Thyme Lord

Hiya, Crafters! What a day it has been for me! My darling husband bought tickets to see Alton Brown Live today. He texted me to bring my favorite cookbook of his downtown because Alton Brown is doing an impromptu flash signing. Of course I am going to do this, but I have about an hour before I need to leave. So I quickly make a card that I know he will never see the likes of again. Then I grab Good Eats, the early years, and make my way downtown like a maniac to get it signed. Did you know Alton Brown considers himself a Thyme Lord? ;)

Upon giving Alton the card, he almost immediately recognized it as handmade. I was really thrilled that he liked it.

The show was amazing. If you happen to find Alton Brown Live near your area, I would get tickets.

Thanks for popping by. Crafters. See ya next week!

Stationary Holder Tutorial

Hiya, Crafters! Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. I am looking forward to Halloween. This is the first time that I will be home at night to be able to see all the ghouls, super heroes, and princesses that come to our house for candy. Looking forward to it! Tomorrow we are going to carve our pumpkin; Wednesday my husband and I are going to see Alton Brown Live as a treat for our first anniversary so we are super excited. Then our beggar's night is Thursday. So we have a busy week ahead of us. Today I am going to show you how I make stationary holders to give as gifts. I cannot remember where I saw this originally. It was either Pinterest or YouTube. But it is super simple and I am excited to show you how to quickly make it up.

Here's what you'll need to make this stationary holder:

• Two envelopes larger than the actual envelope that will hold your card
• Cardstock
• Coordinating cardstock
• Coordinating ribbon or twine
• Double sided tape
• Trimmer
• Stamping tools needed to finish the project

Let's get started! Start with the larger envelopes. The ones I am using measure out to 7 1/4" x 5 1/4", but you can use any size you like providing that the stationary envelopes will fit in them. One of those larger envelopes, cut the flap off.

Then on the envelope that still has its flap, I rolled tape on the back of the flap and the outer edge. I then slid it inside the other envelope.

After that I decorated the front as to how I decorated the stationary. I attached ribbon to the side. I didn't measure it, so long as you can tie a knot or a bow will be fine.

I did the same to the inside and attached it with the same cardstock.

Each envelope can easily hold four envelopes or four cards. I kept mine free of bling and anything else that is 3D so that it doesn't break through the envelope holders.

The cards themselves are measured at 5 1/2" x 8" and scored at 4". I made the envelopes to fit so when I gift these, I'll include a double sided tape runner from the $1 bin. Below are more examples.

In the digital age, stationary is something from the past. But there is always a need for it at some time or another. I kept them blank so that the receiver can write whatever they want on the inside. These would also be great to sell at craft fairs. 

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and that it gave you some inspiration. If you do this, link a picture of your creation to my blog or leave it in the comments below. Thanks for popping by, Crafters! I'll see you next week!

Scalloped Tag Topped Circle Tip

Hiya, Crafters! I hope today finds everyone doing well and that we all had a great week. Today's make is something really simple to accomplish. I saw this card and just had to try it myself.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock for your base - mine is cut to 5 1/2" x 8" and scored at 4".
• Coordinating cardstock
• Nesting dies - can be any shape so long as thy fit on the card
• Scallop tag topper punch
• Stamping and die cutting tools needed to finish the card.

Normally I'd say let's get started but there's only one step I feel I need to show you. So cut down some coordinating stock and punch out your scallop tag topper. Then slide your circle, or whatever shape you chose, and make sure you simply tuck the top of the tag over the die so it doesn't get cut.

And that's it. Quick and easy for something you don't see every day. 

Hope you enjoyed this little tip and that it gives you plenty of ideas.  I've lost quite a bit of inspiration lately. I don't know if it has to do with the repetitive cards that I've had to make for the upcoming holiday season, or the scrapbook I am trying to make. It's a very tough subject of a loved one who had passed away 11 years ago. I'll get through it, though. Thanks for popping by, Crafters. I'll see you next week!

