Hero Arts Blog Challenge "Inchies"

The challenge on Hero Arts Blog this week is to make "inches" - a 1"x1" stamped square.

So here goes! My first inchies!

The recipe:

• I started with 2 new Hero Arts stamps (new to me anyway) - the long branch and the bird in a cage. The second little bird on the branch I drew by hand.
  
• I stamped those with Brillance Graphite Black on SU Whisper White CS.
  
• The yellow background is Lasting Impressions CS (very old - from my stash).
  
• The greeting "you're the best" is SU from "A little birdie told me" set.
  
• The blue CS is SU Blue Bayou - can't believe that my favorite colour will be retired!!!
  
• The pale blue (behind the bird cage and greeting) is Stampin'Up! Bashful blue.
  
• I drew the bird and the wire for the cage with a Copic Multi liner pen.
  
• The ribbon is Stampin'Up! Blue Bayou.
  
• Oh yes, the image was colored with SU Blue Bayou and Marigold Morning Inks and a waterbrush.
  
• I added a touch of iridiscent ink on the birds and on the sun (a product called Silk by Stampa Rosa which is long gone (out of business)).
  
• The leaves and branch were colored with SU markers (Choco chip and old olive).
  
• I also used SU pop dots to raise the greeting and the inchies.
  

Thanks for looking! Merci de visiter mon blog!

Louise

Edited July 3rd, 2008: Found out today that my entry was selected as honorable mention on Hero Arts Blog here

Yeah!! I won - twice!!!!

Wow this is my week!!! Found out this weekend that I won first place in the photo contest in the "thing" catagory for the Scrapbook and Cards Magazine. This is the photo that won - I took it at a market in Frieburg Germany last October.



I'm so excited!!! You can see the announcement here. They now have a blog also - go visit - they have a huge contest, you can win a Quickutz Revolution.

And I just found out now that I won 3rd place on the Hero Arts blog for the weekly challenge on "Two ways to use it". You can see my blog entry on it here: One stamp - Two ways (Hero Arts Blog Challenge). Lucky me!!! Maybe I will buy a 6-49 ticket this weekend!!!

Ah well sorry for bragging.... this doesn't happen too often!! and certainly not twice in the same week!

Again thanks for visiting my blog! Merci de venir visiter mon blog!

Louise

Les instructions pour la carte sans fin

On m'a demandé les instructions pour la carte sans-fin en français. J'avais fait un document pdf pour le meeting à Ottawa, je vais essayer de le poster ici. Si ça ne fonctionne pas, je devrai le tranférer image par image. Bon ça fonctionne pas, alors on y va image par image. Je reviens ce soir....

Louise

One stamp - Two ways (Hero Arts Blog Challenge)

I did these 2 cards for the weekly challenge on the Hero Arts Blog. Since Hero Arts stamps are from one of my favorite stamp company, I have lots of them to choose from!

I used the greeting wavy words - on one card, I used it as a stem and on the other as a simple wavy greeting. The flowers on each card are also Hero Arts stamps. I colored the images with Tria and Copics alcohol markers.

The yellow CS is BoBunny dots, the green is SU Wild Wasabi.  The kraft paper and the blue and pale green of the second card are from my stash (unknown source).  The leaves were done with the Fiskar Corrugator.  The scallops were cut with my Nestabilities die.  The bling is KaiserScrapbooks.  The ribbon is May Arts.  Image on the card on the left is raised with SU pop dots.

Thanks for looking!  Merci de visiter mon blog.

Edited June 26, 2008 - Just found out that my entry won 3rd place for this challenge on the Hero Arts Blog! Wow lucky me!!!

Where is Matt...?

This guy is just fantastic. Makes me laugh. Saw his video in 2006, this is his new one (and he isn't a better dancer.... but he is fun to watch....


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Bonne St-Jean!!!

Bonne journée de la St-Jean Baptiste à tous mes amis Québéçois!!

