Have a Fintastic Day!

Hi Friends!  Long time, no blog!  As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to go on a beautiful vacation recently and island hopped the Hawaiian Islands.  In a nutshell, Pearl Harbor really touched my heart and the Punchbowl came in a close second.  Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island was the most awesome of the “organized” natural wonders we visited and I found it quite intriguing, not to mention the random beauty we saw around every corner including pristine beaches with turquoise waters, large turtles close to the shore, and gorgeous sunsets worthy of a Sierra Club publication.  You know those calendars – they show photos so breathtaking that you think they must be Photoshopped and color enhanced.  Turns out these things wonders of nature really do exist and are even more stunning in person.  Also, the smells of the flowering trees and shrubs caught me by surprise each day.  Okay, I will admit it was really, really hot in some places and unfortunately some cities, mostly Honolulu, suffer the same blights of any other big city, but overall I considered it a trip of a lifetime.

The six-hour difference really kicked my butt after we got home on Sunday.  Finally on Thursday I started feeling like my body clock was back to normal and it has taken until now to have a breather from work, chores, and everyday life to update my blog.  In honor of all the colorful fish and sea life of Hawaii, I am featuring a cute fish card to wish you a Fin-tastic Day, and while you are at it, Have a Fin-tastic Weekend!

Have a Fintastic Day

This card was made with Cricut Life’s a Beach fish cut at 2”, 3”, and 3-1/2”.  The seaweed was cut at 2”, and the sand is simply a ¾-inch torn paper strip.  The shell is from Create a Critter and is 1-1/2”.  The background was dry embossed with the Sizzix Swirls and Waves folder, and air bubbles were enhanced with Glossy Accents.  Aloha!

Rainy Days and Mondays – Make Me Crabby

Not really, but it would be nice to see a little sunshine.  Recently my dear friend, Pat, had a birthday.  She collects crab-related items and loves the little critters, so I decided to make her a set of crabby cards as a gift.  It was very easy with my Cricut.

Celebrating Crab, Create a Critter

The first cute crabby card above uses a 3-inch crab from Create a Critter, various shells and starfish from Life’s a Beach, and the word “celebrate” from the Best of 2006 cartridge in 1 inch.  On the right is an example of what some of the cards read on the inside.

Oh Snap! Crab card, Life’s a Beach

The 3-inch crab on the second card isn’t as friendly looking but I like him anyhow.  He is from Life’s a Beach as is the sandcastle cut at 3 inches.  The cupcake is from Best of 2006.

Crab, Create a Critter, Snappy Birthday

Happy Crab, Create a Critter

The last card uses the cute crab again from Create a Critter.  I cut him at 2-1/2 inches so there was plenty of room for the background images.  The 2-inch sun, tree, and clouds are also from Create a Critter, and to the left of the card front is another example of the inside of the cards.

All of the sky backgrounds are embossed with the Stampin Up Cloudy Day embossing folder, and the “sand” on all the cards is cardstock that was torn and jagged to give it some depth and character.  I also think it would be cute to use actual sandpaper on these cards rather than cardstock.  Happy Birthday, Crabby Pat!

A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea

The Open Sea, Wainscoting

Here are 3 more cards that I made with The Open Sea set from Stampin Up. This is such a rugged nautical set and really helps my cards make a masculine statement. I was surprised how much I liked the first one when I finished it. I was afraid it might look too drab as I was making it, but using the Stampin Up Stripes embossing folder on the bottom reminds me of wainscoting which kind of adds to the masculine theme.

The Open Sea, Clean and Simple

On the second card I used the globe stamp in VersaMark on the blue and the anchor stamp in VersaMark on the red to give a little more character to this clean and simple look. (Unfortunately it is difficult to see in the picture, but if you double-click the picture it shows up better.)

The Open Sea, Chevrons

The chevron paper on the third card reminded me of a choppy sea and I think it goes well with the set. Which one is your favorite?

Hats Off to You – Another Masculine Card

This is a clean and simple card that has the look of class and refinement. I love when cards come together so tailored and sophisticated looking with only 2 colors and very few supplies. The Classic Hats stamps are from Inkadinkado. The tiny sentiment comes from Impress Stamps, and I picked it up at their shop when we visited Seattle last year. Don’t you think the individual stamps worked perfectly together?

Hats Off to You

The white squares are 1 inch with a black shadow background. The white background of the card is embossed with Stampin Up’s Stripes embossing folder.

The Open Sea

I am always on the lookout for “man stamps,” which is what I call stamps with a more rugged, masculine-type theme. One of my favorites is The Open Sea from Stampin Up, and I fell in love with this versatile set at first sight. The stamping technique used on this card is called Keyhole Cropping, and many stampers use it when an image does not stamp perfectly. However, I used the Keyhole Cropping because I love the details of each stamp in this set and wanted to use them all on one card without making it look too busy.

The Open Sea, Stampin Up

The background blue is dry embossed with the Sizzix Swirls with Waves folder. The dark blue rectangle measures 3 x 4 inches, and each small blue square measures 1-¼ inches. The long blue sentiment strip measures ¾ inch x 5-3/8 inches with the brown being just 1/8 larger as a background. A small length of bakers twine adds a little dimension and the sentiment is from Jillian Vance’s Celebrate Men set.

Fantastic!

Fantastic! Stampin Up, Furnished with Love

Today’s card was made with a retired set of 2004 Stampin Up stamps called Furnished with Love.  I love puns so when I found this set at a used stamp sale, I grabbed it up.  The fan and sentiment are stamped on a shape from the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge and heat embossed with silver embossing powder to give it a little texture and dimension.  I colored the fan blades with two shades of blue Copic markers.  The paper is from an inexpensive set of matching papers I found at our local OfficeMax when they were closing a nearby store a few years ago.  I didn’t even know they sold craft items but was thrilled to find such a pretty set for under $2.  I love that this sentiment can be used to celebrate a variety of occasions and events.  Have a fantastic day!

Cards of a Feather Flock Together

Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Warm Fuzzies, Green Flocked Paper

I have had some interesting flocked scrapbook paper that I bought at Target almost 5 years ago. It came in 12×12 size, six papers to a pack, and they were on clearance for $2.00. I couldn’t pass that up, could I? The green paper has various fuzzy, flocked vines, leaves, and flowers, and the red has dark red flowers flocked throughout. I used the papers after I got them and made a few cards. When I think about those cards and how rudimentary they were, I’m thankful that people were sweet enough to accept them from me and use them. You all encouraged me in my card making and since that point I have learned a lot! Naturally, as any crafter does, I accumulated more and more papers over the years, and the unique flocked paper got pushed to the bottom of the pile.

Warm Fuzzies, Red Flocked Paper

Then I bought a new set of polymer stamps by Hero Arts called “Everyday Sayings.” I loved that it had stamps to pertain to many events in our lives, but when I saw the one that said “Sending Warm Fuzzies,” I knew exactly which paper to use with this stamp. I think it worked out rather well since the flocking is fuzzy and so is the saying. I love when two separate items work so well together. To add a little interest I backed the flocked paper on coordinating colored cardstock with one edge punched, and I cut triangles out of the ends the sentiment rectangle to create points. The tiny flower at the beginning of the sentiment was also included in the Everyday Sayings stamps.  

The third example uses a beautiful iridescent red ribbon to add some flair, but sometimes these cards can be bulky and difficult to mail, so that is why I opted for a flatter front on the first two cards shown.  I think “Sending Warm Fuzzies” is a bit more personal and special than a generic “Thinking of You.”  Hope your week is full of warm fuzzies!