Thursday, November 30, 2017

The Holidays are Heading Here Fast!

Yes, here it is - already December 1st. The busy time of the year is upon us!

I've been having lots of fun lately playing with paper, cardstock, baker's twine, glitter, and all sorts of other fun things. Below is a picture of a card that results from a swap of card making materials. I've never done anything like that before. We sent to 3 people and they each created a card out of what was sent and I did as well. This is one of my cards; it's made using the wrought iron gate and fence that I selected and the lighter green Christmas tree. This is made in a collage style. I left the gate unglued so it can open and close and added a wreath on the gate. I love to try new ways to use die cuts.


I can't remember if I ever shared the flock of chickens that I made, but recently my attention went to scottie dogs. I had fun making these. It's a set of note cards. The chickens were to be used either as gift tags or place markers for a table setting. Again, lots of fun.


This evening I started addressing Christmas cards. Mine are not handmade - it would just be too many, but I admire those who do handmade cards for everyone on their list.

I'm going to do better at posting more frequently. Should I made that a new year's resolution?
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Monday, September 18, 2017

Cards ... Cards ... and More Cards

It has been so long since I posted that you probably thought I never made another card. That's not the case. I've made dozens - just not gotten here to my blog lately. I really will try to do better.

Here are a few cards I really enjoyed making.

Here's a card designed for Halloween. I'm not sure that puppy design stamp is supposed to be a Golden Retriever, but I think it is. We had Golden Retrievers for many years and I love the breed - such friendly and happy dogs. It seems they are always smiling!


If you know that I love horses (and have 2 of them), you'll know why I love to post this one. I like the look of the attached tag.


Finally, this card was made for a gardening swap that I participated in recently. The painting shown is called "The Tulip Folly". The tulips that are elevated in the foreground are drawn and colored by me using watercolor pencils and a special brush that blends the colors. I had not drawn anything freehand in a long time so I was happy at how it turned out. Our theme for this month was "Get in Touch with your Inner Artist".


I have been trying out many new techniques and card making supplies so I'll post more about special products I have enjoyed in the next post.

I hope everyone had a happy summer!

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Do You Love Coffee?

Do you love coffee? I do - even just the smell of coffee! I offset my craving for ice cream by adding a heaping tablespoon of vanilla or coffee flavored ice cream to my morning coffee. It tastes so g-o-o-d!

Anyway, my latest card making endeavor makes use of the Hot Off the Press template called Sweet Treats Pockets.



One of the designs is a cup of coffee (or you can certainly call it hot chocolate or hot cocoa) and it has a darling pocket which appears as a sleeve to hold the coffee and there's the addition on the template to add a tag to the pocket, your milk froth or whipped cream, and even a straw.

Were you one of the people who knitted or crocheted with all the beautiful decorative yarns that came out several years ago? I didn't do that, but I've found that these decorative yarns are fantastic to tie on little tags for card making. My little tag on this card reads "Smile" and I love the red feathery yarn that I added. Here are some other colors in my yarn basket - waiting to be included in my next project.



And here's my finished card.


I hope you enjoyed my craft project for today!

Monday, September 5, 2016

I found a new creative outlet about a year ago and am having a wonderful time creating greeting cards and other lovely items from paper. This blog is to share my journey of card making with you and to discuss the products that I seem to be very inclined to try. I hope you'll follow along and comment on the discussions and view my "Blogger" Show and Tell.

The Cardmaker's Shop is a section of my Etsy Shop, TheSandlapperShop. However, here I'll be focusing almost exclusively on the art of making cards. Enjoy! I hope you'll also stop by to visit my shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSandlapperShop


Here's a card that I completed today. You'll see that I love fall colors.

Open View


Closed View


The die cut for the card is the Rounded Label Thinlits Fold-A-Long design by Jen Long and Sizzix. How about those orange polka dots? When the card is open in the center you'll see that it has a special shape that tucks inside and really calls attention to the theme of the card. I cut that section from a paper that has a bit of glitter and falling leaves and then stamped and added the image of praying hands in black ink. I couldn't resist adding the intricate die cut of a falling leaf.

Are you like me and amazed that die cuts come with so few instructions? I learned to visit some online shops that sell supplies and have found several that have video segments on how to use their products and examples of some completed designs. Yes, they get some of my business and I love their customer service. I look at techniques and examples, but I don't copy -  from there I create my own design.

A new technique for me today was to make the belly band. I didn't even know what they were called a few days ago, but this card definitely needed a closure. I found a few instructional videos on YouTube and it looked pretty straight forward. I cut a strip of chocolate brown so that it would overlap in the back, added what looks like a latch and a glittery paper button,and there was my first belly band! The top of the card was calling for some special attention and I added a tag for a greeting and tied it on with a raffia bow.

Is there fish on the menu? Last evening I created a fish card. The design I came up with reminds me of a tavern or fish market sign. Maybe the perfect place to stop for seafood in New England? It's inked and layered. The fish is paper cut in what is know as Scherenschnitte, a German paper cutting technique. I don't even know how to pronounce that, but I like the outcome. I also really like the saying that I decided went perfectly with this card.



Be sure to stop back to visit and see my next creations!.