Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Mini Book for a Birthday


My MIL's birthday is this weekend and it seems to be a tradition in the Wild family to find English candy they ate in their youth. This year my husband is quite pleased with himself because he managed to find some Fry's Chocolate Cream chocolate bars in a few flavors for his Mum. He has noticed that I am on a box making kick so asked if I could make something to hold the chocolate bars. I was happy to oblige. :)


I decided to make a mini book, I guess you could call it, with pockets to hold the 4 bars as well as a pocket for the gift card which is the main part of my MIL's present.

I began the project by cutting a front and back cover (4.5x7.5) out of designer paper. The designer paper had a scalloped border all around it so I made sure to keep some for the edges of my book. I actually cut 2 front cover and 2 back covers and glued them together since the designer paper I chose was only single sided but since my MIL loves owls the paper was a must! I stamped the "happy definition" on a matching piece of solid cardstock and matted it on a piece of gold paper then added it to the front cover. I made a medallion out of a piece of ribbon (Magenta) I had kicking around, I finished the medallion off with a button and a large gem in the center. I added a gem to the bottom of the cover as well. I thought the cover needed a little more so I stamped the birch trees out of a scrap of cardstock and cut it out. I also stamped an owl from the same set as the birch tree set and cut him out. I attached both to the front of the book with some Tombow Mono Multi glue. I wanted some of the definition words to pop a little more so added some Glossy Accents over the words Happy, Birthday, Celebrate and Party. The owl's eyes also got some Glossy Accents. My Glossy Accents were still wet when I took my photos but when it dries it is perfectly clear and raised.

I left the inside front cover blank except for a stamped owl.

I made 4 pockets for the pages of the book (9x7") by cutting the cardstock and folding each piece in half and gluing the long edge. I was a bit cheap with my glue so when I put the chocolate bars in some of the seams burst so had to re-do some of my glue. If you are copying me make sure you don't cheap out on the glue. :) I stamped and decorated each page a shown with Stampendous stamps and by doodling with my Tombow gel pen.











I finished the inside back cover by adding a pocket for the gift card and stamping the sentiment and added the "mum" banner along the middle of the pocket.

I left the back outside cover blank with just the owl paper showing.

I pulled out my trusty Bind It All machine and bound everything together to make my book. Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe:

Tools: Bind It All & 1 inch wires

Stamps: Hero Arts Dictionary Greetings (Cl479) & Find Joy (Cl497), Stampendous Bday Messages (SSC180), Mega Happy (SSC115) & Birch Buddies (SSC1055), JustRite Myriad Pro font

Inks: Memento tuxedo black

Papers: My Mind's Eye, Bazzill & Paper Cut

Other: Tombow markers (977 & 990), Ranger Glossy Accents, Magenta Marayma ribbon, Autumn Leaves button, Kaisercraft gems

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Kit Kat holder


I'm on a big Easter kick this year and having so much fun making all kinds of Easter cards and boxes.

Here is a little something I created for a private class I am having on Thursday. I designed the box so it would hold a Kit Kat chocolate bar love how it turned out!

The image was stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Tombow markers. I paper pieced the egg bow as well as the cart. I added a jewel to the cart wheel for some extra bling.

Thanks for stopping by.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Penny Black Easter March and sentiment that comes with the image

Paper: Bazzil & watercolor

Other: Tombow markers, Hero Arts gem & Kit Kat chocolate bar!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Easter Greetings


I made this card a while back when I was playing with stencils but thought it was just tooo early to be posting an Easter card just a few days after Valentines day so I have saved the goodness for a month or so.
This card was done with the double glitter technique because I love the look of the finished product!
It was a little fiddly getting the different colors on the eggs without contaminating the other area but well worth it.
I used my handy dandy Just Rite Myriad Pro font to spell out the Happy Easter sentiment. Thanks for stopping by!
Card Recipe:
Stencil: Dreamweaver Egg border
Glitter: Glitter Ritz & Stampendous
Tape: Be Creative
Paper: Bobunny Double Dot & Bazzil
Ink: Brillance Pearlescent Purple
Other: Tombow Glue Pen, Just Rite font for saying

Thursday, March 24, 2011

New Spellbinder dies


Oh happy day - Crafty Capers received it's first batch of the new spring Spellbinder dies on Monday! It's been so crazy some dies are already sold out and we've had to reorder!
We do still have the following designs in stock:
A friend purchased the new Fleur de Lis rectangles Spellbinder set before it sold out and she was kind enough to let me cut out a couple of rectangles. Thanks Lynette! I was thinking ahead and cut out each layer in a coordinating cardstock so I could actually make a card.
The card is pretty straight forward. Layered the new dies added 2 Classic Spellbinder Ovals to the center rectangle, stamped the Flourishes sentiment (clematis set) and added 3 Hero Arts pearls. I tied a pretty bow and voila a finshed card. The card is very simple but I love how it turned out.
Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Wish Big!


