Mailbox Stamp and Color

May 6, 2022May 4, 2022CraftyK Leave a comment

This card is involves a few of firsts for me. A sort of first to start things off, I thought I was going to make 2 of these. Instead of my usual one-of-a-kind. I had a piece of paper to stamp on big enough to stamp twice. I tried, but I underestimated how much ink was left and had a really faded version 2.

It all turned out ok, I used that second try to test out colors.

First stamp that needs to be colored
First time using alcohol ink markers. (didn’t even know they were a thing until about a month ago)
First time adding a stamped message to the inside

I learned that maybe spending a bunch of money on markers that have an extra fine tip might be worth it in the future. Most of the areas are so tiny I couldn’t color in the lines very well. I bought a fairly cheap set on Amazon. The review compared them to the name brand kind that have tri-tips, these only have chisel and brush.

Here’s the inside. It came in the box with the stamp on the front. Based on the packaging I’m pretty sure they are Stampin’ Up. I’m sure others have used this set and made much fancier cards.

I also took a photo from the bottom to show the depth with the foam tape. The wallpaper and cardstock paper are taped down and the cardstock with the stamping and coloring is mounted with foam tape.

I think this card looks awesome and it’s part of my personal collection. Someday the right person will come along that I just have to send it to them.

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2021 Cards

January 1, 2022August 11, 2022CraftyK Leave a comment

If you don’t want to read the nuances about the cards I created in 2021, this is where you can see them all by month of creation. Due to continued life circumstances there are very few cards created. You can also use this to get some inspiration for your own cards!

May

July

August

October

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With Heartfelt Sympathy (2)

May 30, 2021July 4, 2021CraftyK Leave a comment

This is the first time I’ve “repeated” a card. I try so hard to make each card unique and they still are as minor things are different. I felt that a white/cream card and my flower and butterfly embossing folder with sympathy stamp work so well together.

I’m still new to stamping and am trying to get used to the fact that some cards are going to look similar since the stamps don’t change. For the last couple of years I’ve had access to my Cricut and printers so I was able to use different fonts and create new things all the time. Now it’s a bit different with access to a limited number of supplies.

With this card I did do something very different and found a second stamp with text that fits with the theme of the card.

As you can see I used the same ink color inside. I did not emboss it (clear embossing powder on the ink) like I did with the outside. This card is also different because I used the embossing folder directly on the card creating texture inside.

Whew so much use of the word embossing this time!

To finish off the card I took a larger stamp I have to the back of the envelope. Usually I use lots of stickers, this time I decided to add something that won’t get ripped off in the mail. I have noticed with the clear rubbery stamps you can affect the way the ink appears. This time I dragged the ink pad across and it created the lines. Normally I would dab it which creates a more printed “dotted” look. Just something to keep in mind as you get started with stamps.

I’m still learning with stamps so you can see where I had a little hiccup I guess? My hand jumped a bit when I was pulling it up and it left a little shadowing. I may also be pushing the stamp down too hard. I’m guessing it doesn’t need near the pressure I put on it which may have also caused the extra ink deposits.

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2020 Cards

January 1, 2021May 5, 2022CraftyK Leave a comment

If you don’t want to read the nuances about the cards I created in 2020, this is where you can see them all by month of creation. Due to life circumstances there are very few cards created. You can also use this to get some inspiration for your own cards!

May

July

August

For real-time updates
follow along on Snapchat!

Grandma turns 90!

August 1, 2020July 27, 2020CraftyK Leave a comment

It’s not everyday you know someone who has been around for nine decades. My husband’s grandma now has. We’re having lunch with her to celebrate along with other members of the small family.

Her husband also reached 90, however he didn’t live much longer after that. We didn’t know his birthday would be the last we saw him well. Such is life, some people get more of it than others.

The card I had made for my husband’s grandpa can be found here. I came up with the idea easily since he was a former farmer and was always asking about how the farming community has been doing in Iowa and Nebraska. The card was a hit, so I had some pressure with getting this second card right.

I went through a few different ideas. If you want to see some of the inspiration cards I found on Pinterest you can see my Birthday Card board here. The first idea I had involved wallpaper. The second idea had me trying to print a border from a design pattern pack I downloaded recently. This was my third attempt.

I found cardstock that had flower like the printed pattern I wanted to use. (That did not go well at all!) I knew I wanted to use my scripty stamps for happy and birthday, which left the 90th. I wanted a big bold font and found that Impact does the job nicely. I used gold adhesive foil for the letters.

To make sure I spaced out my glitter glue dots evenly I created a dotted line box in Illustrator. In a way I designed the elements in there, then used some of it in the Cricut Design space for the cutting. Like the cutout behind the 90 I drew around the 90th typed in AI. I made the layers different colors so it would pull 2 mats for the Cricut to cut on (the paper and foil). I printed just the dotted line box and made sure it fit inside of the frame, since I wanted the dots inside.

Double sided tape and foam tape were used to put it all together. The stamping is directly on the cardstock base. The foil has weird patterning on it from the press n’ seal I used, it wasn’t holding and the sticky stuff really sticks when you push it on too hard. Does give it an interesting texture though.

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Variety Pack

May 13, 2020April 30, 2020CraftyK Leave a comment

Spending the majority of 2019 making cross stitch cards I finally got around to using some of the new techniques gained to create some new custom cards.

It was time to up my game with my wallpaper cards. So many of the papers I have may look and/or feel really awesome to me, but they can be a bit bland to look at in a small format. With that in mind I took a few that I had pre-cut to assemble into a “standard” wallpaper card and took it up a level.

There is also a little bit of glitter glue involved since I bought a huge container of them.

