Project 7 of 50 – Happy Graduation

Graduations are all over the place.. this past weekend was no exception.  My cousin graduated with an MBA and my parents wanted me to make a graduation card for him.

Now when I like a technique, I totally use it over and over again. For this card, you can see that I played with my Versamark watermark ink and my “Happy Everything” Lawn Fawn stamp set. I stamped “happy graduation” all the way down the craft colored cardstock in the watermark ink, then used the brown StazOn for the inked up sentiment.

Actually, for this card, I did the StazOn Brown ink first, then watermarked around it…

I don’t really like seeing the seam between the two different papers.  For some reason, it bugs me.. I always find a way to cover it up with some sort of ribbon or washi tape.. in this case, I have tons of this white ribbon, so I’m trying to use it up on as many projects as possible… you may see this ribbon pop up again…

I’m not sure where the striped patterned paper came from. It’s in my scrap stash.. that’s all I can recall about that..

This was a super simple and reproducible card.  It can be made with different colors and patterned papers..

Enjoy!

Project 6: For your Confirmation

My mom was the sponsor for a family friend during his Confirmation into the Catholic Church and she asked me to create a card to congratulate him.

Red is usually the color of Confirmation.. those confirmed usually wear a red sash around them, so I knew red had to be in this card..

I decided to go very clean and simple… but then again, don’t I always?!

I had visions of drawing this flowing, draping sash that would look like it would originate from behind the backing of the card.. but then I realized that I’m not that talented.. my brother is the one that can draw well.. not me.

So, I decided to use straight lines and hand-measure the “sash” from a strip of red paper..

Then, I drew out a cross using some yellowish-orange paper and apply glossy accents to make it pop! You can see that I have no patience for waiting for the glossy accents to dry before I take a picture…

For the sentiment, I used Harold’s ABCs from Lawn Fawn to spell out “For your.”  Then, I decided to handwrite “Confirmation” making it all fancy and such.  I used a pencil to draw out the letters, then wrote over it with one of my markers. 

I like the way the sentiment looks from far away than I do when I look at it upclose…

Here’s the final card:

The white cardstock is from Paper Source. The craft colored paper is from Michaels. The red is from Cards & Pockets. The yellow-orange is from an old DCWV paper pack. I used Staz-On ink for the stamped part of the sentiment and a black Tombow marker for the handwritten part. Oh ya.. and Ranger’s Glossy Accents.. of course!

There it is! Hope you enjoyed that little card! What else would you like to see?!

I’m back! Projects 4 &5 – PL Layout

It’s great to be back with so many projects lined up to show you!

I have to say that the last time I posted, I posted a two-page “PL” layout. According to the 50 projects rules.. which really aren’t rules.. cuz there aren’t really any formal rules.. I could actually count two-page spreads as TWO projects! Sooooo.. that’s going to be my new counting plan..

Therefore, here are Projects 4 & 5.. another two-page PL Layout..

You can tell that I’m really trying to keep things color coordinated by row.. and I’m really liking the look of the overall layout now that I’m doing it. I feel like there’s more connection to the entire page instead of just having 18 individual spaces.. I have about 6 individual rows that have a similar theme..

This particular week of the year was not picture-heavy..

I told myself that not ever slot had to have a picture.. not every slot had to have journalling.. not every slot had to have some sort of text..

So I dug into my doily stash.. and played with empty space. Sometimes, less is more.

I also realized that not every event needed an entire slot dedicated to it’s journaling.. sometimes, short, sweet and to the point is the best way to go.. by the way.. this my daughter playing with the son of my fellow blogging friend, Monica, of “Bored in Bloomington.” Visit her.

I love how my PL style is changing and progressing into something that’s more “me” while still experimenting with new techniques… I can’t wait to see what my PL pages will look like at the end of the year!

On a break..

Hi everyone!

I’ve decided to take a short break in blog posts.

I’ve got a crafty project with a short deadline that I need to crank out. 

Never fear, I’ve got TONS of projects lined up to blog about, just no time to make a good blog entry of..

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’m up to..

Stamping, fussy cutting and paper piecing!

Can’t wait to show you the final results!

I hope to be back sometime next week.. in the meantime, feel free to browse the blog.

Or better yet, visit my Facebook page, CutieQ Cards n Crafts, for updates and more behind-the-scenes pictures! Don’t forget to “like” it!

Project 3 of 50: Project Life layout

Here’s Project 3 of 50.

