I saw Bev Rochester make this card on her site and really loved it.
I started with two 6 x 6″ white cardstock.  I used 65 lb cardstock that I bought at Joanns (and don’t really love as it cracked really easily and I didn’t love that.)
The bird stamp was from Holly Berry House stamps #1347 and I’m not sure where I got it.  Here is a link to Holly Berry House stamps and the birds they sell.  Here’s the link:  http://hollyberryhouse.com/blog/?page_id=852
I used a white card stock scrap and stamped the bird and sentiment with Versafine onyx black ink and used clear Ranger embossing powder over it and heat set it so it would not smear with the alcohol markers.   I used my Touch 5 markers in 31, 36, 41, 100, 104, 93, 96 and 23 to color the bird.
A C Moore sold Floral Doodle paper pad and matching washi tape and I just had to have them (used my coupon for the washi tape.)
.  For the inside of the card, I used orange paper that is 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ and white layered paper is 5 1/4″ x 5 1/4″.  You’ll need more orange paper for the die on the front of the card to layer under the bird.

Take your two pieces of white 12″ x 6″ paper scored on the 12″ side at 6″ to make a 6 x 6″ square.  Your first paper, you’ll put in your paper trimmer on a diagonal so the fold of your card is to the left of your trim bar and you will put the bottom right corner of the card in the bottom center of the trim line and the top center of the card in the trim line and holding it in place, trim it.  The other 6 x 6″ square card, you’ll make sure the fold of the card is to the right of the trim line.  You’ll put the bottom left corner of the card in the cut line at the bottom and the center score line also in the trim line, holding it in place and cut.  This will make your criss cross card.  You’ll want to add a strong adhesive to the back of one of the card bases and making sure they are lined up properly so the diagonals on the front will overlap each other, glue the backs together.  Once they are glued in place you’ll want to take the pieces of cardstock that you cut for the front of your card 5 3/4″ square orange and 5 1/2″ square floral doodle cardstock in orange and put them in your paper trimmer on a diagonal with one corner in the bottom trim line and the top (diagonal) in the trim line and cut.  Attach them together with tape runner and then apply them to the left and right flaps.  I didn’t glue down either side of my panels until I added the papers to the inside of the card. The tape runners I used were Darice and Sticky Thumb, both honorable mention choices in my top tape runners.  (I’ll attach that video to the end of this video.)  You can use wet glues, as long as you feel the paper will hold quickly.
I next went to the inside papers and took some ribbon and adhered white thin ribbon in the center of orange ribbon with Fabric Fusion to attach them together, and set them aside to dry.  The ribbons were  2″ long  (long enough to create a loop.)  You’ll want to make a loop and put some adhesive on the ends of the loop and glue it in the top center between your two layers of cardstock.  I forgot to do this, so had to push it between the layers and it’s a lot easier if you remember to do it first.  I added some brads to my white layer using a paper piercing tool before gluing the two layers together.  Used tear tape to attach the white and orange papers together.   I used a white with orange piece of the ACMoore paper 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ and adhered it to an orange layer that was 5 3/4 x 5 3/4″ and put tape runner on the back of the orange layer and glued it down.
I used tear tape and ran a thin line on the bottom edge of my diagonal card front and laid it down, then ran a thin line of tear tape on the bottom of the other side and glued it down.
I had a problem with the white paper cracking on the edges, so took scraps of the white w/ orange flower paper and cut it to 3/4″ by 5 1/2″ long and put tear tape on the back after scoring it at 1/8″ and folding the paper well on the score.  I attached it to the cracked corners and used my bone folder to really adhere it well.
I colored the bird with the Touch 5 markers and an Aliexpress die to trim out the bird and same die to back the bird w/ orange paper.  I cut the orange piece in half and made sure it was centered on the bird image.  I used Distress ink, Dried Marigold and a 1″ chip brush, on the bird image then used water and a paint brush.. Adhered it to the orange layer with a piece of white ribbon glued under the bird. Added foam tape to the back of the orange paper but made sure to put foam tape on the bottom half.  Made a banner out of the sentiment and went around the edges of it with Dried Marigold Distress ink and then put foam tape on the back and adhered it to the bottom of the card.  I made a banner and put it on the top of the white paper on the inside of the card,  and decorated the envelope with peg stamps.

