still inspired to try to use up these scrap dps from this old SU! set. I actually did not buy these papers; I took a class from Sue (Inky Images)many, many months ago using these papers, and these are the scraps from that class. (I think the multiply when I'm not looking.)

My DCWV card box only has lots of orange cards, 8 green cards, 1 pink, 1 black, and 2 brown. I am waiting for Michael's to put them on sale for 50% off, but they have not done that recently. I may have to break down and use a 40% coupon next week. (Hey, I told you I am frugal!) The pink cards in that box coordinate well with this dp, so I'd rather make a set rather than just one card because I need to load up the card baskets at Greenberry's for August this Friday (pay day!)


So I went in my card & coordinating envelope drawer and found these two MM latch cards. The yellow cards coordinate well with the dp, dontcha think? So my "set" only consisted of two cards, but I used it up :)

The two sentiments are Creative Imaginations rub-ons. The circle stamp "friend" is a SU! stamp. I used dimensionals for the scallop circle and carefully placed it so it looked like it is attached to the latch, but it actually just hides it sort of liked a match book opening.

Most of the time I have to see a sketch used before I fall in love with it. This card made me LOVE LOVE LOVE this sketch:
http://stylishcreationsbydebbie.blogspot.com/2008/07/merci.html. It also inspired me to use out my own virginal stamp set; "Merci" set by SU! that I just had to have and purchased last March.

I had exactly 5 pink cards in my DCWV box. I only had enough scrap dp (also SU!) left to make 3 cards like this. I stamped my image 4 times on scrap whisper white cs. I practiced coloring one image before messing up the other three :) I used my half pearls from the SU! "Pretties kit" on the first card (on the ovals), but I used pink circles and DCWV brads for the second card. I asked dh which he preferred, and he liked the brads. I think I like the pearls better, so I have ultimate veto power and I put pearls on the third card also.

I decided my original colored image turned out okay, but I did not leave enough room when I stamped it to cut it out in a rectangle, so I cut around it, popped it up on dimensionals. The rub-on is by TLC.

I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder "Floral Fantasy". It has flowers and hearts in the pattern, so I thought it would work well with the stamp.

So I did not use any stash up completely to create these cards, but I am once again motivated to try to use up the SU! dp scraps from this set (from 2006!) Wish me luck :)

Using Up **NEW** and Old stash?!

Remember yesterday I mentioned I wanted to use my stash and eventually stream-line my little craft room? I also mentioned the guilt I feel for having SO MUCH stuff??? I also said,"What will I use up next??? I am super inspired by a card I saw here: http://www.scrapnextras.com/scrapnextras/2008/07/a-vellum-challenge.html"

I am often inspired by cards or techniques I see on other blogs. I sometimes even jot down notes on a small notepad I keep by the computer, then put the note on my craft table for a time I can create later. When "later" arrives, I don't always have the same enthusiasm I had earlier. Except Laura Fredrickson's card (link above). It has haunted me *** in a good way***. I can't get it out of my head!

I had to make an unscheduled visit to my chiropractor; my neck was not cooperating. He told me to put ice on my neck when I got home, then again before bedtime. He also asked that I walk around a little bit, instead of hopping right back in the car to go home. So, you see, I had to walk down to Michael's. Doctor's orders! And it did not cost any more gas money. I had my 40% coupon I used to buy an adhesive refill, then I went over to see if there was anything in the $1 bins. I saw a set of 6 notecards and envelopes. The notecards are flocked. I bought them to CASE Laura's card.

I went through my coordinating cards & envelopes drawer, looking for larger cards (not my usual A2) and I pulled out an old Value pack from Michael's. There were exactly 6 cards left. Wahoo! It was a sign :) I went through my colored vellum drawer, and chose these three (yellow, aqua, and purple) colors.

I made the first black & white card, "With Sympathy", while I was trying to come up with the dimensions for the layers to re-create Laura's beautiful card. (The other 5 used the vellum and I popped the entire panel on the 5 with dimensionals.)

Then I figured out the dimensions to make room for the brads. I have some brads I bought from the same store I purchased the colored vellum. These were the first brads I ever purchased! They are very hard to use. I used them all up on the first two cards. Wahoo!!! Then I used MM or SU! brads, which are much easier to use :) I made all six cards; 2 "With Sympathy", 2 "Congratulations!", and 2 "Thank you very much". The sentiments are all Anna Griffin stamps.

