Showing posts with label SSS Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SSS Wednesday. Show all posts

A Father's Day Card and a Fabric Printing Tip

Sunday, June 19, 2016

I'm still quilting away, and was seriously starting to think about giving up cards completely. Then, I needed a Father's Day card and just couldn't bring myself to buy one from a store, so I cleared a small space in my craft room and went to work. 

Ok, not exactly. It's been so long since I've made a card, I probably spent 30 minutes just looking around the room, trying to remember how to make a card and where I kept my tape gun and glue. Then, I drew a blank on what to make. But, a Mojo Monday sketch got me going pretty quick. And, here's what I ended up with:

And, here's the inside:
I honestly was not looking forward to making a card today, but it turned out to be as fun as it used to be! I guess I'll be keeping all my papercrafting supplies after all.

As for the fabric printing tip I mentioned, I have spent quite awhile trying to make a quilt label for my daughter's first quilt. I designed it in Word, which was a piece of cake. And, I printed it onto muslin by first ironing the fabric to an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of freezer paper. No problem. But, since I knew the quilt would eventually be washed, I had to make sure the label could survive washing, too. And, that's where the problems came in. (Sorry for the poor pics--I used my phone for these.)
These are just a few of the failed labels I made, starting with the ink almost completely washing out, to lots of bleeding, and even a blue-tinged muslin background. I read about something called Bubble Jet Set 2000, which I don't have, and couldn't get right now, so I found a DIY for it. The first two labels were on untreated muslin, with the first one heat set with an iron and rinsed with plain water. The second one was heat set, then got a vinegar bath, before being rinsed with plain water. The third one, which is incredibly color-rich, was printed on muslin pre-treated with the DIY Bubble Jet. It was gorgeous right out of the printer, as were the rest of my attempts on the treated muslin. But, the fabric softener rinses ruined all of them because the ink bled into the muslin so bad. The one with the blue-tinge was rinsed in a bath of regular blue Downey, rather than Downey Free--oops! I was about to give up completely, but decided to give it one more try and finally found the solution:
This one looks much better than the others! And, it was so easy! I found out that all the ink bleed on the previous tries was because I had my printer set on the "best" printing setting. Almost all the people who wrote about doing this said to print on the highest quality setting. I found, for my printer at least, that using the highest setting put too much ink into the muslin. The image was really vibrant after printing, but couldn't stand up to even a drop of water. For this final label, I set my printer to a standard quality setting, printed onto untreated muslin, heat set it with a hot, dry iron, gave it a 100% vinegar bath, swishing for 10-15 seconds, then immediately put it in a quick bath of cool water mixed with about one teaspoon of Downey free (the clear kind), swishing it continuously for another 10-15 seconds. I did NOT wring it afterward. Instead, I laid it between two clean towels and pressed the water out as much as possible. (Ink was still coming out of the label--my white towels now have gray stains. Be sure to use old towels!) Finally, I heat set the label with my iron. I tested washing it again (without vinegar) and it held up great!

A lot of people recommend vinegar to set ink in fabric, but just as many say that vinegar won't set ink, especially into cotton fabric. I don't know what finally caused the ink to set, but what I found was that, while water caused most of the ink to immediately lift and/or bleed--every single time, with vinegar, only a small amount of ink lifted, and there was no bleed. Any time I had gotten bleed, it was during the water bath, not in the vinegar.

I did like the way the DIY Bubble Jet worked by giving me a much more vivid and crisp image on the muslin, so I am going to using it again, but printing with a standard quality setting onto treated muslin, when I make a label for my quilt. If it works better, I'll let you know.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Happy Father's Day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Mojo Monday #452
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Animal Magic
613 Avenue Create #181: Anything Goes

~Hugs,
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A Fabulous Crazy Bird

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Here's the last card of the Crazy Bird set. 
Again, I colored the bird with Copics, and I added Stickles to his wings, and around the rest of the card, since sparkly glitter makes everything so fabulous. He has Glossy Accent eyes. After stamping the sentiment, I used a blue gel pen to scribble around the words. The card design is a Sugar Pea Design sketch, turned sideways.
And, here is a look at the entire set. I'll probably be coloring up some more Crazy Birds soon. This was fun!