As I may have mentioned the store got a batch of Penny Black stamps in on Friday. :)
I was supposed to be working on class samples the past few days however...this stamp was calling my name and the bad part is I've had this stamp in my collection close on a year! I meant to play with a easter image but that did not happen either. Oh well there is always tomorrow.
I'm so happy with how this card turned out that I am sure I won't regret putting aside my "real" work to get this card done.
I colored this Penny Black image with my Tombow markers on watercolor paper twice. I cut out one image with a oval die and then cut out the body of the second hedgie with scissors. I sponged on clouds and a sky behind the hedgehog with Sea Breeze Versamagic ink. I matted her as shown including popping up the second hedgie on top of the oval one. The sentiment is from a clear set by Penny Black. I used my Big Scalloped Squares from Spellbinder to make the main card. Those of you who have taken my Cuttlebug Tips and Tricks class will know how I did it. I added a bunch of Glitter Ritz glitter with my Tombow Glue Pen to the colored image. Did you notice I even added glitter to the hedgie's toes! I was so pleased with myself when I thought of that! She's just had a pedicure and is wiggling her toes in the new spring grass. Cute!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black Tender Hug & Micey Nice clear set
Coloring: Tombow markers
Paper: My Mind's Eye, Bazzill, Coredination & Strathemore watercolor cardstock
Spellbinder: Small and Large Classic ovals, small scallop ovals, big scalloped large squares
Other: Glitter Ritz glitter, Tombow Glue Pen, Versafine Onyx Black ink

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Final Embossing Card

And so this concludes our week of heat embossing cards. Hope this week either refreshed your memory or you learned something new about embossing powders and everything you can do with it.
This card is a pretty quick one to do but it was one of my favs.
The green medallion was done with Crafty Capers Moss Green embossing powder. I began with a circle cut out of cardstock (color does not matter) I made a "handle" for the circle by glueing a strip of scrap cardstock to the back of my circle so that the strip hung out past the circle then I had something to hang on to when the embossing powder on the circle was "cooked". I pressed my cardstock circle into my Versamark ink pad then applied Moss Green embossing powder. I heated the powder until it was smooth. I let the heated powder cool then pressed the circle back into my Versamark pad and applied yet another layer of green embossing powder then heated again. While embossing powder layer 2 was cooling in preparation for layer 3 I inked up a Hero Arts flower stamp with Versamagic Mango Madness ink. I applied layer 3 of Moss Green to my circle then cooked it. While the embossing powder was still hot I pressed my inked up flower directly into the hot powder. I left the flower in the embossing powder for a minute or so to cool. When the embossing powder is cool the flower should pull off and voila! a custom embellishment! I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts) with my Versamark ink and embossed it with Crafty Capers Copper Tinsel embossing powder on a piece of kraft cardstock. I matted everything as shown. The lacy piece of cardstock is a Basic Grey doily that was originally 12x12 but I cut it down to card size. I love how quickly it jazzes up a card and you can make lots of cards with a 12x12 sheet. Makes for a different looking card.
Thanks so much for stopping by this week!



Saturday, March 19, 2011

Even more embossing!


Here we are card number 5, one more to go! This card was super simple to make but a bit time consuming.
I embossed the Flourishes clematis stamp randomly all over a piece of mauve cardstock with Crafty Capers Dusty Violet embossing powder. To add a bit of extra bling I used my Versamark pen to color in each of the flowers then embossed the flowers with Crafty Capers Pixie Dust embossing powder. The Versamark pen made the flowers a shade darker than the cardstock (because it is officially a watermark pen) and because the pen takes a while to dry I was able to add the embossing powder on top of the pen to add a raised, shiny, sparkly finish!
The sentiment came from the same clear Flourishes set as the clematis (now in stock at Crafty Capers).
Thanks for stopping by!


Friday, March 18, 2011

Die Cut Challenge


I thought I would give everyone a break from heat embossing cards this week and pop a card I did for Glenda's die cut challenge this week.
Glenda challenged us to use at least 2 die cuts on our projects. I figured it would be a tough one for me, I mean really, a card with virtually no stamping! Shocking!!
What helped inspire me was my new Sizzix die Vine with leaves. What a fun die!
I used my Spellbinder scalloped circles to make my flower. I added some white dots and highlights with my White Tombow gel pen.
The sentiment is by Just Rite Birthday Centers. More heat embossing cards later this week.
Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Heat embossing #4