 

 

 

 

I realize that I missed a day of blogging, but some days I don’t really do very much.  I could make up a great story about what I did in my head, but that’s not really fair, or the truth, so we’ll stick to the facts.  Just the facts, mam.

Today, my girlfriend texted Rich early and said there was a garage sale that we needed to attend.  They are relocating and selling a lot of great designer clothes, and it’s just a really fun sale.  They have one every year and we always love going.  So Rich and I went and had a great time.  I didn’t buy anything crafty, but we found some house type things, special light bulbs that go into recessed lighting and a bunch of things you hate to buy, but need.  We also bought a big box fan as we don’t have central air conditioning and although we have air conditioning, we don’t like it when Honey is in her cage, as we think it’s warmer in there than it should be .  Ok, I think it’s warmer than it should be and since she’s my baby, I’m going to make sure she’s cool when we aren’t home.  There, the mom of the house put her foot down.  (Or else Rich mentioned we should buy a box fan for Honey, and I just never got around to buying one, you be the judge.)

Rich stayed up late editing the criss cross card video and wow, is it long.   I know people don’t want to waste their time on long videos and yet, I can’t help it, I make mistakes and that makes my videos run longer than I intend.  Even when I write things down so I know the steps I need to follow, I still forget and do something that makes them long.  Viewers say they want me to keep my mistakes in, so I want to write things on the screen to help viewers do things correctly, but YouTube took that option off of their editing.  It was so easy for me to add notes to videos before, and now, I have to write my notes to Rich and ask him to write it on the screen.  As if he doesn’t already have enough to do with my videos, now I have him writing notes.  His work is never done.

We spent the day at our friend’s house, at a picnic with college friends.  My friend Sue’s son and his family were visiting from Colorado, and I volunteered Rich to take family photos and she was thrilled.  He takes his job very seriously, and spent a lot of the time away from everyone, taking candid photos.  Of course, he thinks his pictures are terrible, when in reality, they are truly works of art.  He’s submitted a lot of photos to national contests and has been in the top ten percent of thousands of photos, so he does great work.  Rich chooses to believe he’s not very talented, but I think he compares his work to some of the greatest photographers in history, which is never a good thing.

When we got home from the picnic, Rich rushed to Sunday night basketball, and I spent the evening buying crafty things.  I’m on a big buying binge (try saying that five times fast), and have been making sure I have all kinds of things I don’t really need.  I’m a huge fan of Stampin’ Up inks and papers, so bought some that have been discontinued.  I don’t think I could work for a company that changes their stamps as often as Stampin’ Up does, since as a sales person, you’d continuously need to be selling your old inventory and buying new.  You really wouldn’t want to keep a lot of retired merchandise, as you wouldn’t be able to sell it, and that’s really the point of being a sales person.  Honestly, as someone who likes to buy their merchandise, I just wait until things I like are retired, and buy them at huge discounts through either Ebay or Splitcoast Stampers.  I never feel badly about using the stamps, papers or inks in a video, because I know that my viewers  will always be able to find them online, as their reps are selling off retired merchandise as quickly as possible.  Therein lies my problem.  I think they retire things at the end of June every year (I might be a month off), and then I find so many things that I want (or just have to have) that I buy crazy amounts of things.  I like to buy the inks/refills/papers and markers once they are retired, so that’s what I’ve been buying lately. I used to want to have all of their colors, but then started to realize that I really don’t like all of their “in colors”, so only buy the ones I do like.  It’s my way of trying to reign myself in.  haha.   So now I need to force myself to stop shopping online and focus on using some of the thousands of things that I have.  Oh, who am I kidding, I’ll never use all of the things I have, I’m a crafty hoarder.   If this is the biggest problem I have, I think I’ll be ok.

