cards

Planning for Fun with Echo Park

In The Studio

It’s time for another blog hop courtesy of Imagine, this time with an assist from Echo Park.

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From the various collections I opted for the Creative Agenda kit and used a bit of this and that to put together this fun to-do list-inspired birthday card.

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I used the Pennants die set to create a void in a piece of one of the patterned papers that was backed with some self-adhesive foam for dimension.

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Then, on a sheet of white paper, I stamped the Circles acrylic stamp with Elderberry Memento ink, Dandelion Memento Luxe Ink, and the teal shade from the Tahiti Kaleidacolor ink pad applied randomly across the stamp with Ink Blushers.This became the background for the die cut sections in the front part of my card.

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I decorated the card with stickers from the kit and a trimmed-out piece of a to-do list from one of the other Creative Agenda patterned papers. The list got a few check marks from the Creative Agenda Enamel Shapes and I did a fair amount of pen detailing with a Pitt Pen. I also sewed a bit of baker’s twine between the pennants to make it look more like a banner before matting the whole thing one a striped piece of patterned paper, also from the kit.

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Once everything was secured, I filled in some of the circles in the background with StazOn Studio Glaze and Radiant Neon Amplify! to add a bit of dimension.

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While this card is a lot busier than I usually would create, I think it’s loads of fun. And I’d be happy to check off those to-dos pretty much any day!

Here’s the full supply list used for this project:

Imagine: Memento Luxe (Dandelion), Memento (Elderberry), Kaleidacolor (Tahiti), InkBlushers, Radiant Neon Amplify! (Electric Coral, Electric Yellow), StazOn Studio Glaze (Cactus Green, Bahama Blue, Cotton White)

Echo Park: Creative Agenda Collection Kit, Enamel Shapes, Circles 4×6 Stamp, Pennants Die Set

Miscellaneous: Self-Adhesive Foam, Die Cutting Machine, Acrylic Block, White Cardstock, Black Pen, Baker’s Twine, Sewing Needle, Glue Stick

And now, if you’re hopping along from post to post, your next stop is Wendy Sue Anderson’s blog. But before you head out, don’t forget to leave a comment at each stop along the way. Both Imagine and Echo Park Paper will be giving away prizes to commenters!

This Blog Hop Didn’t Get Lost in the Shuffle!

In The Studio

But how awesome is “lost in the shuffle” as an apology for missing a card-worthy occasion? It’s just one of the many sentiments included in the “In The Cards” stamp set (and coordinating “Shuffle” Fri-Dies set) that I received as part of today’s Imagine Crafts/CAS-ual Fridays blog hop!

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While I love the stamp set, I ended up using more of the die set for this card since I wanted to try the inlay technique and I’m very happy with how it all turned out.

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Materials:

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Spray a sheet of cardstock with Walnut Ink and allow to dry.

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Cut numerous diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades from the Shuffle Fri-Dies set from the sprayed papers. For variation, feel free to cut some from the more speckled edges as well as some from the solid-color areas.

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Cut those same shapes from the card front in a random pattern. Make sure to cut some off the edges of the card front to really “sell” the random pattern idea.

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Apply adhesive to the entire front panel of the card front and match the card front over the adhesive. The glue peeks through the holes, making it easy to slot in the colored die cuts.

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Trim 1/4″ strips from the sprayed card stock and make them into a frame just inside the perimeter of the card.

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Spritz the assembled card with irRESISTible texture spray and allow to dry.

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Stamp a sentiment onto a 1/2″ strip of white card stock. Trim the ends, add a crystal, and pop the strip up with ZapDots and it’s done!

So, the next step on the hop will bring you to Karen Griglione’s blog! And if you missed a stop on the hop, you can find the full list of participating blogs (with links!) over at the Imagine Crafts post.

Now, a little bird tells me that there’s a giveaway happening as part of this blog hop, and all you have to do is leave a comment to enter! And if you can’t think of anything else to say, tell me your favorite card game! I’ve always been a Gin Rummy fan, myself. Winners will be announced on the 27th!

12 Days of Blogmas: Random Acts of Kindness

Just for Fun

One of my favorite parts about the holiday season is not the presents, it’s the general cheeriness and goodwill the season inspires in many. That idea that, yes, we really can be a little nicer to one another when there are twinkling lights and sprigs of holly around. That’s the part of Christmas I would hate to lose.

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Today’s Blogmas topic is RAKs, or Random Acts of Kindness, and opportunities abound this time of year.

