I wanted to make a card using vellum and some new brush markers I bought from Amazon. I know a lot of YouTubers use Zig Clean Brush markers, but they are expensive, and I really try to keep cost in mind for viewers when I buy products. I had done some research on which are the best brush markers in 2018, and the brand I bought were number one. And even better, I got sixty of them for a little over $20. I can’t say they are remarkable, but they worked just fine for the project.
I had been thinking about how to take an entire sheet of vellum and put a big background design on it, then how to attach it to the card without seeing a lot of glue. It occurred to me that if I made the vellum bigger, I could basically wrap it around a piece of card stock almost like covering a book. I have to say, that was my favorite part of making this card. It looks really unique. A friend had asked for a floral card, so I made this for her and although it isn’t super floral, I think she’ll like it.
I hope everyone had a great Easter. I ate a lot of food, then ate even more chocolate, and ended the day by eating Fritos, so I guess we can say I made the most out of the holiday. Actually, we spent the day with old friends and had a nice time reminiscing about family and friends and mainly discussed Ancestry.com, our family trees, and their two Newfoundlands. Let me tell you, those are big dogs. Sweet and gentle as anything, and very fast with the licks, especially on the face, while you’re talking. It was kind of funny, but mostly yukky, when you think about the other things they lick, haha. These dogs were huge and fun to watch as they ran around their backyard. It was a long day and we were glad to get home. Our dogs are much more manageable, but not too thrilled with the smell of other dogs on our clothes.
I’m glad to get back to making cards that aren’t holiday related. Although it’s always fun when holidays come up, it seems like I’m always starting too late, and end up putting up videos at the last minute. A friend card can go up any time, and I don’t feel the pressure that I normally feel while doing holiday videos. I’ve promised to make a couple of cards, and that’s going to be my focus for the next few days. Wish me luck!
I finally announced the name of the winner of our Easter basket drawing. Her name is Marjorie, and she made a sweet card with a large cross on the front. I’m waiting for her to return my email so I can send her the basket.
As for the rest of my day, I made a big batch of potato salad for dinner with our friends tomorrow and finished icing cupcakes to give to a close friend. After making a horrible mess in the kitchen, I cleaned and called it a day. Spent the rest of my day reading and watching videos. I’m a video junkie, and even if I don’t have any interest in the project they are making, I still like watching. It used to be that way with the Food Network, when they had half-hour cooking shows. I could watch those all day, even if I never had any intention of cooking whatever they were making. I guess Food Network decided people didn’t like to watch those kinds of shows any more, and now have all kinds of competition shows. I don’t really care who beats Bobby Flay or which little kid can make a gourmet meal without burning themselves to death. Somehow the Food Network has become a spin-off of “Survivor.” While I’m ranting about the Food Network, whose idea was it to pair Martha Stewart with Snoop Dog? Are you kidding me? Times are definitely changing, I’m not sure if it’s for the best.
On an up note, I hope you and your families have a wonderful Easter.
I wanted to make a small waterfall card and this seemed like the perfect occasion. I saw a video by Positively Papercrafts making a small waterfall card and tried to follow her directions. She was vague about a couple of important points, so I struggled a little bit toward the end.
I used Floral Doodle paper from Love Nicole from AC Moore for my background paper, and used Prismacolor and Caran d’ Ache Supracolor watercolor pencils for my coloring. I used a waterbrush to wet the colors.
The card base is white Recollections heavy weight paper that is 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ scored at 4 1/4″ to make a 5 1/2″ tall By 4 1/4″.
The yellowish color piece if 5 1/4″ x 4″ wide
The floral paper is 5 1/8 s 3 7/8″ wide and all are layered on each other with Glue Dots tape runner.
The next papers you’ll need with be:
2 x 2″ (you’ll need four of these) in the plain yellow paper color
1 7/8 x 1 7/8″ (you’ll need four of these) in white colored card stock.
You will layer these on top of each other with tape runner or whatever glue medium you prefer. Then set them aside.
You’ll need two more pieces in the yellowish color.
One that is 4″ long by 1″ tall
and one that is 9″ long by 2″ tall
Score the 9″ paper
at 2″, 2 3/4, 3 1/2, 4 1/4″ on the 9″ length.Take this and fold all of the scores back and forth so they are pliable. You will put tear tape directly below each of the scores on the short end. The long end of paper without scores will fold under and be hidden, so no need to put any glue on it. It needs to move so make sure you put no glue on the long end (that’s unscored).
I used Versafine Onyx Black ink for all of my black stamping and stamped “Love you” from my animal set on the long unscored length of the yellowish strip that’s folded under the scored part.
I used Dew Drop Memento inks–I used Stampin Up Tangelo Twist and in the Mementos, Dandelion, Tangelo, and Canteloupe.
You’ll need to stamp a design on each of your four white layered papers.
