I wanted to show a video using pre-made card bases. I bought mine at Joanns, and they are simply craft cardstock with the word “Love” on them. I decided to use the “Love” on the back of the card, and wrote Sandy with a white gel pen from Uniball below. That takes the place of “This was made by Sandy Parker.”
For the front, I used scraps of gold mirror paper that fit a base that was 4″ tall by 5 1/4″ wide…these card bases are a little smaller than an A2 size card….the strips were each 1″ wide.
I had 12″x 12″ Christmas pad and used a page with Christmas packages and cut a bunch of them out, as well as a sentiment that was on another of the pages in the pad. I used the sentiment and cut it to 5 1/4″ and laid it over the gold mirror paper and centered it, and then put one of the packages over it on foam tape on an angle. I cut Merry Christmas out with a die out of the same gold mirror paper, and that was the first card.
The second card I showed on camera was gluing the packages across the front and adding glitter to the packages and putting some on foam tape so they were different heights.
The third card I made on camera is using a Stampin’ Up triple banner punch, here’s a link to one on ebay, http://tinyurl.com/y7kp2c6j. I punched scraps that were 3/4″ wide and then punched black scraps that were 1″ wide, then laid the scraps on the black paper and made sure there was a small gap at the bottom like on the sides, and layered them across the front of the card at different heights. I trimmed the ends at the top and decided I didn’t like the sentiment that I originally used on the base of the card, and added black cardstock with a white layer and onyx black ink with clear embossing powder on the “Merry Christmas” then heat set it. The white piece was about 3/4″ and the black was 1″ wide and both were 5 1/4″ long.

The 11th is Rich’s birthday, so I invited two couples that included Rich’s college football teammates for dinner and a movie.  We had a great evening of laughing and reminiscing about our youth.  When I see those men, it seems like yesterday that we were together in college.  One of them was a great friend of mine and we spent most of our sophomore year trying to get through Intermediate Accounting together.  He and I spent so much time together, and I knew his wife, though not as much as him…Through the years, he’s played in several three on three basketball tournaments with Rich, even though he lived in Maryland.  After retiring as an air traffic controller, decided to move back to this area, and we couldn’t be more pleased.  He and his wife are our movie buddies, and since we’re all retired, it’s great fun spending time together.

At the end of the evening, I looked in the mirror and my right eye was bright red.  We had just had lunch a couple days ago with close friends, and he had what looked like pink eye.  I didn’t think I had gotten close enough to him to get it, but know it’s really contagious.  I try to be pretty careful about any infections, because of my arthritis, so made an appointment with our eye doctor.  He was able to squeeze me in by mid-afternoon and before he even looked at me, said he thought he knew what it was.  I was still thinking pink eye, but no, it is some kind of side effect you can get from rheumatoid arthritis…And yes, that’s the other reason I am careful about infections…as I never know what my arthritis might have in store for me on a given day or time.  I probably should call my rheumatologist and tell her about it, because in three months I’m hoping I’ll have completely forgotten about it….

And I had wanted to finish putting stamps and mailing my Christmas cards today, but decided to rest instead.  I really want to get those in the mail, and I need to buy a bunch of stamps since they are going to significantly raise their prices in 2019.  A five cent raise on a regular stamp is the biggest single increase I can ever remember, so I’m going to buy a lot of forever stamps in regular stamps, but mainly in the ones for thicker envelopes that are currently 71 cents.  I thought I’d mention that so if any of you didn’t know about the increase, it would give you the opportunity to stock up before they raise their prices.

I am going to pressure Rich into putting up another video of mine tomorrow and I’m going to not only put stamps on my cards, but also make a couple of videos using Dollar Tree Christmas items for decorations/gifts and a planner I’ve been thinking about making all year.  I need to get those videos up before Christmas, as this small break I’ve been taking is at the wrong time of year.  January would be a better time for a small rest.

You probably thought I’d given up with cards, but I’m doing two more and then Rich is going to do one bonus card by himself…..Can’t wait for that.

I saw this technique at the stamp show I attended and will link the video to the end of this one.

Instead of using double sided craft tape, I used double sided carpet tape that you can buy at any hardware store. Here’s a link to some. http://tinyurl.com/ybt42w58
You can buy craft double sided tape and Sparkle n’ Sprinkle sells it.

