Cards, Anyone?

My jitters have increased, so rather than babble like a brook,I am going to post some cards I've made recently. (This is a wise choice. Although you can't see it, I made no less than 17 typos in this paragraph thus far.)

Clearly, I am a Wreck.

(As usual, my photography leaves a little something to be desired because I still haven't made myself a light tent and will insist on thinking I can somehow get a decent picture at night without one. What a moron....)

On with the show!

Got back to my shabby chic roots with this one....

Hero Arts stamps

Harlequin Ribbon (F3450)
Two Flourish Flowers (H4464)
Thoughtful Messages (CL184)

Ink:

Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Versa Color - Olive
Versa Magic - Perfect Plumeria

Here's my first use of my first Nestabilities dies.

Hero Arts stamps:

G3664 - Leaf with Stitching
CL184 - Thoughtful Messages

Paper:

Making Memories Embellishment Paper Fresh Anthology Multipack Eliza. (Well, that was a mouthful.)

These following cards are the ones I made for Jenn, Anne and Heathre for winning the "Spot the Fact From the Fiction" competition we had a few weeks ago. I love the stamp, The Crafter from Stampotique. They're pretty simplistic, but I enjoyed doing them. All the sentiments are hand-written.

 

 

This is a private joke with myself. When I was an undergraduate, "Is it art yet?" was something that the entire theatre program would jokingly ask about anything - from the cheap mac & cheese a lot of us were forced to eat between work study checks to scene work to cleaning out your fish bowl. To this day, I will often think or say this statement when pondering something that's in progress.

 

This one is my favorite, I think. I just like the composition of it. I may have to make another one of these and put it in the little $1 IKEA frame I bought....

I meant to take a picture of the little gifties I made for Jane, Anne and Heathre, but I can't find it, so I guess I didn't take one. How annoying. It wasn't much - just a little emery board holder, but I used my "artsy" stamps (Time Holtz, etc) and they looked kinda cool, I thought. If you want to make one, they;re great stocking stuffers, and fun to make. Also quick and easy and a good way to use up scaps. You can find the template here.

Obama took Pennsylvania and Ohio!!!!

Speaking of Christmas coming early, the following is a mini-card made for last week's HA challenge. It opens up and a gift card "pops up" at you. At least that's what's supposed to happen. Mine's a little limp.

 

The stamp is from the Hero Arts CL059 set. The paper is from My Mind's Eye.

And here we have an even smaller mini-card:

The stamps are from the Hero Arts CL058 set. The Paper is either My Mind's Eye or Wild Asparagus (pretty sure it's the latter).

The leaves are from a punch. I used yellow paper and then edged the punches with ink. (If you're wondering how I got the 27 circled, I took my largest eyelet setter and inked it with a stamp pad.) Although the photo doesn't show it, the 27 was stamped using a bright red ink (as opposed to the rust color of the rest of the numbers). 

I think this might be adapted to make a cool place setting at T'day dinner.

I call this next little thing a bookmark, but they call it a scrapling over at HA. No matter what you call them, they're very fun to make! Shari Carroll makes killer scraplings!

HA stamp from set CL184. Paper is Wild Asparagus, I think. Or My Mind's Eye.

We had our church retreat this last weekend, so our little kids missed out on the trick-or-treating (won't be scheduling it for this weekend again). Anyway, to make it up to them, we planned a little party. I made invitations for the boys and the girls using the Hero Arts Happy Owl-oween set CL239 and some super cheap generic sparkly stickers I got at Hobby Lobby. One thing I really like to do is outline the edges of a card with a black pen (caligraphy tip against a metal-edged ruler works best) for a super-fast border.  (Did this on the Stampotique cards, too.)

(These are really washed-out photos - sorry!)

The masculine version:

And the feminine version:

And that's all I got for now!

Barack's got 220 electoral votes... just 50 to go!

Comments

[Judy Jung]

I am doing my happy Obama dance this morning! It is not easy being a Democrat in Alabama!! It has been a long campaign for me. Lots of righteous conviction around these parts with great loyalty to the current occupant! I look forward to a change in the American Spirit!!

I check your blog daily and then some, Deborah, and it is such a treat when I discover a new posting. Like unwrapping a little present! Thanks for my day brighteners. Love your sketchy artist cards and the insight to your previous life!

[Anne Gaal]

Hi, Deborah! What a lovely collection of cards. You know that my favorite is the one that says "Is it art yet?" It suits me to a tee. Thanks so much! :-)

[peata]

great ideas.

[HeathreP]

I have my emery board holder in my handbag, so it goes everywhere with me. If I remember, I'll take a photo of it and send it through, as you should have a record of it. I love it!!

[Deborah Nolan]

Wow, Heathre, that is so coooool! I love giving a gift that is actually used!