Thanks for visiting! 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Sugar Sketch Challenge #34
Simon Says Wednesday: Make it Sparkle

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People Will Stare: Another Crazy Bird Card

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

I recently got the Technique Junkies sentiment stamp that I used on this card, and couldn't wait to pair it up with this particular Crazy Bird!
I colored this bird with Copics, adding some detail and dimension to the face. You can't see it in the pic, but the red scallops on the wings and tail were colored with a red Spica pen so they have a nice sparkle. I used a white Sharpie paint pen to make the white dots on the bird's body, and gave him some Glossy Accent eyes. After stamping the sentiment, I colored in some of the words with a Copic marker, then sprinkled a few shiny sequins around the card.

Just one more card to post! 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday: Make it Sparkle
613 Avenue Create Challenge #155: Anything Goes
Penny Black and More December Challenge: Anything Goes with a Stamp

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You're Weird: A Crazy Bird Card

Here's the second of four Crazy Bird cards I made this week. I used the current Your Next Stamp sketch for the card design.
The bird is colored with Copics, and I used a little gesso in the upper left corner before heat embossing the sentiment.  The texture behind the bird is pink Frantage Embossing Enamel, and I also used some silver embossing powder over that and in the opposite corner, over the sentiment. Silver Paper Sweeties sequins filled with blue Pearl Pen gel add sparkle. As with the earlier Fluffy Bird, I used Glossy Accents on the eyes, but on this one, I first used a dot of black Pearl Pen, let that dry, then added a smaller dot of white paint pen, let that dry, then filled the rest of the eye with Glossy Accents.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
~Hugs,
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Fluffy Crazy Bird Card

A friend specifically requested a Crazy Bird card with this sentiment, so I made it and 3 other Crazy Bird cards as a set for her. I'll post the other cards as I get the pics edited.
I've had the stamps for awhile, and recently got the dies for them, too. I love that the dies cut right along the line of the image, with very little white border showing. I made rub-ons with a transparency for the sentiment. The eyes are dimensional with Glossy Accents, the cute sequins are from Paper Sweeties, and I used a sketch from Sugar Pea Designs.

I'll be back with the rest of the set soon.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Sugar Sketch Challenge #33
Simon Says Wednesday: Make it Sparkle
613 Avenue Create Challenge #155: Anything Goes
Penny Black and More December Challenge: Anything Goes with a Stamp

~Hugs,
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Paper Sweeties December 2015 Inspiration Challenge

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Ready for one more Paper Sweeties challenge for 2015? This one is easy...it is a Christmas-y palette that is perfect for making at least one more Christmas card in time for mailing. I decided to go with a Vintage/Shabby Chic look for my card.
If you haven't seen the newest release at Paper Sweeties, you seriously need to check it out, and as a special treat, ALL of the December New Releases are available starting TODAY! That's right! You don't have to wait until the 15th! I especially like the new Dear Santa set because of the sweet little stocking stamps and matching Sweet Cuts dies. For this card, I die cut the stockings in patterned paper, then cut just the cuff portion in white felt, and finally stamped the goodies inside the stocking onto white cardstock, colored them with Copics, and did a little fussy cutting. After inking the edges of the stockings with Black Soot ink, I glued the felt to the goodies, then glued both to the stockings, and popped them up onto a white embossed rectangle with foam tape. Super easy to do, and I love the texture. The rest of the card went together easily. All the pieces, except the white panel have black ink sponged along the edges. The bow is made with Paper Sweeties Tea Seam Binding, and the bling are Paper Sweeties sequins in Black Cherry, Frosting, and Gold, with the centers filled with Lime Green Stickles.



Isn't the challenge graphic fabulous! It just gets you in the joyful Christmas spirit!
I had a lot of fun creating the inside of the card, using ornament designs from the Homespun Holidays Sweet Cuts Die set, and Paper Sweeties Licorice Baker's Twine. The stocking sentiment is from the Dear Santa stamp set and the Christmas Blessings sentiment is from the Homespun Holidays stamp set. Hmmm, I think I'm going to do this again but use it as the front of a card! 