So I don't feel too guilty about buying those notecards, since I used them all up already. I just had to put the envelopes that came with the note cards in my envelopes drawer.

Goodbye, Simple Sentiments kit!

I made a couple of cards like each of these, then emptied the adorable brown polka dot box (great for wrapping gifts!) of what was left in the SU! kit. The stamps went into a stamp drawer, the brads went into my MM brad storage container, the real red ribbon is stored with my other red ribbons, and the stampin' spots are stored in my stampin' spot container.

So my stamp room is marginally neater and slightly more organized for using up the kit :)

For the first card I pulled out dps and a cs sticker sentiment from the SU! "Secret Garden" Simply Stampin' kit. I also used SU! felt flowers. I used Kazan's sketch in the current {Caardvarks} challenge.

The second card is all SU! too, except I used my QuicKutz Revolution "thanks" embossing plate.

What will I use up next??? I am super inspired by a card I saw here: http://www.scrapnextras.com/scrapnextras/2008/07/a-vellum-challenge.html

I've mentioned the guilt I have for having SO MUCH stuff, and then purchasing more. I seriously don't have room! I would love to use up my stuff so my room is stream-lined, and pretty as a magazine pic, kwim? I am realizing that using up stuff actually doesn't get you much room. It is a s l o w process. Anyway, this vellum card is sort of haunting me. I absolutely love it! And I have a drawer full of colored vellum that I bought 5 years ago when a stamp store went out of business (I couldn't pass up a deal, right?) And I haven't used a single sheet...

Happy Birthday card & Simple Sentiments kit

You may recall I bought SU!'s Simple Sentiments card making kit in May. I liked the stamps, one in particular, and bought the whole kit. Talk about an impulse buy...these sets aren't cheap! But that's an issue for Dr. Phil, I suppose :)

I do not particularly care for the two card ideas that came in the kit to make the ten cards (5 of each design). You can see what I made using the stamp I liked on my May 19th and May 20th posts, or the cs and stamps from the kit on my June 14th post.

At any rate, I used 3 of these Pumkin Pie card bases and layers from the kit to make 3 cards like this one.

On this card I used the P.Pie card base and layer from the kit, then some other SU! cs from my stash (Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive). I do not have any SU! Very Vanilla cs. The cream cs I used is from ACMoore. The stamps I used are not from the kit either (except the little leaf). The flower is SU! "In the Spotlight" and the "happy birthday" is SU! "Stem Sayings". I popped up the main image and top flower on dimensionals, and used my Cuttlebug to emboss swiss dots on the bottom layers. The brads are Making Memories "brights" (I think).

***Look under the 3 brads on the flowers. See the circles of Old Olive cs under the brads? I got that idea from my friend and business partner, Amy Sheffer (Pickled Paper Designs). She uses this technique often and I love the effect!

Wahoo! Using my stash, using my stash, using my stash (doing a little dance in my swivel chair, here). I'm gonna try to use up all the cs in this kit. Tune in tomorrow to see if I did it :)

Friends & Fun fun FUN fun

You know I get happy when I use up some stash. In this case, I used up a scrap of this red w/ white polka dot dp. I used SU! Pick A Petal stamps to stamp the petals, which I hand cut and glued to white cs. I used my Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder for the friends card. The red w/ white polka dotted fabric brads (center of flower) are from blog candy I won from Mustang Sarah (Sarah's Creations). Thanks, Sarah! For the sentiments I used TLC rub-ons. The ribbon is from Michael's. I love how these turned out! Much better than yesterday's cards :)

This second card uses a MM ribbon slide.

I am going to try to use up something everytime I am able to make cards. Now if I could just use up my SU! Simply Sentiments kit... stay tuned to cheer me on :)

{Caardvark}'s Challenge & Evolution

Today I had very little time and I desperately needed a thank you card for my paternal grandmother, "Memere". I saw on the 'Varks Challenge blog that the current challenge is to use this wonderful sketch.

I usually try to make a batch of thank you cards for just such an occasion, but I have none in my stash.

The evolution of these 10 minute cards...