View Master Card Tutorial

Hiya, Crafters! Happy Monday everyone!! I apologize for not posting last week. I had a cold, the remnants are still getting me today, and I just couldn't get into crafting. I also didn't want to send a cold. But I do have something for you today that I can finally post! Yesterday was my one year wedding anniversary!! It's amazing how fast time went by! I love him so much. I wanted to make him an interactive card, and one not too girly either. I found this tutorial a while ago and thought this was the perfect occasion to try it! I toned down the girly bit because I made him hang it up at his office at work. When you spin the view finder, it comes out to say I freakin' love you! and then the wedding date. I also used our wedding colors. The TARDIS is a reference to our honeymoon. The nice thing about this card is that you can change the measurements to suit your needs easily.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 6 1/2 x 10" scored at 5".
• Coordinating cardstock cut to 4 3/4 x 6 1/4"
• Coordinating cardstock cut to 4 5/8 x 6 1/8"
• Trimmer
• Copy paper (or lined paper, whatever you have on hand)
• White cardstock
• 4 1/4" circle die (Or whatever will easily rotate in your card)
• 1 1/4" circle die (or what you have on hand)
• 1 5/8" circle die
• 1" punch
• 1/8" punch
• Brad
• 3D foam stickers
• Low tack tape
• Stamping and die cutting tools needed to finish the card

Let's get started! Cut out two 4 1/4" circles in your white cardstock and copy paper. The copy paper is going to be a guide for you. If you are going with smaller measurements, just make sure that your circle can spin easily inside your card. On the copy paper, I folded it in half, then folded it in half again, making pie wedges. I did use a straight edge and drew in the lines, I did it so I could see where I would be punching out my notches. You should have 8 wedges.

Next I attached the copy paper  to the other circle in my cardstock with low tack tape holding it in place in the middle. I used washi tape. With my 1/8" punch, I slid the combined pieces in and lined up the edge of the line through the teeny tiny hole. I did my best to only punch on the edge to create the notches.

After that I punched again between the notches, but without my copy paper guide. You'll have something like this:

Not it's time to cut the circles out of our coordinating cardstock.  I cut a 1 1/4" circle out of scrap from the bottom 4 3/4" x 6 1/4" layer. Then I cut a 1 5/8" circle from the top layer. I want to say that these are the only circles I have. The less of a gap between these circles the better it will look. So if you happen to have a 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" punch, use those! But you also need to make do with what you have. I almost forgot! On your 4 1/4" circle, place a dot in the center so you can easily find where you need to pierce your brad through.

What I did here is layer the purple square with the hole under the blue panel. I also cut a half circle out of each layer so that the circle edge sticks out and that it is accessible to spin.

 You'll also want to figure out where you'll be placing the brad through the blue layer. I lined up my circle and made an indentation in the cardstock, then pierced the paper. Once you have the brad through your top layer, flip it over and slide your circle onto the back.

Now it's time to stamp through the circle and onto the white cardstock. I created a mask using the smallest circle I had and taped it onto my card using washi tape. I will say that I had a stamp-a-ma-jig that I used to help me line up exactly where I wanted to stamp. If you have acetate, that will work as well. I also had to tape off parts of my stamp because it was too big to fit through the circle. So each time I stamped, I spun the circle, taped off a different part, and stamped again.

 Once you've stamped out your message, you will assemble the card. Glue your 4 3/4" x 6 1/4" down to your base, then using 3D foam stickers apply the top layer. Use the foam stickers so the white circle can spin.

I would say after making this card that if you're going to do any heat embossing, do it before you punch the brad through the cardstock. 

i hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and that you found some inspiration here. Thanks for popping by, Crafters! I'll see ya soon!

Alcohol Markers and Embossing Technique

Hiya, Crafters! Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. I have recently come to the dreaded conclusion that I've outgrown my storage in my craft room. Thankfully I still have the space for more storage. I decided to hunt down a DVD shelf for my stamps and a CD rack for my inks. It was fruitless; I couldn't find anything! Guess I have just dated myself. So I finally decided to condense my movies with my husbands. We'll be married for a year on Sunday so I suppose it's time to share. Now I have a DVD shelf. It looks like I can also store my inks on it, but I'm a bit concerned that they may fall behind it. We shall see. Over the weekend I watched a plethora of videos on alcohol markers as I've decided to dip my hand in them when I saw Joann's sells Spectrum Noir markers for $15. (Yes, more expensive than the websites, but the shipping and handling make it a non-issue.) I saw this video from StampTV and thought it was absolutely gorgeous! Then late last night I heard some news that I need to make some sympathy cards. The card and the technique I thought would be lovely for such a sad occasion. Now, I want to say immediately that I am no expert, in fact I would rather say that I am a novice with alcohol markers, but they are rather easy to use. I already want them all. If you already know what you're doing with alcohol markers, this isn't going to be anything new for you. If you have pointers, please leave a comment! Here's what I made.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 4 1/4 x 11" scored at 5".
• Coordinating cardstock cut to 4 x 5 1/4" for bottom layer
• Coordinating cardstock cut to 3 7/8 x 5 1/8" for matting layer
• Matching cardstock to bottom layer cut to 2 3/8 x 5 1/8"
• White cardstock cut to 2 1/4 x 5" for focal image
• Trimmer
• Alcohol Markers
• Embossing powder
• Versamark
• Embossing gun
• Dryer Sheet (to remove static from cardstock)
• Stamping and die cutting tools needed to finish the card