It’s a new layout for Project Life spanning the week of Janurary 27 – February 2.

You can see that I used a minimal amount of patterned paper, in fact, I don’t think I used any patterned paper.. It’s what I’m used to. I didn’t realize I did it until I looked at the finished layout..

Oh well.

I’m trying to work on using a more cohesive color scheme from now on. Instead of making each slot its own individual part, I’m trying to make each row it’s own section. So each row will try to be the same color scheme, matching the pictures that are in the slots.

I’m trying to be more consistent with this and I’m pretty happy with the results.

As you can see, I included the interesting experimental journaling card.. from far away, it looks a little better than I originally thought. It’s got that “messy” look to it that I was kinda of trying to accomplish. I still feel as though it looks like I let me nineteen month old toddler do it..

There you have it.. my third project.

My mom asked me to make a Confirmation card for her godson that will be having his Confirmation soon.. so that might be project 4.

I love this 50 projects challenge because it’s keeping me motiviated!

Experimental journaling…

My version of Project Life leaves me with very limited options.

Because I’m using baseball card holders, I’m limited to a 3 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in space.

There aren’t many companies (that I’m aware of) that create products that cater to this size of journaling..

Because I’m all about saving money, I don’t really WANT to buy products mentioned above..

So.. this issue has taught me to really learn how to be creative..

I came up with this:

It’s totally experimental.. and it honestly looks better from far away than it does up close.

It’s definitely NOT a favorite.. but it’s glued, done, and going in the book.

In my head.. this looked better.. the execution wasn’t as good as the vision.. it looks like I let my daughter work on the journaling card

My style is very clean, with very clean lines.

This was so NOT my style, but that’s the whole point of experimenting..

I will try this again.  I will try it until it starts to look what I envisioned in my head.. I think the next time, I will use my paper trimmer and stick to straight lines instead of freehand cutting it with scissors.

What do you think?  Any tips?

 

Project 2 of 50: Birthday card

There’s always birthday parties to attend, and that was no exception this weekend. 

Of course, I HAD to make a card.

It started with an idea in my head.  I’m not sure where I saw this, or what inspired me, but I had to get it onto paper..

What if I watermarked the sentiment all the way throughout the paper, then stamped the sentiment in an actual color to make it stand out?!

I did it, and it looked cool. 

But it was literally just that.. “happy birthday” stamped in VersaMark watermark ink and one “happy birthday” stamped in StazOn Black.

It needed something..

Of course, I went through my Lawn Fawn stamps and decided to go with my trusty “A Birdie Told Me” stamp set.

I created a little scene using the birds. I cut out my own green “grass” and lined it with a black marker. I also drew the clouds by hand and cut them out myself.

When I glued down the flying bird, I noticed that the wings were slightly bent up due to the fussy cutting.. I loved it and decided to keep it like that!

Cute, right?!

So here’s the final card..

I think it’s absolutely adorable!

I’m thinking of making something similar to this for the Facebook giveaway once I hit 150 likes.

I’m at 96 likes on my Facebook page, CutieQ Cards n Crafts. Click the link and hit like! Lets get me to 150 before the end of the month!

Project 1 of 50: Another PL Layout

I’m proud to say that I finished my first project for this Project 50 challenge I’m involved in.. it’s a Project Life layout for the week of January 20-26

JANUARY 20-26!!

Yes, I am that far behind..

But it’s ok.  I’m getting it done one week at a time.  I promised myself I wasn’t going to feel any pressure about what week I will be in and what time of the year it is.. so if I’m still working on 2013 in the middle of 2014.. so be it.

Luckily, someone from one of the message boards I play in suggested using OhLife.com for documenting my daily life.  They basically send you an email everyday asking what your day was like.  I set mine to email me around 8pm every day.  All you have to do is reply to the email.  They allow you to attach one picture per day, but you can respond with several emails to document the happenings of that day!  I think it’s going to be a wonderful way to remind me of the little details of the day.  I try to post a picture if it’s something significant I want to remember.

To figure out the dates of my pictures, I rely on iPhoto by sorting my pictures uploaded by “event.”

Now.. onto my layout!

Here’s the layout.

You can probably recognize one of the panels from the blog post “Stitching” which means that I started this project BEFORE I signed up for the challenge.  However, to be nit-picky.. I started the right side completely AFTER signing up for this challenge.. so.. to me.. it works out!