A very close friend just got married and I wanted to make a card that would be sweet and fast, because I made it at the last minute.

I used Bristol Strathmore paper 10″ x 7″ scored at 5″ on the 10′ length to make a 5 x 7″ card.  I cut an additional piece of the same paper at 5 x a little under 7″ to glue to the back.  I cut a congratulations die and used the die set from Aliexpress of hearts and used one of the biggest dies to cut the front out of my card.  I also used a stamp set from Aliexpress that is called Dream.  Here’s a link to the page I found it on.  You’ll want to look through the pages to make sure you find the lowest price.  It’s the second image on this page at the top.  https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20170715170916&SearchText=dream+stamp+scrapbook+clear

The heart die set is $2.97 in the eighth row down on this link.  It might not be the lowest price, so I’d check the other pages to make sure you get the best price.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?initiative_id=SB_20170715171116&site=glo&g=y&SearchText=heart+dies+scrapbook+metal&page=2&user_click=y

I took the heart out of the front of the card and put the big swirl image from the dream stamp set into the MISTI.  I used Melon Mambo ink from Stampin’ Up and stamped the image.  After repeatedly stamping until the color was dark and consistent, I moved the card to another position and stamped the same stamp using a post-it-note as a mask so I didn’t overlap my stamping.  I covered the entire card front with the swirl image.
When the Aliexpress stamps are new, they need to be cleaned with a baby wipe or baby shampoo or Dawn detergent so they will accept the ink.  If they don’t, rub gently with a nail file—gently.
Any places on the card front that didn’t have enough ink coverage, I created my own pattern to fill the empty spaces with a Melon Mambo marker.  If you don’t have a matching marker, you could use a micro brush or Fantastix, or toothpick, to draw little swirls or dots..  I don’t think anyone would notice as there is such a busy pattern on the front.  I did have a little overlap of ink near the top, so put my ribbon there.  I also had some ink overlap on the left near the bottom, so put my sentiment there.  It’s not hard to be creative when you need to cover ink errors.
I added the 4 7/8″ x 7″ piece to the back of the front of my card so I have a surface to attach the heart to.  I added fun foam to the back of the heart with fun foam and put tear tape on the back of the fun foam and glued it into the heart opening on the card.  I took a sentiment from the same dream set and stamped it on white card stock and used a 1 1/4″ square scallop punch to cut out the sentiment, took tear tape and adhered it to the card where I had ink overlapping.  I used white chiffon ribbon and sliced a line on the seam of the card where I wanted to thread my ribbon.  Wrapped the ribbon around the card and tied a bow where the ink was overlapping to cover that little boo boo.
I used Ranger multi matte medium to glue a pink die cut of the word congratulations on the heart.  If you start in the center of the word and work in either direction, you have a better chance of centering the word where you want it.  You can also die cut the heart and lay the congratulations die where you want it in the heart and cut it out.  Then put the heart over the heart on your card and lay your die cut into the spot where you cut it out of the heart, glue it in, and remove the heart once your die cut is where it needs to be.  You need to be very careful that you don’t glue that heart down.
I had a problem with getting ink inside my card, so I eliminated the back and cut another piece of white cardstock that was 6″ x 7″ and I scored the 6″ side at 1″ and folded it.  I put tear tape on the one inch scored piece and then attached the one inch piece to the back of the front of the card as I had to cut off the back because both the front and back of that piece of cardstock had ink on it.
I had a stamp runner that I had purchased from Zulily a long time ago that almost matched the melon mambo color, so I ran the hearts along the flap of the envelope to finish the card.