Swap Card for SU Club Meeting

Our theme this month was Summer - here is the card I made:



It was a swng card - here is the inside.

Note: this card was done in a hurry, please don't examine all the details....



Thanks for looking!

June SU Club Meeting

I had a Club meeting last night. I decided to make the Never Ending Card for them.  It was a little long, but I think that all the ladies enjoyed it once it was done!

I also made a 2-step stamping card with the matching stamping wheel.

Here are the cards.  

The never ending card front:

The first section:

The second section:

The back:

Recipe:

All SU products unless noted.

Profiter de chaque instant stamp set (Enjoy every moment) (111456)
Old Olive CS (6 x 6)
Bashful Blue CS (6 x 6 )
Whisper White CS (scrap for stamping flowers and greetings)
Summer picnic Decorative papers
Corner Rounder punch
Fiskar Corrugator
SU Word punch
½” circcle punch
Bashful Blue classic ink
Old Olive classic ink
Pumpkin Pie classic ink
Snail tape
Foam tape
Pop dots

If you need instructions on how to make the Never Ending Card, I have a tutorial here.

Here is the second card:



Recipe:
Stamp set: Wonderful You (111181)
Stampin Wheel Stems and Silhouette
Tempting Turquoise CS (8 ½ x 5 ½)
Barely Banana CS (3 x 3 ¾)
Old Olive CS (3 ¼ x 4)
Old Olive classic ink
Tempting Turquoise classic ink
Tempting Turquoise marker
Old Saffron marker
Stampin Wheel Handle (large) and cartridge inked with Versamark Ink
Old Olive ¼” twill ribbon
Snail adhesive
Pop Dots

Thanks for coming to visit my blog!
Merci de visiter mon blog. N'hésitez pas à me demander si vous avez besoin de traduction.


Louise

Birthday cards

I was so spoiled at my SU Club meeting tonight.  My very nice team-mates all made Birthday cards for me!  How sweet!  My birthday is only in 11 days, but now I have nice cards to admire while I wait for the big 55 day!  Freedom 55 they say.... LOL.  I will scan the cards tomorrow and share with everyone.  And for my birthday, if you are Canadian, I will give you all the day off!  (go celebrate Canada....).

Fathers' Day card

Here is the card I made for Jim for Fathers' day. I used the same technique we did for one of our SU Stamp Club cards for May (I haven't shown that one yet...).

I found the technique on someone's blog - very nice videos of techniques. Her name is Dawn, the technique is called Suspension card and you can find the video here.

Here is my card:


Here is the suspension feature close-up:



Mes amies francophones, si vous voulez une traduction de la technique, demandez-moi!

Recipe:

Cardstock:  SU Blue Bayou and Old Olive

Patterned Paper:  Karen Foster

Scallop:  SU corner rounder

Stitch line:  Daisy D's rub-on tape

Stamp:  Stampin'Up 

Circle Punches: Stampin'Up

Ink:  SU Certainly Celery Classic 

Thanks for looking!  Merci de visiter mon blog!

A great Never Ending Card

One of my reader (Shutterbug) has created a Never ending card by following the directions in my tutorial below.

Here it is (Isn't it beautiful!):  (Thanks a lot Mandiannie for sharing!)

Louise

Une carte de Sympathie pour une amie...

A Sympathy card for a friend...

A little close-up view of the sparkles from the Copic atyou Spica marker.

Un gros-plan de l'effet de brillance créee avec le marqueur Atyou Spica...

Recipe:

Hero Arts stamp

Stampin'Up! papers and cardstock 

Ribbon:  unknown

Image colored with Copic/Tria markers and Copic Atyou Spica Glitter marker

Brads:  Lasting Impressions mat brads

Greeting:  unknown (no markings at all on the stamp)

Thanks for looking!  Merci de votre visite!

"merci" cards

I did a few quick cards today for a friend who is going through a very hard time.... Having been through the same myself recently, I know that creativity is not very strong then!

