shopping our ♥JINGLY♥ stash!

it's a red-letter day at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ because this fortnight we've invited the lovely ladies of shopping our stash to join us for a super fun christmas-in-july crossover! what does that mean? well, for one thing, there are prizes... but more on that later. something else it means is that you can make *ONE* card and link up at both blogs... which is always nice, right? so what are the requirements of the card? well, it has to be christmassy, o'course; and it has to use something from your stash that's at least one year old. but other than that, anything goes! and the prizes? well, to find out about those you're going to have to check out the special posts at SOS and at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ but seeing as how both blogs are full of gorgeous and inspirational holiday cards, you probably wanted to do that already, am i right? yeah. thought so! but before you go, check out my card:

(patterned paper--mostly scraps, woohoo: basic grey, dcwv, october afternoon, echo park; sentiment strip and brads: my mind's eye; dimensional tree: recollections; ink: colorbox; circle punch: ek success; deco scissors: michaels; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i'm pretty proud of this for being a flat, mailable card (always my biggest challenge!) and also for being composed almost entirely of older stash items! the brads and sentiment were from a "crafty steal" of my mind's eye mini-kits at least three years ago; the basic grey background is from a 6x6" nordic holiday paper pad i bought right after that line was released; and the rest of the papers are SCRAPS, woohoo! the dimensional tree is kind of cool because it's both old AND new-- see, it's from a packet of recollections stickers that i have bought over and over (and over!) at michaels from the time i started making christmas cards; so while this particular one is new, it's the latest in a long line of little rhinestone trees!

i used this week's retro sketch (#121) to guide my layout:

remember to check out the gorgeous designer cards by stephanie, leslie, alica, barbara, chris, donna and jessi. plus, you can have a look at the lovely prizes whilst you're over at SOS and at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥. then c'mon back and link your stash-using holiday masterpiece with both blogs!

motherload of ICAD!

it's been a heck of a week, which involved an emergency trip to the dentist*, an emergency trip to the chiropractor**, and a birthday with a zero in it.*** there were ICADs made, but not posted. and there still are. but this is how many are ready to go right now, so as cathy zielske wisely said, "sometimes good enough is good enough". words to live by, no?! here are the cards:

023: mehndi doodles

i wanted to see if i could draw some stylized, indian-inspired, 

tattoo-like graphics... and i could! score!

024: m is for marilyn

strangely enough, all of these little bits and bobs were "leftovers" on my worktable one night. 

025: scrappy rainbow with stitched circles

i traced a few of the circle outlines before i started machine stitching; i freehanded a few more when i got going.

026: pink transparency layers

the weird thing about the FIVE (!) layers i've assembled here... (magazine lady's face, fussy-cut flamingos, the word "city", my own photoshopped and tinted statue of liberty photo, fussy cut pink flower) ...is that they almost blend together too well, become visual mush. also, i forgot to print the transparency in reverse, so lady liberty is holding the torch in the wrong hand. ah well, all's fair in love and ICAD! :)

027: rose collage

more random layers. what can i say? i like random layers. 'specially vintagey ones!

028: mehndi doodles and spray ink

one of these cards had random inks on it before i started, the other i painted and sprayed and smooshed around with different colors afterwards. i was not intentionally creating a pair... but that's what happened!

 

029: collage of stitched squares

i was inspired by tammy, who's been making some amazing collages that are basically squares and stitching (and magic! and awesomeness!); this is why i never worry about "copying"... my stuff NEVER looks like the thing i'm trying to re-create anyway, lol. which is a good thing, i suppose.

030: "etuden" collage

more random but serendipitous paper scraps; but this time... with WORDS!

*one of my (many, expensive) crowns fell out. fortunately, i didn't swallow it. even better, the dentist decided the tooth underneath didn't need anything else done to it and he just glued it back in there. as dental emergencies go, this was mercifully minor.

**for the first time in a (happy, grateful) long time, my back went totally out. luckily i had a comfortably carpeted floor, a backlog of netflix, and a very sweet husband on hand to help me cope. also, a great chiropractor, who's got me-- knock wood-- on the mend!

***rhymes with "nifty"! i thought i might be really freaked out, but as it turns out, not so much. of course, i did spend pretty nearly the entire month of june scoopin' up lovely birthday treats, which HELPS!! :)

red, white and ♥YOU♥!

that's what we want to see at shopping our stash this week. ok, technically it's red, white and blue for those of us celebrating independence day this fourth of july; if that doesn't happen to apply, you can use the colors of your own country's flag. you don't necessarily have to make anything patriotic, though. i made a totally non-specific get well card for my mother-in-law, who's just had a knee replacement, but is recovering nicely!

Not many official products in this one, actually. The denim is from an old pair of jeans i threw in the rag bag; lace is vintage; velvetty flowers came off a holiday centerpiece that had seen better days. the glossy white cardstock is by paper accents and the brads are my mind's eye, though.

before you ask, YES, that is real denim, from an old pair of jeans that i'd saved in my fabric bin. are you wondering how i got it to lay flat and smooth so i could cut it into a neat and un-fray-ed square on the card? as a matter of fact, it's pretty easy to make your own custom fabric paper; you don't even need wonder-under* or any other sewing supplies!

step one: 

trim fabric to approximately 8.5x11" (you'll see why in a minute)

step two:

run an 8.5x11" (told ya!) sheet of cardstock through a xyron machine loaded with a permanent adhesive cartridge