Today was one of those garage sale days where I felt like I was just spinning my wheels.  I realize that every time I go, I won’t find things I like, but today was just frustrating.  My girlfriend and I went to a bunch a really bad sales, only to talk to a man (at our last stop), who told us a town ten minutes from us was having their annual garage sale day.  We thought they had cancelled it because they are having two round-abouts installed, and the whole town is basically under construction.  (We’re talking about a town with only one stop light and that’s not even the spot that they used for the round abouts they are building.)  It’s crazy.

Of course as soon as he mentioned it, we remembered there’s a lady there that always makes really terrific desserts and we had to go.  She was sold out of most of the things we like to buy, but we both bought a loaf of sweet bread.  I bought lemon and she bought pina colada.  When that’s your big purchase for the day, you know it wasn’t a great day.  The town was packed with people and cars and we had no interest in fighting traffic or crowds, so called it a day.   We’ve only experienced sales like that once, and hated the entire experience.  There were so many people and it’s just overwhelming.  Like being in an amusement park where people think you are getting ahead of them for a ride.  Pushing, shoving, general craziness.  I think my friend and I are just too old to fight the crowds.  But frankly, I’ve never been crazy about crowds and don’t like being in them if I can avoid it.

As for crafting, I think today is a nap kind of day.  Rich and I went to a book sale and he’s working on one of my videos.  I’m not in the mood to do anything else, except maybe watch some movies later tonight.  We’ve had pizza and a movie every Friday night since I was working (at least fifteen years)…I’ve started to extend date nights into Saturdays and call it date night 2.0.  I thought it was kind of catchy.  Rich thinks I’m just conning him into making me popcorn two nights a week.   (I think he’s on to me.  Darn it!)

It’s hard to believe that the summer is already half over.  Oh, well.  Winter only lasts twice as long here, so I have that to look forward to..Yay!

I tried my gelli plate for the first time and I have to say, I’m not really very good at it.  I found it to be a lot messier than I expected and that I created things I wouldn’t use for anything.  I thought I might come up with a couple of background that I would like, but honestly, not so much.  Maybe it was just not really knowing what I was doing, but it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.  It was kind of stressful, as I kept putting too much paint on the gelli plate and then it wouldn’t let me really press anything into it as it was so thick with paint.  I’m sure more practice will make it work better, but right now, it’s kind of a bummer.  I thought the plate I bought was bigger than it is, and instead, it’s one bigger and one smaller plate.  Maybe I’ll use it to do reverse stamp images instead of using it for a gelli plate.  Then what will I do with all of these crazy paints I’ve bought?

I think my problem is that I get really excited about something and buy all of the tools, only to find out I don’t like it or can’t do it.  I wish I had local friends who are crafty that have some of the tools that I don’t.  I could borrow theirs, so that I can figure out if I like a craft before I buy the things I need for it.  Wouldn’t that be great?

I wanted to try a fun fold card that said it was “easy.”  I’m not sure how her definition of easy works, but it took me five tries before I made the card correctly and two of them had to be thrown out as I couldn’t make the folds properly.  It was a pinwheel card and looked simple enough to make, therein lies the problem.  I was supposed to flip the paper over twice in the process.  The first flip is key and the second is probably even more important.  I’m not sure which flip ruins the card, but there’s absolutely no way to redeem the issues I was having.  Since it’s a pinwheel card, when you are finishing the card and folding it into the pinwheel, the last fold needs to “tuck” under the other flaps.  Let’s just say there was no possible way for me to “tuck”  into anything.  I just couldn’t do it.  So I watched the video again, and made another one.  This time I scored it wrong, so that was trash.  The next one I definitely forgot one of the flips, and on it went.  I wrote notes so I wouldn’t make mistakes, and I re-watched the video at least three times, and still couldn’t master it.  Finally, I made one correctly, and with the information that was missing, fixed another one to made it usable.  The third is on my desk with the possibility that it might work (or end up in the trash.)  So “easy” isn’t a term I would use to describe this card.  I’m not really sure if I can make a video with it because I was so confused while making it, I’m not certain I ever explained the process properly.  I’ll need to watch it and see if it can be edited to the point where the viewer can make the card.  Although I’m not putting a lot of stock in it, as my confusion is really obvious.  Oh well, one person’s easy card is another person’s garbage can full of “easy.”

