Rich made a great photo and then turned it into a JPG file so that you can use it to make a great card very quickly and easily.

You will use the link below to print with your regular printer and using white cardstock.  You can use 110 lb or 65 lb cardstock in your regular printer connected to your computer.  Use 65 lb. cardstock if you are layering your card, and 110 lb if you are sending it without any layers.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-DLO0m6zf9fN3hFT2tIUWN5UFE/view?usp=sharing

After printing this photo with the link above, you’ll want to trim the image with your paper trimmer.  Then you will want to either stamp on the back with a postcard stamp or draw the lines and the stamp square and the word “Postcard” at the top on the back of the image  to create a postcard.  I recommend using 110 lb cardstock if you are going to use this by itself to make it a postcard.

If you want to line the image with another color like I did, then trim the image to 3 3/4″ x 5 3/4″ and then make your backing paper 4″ x 6″.  If you back your postcard, you should use 65 lb cardstock so that both papers aren’t really thick.  Make sure you use a lot of tape runner so the two pieces of paper are really well adhered so they go through the mail really easily.

After printing the image from above, you’ll want to stamp a sentiment on the front of it.  I chose cherry cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up and my sentiment was from a Hero Arts set called Celebrate Everyday.  I stamped my postcard stamp on the back.  Amy Tangerine makes a really nice postcard stamp.  I used Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp my postcard image.

If you choose to make the image into a regular card, trim it on the sides to 3 3/4″ x 5″ and then back it with another colored layer that is 4″ x 5 1/4″  attached together with tape runner,  then put foam tape on the 4 x 5 1/4″ layer and attach it to a white card base that is  4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″.  I put washi tape on my envelope and my card was ready to go.  I thought it was really nice of Rich to give us a simple but lovely image for us to make quick and easy cards with.

Each card should take less than two minutes to make if you make them in an assembly line fashion.

Well Rich’s idea for his photograph was really amazing.  He took a picture of some spring flowers and then created a distressed background around them.  He then set the pictures up so they are a JPEG file and can be printed on cardstock.   I printed out four of them and made some into postcards and some into cards.  All it takes to make an Easter card is to stamp a sentiment on his photo and then either stamp a postcard stamp on the back of the image or cut the paper down enough to attach it to another piece of cardstock and then stamp a postcard stamp on that.  You don’t even need a postcard stamp, you can just write the name and address on the back and draw a line between the address and your message.

Ok, I realize that it doesn’t make much sense the way I explained it, but the bottom line is this.  Rich is giving anyone the photos so they can print them on their regular printers and make them into really lovely cards for spring, Easter, Passover, whatever the occasion.  It was such a nice thing for him to do and the video will be up tomorrow so you can start making some cards for yourself.  I think it takes about five minutes to create a card that is really nice…Just wait until you see them, I think you’ll be impressed.

I really liked the rainbow inspired cards I made a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be fun to make a Mandala inspired look with rainbow colors and the peg stamps.  If you didn’t know, pegstamps.com (Rubber Stamp Tapestry), are helping me celebrate 3,000 subscribers by giving me a discount code of 15% off their entire store by using the promotion code SANDYPARKER until April 17, 2017.

I used the following peg stamps:
bitty peony
bunch of daisies
middle swirl flower
distress bottom leaf
soponaria solid
Three ripply flowers

The inks I used were Stampin Up Real Red and Summer Sun

Memento Dew Drops Tangelo, Bamboo Leaves, Danube Blue and Grape Jelly.

I used a Stampin’ Up set called Another Thank You for my sentiment and a yellow 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card base.  I cut Strathmore Bristol paper to 4 x 5 1/4″ for my stamped images.

I tried stamping each image in a circular shape to maintain my circle shape.  After I was finished stamping, I used the 1″ chip brushes to brush yellow on the center to the orange, then used orange brush over the orange, then green brush over the leaves, then blue over the blue flowers, then purple over the purple flowers and out to the edge of the paper.  After I was finished with the brushes, I put the mandala on my yellow background paper but used foam tape between them.

I was amazed that as soon as we uploaded the video of Shelli and I crafting, that we started getting so many wonderful, lovely comments about the video.  Shelli was worried that we would get some thumbs down on the video, but instead, people are encouraging Shelli to come back and do another video with me.  I was thrilled and I know Shelli will be as well, to the response we got from the video.  You really never know if people will respond well to a video or not, but this one was a big winner.

