Dear Santa

 I made several of these cards for Christmas this year.  The only stamping I did was the sentiment, "dear santa, I can explain" on the inside of the card.  I used several punches mostly Stampin' UP.  I used the full heart, the small oval, the owl punch, the word window, and the only non SU punch was an EK success punch I bought at Hobby Lobby that has 3 different size tickets, which is how I made the bricks and the presents in Santa's bag.  I used lipstick red card stock, Christmas Polka dots, kraft, and brown all from Hobby Lobby.  I edged the bricks and the top of the chimney with Rich Cocoa Memento Dew Drop.  I found

the idea for this card on Patty Bennett's blog.

I will have some additional posts this week because I got a Cameo Silhouette portrait for Christmas.  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and safely bring in 2014.

Thanks for stopping by,

Come and create with me,

Andi

Love my Witches Boots

I have been feeling my creative mojo more lately and have been making a lot of Halloween cards.  This image comes from an Outline set by Hampton Art.  I stamped it on white card stock using Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored it with my Copic markers on the boots.  The buckle is colored with Sakura clear glitter gel pen.  The ball at the end of the boot is colored with the Purple Sakura glitter pen.  The orange is a studio G fine line pen that I got at Michael's.  The green sparkly ribbon is from Celebrate It Halloween ribbon that is carried at Michael's.  I trimmed the image in purple textured card stock from Bazzill.  The sentiment is the from the same stamp set and is heat embossed with orange embossing powder onto Gina K black onyx card stock.  The black was mounted onto the front of a A2 card.  The inside is a another $1 stamp from Michael's and embossed again in the orange.  I have a couple more Halloween cards and then it will be time to start with Christmas cards.  Thanks for stopping by.

Come and create something with me.

Andi

Enter at Your Own Risk

 I bought this stamp last year from my local Archiver's and I love it.  The little door just begs to have goggly eyes (so I added them).  I stamped the image on piece of white Recollections card stock, using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  I used Copic Markers to color the door.  I used Only Orange and YoYo Yellow (these are Stampin' UP! markers) to color the beware and enter at your risk signs. I put the yellow down first and then went over it with the orange, letting streaks of yellow show through.  I used a Sakura purple star glitter pen to color the door handle and trace the hinges on the door.  I used my clear Sakura glitter pen on the ghost.  I used my purple embossing powder to emboss my spider web along the bottom of the card.  I also embossed some bats on the Bazzill boysenberry card stock and used Studio G pop dots to pop up the ghost.  The ribbon is a Celebrate It sparkle Halloween ribbon that I got at my Michael's on clearance.  I trimmed the boysenberry in black card stock and mounted it on a standard A2 card in

white.  The inside is stamped with another $1 stamp from Michael's.  Love that bin.  The ink I used for this stamp is Elderberry Memento Dew Drop.  Thank you for stamping by.  Come and create something with me

Andi

Halloween Wishes

 This card is an example of what happens when you have no idea what you want to do.  I think it turned out quite well.  I started by embossing the witch image with black embossing powder onto a sheet of white card stock.  I added the ink a couple of different ways.  Some I sponged on and some was the direct to paper technique.  I used a combination of different stamps and papers.  For the card base, I cut a piece of Gina K black onyx in half.  So my finished card is 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 and the fold is on the top.  The image is embossed on a piece of white card stock from Recollections which is a brand sold at all Michael's stores.  The embossing powder is from a Recollections set I bought that is available at Michael's but because it is "halloween colors" it might be seasonal.  It finishes very shiny.  The image is from a Recollections set that I got at my Michael's store.  I took a sponge dauber and added the Cantaloupe dew drop to give me some moon color.  Then I added the Cranberry from color box.  It is darker in some areas and that is where I did the DTP method, the lighter area

was sponged directly on.  I added some Grey Flannel dew drop and I love the effect it gives the card.  I think it makes it look like scary night.  I mounted my image piece to a piece of Bazzill smooth Boysenberry.  There is also a piece of patterned paper from a Recollections paper pad.  On the card base, I took my $1 spiderweb stamp around the end of the front of the card.  The embossing powder I used is very cool because it purple when it goes on but when heat set it is a silvery purple.   I glued a piece of white card stock to the inside of the card so that a message could be written in.  I didn't stamp anything on the inside but I really like this card and will make a few more.  I am trying to sell a few at work.  Let me know what you think.  Thanks for stopping by.

Come and create something with me.

Andi

There's a Nap for That!!!

This stamp is one of AI People from Art Impressions called "There's A Nap for That".  I love it.  This card is made from a Poppy Parade base, white card stock framed with Peach Parfait.  The ink is Concord Crush and the brads are glitter Concord Crush.  I colored my image using a technique called Gamsol coloring.  I was going to do a bunch of step by step photos and decided instead to give you a link to a video by Gina K from Stamp TV.  The only thing I will add is that I use "odorless mineral spirits"  I am not a 100% sure if that is the same thing as gamsol or  not but I used odorless mineral spirits on this card and I think it turned out fabulous.  The inside of my card is stamped with the final sentiment from this set which is "There's a Nap for that!"  Love it.  Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Andi

Getting back into the groove

I know it has been a LONG time since I have posted anything however I am back in the groove.  I have several projects to post and need to thank my husband.  He has been talking about my card making and my blog at work and I decided if people were going to come check it out there had better be something new.

