Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Easy Christmas Card #2

Here's the second easy Christmas card I made using images cut right from the paper in the Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash pack.  This time I used different paper colours to co-ordinate with the image design and I added white satin ribbon underneath the card stock layers.  I also popped up the main layer with pop dots to give some dimension and focus attention to that part of the card.  Don't forget the glitter as the perfect embellishment on the word 'snow'!

Easy Christmas Card

This is the first of several easy Christmas cards I made for this year.  I started with a 5" square of white card stock for the base.  I used patterned paper from the Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash pack to add layers of colour.  For the image, I simply cut out a design from the paper - great images of vintage Christmas items, like tree lights, artificial snow, and ornaments.  I added touches of Dazzling Diamonds glitter in key spots and a piece of Stampin' Up wide ribbon under the layers.  I stamped a holiday message inside for a speedy, yet lovely, Christmas card!  I made a whole stack of similar cards and I'll share my favourites during the next two weeks.

Wine-y Thank You Card

I didn't have to work very hard to make this card!  I wanted to thank someone for taking us on a winery tour and my photo of the sampling glasses (not all mine, by the way!) was all I needed on the front of the card.  I simply matted the picture with some Poppy Parade dsp, which was a close match to the blush wine in the glasses.  Sometimes just a cool photograph is all it takes to convey the message!

Inside, I popped up a stamped sentiment and added a little wine glass where I signed the card...

Happy Moments Birthday Card

The Happy Moments stamp set from Stampin' Up has some really cute images.  I used two of them in this birthday card.  I stamped the cake image on a piece of white card stock and then ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Labels One Nestabilities dies by Spellbinders.  I also cut a layer of dsp with the next label size to mat the image.  I coloured the flowers, cake stand, and candles using my SU markers and added a bit of glitter.  I used 3 more layers of card stock and patterned paper, plus a couple of pretty flower brads from the Making Memories grab bag, and the card front was done.

Inside the card I used the same process and stamped the set of gift boxes.  I added the Happy Birthday greeting, stamped twice (once in green, once in purple) for a blurry shadow effect.  I've really missed stamping and it felt good to get out the ink and markers and just create.

Quilting Thank You Card

 
I made this card to send to one of my quilting forum buddies and I think it's really cute!  I got the quilting/sewing themed paper from my scrapbooking buddy (hey, I'm lucky...I have a lot of buddies!) - from her Tim Holtz Crowded Attic Paper Stash pack.  What an awesome set of paper: newspapers, butterflies, maps, buttons, type alphabets, dress patterns...I love it!  Along with the 12x12 designs, it also has 6x6 designs, 2x2 snippets, and borders - everything you need in one stash!

To make this simple card I just cut a square of the paper (it has solid colours on the back side) and then layered a square of the design side on top of it.  I love that the section I chose has a photo of a quilting needle package - perfect!  I used my old sewing machine to stitch on some scraps of my latest quilt fabric and I also hand-sewed a button.  A little ziz-zag border down the side finished off the front of the card.  Inside, I just added a quick sentiment from the Three Little Words Stampin' Up stamp set.

It was really weird using my old Singer machine, which I have kept for sewing card stock and Kool-Aid bags.  It felt very clunky and was noisy compared to my new Janome!  It made me appreciate having a new machine for my quilting even more!  Once you have needle-down and auto-cut it's hard to go back!

No Time for a Sliver Birthday Card

I wanted to try out my new SU goodies and since it's my mother-in-law's birthday my hubby requested I make her a card.  I loved m-i-l's cooking when I first met her (and still do of course, we just don't get the opportunity to enjoy it very often any more) so I thought a kitchen-y themed card would be cute.  I started with a 5" square white card base and added some dsp from the Domestic Goddess paper pack.  I also used the designer series paper to cut out an adorable apron found on the From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge.  The Four Frames stamp is punched out with the Designer Label punch and I got the sentiment from the Birthday Bakery stamp set.  The flower sticker is from the Making Memories design shop embellishment pack (Nature Summer Flowers) included in the grab bag I got from Michael's in the summer.

Inside I added more dsp and a greeting stamp from the Bitty Birthday stamp set.

How Beautiful A Day Card

It is so lovely when someone goes out of their way to be kind - offering something freely with no expectation of gaining something in return.

