I made these cute little bags for my sons' teachers this year. Back around May/June, I started seeing these cute little paper backpacks popping up on a lot of blogs for end of school year gifts. I've kept the idea in the back of my mind, knowing I'd use it one of these days. Christmas seemed to be a good time to try it out.
I searched the internet for a pattern and found this one at Split Coast Stampers. Since I have a Cricut and SCAL, I decided to convert her PDF pattern to a file I could cut. After working out the design to a cuttable version, including the right sized holes so I could use my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite and its grommets, I cut seven of these.
I realized nothing would really fit in the front pocket, so it's merely decoration. The stamp on the front is from Just Rite Stampers. I bought the set before Christmas last year and just now used them. (I'm really bad about buying stuff then not using it.) The name tags were cut first and then stamped with an Inkadinkado set that also hasn't been used until this year. (See what I mean? Lol.) So, even though the names aren't even, I think it lends a little bit of character to the package. Or maybe I'm just making excuses for myself, lol.
I was told that the teachers really appreciated them. The insides held chocolates and a Target gift card.
Below is the side and back of one of the backpacks.
This card is for one of my nephews. He turns sixteen -- SIXTEEN! -- this year. :-) My poor sister, lol. Nothing super-special about this card, so thanks for looking!
Supplies: Kraft cardstock, white Rustic Twine, Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo (for distressed edges) and Scarlet Jewel buttons from Papertrey Ink; Inkadinkado Birthday Fun stamp; Versamark Chalk Ink; Martha Stewart border punch; EK Success corner rounder; My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy 2 Enchanting "You and Me" So Cloase/Red Hot Paper.
I haven't been around much lately, have I? I have been been doing crafty stuff, I just haven't been posting much lately. At least I have taken pictures of the cards before they leave my hands! :-)
Here are the cards for my grandmothers for Mother's Day. I'm fortunate to have one still living, and my husband has one still living.
The first one is for my husband's grandmother. I cut the label and it's shadow using my Cricut and SCAL. The shape is from a file offered a long time ago by Dan. He's a talented artist, and he was graciously offering freebie cutting files every week on his blog. He still sells them separately.
The butterfly is from an Inkadinkado set. First I heat-embossed it in black, then I cut it out and colored it with watercolor pencils. A slightly wet paintbrush gave it a slightly watercolor look. The sentiment is also from Inkadinkado and was cut/masked with my oval Nestabilities. I ran the background through my Cuttlebug with the Distressed Stripes embossing folder, added a few purple rhinestones and some purple organza ribbon, and it was done!
The card for my grandmother sort of evolved from other stuff I was playing with. I mentioned a while back that I needed more practice with Papertrey Ink's Guide Lines set, so I was playing around with that. Once I was done, I cut a piece that would go on an A2 sized card and added some rhinestones. Later I stamped and cut out the butterfly. Then I needed a Mother's Day card, and both items were sitting on my desk. An idea was born! :-) I pulled out my Papertrey cardstock, an EK Success border punch, and my Women of Life stamp set. I added a FloraDoodles white daisy, some purple gingham ribbon, and a Papertrey Ink button with a rhinestone on the front, and it was done!
If anyone's interested in the supplies I used, let me know. There were just too many to mention for both cards in this one post. :-)
I saw these cupcake stamps at Michaels today -- one of the Studio G $1 sets -- so I got them. For a buck, how can you go wrong? :-) Once I got them home....hmm....what to do with them? My half-brother's birthday is coming up. He'll be 20 this year. I have some cards made, but wasn't sure I wanted to send any of them to him. I feel better knowing that this one was made FOR HIM. So...I have some really, really old (we're talking 20+ years old?) Prisma markers. Yes, they're still good! Anyway, I knew there was a reason I never pitched them and now I know why. Apparently I enjoy coloring. I feel a Copic habit coming on, lol!
Oh! I also actually used my Cricut again today! The black panel was designed in Inkscape and cut with SCAL. It's been so long since I've cut anything on my Cricut. I should use it more, but I just have so many other tools and techniques that I can use, too! I also got to use my new Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder. So, I hope he likes it! Thanks for looking!
Edit: I forgot to include the inside of the card. I don't normally do anything on the insides of cards, but I recently purchased Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set. As a result, I'm trying to pay more attention the insides:
Supplies: Papertrey Kraft for card base; yellow patterned paper from Sam's paper pack; True Black Papertrey cardstock; Bazzill Apple Crush (light green) cardstock; Studio G stamps; Inkadinkado Birthday Fun ("Happy Bday"); Prismacolor markers; Memento Black ink; Colorbox Chalk ink; Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder; Basic Basic (green with white stitching) and Offray Spool O'Ribbon ribbon; circle punches.
