Spray Box

I have noticed when using all my wonderful spray mists

that the fine mist "travels". (a LOT)

Here is a simple inexpensive solution.

First cover the crafting area where you are going to be

spraying with newspaper.

I suggest that you cover your whole table and maybe

even part of the floor.

A large sturdy box is laid on it's side and

I even laid newspaper in it as I want to use

my box over and over.

Now lay your craft sheet or plastic over the newspaper

inside the box. The box with sides extended seems to contain the

spreading of the spray mists over large areas.

I didn't see any spray mist on my floor.

(and I even mopped it to be sure)

TaDah!!! you have a spray box.

Why the Craft Sheet or Plastic?

These will not absorb the spray mist, allowing

you to fully utiltize every possible drop of your product.

I use half or quarter sheets of card stock to

"smoosh" or wipe up the left over spray mist.

My friend Nancy S. had a wonderful idea.

She started using glossy cardstock.

It doesn't absorb nearly as much as the regular

cardstock, you have the glossy sheen

when you get done and your product goes much further.

Nancy and I had so much fun creating lovely colorful

backgrounds for our stamping projects.

Ten Minute card

Quick and easy. Yet it has a distinctive style.

On a piece of white card stock,

shadow stamp randomly in a light color.

Now stamp over that in a dark colored ink

with your phrase stamp. In this case

it is a stamp that I love to use by Stampendous.

Now tear around your phrase that is stamped over

the shadow stamps. You can see that

I didn't tear too close to the stamping,

this makes it easier to position the brads.

I used the same ink that I stamped the phrase with to sponge

the edges of the tear.

The strip of paper under the phrase is

actually PearlEx and glue technique.

(very glitzy, fun and messy)

The phrase is attached to the PearlEx and glue

strip wtih brads. A round paper clip

was attached to the upper left corner of the

phrase as well. Glue all of this to

a light coordinating paper. Trim to desired size

and then attach that to a darker card base.

Using a little bit of everything

This card was a lot of fun to make.

My materials came from everywhere.

You can see that the "thirds" basic design

is very effective and pleasing to the eye.

The card base is covered with scrapbook paper.

A Fiskars corner scissors was used to round the edges.

The "ribbon" is a Fiskar border punched text weight paper,

under cardstock, with real ribbon as the final layer.

A Spellbinder geometric circle die was used for

the metallic silver circle frame. Vellum was

talced, then stamped with Hero Arts phrase

and embossed with fine line black embossing powder.

THEN position the silver circle frame over the

vellum and glue in place. Trim excess vellum

and attached to card.

The next step - the silk flowers and leaves were placed,

with "jewels" glued to the center of the flowers.

BASIC DESIGN RULE - always use an odd number

This is evident in this card;

the paper ribbon is place 2/3 of the way down the card,

there are three flowers and five leaves

and the silver frame is 1/3 of the way from the left edge.

MacDuff meets a nasty critter

Late last night, when my husband Joe let the dogs out for their last "job" of the day, MacDuff met his first porcupine. YES!!!! he did get a nose full of quills. Luckily he is a cautious dog and none of them were terribly deep. There were only about a dozen and we pulled them immediately before they had a chance or work in further. Needless to say, MacDuff was not a happy doggie last night. He seems to be perfectly fine this morning.

The neighbors cows were mooing all night long. They had weaned the calves. The cows are now calling for their young. They will stay at the place where they saw them last for several days, leaving occasionally for grass and water. Then life goes on for both cow and calf, just in different pastures.

Wild, Wild West 2

Stamps by Queen's Dresser Drawer.

I love them, I love them, I love them.

The horseshoes are a Sizzix die cut. (love them too!)

The background is western gift wrap.

The easiest way to apply gift wrap to the whole

front of a card - one straight edge, line that up

with the top of the card,

turn card over and used remaining three

edges a guides, using a scissors to trim.

The images are stamped with VeraMark,

embossed with fineline black embossing powder

and trimmed to the desired size.

The edges are then distressed (a lot) and

sponged with black dye ink to give that burned look.

The paper rickrack was made with my Creat-A-Cut

paper cutter.

Wild, Wild West

Since I live on a ranch in western Nebraska

it is no big surprise that I have a special place

in my heart for western stamps and of course

western style cards.

The stamp on this card is by Sutter Enterprises. She

has some fantastic cowboy and cattle stamps.

A lot of the western cards that I make

are on a parchment cardbase. It just goes well

with the theme. The mottled looking

third layer from the top is actually wallpaper.