Swing by each of my teamies' blogs for some great inspiration, then create your own design for the challenge. The challenge runs for the entire month of December, and if you use Paper Sweeties products on your project, you get an extra vote. Wouldn't it be great to start the new year with a $20 Paper Sweeties Gift Certificate! 

Cheryl Lea - That's Me!
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties 
December Guest Designer:  Tracey Kelly

Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve November 2015 Week 1 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Anything Goes
TCP Tuesday Challenge #304: Anything Goes
Sweet Stamps November Anything Goes Challenge

~Hugs,

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Be Merry and Bright Card Set

Friday, November 27, 2015

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday. Are you still sleeping off all the turkey and trimmings? I definitely ate way too much! ;)

A friend saw a card I made last year and asked me to duplicate it as a card set. I'm not good with making multiple cards exactly alike, and I have almost completely lost my cardmaking mojo since saying goodbye to my little Silkie, Ozzy, 2 weeks ago, so I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. Ozzy was always underfoot when I worked in my craftroom in the middle of the night, and it's just not the same without him around. Since I haven't been able to find my get-up-and-go to design any cards at all, I thought CASing my own card a few times might help me get back in the groove again. 
Here's the entire set. I basically just chose four different groupings of paper, twine, and beads, then colored the image to match it's card. I like how they turned out. You can't tell in the pics, but all the Christmas lights have clear Wink of Stella sparkling on them, and the little puppies' noses are all dimensional with Glossy Accents. Close ups of each one follow:
I didn't take pics of the insides, but they all have the same sentiment and 3 flags in the corresponding papers either sewn or stapled to the card. If you want to see an example of what I did, I do have a pic of the inside of my original card here.

While I haven't made any cards in a few weeks, I have been busy making books. Now that I don't have to reference a book or video every time I want to make a book, I can make them without having to concentrate a lot, for most of the process. I'll post pics of them soon.

In the meantime, thank you for visiting my blog today, and BIG HUGS to all my Paper Sweeties Design Teammates, Facebook friends, and real life friends who have sent me such wonderful messages of condolence. I know Ozzy was "only" a pet, but, to me he was as much a part of my family as anyone else in it, and if you've ever lost a beloved pet, I know you understand how devastating it can be. :'‑(

Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #28 (the first card fits the challenge)
Sugar Pea Color Challenge #7: CCC7 (the first card fits the challenge)
TCP Tuesday 304: Anything Goes
Tiddly Inks Challenge #171: Anything Goes!
The Paper Shelter Challenge #229: A Christmas Card
DoubleClick Skittles Challenge: Christmas Holiday Challenge
Sweet Stamps November Anything Goes Challenge

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Paper Sweeties November 2015 Inspiration Challenge

Sunday, November 1, 2015

I hope everyone had a scary-fun Halloween yesterday! Now, it's time to gear up for Thanksgiving, and what better way to get started than with an Autumn/Thanksgiving Inspiration Challenge from Paper Sweeties! Whatever theme you decide to go with, the warm color palette is sure to inspire you to create something fabulous! I hope you'll play along with us.
I colored sweet Abigail and dressed her in an Indian maiden costume from the Give Thanks stamp set, for a Thanksgiving card. I paper pieced her dress from a scrap that reminded me of leather and dressed it up a bit by stamping the headband design as a belt, which I colored with Spica pens. The pumpkin image and sentiment are both from the same stamp set. And, since every card needs a little sparkle, I added a few Paper Sweeties Black Cherry sequins and filled each of them with Lime Green Stickles. 


Whenever I add patterned or embossed paper to a sentiment panel, I like to adhere it to the white cardstock before die cutting. I like the look of the embossed edge extending over the entire piece. I only had a tiny bit of the dotted paper left, so I slipped it just under the edge of the sentiment layer die cut to add some color and to give the front and the inside more cohesion. 