Saturday, when I was cleaning up from the lady bug card (see previous post...I ended up making 3 of those), some varied scraps were poking out of an envelope on my table where I put scraps/project leftovers I can't seem to throw out, but are too small to re-file. I **almost** threw them away on Saturday.

Maybe I should have, I'm doubt these are good enough to enter in the contest, but good enough for Memere. Grandmothers think everything you make is beautiful :)


You know I love using my scraps and using up stash. For the first card the two MM rub-ons (small flower & "thank you") were the last in the package. The stripe paper is SEI. The other dps (both cards) are from scrapbooking the girls' 2005 Easter pictures I scrapped and blogged August 20, 2007.

For the second card, I used an SU! stamp ("thanks") and I used chocolate chip ink.

Both cards are DCWV and the flowers are all QK Revolution dies leftovers from a couple of different scrapbook pages I made last year.

If you check my blog from time to time, you already know I post pretty much everything I make, ranging from good to what-was-I-thinking. I think maybe these are WWIT cards :)

There is a scrap of red with white polka dots in that same envelope calling to me. I may try that now and see what evolves. Check back tomorrow, okay? Thanks!

Gettin' Cuttlebuggy

You may recall I made a similar card to this last summer: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/2007/07/caardvark-tri-this-challenge-todays.html. Today's was a lot of work! Maybe because I didn't have a clear plan in my head. I love lady bugs and I have not made any lady bug cards yet this summer. So I started with my red glitter sticker paper and black suede paper and QuicKutz dies to create the lady bug. I used my Creative Memories circle cutter to cut the white circle (Bazzill), and punched my scalloped square from black Bazzill cs. I use this May Arts ribbon exclusively for my lady bug cards.Then I used my Cuttlebug embossing folders on white cs and red linen cs. The base tri-fold card is DCWV. Then I used my QuicKutz Revolution die for the sentiment. Voila!

The Scrappier the Better & Great Tools

Di Hickman blogged recently about using up stash rather than putting it away and being happy just using it up (http://dihickman.blogspot.com/2008/07/theme-thursday-christmas-cards_17.html).

This is what I've been saying to myself for the past few years. This is why I started selling my cards in February 2007. So I could use up scraps and old product to make room for new. I get such a rush using up anything... a small package of rub-ons, metal charms, a pack of decorative paper, or a pack of coordinating cards & envelopes. And yet my craft room is still full. This stuff goes a l o n g way! I really thought after my first year of selling cards I would have used up most of my scraps and old embellies. It seems I have barely made a dent. I easily justify a new purchase (though I have shown remarkable restraint!!!), like last winter when I bought the Cosmo Cricket QVC special value kit. It came with 2 scrapbooks, tons of paper, loads of embellies, chipboard projects, and cards with coordinating lined envelopes. I've barely touched that kit. I made most of the cards and sold them. Just selling the cards re-cooped the cost of the entire kit! So it feels like it's free. That's my logic and I'm sticking to it. DH and my FIL tease me about this logic, but I have bought DH a digital SLR camera and my Cuttlebug and 9 embossing folders for my Cuttlebug all from $ from card sales and I still have lots of $ leftover.

I made this first card (two of them) using the gold and Yuzen paper from a package of "Papers by Catherine" that I've had for years, but had not opened. I used dimensionals for the embossed blue layer and for the fan. The rubber stamp is Hero Arts. I used a gold pigment ink and gold detail embossing powder. I feel guilt when I look at my drawer FULL of embossing powders that I almost never use. But if I sell these four cards, I will have made enough to cover the entire cost of the supplies plus the cost of the entire jar of embossing powder and the rubber stamp. And it's not like I can't use the stamp again and again and embossing powder lasts forever too.


Then I was able to make 2 more cards using the scraps of Yuzen left from the first 2 cards. I even used a small strip of scrap Yuzen on the envelopes :) The blue cs and red cs were out of my scrap bags. The base cards are Michael's Valuepack (just shy of A2 size). I actually like the scrappy cards better than the original!

Next topic: Great tools my girlfriends made for me. This first tool is my heat embossing mat made by my friend, Sharon. Yep, one day I melted my carpet because I heat embossed on the floor. The next time I saw her, she had stapled this teflon sheet to white foam core. This is what I use every time I need to heat emboss.