Wallpaper is a great resource for card makers.

Best Buds

Our boys, Diesel a standard Pomeranian

and MacDuff a Scottish Terrier, were intently

watching "dad" working in the yard.

I simply could not resist and took this very adorable

picture, which of course I had to make into

a card to send to our friends and family.

Scrapbook paper covers the card base.

The letters are die cut from a Cuttlebug alphabet

and the black dots are a large hand punch.

Morning Walk

MacDuff, one of the morning "walkers".

My husband and I usually take short walk in the mornings. Short = 1.5 miles.

This morning we walked an electric fence that needed to be checked.

Deer have a habit of knocking them down during the night, until they

get used to where the new fence is.

Electric fence is one wire with temporary light weight metal posts that is put up to allow cattle access to fields that they would not normally graze. In this case it is wheat stubble that has volunteer wheat growing in the stubble. This is extremely yummy cow candy. They and their calves get very fat and sleek from this type of feed.

It was a cold still morning of 28. The dogs just loved the walk. Since it was not the usual walk, there were lots of new smells and adventures. Be assured that every weed and dirt clod in the first 100 yards is well marked now. LOL

We have been noticing this year that there are not nearly as many hawks and eagles in evidence. We know it is from the ten year drought. There is just not enough prey available for them, so they have moved on.

Yesterday we heard the geese honkng their way south. My husband has seen a large group of Sandhills Cranes foraging in one of the neighbors harvested corn fields. We are still hearing a few bull elk bugle in the evenings and early morning. Ahhh, I love this land and the life we have.

Sunrises and Sunsets

The area where I live has some absolutely stunning

sunrises and sunsets.

I have taken pictures and when I print those pictures,

they don't look real.

Below are my very pathetic attempts

at catching the beauty of what God created for our pleasure.

Both cards started with plain white cardstock.

The colors were sponged in.

Then the entire card front was dusted with talc, image inked with

VersaMark and fineline black embossing powder applied.

Paper Quilting Tutorial

This quilting is done with scraps from

polished stone projects.

1. Glue polished stone scraps to cardstock.

2. Cut black frame using Spellbinders geometric die.

3. Glue frame to polished stone scrap paper quilting.

4. Using a straight edge and layering ruler,

cut around outside of frame.

5. Glue to black paper and cut with deckle

decorative scissors.

6. Stamp phrase on card.

7. Glue on paper quilited layers.

Fall Is In The Air

It's a bit nippy in the mornings now.

Time for all those fall chores AND fall cards.

While I am not a Halloween fan, I do

love fall with all its' soft subtle colors,

the change of the season

and a slower pace after the insanity of summer.

These cards are a combination of paper and stamps.

Most of the cards are in the "thirds" format.

1/3 color or pattern on the top or bottom

and 2/3 coordinating color or pattern on what remains.

A band of something is used to cover the seam.

Something is layers of paper, ribbon, etc - just

about anything that you can get to stick to

paper that will cover the seam between the 1/3 and 2/3.

This format of "thirds" can be applied in the landscape

or portrait positioning of the card.

The colored band on the above card

was made with Distressed Inks.

The edges are sponged in dark brown,

the band was then talced to avoid strays,

stamped with VersaMark, embossed

with fineline copper.

The papers are Debbie Mumm's

Harvest and Holiday 6.5x5 stack.

Made for Joann's by DCWV.

The colors and glitter are just so yummy.

The whole right side of the above card

is a background made with Distressed Inks.

AND there is a variation of the "thirds" format.

If you look closely you will see the

skeleton leaves embossed in gold on the

bottom 2/3 of the above card.

Playing Around With Paper

Charlene asked me to please put the results of my

card making on the blog. So here it is.

These papers are from DCWV, Debbie Mumm,

Noah's Ark made for Joann's.

It is adorable glittery paper and

I had an awful time with it. I am not

used to making cards for kids!!!!!

Great to get outside my box and struggle a little.

The papers laid out on my studio work table for several weeks.

Bits and pieces, partial cards, borders, stamps, chip board, argh!!!!!

laying there looking at me, laughing I am sure.

It was hard. So here are the results.

Gift Wrap?????

This card front is made from gift wrap.

While in the local farm and ranch supply store I spotted

this roll of gift wrap. It is Charles Russell sketches and comments.

It is far too lovely to be wrapped around a gift, then

torn and thrown away, so it became a perfect man's card.

The whole front of the card is covered in gift wrap.

The die cut corners are even a leather look gift wrap

that has been carefully postitioned in a Cuttlebug A2

embossing folder for a tooled leather look.