I started with a card base that is 11″tall by 4 1/4″ wide and scored at 5 1/2″ on the 11″ length. I used a layer of white card stock that is 4″ wide by 5 1/4″ tall and wrapped the carpet tape around the ends of the top and bottom of my white cardstock. If you have any bubbles or wrinkles, try to rub them out before taking off the backing. You’ll also want to keep your backing paper once you remove it, to put it on the top and bottom on the back where I wrapped the carpet tape.
Before you take off your backing, you’ll want to trim the edges where you don’t have carpet tape, so cut that off. If you have a gap in the center, you’ll have to put glue in there when you are glittering that section.
The stencil I used is from Stampendous and is called Snowman Peeking and is #FMS4078 and here’s a link to it. http://tinyurl.com/ychq25p4

You’ll need to use a Hawaiian Coconut Oil Soap and rub it on the back of the stencil so it will allow the stencil to be removed from the tape. (I’m not sure if any other soap will work.) Here’s a link to where I bought it.  http://tinyurl.com/y93xuopw    Be careful of these metal stencils, as they are sharp on the edges…. Cover the whole back with the soap and remove any soap that is stuck in the lines of the stencil. Then lay your stencil on the cardstock where you want it placed. I placed mine near the bottom of the paper. Then rub it to make sure it’s attached to the paper.
The glitter spoon is the greatest for this project….we made a lot of fun of it and now I have a glitter funnel from Joanns…I used a variety of glitters from Stampin’ Up, Martha Stewart, Sparkle n’ Sprinkle and I bought a packet from Joanns for a dark green.
I started with the mouth and used the glitter spoon to put the black glitter right where I wanted it…Once the glitter filled the spot, I rubbed it, to ensure it was adhered. I did the eyes and eyebrows with black and rubbed it into them. I used red and green for the hat. I had a gap from the space between the two pieces of carpet tape, so I had to add some glue to that spot…I made sure I flattened the glue so I didn’t have a bubble of glitter. If you put the glitter in the center of the area you want to glitter, it works better to then move it with your finger to get it to the edges. If you sprinkle it near the edges, you risk having the glitter go into another section where you don’t want it…

Once you’ve covered the stencil with glitter, gently pull it away from the carpet tape. Then you’ll need to glitter the background. i used a white for the snowman and had to cover over some darker colors with white glitter and should have used a white marker to color the dark glitter where it needed to be white.
I used a blue glitter from the surround and white glitter between the layers of his hat and for his face. The blue didn’t stick well all over, so I added glue and more blue glitter and it had almost a layered look to it.
I put foam tape behind the snowman and put it on a layer of mirror paper. I had a die for Merry Christmas and cut it out of gold mirror paper and glued it to the inside of the card.

I am waiting for Rich to finish uploading one of the videos I made for days 8 and 9 of my seven days of simple cards.  But in the meantime, I’ve been busy inviting friends and buying and preparing different dishes for Rich’s birthday tomorrow.  I thought it would be nice to have a couple of our college friends and their wives for dinner and a movie, and I wanted to make a lot of Rich’s favorite foods.  He loves hot sausage sandwiches and an oriental salad I make, plus some chessy potatoes that are really yummy…..he’ll be a happy camper with a full belly once he’s eaten…I’m looking forward to it and believe it or not, never made him a birthday card…Worst wife ever….  We’ve never really been good at giving each other cards for birthdays/anniversaries, etc., and it’s odd that now I’m considered to be a card maker…

My project for tonight is to write in and address all of the cards I’ve made for this 9 day experiment, as I know so many of my viewers will appreciate getting one of them and some will keep them, which means so much to me.  I hate it that I haven’t been writing in the blog as much as I used to, but I’ve been really busy with my week of cards and trying to finish everything that needs done before Christmas..  So for that, I’m sorry..

I’ve been working really hard on finishing the last two cards I’m making for the series of easy cards.  I wanted to make one with a glittered stencil and one with scrap paper…In the end, I made two with scrap paper so there are actually ten different cards.  I’m saving the actual tenth video for Rich, and hoping he’ll make the card he promised he’d do on video about a month (or longer) ago.

I thought it would be a great Christmas present from Rich and I to our viewers to make his card, and possibly show a dog trick or two.  I guess we’ll have to wait to see if he follows through and makes the card, or if he decides he’s just not up for it.  I’m crossing my fingers that he’ll make his card.

 

I went to the doctor in Pittsburgh, and things went well there, so stopped at my favorite bakery on the way home and treated myself to some of mine/our favorites. We love to share their lemon coconut square and their bear claws are phenomenal.  I’d like to say that I know the name of the bakery, but I don’t.  It’s in Wexford, in a new development they build where they made a community of townhouses then a community of stores in the center of the townhouses.  Every time we go there, I tell Rich if we were young, we’d live in a place like that, as they make everything so convenient.  And the stores are all terrific, as are the restaurants.