As you can see, I kept that middle section of the second page super simple.  I didn’t really have a lot to talk about and I also didn’t have a lot of pictures that I wanted to include in this weeks layout.  I decided that “less is more” in this instance and went with a super simple middle section.

I have quite a few buttons that I bought from Ebay last year when I discovered the art of putting buttons on my cards.. it was a fleeting quirk that left me with a few boxes of buttons.. so I’m left with having to use them up.  I thought this would be a cute place to start putting a dent into that button stash..

I realize that I have quite a few “stashes” that I need to use up.. so you’ll be seeing a few of those type of blog posts in the future..

I’m not a “purger” in the sense that I don’t want to give things away before I had a chance to really see if I could use the supply in question.. so I hope to find more uses for the things I have while working through the 50 Projects challenge AND getting through this year’s Project Life..

I hope you enjoyed today’s project!  Don’t forget to leave comments if there is something you want to see!

Also, I’m at 97 likes on my Facebook page, CutieQ Cards n Crafts!  I’m still trying to get to 150 likes before the end of April so I can kick off a “Liker Appreciation Giveaway” of a set of handmade birthday cards.  I’ll try to work on making a few birthday cards to show you what I’ll be giving away.. hope that’s in a blog post to come!  In the meantime, don’t forget to click the link above and hit like!

Related articles

• 50 projects (cutieqcardsncrafts.wordpress.com)

50 projects

Being the papercrafting techno geek that I am.. I am a part of several message boards..

Ok.. not several.. 2.

Ok.. maybe 1 and a half..

“Half” meaning I rarely comment, mostly lurk..

Anyway, on the board that I find myself most active in (it’s currently closed to new members, so there’s no point in linking it at the moment), there’s a challenge called 50 projects.

50 projects is an effort for us crafters to use our supplies instead of buying more and more..

So the challenge is to create 50 projects.. be it cards, layouts, mini-books, etc.. before purchasing a new crafty find.

Since I’m all about creating a dent in my stash (see here), I signed up.

Luckily, I had been at my parent house all last week because once I decided to sign up, my LSS decided to do a huge clearance on their stamps and discounted them by 40%!  What a tease!  If I was at home, I would have ran straight there after receiving the email. 

So.. I’m home now and ready to tackle this challenge.  You will see the projects as they are created on this blog.

Wish me luck!

Stitching..

I like the look of stitching on paper..

However, I don’t own a sewing machine, and I don’t plan on it either.

I also don’t want to punch holes in my papers and hand stitch because that’s just silly.  I’m sure that sometimes it will work, but with a toddler at home and limited time for crafting.. “ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!”

So.. the best way to get the stitched look is to draw it!

Yes.. draw..

It’s easy and can really make an impact on a project…

This is me drawing stitch lines on the birthday banner I made for my husband last month. It took some time to complete, but I feel it was totally worth it.

Creating this project took much longer than expected. When I told my husband that I was going to create a birthday banner for him, I said, “Oh, it’ll be easy. I already have the idea in my head.. boom, boom, boom, done! Probably will take less than an hour.”

Well.. I was wrong..

I bought the material, took the blue polka dot patterned paper from that large Recollections paper stack I have (see that paper stack here), and put the banner together.

Something was wrong.  Something was off.  What I didn’t anticipate was that the white letters seemed to be buried in the patterned paper.. a friend suggested I take some of the blue cardstock and create a shadow for the white letters.  While that’s a totally perfect solution, most of the letters were already stuck down, and I was running out of time to recut letters, create shadow letters, glue everything down.. yadda yadda.

My solution?!  Faux stitching!

You can see the difference the stitching makes in helping that letter “pop” out of the patterned paper. I decided to stitch around the banner to give it some continuity.

I love with an oversight in planning can turn into something fun.. time consuming.. but fun!

Another example of some hand drawn stitching is here in one of my Project Life panels..

When I made this card, I felt something was missing. I knew I didn’t want to do the straight dashed lines because I thought it would make the pieces feel more disconnected than they already were.. so.. I did the zigzagged lines and I think it looks awesome. From up close, they definitely looked drawn on, but from far away, they look like I put a sewing machine to it. So much fun!

Don’t forget to visit my Facebook page and like it! Go to CutieQ Cards n Crafts on Facebook by clicking here (and on the name earlier on this sentence).  Hit “like” to get me up to 150 likes before the end of the month.  If I get 150 likes, I will hold my first CutieQ Cards giveaway!