PaperWeaver

Papertrey Contest - Tiffany Pastor image

2010-02-03T00:25:00.000-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Niki Estes image

2010-02-03T00:21:00.000-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Melissa Bickford image

2010-02-03T00:20:00.001-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Lisa Johnson image

2010-02-03T00:19:00.001-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Heather Nichols image

2010-02-03T00:18:00.001-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Dawn McVey image

2010-02-03T00:15:00.001-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Beth Silaika image

2010-02-03T00:13:00.000-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Alli Miles image

2010-02-03T00:11:00.000-08:00

Papertrey Contest - Becky Oehlers image

2010-02-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

California palm and stars

2009-09-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Moose you so much!

2009-07-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Get well card I made for a coworker. I added more pages to the card in an accordian style so that more people would be able to sign it.

Some cards I've been meaning to post!

2009-07-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Scrap Cards

2009-02-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

I went to a friend's house without bringing ANY of my supplies, so in an effort to be paper frugal and as a challenge to myself, I only used her scrap papers to come up with these cards! I'm most proud of the first card because I actually used buttons. lol For some reason I have the hardest time putting buttons on cards. Sure I could use them as flower centers, but wouldn't the flower look cuter with a jeweled brad? ;)

Rooster Card

2009-02-28T02:02:00.000-08:00

My dad is the year of the rooster and that's primarily why I bought this stamp set from Basic Grey. You don't usually see a rooster looking this fantastic! I used black embossing powder on the rooster, colored the tail in with colored pencils and then went over them with a Sakura glitter gel pen. The stars coming out of his mouth is a stamp from the set that I stamped twice to make it look swirled upward. The patterned paper is also Basic Grey. The ribbon is from the Michaels dollar bin. :)

Echoes of Kindness

2009-02-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple card I made using SU! Echoes of Kindness, which is actually part of the hostess level 2 stamp sets. I used a blender pen and ink pads to lightly color in the image. The velvet ribbon is from Michaels and the patterned paper is from a stack I got at Joann. The solid papers are from Papertrey.

With Sympathy Birthday Card

2009-02-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick birthday card I made for a coworker using Papertrey's With Sympathy stamp set. The giant swirly vine image was what drew me to the stamp set in the first place, along with the interchangeable flowers that can be stamped on the stems. Even though the card looked a little morbid to me (because I knew it was a sympathy stamp set), people seemed to like the card as a birthday card. The butterflies were punched from a Martha Stewart butterfly punch that features the 1 big butterfly and 2 smaller butterflies.

Gift Card Holder

2009-02-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

This is a gift card holder I made for a coworker. I used papers from Basic Grey and a stamp from the Inkadinkado sets I got at Costco. I didn't have the flower on it at first, but I felt like the main image on the red was too bold for the rest of the gift card holder. Adding the flower seemed to ground the whole card by softening the boldness of the top image.

Sew Glad

2009-02-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

I like this card a lot even though it's fairly simple. It uses the SU! Puns From the Past stamp set. I love puns and I also love how there's nothing that needs coloring. It looks great on the distressed-looking green paper too. Both patterned papers are from a Basic Grey paper stack.

I originally meant to use buttons on this card, but I opted instead to add those three black dots, which are actually black "eyes" that I found at Michaels next to the googly eyes!

Look ma, no stamps!

2009-02-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

I was pretty lazy when I made this card and didn't feel like stamping anything, so I didn't! I used one of my trusty Martha edge punches, the SU! scallop circle punch, a smaller circle punch, flowers, brad, ribbon, and paper. Sounds like a lot, but it didn't take long to make and that was my ultimate goal. ;)

Happy Birthday to ewe

2009-02-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

I used Papertrey's My Punny Valentine set and a nestability scallop oval to make this sheep. I stamped the inside with "Happy Birthday to ewe." ;)

Costco Tree and Birds

2009-02-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Costco was selling these clear stamp sets by Inkadinkado last year that came with 4 sets, a clear block, and a spot inkpad in black. This image of the bird and tree is my favorite, not only because of the image, but also because I can stamp it in black and not have to color it in if I don't want to! lol

Christmas 2008 Cards

2009-02-27T20:07:00.000-08:00

I thought I would backtrack a bit and post some of the various Christmas cards I came up with last year.

Ornament Card

2008-11-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

jHere's an ornament card I made for a card event I attended. It flips open so you can write on the inside. I had to make over 30 of these to trade with other crafters, which is why I kept colors and embellishments to a minimum. It was also hard to come up with a card that only used Stampin' Up! products. I'm so used to mixing them with random supplies made by other companies. lol

Stamp set: SU! Deer Friends (Hostess Set), Snow Swirled
Paper: SU! Ruby Red, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip
Punches: Round Tab, Scallop Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, Coluzzle, Paper Piercer
Accessories: Hemp Twine

Get Well Wishes

2008-11-22T23:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple card I made for my craft group a couple of weeks ago. I've been trying to add more miscellaneous cards to my collection just in case. ;) I think what really makes the card work is the scalloped and embossed rectangle the stamped image is on. Like one of my friends said, Nestabilities scallops are definitely the way to go for that added uuumph! Haha.