The other night at dinner, a friend was talking about a local fundraiser that was asking for money, not any sort of physical donations, and she was a little apprehensive about that. After all, how do we know how much of those donations actually make it to those in need instead of going to administrative costs? On the other hand, larger organizations have a lot of buying power and can usually make arrangements with suppliers to get the most from those donations (not to mention donated goods may not fit all needs).

One way to feel a little better about giving money to a charity, if that’s your preferred method, is to check them out! Non-profits, in exchange for the benefits that status gets them, are required to make certain records public. You can request these records directly from the charity, or use IRS form 4506-A to request them. Of course, if you don’t want to wade through their tax forms, you can check out certain watchdog sites that will do the analysis for you. GiveWell and Charity Navigator are two companies that evaluate charities for their overall impact. There are undoubtedly more.

But what if money just isn’t what you have to give? A lot of people are on tight budgets and it’s easier to give time or something small. That’s why I want to share a couple of opportunities for giving that you may not know about but that can have a big impact.

I read and enjoyed MODG for quite a while, then the posts stopped showing up in my feed and her blog got lost in the shuffle of what shows up in my dash. Recently, though, I was reminded of her WANA program. WANA stands for We Are Not Assholes and is a way for readers to help readers. In it’s 4th year, you can find this year’s post here (http://modgblog.com/2015/12/02/5417/) and if you see a need that you can fill, you’ve just done something to make the end of the year a little brighter for another person. I know some requests were for simple things, like diapers; something you can add to your next shopping trip or maybe your baby just grew out of a size and you have a whole package just lying around.

It’s all about finding a need your are best suited to fill.

Another blog-prompted opportunity that truly is a small thing but can mean the world to the people on the other end is Operation Christmas Cheer, hosted by The Whatever Mom. On the facebook page for OCC there’s a pin post with names and addresses of kids who are seriously ill. All she asks is that you send them a card to make being sick over the holidays a little bit easier to bear. Right now there are 4 names and it’s easily one of the simplest outreaches that I can think of.

Spending the holidays in the hospital is no fun, both for the sick kid and for their family. I remember visiting my baby sister (who passed shortly after her first and only Christmas) in the hospital this time of year, back when I was 5 years old. Cards wouldn’t have healed her, but they would have made us all smile a bit. So, yeah, this one is special to me and I was happy to find out about it in time to participate. You can also contact your local hospital to find out if there are any kids in their pediatric wards who could use some extra cheer if you want to do something a little close to home.

Spread the cheer and love this time of year, friends. And maybe make it a resolution for next year to keep it up for the other 11 months of the year, too?

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The 12 Days of Blogmas is a link-up hosted by The Coastie Couple and The Petite Mrs. Check out either of their blogs to see what everyone else has to say on today’s topic!

Star Trek and Sewing: March 2015

In The Studio

My binge watch for March ended up being Star Trek, the Original Series. I’ve tried watching it in the past but just couldn’t get into it, finally chalking it up to the very heavy “space Western” vibe of the first season. Strangely enough, I really enjoyed Firefly, though, so it’s not like space-Westerns are all bad.. But something about TOS just wasn’t doing it for me.

But! With the passing of Leonard Nemoy, it seemed fitting to give the series another go. I’d made it through a big part of season 1, so this binge was mostly seasons 2 and 3. Season 2 was pretty awesome, so now I’m really glad to have watched it. Season 3? Todd kept asking ‘did you get to the space hippies?’ every time he’d pass my office door. So much that I wondered if it was one of those episodes I just listened too and never looked up during.

Nope. He assured me I wouldn’t be able to miss it, and he was right.


Direct link for the feed readers: Star Trek: The Way to Eden, Main Jam in Lounge

Dude, that’s trippy.

And the series finale? Seeing Kirk have an absolute hissy fit on the bridge was a bit of a treat. Though, in my head, I keep hearing him scream ‘respect my authority’ a la Cartman, which just makes it even more funny.

I’m still a Next Gen fan, but at least I can make that statement fully informed.

What was I doing while Kirk, Spock, and McCoy duked their way through the galaxies? Mostly Sewing.

Since this was the first month we had fabric in hand, I had two Love My Fabrics projects go live:

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jvanderbeek_lovemyfabrics_botanicgarden_fabricbasket_fabriceggs_easterdecorFull write-ups and links to their patterns are available on the Love My Fabrics blog: Eggs, Basket I also have a pair of doll outfits going up on Tuesday, using the same fabric set (Botanic Garden, available in a fat quarter pack on etsy)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

For Helmar, this month’s assignment fell due just before Todd’s birthday, so I used it as a kick in the pants to actually make his birthday card instead of buy it. That we’re both in accounting makes the card make more sense.

jvanderbeek_helmar_numbersbirthday_cardI also have a cute little decoupaged bunny hanging going up today!

