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

A New FREE Craftsy Class!

I am excited to say there is a new FREE Craftsy class out! Create Stunning Birthday Cards is a great introduction to making homemade cards with some fun and special techniques, like making a pocket to hold a gift card or using a penny to add movement to a slider card.  You also learn how to make a shaker card and a pop-up card!  I still love making hand made cards for special occasions, like birthdays, and this class re-inspired me to get back to my supplies are start creating again.

When you join the class there is a great kit being offered, the Jillibean Soup Birthday Bisque course kit that has all the paper components used on the class samples:

• 12 double-sided patterned papers 12" x 12" (2 of each pattern)
• One 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock die cuts
• One 12" x 12" sheet of journaling cards
• One 6" x 12" sheet of coordinating stickers
• One mini alphabet sticker sheet
• One set of wooden nickels containing 12 buttons
• One Soup Label sticker sheet

It's a great deal (under $20 bucks for all that!) and if you're new to card-making, it's much easier (I find) to follow along using the same materials as the instructor.  There's even a free pad of paper for the first 300 purchasers.

I think I'm going to try to dedicate some time to this fun craft when I'm back from holiday and make use of all the tools and supplies I have stocked in my workshop.  Quilting has diverted my attention from my other craft loves: scrapbooking, card making, and stamping!  You can use the link above to go directly to Craftsy and sign up for the free class - a fun way to spend some time on the rainy days this summer.

Sweet Girl Card

My little great-neice, who just started senior kindergarten, coloured a beautiful picture which she presented to me on her last visit.  Most touching of all was that she designed her art to look like quilting, just for me!

I wanted to send her a thank-you card in the mail (who doesn't like to get real mail - especially exciting for a kid) and thought of using her picture in the design.  I scanned the artwork into my computer and then cropped it to focus on one section.  I printed it onto white card stock using my inkjet printer.  I layered it onto two pink mats and then stitched around the edge with my sewing machine.

After I glued the sewn layers onto my card base I added the perfect embellishments...'sweet girl' metal signs from the Making Memories eclectic metal signs 'girl' collection.  They are so fun and different yet very flat so I can still easily mail the card in the post.  I'm sure she will enjoy receiving her own mail...and might be surprised to see her own art work turned into a card!

Welcome Baby Card

Here is the card I made for my niece and her husband for their baby shower.  I used a photo mat from a retired Creative Memories album kit as a layer on a white card stock base.  I cut the baby carriage using the only Cricut cartridge I have with such an image, Designer's Calendar.  It doesn't have any layers available so I cut it out twice using different papers and layered it myself.  I added a gem brad where the canopy attaches.  The Welcome Baby is from the Short & Sweet SU stamp set and I heat embossed it with silver embossing powder.

As a final touch, I made a little, tiny quilt to have coming from the baby carriage.  I made a quilt for the baby as my shower gift so I used a scrap of the actual fabric to make the card quilt!  It's a little sneak peek of the gift.

Inside, I added a journal box from the same album kit and used a Chit-Chat rub-on for the sentiment - works great!  I think the card turned out very cute...and I'm certain that new baby boy will too!

Fishy Thanks

While we were on vacation my lovely friend Amy was kind enough to house- & fish-sit!  I made this little note to say thank-you using an old a vintage Flounder stamp from Rubber Stampede (from the original Little Mermaid days!).

 

 

 

 

 

I also gave her some beautiful Clown Fish soap from the shop at the Grand Floridian resort in Disney World.  The shop has the most amazing soaps, cut by the slice, with stunning in-lays of various images: flowers, flip-flops, fish, etc., sold by weight.  I had a hard time picking which I wanted for myself, but settled on the lily-of-the-valley slice and a small bag of 'off-cuts' (the soap is expensive so that seemed like a good way to try a few of them!)

Once I had decided on the obvious theme for Amy's gifts, picking a friend to take home to her was a no-brainer...

Mousekeeping Thank You Cards

When we go to Disney World we always leave a note with our tip for the Mousekeeper.  This year I decided to make some cards instead of using the paper coasters I find in the room!

I got the idea to make the cards from Dawn (Dawn's Stamping Thoughts) and the card design from Angie at Chic 'n Scratch (here's her youtube video).  I used the similar design for each card but changed up the designer paper and Disney image.  Inside, I used six different thank-yous and a Mickey's glove 'thumbs up'.

I usually go a little stir-crazy on vacation with no crafting and no creative outlet!  I'm also an early riser so this gives me something to do (I usually add a sketch of our day in my thank-you note) while waiting for everyone else to get up and get ready.  I've usually had a walk, maybe got some laundry done, and fetched the morning coffee by the time the others even start to stir!

