Hearts for Haiti Textured Cardstock Example

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I am so excited about the Hearts for Haiti campaign this month!  Here is a card that I made using textured cardstock and one of my most used stamp sets, Soul Mates.  I used Crystal Blue textured cardstock, Chocolate cardstock, Buttercup cardstock, and coordinating ink pads.  I stamped the heart with chocolate ink onto white cardstock and cut it out.  Then I sponged it with Crystal Blue and Buttercup ink and used foam tape to pop it out from the card.  One thing I LOVE about Close to My Heart's textured cardstock is that is has a white core so when you use the sanding block, it really gives it a wonderful distressed look as you can see from the sample.  Let me know if you have any questions! 

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Color Inspiration - February Stamp of the Month

Pin It My Sister-in-Law's birthday is tomorrow and I found this adorable lunchbox for her.  I decided to make a set of cards to put inside the lunchbox, so what better set to use than the February Stamp of the Month: Piece of Cake!?  There are four cards and envelopes inside this clear acrylic box.  I also used White Daisy, Black, and Sweet Leaf cardstock with a black ink pad.  It's hard to see in the photo, but I did use foam tape under the Sweet Leaf layer which really helps add an element of interest to such a plain card.  So simple, but I love the color combo!  Here are some photos:

If you are looking for the February SOTM Blog Hop, please see my previous post. Thanks! Pin It

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Pin It Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! Just jump on in and join the fun! How does it work? Below you will find a sample of my artwork that uses the February Stamp of the Month, plus a link to another consultant's blog which will have another sample and a link to another blog showing more artwork using this fantastic set. All in all, you should be able to see about 50-60 different samples! Now let's get started!

Here is a fun candy bar holder that's perfect for a birthday or Valentine's Day.  A creative team member, Sharon Esau gave us something similar for our swap last month and I had to try it!  The Chocolate brown cardstock measures 6(w)"x 7 (h)." I just wrapped the cardstock around the candy bar to get the scoring dimensions, but I think it was 2 3/4" and 5 1/2".  Punch a hole through both layers toward the top.  Run ribbon through the holes and insert the chocolate bar in the ribbon and push it down into the cardstock.  Tie at the top.  Now when someone pulls the top of the ribbon, the chocolate will slide out too!  I used the Topstitch Papers and obviously the February Stamp of the Month!  You can order all the supplies on my website here.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Now hop on over to Shannon Pelletier's blog for more ideas!  If you get lost along the way then you can see the entire list on Helen's Blog here.  I posted one other fun candy idea back in January that uses this stamp set as well.  You can scroll down to check it out or click here too.  Thanks for looking! Pin It

So Lucky Card

Pin It Here is another fun card from my January Workshop.  We used the Collage pattern from the Wishes Card Confidence book and combined it with the Caboodle Paper Packet, the So Lucky stamp set, and threw in some fun new Tiny Tabs to make it extra special.  I included the list of ingredients that you can find on my website below.  Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks!

Item#   Description           Page Price

C1390 So Lucky Stamp Set 36 18.95

X7121B Caboodle Level 2 Papers 18 12.95
X1411 Colonial White 8½ x 11 CS 95 6.75
Z2164 Sorbet Ink Pad 101 5.25
Z2153 Sweet Leaf Ink Pad 101 5.25
Z2117 Crystal Blue Ink Pad 101 5.25
Z697 Sponge 97 1.25
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape 99 5.95
Z1213 Spring Blossom Brad Assort 92 4.95
Z1271 Tiny Tabs 92 3.95 Pin It

Phototinting with Photoshop Elements 6 - Square Dancing Photo

Pin It Here is a fun and easy way to phototint your pictures using Photoshop Elements 6.  Our church had a fun Chili Cookoff and Squaredancing night yesterday and the kids had so much fun!  I don't have an expensive camera or flash, so it was difficult to get great quality photos of the kids dancing in the gym, but this picture turned out well.   They were wearing regular clothes which distract from the western theme.  What's the answer?  Photoshop it, right?!  Here is another very quick and simple way to tint your photos to make them look old.

• In your Edit screen in Photoshop, open your photo
• Go up to Enhance/Adjust Color and Select Adjust Hue/Saturation
• Drag the Saturation bar down to about -80 or so and you're done!

Before

After

Can you see how the picture looks black and white, but it also has a little bit of color?  This is so fun!

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True Friends: January SOTM with Felicity Special

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Friends Card

This was a fun and super easy card that we made at my workshop this month.  We used the beautiful Felicity Special papers and the January Stamp of the Month.  This pattern can be found in the Wishes Card Confidence Program and can be adapted to use with just about any stamps, papers, and inks.  I simply applied the two patterns of paper onto a Colonial White card and added a strip of Twill ribbon across the front.  Then on a scratch piece of Colonial White cardstock I stamped the frame and saying from the True Friends stamp of the month with Red Bard ink.  After I cut it out, I used a sponge and dabbed Desert Sand ink around the edges of the frame. It's amazing what a difference that makes!  Then I used foam tape to apply the frame over the right hand side of the card and glued small knotted piece of twill to the left side of the frame.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Here are the ingredients with links that show each product.