So day seven card for me was a real accomplishment.  I was a little bit disappointment that it didn’t get a bigger reaction, but I really can never tell which cards will make a big hit and which will be mediocre.  I’m taking today off to rest and tomorrow I’ll be back in the craft room for at least another card.  I also want to make a new planner for 2019 as well as a couple of Christmas decorations.  I will try to make some easy gifts for Christmas as well…I know time is running out and I need to get serious about some of these ideas I have….

I saw this technique done by Positively Papercrafts and knew it had to be our day seven easy card.. You CAN make this card easily if you use thin double sided paper…..that’s the key…One of my viewers suggested using double sided gift wrap that’s a little heavier than normal and said that works great…and I’ll bet it does.

Start with an 11″ tall by 4 1/4″ wide card base scored on the 11″ length at 5 1/2″

I took a pretty piece of designer paper that is 5 1/4″ x 4″ wide and glue it to the card base. (I forgot to glue my ribbon under it, so make sure you glue a thin piece of ribbon near the bottom for the sentiment.)

You’ll need four pieces of double sided patterned paper:

(I inked my edges with real red ink from Stampin’ up)

1 1/2″ square
2″ square
2 1/2″ square
3″ square

You’ll need to make certain your squares are actually sqaures, and then fold one in half with the pattern you like on the outside….then open it and fold it in half in the other direction. Open it and fold it on the diagonal in half and open it and then fold it on the opposite diagonal. After each fold, you should use your bone folder to really make your creases flat. Once your folds are done you should be able to push in the sides and create a triangle. If it doesn’t want to make the triangle on it’s own, just force it to your will. Remember that your bone folder is key to making this card.
Once all four are done, use the bone folder again and go over all four on the top and bottom so the triangles are as flat as possible.

I cut out a long tree trunk out of matching paper and if it needs to be shortened later, that’s OK, it just needs to be longer than you think you need right now, maybe 1 1/2″ long…

I used a star punch and punched out five of the same paper and glued them together for a really tall star for the top of my tree. I inked it on the edges with the real red marker too.

To create the card, you’ll need to take your smallest triangle and take the left side (or the right) top layer of cardstock and fold it into the middle of your triangle and use the bone folder to flatten it. Then take the right side and fold it into the center so it lines up with the center mark….do this to all four pieces before you glue it together and then use your bone folder again and flatten the back so it’s as flat as possible..
I created a banner for the base of the tree with a sentiment and stamped Merry Christmas inside the card.
I put a thin piece of red ribbon near the bottom of the card and glued it under the paper I’d already glued down…should have done it sooner, but forgot….Then I created a banner by cutting a “V” in the end of the sentiment and glued it to the front of the card.

After you’ve got all four of your triangles with the pieces folded down, put glue inside the center of the smaller piece on either side and glue the top front and back of the next larger piece and push the larger piece inside the smaller piece making sure it’s centered and straight across. Then do the same to the second ….glue inside the triangles and inside the larger section of the second piece and then glue the back and front of the top of the next larger piece and push that inside the second one….repeat with the fourth and then put glue inside the base of the fourth and slide your tree trunk into it and lay your tree down to decide if you have enough room for your star and the ribbon…if the tree is too long, cut off the trunk.

After my tree was glued in place and the glue was dry, I used the real red Stampin Up marker and inked all of the edges of the tree so it really stands out. If any of the pieces of the tree stand up too high, glue them and hold them down.

The glue I used is Tonic’s Funky Glue pen and the star punch I couldn’t find the maker on, sorry.

I hope you try this card, as it is a lot easier than I make it out to be.
and PS, Rich is on board for making more cards, just taking a day off…

I wanted the seventh card in the series of easy Christmas cards to be amazing.  I found the perfect card and made it, and I have to say, it did not disappoint… I should have used a thinner scrapbook paper, as that would have made the process so much simpler, but as in all things, live and learn.

I loved the end results, but my hands are hurting from the process, and I’m worried that some of my viewers won’t be able to make this card.

Sunday afternoon, Bella started coughing and we started to worry when it didn’t stop.  So we called the vet this morning and got her in right away….She might have kennel cough, although the only dog she’s been in contact with beside Honey, was a puppy who hasn’t displayed any signs of a cough…..The vet says she has a viral infection that’s treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines.  She seems better after taking the anti-inflammatories, as she was coughing almost non-stop before going to the vet.