I've been slacking, especially when it comes to keeping up with my blog. I haven't made many cards, but I have made a few; I just haven't posted them. First, the delay was dragging the camera and portable lightbox out and taking pictures. Then it was work keeping me extremely busy. So, since I have the day off, I figured I'd post a couple cards.
First card has already been mailed to the recipient, my brother-in-law. It was part of two challenges. First was Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply #75 challenge to stamp black only. Your embellishments could be another color, but the stamped image had to be only black. The second challenge was from my Cricutlovers Yahoo Group. Every Tuesday, one of the moderators starts a top 10 list. Around the same time as Sharon's challenge, the top 10 list was ten things you have in your stash that you haven't used. Yes, only ten, lol! A LONG time ago, I bought these little glass square embellishments at an LSS that has since gone out of business. I thought they would be cute on cards, but I never actually used them. So the challenge was to try to use at least one of the items you named in your top 10 list.
Supplies: Olive (card base and mats) and white cardstock from The Paper Company; black and grey striped paper from Making Memories Scrapbook Basics Black & White mat stack; Inkadinkado Seasons dragonfly stamp;Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages ; Colorbox chalk black ink; buttons and brads from my stash; white BasicBasic twill ribbon, green Offray Nice & Narrow ribbon; black & white Celebrate It ribbon.
The second card I have to share with you today is another birthday card. 
I made this one because I had just received my second order from Papertrey Ink and I was excited to try them out! The blue flowers are hard to see in this picture, but have a little bit better contrast in real life.
Supplies: Papertrey Ink Out On A Limb Revised; Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages (sentiment); Prima blue flower; clear skittle; brown satin ribbon from my stash; Martha Stewart border punch; Colorbox chalk ink; generic card blank; DCVW dark brown cardstock; Bazzill light blue cardstock.
Thanks for looking! I'll try to post a couple more this weekend. Now I have the pictures, but I want to spend my time making some more cards!
I've had a lot of fun today. I love it when I get a chance to make some cards. This morning I was particularly anxious about something and just decided to make a card to "get away from it" for a bit. It worked! Crafting is GREAT therapy!
I've gotten a few things from the Making Memories Chloe's Closet line and decided I wanted to make some cards today. I also recently got my very first Papertrey Ink stamps and wanted to use those as well. Soooo....here's what I came up with. I stamped "just for you" from PTI's new Around & About Sentiments set. I also used the solid circle stamp and the flower stamp for the inside of the circle. I used VersaMagic chalk in in Hint of Pesto, Aloe Vera, and Aegean Blue. Then I punched it out with a circle punch and stuck a little K & Co Brenda Walton adhesive rhinestone in light green in the center of the flower. I used Bazzill cardstock from a winter pack for both cards. The DP on both cards is from Chloe's Closet.
For the portrait card, I stuck paper flowers, and buttons from Chloe's Closet and from a Recollections pack around the sentiment. The orange ribbon is from Michaels. I so used my Scor-Pal to score a couple of lines on either side of the ribbon, and pierced the corners of the card.
For the landscape card, I added a strip of yellow Bazzill cardstock from the winter pack, punched 
with my Fiskars Threading Water border punch. I used a few of the Chloe's Closet brads through alternating holes in the punched border. I ran some blue ribbon along the seam where the DP and the yellow met up. The little rosette behind the stamped image was kinda fun. I saw it on a blog and as soon as I figure out which one, I'll be sure to post it here. I thought it was kind of a cute idea. It's another piece of Chloe's Closet DP, cut 1" by 12". I used my Scor-Pal to first score every 1/2 inch, then moved it over 1/4" and scored every 1/2" again. The Scor-Pal has 1/2" grooves, not 1/4", and you need a series of 1/4" marks for this to work. After everything's scored, fold it accordion style. Connect the ends and then sort of push the center down, so it forms a rosette. Then stick it on something (I used a punched circle) to keep it from popping back up. And I adhered my stamped image on top.
Last card is a birthday card for my hubby next month. I'm hoping he doesn't read my blog or that he decided not to read this entry since it SAYS hubby card in the title. :-) The striped paper came from a huge pack from Costco. The kraft cardstock is from a variety pack from Michaels. The brads in the corner are Making Memories mini-brads. The brown ribbon is from Michaels.
I tried "masking" tonight, which I've never done. It involves stamping an extra image, cutting that out, and temporarily adhering it over your main image so you can stamp around it without stamping through your main image. So, I stamped my Inkadinkado present twice, cut one out and adhered it to the other one. I used the star and circle from the Around & About Sentiment PTI set in Aloe Vera chalk ink. Then I removed the mask and used my Bic Mark-Its to color in the present. I used my Nestabilities to cut out my stamped image and the scallop behind it (the same yellow as the previous card). I used Antique Linen distressing ink to distress the edges of everything. Lastly, I used the straight Happy Birthday sentiment from the PTI set to stamp several lines on the kraft using Sand Beige Versa Color pigment ink. You can barely see it, but that was sort of my point. I wanted a subtle effect.