I took the 4″ x 1″ piece of yellowish card stock and used the Kadomaru Pro corner rounder that I got at Amazon and here’s the link to it. https://tinyurl.com/yb7axedw
Then used pearl brads — to insert them, I put a mark with a Sharpie and made a small mark on both ends, then turned my hole punch upside down, looked for the black dot, and punched the holes for my brads. Then you just insert the brads. I trim the legs of my brads with Tim Holtz scissors. After adding the brads, add tape runner on the back of it on either ends to hold it to our card base. I placed mine way too high on the card base, and recommend that you place it lower on the card base.
I made a mistake with the sentiment in the inside the card, so used some of the floral paper that was leftover and make a small card and glued it inside the card after rounding the corners of it.
I used the little Easter egg stamp to stamp on my animals, some were splotchy even after dry, so I re-stamped those colors. When I did this with darker tones, I also stamped the black over the darker colors, as the double stamping made the black disappear.
The first thing I did on the 9″ long paper is fold the unscored part underneath the scored part so I could remember how it looks when it’s on the card. Put tear tape right below each of the score lines then lay your image so the tape directly below the score line and rub so the glue adheres. Line them up so all four are in a row.
I put a mark in the center near the bottom of the long length of the strip so we can make a pull tab. I punched out a hole and then pushed the ribbon through and added a glue dot under it to hold it in place.
In order to make your waterfall work, you need that 4″ strip to be attached about an inch from the bottom of the card. You’ll add some tear tape to the middle of the 4″ strip and making sure it’s near the bottom of the strip. Then put the long flap under the 4″ strip and lay your scored part on top of the strip, making sure the bottom is lined up in the center and then press in place. Hopefully you will have laid the 4″ strip low enough that the waterfall effect will work..
I decorated my envelopes with the same bunnies as were on the card.
I’ve gotten a lot of entries for our contest, and am so glad I extended the deadline to midnight tonight. There are so many unbelievable projects and I’m so impressed with the skills my viewers possess. It’s really amazing. They should be the ones to have a YouTube channel, as so many of their projects are far and away better than anything I’ve ever made. (I’m not trying to degrade my own abilities, I’m just saying, these are amazing works of art!)
Rich is working to get the waterfall card uploaded before Easter, and I seriously think he’ll be cutting it kind of close, as he has just started, and volunteered to help friends move into their new home tomorrow, so will be busy all day. You might end up seeing that video on Sunday. It’s an Easter miracle!
As for upcoming projects, I’m going to make a small flip book album that shouldn’t take a lot of time to make, and I promised a viewer that I would make a hummingbird card, and am trying to think of a new and different way to make it. I don’t want the same old, same old, hummingbird. I want this card to really pop. Since my last hummingbird was done on vellum, I have a long way to go to create something more interesting. I’m still in the thought process of it though.
I ordered some brush markers today from Amazon, as I’ve seen so many people use the Zig ones, but I wanted to see if inexpensive ones would work as well. I went to a site that rated brush markers and these were their top choice, and there are sixty of them for under $22. So plenty of color options at not a bad price. I really hope I like them. I had bought the Zigs when they released initially, but hated them. I hope these make me happy, so I’m crossing my fingers and will let you know how it goes.
Rich and I found a dog whisperer to work with Honey. For those of you who don’t know, we bought Honey from a family that said they were raising English Retrievers (a smaller white colored golden retriever) and using the money to help their daughter pay for cancer treatment. OK, we believed they weren’t a puppy mill, but unfortunately, what you don’t know can really hurt. After we got Honey, we realized that with coon hound puppies, black lab puppies, Newfoundland puppies, and others we couldn’t see, they were basically just throwing food and water at each mother and puppies, and that was that. Honey had no interaction with humans, was terrified of Rich and his deep voice, had mites from cats being in her (I’m not sure what it’s called) kennel? It was a barn that I think they just threw hay in an area and the mother and puppies stayed in that part of the barn. Honey had to fight for food, for water, for everything. She had terrible fleas and a parasite that took months to get rid of, because it comes from a dirty (again, not sure of the term) kennel. We had to take her to the vet every week for almost three months, and of course, when I called the breeder, they’d never had anyone else call about their puppy. The Humane Society doesn’t have anyone to help with puppy mills or neglected animals, and AKC wanted nothing to do with my questions. It took us a year to potty train her and she’s more afraid today than she was a year ago.
The vet told us that it would be a long hard road for Honey, but since we’ve had so many dogs and all have lived to be over 15, the vet knew we could handle her. But as time goes by, her anxiety has gotten worse and worse. I didn’t want to take her to just anyone to help, and this woman came very highly recommended and I can see why. Although she noted Honey’s anxiety with her, Honey sat at her feet almost instantly. I never knew when a dog was anxious, their tongue gets wider in the front part, so it hangs over both sides of their mouth. Honey’s tongue was like that through the whole training session, until the trainer let her rest. She immediately crawled onto my lap and settled in…It was the first time her tongue fit inside her mouth. It was hard to watch.