Item#   Description   Page  Price
D1406 Jan SOTM: True Friends 108 0-22.95

CC1008 Felicity Special Paper 0-34.95

X1411 Colonial White Cardstock 8 1/2 x 11 100 6.75

Z2104 Barn Red Ink Pad 101 5.25

Z2118 Desert Sand Ink Pad 100 5.25

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape 99 5.95

Z1099 Twill Ribbon 91 7.50

Z697 Sponge 1.25 Pin It

CTMH February Stamp of the Month: "Piece of Cake" Treat Tent

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This is a super quick and fun treat holder that is a perfect little gift for someone;  friends, coworkers, family, or aquaintances.  This stamp set is available on February 1st, but I couldn't help showing it off now.  You can plan ahead now, right?  It's simple, but fun!

February Stamp of the Month: Piece of Cake (D1407)

2 3/4" x 11" White Daisy Cardstock (#1320)
2 1/4" x 3 3/4" White Daisy Cardstock (#1320)
2 1/2" x 4" Black Cardstock (#1386)
Black Ink Pad (#Z2105)
Tulip Marker (#Z2366)
6" Black Gingham Ribbon (#Z1034)
Personal Paper Trimmer (#Z338)
Replacement Blade/Scoring (#Z340)
1/4" Hole Punch

Front Piece: On the small white piece of cardstock, stamp the "You're the Sweetest Thing" and the cupcake plate stamp with black ink.  Color in the top of the cupcakes and the flowers using the Tulip marker.  Glue/tape piece to Black Cardstock. 

Tent Piece: Score the long piece of white cardstock at 3/4", 5", 6", and 10 1/4" shown here:

Fold on all score lines so the open end is on the top.  Add a few strips of adhesive in between the 5" and 6" score lines and stick two Hershey's Nuggets there. 

Ribbon: Add stamped piece with black cardstock to the front of the "tent."  Punch two holes through both the front and back of the tent at the top.  String both ends of the ribbon through the holes on the front toward the back. Cross the ends from behind and pull them back through to the front on the opposite sides to create this knot-bow.  Feel free to post a comment if you have any questions! Pin It

Valentine Card Box

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This was a fabulous project taught by the wonderful Sharon Esau at our team meeting on Monday.  It is a card and a box all in one!

I used the new Caboodle Paper pack along with the So Lucky Stamp Set.  Here are the cutting instructions and list of ingredients:

• 3”x 12” Sweet Leaf cardstock (score at 3”, 4 ¼”, 7 ¼”, 8 ½”, 11 ½”)
• 7 5/8” x 7 5/8” Crystal Blue cardstock (score at 1 3/16” and 2 3/8” on each side)
• Caboodle B&T (background & texture) paper cut to:
• 5- 2 ¾”x 2 ¾” B&T
• 2- 1”x 2 ¾” B&T
• 1- 1”x 2 5/8” B&T
• Colonial White scrap for heart
• Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, Tulip ink pads
• Scissors
• Tombow Adhesive
• 3-D foam tape
• 6” White Daisy Organdy Ribbon
• 2 White soft-set eyelets & setter
• Sparkles
• 12” cutter and scoring tool

I believe Sharon got the directions here, so please check it out!  Enjoy! Pin It

Photoshop Elements 6 - Photo Tinting a Black and White Picture

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After having Photoshop Elements for a year, I've finally figured out several techniques that I enjoy!  Here is a photo of my daughter that I've made look old and tinted, similar to those cards you see at the store.  How did I do it?  It's simple. 

Here is the original photo:

Here is the finished product:

Here are the steps you need to take:
1) From the top menu, select Layer/New/Layer Via Copy
2) Also from the top menu select Enhance/Adjust Color/Remove Color
3) Now click on the eraser icon and up at the top, select the brush mode and 20% opacity. This opacity will allow some color to shine through the black and white layer, but still give it an old look.  Use your left and right bracket keys on your keyboard to make your circle smaller or larger.  Then hold down your left mouse button and drag it over each area you want to remove the black and white coloring, showing the actual color through.  I used it over the streamers, her eyes, hair, and lips.  Now select a 10% opacity and a larger brush size, eraser some of the black and white in the cheeks to reveal some color.
4) The last step I did was to blur the background to make her face stand out.  To do this, click on the Quick Selection tool icon on the left, hold down your mouse button, and drag it to select the entire background. You can let go and select a different area of background if you need to.  If you need to deselect an area, simply select the "Subract from Selection" button in the top/left.  Once all the areas are selected, you can now go to Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur.  I like to use between a 4-7 radius.  Just play around with it and see what looks best. 

Enjoy!  Let me know if you have any questions! Pin It

January Card Workshop

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You're Invited

to a

Card Workshop!

Featuring the NEW Caboodle papers and new stamps!

Saturday, January 16th at 10am at Angela's Stamping Studio (email me for directions please)

Cost: $5 Supply Fee with any $20+ Order OR a $20 Workshop Fee


RSVP: Before 1/14/10 so I can prepare your supplies. You can reserve a seat for you and a friend by sending me a quick email or giving me a call. I hope to see you then!

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