One more…with stamping

So, I saw this card and since I have the Air Mail stamp set from Avery Elle, I decided to make this. Yes, it is another one of my letter cards. And yes, it will be a PITA to write on the back side of this - but that’s just the way it goes. Maybe I’ll just leave that page blank.

I colored the paper airplanes with a Copic marker, stamped the Hero Arts “hello” in Hero Arts Butter Bar mid tone ink, and die cut it with the Hero Arts speech bubble (there’s that phrase again) die. The chevrons are from another Avery Elle Set, called To The Point. I love their stamps, and for those of you with a Silhouette machine they provide cut files for most, if not all, of their stamp sets! Great job, Avery Elle!

I added a couple of black dots from a really old set of epoxy dots that probably came from a scrapbook store in Mooresville which closed several years ago. I’d love to find some more black ones. I guess now they are called enamel dots, but they’re the same thing. Enamel, epoxy… just make them in black, please. I have some of the Ranger Enamel Accents in black, but I am not about to try and plop those onto a finished card only to have them come out in a big glob and ruin the whole thing! I didn’t fall off of the banana truck yesterday, my friends. They usually work pretty well, but I know better than to tempt the stamping gods.

I think another hexagon card is in order soon….and maybe one made with the MFT Blueprints 1 die set that I haven’t used yet. Hmmmm. Stay tuned….

A few more letter cards

I am digging this Hello die set from My Favorite Things, can you tell? They have a new Happy Birthday die set that’s now on my ever growing wish list. I made a couple more letter cards, trying to match the colors on the front to the base and getting a little frustrated at being limited to certain colors. In a moment of clarity I had a brilliant idea - instead of trying to match the design to some colored card stock, just make card fronts in any design and color I like and use the lightweight (60#) white Hammermill Color Digital Copy card stock for the letter part. I know! I actually bought that card stock by mistake, I meant to get the heavier weight but apparently it was a happy accident since I can use it for these. So far I haven’t needed additional postage because it is a lighter weight. I love it when things work out that way, don’t you?

The first three were made with nothing more than the dies and some washi tape. I can see that I need more washi tape already (thanks, Leslie).

I also used a speech bubble die from Hero Arts on this one. I die cut the speech bubble first and ran it back through with the “hi” from the MFT die set, and inset the green die cut into the speech bubble. Speech bubble….does that sound funny to you??

Those aren’t smudges on the striped washi tape, it came that way. I was a little disappointed about that and I hope it doesn’t run all the way through the roll.

These are using that same die, of course, and some stamped images provided by my stampy friend Leslie, of The Crooked Stamper. She used a Lawn Fawn set and cleverly double stamped the chevrons. She has a blog post with a video about that over on her blog. I bought that set and have tried that technique a few times, with little success, but I won’t give up. I will keep at it!

It just occurred to me that I could use the inset technique on other ones - like these. That would make it easier to write on the inside if the die cuts weren’t adhered on top of the card front. Yes, I know I said I was going to write the letter and then adhere the front, but I forgot that part and just put them all together. I will probably forget about the inset thing, too, so don’t be surprised next time.

Someday I may make something new and different, you never know. So don’t give up on me yet!

I love to go SHOPPING!

Someone posted this video on Facebook the other day and I know we can all relate. It's hysterical, you have to just sit back and enjoy it.



Didn't that bring a smile to your face? You're welcome.

Hello

I’m beginning to think I may be slightly obsessive-compulsive. Remember those card/letter creations I showed you last week (or was it the week before?)? I can’t seem to stop making them. I will have to stop at some point, when I run out of smooth card stock, since so much of what I have is textured Bazzill card stock, but for now I am in production mode.

I have my eye on an Abstract Art stamp set from My Favorite Things, but until the budget loosens up a bit I will make do with this set from Papertrey Ink. It doesn’t have as many paint strokes and only a couple of splotches.

I used Hero Arts mid tones ink - Bubble Gum, Butter Bar, Green Hills, Cornflower, and Passion Flower for the paint strokes and the hello is an MFT Die-namics die.

I can’t figure out what to call these things….Lettards? Cardters? Cardlets? Anyway, I like making ‘em. I did figure out that if I use a dimensional piece as I did on the other ones, I should wait until I have written the letter to stick it onto the front. Otherwise it gets a little difficult writing over the bump that it makes on the inside. Lesson learned.

Card making and letter writing united

Thanks to a recent letter from a friend, I’ve found a way to satisfy both of my addictions - card making and letter writing. A2 cards don’t have enough room to write much, so I usually end up adding extra pages inside. That works, but I like this plan better. Here is the letter/card I received.

A gorgeous photo of poppies on the front -

Opened up and laid flat it looks like this on one side:

This is how it folds:

She included some lovely photos from her recent trip, and there was still enough room to write a short letter. Since I am usually a bit more long winded in my letter writing, if I leave off the photos there is plenty of room for writing a long, rambly letter! It’s an 8-1/2” x 11” sheet of card stock, scored down the center both ways - at 5-1/2 on the 11” length, and 4-1/4 on the 8” length.

I made a couple of really simple card fronts and added them to different card stocks. White would, of course, work best, but any plain colored card stock would be fine. So, I made one from some yellow card stock and another with white.

Here is the yellow one opened up - maybe this will make more sense about how to cut and fold it. After scoring it, just cut in half way on the 5-1/2” score line.

This one is made with some Lasting Impressions card stock, patterned on one side and white on the other, but still not too busy to write on.

They will fit in a standard A2 envelope and may not even require extra postage! It would be a great way to include some photos in a card and still have room for the writing. I will have to practice writing straight without lines, but I think it’ll be ok. I could have printed lines before scoring and cutting, and I might try that at some point but for now I’m happy with this design.

Stamps - Hero Arts
Dies - Hero Arts (speech bubble), My Favorite Things (hello)
Ink - Hero Arts Mid-Tones: Bubble Gum, Field Greens, Butter Bar, Cornflower