She gave us some good training and I’m really hoping it will help Honey. It’s supposed to boost her confidence and help her to focus. I wonder if there’s a training exercise to help me focus….probably not..some old dogs, you just can’t teach new tricks.
I finished the waterfall Easter cards I’ve been working on. I was a little bit frustrated, because the woman I was following, missed one part of the explanation, so my waterfalls would get stuck on the last two flips. Nothing more frustrating than a card that doesn’t work. So I kept ripping it apart, and finally added another piece of cardstock (where you can’t see it, and got it to the point where the fourth flip almost looks perfect. I’ll let you be the judge of it when you see it in action.
I made two cards, so I could iron out that mistake. The real problem was, she didn’t tell you exactly where to lay a strip of cardstock that you ultimately glued things to. Since I put it in the wrong spot, gluing the waterfall in place was problematic.
Let’s just say that’s one I’m not going to be playing with again. Although it did look pretty frisky with the little bunnies I put on it in the end. I hope you like it and if Rich would give me back the memory card with the first half of the card on it, I could write my notes and we could get that bad boy uploaded. Don’t hope for it before tomorrow or even Saturday…it’s going to be an Easter present for you. haha…
I had so many issues with the contest (and my inability to give good link info,) that I decided to extend the drawing/contest to midnight of 3/30/2018. Please email me a photo of one of your paper craft projects to saundralparker@yahoo.com as that’s the easiest way for me to attach photos to facebook. Please include your full name as I’ll add that to the information I put on facebook.
I saw Jennifer McGuire do something similar to this card and I thought it would be fun to try. I started with two similar colors of card stock cut to 5 1/4 wide by 4″ tall and a card base that is white and sized to 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and scored on the 8 1/2″ length at 4 1/4″ to make an A2 size card on Recollection heavy weight card stock.
I used Hero Art/Hues Unicorn White ink with Ranger white embossing powder then heat set them with Mama Elephant Water Blooms stamp set. If you use clear embossing powder on this project, you’ll get a much more dull white background, and I don’t recommend you trying it.
I used Touch Five alcohol markers to accentuate the flowers and then attached then held both together on the 4″ length on my paper trimmer. I lined them up to the 2″ mark, holding them tightly, and cut them in half. Using my new Glue Dots super strength adhesive tape runner, attached both pieces to the card base. You’ll need to be sure to attach the top part first, then butt the bottom piece (in the opposite color) to the top part and make sure there’s no gap, then lay it down. I decided on this card, to put a little length of ribbon on it, so lifted the middle divider of the card and glued the end of the ribbon under it, then added a piece of tied ribbon onto the ribbon and glued the original length down with a small line of glue across the cut lines of the cards. I added Judikins Diamond Glaze to add a 3-d glossy look to the card, and apply it in little pools and then using a micro brush I bought at aliexpress and here’s a link to them. https://tinyurl.com/y9uj9pxr.
The stamp sets I used were:
Card #1
AlteNew Bamboo Roses
Impression Obsession Wishes
Card #2
Mama Elephant Water Blooms
Hero Arts Hello
I used Taken with Teal Stampin Up ink with Brambly Rose Lg. peg stamp. http://www.pegstamps.com and Fleur de Lis leaf from peg stamps with Always Artichoke ink to decorate the envelope.
I know the screen says the contest was extended to midnight 3/28, but this video didn’t get uploaded fast enough, so I extended it to 3/30/2018. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience I’ve caused.
I don’t know the winner to the drawing/contest yet, as Rich hasn’t added all of the email photos to facebook. Once he does that, we can go to random.org and have them choose a number based on the total number of entries. Takes all the guess work out of it and I won’t feel like I picked someone I know on purpose since I have no input.
Today I finished the last of the Easter cards. I like to make sure my cards are last minutes, so I made ones to send to our family and hope they like them. I have a couple of packages that I’ve been meaning to mail to friends and viewers, and just haven’t gotten to the post office, so tomorrow, after choosing the winner, I’m going to box up the basket and it’s contents, and get everything read to go into the mail.
Another call to my rheumatologist (whose on vacation) and more vague ideas on how to reduce the swelling. It’s been working as long as I stay on higher doses of steroids, but once I drop down, the swelling gets a lot worse, Drat… Just thought I’d update you on the arthritis issues….Hope all of you are well..
It’s the last evening for the contest/drawing, and we have very few entries. I know I had issues with the link, and fixed it several times, but still not many people have entered. Do you think I made it too hard, or do you think people give away everything they create, so have nothing to photograph. Frankly, they can submit anything they’ve created, as it’s not based on perfection, but rather, is merely a drawing, so any project can win. I hoped a lot of people would want a basket of crafty things, but so far, not so many. I even let them email me their submissions, drat!
Have two videos almost done and hope one will go live tomorrow. That’s my goal any way. It’s a pretty nifty idea too…
CraftingForAlmostEveryone.com 