This afternoon, we have to go to Pittsburgh for my rheumatology appointment.  I go there every three months and it’s just a long day….I’ll be glad when we get home, as I’ll worry about Bella until we do…

I’m really excited for day seven’s card and hope all of you are too.  I’ve talked Rich into trying a few more days, but we’re taking at least one day off in the process…

Day six is all about using gel pens. I wanted to make a simple card that is made elegant by outlining with a variety of colors of gel pens.

I used a Stampin’ Up set called Solemn Stillness (retired) link: http://tinyurl.com/y94jhzl3 that has two layers of a pine tree…so I took them off the wood blocks and put them into the MISTI and stamped one layer on green cardstock that’s 5 1/2″ tall by 4 1/4″ wide…with Stampin’ Up Always Artichoke ink. I lined up the second stamp and put a piece of acetate over it to make sure the stamp would layer it on the right spot and stamped in red so I could see it. If it’s in the wrong spot, you’d wipe off the acetate and move the stamp and re-stamp it…
I stamped embossing ink from Ranger and then put silver Ranger embossing powder over the ink and heat set it. I wanted to make the tree my focal point, and decided I’d use a variety of gel pens…I used a white gel pen from Reminsce and a gold Uniball pen and silver pen that was a no-name pen. I made dashes and dots by using a strip of cardstock that was narrow enough to line it up on the edge of the card and make my marks against it. I decided you can’t see some of the inks with one layer, and had to color over them twice. I used the gold Uniball pen and highlighted the silver on the tree.
I used a piece of green cardstock that is a little darker than my original color and put it on a silver piece that was about 1/4″ wider and then notched the ends to make a banner look. The sentiment was inked with Always Artichoke ink and then clear embossed and heat set. I added white gel pen around the Season’s Greeting from the same stamp set.
I used a peg stamp that says Happy Holly Days and stamped the envelope. link: http://tinyurl.com/yabtq456

Rich’s music is hysterical today and thought you’d like it too!

For day 5, I wanted to share cards with embossing. I started with a stamp from Ton Stamps called Poinsettia Garden and here’s a link to it. http://tinyurl.com/yccpmtsr
I used my homemade embossing pouch that is two knee highs inside each other with a tablespoon or two of corn starch then knotted and trimmed close to the knot.. I wiped the pouch over red mirror paper that I bought from Crafter’s Companion on HSN.com that’s not as mirror as most. Here’s a link to it, but you need to check back for when they have more color options, as you only get two colors, and none of these are red.http://tinyurl.com/y877lfmb    … I used Ranger Gold embossing powder with Ranger embossing ink to stamp the poinsettia garden stamp and then heat set it. I cut out the image to a size I liked (I’ll share the sizes later) and then layered it on gold foil paper and then onto a piece of patterned paper I cut so you only have a glittered red background showing.

I started with a 5 1/2″ tall by 4 1/4″ wide red card base and stamped a sentiment on the inside from Stampin’ Up’s Christmas Cardinal with embossing ink and gold embossing powder then heat set it.
I covered the front of my card with my corn starch pouch and stamped a sentiment from Christmas Cardinal from Stampin’ Up (link:  http://tinyurl.com/y8f6fmm3  ) and then used a holly berry stamp from Stampin’ Up’s Watercolor Winter link:  http://tinyurl.com/yajs2hfx  and stamped it with Ranger embossing ink randomly across the front of the card base. I used the same gold Ranger embossing powder and covered the front of the card base and used my new eye brow brush from Walmart from ELF(funny, it’s got a Christmas theme,) to clean off any excess powder.
I heat set the gold and then decided I needed to add some glitter to the front. I used glitter from (I think) Stampin’ Up) and a a Sakura Glue Pen from pegstamps.com…here’s the link to it. http://tinyurl.com/ybm4lrcq
I used a glitter spoon I bought from Aliexpress that’s too small really for glitter and used it to add glitter in red and a light green to the berries and leaves on the front of the card.
I bought a big makeup brush from the Dollar Tree to wipe off excess glitter or to clean glitter off your desk.
I added a little more red glitter onto the poinsettia piece…

If you don’t have a poinsettia background stamp but you have a simple poinsettia stamp, stamp the poinsettia all over red mirror paper with embossing ink and gold embossing powder and you should get the same results.
The measurements for the card we made on camera are:
poinsettia: 2 1/4″ wide by 4″ tall
gold is 2 1/2″ wide by 4 1/4″ tall
On the card I made off camera:
poinsettia 4 3/4″ tall by 2 3/4″ wide
gold layer 5″ tall by 3″ wide

I made my own envelope and here’s a link as to how to do that.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cnJEe3xwMU