This is my perfect scorer made by my girlfriend, Kaye. I am not able to score to make accordian folds evenly, no matter how hard I try. This wonderful tool helps tremendously. Kaye purchased a very hard wood at Home Depot, then made these for me and Sharon and herself. The metal ruler is from Sears and I think I purchased the triangle from Wal-Mart.

Double Happiness...

...is Julia and Kathryn.

...is watching 2 re-runs of Burn Notice on USA.

...is getting to make a card today using a faboo sketch (SCS)!!!

...oh, and apparently the meaning of this charm :)

One of my newest blog friends, Leslie Hanna,

told me the meaning of this charm and the direction in which it should be oriented. Check out her blog, The Crooked Stamper. She made a phenomenal card using the double happiness charm as well. Check it out! http://thecrookedstamper.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-sfytt-entry.html

A Five Minute card + Two Scrappy cards

First, I will apologize for not visiting any favorite blogs for nearly a week. I am anxious to see the inspirational eye candy you have created! I still am catching up from the beach trip. I know you understand...you need a vacation from a vacation; the prep before you leave, and the laundry, bills, and unpacking after you return.

So the urge to make a card is strong, but today I will be invoicing cards for the coffee shops and adding a new location: the yoga center. The yoga center master, Hong, asked if I would try to sell my cards in her center. It is located in the same shopping center as the Leesburg Greenberry's, so I won't be spending any more gas $$$. I asked Tracy and Amy (my card making & selling partners), and they are okay with giving it a try.


These cards I made last Wednesday morning also (right after the card in the previous post). For the first card, I said to myself, "Don't think, just create!" Okay, so thinking might have been a better choice. After I completed it, I wished I had added a layer of white cs underneath the dp (KI). The alpahs are Me & My Big Ideas, the "2" is Thickers (this is white IRL, but looks cream in the pic), and the "PARTY" rub-on is TLC.

Okay, so you know the scraps of dp were just challenging me to be used up AND I wanted to see if white cs would look better. I had two skinny strips of dp and two small rectangles. This is the sketch I came up with using those scraps (and some KI stripe dp). I made 2 cards like this. "TIME 2" are Hero Arts stamps, and "blow out the candles" is a TLC rub-on. The last card (not pictured) used a MM "celebrate" rub-on. It's not gonna win any awards, but I do like this last sketch.

Didja miss me?

Well, didja? I missed you guys!

I'm back from our annual family beach trip. I'll be around to visit and leave comments on all that I've missed soon :)

I made this at 4:30 the morning before we left (I couldn't sleep...I was stressing over not being able to make cards for 4 days!)

The base card is a Hero Arts Stitched Border card. I masked the stiches with Post-It Note tape and the outside with Post-It Notes. The floral stamps are SU!, the sentiment is Hero Arts, and the dragonfly is Rubber Stamp Tapestry.

I used chalk ink pads (lighter blue and orangey-brown color). The dark brown is Tim Holtz walnut stain, and I stamped the dragon fly in Impress indigo blue.

Using my Cuttlebug and AC scraps

I saw a similar sketch in the current PaperCrafts magazine. It was a square card, not A2, with 4 smaller squares, then a strip of cs with the 3 brads. My strip came from the piece I cut off of the Noah card I posted yesterday (which I cut the A2 down to a square.)

I still had this American Crafts paper scraps and brown Bazzill cs on my table from the cards I made from this same 12x12 dp in May. I **almost** used up all the AC circles paper. I made 2 cards like this, since I only had 2 of this color card base in my DCWV box. I'm watching for Michael's to put them at 50% off again, so I can buy another box. I only have some brown and black (two colors that I usually use up first), orange, pink, and green. The orange and pink are nice and summery. The green goes well with a St. Patrick's Day dp I have; now I would really be working ahead if I made those cards! I need to find a sketch and dp for the pink or orange to get my card stash back up :)

Sweet & Simple

One of the first techniques I learned when I was learning to stamp... and overwhelmed by all the types of papers, inks, which were best for watercoloring, heat embossing, dry embossing, etc....was to use a brayer on a Kaleidacolor ink pad. This stamp is by Magenta and I used Kaleidacolor "Blue Breeze". I mounted on blue metallic paper, then on a DCWV card I cut down to 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".