Stamp set: SU! Fun & Fast Notes, Priceless
Paper: SU! Ruby red, Martha Stewart Heirloom
Ink: Versamark, SU! Basic Black, Koh-I-Noor colored pencils

Cup Runneth Over

2008-11-22T23:12:00.000-08:00

I made this card a few months back for my boss' birthday. We had been talking about getting a high-speed blender and after she had gotten hers, I decided to give her a recipe book for juices and smoothies. What better card to go with it than a cup card? ;)

Stamp Sets: SU! Tart & Tangy, PapertreyInk Mixed Messages
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Always Artichoke; Papertrey Father Knows Best, vellum cardstock
Ink: SU! Basic Black, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Straw, Clear Microbeads, Sticky Strip, Sponge

Wishing on the Stars

2008-11-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

This is definitely going on my list of top favorite cards!

A coworker commissioned me to make a card for his daughter's birthday and he mentioned her having a black lab, so this is what I came up with. I used the Dogs clear stamp set from Inkadinkado that I had gotten awhile back on sale at Joann.

My favorite thing about the card has got to be the strips of SU! Night of Navy cardstock punched with my new Martha Stewart Stars edge punch. It's just SO gorgeous! I love how clearly defined and colorful each star is and how there's also a zigzag edge. I also picked this particular dog from the stamp set because it looks like he's looking up at the stars and "making a wish." ;)

I stamped the dog in black StazOn on white Papertrey paper and then colored him in with Koh-I-Noor colored pencils in shades of blue, green, and yellow. I then went over the pencils with my Sakura gelly roll pen so that it would add a nice shimmer to the swirls. I just left it for a few hours to dry completely before cutting and adhering the dog to the card. I added some sheer blue and silver ribbon I found in the dollar bin at Michaels to finish off the bottom section.

The pretty pattered paper is from Target from awhile back. I'm glad I stocked up on the different patterns available, because I can't find mat packs like these anymore! Not only were the papers gorgeous, but they also featured an adhesive backing, which made it really easy to stick on cards. The only downfall is that if you mess up, there's no going back! They're like sticky strip and really stick to the surface you apply them to.

The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set and the circle is from Boxes, Tags, & More. The flower and leaves are from Creative Expressions and are adhered to the tag using mini glue dots. I finished off the card by using rhinestone stickers I got from Michaels as the center of the flower and on the upper corner of the card. I used to use loose rhinestones with glue, but these are SO much easier to use and a lot cheaper than I thought they would be! What I also like about them is how they're all adhered together in one long glue line. I just snip in between them and then use my tweezers to take them off the sheet and place them on my card. It makes it really easy to take groupings of them and have them perfectly lined up too! ;)

Craft Group - 11/5/08

2008-11-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog! I didn't want to start adding any more entries until I had added watermarks to my images, but then I got lazy adding the watermarks to my images. Hehe.

I have a wonderful craft group at work that started up a few months ago. We each take a turn being the "project manager" to come up with the idea of the project and teach the rest of us how to create them. We've been meeting up once a week during our lunchtime to craft, so the projects we create take under an hour to finish. The project manager does cut up any necessary papers or materials beforehand though, so that goes a long way into helping with time management. ;)

It was my turn this week and I decided to decorate glass ornaments using some acetate. This is an old stamp set I bought off one of the crafting ladies in my group. It's a SU! stamp set called See with the Heart. Isn't the woman gorgeous?!?

I stamped her onto a piece of acetate using black StazOn ink and then used permanent markers from Bic (you can use Sharpies too) to color in the image on the opposite side so that the StazOn doesn't smear.

While waiting for the image to dry completely, I took the top off the glass ornament I got from Michaels and used a makeshift funnel out of paper to add some Martha Stewart mica flake glitter into the ornament.

I used my Coluzzle circle stencil to cut out the image. Then I used my embossing tool (you can use a pencil or whatever you have on hand) to roll the acetate around it and place inside the ornament. I played around with the placement of the acetate once it was placed inside until it was where I wanted it.

I added some Michaels ribbon to the top and just tied it into a bow and slid the bow towards the top of the ornament.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and it's super easy once you get the hang of it!

As if the projects alone weren't enough, we decided to add card exchanges to each of our craft meetings! Good thing there are only a small handful of us ladies right now, so it wasn't too difficult to do.

