A Number Birthday Card

This card was inspired by a sketch (126) over at the Clean and Simple Stamping Blog.  When it comes to birthday cards for children you cannot go wrong with a big old number on the front.  They are so proud of their newer, older status (so at what point does that change I wonder?!)  I find it particularly good for boys too, who don't necessarily appreciate a bunch of fuss and frill.

 I started by stamping up some white card using the Circle Circus stamp set, and three different ink colours (Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze and Marina Mist) to make my own, one of a kind, 'patterned paper'.  Then after all of that, I only ended up using a couple of little strips of it on the front of the card, and another on the inside.  The dies used for this card were Timeless Type Junior Alphabet, and Lots of Tags. The sentiment is from my favourite, and most used (but sadly now retired) birthday set - A Little Birthday Cheer.

A Challenge Card for Mother's Day

First things first - Mum, Look away!

Okay, now on with the show.  Creative time has been a little short around here lately, and when that happens, I find that challenges are often just the kick start I need to get creating without too much mucking around and wasting of precious time.

For this card I used two different challenges for my inspiration.  The first was the Inkspiration Inspiration Challenge #21:

The second was the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #67 :

I used the 'Fifth Avenue Floral' and 'Short and Sweet' stamp sets, an assortment of inks and markers (saffron, pretty in pink, rose red, regal rose) and card (pretty in pink, regal rose, and pink pirouette) and finished the flower off with a half pearl bead from the pretties kit.  The patterned card started life as a plain white piece of card, but some stamping and sponging transformed it into a perfectly coordinated patterned piece instead.

Hoping to squeeze in a bit more craft time tomorrow - probably with the help of another challenge or two.   Blogging about it though, is a whole other 'wait and see' kind of story!

More Vintage Vogue

I promise you - it took less time to make the cards than it did to blog about them!  Paper mache rocks for Hayden's Shakespeare Club performance have been taking up my time - but all finished with now, thank goodness (and pretty realistic looking they were, if I do say so myself!)

So back to the vintage vogue one sheet wonder...  This lot of cards really were quick and easy.  Sponged edges, crimped card strips, layers of card,  stampin' dimensionals to pop some of the elements up, and a quick stamped sentiment (or a selection of those things!)  

The second card was super basic - a strip of the stamped one sheet wonder card matted on some perfect plum card that had been crimped and a quick sentiment stamped in coordinating ink.  I could have added so much more, but sometimes it is nice to keep it kind of simple (and if I remember correctly, I was due at the bus stop right about then!) 

Of course, the plan was also to use every last little scrap of my original stamped one sheet wonder card (I still had some left after these cards), so the rest of that strip I had cut for the last card, was cut into squares to make this one.  Originally I had been planning on having another longer strip but with a different card orientation to the last one, but somewhere along the way it transformed into this.  But that is what the playing is all about - making stuff up as you go along, and having fun doing it!

The first of the Vintage Vogue 'One Sheet Wonder' cards

Before I show you the first of the cards I made I want to quickly explain what my understanding of 'one sheet wonder' is.  For me it is getting a plain old piece of card (in this case white, but it can be whatever you want) and going to town with your stamps and inks and decorating up the entire piece of card.  I am a fan of Do It Yourself (DIY) patterned papers, and this is exactly what this is!  When you are done you have a one of a kind patterned card that you can then use for all kinds of coordinating projects.  

One sheet wonder = DIY patterned paper

(at least, that is my take on it!)

What I like about it is that not only are you guaranteed to get the perfect patterned paper for your project (!), it is also a great way to just play, and is especially good for when you are in the mood for creating, but don't have a specific project in mind. I used the lovely new vintage vogue stamp set and grabbed perfect plum and pale plum, along with mellow moss as my ink colours. You can see it all stamped up and ready to go in the last post, if you didn't already :)  When it came to making projects I just needed to pull out the coordinating card and other embellishments, and play some more. Easy and fun!