Gift wrap is an inexpensive paper source

for card making. I am always scanning the

gift wrap sections in stores for new colors and designs

to add to my already healthy stash.

Anniversary Card

I almost forgot.

Gasp!!!! You would think that after 38 of them

I would remember, but I didn't.

If my mother-in-law had not called I would have

likely never remembered.

Today is our 38th wedding anniversary.

Here is the card that I made for my hubby.

Scanner trick -

It seems that half of the time my scanner cuts off the edge of my cards.

Grrrrr - very frustrating.

How to solve this little irritation:

behind the item to be scanned, put a

piece of black paper larger than the item.

Be sure the black is in a upper right corner or

it might scan crooked.

This is my fourth scan of this card.

Finally remembered all my little tricks to get it right.

I just open the scan up in PSP, crop it to the size of the card,

reduce the pixels and put on my watermark.

Tutorial - Metal Stencils and Glimmer Mists

Any stencil, be it plastic or metal, will work

for the spray mist color and stencil technique.

Here is a card made using Glimmer Mists

and a silver stencil that says Lynell Harlow - LJ849.

This positive portion is used for this card design.

1. As this stencil is a perfect quarter sheet size it is

possible to get four card backgrounds from one sheet of

cardstock. Place the paper on a craft sheet, then layer the

stencil over the paper.

2. Mist evenly with color. Note the beading of the

mist on the stencil.

3. Gently place a second quarter sheet of card stock

over the misted stencil and paper.

Hold in place with one hand and rub over the

entire quarter sheet with the other hand.

4. The negative and positive results.

I have noticed that with this stencil the negative is

has a much sharper image than the positive.

5. Mist both again with the lighter color of spray mist color.

6. Let dry. I prefer air drying and when the paper is still

very slightly damp, layering between scrap paper and

placing under a heavy book. Leave it at least over night, so

you have a nice flat background to stamp on.

Card Made With Glimmer Mists Background

There are all of these wonderful new products to play with.

So you buy the product, go home and make this lucious,

fabulous, shimmery, to die for background.

Now comes the hard part. Make it into a decent card

that you won't be ashamed to mail in a clear envelope.

Above is a very simple fast card. Note the black sponging on the

edges. Sponging adds a lot of depth and is often that tiny

little finishing touch that lifts an ordinary card into the elegant realm.

I have a rather large collection of Embossing Arts scripture stamps

that I seldom use. If they are left out and are in front of me

every time I stamp maybe I will use them more. At least

that is the current theory in my studio for now.

Same design as the first card, but different Glimmer Mist background.

I like both looks.

Tutorial - Stencils and Glimmer Mists

Glimmer Mist Smushed background stamped

with black and brown inks. The metallics in the Glimmer Mists

"float" over the black ink.

For a very detailed and cistinct image embossing is advised.

This technique looks so difficult, but trust me, it's easy,

maybe a little (ok, a lot) messy.

The results are spectacular.

I regret that the subtle shimmer of the Glimmer Mists

cannot be seen in these picture.

SUPPLIES

for this project I used

2 half sheets of white card stock

stencil (no idea where I got this, it is part of my "Someday" stash)

Glimmer Mists or any misted spray coloring, 1 each dark and light

craft sheet or old magnetic photo page

lots of newspapers

iron or heat gun if desired

1. Spread newspapers over a large work area.

These misted sprays diffuse over an amazingly long way.

Now place the craft sheet in the center.

Place 1 half sheet of cardstock on craft sheet

and then lay stencil over the paper.

2. Shake your bottle very well. Make sure all the glimmery goodie

is off the bottom of the bottle. Do several test sprays to avoid splotches.

Mist with darker color - note the liquid beading up on the stencil -

it is easy to apply too much.

Leave the stencil in place over the paper.

This is your POSTIVE image.

3. Carefully position the second sheet of card stock over the

already misted paper and stencil. This will be your NEGATIVE image.

4.Once paper is in place, hold with one hand and gently rub over

surface with the other to pick up all that color that is beaded up on the stencil.

5. Remove the negative image sheet and then the stencil.

There it is! It was so easy!

6. With the postive and negative image sheets side by side

you are ready to mist then again with the lighter color.

I used Glimmer Mists Huckleberry as my dark color

and Timeless Lilac as my light color.

7. Drying finished product - yup, it's going to be soggy.

It can be ironed, dried with a heat gun or air dried.