Part way through the demo last weekend someone pointed out that I used alot of Hero Arts stamps. Here is a card done with only 1 Hero stamp and it was not the main image!
For this card I decided to change things up and show that you can use metal stencils and embossing powders together.
I began with a piece of Cathie Allen cardstock (130lb) and taped the egret stencil down on the paper. I applied a few inks through the holes of the stencil when I was happy I removed the stencil and pressed my Versamark ink pad all over the paper. Then I poured Crafty Capers Clear Enamel powder all over the piece then heated it. When the powder was melted it left the piece with a linoleum type texture (slightly bumpy) if you apply a second coat of Versamark ink and Clear Enamel you get a smooth finish over your piece. 2 different looks, you pick the one you like best.
We actually made a second piece and put it in the freezer then tried to crack the enamel for an old type look. It just seemed wrong to me to deliberately bend my project so I was not good a cracking the enamel but Phil Coss who had stopped by to pick up his wife had no such worries and happily cracked the enamel for me! :)
I added an embossed border around my card by using 5mm Be Creative tape as my "glue" for the embossing powder. I used Crafty Capers Teddy Bear powder for my borders and heated it. Be Creative tape is tough stuff so can take the heat of the heat gun without losing it's sticky unlike lots of other adhesives on the market.
Hope you found this sample informative.
Card Recipe:
Stencil: Egrets Dreamweaver Stencils
Stamp: (sentiment) Hero Arts
Inks: Versmagic Oasis Green, Hint of Pesto, Gingerbread & Sahara Sand, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versamark
Embossing Powders: Crafty Capers Clear Enamel & Teddy Bear
Other: Be Creative Tape




Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Heat Embossing Demo #3


Can you see a theme with this week's posts? :) Here is card number #3 from the heat embossing demo.
This one is pretty simple but looks great and would be great for those usually difficult "man cards".
I began with a piece of plain white cardstock. I embossed the bikes using my Versamark ink pad and Ranger's Seafoam white embossing powder.
Once the embossing powder was cool. I used 3 finger daubers (one for each color) and applied 3 colors of Ranger's Distress ink for an interesting background. The white embossing powder resisted the ink so the bikes really popped after the ink was applied.
I finished the card with a Happy Birthday sentiment stamped on a yellow circle. I added some scraps of ribbon that were too short to tie bows with but I had kept anyway! I cut a scalloped border in yellow at the bottom of the card using some Fiskar's "wiggly" scissors. I have a bunch of these but rarely use them so I gave myself some extra credit for using a tool I have but don't often use. :).
Thanks for stopping by.
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Joy Ride & Happy Birthday sentiment (set unknown)
Cardstock: unknown
Ink: Distress inks Peeled Paint, Tea Dye & Mustard Seed, Versafine Onyx Black
Other: sponge daubers, ribbon May Arts and unknown, Ranger Seafoam white embossing powder

Monday, March 14, 2011

Heat Embossing Demo #2

Here is card #2 from the Heat Embossing demo held last Saturday at Crafty Capers. This technique is the "magic reveal" technique. This card seemed to be lots of people's favs.
I began with a piece of plain white cardstock. I stamped some solid "daisy type" stamps with yellow and orange dye inks. I let the daisies dry for a little while, I actually moved onto card #3 while it dried. If you were in a hurry you could speed up the drying process with your heat gun.
Once the ink was dry, I took a zinnia stamp and stamped a bunch of zinnias randomly over top of the colored daisy stamps with Versamark ink. I poured clear embossing (with glitter in it) powder over the zinnia and heat embossed the powder with my heat gun.
I let the embossing powder cool then took a piece of Cut N Dry foam and Rocket Red Versamagic ink and rubbed the ink all over the embossed piece. The embossed zinnias resisted the ink and left the yellow and orange daisies exposed through the embossing powder!
I finished the card off with a strip of cardstock which I notched on each end to resemble ribbon as well as an oval with a sentiment stamped inside it then matted everything as shown.
Hope this technique makes sense. Feel free to contact me if you have questions!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Small Solid Flower & Four Fun Flowers, Flourishes Taglines (sentiment)
Ink: Memento Tangello & Dandelion, Versafine Onyx Black, Brillance Rocket Red
Other: Crafty Capers Pixie Dust embossing powder
Paper: Bazzil



Sunday, March 13, 2011

Demo card #1


Thanks to all the crafty gals who attended my heat embossing demo at Crafty Capers on Saturday. As promised I will be posting the cards all this week with instructions for those who saw the demo but have forgotten some key steps or for those who could not make the demo.
This was the first card I demoed. It was done with basic heat embossing.
I stamped the large stamp on red cardstock with my Versamark ink pad then applied Crafty Capers Silver Dollar embossing powder and heated the powder until it melted. I just want to point out that this stamp is solid except for the red parts you can see the red parts are the cardstock I stamped on. I then stamped a Just Rite sentiment in grey ink, matted everything, tied a bow and voila done! For more cards with this large stamp look a few weeks back on this blog for the "wedding invitations" I used this same stamp (that's why I decided to make this an anniversary card).
Thanks for stopping by.
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Large Fabric Design (LOVE this stamp), Just Rite Baroque Nested Frames
Ink: Versamark and Versafine Smoke Grey
Cardstock: Bazzil
Other: Ribbon May Arts

