Birthday Balloons Masculine Card

This past weekend, we went to a small birthday party for my eldest nephew in the park.  I designed this card for a custom order but I really liked how it turned out.  So, I decided to use it for my nephew too.  The original is on a Tri-Shutter card.  This one is a regular side-fold card.  I liked the design of the paper layout on the Tri-Shutter, so I made it fit for this card.

We will be making this layout in my workshop on the weekend.  I haven't settled on the final colours yet, though.

I used glitter on the balloons.  I also did a version with plain cardstock or patterned paper for the balloons and a version with buttons.  I don't have many buttons large enough though.

For his birthday, my nephew went to see the live show of "How to Train Your Dragon" (really cute movie).  I'm glad he got to have an evening out.  We gave him money for his birthday so that he could bring back a souvenir since the ticket price was a lot for his parents.  He bought himself a Toothless, the dragon toy.  He and my sister bought be a plush Toothless.  I wasn't expecting anything.  He's very cute!

ACEO and ATC Envelope Tutorial

My most recent custom order requested some mini thank-you cards with a baby theme.  I don't usually make envelopes for my mini cards because they are smaller than the minimum mailable dimensions.  Of course, custom orders always push me to do things I normally don't!

Since my mini cards are 3.5 by 2.5 inches, they are the same size as an ACEO (artist's card, editions and originals) or ATC (artist's trading card).  So, these envelopes will fit those cards.

Start with a piece of paper that is 4.75 by 6.75 inches.  You can cut two of these from an 8.5 x 11 inch paper (North American letter-sized paper).  I use paper that is thicker than copy paper but thinner than cardstock.  I have no idea what the actual weight is but it's very nice for envelopes.  It has weight, but folds easy and is completely opaque so you can't see hints of the contents through the envelope.

Score at 0.5 inches from each side of the 4.75 inch width.  Score at 2 inches from each end of the 6.75 inch height.  Cut away the top and bottom skinny half-inch flaps, leaving the part in the centre.  Angle cut the remaining flap pieces to make them tab shaped.  (Click photo for larger view.)

I like to corner round my top and bottom flaps.  I think it helps it to look more finished.  I used my 2-in-1 corner chomper to do a half inch round on the flap and a quarter inch round on the closed bottom.  To seal the envelope, I use tape where the backing is half an inch wide, but the tape is a quarter inch wide.  That makes it easier to peel off the backing when it's time to seal the envelope.  (That tape is a little pricey though, I have to say!)

Hope you find this tutorial helpful.

Not-So Lazy Days of Summer!

Normally, summer is slow for me at work.  Last year, it was so slow, I took a week off for the heck of it and didn't work a second over our 35-hour work weeks.  Well, here comes the new firm.  Work weeks are 40 hours like the rest of the poor working world and there's no slow time anymore.  I am jam-packed with stuff to do.

You know what they say too, right?  When it rains, it pours!  I've had three custom order inquiries come in while I am still struggling to meet my original order.  The good news is, my original order customer is contemplating further designs.  (Have I said how much I like this customer?  Very responsive and laid back about delivery times.  Sweet!)  The other orders might not pan out.  It will be blessings in disguise, I'm sure.  I am squeezing one in for mini baby-cards though.

I finally did another page in my wedding album.  This album has been in the making for over 5 years.  I'd say I'm about half way through it.  Maybe I can show it to my husband in its entirety for our 10-year anniversary!  LOL.  Even looking back on it now, I can see how much I've aged.  (sigh)

This is my dad giving his speech at my wedding.  I tried to make these pages masculine by using hard lines but tried to make them interesting with off-centered placement.  I wasn't sure whether I really like it until I put the two father's speech pages together.

I used a colour on each page that matched the bow-tie/tie of the father.  Together, I think it looks kind of "newsy" announcement type.  So, I like them now.

I will be working on this book in September.  My creative crew ladies and I are going to a self-made retreat!  I'm a little nervous about how much I actually plan to pack.  I will have to go through my wedding album and plan a few pages ahead in "page kit" fashion.  Then I will know what to bring!

Playing with Water

In this warm July, we were playing with watercolours!  I've been wanting to try this technique since I saw it demonstrated two years ago at the Scrapfest Show.  The demonstration was slightly different that what we did, but it drove home the versatility of Crayola Washable markers.  Since the markers are washable, they react with water.  Maybe not as fine a reaction as artistic water-based markers (like, Stampin' Up!, Tombow, Pro-Marker Aqua Painters or Tim Holtz Distress Markers), but they still work like watercolours.  They are incredibly affordable so that you can "test the waters" with watercolouring to determine if you like it before investing is some higher grade markers.  The best part is that your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews can play with them too!

Here's an example of one way to water colour.  I stamped the image (from the sale bins at Michaels Craft Store) on watercolour paper and heat embossed with black powder.

The marker set I got has sixteen markers with generally two of each colour.  I did not have a light beige, only a light brown and a dark brown.  So, I used only the light brown here.  (Sentiment stamp is from Little Paper Shop).  I coloured only the areas I wanted to have the darkest shadows.  Then, I painted it with a wet, used paint brush that is past its time.

I was so pleased with the ease of this that I went out and invested in a Ranger Tim Holtz water brush.  (That brush is really nice but I say "invested" because it was ridiculously expensive at Michaels.  I would have waited to use a coupon, but I needed it right away for my class.)

Here's a comparison with my Copic markers.  For the Copics, I used a lighter beige which is closer to a "gauze" colour.  I coloured the paper with the colourless blender first, and then added the beige and then went back again with the colourless blender.  I was surprised that the Copics dragged some of the black out of the power or the ink below it.  It made smudge marks.

Here is the comparison.  I put the marker colours with their respective images.

Apart from the colour not being quite "gauzy", the technique of the watercolouring came out gorgeously.  One of these cards is going in the Halloween Drive for Kards for Kids.  Here they are on finished cards:

Here's how we applied watercolouring to our card workshop.  The leaf card uses two colours per leaf on a direct-to-stamp technique.  The butterfly card uses the painting technique with the waterbrush.

I have loved that butterfly stamp since the day I spied it in the store.  I bought it immediately on impulse and then it sat in my collection for about a year and a half.  Finally, I have used it and found a way to do it justice.