I prefer air drying until only very slightly damp,

then placing between mutilple sheets of scrap paper

and putting it under a heavy book over night. (great use

for the unused college dictionary) The scrap

paper absorbs the rest of the moisture.

This card shows will give you an idea of what you can do

with a little spray and a stencil.

The flourish stamp is by Basic Grey and the phrase by PSX.

The background was talced first to avoid strays,

then stamped with VersaMark and embossed with fineline black.

The edges were sponged with black in to softly

frame the whole and add that special "finishing touch".

The Challenge

Ann J., one of the Wild Women of the West Stampers,

had some paper that she just did not know how to turn into cards.

So she challenged us by cutting that 12 x 12 Luxury Stack

from DCWV into A2 sized cards and giving each of

the Wild Women some card blanks and scraps

to see what we could come up with.

The Wild Women of the West Stampers

rose to the occasion.

This design is not originally mine.

I saw the card sketch on Stampers Quest

and the paper and sketch just seemed to mesh.

The phrase stamp is by Art Impressions and the

flourish stamp is by Inkadinkadoo.

The scalloped rectangle is a die from Spellbinders.

The scan does not do justice to how well the blues

all compliment each other or the soft subtle

pearl of the papers.

Stationery Cigar Box

My dear friend Carole needed some cards and

I really wanted to make something special for her.

I have had some cigar boxes sitting around ever since

Jen Lowe, the queen of enablers, showed me her

local cigar store where she purchased them

for her fabulous purses. They sell the boxes for $2.

Who would resist such a bargain?

I did take this box to show my stamp group,

The Wild Women of the West Stampers,

along with my stash of "someday I'll do something with these"

cigar boxes. My stash is now sadly depleted and I

have orders for more cigar boxes that will fit stationery.

I can hardly wait to see what the amazingly

talented Wild Women,

Donna, Nancy and Eva, will do with their cigar boxes.

Oh, I am such an enabler and I learned it all from Jen Lowe.

The lace look paper is another discontinued Karen Foster design. (sigh)

It is cut to fit the raised area on the top of the box.

The edges of the paper are distressed with Ranger

Distressed Inks. Stamps by Stampin' Up (please no one

die of shock here) and die cut alphabet is Cuttlebug's Harmony.

I did use my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to perfectly position

the two stamps.

The flowers are painted with Twinkling H2O's.

Lightly sand the area that the paper is to be glued to

for better adhesion.

PPA is my glue of choice for this type of crafting

as the paper is so smooth when the project is dry.

Note here: Do your inked distressing before you glue your

paper to the box. In order to get enough glue brushed on

to enable the paper to adhere well you will have some

squishing out around the edges.

Even a little glue on the paper acts as a resist and

you distressing ink will not work on those area, no

matter how well you think you have wiped it off.

Spotty distressing is just tacky, LOL.

I will tell you with hard won knowledge,

that the sides of your cigar box may not be square.

It took me a while, but I finally figured it out.

The interior of the cigar box is nicely finished off

with adhesive backed black felt.

This insures that my carefully crafted cards

are adequately protected.

I also placed black felt strips on the bottom of the box.

One of my favorite things about this stationery box

is that the beautiful wood shows.

Most of the boxes that I brought home had

very nice finishes and leaving

them to sit open for several weeks totally

eliminated the cigar smell.

A Little Outside My Box

This is a little outside my box.

These are not the "normal" colors that I use.

I do a lot of layering and using various decorative scissors, but this

design was the first one that I tossed in the flourish

and the offset little greeting.

It turned out well.

How to:

1. Cover card base with gold/tan floral scrapbook paper.

2. On red paper stamp in black dye ink various flourishes .

3. Layer strip of red paper on black paper and trim

with Fiskars small ripple decorative scissors.

4. Cut black and white striped paper, center red strip over

and glue OR place red strip on black and white stripe

and measure and cut with layering rulers.

5. Layer your stripe on black paper and trim with

decorative scissors or use a Create A Cut scallop blade.

6. Center all of the above layers on the card base.

7. A BossCut flourish die is used for the two flouishes.

8. Using a tan that coordinates with the rest of the card,

stamp in black a small flourish and phrase. Layer on black,

trim layering with layering rulers.

9. Accent the phrase/flourish with a punched and shaped

red flower. Glue slightly off center.

Products list:

Scrapworks - All Dressed Up paper stack

various flouish stamps

Ranger Archival Ink - black

Fiskars small ripple decorative scissors

Create A Cut scallop blade

Boss Cut flourish die

Punch Bunch floral and star punches