Obviously the patterned paper was all flowery and pretty and best suited for girly projects (which, when I set out, was going to be an assortment of cards, little gifts, mini scrapbook project...  but ended up being all cards!)  My first thought was how nice a butterfly would look with that flowery background:

I punched out one butterfly in each shade of plum.  I used silver cord to tie them together, and threaded on some little silver spacer beads from the pretties kit for the body (I always forget to use those little spacer beads!)  The pale plum butterfly was then attached flat to the card front, and the darker, top butterfly has the wings free, and folded up to look like it is flying. 

I sponged the edge of the patterned card, and added another girly touch with the eyelet border punch, but didn't bother with a sentiment.  Sometimes it is good to have an 'any occasion' card on hand, and you can always add a sentiment to the inside of the card as needed.

I really liked that butterfly embellishment, so added one to the next card too - although this time with a couple of loops of silver cord instead of beads, for the butterfly body.  

I stamped one of the sentiments from the vintage vogue stamp set on a scrap of card, and added that too, along with some more scraps (I don't have any plum ribbon, and was too lazy to colour any, so card strips made an easy alternative).  I did run the moss card strip through the crimper first though, to add some interest.  And that crimping led me to the next group of cards... (coming soon!)

Catering for those Christmas Celebrations

As part of a European Cultural Fair that Hayden had at school a few months back, he had to find a recipe from Denmark, and then prepare the food (or have his Mum prepare it for him!) He needed enough to share with approximately 120 friends and classmates.  The fact that this recipe said it made about 12 dozen cookies was a big part of its appeal - and as a bonus they sounded pretty good too.

So, with the help of the big stock pot (because our mixing bowls were just too small) we mixed up a batch of Danish Butter Cookie Dough.  Around this time, we decided that in fact the smallest star cutter would be perfect - giving us 'sample sized' cookies.  That of course meant we got a lot more than 12 dozen cookies. This was what 231 cookies looked like all piled up:

And we still had loads of dough left!  Thankfully, the dough freezes well, and we were pleased to have a ready supply of homemade cookie dough just waiting to be cooked whenever we needed it.

Now with December here - not just Christmas, but the beginning of birthday season in our house as well, there seems to be one 'catering opportunity' after another.  I got to thinking that Danish Butter cookies were just exactly what we needed, and would be a great family tradition in the making.  Cookies in the cupboard, and dough in the freezer - ready to go when we needed it, and making life that little bit easier, at this very busy time of year.

It works well for brightly coloured lizards as well!

So here is the recipe for the super yummy, incredibly handy Danish Butter Cookie (Smørdejgskager) recipe, just in case you find yourself with lots of 'catering opportunities' too!   

2 cups soft butter     4 cups sugar     6 egg yolks - beaten

1 cup sour cream     2 tsp almond extract     2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda     2 tsp cream of tartar     9 cups flour

6 egg whites - beaten stiff

- Cream butter and sugar then add the egg yolks and beat again.  Stir in the sour cream and almond flavouring.

- Sift nutmeg, soda and cream of tartar with the flour.  Combine with creamed mixture to make a stiff dough.  Fold in egg whites.

- Roll the dough about 1/8 inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Place on greased cookie sheets.

- Bake 10 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Will yield about (at least!) 12 dozen cookies.

 This time round we made half the quantity of dough, and still have more than enough cookies and dough to go around.  When we use the little star cutter we only need to bake the cookies for around 5 minutes, rather than the ten minutes of the recipe.  We found the original recipe here:

http://www.mindspring.com/~cborgnaes/    (under cookies and small cakes).

And just when you were thinking this was all about the baking and not so much the scissors and sticky tape, here is a quick scrapbook page I made about the delicious Danish Butter Cookies. 

I am still deciding if I want to put this in a Christmas album, a family traditions (old and new) album, or a recipe album, so I kept it kind of simple, and decided to go for an 8.5x11" layout (12x12 just seems a little cumbersome for a recipe book!)  Hidden behind the photo is some journaling explaining why it is we happened to have 231 cookies (plus enough dough over for another 231!) and how this Christmas catering 'tradition' is coming about.  The main part of the layout is simply the recipe, with some clear embossed stars (from the classic stars jumbo wheel) on the background card, just to fancy it up a little bit.  This was a quick layout to put together using the computer for the journaling and title, and I have to say, the recipe album idea is growing on me.