BTW, the aqua (left side of the card) is not as blurry or bright IRL. I am NOT gifted at photography!

Once the brayer is inked, you ink the stamp diagonally, then ink up the two opposite corners lightly that the brayer doesn't reach. Inking diagonally gives the illusion that the sun is shining down.

I later found this sentiment by "My Sentiments exactly!" and knew I needed to use it with my Magenta Noah stamp. I have not used either of these stamps or this technique since I first learned to stamp, which was in the late 1990s. I crossed over into scrapbooking after the girls were born. Using scraps to make cards gives me more instant gratification (relatively speaking) in our hectic lifestyle. I want to return to stamping more, because I have forgotten many of the techniques I learned.

On the envelope I stamped the USS Noah by Delafield Stamp Co.

I made two of these cards, one for my mom and one for my grandma (mother & daughter!) Both are having surgery today. My grandma is having cataract surgery, and my mom is having back surgery for a pinched nerve.

A Touch of Asia or The 3 Day Card (okay, both!)

This card took me 3 days to make. I had a different design in my head using Papers by Catherine, but then I didn't like how it was coming together. Ack! I hope I'm not hitting another slump. So I pulled out my drawer full of Asian stamps, and my large craft keeper of scraps.

I have not made an Asian card in years. Asian themes were so popular when I started stamping, and I loved the elegance of the cards. Then poof! Not so popular. Now I am starting to see it coming back (wahoo!)

I ended up making this card from scraps (I know you are surprised...teeheehee). The rectangles are mounted on dimensionals; the black cs has lots of dimension (but not Bazzill), and the gold cs is muted metallic, The card base is a dark grey cs I've had forever and just wanted to use up. The dp is from a class I taught making a box and 4 coordinating pads to go inside the box. It was a 6 hour class. Very labor intensive. The charm I purchased at a stamping convention many years ago. I now have one left (:

Christmas in July?

I usually don't plan this far ahead...

I actually made this card before I made the baby cards and giraffe cards (previously posted). I did not design this card. When I pulled out my QuicKutz last week...remember, I lost my mojo; I had nuthin' in my head; nuthin' nuthin' nuthin'...and I saw this idea sheet with my QK Vixen shapes and font dh bought me for mother's day. The idea used a very similar dp (mine is DCWV), ovals (but no brads...mine are Bazzill), red gingham ribbon, on a red card base (I added red linen as a layer). My ovals are CM. These ovals are too fat. I've decided I can't fight the need for those Spellbinders Nestibilities...

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Okay, so it's not her birthday any longer, but I forgot to take a picture BEFORE I sent her the card, so she was sweet enough to email me a picture of it :)

LFL (lovely friend lauren) celebrated her birthday on June 30th. I know she loves pink and bling and scallops and distressing and faux stitching...I couldn't find a way to work in scallops or faux stitching, but tried to make a card I hoped she would like.

Supplies: SU! brads, SU! felt flowers, and SU! Pumkin Pie cs; Bazzill bling cs; scrap of ribbon; TLC rub-on sentiment.

I asked dh if he liked the card and he replied, "It's too much." I said, "Perfect!" If you know LFL, you know that too much of a good thing is Lauren :) She is a wonderful friend, a talented paper crafter, and has a GREAT sense of humor. Even if you are not a crafter, you should read her blog daily. I dare you not to smile and laugh out loud. She's a hoot! If you need a chuckle, go now to ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...

A new & improved birthday card, and then some :)

You may remember I made a card almost exactly like this on December 7th. Caardvarks had a sketch contest...the wonderful Becky Fleck, I believe...and I made the card like this one. I never made a second card because I was not happy with the black "birthday" sentiment I used. I remember thinking, "I wish I had brown rub-ons."

I pulled out my binders of QK dies in search of inspiration. I keep my QK icings (aka rub-ons) with my QK dies, and NOT stored in my mega ziploc bag of rub-ons by other manufacturers. I had completely forgotten that the QK icings have 4 identical sheets of rub-ons in each package; 1 sheet white, 1 black, 1 red, 1 BROWN!!!


It helps to go through your stash, even when it is organized. You do forget what you have sometimes :) I used icings from that same sheet to provide the sentiments for these 4 giraffe cards. I seem to be focussing on baby cards. Hmmmmmm....