When I encounter such a person I have an over-whelming need to voice my gratitude in written words and a card usually becomes the delivery method.  This card does just that and the stamped sentiment is perfect.  I used the Touch of Kindness stamp set from Stampin' Up and my new Domestic Goddess designer series paper.  I punched out the scallop and added a ribbon underneath it to duplicate a prize-winning ribbon at the Fall Fair.  I guess technically it should be a blue ribbon but the Poppy Parade looked so bright and fresh with the dsp! 

New Goodies!

With all the quilting I've been doing lately I have really missed my other hobbies.  I have scrapbooked a few pages but haven't made a card in a while!  There's nothing like some new goodies to get me back at the crafting table and my order just came in.  (Quilts are expensive to make so I couldn't order the whole list of stuff I wanted from the new Stampin' Up catalogue...:(

I couldn't resist the adorable Domestic Goddess Designer Series paper, with it's retro colours and designs...I know it will be perfect with the 'From My Kitchen' Cricut cartridge and will be ideal for cards and scrapbooking pages.

I've wanted the Decorative Label Punch for a long time and when I saw the Four Frames stamp set that co-ordinates with the punch I knew it was time to get them both!  The images are so pretty and I like to make (and use) a lot of tags so the set was a no-brainer.  Now...I will definitely be getting back my card making mojo with these new products to play with!

Contract Congratulations Card

When our children were very young they each signed a 'contract for their future' vowing not to smoke, use drugs, or consume alcohol.  My husband and I decided to add the incentive that if the commitment was followed through until his or her 19th birthday (legal drinking age in Ontario, Canada) we would offer a bonus of $500 cash to be used in any way they wish.  While many people poo-pooed our idea and said it would never 'stick', we held firm in our belief that the contract offered 'an excuse' for the kids to use in their decision making, an expectation of behaviour, and 500 darn good reasons to be strong and make it to the end!  I skimmed off a small amount from every pay cheque for YEARS and put the money in a Quicken savings goal for each child.  Now, after all these years of saving, the time arrived to actually pay out to the eldest child who just turned 19!  We are so proud of her and the lifestyle she has chosen to live throughout her teen years.  She has achieved the goal and, although it was really hard to withdraw such a large amount of cash, she totally deserves the money!  Time has flown by and I can't believe she is a grown woman now!  Yet the milestone has also made me realize how long it's been since she signed the pledge in her little girl hand-writing...how much saving we've done to realize this long-term commitment and how determined she was to fulfill it!

Above is the simple card I made to present the money and tell her how proud we both are.  Inside I added play money...but the real cash was handed over too!  She has decided to save the money to use for a university graduation trip with her friends...no, not Cancun...Disney World! :)  Happy momma!

A Berry Special Friend Card

I'm having so much fun making these cute pop-up cards using the Everyday Pop-up Card Cricut cartridge.  I used to love pop-up books as a kid and each time I make a card it reminds me of them.  There was one in particular I recall...with sisters dressed in the same outfit but in different colours.  One had the top in one colour and the bottoms in another, and the sister had the opposite arrangement.  I was only about 4 or 5 when we had that book and I can't remember anything else about it except those clothes they had on!  Anyone else who was a kid in the early 70s remember a book like that??

Anyway, this card can be found on page 46 of the handbook.  It would be perfect to give with a container of my homemade raspberry freezer jam!

I cut the card (which happened to be a zig-zag edge just like the last card!), and the phrase (with layers) for the front.  I added some dsp and inked the edges.  I chose the jam jar pop-up and it was much less fussy to put together than the sewing machine card I showed you a couple of weeks ago - but you still have to be gentle when you open it.  I used the graphic illustration from Provo Craft again for reference, and I think I did it right.  The strawberries pop-up but they don't do 'anything'...(eg. move side-to-side)...but I'm not sure if they are even supposed to!  It's cute, anyway!  I added 2 layers of dsp inside cut into a circle (like a table or placemat).  I added some Glossy Accents to the strawberries (on front and inside) and a bit of glitter.  One last thing...the layers are not sized to fit on the pop-ups but I still wanted the jam label on my jar.  I used my Gypsy to size the layer and shift-layer to make them fit and added them to my jar...so cute!