Here is the card I came up with. I stamped the images from SU! Pocket Silhouettes using Martha Stewart inks onto SU! whisper white cardstock and punched them out using the SU! square scallop punch. Even though I have nestabilities to use with my Cuddlebug, I still love punches because they're so quick and easy to use!

I used the ink pads to sponge the edges and then I cut some square pieces of SU! chocolate chip cardstock to back the images on using some pretty high square dimensionals I got from Joann.
I drew a square around the images with my chocolate chip marker and then added a sentiment I stamped from SU! Fun and Fast Notes and punched out using the SU! window punch.

I used the Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch for the bottom of the card and cut my Papertrey craft cardbase down to make room for the doily. Then I added some paperpiercing to finish off the card.

Gee, I didn't realize I had used so many punches for this one card until I listed them out. lol Oh well, that's what they're there for!

Whoooo knew?

2008-09-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

Whoooo knew I'd love owls so much? I don't know when my love of owls began, but it seems like there are a lot of us owl lovers out there! This is only the beginning of my owl collection, but it's still my favorite thus far. The owl and branch are two separate acrylic stamps that I placed on the same block when stamping. I stamped them both in Versamark and then used black detail embossing powder. I love the look of embossed images, don't you? It really makes them pop. I colored them in with my Crayola markers and added googly eyes. I used a Martha edge punch that also embosses the white cardstock and tied a brown satin ribbon underneath the owl. I left the card blank so that I could add a sentiment later. The 3 pink dew drops were one of my greatest finds from Michaels. They came in this huge bag and were on clearance for $2! They are actually called something else and used to fill up vases, but they serve the same purpose as dew drops and look great to me! A small Zots glue dot is the perfect size for them too. :)

Stamp set: Oliver & Friends by Sassafras

Paper: random scrap papers from a friend's bin

Accessories: brown satin ribbon from Michaels dollar bin, dew drops, Martha edge punch and embosser

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multi and tape runner, Zots glue dots

Martha

2008-09-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

It wasn't until Martha Stewart craft products became available at Michaels that I realized what I had been missing. I LOVE her paper punches! This card relies heavily on her lace edge paper punch and her butterfly punch. The background paper I used was a self-adhesive paper found at Target that I stuck onto a piece of dark blue cardstock. The stamp sentiment is from SU! and I hand dotted the butterfly trail using a black marker.

Stamp set: Simply Said by SU!

Paper: Target self-adhesive patterned paper, cardstock from Michaels
Tools: Martha Stewart Doily Lacy Edge Punch and Royal Butterfly Punch

Adhesives: Tombow Mono Multi and Permanent Mono Adhesive

Always

2008-09-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

I started getting better at this point with my design and use of tools. I used black detail embossing powder for the bird and colored it in with markers. I also embossed the always circle that was first stamped on patterned paper. The pink scalloped circle was sponged with distressed ink around the edges. I used paper from a scrap pack and a piece of beige cardstock from Michaels as a base.

Stamp set: Always by SU!

Sam's Club paper

2008-09-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I made this card using paper from a scrap pack to layer on top of paper from Sam's Club. This was when I first realized I needed to buy better quality cardstock to serve as at least the base of a card. The Sam's club paper was super thin and flimsy! It's not even good paper to cut with on a Cricut machine. The only thing nice about it is that you get a ton of colors in a pack and it's double-sided with a subtle pattern on one side and a solid color on the other.

Stamp set: Stampin' Up! Pun Fun
Paper: scrap pack from Michaels, Sam's Club cardstock
Ink: Stampin' Up!
Accessories: ribbon from Michaels dollar bin
Tools: Fiskars corner punch, blender pen

The Beginning

2008-09-09T19:09:00.001-07:00

I've always been a creator or crafts in one form or another, but it wasn't until about 6 months ago that I began making greeting cards. It all started when a friend of mine had invited me to a Stampin' Up! party and I was able to see all things I could make out of paper and all the neat tools involved. I was immediately sucked in! The cards were like mini works of art and I couldn't believe I had actually made one! I loved every minute of the process and knew I had to continue making more cards. I rationalized that with the price of fancier cards steadily increasing in stores, this would be more of an investment than simply a hobby. Yeah, it didn't exactly work out that way. lol The more I bought the more I want to buy, so it hasn't exactly been an investment, but perhaps it will be in the future. For now, I'm just happy to be creating something I love and I thought I'd create this blog to log my progress as it unfolds.

Here is my very first card:

It's a very simple card using white and red cardstock. The cake was stamped in VersaMark ink and heat embossed with an iridescent black embossing powder. I used a corner punch for all four corners and slid the white cardstock into place. I had very little supplies at this point, so that's why I had to take a minimalist approach to this card. lol

Stamp set: Birthday Whimsy (Sale-A-Bration February 1 - March 17, 2008)