OR

apply a thin, even, coating of whatever fairly strong dry adhesive you like best (ATG, spray mount, etc) all over one side of a sheet of cardstock 

step three:

place the adhesive side of the cardstock face up on the table and carefully stick the denim on top, smoothing out any wrinkles as you go

step four:

cut a project-sized panel from the now securely "fused" denim/cardstock.

note: with lightweight fabric i was able to trim the fused sheet using my ordinary 12x12" guillotine-style trimmer. for the thick denim i had to mark out the size and shape i wanted, then cut carefully along the lines with a very sharp pair of scissors.

i've also used the same "fused fabric" method for diecutting, and it's pretty awesome! for best results i recommend lighter weight fabric and the thick, heavy, sizzix-style dies that work with a mechanical die cutting machine, like cuttlebug. you will *DEFINITELY* want to experiment on some scrap fabric, as you may need to play around with the cutting sandwich and possibly roll through more than once. 

in this case, i just used scissors to cut a neat 5.75" square panel, that i wrapped with lace and machine stitched to the front of my card. at the very end i attached the flower layers with some nice strong brads, et voila! 

and now, why not take a gander at the creations my fellow SOS dt members have cooked up for you, then start planning your own bid for red, white and blue domination! ♥

*i've used fusible web for papercrafting projects like this in the past and it works really well; i just didn't happen to have any on hand this time.

hello, frosty!

we're still celebrating the books, films and television specials of the holidays over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ thanks to miss irene's brilliant prompt, a christmas story! this week my card is based on my brother's childhood favorite, "frosty the snowman". remember, in the early 1970's, there was no such thing as dvd or dvr; there actually wasn't even cable yet-- at least not in the suburbs of philadelphia there wasn't! the (three!*) tv networks only showed things ONCE, and you did not get the opportunity re-watch programs on demand. so shortly after thanksgiving we kids would suddenly become VERY interested in the newspaper; specifically... the television listings... to be sure we knew EXACTLY when frosty, rudolph and charlie brown would be shown that year! :)

(snowman flash card: october afternoon; patterned paper: daisy d's, dcwv, bo bunny, studio calico, jenni bowlin; stick-on pearls: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

my card doesn't feature *THE* official frosty of tv fame, but this sweet little vintage-style image from october afternoon definitely gave me the right vibe in terms of both cuteness and nostalgia, so i built my card around him. i used the current (awesome!) retro sketch (#120) to guide my layout.

why not check out irene's and stephanie's cards-- not to mention the fabulous christmas story gallery over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥?!

*if you were very lucky and your tv got UHF, you might have had access to two or three additional channels that mostly showed reruns and films; i have a vague notion that some UHF channels may have only broadcast in black and white, but i could be remembering that wrong...

betcha can't guess...

...what shade i've chosen to use this week for the "color my world" challenge at shopping our stash. we're meant to make a card or project using our favorite hue. surprisingly enough, i picked pink. i know, i know, you're shocked, right?! :) :) :)

(patterned paper: dear lizzy/american crafts, prima, basic grey; white glossy cardstock: paper accents; journaling card: sei (with the (blue) center cut out and replaced with that banner paper); birthday bingo card and wordfetti strip: october afternoon; sparkly diecut banner: pink paislee; velvet flower: petaloo; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

ok, yeah, it's not exactly a surprise, is it? by now i think everyone knows i like pink... a lot. what can i say? it always looks fresh and festive to me and it always makes me smile. so it's perfect for birthday cards, which i need right now. my stash has dwindled a bit. there are quite a few summer birthdays amongst my female friends and i tend to make fewer cards during ICAD. next year, i need to plan accordingly, by making extras in the spring. note to self.

meanwhile, a rainbow of lovely cards featuring the favorite colors of my fellow DT members awaits you at SOS. why not cruise on over and see 'em, darlings?! ♥

now even ICAD-ier!

more index cards, woohoo!

018: vive la difference!

still playing with torn layers... sheet music, this time.

019: chandelier

spray ink + scraps of paper + a piece of (hard to photograph!) ink jet transparency.

020: flowery mandalas

blending prismacolor pencils with odorless mineral spirits.

021: punched layers

this one was totally UN-interesting, until i outlined all the punched edges with a sharpie. who knew?!

022: happiness always

this might be my favorite of the group. i printed my own waterlillies photo onto an inkjet transparency, layered it over japanese text paper, then put a fussy-cut magazine flower-- and the best fortune ever-- on top!

be sure to check out tammy's cards and the FAQ at daisy yellow, not to mention the flickr group of gorgeous index card creations... which is where i'm off too RIGHT NOW! :)

a christmas story

this fortnight at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we are lucky enough to have a lovely guest star with a most inspiring prompt. irene wrote in to suggest we base our cards on one of the many wonderful holiday books we all adored in childhood... and secretly, i think we all still love them now, as adults, don't we? just in case reading isn't your thing, we've expanded the idea to also include the films and television specials which have become beloved over the years. after all, they're all christmas *STORIES* aren't they? so whether you love "a christmas carol" or "how the grinch stole christmas" or "it's a wonderful life" why not sit down and consider how that could be embodied as a greeting card, and then c'mon over and link up with us! (be sure to tell us what book or film inspired your card!)

i've been very literal, indeed, this time. i scanned and reduced a beautiful illustration from one of my favorite vintage copies of "twas the night before christmas" (my all-time favorite holiday story!) and made it the centerpiece of my card:

(patterned paper: studio calico, pink paislee, my mind's eye, dcwv; glossy white cardstock: paper accents; florals and ivy leaf: prima and recollections; brad: my mind's eye; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

now why not head over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to see which wonderful holiday stories have inspired irene and stephanie this week, i guarantee it's worth the trip!