I've already taken a peek at some of the cards from the DT, and they are beautiful. You won't want to miss a single one:
Cheryl Lea - That's Me!
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
November Guest Designer:  Michele Henderson

Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Throwback (I chose the July 2015 We're Going Dotty challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
The Shabby Tea Room #262: Colors and Patterns
613 Avenue Create #148: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs SPD21: Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge #236: Autumn Splendor
Oddball Art Stamps Challenge: Halloween (or Harvest)
TCP Tuesday 302 (TCPTUES302): Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks 4CC #270: Anything Goes (Crazy Egg Challenge)

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Paper Sweeties October Release Countdown!

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Day 2 of Paper Sweeties' October New Releases is here, and I've got a bright and cheery Christmas card to share with you. 
This card was so easy to make, and unlike most of my cards, it has no coloring (except for tiny hearts inside). The mitten tags were die cut from the new Stitched Tags #2 Sweet Cuts die set, and I added black faux stitches with a Sharpie marker, and some Strawberry and Green Apple Seam Binding. The sentiment is from the O' Christmas Tree stamp set, and was heat embossed with white ep. A few Sugar Sprinkles Sequins add the requisite sparkle.
I love the simple Peace Love Joy sentiment with those sweet little hearts that I colored with a red Copic marker. It's out of the new Stand Add On: Manger stamp set.

All the new October new release stamps and dies will be available in the Paper Sweeties boutique beginning tomorrow!

My Paper Sweeties teamies have more inspiration waiting for you on each of their blogs:



Have you entered this month's Inspiration Challenge yet? There's still time!

http://papersweeties.com/blog/paper-sweeties-inspiration-challenge-october-2015/

And, be sure to check out the October Kit of the Month. Aren't these cards adorable!

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I'll have another Christmas card tomorrow. Hope to see you again, then.

Until tomorrow,

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create #145: Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion Challenge #283: Always Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Clean & Simple Christmas

~Hugs,

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Paper Sweeties October 2015 Inspiration Challenge

Thursday, October 1, 2015

It's Inspiration Challenge time at Paper Sweeties, and I love the color palette for this one. Being October, there are always so many orange/green/purple/black challenges out there, but Debbie has given us a more subdued palette to work with, and I just loved using it to create a cute monochromatic Halloween card.
This was a super simple card to put together, but the stamping and masking for the Halloween scene took a bit of effort. And, it was totally worth it! To create this scene, I first stamped all the images I wanted to use (from 4 different sets, all listed in my card recipe at the end of the post) onto a piece of scrap copy paper, and fussy cut each one of them. Then, I mapped out the scene to determine how to layer the masks. When you have layered images, especially this many images, you have to keep perspective in mind, and the images have to be stamped and masked in order from the "closest" image all the way to the last image in the background. For example, this scene required that I stamp the images in this order: hat, puppy, pumpkin, dog bowl and bones, dog house, broom, weather vane, ground, and tree. After each stamp, I put repositionable tape on the back of it's mask and masked the image. It can get a little tricky once you have several masks because all the images are fully stamped, so the masks start looking like a jumbled mess, but when you are finished and remove all the masks, and the final complete scene is revealed, it is fascinating to see! 

I colored the image with Copics in several shades of brown and gray, then added white highlights with a paint pen. You might notice a lot of highlights on the dog bowl. My pen blobbed and, since I can't remove white paint from a colored image without totally messing it up, I tried to correct it by incorporating it into the scene. Not a great job there, but I can live with it. ;) I added a few Paper Sweeties Gold flower sequins for shine and filled them with a black Pearl Pen dot.
On the inside of the card, I used scraps from the black flag that is on the front for a couple of small flags, as well as the same embossed design for the background. The punny sentiment and broom are both from the Best Witches stamp set.

I hope you'll join us in this month's challenge! There is a Paper Sweeties' Boutique Gift Certificate up for grabs!!!


Before you get crafty, be sure to check out the rest of the Paper Sweeties' DT blogs, as well as the talented Lisa Bzibziak, our October Guest Designer. Their creations this month are UH-MA-ZING!!!