DIY backgrounds using little stamps

I have to start by saying that SU! have a fantastic range of stamps just perfect for baby projects - including the Nursery Necessities set I used to make this card.  With all those other options available, this pin stamp, cute as it is, wouldn't normally be my first choice.  Remembering though, that my challenge is to make use of those smaller stamps that are so often under utilized, and in particular the images from the Short and Sweet stamp set.  Nappy pin it is!

I am actually really pleased with how this card came out.  I have used the idea of repetition again, but this time in a random fashion to make my own patterned background.  Some of the pins are stamped twice before reinking, so you get a bit of variety in the depth of colour of that baja blue ink.   I used Night of Navy card to give the baja blue a little lift, and then finished it off with some sponging to soften the edges, and some matching baja ribbon.  When you have a ribbon that matches it is almost a crime not to use it!

I have also used this set to make backgrounds for scrapbook layouts, and not just on those mini projects.

The little heart outline was just perfect to stamp on the cocoa card strips for this 12 x 12 layout (although you may have to click on that photo and enlarge it to actually see it!)  The rose red strips had word stamps decorating them (including the 'love you' from short and sweet) and the rose red patterned paper pieces came from a single 6x6 piece - the photo and embellishments hide the joins so you would never know!

This is a layout that has been shown lots in real life, but pretty sure I haven't shown it here before.  It was full of experimentation and little challenges to myself - the first really girly, frilly, busy layout I had done, and still one of my favourites.  Makes me want to get the pretties kit out every time I see it.  It also reminds me, that after committing to sewing directly on the layout I discovered my sewing machine wasn't working like it should.  The repair man, after fixing it, told me he had never seen that particular problem before, and if it ever happened again I should bring it back IMMEDIATELY! Eek. I didn't tell him I had been using it to sew cardboard!  (and I haven't had the courage to use the machine again for anything, let alone scrapbooking!)

Maybe that should be my next challenge?!

Guest artist gifts for the teacher

Thank goodness for guest artists!  Perfect for those times when you are completely out of sorts, and haven't been creating, let alone blogging about it!  Please forgive me as I indulge in a guest artist post while I get my inspiration back...

Aren't these beautiful?  My clever sister Anna-lise made these as a thank you for my niece's daycare teacher.  I love how she has made her very own, one of a kind, patterned paper using the lovely 'Simply Said' stamp set. Being a two step stamping set this is just so versatile, and you know I am a big fan of DIY patterned paper!  The lovely script thank you is from the now retired, but still much loved 'Warm Words' set.

I do believe that the 'box in a bag' (bag in a box?) gift bag had yummy homemade fudge in it.  We love fudge too Anna-lise.  Just in case you had nothing better to do today!  And thank you, for being the guest artist, and helping me find my inspiration again (and what a bother I have to go and help at school in an hour!)

DIY alphabet background

I debated if I should share this layout or not. If I do, I get to show that I have started and finished a layout, but then I will also reveal how long it took. Although, the actual start to finish did only take a couple of hours. It was the time that had elapsed since Hayden had: 1 - requested the photo, and 2 - requested the layout (essentially the same breath) that was not so impressive.

There is no denying how long that was. The layout gives it all away. You see Hayden is a 'millennium baby' - born in the year 2000 (with a fancy 'millennium birth certificate to prove it!) Whatever year it happens to be now? That will be how old he is.

Cue the layout...

Seven. Seven. Seven.

Yep. He was aged seven, the date was 07.07.07, and the time we took the photo? Why 07:07 of course!

For two years now I have had an idea of what I wanted to do, but just hadn't quite gotten around to doing it. Until now. Time for some more 'DIY patterned paper' for the ultimate one off layout. I love how you can make your backgrounds look exactly the way you want by making them yourself. Remember this one?