I used the SU stamp set Heartfelt Thanks and different "Merci" from SU sets.  The images were colored with inks and SU markers in assorted colors.  The CS and D.papers are SU except for card no. 3 (DP is All my Memories Couture). All the cards are 4 1/4 x 5 1/2".

Here are the cards:

This background of this card was done with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, the rectangles are done with Nestabilities.  The ribbon is from Michaels.

The background of this one was done with another Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The slit in the image was made with SU slit punch).  The scallops are also done with Nestabilities.

Background is AMM Couture DP, ribbon is from Michaels, rectangles were cut with Nestabilities dies.

Same Cuttlebug scallops background embossing folder, Nestabilities dies, dollar store beads.

Nestabilities dies for rectangles, Michaels' ribbon, dollar store beads.

Thanks for looking!

Louise

Melting away and a new SU card

I haven't been posting much... I have been melting away with all that heat and the heatpump broken. And that repairman just keeps on not showing up. They promised tonight that it should be tomorrow. I just can't create when it is so uncomfortable... So I'll share one of the cards I made for our SU stamp club last month. (I also made a few for a swap at the SU Ottawa show I attended a few weekends ago.).

Here is the card:



Here is the recipe:

The stamp set I used is SU Garden Whimsey.  I stamped the tulip on the SU Whisper White CS 3 times with Old Olive Classic ink (or was it Certainly Celery oops...).  I stamped a few addtionnal leaves only using the Always Artichoke and Old Olive markers.  I stamped the tulip heads only in three different color inks (So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Lavender) on Whisper White scraps.  I cut them out and applied them on top of the green tulips on the CS with foam dots.  I did the same with the snail and Blue Bayou Classic ink (except that it wasn't already stamped on the card).  The snail is also raised with foam dots.  I cut the Whisper White CS and Pretty in Pink CS with Nestabilities dies.  I embossed the Bashful Blue CS with the Cuttlebug Dots embossing folder.

The bottom pink CS is from the SU Level 1 Hostess gift paper sampler.  The ribbon is SU Certainly Celery.  The ladybugs are also from the Garden Whimsey set and are stamped in Blue Bayou ink.  The greeting is also stamped in Blue Bayou ink on Whisper White CS and punched out with the SU Key Tag punch.

Thanks for looking!

Cute little mouse

My friend Francine T and I exchanged some images recently. I stamped this cute little mouse from Penny Black.

I did not put any greetings on the card, I'll just stamp something when I use the card... It is a small card (to accommodate the mini-mouse...), - dimensions are 4" x 4".

Here is the card:



Here is a close-up of mini-mouse:


Here is the recipe:

Stamp is by Penny Black (don't know the name)
Colored with Prismacolor crayons and Fragonard (Gamsol)
Cardstock is Bazzill
Pattern Paper is from my stash - All My Memories Couture (reversible - both sides used)
Circle and scallop cut with SU punches
Ribbon is SU Old Olive Polytwill
Bling are Rhinestones by KaiserScrapbooks
Stiching details and dots done with a SU white marker.

Thanks for looking.

Tutorial for Never Ending Card

Supplies:

 ½ sheet of double sided 12 x 12 paper
Adhesive
Coordinated cardstocks and papers to decorate.

Instructions:

1. Cut 2 - 6” x 6 “pieces out of double sided papers

2. Score each piece at 1.5” and 4.5”. (So you’ll have 1.5 “ panel on each side and a 3” panel in the centre.)

3. On each scored 6 x 6 sheet draw a light pencil line to form a 1.5” square in each corner (see picture). On the reverse for one sheet and on the top for the second sheet (1.5” x 1.5”square in the 4 corners).

   

4. Cut each sheet exactly in the middle (at 3”), perpendicular to the scored lines. Keep the cut edges together.

          

5. Place the sheets on top of each other (one back side to one top side), cut lines perpendicular to each other (continue keeping the cut edges together).  To make it easier, place the top with the cut line vertical and the bottom, with the cut line horizontal.

