Say THANKS to a Friend with a Laugh

This month's Designer Craft Connection blog hop theme is Thank You cards & Gifts.   This card, created with Graphic 45 papers, The Buckle Boutique bling, and a humorous saying stamp from KellyCraft's® Jimbo Lojik™ stamp line is a fun way to say thanks to a friend for having your back during tough times!

Be sure to click on the the Designer Craft Connection icon in the column on the right to see what other creative ways the Designers have found to say THANKS!



Materials: 

KellyCraft™ Innovations Jimbo Lojik Stamps - Set A
KellyCraft™ Innovations Get-it-Straight™ Laser Square & Multi-Mat™
Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess collection
Clearsnap® Crafter's Ink - Stone
The Buckle Boutique Gold Rectangle Dazzling Diamond self-adhesive rhinestone sheet
Westcott® Titanium Bonded Scissors & Self-Healing Mat
AdTech dot runner
Black, rust card stock
Gold photo corners

Instructions: 

1. Cut black yardstick to 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" and fold in half to form card.

2. Cut piece of rust patterned paper approximately 4 x 5 1/4".   Use Get-it-Straight™ laser square to mount centered on front of card.

3. Cut woman dressing image from paper, ink edges with Stone ink pad.  Add gold photo corners.

4. Cut mat from rust card stock slightly larger than image. Use Get-it-Straight™ laser square to mount image centered on mat.

5. Cut strip of Dazzling Diamonds about 1 1/2" x 5 1/2".  Use  Get-it-Straight™ laser square to align and then mount onto front of card.

6. Use Get-it-Straight™ laser square to align and mount woman image on left front of card as shown.

7. Ink "Put your BIG Girl Panties on and DEAL with it!" stamp with Stone ink.  Stamp onto tan parchment card stock.  Trim around verse.  Ink edges of verse.   

. 

8.  Cut mat for verse from rust card stock.  Mont verse to mat, use  Get-it-Straight™ laser square to mount verse  onto center of card slightly overlapping woman image.  

Friends Are The Family We Choose for Ourselves - Mixed-Media Frame

My latest project for KellyCraft uses their amazing Get-it-Straight™ Laser Square and some of my other favorite crafting products - Craft Attitude (follow the link in the right column and get FREE SHIPPING on Craft Attitude products!) , Smoothfoam, Connie Crystal, and Graphic 45 papers!  Find the full instructions here on the KellyCraft blog: 

http://www.kellycraftblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/friends-are-family-mixed-media-frame.html

“Escape” Lanyard Holder

Designed for Connie Crystal 
by Cindi Bisson 
Behind These Eyes™
www.fatcatcreations.blogspot.com

Tropical colors, flowers, and a reminder to “Escape” adorn this sparkling mixed-media badge holder I wore at the recent CHA trade show in Anaheim. 

Supplies:

Connie Crystal - 2.5” rectangle crystal, quartz rosebud beads, aquamarine rectangular seashell beads, 8mm red crystal beads,
ICE Resin Silk Ribbons
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Seaside Holiday paper
JudiKins Diamond Glaze
Jump rings, eye pins, alligator clasp for badge holder, jewelry pliers, brass leaf charms, brass chandelier charm, scissors, needle

Instructions:

Measure and cut silk ribbons to desired length.

Trace rectangle crystal over “Escape” on patterned paper.  Cut out and mount to flat back of crystal using JudiKins Diamond Glaze.  Seal outside of paper with glaze.  Let dry.

Use pin to push through holes in crystal and paper.

Add large jump ring to bottom of rectangle crystal, add alligator clasp.

String red crystal, aquamarine seashell bead, then quartz rosebud onto eye pin.   Repeat to create 2.

Place 4 small brass leaf charms onto 4 small jump rings, mount beneath rosebud.

Add jump ring to top of rectangle crystal, add brass chandelier charm. 

Mount two beaded pieces to chandelier charm. 

Add jump ring to end of each beaded piece, and add to silk ribbons.

