Cuttlebug and Cosmo Cricket

It's the end of the school year here, and that means saying thank you to all the fabulous teachers that the boys spent the year with.  I paired a Cuttlebug embossing folder with some Cosmo Cricket paper--it was a perfect match for some super quick cards.

In 3 easy steps:

1. Cut paper: cardstock base (5.5x8.5), background solid paper with white core (5.25x4), accent pieces from pp
2. Emboss bg paper with Cuttlebug folder and sand away some color from raised texture.
3. Stamp sentiment, and embellish card with cut accents.

Holiday Cards {almost there} days 25, 26, 27

Coming into the final stretch, and I really want to be done with these before the stroke of midnight tonight. But in case I don't make it, I'm posting what I have so far:

Day 25:

Day 26:

Day 27:

Holiday Card Catch-up {days 6, 7, 8}

What is it about the weekends that just makes it so darn difficult to find creative time?! I always go into the weekend with high hopes of spending several hours in the stUdio. Oh, well; it feels good to be caught up on my card-a-day's. So here they are:

Day 6 A little hand-made felt snowman sitting in a felt snowbank.
The snowflakes are heat embossed.

Day 7

I've had this snowmanfabric kicking around since my sister and I

went crazy one year with gifts in a jar topped with fabric covers.

I cut out the square and ironed it to a piece of Pellon fusible fleece

to give him a little quilted look. I sewed him to a mini card and frayed his edges.

The BG is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder,

and accented with some doodles with a Sakura glitter pen.

The checkerboard is also a piece of frayed fabric.

The snowman piece opens to reveal a photo and/or greeting.

Day 8

Taking a break with a simple, graphic card. Not too much going on here--perfect for mass-producing. I borrowed a color scheme from a card I made several years ago (Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, More Mustard, and Old Olive). Just some punches, brads (with a smash of the hammer), and a stamped sentiment.

Well there you have it. Being caught up feels pretty good! Be back tomorrow with another one. Thanks for looking!

Celebrate

My Mom's birthday card:

Glittered flourish handcut from MAMBI patterned paper; Butterfly die cut from SU! sizzix, textured with Cuttlebug, and sanded; SU! sentiment from Warm Words; Circles punched from MAMBI and layered with pop dots.

Monkey Face

A super quick and easy card (like ten minutes quick!). The idea for punching the monkey faces out came from Splitcoast. I've been getting a lot of mileage from the Cuttlebug embossing folders these days. They are so easy to use, and pack a punch on your card.

Another thing that simplifies the card making process when you're in a pinch for a quick card is a go-to color scheme. My go-to color schemes for kiddo cards are turquoise, orange, and bright green; olive, blue, and pumpkin (for boys); and rose, saffron, and chocolate for girls.

SU! Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore

SU! Stamp Set: Sock Monkey

Cuttlebug Embossing Folders: Happy Birthday, Spots and Dots

KWerner Color Challenge #53

I missed the official entry for this week's color challenge. It has been an absolutely cAraZY week around here; two weeks really, but who's counting? Anyway, here is my card using these fun playful colors.

I used some Cuttlebug embossing folders to create the texture, then punched with various circle punches and layered them. A dollop of crystal Stickles finishes off each flower's center. The stems are DCWV rub on stitches (you could also use your sewing machine to add even more texture, but hey I was in a pinch for time!). The black leaves are hand cut. A rub-on sentiment and a punched butterfly with a Stickles body completes the card. Total time: 15 minutes (not counting the drying of the Stickles!)

It's about all I managed to get crafty with last week. Here's hoping this week is better and more crafty-goodness filled!!

Happy Birthday Cupcake

I guess I'm really liking orange and blue together these days. And I've also been getting lots of milage out of SU!'s Big Bold Birthday set and the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder. I guess we've been needing lots of kids' birthday cards around here, too.

KW Color Challenge # 48

It's been a few weeks since I've done Kristina's Color Challenge, and I had to make a birthday card for my niece (a belated one at that). So why not be really efficient and combine the two. I used the pindot Cuttlebug embossing folder to create texture on the tree. When it was done I thought it needed just a bit more so I added the blue "berries" on the tree. A blueberry tree?? I don't know, but it adds a touch of whimsy.

Color Challenge

Here is my card done with KWerner's Color Challenge. This is a great prompt to get the creativity flowing. Instead of a card, you could use the colors to create a scrapbook page or a painting, or any other project you can think of. And in addition to the colors in this Inspiration, I used the flower motif, as well.



And a close-up of the texture created with the Cuttlebug template:



I may add a little greeting word as a tag hanging from the flower's center (or maybe I won't).

Thanks for looking, here's The How-to:

1. Stamp the petals from SU! "Pick a Petal" set in light colored ink on Whisper White. Cut out, and flip over so only the white shows.
2. Use a paper piercer and mat to pierce the border of each petal.
3. Cut More Mustard to 5 1/4 x 10 1/2 and fold in half.
4. Cut Kiwi Kiss to 5" sq. and run through Big Shot with Cuttlebug "Stylized Flowers" embossing folder. Adhere to card base.
5. Punch Kiwi Kiss, Really Rust, and More Mustard with 7/8", 3/4", and 1/2" circle punches respectively. Glue together (I liked how the pieces looked when I haphazardly layered them so I kept the look by gluing them this way).
6. Use paper piercer to poke holes through circle piece and thread with Linen Thread.
7. Cut small scallop circle from Really Rust using Birds and Blooms Sizzlit and Big Shot. Adhere sewn circles to scallop with Dimensionals foam.
8. Adhere petals in flower arrangement on embossed Kiwi Kiss.
9. Adhere center with Dimensionals foam.