I’ve been trying to finish Easter ideas and Rich has come up with one of his own.  He’s taking some photographs of spring flowers and is going to let me know tomorrow what plans he has for his pictures.  I can’t wait to see them and hear his ideas as he is really creative.  I guess we’ll all just need to wait and see.

My cousin Shelli is brand new to alcohol markers and coloring.  We started by stamping our images with Simon Say Stamp Intense Black ink on Neenah 80 lb Classic Crest paper (Shelli’s) and mine was stamped on Fabriano 140 lb hot press water color paper.  The stamps were both from Stampendous.  Shelli’s is the Hydrangea Lacecap and mine is their Timeless Rose stamp.  I also used a Thinking of You sentiment on the outside of my card. Shelli used Stampin’ Up Wisteria Wonder and I used Orchid Opulence inks with the chip brushes I buy from Harbor Freight Liquidators.  We both used a really fun floral border from Stampin’ Up’s set called  Bordering on Romance for our envelopes and then we colored the border with alcohol markers.

We lined the back of Shelli’s hydrangea lacecap image with pretty decorative paper and her top paper was trimmed to 3 3/4″ x 5″ and her decorative paper layer was 4″ x 5 1/4″ –she put foam tape under this layer. Her base was 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″, a typical A2 size card.   She used a Mother’s Day sentiment from a retired Stampin’ Up set called You’re Wonderful.

I rounded my corners with a Creative Memories corner rounder so my top was 4″ x 5 1/4″ and my card base was  4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″.
Shelli did a really amazing job.   I’m sure her mother will love the card she made.  We had a terrific time and I’m looking forward to another crafty day with her.

I wanted to see if the papers I used made a difference in blending alcohol markers so I tried blending on six different papers.  Two in particular are supposed to work really well with alcohol markers, the Neenah Solar White and the Strathmore Bristol papers.  What I found when I blended the markers, was impressive.  Please remember that I used Spectrum Noir markers, so maybe other alcohol markers would react differently to the papers, I don’t know.  I wanted to put that note in, though, because maybe Copics blend differently.

The papers I used:
from Michaels (as Recollections is a Michaels brand) Recollections 110 lb. cream card stock that sells there for $14.99 for a pack of 100 (without a coupon).

Georgia Pacific 110 lb white cardstock for pack of 250, that I normally buy at Walmart, but did my price checking was done through Amazon so the price comparison is apples to apples.  $7.27

Strathmore Bristol 100 lb. 9 x 12″ pack $7.43 at Amazon

Canson XL 9 x 12″ 140 lb Cold Press Watercolor Paper $7.37 at Amazon

Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80 lb. 250 pack, $36.00 at Amazon

Fabriano 140 lb. Hot Press Watercolor Paper 9 x 12″, $10.98 at Amazon.

I used Spectrum Noir markers DR1, DR4, and DR5 for my blending as reds sometimes are difficult to blend.

I started with the Canson that is a watercolor paper.  I started by putting all three colors in a row then used the DR1 to blend them all together.  Then went back over with DR4 to ensure a good blend.  After it was dry, it did not do a good job of blending as you can see the line between 4 and 5.

Strathmore Bristol–after it is dry, this blends really well.

Georgia Pacific–after it is dry it blends really well.

Neenah–I could see a clear line between the 4 and 5 and didn’t think it did a good job of blending.

Fabriano-after it was dry, it blended well.

Recollections (cream color)–even after re-blending it after it was dry, it did not do a good job of blending.

You might wonder if using the larger nib on the DR5 made a difference in my blending.  I used it on the Georgia Pacific, Neenah, Fabriano, and Recollections.  The Fabriano and Georgia Pacifics were two of the three that I chose for best for blending.

The papers that did a great job of blending were:
Strathmore Bristol
Fabriano Hot Press
Georgia Pacific

I hope this helps you to determine which papers you should use with your alcohol markers.

Today I was a crafting fool.  I made two cards, one water coloring with Stabilo 68 markers and the other had a watercolor background and colored with alcohol markers.  They were both a lot of fun to make and I think my girlfriend liked hers, so they were both fun.  I worry that I’m starting to get into a rut of making the same kinds of cards so am looking for ideas to try different techniques.  I need to get back to playing with my stamps instead of always being late for a card that needs made.

I wish I had some great plans to create something different, but need to think through my current ideas and come up with one I like.  I do like making different folds in cards and really liked making the box card, so I might give one of those ideas a try.

