More New Craft Stuff!!

What, you thought I could stop at just five nifty craft items? Hah!

Here are some others in no particular order:

Love me some glitter paste! Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Kiss from Ecstasy Crafts has an applicator right in the lid!

Glitter goes on easily with Ecstasy Craft’s Glitter Kiss, which comes with its own applicator.

I can’t wait to try these new Translucent Gelatos® from Faber-Castell:

Translucent Gelatos give a watercolor look

The BowVy (a Creativation Innovations winner) from Little Pink Ladybug uses a hot filament to slice and seal polyester ribbon.

In action:

And a new online company, Love + Lemon, lets you pick from a plethora of craft supplies to suit every need:

Check out the sparkles:

Can’t you just imagine a box of these dazzlers showing up on your doorstep?

That’s it from the show for a while. It’s February and I have Valentines to post! So stay tuned … and thanks for stopping by.

Ornament Cards to “Die” For…

I’ve been having way too much fun with Stampin’ Up!’s ornament stamps and dies (Stampin’ Up and Sizzix.)

The first thing I did was cut various ornaments from a bunch of scrap paper found among the ruins of my desk:

Here’s the first card I made:

When I first tried to cut this die out of self-adhesive glitter paper (Cosmo Cricket) it was a bit of a hot mess — the intricate die did not cut through in some spots. I worked on it with a craft knife but the center was still not clean. So I hid the messy portion behind a decorative piece that comes with the die set! (I also went for an ombre look using Ranger’s Distress Ink Broken China with mediocre success.)

And then I learned that I needed a precision cutting pad for these intricate pieces. And oh, what a difference that made!

Here’s a detailed look and the not-so-clean piece:

(I added some Ranger silver Stickles to the middle piece, which also did not cut cleanly.)

Look how much cleaner it cut using the Sizzix Precision Base Plate:

That pretty background is made using the Stampin’ Up/Sizzix Softly Falling embossing folder. (I edged the embossed piece with Delicata Golden Glitz, but I don’t really like the edging and will leave it off others.) (The Merry Christmas sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set; everything else is from Stampin’ Up!)

Stay tuned for more cards made with this ornament set.

Quick & Easy Hanukkah Cards

I found this Spellbinders menorah die way back in August, a lonely die sitting in a sale pile! But yay for me … it’s the perfect tool for some fast and easy Hanukkah cards. (Since Hanukkah starts at sundown Sunday, I need these NOW! Lucky for me it’s an eight day celebration!)

I cut menorahs from various white and silver scraps then built some fast card bases. For the blue card, I wanted a fast background, so I grabbed this old triple star stamp from Stampin’ Up! and stamped it a few times using a silver ink pad. A little Ranger Stickles for the lights on the candle and we’re good to go!

The background here is the envelope liner stamp from Hero Arts. The sentiment is also an old one from Stampendous.

For this card (above), I used the leftover scrap with the negative space! I wanted a sparkle, so I brushed on Plaid Extreme Glitter turquoise. I love this glitter — nice sparkle without the mess of applying glitter!) Here’s a close-up:

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Hanukkah to those to celebrate (the festival starts at sundown Sunday, Dec. 6. Get those latkes fryin’!)

 

Another Day, Another CHA Report

Here are some random items from CHA:

Spray paint has come a long way from when my dad used it to cover an old lawn chair. Krylon showcased some nifty new sprays including a cool dry erase spray that turns any surface into a dry erase board. They showcased a table sprayed with dry erase paint … how fun is that?

I also love some of the frosty finishes, and check out these pretty rocks:

Not to mention glitter and chalk and other delicious colors. Hmmm… where’s my old lawn chair ….
Check out Krylon at www.krylon.com.

And speaking of glitter, these pretty little bottles of bling from Sulyn (an Advantus company) are so … well, glittery:

Stay tuned for a peek at Hero Arts.

Hearts, Hearts Everywhere!

Can you stand a few more Valentines?

This card should really be a Fabulous Finds Friday because I love this new Stephanie Barnard banner die from Sizzix.
The background is made using a Tim Holtz embossing folder. And I’m sure you noticed my oopsie — the peek of a staple. Sigh.

Originally, I thought it would be cute to staple the banners on the top of my card, using my Tiny Stapler. But it looked too unfinished:

So I added a piece of ribbon. But it looks like one staple got the best of me. Oh, well. Warts and all, that’s what you get here.

This is a fun one made during a card making workshop at the Paper Source:

(Lousy photo — and taken of the wrong card!) In the original, the Hero Arts arrow background was gold embossed on white card stock. The Paper Source heart was punched with a heart punch then run through a Xyron. Stampendous! Gold Halo glitter was generously applied to the now sticky heart. A piece of red glitter paper was glued down on the card base and the glittered heart was placed so the red glitter showed through. The heart was placed using Therm O Web foam pop-ups.

Whew! Valentine’s Day is almost here… and I’ll have just a few last minute cards to show.
Thanks for sticking with me.

Oh, Baby!

It’s been a while since I’ve made a baby card…. so this was fun!