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The future

Crafty Capers will be having a FREE heat embossing demo on Saturday Mar 12 10:30 - noon. Drop by to learn about heat embossing, if you are an intermediate stamper there is probably some tips you will pick up as well. I am hoping to get some of the demo projects up on the blog in the next day or so.

Now onto the card for the day!
I had fun playing with this card. I began by stamping the flowers on scraps of yellow cardstock with Vintage Sepia Versafine ink then I cut them out and gave each flower some highlights with a yellow pencil crayon. I did the same with the leaves except on green cardstock. :)
I cut out a Spellbinder beaded oval and embossed it as well then used Ranger's Light Adirondack ink in Lemonade to stencil inside the die's holes. I cut out the middle of the piece to create a frame (although now I think about it that was not necessary). I cut out a smooth oval frame to fit inside the first oval out of Be Creative tape and used my Warm Hightlight glitter to create a glittery inside border.
I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment with yellow ink then layered everything as shown. I created the concave notches in the white cardstock using a 1" circle punch and only cutting about 1/4 of a circle. I added some gems to the punched areas for some extra bling.
Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Blossom Art & sentiment (Hero set unknown)
Ink: Adirondack Lights Lemonade & Earthtones Butterscotch, Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paper: Bazzil & Coredinations
Spellbinder: Beaded Ovals, Large and Small Smooth Classic ovals
Other: Glitter Ritz Warm Highlight & Hero Arts Gems

Friday, March 4, 2011

Butterfly Thank You


Sorry for the lack of posts this past week or so. We've had some crazy weather. Last week lots of snow with the store being closed on Wednesday due to poor road conditons then I had to madly prep for weekend classes because I left things to the last minute! Here's hoping I don't do THAT again (but probably will!).
I managed to find a few minutes today to play. These "dandelions" were done of white vellum. I laid the vellum onto the wood mounted stamp and traced the image using my Tombow white gel pen then I colored the image on the back side using my Tombow markers. I think it kind of has a chalk like look which is nice since I am no good at chalks! I stamped the butterflies on Bazzil cardstock and blended with using the indirect Tombow blending technique. The sentiment was stamped using a Tombow marker as the ink so it matches my colored images perfectly! Love that!
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Thanks for stopping by!
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black Constellations, Flourishes Taglines & Clematis and Butterflies set
Tombow markers: 195, 515, 555, 565, 992 & N00 (blender)
Paper: White vellum, Bazzil, Coredinations
Other: Tombow white gel pen, Hero Arts gem, Offray ribbon, Spellbinder lrg scalloped square & Tag Trio.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Stylish Blogger Award

I'm very flattered a new friend, Sheree, nominated me for the "Stylish blogger Award". Thanks Sheree! Sheree and I will be retiring on the same road in Stampscapes yards and houses with our multitude of dogs and cats! lol!
One of the conditions of the award is to pass it along so I am passing it along to:
1. Glenda &
Here is your badge ladies!

One fo the conditions of the award (yes, it comes with conditions) is that you share 7 things about yourself. This is kind of tough since I feel like my life is an open book but here goes:
1. In addition to running my store Crafty Capers I also have a 2nd job. I am the office manager at a local volunteer fire department. Quite a bit different than my crafting job!
2. I have psoriatic arthritis (very similar to rhumatoid arthritis) I was diagnosed when I was 7 but have been in remission for about a year now - yeah! Remember me in September which is Arthritis Month. Arthritis is not just for old people.
3. I love dogs (not a huge surprise for most). Boxers and Dalmatians are my favs but I can be suckered into liking most breeds. I am currently dogless but awaiting a rescue boxer from Los Angeles.
4. I am passionate about animal rescue and very anti-puppy mills. "Adopt one until there are none". So many great dogs and cats are put to sleep every day and don't think there are no puppy mills in your area. A mill burned down 18 months ago (all the animals perished) in Errington on Vancouver Island and I rescued a dalmation (Holly) from a puppy mill in Chilliwack. Puppy mills are everywhere!
5. I own a cat named Cat (she is against the Boxer plan) :)
6. I read lots of "chick lit". It's a good escape from my busy life.
7. I'd like to go to New Zealand one day
Thanks for listening to me rant while on my soapbox! :)