I pulled out my alphabet stamps, and started stamping (and you know, when you look at a word for a while, and it suddenly doesn't look right? About half way through I was convinced that seven perhaps wasn't spelt s.e.v.e.n after all - argh!)

I decided to use versamark ink, and then clear emboss the letters, so that they would have a nice shine, and be a little more interesting. It didn't take that long - although I was sure to leave blank the spot that I knew would be covered over by the photo...

I knew I wanted to have the little bit of journaling (age, date, time) in strip form, but when it came time to see how it looked it kind of got lost a little in all those lovely shiny sevens...

I didn't want to cover all those lovely shiny sevens over, so what to do?

Vellum to the rescue. By placing vellum under the photo and journaling, it helped to anchor them all a bit, but didn't cover the background completely. Best of both worlds! Some brads to finish off, and the layout was finally in the album. I think I might be breaking out the vellum a little more often now!

DIY Patterned Papers

Something I have been experimenting with for a while is making my own 'patterned papers' and backgrounds, using card, ink and stamps. It doesn't help with using up my stash at all, but there is something very satisfying about looking at a layout that is totally your own. Some of you got a chance to try this out yourselves when you attended an extravaganza with me. So I am wondering - have you tried it again?

Here is an example for you, using one of my favourite two step stamping sets - Petal Prints - I was sad to see this one on the retiring list. It wasn't until my Mum got this set, and I borrowed it (and struggled to give it back!), that I discovered how much I loved it. For a while there, Mum got to see lots of projects made with Petal Prints.

'What set is that?' she would ask. 'I might have to get that'.

'Mmm, same' would be my ever so whispery reply.

(You may be pleased to know that I finally bought another set and now we both have one!)

But back to this layout. The DIY patterned paper bit is the flowery piece behind the photo (okay, so that was a bit obvious, and you probably figured that out already, but just in case you hadn't - it is another bad photo afterall!). It was super simple to do.

Recipe for this one:

Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Whisper white card

bashful blue, night of navy and mellow moss ink

Stamps: Petal Prints, Office Accoutrements (both retiring) and Life Definitions

Flowers from Pretties kit, rhinestone brad ('ice')

I first stamped with the background part of the daisy flower using bashful blue ink, in a random pattern around the edge of the card. Some of the flowers are stamped off the edge of the card because it just looks better with some hanging over the edge. (I didn't stamp the middle of the card on the layout because I knew that it would be covered over by the photo, but this is a sample scrap for blogging purposes :)

Next I used the daisy outline stamp, and Night of Navy ink, and went over all those backgrounds adding an outline. One of the things I love about this two step set is that you don't have to line them up perfectly. You can if you want, but if like me, you have created your own 'higgledy piggledy' style, then this set is great! For some of the outlines I didn't reink, so the navy is a little lighter, and adds to the pattern (plus more of that quick, higgledy piggledy thing!).

To fill in any gaps I used the leaf stamps and Moss ink, and ... filled in any gaps. I just inked up one leaf at a time, rather than all three. There may still be some overlap, and that was okay by me. Once again, making sure to have some stamped over the edge of the card.

And that's it. Sounds like lots of time consuming steps, but is actually pretty quick, and best of all, you just change the colours/stamps to suit!

When it came time to put the page together I added some bashful blue daisy outlines to the bottom of the bashful blue base card to help to anchor it all. It doesn't show up so well in the photo, so you still get that 'floating in the middle of the page' look, but in real life, it makes all the difference - trust me! See them there - behind the date stamp? Tone on tone stamping is super subtle.

And for the journaling and finishing touches? The handy date and memo stamps from the Office Accoutrement stamp set, and 'happy' from the Life Definitions set. What I love about that memo stamp, is that if you don't want the word memo, you just don't ink it. The perfect journallng spot every time!

Add a couple of flowers and a rhinestone brad, and it's all done. If I get myself organised, next post I will show you how I coloured that flower to match the layout. That will be my challenge.

Your challenge? Pull some of those stamps out and have a go at making your own patterned papers and backgrounds. Go on, I dare you!