I love the bright colors in this card that I sent to a former co-worker on the birth of her first child. From Close to My Heart we have the coordinating papers (Baby Cakes collection), the stamped letters (framework alphabet E1027), the ink.
The letters were filled in with Art Glitter’s Designer Dries Clear glue (I love this for glitter — I love the thin tip and the consistency) and covered with Stampendous! Sunflower and Orange micro glitters. (Yes, I missed a few spots. But it’s still pretty glittery!) The “congrats” is from an old Inkadinkado set and the scallop punch is from Stampin’ Up!

Here’s another baby card that came together by accident:

The pretty leafy background is a lovely Spellbinder’s die that I have had for a while. I played with it when I first got it and made the pretty background. I got so far as to stick it to a card front. And then it sat. And sat. And sat some more. Along comes this cute Little Sprout stamp from Art Impressions. The sprout image seemed like the perfect time to play with another new acquisition — these cool Irojiten colored pencils from Tombow. I love the way the colors blend (and now I want all the other sets, of course.) Now I just need to add a cute sentiment and find another baby.

Merry Christmas Tags

To those who celebrate Christmas, here’s my hope that your holidays are warm and wonderful!

I realize I’m a little late to inspire any Christmas tag making, but I’d still like to share some tags I made last week. These tags all used Formica chips left over from a years-ago remodeling project.

The tags above use paper from an old Hot Off The Press book; the fancy stickers are from K&Company. The “joy” is a stamp from Hero Arts and the glitter is from Martha Stewart.

The paper on these are also from HOTP. The snowman tag is also edged with  Vintage Glass Glitter from Art Glitter (901 Krystallos Shards) and the snowman rub-ons are old ones from PSX.

These, I think, are my faves:

Papers (including sentiments) from that same HOTP pack, the fancy stickers are from K&Company. The glitter on the Believe tag is Victorian Christmas by Sparkle & Sprinkle. It doesn’t show up well here, but it is sparkly and festive!

A fast Haunkkah tag. Stickers from K&Company, glitter from Martha Stewart.

May your holidays be merry and bright!

Last Batch for Hanukkah!

Here’s one more set of Hanukkah cards … this time using the dreidel motif! The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side, used to play a game. You spin the dreidel and “bet” (usually with candy or pennies) on which letter will come up when the dreidel stops spinning.

This simple tag uses a sticker from K&Company, glitter from Martha Stewart, adhered with Scor-tape, and a stamp (old-school spelling from Limited Edition.) My handy Tonic tag-and-ticket punch made the top shape.

This card came about by accident. I found this cardstock that I had cut using a Spellbinders die. It seemed the perfect spot to highlight this dreidel sticker (K&Company). I added some Martha Stewart fine glitter around the outside edge (using Art Institute Glitter Glue). Not crazy about the Happy Chanukah stamp, but oh, well….

Thanks for sharing this Hanukkah medley with me … and have a bright holiday if that’s your celebration!

Hanukkah Cards, Day 3

Hanukkah, as you may know, is not a Jewish religious holiday, but is a festival celebrating freedom. There are several symbols, including the menorah, or candelabra. There are nine candles on the menorah — eight smaller and one that sits taller than the others. The tall one is used to light the other eight. One candle is successively lit each night for the eight days of the celebration, until all the candles are beautifully aglow!

For more on the history of Hanukkah, try Wikipedia or My Jewish Learning.

Above is a card that highlights the menorah. The background Star of David (old Stampendous! stamp) was stamped in VersaMark Dazzle; the strip of glitter paper is from Paper Source; the sentiment (Stampendous!) was stamped in ColorBox midnight blue and embossed with a glittery Stardust powder. The crowning touch — the menorah — is a sticker from K&Company.

The next card didn’t come out the way my brain envisioned it (as so often happens!) but I decided to share it anyway.

I used a Mavy blue marker to color in the stamp (American Art Stamp) so I could show the eight-night progression! The final, fully-lit menorah, was stamped and embossed in Zing silver glitter powder. The white card seemed so … white… so I edged it with Distress ink Chipped China. I might add some Stickles Diamond to the candle flames.

Next up … deidels!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Oh, That Tim Holtz!

Oh, Tim Holtz, what have you done? Come up with more cool stuff, that’s what!

First up is new Metallic Distress Stains. Oh, how I am dying to try these! They are touted as being luminous, with a semi-translucent metallic finish, perfect for paper, ribbon, , fabric, wood … and even with the other translucent Distress stains for a layered effect. Like the others, they react to water. Oh, the mottling I can do!

Then we have clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles in a larger jar with a built-in brush. And new Distress Stickles Dry Glitter is sure to be a hit with its random particle sizes and shimmery clear finish. Yum.

And one more thing… A FREE TIM HOLTZ APP! The new app lets you keep track of your Tim Holtz products, create a “wish list,” watch Tim’s technique videos, click on his blog, and more.

Did I mention it’s free? Check it out:

For more info, visit Tim’s blog at www.timholtz.com

Way to go Tim!