Let's get started! wipe your dryer sheet over your cardstock that you'll be embossing on, This helps to remove static from the cardstock so that the powder doesn't stick in places you don't want it to. Then inking your stamp in versamark, stamp into the center. Inking it after each time you stamp, go off of the paper.  Once you have your images stamped, pour embossing powder over it and blow off any excess powder that doesn't fall off with a couple taps. I used a silver embossing powder for this card. You can use any opaque color you like. Then set the powder with your embossing gun.

I have to make multiple cards, but the coloring did take me some time, since I'm a novice, so I finished one card and I will go back to the other later. I began from the middle and did a little at a time to allow for maximum blending. Since I'm working with the starter packs, I do have some gaps in the colors. The colors I am using for the petals are DR5 and DR7. I colored the petal first in DR5.

Then along the base, or where I think the shadow would be, I lined it up with DR7.

I went back over it with DR5 again to blend and try to bring a little of the DR7 further into the petal.

Once I completed the flower, I went back to the curls of the petals and colored them with DR1 only.

It does look like I wasn't too successful in blending the shadows so much with the petals, but I was still happy with what I accomplished. I tried to take a picture to show how it shines.

Here it is all completed.

I'm certain that there would be better blending if I had the DR6 marker, but I don't. And the contrast is growing on me. 
The paper that I am using here is by Michael's Recollection brand, 65 lbs. It's better than the Darice brand, less bleeding with water based inks and markers. I also don't think it's truly 65 lbs. It's lighter than the Recollection brand. I only mention this because Darice is listed on the packaging of the markers. Alcohol markers are meant to saturate through the paper so it doesn't feather outwards. However, I did see a small bit of feathering under the embossing lines. So I did place some chipboard under my paper to protect my surface. 

Also something to keep in mind that the ink will stick to the embossing powder. Depending on what color you used, it may not show. It did with mine. So I picked up my blender pen. As I've found in my pass uses and through the videos, it's more of an eraser than for blending. I lightly ran it over the embossing lines that I accidentally touched. It will carry a little color over at first so be sure to dab it off on scrap paper before continuing on your project.

That's all I have for you today. I hope that this technique gave you some inspiration today. If you were on the fence about alcohol markers, I say go for it! I am no artist, but they are easy to use and Spectrum Noir won't break the bank. Especially if you use coupons. Also, if you're a master at alcohol markers and you stuck through to the end feel free to comments with any pointers you would like to share.

Thanks for popping by, Crafters! I'll see ya soon!

Pop Up Book Card Tutorial

Hiya, Crafters! I hope today finds everyone well. It's a bit gloomy and foggy here. I love it! So as we know October is breast cancer awareness month. One of my cousins is a survivor of the disease and not too long ago had her reconstructive surgery. She is so brave and an inspiration for hope, courage, and strength. I wanted to make her a very special card and followed this tutorial. Once again this card took far longer to decorate than to actually create; but I think it was well worth it. I'll be glad to show you how I did this in depth for you.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• 12 x 12" piece of cardstock. It can be plain or patterned.
• Trimmer
• Scoring tool
• Coordinating paper
• Sponges (optional)
• Stamping and die cutting tools needed to finish the card

Let's get started! Take your 12 x 12" cardstock and cut in half at 6". One of these will be the base for your card while the other will be the pop up part. On your base piece, score at 6". You can opt to decorate it now or wait until after you've attached the pop up part to your base. I don't see any reason not to do it one way or another. Let's move on with the cutting and scoring! This piece you will firstly score at 6".

As you can see, my trimmer is upside down so I can see what I am doing. Flip your cardstock with the 6" against the lip and line it up at 5". Move your cutting blade to the 2" mark inside your arm and cut to 10". Rotate your card 180 degrees and repeat.

