Did you? Deep breathing really helps calm you and allows you to get re-centered so you can focus better.
I make cards to help me relax and focus better. Do you? What makes you most happy about the process? The designing? The assembling? The sending? Tell me what you love best!
In my frantic pace, the sending sometimes doesn't happen. It's so very important to send though. Just picture the look on your recipients face when they open something personal among the bills.
The card front used the eclipse technique.
A little tip I want to share with you. It's about physics. Did I just hear you groan? Didn't think so. Lots of people have trouble with intricate dies - there are special die platforms for intricate dies, but I've never found a need for one because of physics.
When your platen (the roller part of your Big Shot) moves across your sandwich of plates, it causes the top plate to curve because the platen is curved. The bottom plate does NOT move because it isn't in contact with the platen. If you flip your sandwich, placing your uncut plate on the platform and the plate you use for cutting on top, you'll find you get a clean cut every time. Make sure the die blade is facing up. Like this:
I made and mailed 120 cards this year. You know what I learned? I didn't start early enough! My last batch went in the mail on the 20th. Also, I didn't make enough Hanukkah cards. Yikes!! What was your favorite card you received this season?
Another tip: I couldn't make all those cards without the MISTI tool. Seriously - that thing has been a wonder that has extended all my card making work! I don't have to worry about crooked sentiments, partial stamping, or suffer through one card at a time. This allows you to put your rubber or photo-polymer stamps in place and they stamp repeatedly exactly where you want them. Buy them. Trust me. They pay for themselves in unwasted cardstock and ink. You'll thank me. I have 5 and really need one more.
Ok, 3 more. For classes... you know. So my students can be perfect right out of the gate. I want my students to be successful. Yes. I do.
To help you make the most of this season of giving, I'm offering a host code for orders on Stampin' Up! products. Whomever orders the largest pre-tax dollar amount gets the host goodies! So tell your friends! Have them order under your name! Steal Christmas like a Grinch! Ok. Not really, but, you know. Right?
The host code (R4STMXED) will remain open until January 2, and you canshop my SU! online store immediately. Product will ship directly to you from Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas!!
Looking for some great deals for Santa? Check these out: (These are affiliate links - I get a small return, you get the great deals. I use these funds to travel to Africa to provide free medical clinics to the villagers. Win:Win.)
Hello sweet people! Thank you for visiting my blog today. I really appreciate your support. I've been getting a few questions but no way to reply to those asking, so I'll answer them today in this post. Please remember to leave me a way to contact you if you have questions. Or you can post them to my Facebook page. This is a bit longer than my usual posts, but I think you'll find it worthwhile.
Beth and Angie both asked about using Stampin' Up! inks in your Bible. I use an onion-skin Bible. The pages are thinner than most journaling Bibles. When I stamp SU! classic inks, they act just like Memento - they are both dye-based inks (water reactive). Because they are very wet water-based inks, they soak through bare pages easily. They also take a few moments to dry and smear easily. They not only soak through, they will imprint the previous page, as well.
What can you do? You can prepare your pages for all kinds of media. I use CLEAR gesso - this came up last week in discussion. If you use regular gesso, it has white acrylic paint in it, making it opaque. I use Liquitex Clear Gesso found at both Hobby Lobby and Michael's. Gesso seals your pages, and it also provides "tooth" or a rough surface that will hold ink, paint, colored pencil, etc. It feels a little gritty when dry. You can get a sanding block and gently smooth the gesso once dry but I usually don't bother.
Please note - thin paper is always going to show the image on the reverse side. This is a function of thin paper. Bleed-through is a totally different problem - it actually obscures the page behind and can affect working that side of the paper. If the thin paper visibility is a problem for you, I'll be giving you some tools next week to help avoid that. Clear gesso reduces bleed-through. If you know you're going to put a lot of wet media on the page, consider using 2 or 3 thin coats of gesso.
Using Versamark ink and heat embossing is another trick to stamping without shadowing or bleeding. If you're going to color with pencils, that's all you need. But if you're using wet media, you will still need to prepare your page with gesso.
I hope that gives you enough info to go on, ladies. Please feel free to ask questions, just make sure you give me a way to respond! Now, today I'm sharing with you how I use water-based pigments to color in my Bible. In this video, I use Stampin' Up! reinkers with a waterbrush to watercolor after heat embossing.
I have always loved the story of Noah and his family. Of course, my predilection of loving animals really drew me to it. It's amazing to think we all trace our roots back to this event. I've been reviewing Genesis and how inclusive it is. It covers creation, the fall of man, a huge flood - all the way to the exodus. A lot of things are going on in this single book! So, dig in and see what you come up with - be sure to share your work! You can inspire someone else no matter what your skill level is. We are all growing, still. Colossians 1:3-14, growing and bearing fruit.
Next week, I'll be sharing my tests of various inks and a variety of papers. I'll have some great samples for you using the most popular inks and providing other tips. So, please look for that!
**********************
Now, a bit of other news. Some of you know that my church has planted a church in San Francisco. This Christmas, our church provided 30 gift cards for needy families identified by a San Fran local school. I was asked to make card holders for those cards. I prayed over every card holder as I made them. It was a joyous time of worship for me, as well.
I was wondering the other day, just a mindless musing, what became of those envelopes and gift cards. I was ok with not knowing - many kindnesses occur daily without shouting back. Yesterday I opened my mailbox and a friend who had worked closely getting all this coordinated had sent me photocopies of notes.