Cheryl Lea - That's Me!
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Nancy Penir
October Guest Designer:  Lisa Bzibziak

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
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Paper Sweeties September Release Rewind!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

It's the final day of Release Week at Paper Sweeties, and that's when we do a little rewind, pairing the new releases with older stamps and dies. It's actually really easy to do because all of the sets go together so well. Today, I have used the new Homegrown stamp and die sets with Abigail and several other previous sets, to create a sweet scene for a birthday card.
I used Copics to color Abigail's skin, hair, and shoes, and paper pieced her outfit (all the patterned papers on this card came from scraps). I gave her little wagon some oversized wheels so it could handle that really big strawberry, which I stamped onto patterned paper and die cut. The large orange scalloped circle behind Abigail was originally white. I colored it with Gelatos, then, because the color was so intense, I toned it down and added some shine, by giving it a thin coating of Champagne Inka Gold. The "Wish" text is from the Wish Sweet Cuts die set, and the "big" double-stamped text is from the Wish stamp set. For the dot over the "i," I used a pink Watermelon sequin, and filled it with Lime Green Stickles. Three Cookie Dough sequins, filled with Diamond Stickles embellish the right side of the text section.
On the inside I sewed a skewed white panel to the checked patterned paper, then added a few flags and circles in the other papers. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Hello Friend stamp set. I made this as though I was going to mail a cash gift to someone receiving the card. Since mailing money through the mail can be risky, rather than just putting a bill inside the card, I left the left side of the white panel unattached. The money can be folded and slipped behind there. It's not impossible to figure out, but if someone just glanced inside the card, they would never know that there is money inside.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Paper Sweeties Design Team, too. I get so much inspiration from their beautiful creations!

For a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge

papersweeties-inspiration#35  

Thanks for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed all the Paper Sweeties September New Release projects!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve September 2015 Week 1 Sketch Challenge (I flipped the sketch upside down)
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love This Technique (paper piecing)
Simon Says Wednesday: Stamptember Use a Stamp Challenge
Pile It On Challenge #86: Birthday
Tuesday Throwdown #262: For a Child

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Paper Sweeties September Release Party!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Today is Paper Sweeties' Release Party, and the newest stamps and dies that we've been featuring for three days are in the shop right now! Don't you just love that sweet little mason jar image? 

If you saw my post from yesterday, you know that it was not an entire project. I have Part 2, today, which finishes out the bookmark set, and I also created a cute holder for them.
After making the bookmarks, I knew I'd need a place to keep them together when I wasn't using them, and I found the perfect way to store and display them in an easel stand design from the Silhouette store. After making the stand, I heat embossed the Mason Jar image on watercolor paper, die cut it with the matching die, watercolored it, then created a rub-on of the "Fruit of the Spirit" text (in Word) for the jar label. I went over the label with a Spica pen which gives the letters just a little bit of sparkle. Now, I can just pull a "fruit" right out of the jar when I need to mark my place in a book! But, I still haven't shown you the rest of the bookmarks...

I made these the same way I made the earlier bookmarks, with heat embossing and watercolors. For the text on these, I used a Paper Sweeties die cut and stamp (Love), an old alpha stamp set from the dollar bin (Self-control), an IO alpha die (Goodness), and a retired Sizzix alpha die set (Faithful). I like every one of the bookmarks in the set, but my favorite is "Self-control." I was super pleased with how the watercoloring turned out on the apples, and it's the only one that I paired specific text with specific fruit. Do you get it??? If Adam and Eve had used more self-control when they were looking at that yummy fruit, well.... ;~)  (I know the fruit may not have been apples, but it's what most people think of when they think of that fateful day, so I went with it.)
pic name pic name
pic name pic name

If you'd like to see any of these better, you can click on these, individually, for a larger photo.
And, here's what the easel holder looks like when it's empty. 

I thought you might like to see the entire set all together, too. (If you zoom in on this photo, don't look too close. I had a seriously hard time editing the photo, and it is nowhere near perfect.) 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. Now, to see more new release goodies, visit my Paper Sweeties Teamies' blogs. You will LOVE what they have for you today!


And, don't forget, for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Paper Sweeties' boutique, play along with us in this month's Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge

papersweeties-inspiration#35  

Thanks for stopping by. I'll have one more project for this new release tomorrow. Hope to see you then!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Love this Technique (heat embossing & watercolor)

~Hugs,

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