So....lots of fun today! Hope everyone's having a great, creative weekend!
EDITED: I found where I got the rosette idea!!! It's the I Love Pretty Paper blog. She has a link there to a tutorial on how to make it. I didn't look at the tutorial, but now that I'm looking at her card again, I'm wishing I had inked mine. So pretty!
I had a bit of fun this weekend, but haven't made time until today to take the pics.
The first one is for a challenge in one of my Yahoo groups. The deal is you make a card and submit it. A random number generator decides who wins of the entries, and the winner gets all of the submissions! Kinda cool! I figure if I win, I'll donate them to the Cards for Kids. But I never win anything, lol! The card blank is from Joann. The stamp is from Michaels, as is the ribbon. The stamp was stamped with Cats Eye chalk ink in Lipstick Red. The DP is generic from my stash. I pierced the card and drew faux stitching with my Ranger Inksentials Opaque White pen. The center of the stamp is clear embossed, and I cut the stamped image and the scallop behind it with my Nestabilities.
The next two were completely random. I think this is the first time I've made a card with no particular purpose in mind. I had specific supplies that I wanted to use, so I just picked an occasion and went with it.
The first one is a generic thank you note. The DP is from a Making Memories 6x6 stack called Fresh Anthology - Sydney. The stamp is from the Inkadinkadoo Blossoms set from Costco, and it's stamped with Cats Eye chalk ink in Blue Iris. The yellow cardstock and dark blue cardstock are from my scrap stash. The yellow button is unknown, but the blue heart button is from Jesse James Dress It Up. The ribbon through the yellow button and the gold ribbon on the card were from a Tonal Adornments pack of fibers from EK Success. It was given to me by a fellow Yahoo group member, and I wanted to make good use of it. And the gold adhesive rhinestones were from Michaels.
The last card is a birthday card, but it wasn't made for anyone in particular. I have a couple of guy birthdays coming up, so this might end up being used for one of those. The stripe DP is from Making Memories Fresh Anthology - Eliza. The orange is from a Bazzill Basics Winter pack. The border punch is from Fiskars. The candles are from the Inkadinkadoo Seasons set from Costco, and it's stamped with Versamark chalk ink in Spanish Olive. The words on the strip are from the Inkadinkadoo Occasions set from Costco and are also stamped in Spanish Olive. The ribbon is from Michaels.
I'm hoping to post a video tutorial for creating aperture cards with Inkscape later tonight. We'll see if my setup works with me or against me (like last night, lol). Stay tuned! (EDITED: CamStudio wins. I lose. I can't figure out how to get a good video that a normal person would be able to actually see, so I'm giving up for the week. I may try again this weekend, but it will likely be a different topic. I will figure this out...it's just a matter of time. But for now, CamStudio has beaten me.)
Well, I have at least a few cards to go to the kids at the hospital. I may make a few more, but I have a couple other challenges to get done plus stuff for my son's school. Now, I realize it's January 3, but I don't want to take on too much and then not be able to pull ANY of it off! So....starting slowly....
I've made four each of these cards. The first one uses $1 stamps from Michaels. They're stamped in Black and Warm Red Color Box Chalk Ink. You can't tell very well from the pic, but I used my Zig Embossed pen and drew in the center heart of the circle stamp, then clear embossed it. That's why it looks a bit darker. I colored the open hearts on the other stamp with watercolor pencils. The round stamp was cut using my circle Nesties, with a scalloped circle behind it. You probably recognize the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and Fiskars Threading Water Punch. The sentiment stamp comes from the Costco Inkadinkadoo Occasions set and is stamped in Black Color Box Chalk Ink. Unfortunately, I don't remember where the blanks for this or the second card came from, but I believe they're from a Joann "Card Essentials" card blank set.
The second card uses squares punched from pink DP I got a LONG time ago. The pink ribbon is from Michaels' Basic Basic collection. It's a 5/8 inch, two-tone pink ribbon. The sentiment also came from the Occasions set and was stamped in black chalk ink. The border punch is Fiskars Diamond Border Punch.
The third card blank is from a neutrals cardstock pack from Michaels, cut down to size. I got to use my handy-dandy Scor-Pal to make the creases for the cards. The stamp is another $1 Michaels stamp and is stamped in Orchid Pastel Color Box Chalk Ink. Because of the shape of the stamp, the design was inspired by Lisa Somerville's card; I just turned it sideways. The paper scraps are the same pink DP I got a LONG time ago. And that's pretty much all there is to this card!