Now, I'm not posting this to toot my own horn. I just want you to enjoy how God chose to use this. The pastor writes:
"I wanted to say thank you so much for sending the Target gift cards. You allowed us to be a blessing in ways that we couldn't imagine! By the time we got the cards and went back to the school counselor, she said that the school community was so generous that there were no more needs. So we went back to our church community and began to pray and ask the Lord what we should do. (Pause.)
Last October, one of the families we were working with in the homeless/park community got in some trouble and their child was taken away by social services. My family is now fostering him and the families in our church are helping care for him. His mom entered a rehab facility and [is] getting her life back in order.
She now proclaims Christ and is trying to get her kid back. We have been given the responsibility of supervising her visits with him and helping her learn to parent him better. It's tough, but it has been a huge blessing. (Now back to the story.)
We felt the Holy Spirit tell us to bless the women & children living in this particular rehab facility that his mom is in. When we inquired, we found out there were the exact amount of kids in this home as there were cards/money that you guys provided us. So as a church we bought each kid a stuffed animal and gave the gift card to the parent to help w/Christmas. I wished you could have been there to see the smiles & tears on their faces.
God once again has shown us when we follow Him, His plans are way better than ours! Thank you for partnering with us and being a Blessing to us so that we could be a blessing to this community. We now have a huge open door to share the gospel with these women/moms. I attached a "Thank You" card they sent to us but it more appropriately belongs to you guys. From the bottom of our hearts - Thank you for loving and caring for us here in San Francisco. God is at work! To Him be the glory, 1 Peter 4:11."
I'm just blown away. We couldn't have planned or predicted any of this, and I'm grateful to have been used to provide a very small part of this blessing. The handwritten notes from each of the moms are a treasure to read. So much love has been exchanged with such a small gift, and so many more opportunities are waiting to build on this foundation. Just remember - give good.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Hi everyone! This week, I'm hosting the Free For All Friday over at Stamp TV. My challenge centers around all the cleaning and preparation we do for the holidays. You know you've gotta do a lot of laundry, so my challenge is to use a dryer sheet, or similar item, in making your card. Here's mine:
I used the new Pure Luxury Tan Leather paper for the background, and Cranberry Tart for the base. The patterned paper is Basic Grey. Stamps are from the Stamp TV Holiday Cheer set (trees), Vintage Borders (quote) and Gina K ribbon and buttons for the extra touches. The 'snow' is Liquid Applique. Here's the inside:
{click to enlarge}
I used the same Basic Grey paper on the inside, trimmed with my EK Success border punch, and stamped the sentiment (the Magic of Christmas) and scroll shelf from Vintage Borders.
I have seen some really beautiful work on this hop, and I hope Gina gives us a chance to do this again. It's so much fun!! More blogs to check out - click here to go back to the list!
Sunshine Stamps has been focusing on winter/Christmas images and sentiments. I just love this snowman, and thought he deserved a little vacation time in warm surroundings. Don't worry - it's not warm enough that he'll melt - just melt your heart!
{click to enlarge}
I've been working on making the insides of my cards more special. I thought I'd show you this one. I thought it turned out rather cute! What do you think?
{click to enlarge}
Well, I have another project to upload here in awhile. I hope you enjoy this one - I really enjoyed making it! Check out Sunshine's Stamps in the store!
Can I get a YAHOO! Or a WOOT WOOT! How 'bout a Hip Hip HOORAY!! Gina - thank you so much for helping your customers shine!!
{click to enlarge}
This set was created for my sister for her Christmas gift. It's eight cards in two color schemes, eight envelopes, and 10 gift tags, all in the nifty card boxes that Gina sells. Do you think she'll like it?? I hope so!!
The images are all from Nina Brackett's Lord of the Season set sold by Gina K Designs, and Nina's Vintage Borders set (background on yellow). The tags' images are from Holiday Greetings (Stamp TV set) by Gina K Designs. All of the paper is Gina K products. I used a Cuttlebug folder (music) for the spruce green and cranberry tart bases.
Ooops - just realized this project doesn't use the sets Gina listed on her blog. I will be back to update the project with one that complies.... {blush}
Is it? Has Santa already made his list?? Uh oh.....just in case, I'd better start watchin' myself!
{click to enlarge}
I paired Cuddles Kuma, from Ildi Company, with Sprinkles from Cat's Pajamas. Sprinkles shares the same attitude as my kitty, Scrap. Isn't Cuddles CUTE?? He really looks like he's hoping to get in on the good graces, but trust me....Sprinkles is NOT the one you should worry about impressing!
{click to enlarge}
Just another view from a slight angle to better see the dimension. I used a cuttlebug folder on the red cardstock (Pebbles) and stitched around it in green on my Janome, layered over Gina K's London Fog luxury cardstock card base. Patterned paper is Basic Grey. I stamped Sprinkles in the tree from the Deck the Halls set in StazOn on a paint chip from WalMart. I colored all of the tree decorations with Smooch! (love this stuff), and glittered up the tree in frosty winter diamonds using Stickles. I added a few rhinestones and the sentiment from Cat's Pajamas, cut with my Nestabilities Fancy Tags.
Hope you enjoyed this project. Don't forget to see more from Ildi Company's design team by clicking my team members' links on the upper left of my blog. See you again soon!
Welcome to the Bunny Nest! I host rescued animals in a small in-home setting. Currently, I host 3 bunnies and 2 kitties. These animals will be socialized and housed for the entirety of their lives in my home. They inspire my crafts, and I use any proceeds to pay for their needs. Thanks for visiting!