This card was made using a technique called Triple Time Stamping.  LOVE IT!!  I saw this on Splitcoast Stampers and found a great video on Dawn Olchefske's blog.  I used the Reason to Smile stamp set that was available for a short time from Stampin UP!, crushed curry card stock for the base and the "frames" and white for the images, Sincere Salutations for the greeting which is retired from Stampin UP!.  My inks were Kiwi Kiss, Tangelo Tango, and black.  I didn't stamp anything on the inside, so that is why there is only one picture of the card.   The dimensions for the white card stock are listed smallest to largest--2 x 3 1/4, 3 x 4 1/4, and 4 x 5 1/4.  The first thing I did was put a tiny bit of adhesive on the back of the 2 & 3 inch pieces,  you don't want a lot because you aren't trying to permanently adhere them together.  Then you are going to layer them together, but first before you do that take a finger and tap the spots where you put adhesive to take some of the "stickiness" out.  Take the 2 inch piece and center it on the 3 inch piece laying it as even as possible.  Repeat the same thing with the 3 inch piece.  As you can see my greeting is stamped in the middle of the smallest white piece.  This is the first thing that I stamped to make sure I had plenty of room for it.  Then I stamped the largest flower from "Reason to Smile", you can stamp it in any pattern you want but make sure you stamp some of them off the page to make it look more natural.  Once I was down with the large flower I came back in with the stemmed flower in a different ink color.  After I stamped the images that I wanted, I separated the layers again--make sure that you keep the pieces going the correct direction or your layers won't line up correctly when you add the "frame" piece.  The dimensions for the "frames" are 2 1/4 x 3 1/2, 3 1/4 x 4 1/2, and 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 which is your folded card base.  You will do your layers smallest to largest.  Take the first white piece and center it on your frame, then layer your 2nd white piece on the 2nd frame piece.  Now you are going to take the first layer and adhere it to the second layer.  Make sure you have the card stock going the correct directions.  When you adhere the first layer make sure that your stamped images are lining up, if it isn't lined up, it won't look right when you have assembled the whole card.  Once you have those layers together fold the base so you have a card, then take the 3rd white piece and adhere it to the base, if you wanted to add ribbon you should do that before you adhere the rest of the card together.  Once you have the base together you will line up your other layer and adhere it to the base and viola you have a gorgeous card.  I posted some Christmas cards that I made using this technique so you can go to my archive and check them out.  Thanks for stopping by.

Andi

Something other than Christmas

Happy Wednesday stampers!  I have been looking at some cards that I made this summer and decided to show you a Halloween card that I made this year.  This is very little stamping on this card.  I made most of it from stickers from Sandy Lion.  My sister bought these stickers for me two years when they were on clearance after Halloween.  I searched the web for Dracula sayings and I am going to show you my finished product.  My sister gave one of these to a coworker to give to his 11 year old and it was a big hit.

The card base is made from purple card stock, it is standard size.  The panel is red card stock, I just matched the red and purple together to make sure I liked the way they looked together.  I printed the sentiment on the computer in red ink and then trimmed it down to make it fit.  I sponged some red on the edges of both sentiments.  The one thing I did that I really like and I wasn't sure good it would show up in the pictures but I think you should be able to see it.  I found this stamp in the $1 bin at Michael's,  I love it because it looks like something dripping down the wall.  For this card, I like to think it looks like blood.  The front of the card has a sticker of Count Dracula (and his eyes are red jewels that didn't photograph well) as well as the bats that on front. They also have red jewels for eyes and they feel like they are felt.  I printed "Blood Donors Wanted" for the front of my card, sponged the ink and then adhered the sentiment to the card, then I took my "bleeding" stamp, I stamped it above the sentiment and again below it.  I embossed it with clear embossing powder.  On the inside the card says, "see the count"  also printed on the computer and the "bleeding" is stamped in VersaMark.  The other sentiment is "Halloween Wishes"  that didn't show up very good.  This is a wood mounted stamp by Northwoods that I got at Archivers.  I love this card and it is good for kids or guys.  Thanks for stopping by and keep calm and craft on.


Andi

A Little Tool Time

 This is something I bought myself on my birthday this year.  It is the new Martha Stewart Mini Score Board.  I love it because it is perfect for card making.  You can score projects up to 8 inches wide and the measurements across the top are 1/8 increments.  The bone folder has a spot so that it will lock onto the board (no searching for it on your messy table..not that I know anything about a messy craft table).  I tried to get pictures of the back but I couldn't get a close up but you can get the general idea by looking at the pictures I was able to get.  This board has an envelope maker on the back.  It also gives you measurements for

folding your standard card sizes.  It tells if your size is this, you should start with this size card, and then it tells you where to do the score lines. Your envelopes correspond with the sizes of cards you can make with this score board and the envelope measurements are also there so you know what size card stock to start with.  I purchased it at my local Archiver's and you can also find it on their website.  I haven't seen at my local Michael's store yet.  If you haven't purchased a scoring tool and want something to easy to transport this is perfect and it cost effective if that is something you are concerned about, at less than $11 on the

Archiver's website and you can use your Archiver's coupons in the store this tool is perfect if you are crafting on a budget.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep calm and craft on.

Andi