I just wanted to thank everyone again for their support with Paper Crafts Gallery Idol! It was a fun ride and I'm thrilled that I got as far as I did. :) Thanks to the PC staff as well for hosting it year after year -- I'm sure its not trivial.
The hubs and I are going white water rafting tomorrow. For some reason, when the hubs asked if I wanted to go, I thought this was like a 2 hours venture... nope... it's 6 hrs... Wish me luck! (Here's hoping I don't come back looking like a lobster! I burn like no other)
When I was in high school my mom started a quilt for me. We went to the discount section of Joann's and I got to pick some fabrics out. It was intended for me as a college gift. Turns out that it took my mom 7 years to finish that quilt and became my brother's college quilt.
So why not make a fun card inspired by the memories invoked by quilts? I cut a 4 by 4 square and then lay all my patterned paper pieces on it. Trimed the edges and then proceeded to paper pierce each and every square. I then added some faux stitching with my black pen.
Since the card is all sorts of colors, I added 3 buttons in different colors using the prominent colors in my paper quilt. I might not be able to sew but I can certainly pretend. ;-)
For diagonals, cut a piece of paper to adhere your patterned paper to. Then trim the edges. Easy peasy!
Stamps: Shapes by Design (PTI) Paper: Making Memories, PTI Ink: Dark Chocolate (PTI) Accessories: 1 3/8 inch square punch (EK Successs), Nestabilities Label Die, Ribbon (PTI), Paper Piercer, Pen, Buttons (Making Memories)
My hubster is super relieved that idol card making rounds are officially over. This means that I'll be able to actually give him a REAL home cooked meal rather than having to cook himself or having "food from a box". ;-)
Ok, onto the card... So when I learned the topic was humor, I groaned out loud. Sure, I know jokes -- like "All my 1's and 0's are belong to you" which is really only funny to computer folk (aka DORKS -- love ya all!). I also know really dirty jokes -- thanks to knowing many guys through sports, work, school... Hmm, probably best to keep it PG. I thought about wedding jokes as well... you know, the guy being chained down now that he's married... although being just married, I thought that might not be a good signal to send my dear hubster. Don't want to give him any ideas -- he still doesn't think he's chained down yet (no need to let him realize his actual status ;-).
So I figured I'd make some fries for my favorite graduate -- to remind him/her of their future! :) This card can easily be customized with their school colors. I chose shades of red as a tribute to Mickey D's. I thought about doing the arch -- but I've already blatantly copied one logo -- no need to have 2 major corporations suing me for my cards.
I also wanted to make it interactive so I made it a fun pocket card - the fries come out of the holder, just as if you were eating real fries! Yum yum! Let me tell you... I have a HUGE hankering for some tasty fries right now...
Anyways... to make the fries realistic, I sponged them first with some orange summer sunrise ink and then more lightly with the brown dark chocolate ink. I then ran them through my paper crimper to add some fry texture. I then inked each of them again with the summer sunrise to give it a golden toasty look! This added orange only to the raised portions of the fry (and really gives it a more 3-D look).
Other than that, I added some fun strips to add some more texture to my box. Also reinforced the pattern by repeating it inside as well. I also rolled some lemon tart paper into a small diploma. :D As usual, here begins my plea. PLEASE consider voting for me! :D
Paper: Pure Poppy, Lemon Tart, White (PTI) Ink:Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate (PTI) Font: Varsity Regular, Sans, Insane-Burger Accessories:Silver Jewelry Thread (Michaels), Paper Crimper (Fiskars)
Buttons, buttons everywhere and not a single one on cloth! Round 3 voting for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol has started with this round's theme of buttons. As usual, there's lots of great inspiring pieces in the gallery!
I really wanted to make sure the card was centered around buttons. So the first thing that came to mind was a fun summer card. I've been spending lots of time in the office and I'd give anything to be catching some rays!
I've been inspired by the recent posts from the Verve DT so I figured I'd point out a few of my design tips as well! I think I'll try to do this in more of my cards - so you can understand how I think and so I can better understand how I think too! I've always believed that you have to be able to clearly explain your choices!
1. I love the brightness that the buttons add to the piece and it outlines my sun nicely as well. It also keeps your eyes centered in the card. It's like an auto border to say "stop! Keep looking at the card!"
2. I tried to follow the "rule of 3" by using my red in 3 spots (the bikini, the sentiment and the outline)
3. Adding details like popping up the umbrella adds great dimension that makes the image seem more real.
4. My color choices were actually controlled by the patterned paper pack. I picked my colors from the other complimentary colors used in the design line.
Once again, I'm gonna beg -- please please please consider voting for me! :) I'd really appreciate your vote!
This week's Paper Crafts Gallery Idol theme was "Around the House". We had to incorporate household items into our creation. Honestly the first thing that came to mind was the toilet (but I decided I should keep my humor PG rated) Sadly for me, the next thing that came to mind was my laptop... a little sad perhaps but how else can I keep in touch with all my great stamping friends? :)
When Apple first came out with it's clamshell iBooks, I was in love. The classic "blueberry" clamshell iBook is like a late 90's icon (at least in my mind!). Today I finally get a chance to own my very own clamshell card! :) I created my own clamshell template and I feel like it looks pretty good, no? I used my favorite SVG editor to create a template for the card and for the decorative strips (no logo though - I did that by hand). I'll get my hubster to host this file on our server soon but in the meantime if you're interested in the template, please feel free to leave a comment on this post with your email in some fashion. I will gladly email the template to everyone for the time being. :) Let me know if you'd prefer the raw SVG - otherwise I'll send it in pdf for most people's convenience.