Rich is busy editing the video for the day I spent with my cousin Shelli.  He’s asked me several questions about what to cut out because we basically talked non-stop through the whole card making process.  It was hard to decide if we were discussing card making or just laughing about whatever.  Regardless, there is a ton of video footage for him to go through and he just threw in the towel for the night as he’s been at it for several hours and hasn’t been able to finish.  I guess that’s how it is when you get two talkative women together and want to narrow down their discussions to crafts.  It’s just not very easy.  It’s a good thing I pay Rich so well.  Chocolate and dog kisses, works every time.

Today is one of my closest friend’s birthday.  I need to make her card because in my mind, I thought her birthday was the 12th.  Now every other year I’ve gotten her birthday right.  What happened between last year and this is a mystery to me, and I am feeling really foolish that I can’t remember something this important.  When we talked on the phone yesterday, she was saying that her entire family was going out for dinner and I asked if it was for her mother’s birthday that was a few days ago.  She said no, for my birthday.  That’s the moment I broke out into a cold sweat.  How do I forget a birthday and then remember it as the wrong day?  Yikes, I really need to refer to the birthday calendar that I created for myself to avoid situations just like this.  Naturally this isn’t the first time I’ve forgotten a birthday and I’m getting more frustrated because I created the solution, but forget to look at it.  Geez, who does stuff like this?

So I’m off to make a video for a birthday card, how hard could that be?  Another five or six hours from now, I should have an idea for the card at the very minimum, and possibly produced an actual card (let’s not get so far ahead of ourselves here.)  Baby steps.

I forgot to mention yesterday I went to the first garage sales of the season and I bought dog toys.  That’s all.  How sad.  Ok, we did go to a rummage sale that a local diet club puts on.  They always have the best food, so of course I had to bring home chocolate covered Chex Mix with cranberries.  I wonder how their diet works when they offered awesome sweets and sloppy joes and hotdogs.   I should look into it as it seems like the kind of diet I could handle.

So today I didn’t do very much besides laundry and talking to Carol Held on the phone.  She was telling me a story about her Apple computer having issues and trying to work with the Apple support team.  It wasn’t going well, so she decided to take her video camera off of the tripod to see if the connections were attached properly.  Her camera was almost $3.000 when she bought it less than two months ago.  As she unscrewed it from the tripod, it flew out of her hand and landed on her wood floor across the room.  Of course the window you see the video through was broken.  So being like all women, she freaked out and called Best Buy where she purchased it.  I’ve never had good experiences with Best Buy and was amazed when Carol told them the story and they replaced her video camera.  I couldn’t believe it.  Of course she had to tell the story to probably six different people, but when they connected her to the “Geek Squad” and she was told the fix would take eight weeks, I think she lost her mind.  I can’t imagine someone on YouTube being without their camera for eight weeks and somehow that was the turning point, as the employee said, “I’ll just recommend we replace it.”  That would never have happened to me. They would have said something like, “You broke it, you have to buy a new one.”  I could have cried, kicked my feet, beat my chest and the end result would have been the same.  “Well mam, you dropped it, so you’ll need to buy a new one.”  Carol is my idol, because anyone that can get that kind of service from Best Buy is like a horse whisperer or whatever the equivalent would be when dealing with a computer store.  In the end though, she still hasn’t gotten the Apple problem fixed.  She spends so much time on the phone with them that she should get paid.  Last week alone, she was on the phone with Apple over eight hours.  I would have cracked after the first hour.  I would have been crying and babbling and incoherent.  Rich would have found me with the phone in my hand, screaming, “Why??”

It’s a good thing Rich handles all computer related issues in our house, otherwise I would probably have quit the whole YouTube gig for greener pastures, aka reading a good book or watching movies.

My cousin Shelli, came to make cards with me today. We talked about what techniques she wanted to try, and her goal was to practice blending with alcohol markers.  She wanted to make her Mother’s Day card, and she did.  It was amazing and she took to blending with markers like a professional.  She was a little bit nervous at first, but really did well and her card is so beautiful.  I think it will be one that her mother keeps forever, maybe even frames it. If I got her card, I would frame it.

I think some people are just naturally artistic and Shelli is definitely that.  We videotaped our experience of making cards together, and you’ll be able to see it for yourself.  We had so much fun and forgot the camera was on.  I’m a little bit worried that the camera might have turned off at a couple of points, as we colored for hours (literally.)  It was just so much fun to have someone to color with and to experiment with different colors,  fun and relaxing.   I do worry that the video won’t make much sense since we might have skipped some parts, but we’ll do our best to piece it together so that it does.  I can’t wait for everyone to see how talented Shelli is for a beginning crafter.  She should make her own YouTube channel, Cards for Beginners.  That’s a great idea.  Shelli, you should consider it!