Cricut cutout

Embossing

Stamping

Upcycled pieces

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With Heartfelt Sympathy

May 12, 2020CraftyK Leave a comment

When you have 9 funerals in 18 months, it changes your perspective on life. While I’ve had a really long break between funerals now, that streak having come to an end last year, I really feel for those who can’t come together right now when a family member dies.

I still can’t say the right things, and of course the cards I make are blank inside.

At work we were informed that a co-worker lost her husband over the weekend. We can’t sign a card as a company since we are all at home, so we were provided the address to send a card if we wanted.

Due to the aforementioned funerals I had actually purchased various sympathy stamps. But I still have a blank card to write something to and about someone I barely know. I can only hope that what I wrote is appropriate and what they need right now. I don’t try to be different, but I tend to be with the fact that I know reading yet another card that says I’m sorry for your loss is just another card. So I tried to say something, but not sure if it was right.

I used an embossing folder on a gradient grey cardstock and stamped in the blank area using a dark blue pigment ink. I then used clear embossing powder on the stamp. I attached the embossed and stamped part to folded white cardstock with double sided tape.

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Cacti, Cactus?

November 21, 2019November 3, 2019CraftyK Leave a comment

In my quest for the perfect pattern for 50+ people I have acquired several magazines and books over the last year. Originally this card was going to be a cactus pattern from dailycrossstitch.com, I was never overly excited about it, but it would have to do.

Eventually through all of my pattern acquisitions I came across some Southwest style table runner that had these three potted cacti on it. I transferred just that part of the pattern using WinStitch so I could print it out and mark off where I am without disturbing the original pattern. I believe in the cross stitch industry this is called a “working pattern”.

These cactus in pots are way cuter and much more card sized than my original pattern. I even took a picture of it before I added the backstitching. That’s what ups the cute factor.

Since the cross stitching is on the smaller side I decided to add a Happy Birthday stamp. The modern handwritten font is what I went with. While I don’t have green ink I used a blue-green type one for it on yellow paper. The frame itself is wallpaper.

As with just about all stamping that I do, I added embossing powder to it. The picture kind of shows it, but the camera doesn’t do well with focusing on something so solid like that. I chose a clear embossing powder over glitter. I didn’t want to detract from the stitching.

I also learned, don’t cut down the fabric until after the hole is cut in the frame. The top is laying just inside the frame, which is probably for the best since it is so close to the edge. Overall I am happy with how this one turned out.

Stitching

Started: October 27th
Finished: October 31st

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We ALL scream for ICE CREAM

September 30, 2019September 7, 2019CraftyK Leave a comment

The actual cross stitch on this card is probably the smallest one I have done all year. When I asked my cousin’s husband some things she likes one of his answers was ice cream. I remembered I had saved this pattern years ago from a cross stitching website that had free patterns from their magazine available. It’s so cute I knew it was just what I needed.

Since the stitching wasn’t going to take up a huge space on the card I wanted to add some stamping. This included a few firsts for me. I tried out a white pigmented ink. I have a purple fine glittery embossing powder that I decided to try out on the white ink. I still haven’t figured out how to keep the powder on just the ink and not loose it all from everywhere, so it looks a bit messier than I intended. I’m still trying to figure out this whole embossing thing.

It was fun to watch this one as the heat gun finally started to solidify the powder. It did take a really long time and the paper warped. The card was under a big book to try and flatten it out before sending.

I also remembered to photograph it before the backstitching. It’s amazing what some outlines can do to a pattern. You can tell what it is, but it really pops once it’s done. I almost forgot the stem, but luckily realized it before I put everything away.

I know I said that I did some new things, another new thing was mixing stamps. I didn’t want a bunch of white space so I went through my stamps to find something to fill in the space with. I chose the lollipop as it’s another type of sweet. In the same set I found this small confetti looking stamp. I don’t know that I used it as intended, but I tried to put it around in different areas to fill in the space. I feel that I could have done some more maybe? It’s like using a brush in Photoshop, but this can’t be undone. Once you stamp, it’s on there. Makes me scared to use it.

So this was a first in trying out layering different elements. The different ink colors, stamps from different sets, and embossing some ink. I took some hot pink construction paper to put behind the ice cream cone. The pink paper is attached with double sided tape and the cone is attached to that with foam tape. I think I might have a foam tape addiction? I’m using it on just about every card that doesn’t have a frame. I felt that the yellow paper would mean losing the pink of the ice cream, so I made the shadow thing behind it to bring back the pinks.

Stitching

Started: September 7th
Finished: September 7th

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Tee Time

September 8, 2019September 7, 2019CraftyK Leave a comment

Oh my goodness the cards are coming fast now! This one took the span of two days because of how late it was started the first day. I am now running the cross stitching part one after the other. Prepping 3 at a time to work on consecutively to get them all done. This one marks 16 to the end of the #cardproject2019.

This one may look simple, but the color changes and 3/4 stitching throughout made it a little more challenging. My uncle has always loved golf as far as I know and has really enjoyed it since retiring.

I used to stay with my cousin for a week in the summer and my uncle tried to teach me how to golf. I was no good and still am not, I don’t blame his teaching, it’s just not something I find enjoyable. I’m pretty sure he’s actually good at it.

I used my new friend interfacing fabric to make this one a cut out. I felt as a golfer in motion it should stand off the card. I also had this green paper that is white on the other side so it made a great ready to go card.

The bottom I used scrapbooking paper and a birthday stamp I have. I used brown ink and clear embossing powder to give more dimension and shine to it. The embossing worked really well on this. I even came up with the novel idea to use scissor to hold the paper down while using the heat gun so I wouldn’t burn my fingers. I used the Cricut to cut out the small piece of paper.

Stitching

Started: August 26th
Finished: August 27th

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Mailbox Stamp and Color