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Finally, over on Gauche Alchemy, the March challenge was to use a quote in our work, and I used the “keep moving forward” quote from the end of Meet the Robinsons for mine. I also learned how to make animated gifs so I could show a (somewhat rapid-fire) time-lapse progress of the canvas I made for the challenge. I think I’ll slow the frame rate down a bit next time.

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I also have a secret knitting project in the works and, of course, have been busily “crafting” the business plan for The Crafty Branch. It’s not done yet (bother!) but it’s really coming along and I feel really good about what I do have put together so far. April’s gonna be a big month!

 

 

Two Birds, One Stone Card Box

Wedding Planning

We’re not expecting many gifts brought to our wedding, but I figure cards might be a bit more common so wanted to include something to hold them in and just set it on the same table as our guest “book” set-up and call it a day. From what I can tell, it’s fairly common to include a picture of the couple (another use for that engagement session) on the table with the guest book–and that’s when I worried said table might become a bit cluttered.

Since our guest book is actually a cork cage, I thought a card cage would be a bit much even if they are one of the prettiest options out there. The mailbox idea is cute, but it’s tough not to look at them and see the montage from UP! and that leads to instant waterworks. A suitcase wasn’t right and while the cardbox monsters are absolutely adorable, it was a little more levity than I had in mind.

But something needed to be decided, so I picked up one of those generic patterned paper boxes at the craft store with the intent to paint or otherwise cover it.

I’d used one of these at a shower I threw a few years back and just inserted a skewer to keep the lid propped up. It was functional if nothing else.

However, this was right around the time I was making the mini-books for our centerpieces so I started looking at the box from a different angle and decided if I could fashion a way to keep it open without losing the cards inside when the box was moved, why not do that instead? And if it’s standing up like a book (or a picture frame, ahem), why not put our engagement picture there instead of on it’s own?

‘Why not’ indeed!

I even had some of the envelope liner/mini-book cover paper leftover, enough to cover most of the “cover” of the card-box book and create a mat for our photo on the front.

I love it when a plan comes together.

First things first, I had the gold paint out again and decided to go ahead and paint the narrow sides of the box/book. It probably would have been best to prime it with a layer of gesso, first, so that it wouldn’t take four coats of the metallic gold paint, but it eventually got where the pattern wasn’t showing through so no harm, no foul.

Not that I'd consider trying to color the entire side of the box, but, hey, for edges it works!

Not that I’d consider trying to color the entire side of the box, but, hey, for edges it works!

For the edges where paper coverage was less likely, instead of getting the paint back out I opted to use my metallic sharpies and they worked amazingly well covering up the patter on the edges and dried much quicker, too! I liked the ease of the marker so much that when it came time to create the shim to hold the box open/create a base for the box, I colored over the paper with the bronze marker, too, and it worked wonderfully.

And it was around this time I realized I'd fit the shim to the wrong end of the box--oops! Good thing nothing was permanently adhered, yet.

And it was around this time I realized I’d fit the shim to the wrong end of the box–oops! Good thing nothing was glued down, yet.

By adding a couple of metal washers to the shim, the flap of the box will serve the same purpose: keeping the lid (that’s now the front of the book) in place! In this case enough that I don’t have to permanently adhere the shim to the inside of the box so we can use it to store the cards or other memorabilia after the wedding.

Rather than cut tiny little strips to line the inside edges of the box/book, I used ribbon to cover those areas, mostly it just needs to blend in more than anything, so the darker color of the ribbon works better for that than the patterned paper would have anyway!

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Then it was just a matter of cutting the paper to size and adhering it to the box, then using 1″ strips to create a mat around the edge of the cover before attaching our photo. Preferring the look of finished edges, though, I decided to take a bit more ribbon and frame the photo and then dressed it up with some self-adhesive pearls.

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The final touch was to mat a little “cards” sign on a scrap of the patterned paper then create little legs for it to stand on at the top of the book. I colored the flat portion of the legs to match the gold paint it’d be sitting on, but left the other half white so it would blend in with the paper. Minor details, sure, but it’d be far more noticeable if I’d left them out.

(Okay, probably only noticeable to me, but one less distraction for the bride is never a bad thing, right?)