The first card is my favourite because of the broom and dustpan on the designer paper!

 

Mother's Day Card

Here's the card I made for my butterfly-loving mother-in-law for Mother's Day - but of course you could use this card idea for any occasion.  It's been a long time since I stamped using a 2-step set and I actually ended up doing the stamping in reverse order...stamped the outline of the image first and then added the solid image over top using multiple inks.  I didn't want them to line up so I didn't use a stamp-a-ma-jig aligner and just eye-balled placement.  I really like the way it turned out!

The stamp set is from Stampin' Up (Botanical Blooms), the designer series paper is Botanical Gazette, and the butterfly resin embellishment is from the Anna Griffin Sierra Collection.  The sentiment is a rub-on from the old Chit Chat package (SU) - (that was the greatest purchase...it just keeps on going!  I still have tons of sentiments left!)

Inside the card I repeated most of the elements and, after stamping the front floral images, re-stamped without re-inking on another piece of white card stock.  This made the perfect place to write since the image was soft and shadowy.

You're My Type Stamp Set

I would love to buy more product from the Stampin' Up Occasions mini but since I haven't been stamping too much lately I feel too guilty!

I couldn't resist this adorable set though.  The You're My Type stamp set (I bought the clear-mount version - they are cheaper, stamp just as beautifully, and are easy to store) includes the retro type writer and 6 sentiments, in a classic typewriter font, which fit perfectly on the typewriter page.  Soooo cute!

I think I will definitely have to make some fast note cards using this set and maybe even stamp a bunch of memo pads with the "from the desk of" image.

Kitchen Tilda Happy Birthday Card

Ok, I got my scrapbooking mojo back thanks to the Page Planner Templates...but now I need something to get my card making back in gear!  With my Disney album done and my latest quilt all finished, I decided it was time to do a bit of colouring and card making.  It is ridiculous how long it takes me to make ONE card.  And the mess I leave behind...I think that's why I cringe when I need to make a card.  I should just schedule a session and make a bunch of cards in one sitting...but I always end up with one customized card for the intended recipient!

This time I needed a card for my mother's birthday so I started with the Curly Cute 'Happy Birthday' greeting embossed with black embossing powder.  Then I pulled out my new(ish) Kitchen Tilda stamp from Magnolia since she could a) represent me in the kitchen, because b), I'll probably give my mother something to eat for her birthday present (chocolates, dinner out) and will definitely bake her a cake.  I stamped the image on water-colour paper using black Staz-On ink.  I used my Stampin' Up water colour pencils to colour her in with the aqua painter.  It's been a long time since I've used those tools!  I wasn't overly impressed with my work and think I'll go back to my Copics for the next card.

After I was done painting I layered some dsp from the SU Domestic Goddess paper pack onto kraft card stock and added a strip of ribbon from my stash.  I popped up Tilda on some dimensionals and added some paper and a journal card to the inside.  (Oh...and a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds on the bow on Tilda's spoon!)

Jillibean Thank You Card

Today's card was made to thank Carissa at Happily Ever After Paper Crafter for sending me a jillibean paper pad and baker's twine when I won her blog candy.  I showed you the prize on February 10th and mentioned there were a couple patterns in the paper pack which were not Christmas themed and I used them on this card.  After layering the kraft card stock with the flower paper I trimmed the star paper using the scalloped border punch from SU.  I added a strip of textured vanilla card stock to show off the 'thank you', cut using my Cricut and the Calligraphy Collection cartridge.  I added a flower from the Prima Orange collection - it sets off the card nicely but doesn't add too much bulk since I'm sending the card in the mail.

Inside the card I layered 2 strips of patterned paper and then cut out the vanilla card stock using the Shadow Feature Key on <Image4> from the same cartridge.  I used my Gypsy's Hide feature to remove the inner line of the frame and cut the shape as a solid block so I could write my message on it.  I inked the edges with some brown chalk ink from Creative Memories.

Simply Sent Card

I picked up a Simply Sent card kit from Stampin' Up during their clearance rack special last month and here is the card it makes.  The butterflies and green pattern are already printed on the pre-cut cards.  All you need to do is attach a couple of rhinestones and tie the supplied ribbon around the card.  Then you just add the stamped greeting of your choice to the front of the card and whatever you want inside.  These kits don't come with a stamp (like the other kits I've purchased) so you can use what you have and make the cards for whatever occasion you need.  I like having a stash of quick cards ready to go with a few simple embellishments...and at clearance rack prices it was worth it just to get the envelopes!  Here's the card using a different stamp...