Club Ruby Designers Blue Yellow and Green Challenge

The current challenge at Club Ruby Designers is a Color Challenge, and make a project with the colors Blue, Yellow and Green.  I made an A2 sized card with Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart cardstock. I made a stamp with fun foam and the Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Die (glued onto a piece of plastic packaging a la Tim Holtz's idea of making stamps with his dies and really thick fun foam) and inked with some blue Color Box pigment ink. After it dried I stamped the jar from the Friendship Jar Stamp set. The fire flies are from the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge lined with a fine line black pen. The letters are from Cosmo Cricket.

Because the fun foam is thin and the packaging is thin, the stamp needs to be rubbed onto the paper. The advantage of this is by not rubbing everywhere it's easy to get a distressed look. If you want even application just make sure to rub the whole thing, I'm thinking a nice roll or two with a brayer should do the trick (but I haven't tried it).

There's a bonus aspect to this card. I painted the back half of the fire flies with Art Deco Glow in the Dark paint. So it will give a little night light to the recipient (I'm thinking this will be fun for campers away from home).

By the way, the winner of the challenge will get a goodie bag from Megan, plus it's just fun :D.

Basic Maze Mini Book aka Meander Mini Book Tutorial

I've become addicted to maze or meander mini books, and there are several ways to make them, with pockets, without pockets, glued, stitched, unattached. Basically so many ways to use a 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I made a test book to wrap my head around it which took away the pressure of working with "good" paper lol.  I numbered the squares following the page orientation illustration below and still refer to it when I'm trying to work something out.

These can be scored before folding at the 3, 6, and 9 inch line. Rotate paper 90 degrees and score at the 3, 6 and 9 inch line.

Or they can be folded without scoring. It really helps to have a bone folder though.

Fold paper in half.

Then fold each half in half again so it looks like the picture above. It works best if each half is folded separately.

Rotate the paper 90 and fold it in half and then each half in half again. The end result will be 16 equal squares.

After the folding, it's time to cut the paper. The cutting can be done with a trimmer or scissors.  When you are done it will look like an "M".

 Fold as illustrated and you'll have a little book 3" x 3". I find it helps to line up the pages and use a bone folder to get a more even book.

The pages can be decorated before or after folding, cutting etc. The edges can also be glued or sewn together to make pockets. The pages could also be glued together for a more solid page as follows. Many people leave the book unbound except to put covers on the front and back.

Backs of pages 2 and 3.
Backs of pages 4 and 5
Backs of pages 6 and 7
Backs of pages 8 and 9
Backs of pages 10 and 11
Backs of pages 12 and 13
Backs of pages 14 and 15

So many possibilities for one sheet of paper :D. Look for more examples in the coming weeks.

Papertrey Ink May 2011 Blog Hop

This month's challenge was all about flowers. So I stamped a background of flowers using the flower from Paper Tray. Then I used the balloons and bicycle stamp from Every Day Button Bits and substituted flowers for the buttons.

For this card I used the flower set from Every Day Button Bits and substituted these fun little flowers for the buttons again. The mat is Vintage Cream and I believe the card base is Simply Chartreuse.

WOYWW 103 - Sew Much Fun

I've been busy, but can't show anything because it's all been PIF or Design Team projects. I can show you my new storage things though. They each hold 4 drawers which are the perfect amount of Ink Pads of a sort (I like to sort by Dye, Chalk and Pigment) to rummage through or Adhesives (Tape is all in it's own drawer now!). Amazing how much more I can do when I know where stuff is lol. I've also liberated the sewing machine from the closet.

I'm also very sore, I spent Monday raking up 2 inches of acorns out of the front yard I'm trying to turn into a shade garden (it's pretty small), and weed whacking the back yard and getting ready to plant. Tuesday my body complained bitterly. Today I'm hoping to set up the badminton net and, if I'm very very lucky, I'll find all the pieces for the tetherball too :D.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, join in :D.

Happy Birthday Megan!! Birthday Card Challenge

There is an extra challenge going on at Club Ruby Designers this week. It's Megan Gravener's birthday today so everyone is invited to make a birthday card for her and enter for a random chance to win a goodie bag (there is a free membership level).

I made a card for her using the Imagine and the Imagine More Cards cartridge. The card base is made using the top note shape folded in half. And the Happy Birthday Chick is one of the embellishments on the cartridge.

WOYWW - 102 feeling a little bookish

Since I can't show you my desk today, I'll show you this, a little mini book I made as a lark (well actually I retained my human form lol, think those feathers would make crafting difficult).  So this is the book bound closed with a piece of twine.

The open book.

I used my gypsy and a Cricut Marker (instead of a cutting blade) to decorate the inside of the pages. Before I cut and glued them into an orderly book, they were a wild jumble of spring folds. OK, confession time. I am a mini-bookoholic, specificially at this time, a Meander or Maze bookoholic. I just love how a simple 12" x 12" sheet of paper can become a little book with so many possibilities. This is my fifth variation. I'll be posting directions at some point, but if you search the internet for Meander or Maze mini book or mini album there are several videos and well-written tutorials if you want to get started while I bask in the golden light of caffeine (I am in serious need of coffee).

Happy 102 everyone :D. If you want to know what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a snoop at crafty desks from all over the world.

