Styling cards with "The Great Gatsby" in mind!

 

I love this style  card! Dosen't she have"class"! This card was introduced to me as a" steampunk style" however I think with the new fashion, new men's wear and ladies' frocks, ala Daisy, from the movie The Great Gatsby, we card makers have several new challenges for us to try. We can adapt some of the same notions to our graduation card theme and incorporate the dapper look to our "Father's Day cards.

The best site to look for more ideas with vintage theme papers is the Graphic 45 paper site www.graphics45.com . You will love their paper inspiration. The notions are endless!

 There are just a few  websites  but there are many, many themed papers. Some of these elements work in well with the Tim Holtz clear and acrylic stamps. When you add a sentiment stamp with the Graphic 45 papers you really do get a style that  could very well come right out of the Great Gatsby era ( and the late 1920's).
Here is a good example for Father's Day. This one was made for a 4.25" x 5.5" card. Our first mat is olive green reduced by .25" all around less than your card size. The second mat is paper from the Graphic 45 in a harlequin diamond pattern,  reduced another 1/4" ; adhere the second layer on top of the first and adhere this assmblage to the card front. The car stamp is stamped on a cream colored cardstock, layered likewise  with small terre cotta colored rectangle  and the largest being olive green. All graduated in size 1/8" smaller. Just before the car stamp is applied use a lighter shadow stamp for  a writing  and clock motif. The sentiment is cut out, trimmed and applied with the olive green background 1/8" larger than the Father's Day stamped sentiment.
Try your hand at this one. It takes more cutting but the idea is very simple and very neat---dapper!

 

 

Are You Fond of Inchies?

 "Inchies"? An "inchie" is just what you might think it is, a one inch by one inch square design or word, framed in one central color of card stock. The inchies are then placed on your cards in geographic patterns, or in random places on the card face. Look at theses "inchies" from another style of Graphic 45 paper. The inchies in this photo haven't been glues in place yet, but you can see the variety and subjects the artist is going for. The paper blends nicely into words and pictures.

 

Well-Groomed Young Graduate

 This graphic paper tells me the "graduate" is a young man, well-groomed, and on a path of success! What does it say to you? The card map, that is the design pattern one follows is a more difficult level on this card, but never the less, I think our message comes through clearly to the young grad who recievs it. A rare race for success begins with a well-groomed young man. There was something about this era with its wild music, flappers dancing, taboos broken which contrasted with the "time ticking" away. A first impression was measured in a moment.

 

Finally, let's go back to an easier card map again. Using a simple sentiment stamp' cut in a strip the full length of your card (5.5"). We begin to assemble  printed paper which will accent the center focus of the men's shoes from Graphic 45 paper. Start this card with the black background cardstock cut 1/4" smaller than your white card face. Next, add the print stripe then (space), the shoe print paper,( space) another print stripe (space) and finally your sentiment strip. Move the coponent pieces until you have a symetrical arragment.

Father's Day, Graduation, a celebration of a by-gone era for our modern day! What is it about this style ? I just love working with it and creating some special cards  for the people I love. I hope you will try some of these papers and make it a new fad! 

 



JUNE: Summer Leisure or Time to Re-Organize you Stash

It is wonderful to take a break and enjoy some downtime. Most of May was spent on some type of deadline. Maybe that's why we need some leisure time away-- deadlines are called that because they will kill you!

 

 

Garry and I took a break to see family, spend some time with them in the heart of Smith Mountain Lake,near the Roanoke area of Huddleston, VA. www.smithmountainlakerentals.com/utopia)
All You see is this wonderful lake water beneath you and the sky above. It is lovely. Click on their link.
We didn't stop making cards--- we made some Hero cards for OWH (Operation Write Home.org) and had fun sailing and fishing.

This photo was great! Did you ever wonder what to do with those old  blurry photos? Well, I can get inspiration from it and  do a Father's Day card. Now you have a new purpose for them.

I took some time to make three cards with one of our CMC partners, Marie, and using one of the OWH sketches # 85... we went to work.
The three design elements were used, a pair of scissors, a picture, a "bird's foot" ribbon tag in the center and a wish inside for Dad to have a wonderful Father's Day.

                  ----------Or
perhaps you might like a 'digi' that is: a downloaded image from one of the on-line sources, such as this one: pinterest or other photo sites.
  Most of the design owners  have some restrictions on their usage, but seldom do they restrict for a person from a private use for your own cards.
The ruling on sales and duplication is up to the owner of the property( picture, digi, stamped image or other) They usually have something in place on their web page called an ANGEL POLICY--- you can find it somewhere on the footer of their page. Be careful to heed their wishes on this policy, it has the same penalty as violating a copyright if you don't.

Most of our original work is not yet available through our blogspot. We  borrowed  our sketches and design ideas for this media from OWH. Our intent is to help others learn to make cards for this organization and thus we are a non-profit organization ourselves.
               Speaking of Organization---the other kind.
One new idea I have for all us "newbies" in the field of stamping with clear acrylic stamps is get a CD jacket or case. Place the stamps from one design or theme in a case. They stay neat and safe; the small pieces you will want later will be right there. CD cases?Who knew?

I have my Christmas acrylic stamps in a red CD case, Easter in a purple, green are spring stamps and their sentiments. Yellow ones for Memorial Day on into summer and clear cases for other occasions.

I did get a comment on what do you do with scraps... how big a scrap to you keep or toss out? OK my rule of thumb is keep a scrap that is bigger than your smallest die cut---/ can be used in a collective design like this one. We used 3--- 1 1/2"x2" scraps and one--- 1 1/2"x 4" panel with a piece of twine, some buttons and our sentiment directly stamped to the card stock.

Have fun going through all your scraps ( under a shade tree, with a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade in hand, and organizing your clear stamps in cases.
AND
Happy Father's Day to all the supportive, wonderful men who make cards and all those who support our habit!
Have a Great Month--Gloria J.

God Bless America

First, God has blessed this country with a force of men and women who feel a love and sense of duty to preserve this nation and our way of life. I am so grateful for their commitment.

Second, in case you missed it, Operation Write Home has reached a goal of 1 million cards!  www.operationwritehome.org We just wanted to give a shout out to all the people involved in making cards for

Do you like the card designed above? The card above was completely made by two of our Card Makin' Cuties for  the Fourth of July. They did an excellent job on the design and colors for the up-coming deadline for Fourth of July cards...but  I also think its perfect for other celebrations too. Do you need a cute design for a Fourth of July invitation-- well, here you go and thank Judy and Ellen for their idea.
  "You guys did a great job! Thanks Judy and Ellen!

The next holiday coming up is Father's Day. Here is an example we really liked by our group of card makers.

This card design was just one design we used for "Father's Day." The design uses several different scrap cuts and new paper punches. One of the reasons I like the design is it has a lot of built-in forgiveness. By that I mean, if you mess up the stamp on the "light house" you can remove it and stamp another circle. The over all card is 4.25" X 5.50" as OWH has asked us to make---a good size.

Any part of the card can be repositioned, squared up or replaced before the final card design is finished. Our group, Card Makin' Cuties, likes this style of card very much.
Using the various hues of blue for effect,  light blue, sky blue, medium blue, and a navy chalk pad for edging--- with  gray, as the neutral it impressed us with its look of simplicity. Look closely, the pop comes from the tiny bit of red in the stripe gross-grain ribbon in the design.  Hope you try one of these designs and give us some feed back.
Well, happy card making.  We are  still novice at this, but we love making cards.
Gloria J.