I’m really excited because I finally got my favorite card making tools for beginners video online.  It’s got so much information in it that I had to link to my blog for viewers to read the details.  I think I covered most things, and may have missed a few, but will catch them on my next video.  I didn’t want to go into inks in a lot of detail, as you can talk forever about them.  Instead, I’m going to link the video I did that explains the different types of inks.  My next video in the series is going to be about embossing as it’s one of the big keys to making cards.  Then maybe die cutting and embossing folders.  There are just so many subjects to cover.

I made a card tonight that’s really fun.  It’s another fun fold card and it’s called a criss cross card and I spelled it the way the person I copied spelled it.  It doesn’t seem like it’s spelled correctly, but I thought I should be consistent with her. It’s a really fun card and I thought I’d send it to the lady I spoke about meeting at a graduation party last weekend.  She really loves my channel, so I thought I’d send her a card.  I hope she likes it.

I was asked by a viewers Crafts by Pwilli to make a video of my favorite tools.
Paper
For card bases: Recollections Heavyweight Card stock 110 lb. from Michaels,  in white, cream or black  $14.99 for 100 sheets (without a coupon.
For layering and techniques:  Georgia Pacific 110 lb card stock from Walmart 150 sheets for $4.88
Colored card stock Recollections 50 sheets 65 lb. weight five colors in a pack $4.99 (without a coupon)
Paper Trimmer— 12″ Cricut paper trimmer $14.99 at Joanns  (without a coupon). Two pack of blades are $4.99 at Joanns without a coupon.  Don’t make the mistake that I made which is buying a smaller paper trimmer when I started making cards.  I thought since cards are small, I wouldn’t need the 12″ trimmer, but if you ever buy 12″ card stock (and you will if you make your own envelopes), then you’ll need the 12″ trimmer.  I recommend this trimmer very highly.
Corner Rounder to make cards that have rounded corners which is popular currently.  Creative Memories ebay for less than $10
Score Board–Martha Stewart large score board  12″ Joanns $24,99 before coupons
Bone Folder–makes a professional crease.  Fiskars bone folder  large head on it so easier to use if you have issues with your hands or wrists $5.99 at Joanns before coupon
Nail file from any drug store or Walmart $1 approximately, gets rid of fuzz on cards
Pokey Tool— (Paper piercing tool)  Lowest price  Ribbon Pro  Pin Needle Detail tool in the clay department and there it’s 99 cents on Ebay,  You use this tool to take the backing off of tear tape, or to poke holes for brads.  There is another option by Tim Holtz and his is much more expensive, but is retractable.
Silicone large Baking Sheet for $1.23 from ebay #142156077801 to use as a craft mat.  Tim Holtz also sells a craft mat that is around $20.  For the price difference, I prefer mine.
Glue Products:
1.  Tape Runner– Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive $3.89 at Amazon Prime.  I just made a video comparing tape runners and this was the one that outperformed all others.
The big ATG guns I don’t recommend if you have hand issues or are left handed, as you can’t see where you are running the tape as the ATG is between you and the tape.  It is also heavy and cumbersome.
2,  wet glue Martha Stewart wet glue 99 cents at Tuesday Morning,
3,  Tear Tape, double sided tape, Craft Chameleon 1/4″ wide tape  50 yds $3.95 or 20 yds $2.50.  It is a very strong adhesive and works well for albums, scrapbooks, or any card that you need to adhere layers together
4.  Foam Squares $2.00 at a stamp show
5.  Foam Tape (double sided)  Check on ebay or Aliexpress for best prices for the foam squares and foam tape.  Craft Chameleon has good prices for these as well.  You will use foam tape and foam squares to make your card have dimension.
Scissors–Stampin’ Up Paper Snips $10 great for fussy cutting (cutting around small images)
or Fiskars Easy Action 5″ scissors $14.99 at Joanns without a coupon, also great for fussy cutting.  get either of these scissors and you’ll be happy with them.  The easy action scissors are recommended by the Arthritis Foundation.  There is a larger size 10″ for $24.99 as well.
Tim Holtz 6 1/2″ Tonic scissors–great for trimming rubber stamps, cutting through wire etc.  These are great as they have a surface that is non-stick.  $16.99 at Joanns without a coupon
You’ll need both a pair of fussy cutting scissors and the Tim Holtz scissors to trim rubber.