King of the Road - Club Ruby Designers For the Guys Challenge

The second challenge this month at Club Rubys Designers is a For the Guys Challenge. My father taught me to (eventually) love traveling. We used to travel in a VW camper van when I was a kid and then my Dad had an Airstream. I stamped the trailer and VW Camper on this great paper and then cut it out by hand (kept telling myself to turn the paper, not the scissors).

I used the same paper as the base for the Happy Father's Day sentiment from Calligraphy Collection cartridge and a black Cricut marker.

Materials:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Kraft cut as an A2
Pattern Paper: American Traditional Designs "Road Trip" scrap pad
Stamps: Inkadinkado "Road Trip"
Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink
Cricut: Black Cricut Marker and Calligraphy Collection cartridge

WOYWW - 101

This is what happens when I try to clean up, but I have to keep crafting in the mean time lol. A lot of broken eggs, but hopefully it will be a nice omelet when I'm done. Not much that I can show you this week, but I do know where my glasses are :D.

If you are keen on seeing lots of other workdesks this fine Wednesday, hop over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture and join in the fun!

WOYWW 100 - Party Animals Abound

Happy 100 weeks WOYWW, though I haven't been around for all of it, it's been lovely place to hang out. So I'm tossing confettii :D.

It's been a busy busy busy week lol. I'm going to have to sort things out soon. Soon-ish anyways lol.  The card that's lying down just in front of one of the lazy susans is one I've had in my head for a while, and will probably make some more in variation.

Here's the close up :D

And the little stack of cows atop the bins is from my new Imagine (which I won over at Everyday Cricut). I only got it set up last night. It prints AND then cuts them out. It is a big honking machine though lol. Definitely not something you'd want to take on a picnic. I've still got lots and lots and lots to learn, but I did need to have some cows :D. Dare I say, it's absolutely bovine? OK I dared lol.

And still following the animal theme, today is my turn to be Guest Designer at The Bug Bytes, so it's a Hippo Bird Day Two Ewes layout.

If you are wondering what other people have on their workdesk this Wednesday, then head over to The Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet snap a picture and join in the fun. Thanks for looking, and hoping your Wednesday is glorious :D.

Introducing 2011 Miss Ewe

As a spinster (spins fiber into yarn), how could I not be drawn to this stamp set? The scalloped oval is from the Lacey Labels Lite cartridge, the sheepy bits are from Papertrey Ink's My Punny Valentine stamp set, Miss Ewe! is from My Pink Stampers Punnylicious or More Punnylicious (I was too excited when I took them out of the wrappers to keep track). The crown  is made with dots of Patina Distress Stickles. The sash is made with Papertrey Ink silk ribbon.

Hippo Bird Day Two Ewes

It's the first Wednesday of the month which means it's my turn to be a Guest Designer at TheBugBytes :D.

The titles, the hippo, the bird and ewes all come from the Cricut Birthday Bash cartridge.  The circle is from George and Basic Shapes, but any circle will do.  The blue mats are cut 4.25" x 6.25" and the cream is a stand in for a 4" x 6" photograph. The edges of the blue mats are distressed with a pair of open scissors (used like a potato peeler). The pattern papers are from Sassafas Bungle Jungle (lovvvvve this). Everything except the title shadows and the mats were outlined with an ultrafine black pen.

All the title shadows were cut out of some beige textured DCWV, and they were all kiss-cut so it would lessen the time I needed to spend distressing all the edges with a pair of scissors : D. I felt using the same cardstock as the base for all the animals kept the same tone, and I just used Distress Inks to get the different colors.

I glued the letters before I did a little extra distressing and then outlined each one with a fine line black pen. The musical notes were a background I considered making, but decided against it for now (something I might use later though lol). Painters tape was very handy for keeping the letters together to keep the pattern right:  the "o" in hippo is different than the "o" in two.

I covered the hippo with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. This also accentuated the cut lines that I later highlighted with a fine line pen.

DD thought the hippo needed a tutu, and I thought it was a brilliant idea so I used a paper piercer to punch a waist line for the tutu, cut some tulle about two times wider than the hippo, folded the tulle over at one side and attached with a sparkly purple brad. Then I attached the other side (folding it over the other way so a folded edge was on each side).  Then I put one in the middle and sort of bunched up the remaining fabric and attached with the brad. You might notice that though the Hippo is dancing daintily, the "O" has fallen under the weight.

After the bird was cut, I drew lines as a substitute for layers. If you cut the layers, you can use them as a stencil if you feel more comfortable doing that.

I used the Distress Ink painting technique Tim Holtz (gotta include him in the post right?) demonstrates on his blog. Smudge the ink on a nonstick mat, spritz with Mini-Mister filled with water, use paint brush to apply to cardstock.

Before I distressed the Ewes I put the layer over the base (not glued) and used the layer as a stencil for the ear lines. Then I painted, outlined and distressed the edges of all the pieces before gluing them together.

Sweet Challenge

There is a card challenge at Club Ruby Designers twice a month, and the winner gets a goodie bag from Megan Gravener. The challenge this time is to use a cupcake in the design of a card or project, and I knew it was the perfect time to break in my Damask Decor cartridge.

This cut is utilizing the silhouette feature (cut at 4.41" high using Ocean Tides cardstock from Papertrey Ink) with some Anna Griffin paper as the background.  The happy birthday sentiment is from Club Scrap and stamped with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I also used the Faded Jeans to edge the outline of the card base. To finish it off, I drew a frame freehand with a Fine Line Sharpie.