You wanted Web sites for July 4th Info

Ha---ha---or should I say ...Opps! I wrote my Fourth of July Blog late last night, and that is not the best time for me to write.  I left out some things, especially the website for our friends and some information about an up coming stamping craft cruise.
So here is what I omitted.Please read the Relax, It's Summer article first and then, come back to this blog for the other details. You will understand why-- read the blog first and come back.
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The cruise was offered in Paper Creation's ad, go on line at www.PaperCraftConnection.com ---the ad for the cruise is on-line.
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Also Cindy and Wayne Hawry at Paper Trix  has a web site and you can see their shop and look at their event schedule from there.  Go to:
 www.papertrix.com  click onto their link for more classes in the southern Indiana area.
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Remember Copic pens has a new Color Book out . It is $14.95 but it is worth it if you are a beginner in this media art for cards.
That's my corrections to the July 4th blog. I hope that helps the "dazed and confused" (and that would be me!) Thanks for reading on--the blog is worth it.

Relax, It's Summer Fun!

I know this summer is going by so quickly. Here we are celebrating the Fourth of July weekend. Yes! 

Our group of card makers is on a summer break- a fun break. We are gathering some new resources, doing some shop watching, sharing some new tools and new techniques.  We've managed to plan a few outings, maybe take in a class or two later this summer and  plan  a summer salad luncheon.

While looking for things we might do, several web sites are offering great cruises at great prices. Several of the magazines (like Card Maker) have details about the cruises and what opportunities they are offering. Check them out. 

 

Gloria and Ellen ready to travel.

By the way, we were looking Card Maker Mag. for ideas and we ran across an article about a little shop in Nashville, Indiana, called PaperTrix, owned and operated by Cindy and Wayne Hawry. We got the car gassed up and took off for southern Indiana and this little shop called Paper Trix. It was wonderful. The article explained the shop was little but mighty. Cindy was such a gracious hostess and informed us about several classes they will host for the summer months. Wayne couldn't wait to share his secrets on ink and blending. Like I said, they were so gracious, we had only met them and yet, stamping and card making brought us together as friends. We finally left the little shop and it deserves the name Paper Trix...my Oh! my, the small shop was crammed floor to ceiling with wonders and magic...real specialty items, you can't get at the box stores.

Judy made us another birthday card! We can't stop her,  she's on a roll with several paper tricks of her own.  This one was showing off a new punch design. 

While her card looks very difficult, she said its the punch that makes the card look difficult.

She added a few paper stickers, with paper flower...that's when  the WOW factor happened. Way to go, Judy.

The Cuties send everyone our greatest sentiments for a glorious holiday celebration. We hope you have a restful summer, a fun filled summer and some great fun with friends making cards. Let us know of your finds by leaving us your comments.

The Big Bang--is a Birthday Card!

It all started just six months ago. That is, our group of fabulous women, Card Makin' Cuties,  has grown every month. So we are celebrating! And why not celebrate with a new card;  we have some new punches,other new tools and, even, new graphic paper along with some new ideas. Let's go girls--- we've set our goal for OWH.

We are learning more and more about the vast variety of card makers out there. Who are you all? I've been connected with "Handmade by Julie" www.handmade byjulie.com who has been so helpful. She was part of the recent Memorial Day Blog Hop hosted by Operation Write Home. They are lots of fun. When you go onto one of the cardmakers sites, they not only give you inspiration but help with some ideas and then send you on to another site. This was my first time to blog hop with the group and I loved it. I can't wait to do it again.

This little sign wasanother way of inviting us to look  for inspiration through Penny Black and their Saturday Challenge. This is a lot of fun, especially if you think you have a dry spell and think there is nothing new to do.

OH MY! After a challenge, you feel like you can't stop making cards and more and more ideas flow. On the Penny Black site was a download on a new stamp pictured below.

Isn't that a cute little bear, sitting in a field and loving this fluttery butterfly. Now, can you put this idea to work on a design pattern for example (#68) from OWH.

 

www.operationwritehome.com. The ideas just keep coming and inspiration fills the air. 

Well, I want to thank Judy for loaning us her card design. It was the big bang we all needed to start us off with new ideas for  another 6 months.

This is so wonderful. We have found a second purpose with OWH and so have our card making skills. We are just  little pebbles in this sea of cardmakers...but Oh boy! are we enjoying the boat ride.

Check out some of these resources and stop by other websites for more ideas. If you have been inspired yourself to try something, good!...Let us be the first to encourage you to continue the good work forward. Some times, the most exciting part of the trip is the journey just getting there.  Until later, 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.

Color choice makes a difference!

Hello! We have deadline coming up for OWH. One deadline is for more masculine cards for Dad--- cards that can be used for birthdays and other celebrations for men. We also will be making Fourth of July cards for celebration.  The design below is one we wouldn't think to use for a Fourth of July card, even though it has a flag in the design. Look again.

 

The print design used above has much cooler colors in it. You can see the gray in the design is very strong and this color may indicate a cool background such as blue or blue gray to off-set the total card design.

Embellishments (like punched-out stars) might be brushed on the edged with a blue gray chalk ink color before we adhere them to the card front design. This might be used as a card for remembrance or for Memorial Day. 

When we design cards, we are expressing something of ourselves within the card. This is one reason hand made cards are so personal.  