Then turn your cardstock 90 degrees and line it up at 2" and score to connect the cut lines.

Slide your cardstock to 2 3/4" and score again from cut line to cut line.

Next you'll slide your cardstock to 4" and score only from the edge to the cut line. Skip over the panel to the next cut line and score down to the edge. These should only be 1" scorelines.

Rotate your cardstock 180 degrees and repeat! Here you will do some mountain valley folding along your score lines and you'll have something like this.

I'd recommend using your bone folder and burnish all the creases. You'll want to keep doing this each time you fold or unfold something. I wiped ink on all the score lines with some sponges for extra depth. Now to decorate the side panels I did some cutting to make a frame. First, cut two pieces of cardstock at 4 x 6". With your paper longways, slide the card to 5" and cut up to the 2" mark on your cutting arm. Flip it over and repeat on the other end. Then cut to connect those cut lines. These are two pieces even though I put them too close together.  You'll have something that looks like this:

Those are two separate pieces. I did find the the bottom and top panels were a little too tight so I cut a sliver off and they fit nicely.

Decorate the inside panels now. They measure at 3 1/4 x 4", but I cut them at 3 1/8 x 3 7/8". Once you've finished decorating, we are going to attach the base to the card. I did one side at a time so that I didn't have paper sticking to something that it shouldn't. Do not glue any score lines or the middle part or will not pop up. I only added glue where I had taped the pink panels before. It looks something like this:

Here's the front of my card.

I added some purple to break up all that pink. The frame was quite easy to make. I took two of my nesting dies with one smaller than the other and put it through my cuttlebug, then I embossed them.

 Super gloomy that it looks yellow, must be the yellow walls. =)

That's all there is to it! Again it took me significantly longer to decorate the card than to actually put it together. =) 

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial! I do so love books and this will be something I make again. ( have another book tutorial to share with you as well, but I'm saving it for later. I won't be posting again until Monday as tomorrow I need to bake cookies all day. Poor me, right? =P Thanks for popping by, Crafters! See ya on Monday!

Squashed Diamond Fold Tutorial

Hiya, Crafters! Happy middle of the week! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Since it's the first day in October, I put out my sole Halloween decoration warning of Zombie Crossings! Hehe! Today's card is inspired by this card. The link leads to a site that's in a different language. Something was lost in translation as it came out as a "Mystery Ventilation" card - which I certainly didn't care for so I am calling it a squashed diamond fold for now. I really like the look of it and I'll be glad to show you how I did it.

Here's what you'll need to make this card:

• Cardstock cut to 4 3/4 x 11" for your base
• Cardstock cut to 7 1/8 x 7 1/8" for your insert.
• Sponges (optional)
• 2 coordinating pieces of patterned paper
• Trimmer
• Bone Folder
• Stamping and die cutting tools needed to finish the card

Let's get started! Score your base cardstock at 5 1/2" and set aside. Take your insert and fold it diagonally both ways. Open the card and fold in half both ways. Open it once more and fold in half the other way both ways. I rubbed ink on all edges and the score lines.

Next you'll turn the full square facing you so it looks like a diamond, then all you need to do is tuck in the sides. You'll have something that looks like this:

After that take your 2 coordinating pieces of patterned paper and cut them both to 3 1/2 x 3 1/2". We will then cut those diagonally in half. On your trimmer line it up point to point on your cutting mat.

I also sponged ink on the edges here for continuity. Then glue them onto the angles. This is what it looks like.

On my card base, I used my border punch along the edges of both ends. Then, without gluing the insert down, I lined it up to see how it looked. The diamond is about 5" wide, and since the card base is 4 3/4" wide, I snipped the bits that protruded from the inside. (I also marked lightly with a pencil through the punch so I knew where not to run my glue.) And sponged them as well. Once I had that sorted out, I glued the top first, then the bottom. It won't sit perfectly flat, so stamp your greeting into the insert first. 

Here's what it looks like folded even though all the pizazz is on the inside.

The sentiment on the front was a freebie photo-polymer stamp set with a magazine I picked up at Joann's. I stamped it first on scrap paper and I'm glad I did since there was still an oil like residue on the stamp and the ink was beading up. I took an eraser and rubbed it over the stamp and that solved my problem.

Honestly, the fold is rather quick as is assembling the card. What took me so long was figuring out how I wanted to decorate it in and outside. That's it for this tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it and that you found some inspiration here. Thanks for popping by, Crafters! See ya soon!