Inks–Basics
You will want to have Versamark ink for heat embossing and using different mediums like chalk or mica powder on cards
$9.99 at Joanns
Versafine Onyx Black Ink–it’s a very dark black ink and dries slowly so you can use it with embossing powder. It’s the ink most stampers use for stamping their sentiments on cards $9.99 at Joanns
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink- for use with alcohol markers.  So if you intend to color with alcohol markers, you’ll need this ink as others will smear. $6.99 at Joanns

Stamping tools–  Either
Acrylic blocks $14.99 for a set of 4 pc of Recollections blocks  or the
MISTI the ultimate stamping tool that allows you to stamp and re-stamp over it as many times as necessary.  I recommend this tool for people with hand/wrist issues.  $60 My Sweet Petunia.
Tim Holtz is coming out with his version of it that is $34.99.
Stamp Cleanser—make your own with a spray bottle and
10 parts distilled water,1 tsp baby shampoo,1 tsp glycerin that you find in the nail department of Walmart or a drug store.  Put them in your bottle and shake it and you have a great stamp cleaner.  You could also use baby wipes for cleaning your stamps as well.
Blending tool–Harbor Freight Liquidators sells 1″ chip brushes for 69 cents each or $9.99 for 36.  Cut off 3/4″ and make a straight edge on the brush.  You need one for every color family and twice as many if you are going to use dye and pigment inks as you can’t use the same color brush for both types of inks.  I like this tool because I can hold it easily and it leaves a light colored finish behind.
Stamps and Dies–go to Ebay and Aliexpress.com before shopping elsewhere for them as their prices are lowest.

We spent the day going out to lunch with old college friends and then to a movie.  I know, it’s tough being retired!  When we got home, the weather got pretty nasty and the dogs decided they’d had enough of thunder, so Rich, Honey and Bella went to the basement for some quiet time.  Aggie and I are hanging upstairs, as she can’t really hear the thunder and the stairs are a hassle for her (and for me if we’re telling the truth.)

Since we were near an A C Moore, I decided to do a little bit of shopping and bought some things that I definitely didn’t need, but wanted to try.  I bought one of the knitting looms at a garage sale and bought some yarn to try to make a scarf with.  I’m not even sure if I can do it, but I asked and they said I can return the unopened yarn.  If I open one skein and can’t use it, it won’t be a big deal.

I found some pretty papers that were 70% off and lately I can’t pass up anything that is pink.  I bought some deep pinkish purple ink and paper from Stampin’ Up and some pink texture paste and just love anything pink.  I think I might make some pink glitter spray and play with that as well.  I have some card ideas I’d like to try that are fun folds, but just made one that should go live in the next few days that is really cute.  I really like fun fold cards and especially ones where I can layer papers and add something fun in the way of embellishments.  I think I mentioned in the blog that I found matching paper and washi tape and can’t wait to make a card with that as well.  So many ideas and so little time.  Ok, that’s not really true, as I have the time, I just don’t have the ambition that I really should have.  When we have such changing weather, I just can’t get any momentum, so I’ll just keep buying things on AliExpress until I find the will to create things.  It might take me a few days, besides, Rich has a lot of videos that need to be uploaded before I’m going to feel any real pressure.