I usually sit in my studio experimenting with colors before a whole design is finished, just ready for the next card. I love to look outside watch the birds and the trees now green. Its all the little creatures and their activities that make life so enjoyable.  We, like all God's creatures, make our own homes warm and inviting for friends and family. Likewise, we make our cards with the same spirit of hospitality, for the pure pleasure of enjoying the "free gifts" of life and liberty of expression. 

Operation Write Home is a wonderful way to give our cards away to soldiers in deployed areas who want to reach out to loved ones back home. The soldier can find a card they like that expresses what they want to say and mail these cards back home to family members for a birthday, anniversary, get well, or a special occasion. 

Its with this same spirit of hospitality when I sit in my studio watching the neighbors struggle with their garden, mowing grass, or digging in their yard, I look for subjects of life and colors; earth tones, neutrals and  natural sources of color and simplicity. I work and forget myself, leave my situation behind me and think of the one who might select one of these cards. I realize what motivated our Lord with the passage: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." I serve out of God's love. My only regret is I can't express this feeling to everyone I meet. 

In order to have a ready made selection on hand, I have a little box of  2"X3" of scraps in different colors cut just for this designing purpose. I try several combinations with my print papers before I make a final choice of colors and patterns for the design. Then, by adding on embellishments our design is completed.

A card is a special way to communicate who you are and share how you feel. Always choose to make a card a blessing to someone; one that communicates your freedom for life and your liberty to create a work of beauty.  

I hope you all have a great day making cards for someone you love and care about. 

Gloria J.

Mom's Day: Havin' Fun Together

We're having fun with one of our friends. I think it would be safe to say Ginny is "mom" to more than few women besides her own two lovely daughters. AND... I will also stick my neck out further to say Ginny is beyond 39 years old. ( She's in her early 80's, though you couldn't tell it by her skill level.) She can make cards with the best of 'em. She is a remarkable lady who has given us a new perspective on life and living. 

We make cards to give them to others! This embraces what Ginny is all about---"you can't live if you just sit at home sitting on your hands and doing nothing." This is her philosophy. 

We celebrate role models like you, Ginny, who demonstrate with their own talent and life experiences how to live a joyous,victorious life in spite of life's age traps, adversity, deboggles and disappointments. We've witnessed your smile.

On this Mother's Day, Ginny, have a great day and enjoy your life as we enjoy the pleasure of your company...  you are one of the "Cuties."  You are special and we love you!

Brunch: Wanna have a brunch for Mother's Day? Check out what Julie is serving up on her web blog.Handmade by Julie,www.handmadebyJulie  has a cute card and some tutorials that are fabulous. Click from here to take a peek at what she's doing with her cards. Thanks Julie for the great ideas!

Don't forget to get your cards ready for OWH!

Have fun with friends, celebrate each day with them. They are gifts to each one of us and Sunday is just a day named to celebrate this fact!--- After all, Mom's deserve to be treated with some TLC more than just one day a year. Right? Right!

Birthdays and other celebrations!

Hello! This has been a wonderful week to make cards before all the outside activities begin. We've had some rain and then we've had more rain. This has added up to a lot of water and no gardening or planting taking place. So while we were inside, we used our time to catch up on a few cards and made these simple and easy cards for children entitled, "Enjoy your Birthday! Our clever card makers designed the front of the card with the stamp, the colored card stock, a print paper layer and the sentiment stamp. Easy enough... and the "wow" factor were the tied buttons. Cute, Judy! This was really clever. I call this simple design... Design 101. Everything is centered on the front of the card. The stamp design is attached to background on card stock,  which graduate in size from the center stamp design to the larger print paper on the card fronts.
Another design, Judy used all primary colors on this card and it looks great.

 The colorful print background gives the card "fun-appeal"--- and who doesn't like a cupcake for their birthday! The "balloons" stamp is printed onto  a white card stock, cut out, small bakery strings are attached to the back of the balloons and then, paper pieced onto the left side of the card front, with the sentiment stamp anchoring down the balloon cluster strings. Judy, Ellen, Ginny, our Card Makin' Cuties, did a great job on these birthday cards for Operation Write Home (OWH),  www.operationwritehome.org which provides hand made cards for our troops to send home to their loved ones.Click onto their link right here.Read more about what they are doing.

With lots of Graduations coming up this May, you might have just enough time to make your own hand made card. Here is another easy pattern to follow.

The idea we wanted to try was a bit different than the typical Graduation cards of black and gold. This design was based on the bright colors of the celebration papers. The lime green in the printed paper is placed along the right side of the card front. The colorful print is added off-side and the punch out scalloped oval is stamped with the sentiment.

 Just A Great Tip: ( thanks to OWH) We saw a need to multi-stamp our design stamp onto a blank sheet of card stock. These prints are colored when we need time fillers, like, waiting in long gas lines, at the doctors, or for children after school. Any time you have a second or two, color them in. Stamping and coloring them when you have a few minutes is a real time saver.
NO EXCUSE. When you need a card in an emergency---cut one of your pre-stamped, pre-colored prints out, attach it to colorful card stock and print backgrounds add the embellishments...and pop it in the mail.

 With Mother's Day, Graduation, Birthdays and more, spring is a wonderful time to be a card maker. I hope you can adapt these easy designs to your own cards. Share your thoughts and ideas too. Let me see what you are doing or leave a comment. What is your best tip? And by all means, show us how you used these tips and ideas.