The inside I decorated with a keyboard, mousepad and power button. :) After all, have to make it a somewhat functional laptop, even if it is just paper, right? I put the robots in the screen area with them hanging up a fun little "Thanks" banner.
After coming up with the whole concept of a laptop, I decided this would be a great thank you card to give to your favorite tech support -- in my case, my hubster. Hah. Anytime my laptop is doing something weird, I go to him. ;-) And just to show how my little brain works - when I started thinking about thank you sentiments, one of the first things that came to mind was Styx's Mr. Roboto song. PLEASE tell me I'm not weird and you guys all know what I'm talking about?
I actually debated the robots and "Domo Arigato Mr Roboto" sentiment for awhile since I wasn't sure everyone would "get it". In the end I decided since this song was made the year I was born and I KNOW it, I can't be the only one who does. Also, Wikipedia classified "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto" as a catchphrase so I figured I might be safe. You can see I compromised a little by adding the "Thanks" banner on top in case it wasn't clear. And just so I can put my 3 years of my high school Japanese to use, Domo Arigato means "Thank you very much". Sensei should be so proud... (actually, he's probably crying silent tears right now).
For those of you who are scratching your heads, I highly recommend watching this classic 80's music video for some pop culture education!
Isn't it awesome? I have to admit, I LOVE the lyrics more than anything else. "My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain IBM". Hah... being a software engineer during my non-stamping hours, these lyrics are a little too true for me. ;-)
Hope you enjoy! I also have a fun card coming soon using the same template but representing a completely different object! ;-)
Anyways, please please please consider voting for me! I'd really appreciate your vote! After all, I just brought you back to the 80's and the 90's! ;-) Ahh, good times, good times!
Stamps: Spaceships and Robots, Circus Animals (My Cute Stamps) Ink: PTI (Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado), Vivid (Cobblestone) Paper: PTI (White), Basic Grey (Urban Prarie) Other: Black Pen, Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Gems (Hero Arts), Silver Jewelry Thread (Michaels), 1/2 inch circle punch and 1 1/4 inch square punch (EK Success)
This week's PC Gallery Idol's challenge was to create a wedding card. Somehow being just married, one would think this would be easy peasy. Quite the contrary! I had kicked every wedding thought out of my mind -- I was so thrilled when the wedding was over! I am NOT eager to ever go through that again (hoping I never have a little girl...hah!)
When I was dress shopping, I LOVED all the fun beading on the designer dresses. I couldn't afford any of the designer dresses (or rather chose to spend the money on the guests rather than a dress I wear once), but that doesn't mean I can't mimic it on my cards! My favorite designer is Maggie Sottero, so much fun inspiration there! :D Sadly, my favorite dress is already gone but there's lots of other fun dresses! Oh I could just swim in them!
The swirl is hand doodles with a glue pen -- after all, if designers hand bead their dresses, I can hand doodle a swirl. ;-) I wanted to give it an ethereal look - after all, isn't that how all women feel about their wedding day?
Hopefully this evokes enough memories or dreams of futures to be that it'll launch me into the top 15. :D
Please consider voting for me today! Voting is open from noon MST today to noon MST Thursday. (2pm EST, 11 Cali). My entry is #17 in the voting tab
I've been asked by a few people to show how I attached the "inside" of the card for my flower-shaped cards so I thought it was high time I did my first tutorial. :D
Supplies: 5 scalloped circles - 1 small, 1 medium, and 3 large ones (I use the 3 larger scalloped circles in my nestabilities) 1 2 inch circle (this will be the flower center) 1 3 1/4 inch circle (this will be the sentiment 2 hand cut leaves Dimensional Adhesive
1. Set aside two of the three larger scallop circles - we'll use them as the base of the card later. Take each of the remaining scallop circle and snip at every nook.
2. You should see something like this. Notice that they're not exact -- it'll be ok!
3. Attach all three of the scalloped snipped circles together to for the beginning of your flower
4. Place your center circle piece on top (the 2 inch circle piece).
5. Fold each of the petals around the center piece.
6. Repeat for each flower layer
7. Glue your leaf pieces onto the larger circle (3 1/4 inch).
8. You should still have 2 of the largest scalloped circles, a flower piece and an "inside" piece
9. I'm not necessarily promoting this product over another. I'm just showing what I use. :D You can use whatever dimensional adhesive you want.
The one reason I like this one is because I can use the "excess" strips -- they're also very thin (which allows me to maximize the inside of my card). You can see mine is missing some of the outside strips. I believe in using the full product -- even the part that is supposed to be "throw away"!
10. Take one of the large scalloped circles. Place a piece of adhesive on the top and the bottom. Make sure you leave enough room between the adhesive for your "inside" card!
11. Attach your flower piece to the other large scallop circle. Attach flower to the dimensional adhesive.
12. Slip the inside card in and you're done!
13. You should get something like this if you turn the card to its side.
14. Decorate your piece as you see fit!
Ok, that wasn't too bad right? It's all pretty easy - I went a little overboard on the photos because I really wanted to make sure everything was clear! If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to address it! Let me know if you make your own flower card! I'd love to see them!
I just wanted to thank everyone again for their support with Paper Crafts Gallery Idol! It was a fun ride and I'm thrilled that I got as far as I did. :) Thanks to the PC staff as well for hosting it year after year -- I'm sure its not trivial.