⇒ 

6. Take the left side piece of the top sheet, put glue on the two 1.5 x 1.5 squares on the back side (X on picture). Make sure the glue is exactly in the square (covering completely, but not exceeding the square). This is very important, because the 4 corner squares will act as hinges to the whole card.

7. a) Carefully and accurately place the top left square with glue on the top square of the bottom sheet (cut line is horizontal – so you are gluing on the top part). 

Note:  This is the most critical step of the card, because all the rest of the card will be aligned on this piece - make sure it is straight!)

b) Do the same with the bottom left square (glue to the left square of the bottom piece).

  ⇒   

You will have this:

8. Now take the top right piece, put glue on the 1.5 x 1.5 squares and glue to the square on the right of the top and bottom panels of the bottom sheet.

⇐ 

now you have this:

9. That’s it! Now you get to test if your hinges work well and if everything is nice and straight. Open each panel of the top sheet (with cut line vertical, open each panel towards left and right.

Example of the front of a decorated card with the front middle slit slightly opened.

10. Now open the middle section. Open towards top and bottom.

 

 

(you can see in the decorated card above, the white slit line in the middle; 

that's where you would pull apart and open towards top and bottom)

11. Open next section left and right and then next one, top and bottom and on and on and on….

12. The trick to this card is to be as precise as possible in the cutting and gluing of the pieces. A tiny little difference will make the panels rub when trying to rotate them. It is very important to be accurate.

13. When done, you can decorate each panel with cardstock, patterned papers, photos. Stamp anywhere as desired. Just make sure that nothing covers the score lines or extends outside the panels.  Hint:  Decorate each panel in it's final position, otherwise you might find that your "bird/flower/etc" has it's head downwards when the card is rotated...

You can also decorate with photos, it is so pretty.... Just cut the photo at the cutline or score line....

14. Please note that you can’t use brads or bulky items that will keep the pieces from rotating properly.

Good luck, Have fun!  And if you make one, please come show me I'd love to see!!

P.S. This took so long to do, I hope it is useful to someone!!! (and maybe next time, I'll do a video... should be faster!).


P.S.2 This can be done in any sizes you want (3” square, 12” square (I’ve seen it done as a scrapbook page). It doesn’t even have to be square. All you do is take your width and divide by 2.

For example, our 6” square– divide by 2 = 3” (middle panel), divide 3 by 2 = 1.5” for each side panel.

If you have a 9” square – divide by 2 = 4.5” (middle panel), divide 4.5 by 2 = 2.25 for each side panel.

If you have a rectangle 5 “ high x 7” wide:
Divide 7” by 2 = 3.5” middle panel. Divide 3.5 by 2 = 1.75 each side panel.

Never Ending Card

I participated in the 2-min Demo at the Stampin Girls convention in Ottawa yesterday (May 31st).

It was a lot of fun and a bit stressful to think that I had to explain everything in 2 minutes. But since I was last and everyone took more than 2 min, there was less pressure when my turn came.

It is always impressive to see the Never Ending Card in action, and it received a lot of oohhs and aahhs...

Here are photos of the card (all 4 panels) and for those of you looking for the tutorial. I'll come back and upload it later today, promise!

All products used are Stampin'Up.

Here is the top of the card:



Here is the first panel inside:



Here is the second panel inside:



Here is the back panel:



Thanks for looking!

Louise

Wow Swap - Explosion Box

I have been neglecting my blog this past week. I have been under pressure to finish 51 Explosion boxes that I was making for a Wow swap at the Stampin Girls (Stampin'Up) Convention in Ottawa yesterday (May 31st).

All the products used are Stampin'Up.

Here is my mountain of 51 boxes:



Here is one individual box (I had 2 colours schemes).



and here is the inside view:



This was quite a lot of work - I enjoyed doing it, but 51 boxes was quite a lot to make. I received many beautiful items in Exchange and some ?! I'm not sure I'll do this again....

I'll take photos of my favorite items later and share...

Have a good day!

Louise