Mixed-Media Mirror with Connie Crystal Pearls

Connie Crystal pearls, Graphic 45 papers, Earth Safe Finishes and JudiKins Diamond Glaze are combined and a dollar discount store mirror gets a transformation perfect for a special little girl.  Find the full tutorial on the Blog link via the Connie Crystal website - http://www.conniecrystal.com/

*The original Connie Crystal blog is experiencing some difficulties - you can access it by linking through the website.  Hopefully, all projects will be transferred to the new blog - http://conniecrystalsparkle.blogspot.com/ soon! 

Recipe Book Re-Do - New Episode of Behind These Eyes on WCK

I'm excited to share my second episode of Behind These Eyes on When Creativity Knocks - Recipe Book Re-Do features fun retro kitcheny papers from Graphic 45's Domestic Goddess collection, twine from The Twinery, and some adorable hen & chick buttons from Blumenthal Lansing.  Best of all, there's a free .pdf download with stepped out instructions and some great recipes from the book itself! 

Birthday Cards

In my family, the birthdays tend to be clustered - several together in March & April, and then several more in October & November.   We just celebrated both my boys' birthdays, and my mom and dad's birthdays, and today I'm sharing the cards I made for each.  It's been a while since I've taken the time to make so many cards in a short time, and I have to say I've been bitten by the card making bug again and am anxious to make a few more for my stash. 

My mom's card was made with pretty papers from the TaDa Creative Studios Goody Two Shoes Collection. 

The daisies were die cut using my Craftwell e-Craft, then textured with a Sizzix texture plate and Big Shot machine.  Blumenthal Lansing buttons and a bit of embroidery with yellow embroidery ribbon were finishing details.   The verse was stamped in Cinnamon Versacolor ink which I discovered matches this paper collection perfectly!

Now for the masculine cards - Graphic 45's A Proper Gentlemen collection made it easy to make this antique auto themed card for Pop - he loves vintage cards and is currently restoring an antique pick up truck so this card was just his style.

My son Joseph's birthday was in March and we celebrated with a soccer themed family party.  His card has a 3 fold pop-out of the word THIRTEEN, which was hand cut and then stamped with Happy Birthday randomly.   Soccer patterned paper and soccer ball brads were finishing touches.   


For Thomas's birthday, also in March, it had to be camouflage.  His cake even had a real hand-grenade in the center.   His card was made with free form pieces of card stock which were stamped with assorted leaf stamps and Happy Birthday stamps.   The "BIRTHDAY" was hand cut, and pops out from behind one of the pieces when the card is open to it's 3 panels for a 3-d effect.  


Now I'm off to check my calendar to see who has the next birthday so I can whip up a few more unique cards......

An Altered Necktie - All Things Altered Block Hop

Welcome to the "All Things Altered" Blog Hop, hosted by Pam Bray.  13 Designers are participating and adding their unique flair.  For my project I altered an old necktie purchased in the local Goodwill store (where I also discovered this clock shaped like a vintage pocket watch - had to have that!)  The vintage masculine papers in the Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman Collection were perfect for what I had in mind.  I first tore assorted sheets from the collections into random sized pieces, then adhered them collage style using Plaid Fabric Mod Podge to the front of the tie.  The back was given a single coat of Plaid's Martha Stewart Crafts Copper Metallic Multi-Surface Craft Paint using haphazard strokes to add texture and sheen, yet the darker base color of the fabric still resonates through the paint.  

When paired with a vintage cufflink & tie bar set, a gentleman who accents his outfit with this vintage style altered tie is sure to feel dapper.

Be sure to hop through the 12 other participating designer's links and see what they have shared.  You are sure to find some inspiration to do a bit of creative altering yourself!

Betty - http://scrappybetty.blogspot.com/
Debbie - http://studiobeecreations.blogspot.com/
Christine - www.scrapbookingtechnique.blogspot.com/
Jess B. - http://thatzuneek.blogspot.com/
Charity- http://scrapfaire.blogspot.com/
Laura Evangeline - www.lauraevangeline.blogspot.com/
Eileen - http://www.eileenhull.blogspot.com/
Jennifer - http://hydrangeahippo.com/
Irit - http://iritshalom.blogspot.com/
Gloria - http://www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Cindi - http://www.fatcatcreations.blogspot.com/

Here's a peak at the true colors of the papers in the collection