So I'll be sending 12 cards off on Monday to Pat for her Cards for Kids program. Like I said, I hope to send more, but at least I'm sending some!
Admittedly, I don't have THAT many cards to make for January, so it wasn't a huge accomplishment to get these done. But, I'm usually much closer to the actual birthdays when I complete them. All but my mother in law's card are for the end of January.
First is the card for my mother in law. It's the one I did in an earlier post for the challenge. All of these cards use blanks that I got on clearance from Target. Unfortunately, I don't remember the manufacturer.
Second is for my nephew. I received some scraps in the mail from a generous member of a Yahoo group I belong to, including an Autumn Leaves mat stack. The scraps inspired this card as well as the one for my brother in law. I'm also sort of recycling with this one. My Christmas cards this year included some stars that I created with Inkscape and cut using SCAL on my Cricut. I saved the negative cut because the stars were lined up perfectly and I thought I might be able to use them on a card, so here they are! The background DP is from the stack. The red has a matte finish, and it's almost "soft" -- I'm sure there's a technical term for it. I distressed the edges of the card with Tim Holtz Linen ink. I also distressed the edges of the green stars with both Linen and Vintage Photo. Lastly, the sentiment is from an Inkadinkadoo acrylic set (same one as the cupcake on MIL's card), and it's stamped in Gold Color Box Ppigment ink. Oh, and a snippet of Organdy Ribbon in gold from Joann and Making Memories gold brads.
Third is for my grandmother. I used DP from a set of Heidi Grace paper (Winnefred St.) that I 
bought at Joann on clearance. Yay! I love sales. I also used the matching rub ons (also clearance) as the background of the card and a little embellishment in the lower right corner. The brown cardstock is from a DCVW stack. The tree stamp is from the Inkadinkadoo Seasons set, sold at Costco, and it's stamped in Color Box Silver pigment ink. The sentiment is from a See D's set (Say It Again) and is stamped on generic cream cardstock in Versacolor Celadon pigment ink. The silver ribbon is from the Celebrate It holiday collection at Michaels.
Last is a card for my brother in law. The card blank is kraft. The medallion was part of the scrap pack that was shared (thanks again, Leslie!). The blue and teal cardstocks also came from that pack. The yellow behind the medallion is just some generic yellow from my stash. The brown is another scrap of the DCVW brown, and it is punched with a Martha Stewart Lattice Arch border punch. The DP is from the clearanced Heidi Swapp paper pack. The sentiment is from the Occasions Inkadinkadoo set sold at Costco. It's stamped in Chestnut Roan Color Box chalk cat's eye. I believe the square brads at the bottom are from Making Memories, but they're out of the package so I can't be certain.
Thanks for checking out my cards! Now that I'm done with this, I'm first going to do some chores and hopefully later tonight I can start on a couple of Valentines for the kids.
This may be my Christmas card for next year.
The stamps (snowman, snowflakes on the maroon, and sentiment) are from an Inkadinkadoo set purchased from Costco. I don't have a membership, but a friend took me to our local Costco -- they didn't have the stamps. A gracious member of a group I belong to offered to buy the three sets of stamps and mail them to me. I was so excited when I received them and this is the result.
I will probably make changes by next year. For that matter, the entire design might change by then. There's so much time between now and then! One immediate change I'll make is to heat emboss the sentiment. The packaging on the silver card blank that was purchased on clearance at Target said it was printer friendly, but they lied. The paper does NOT take ink. These are the same blanks I used for this year's cards, and I tried everything, to no avail. I didn't really expect the sentiment to pop on this. It was only later that I thought maybe heat embossing in black would be a better plan. That, and the snowman won't be at such an angle. He looks like he's toppling over!
I don't usually do well with sketches, but that's because I'm way too literal. This one at PageMaps gave me motivation to do my MIL's birthday card for the beginning of January. While she was here for Thanksgiving, I got some Inkadinkadoo birthday-themed stamps. The challenge was to use the sketch as a guideline, but the finished card had to incorporate a stamped image. My submission uses a stamp in silver pigment ink from the same Inkadinkadoo set on the red strip, the cupcake with glitter frosting, and the Happy Birthday sentiment (another Inkadinkadoo set from Costco). I regret that the sponsor of the contest is Hero Arts and I don't have any of their stamps. (Shhhh...this could be a good way to get some! :-))
I hope my MIL likes it. Shoot...I hope PageMaps likes it! :-) It's pretty much a match to the sketch -- like I said...I'm too literal. I need to work on that in the new year.
Thanks for looking. If nothing else, this was a good exercise and I got a nice card out of it. I may try another challenge in the future.
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