Let's Craft and Create Challenge #196: Hip to be Square or Anything Goes...

 

Happy June, eveyone! The warm weather is here, school is over and summer fun can commence. For me, summer fun always includes playing with paper.

This month's challenge at Let's Craft and Create holds so many possibilities. Most of us have an assortment of square dies or punches. And if we don't, it really is not difficult to cut a square shape.

I recently got a new set of square dies and decided to use them to make a card. In fact, I made two cards!

Because we're so close to Father's Day, I decided to make a couple of cards for that occasion.

The die set I used consists of two "double squares." I cut three of the smaller double square and added them to my card front as shown in the photo.

As a little extra embellishment, I added three large enamel dots.

The sentiment was printed with my computer, inked around the edges and popped up on foam tape.

My inside sentiment was computer-generated.

My sescond card was a square card. I don't make them too often, as they require additional postage when mailing (unless you put them in a rectangular envelope). 

The only woodgrain DSP I had was white with a gray grain pattern. I blended some green ink onto this paper so that it would better coordinate with the green cardstock I wanted to use for my card base.

I cut the larger of the double squares and also a single, thicker square shape that was the result of cutting both the small and large double squares while they were nested, one inside the other. 

I added some Glossy Accents to the die-cut letters for DAD. It has gotten a little too thick, so they're not as smooth as I'd like, but they actually look better in real life.

I printed out the same sentiment for the inside of this card, but with an added "Happy Father's Day."

Now it's your turn. I hope you'll join us at Let's Craft and Create for a little crafting fun. You can follow the "Hip to be Square" suggestion or follow your own mojo for an "Anything Goes" project.

The Design Team has posted lots of inspiration, so be sure to take a look.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

So many graduation cards...

I have made a good number of graduation cards beyond what I showed you in this post, so I thought I would share a few more with you.

These cards are pretty self-explanatory--they feature either a DSP background or an embossed background, a die-cut sentiment with shadow (popped up on foam squares) and a die-cut mortarboard (also popped up). The inside of each card said, "Congratulations on your graduation!"

I made a couple of cards like this one. The mortarboard was already embossed in silver onto the cardstock, and I simply cut it to size and then added the silver die-cut "Congrats" and the heat-embossed sentiment below it. The inside sentiment said, "You've worked so hard for this & we're so proud of you!"

I got the idea for these cards from my online friend, Donna (Design by Donna). I had mailed her a couple of cuts from the die set that makes the "HAPPY" card, and she came up with the idea of using them for a graduation card. The inside of this card said, "Congratulations! Take a moment & savor your accomplishment."

These cards were all made with specific graduates (and their school colors) in mind. I started by making the tassels out of embroidery thread. The numbers on each card were cut three times and stacked for dimension. The graduate figures were some new dies that I had purchased just in time to make these cards. My grandson received the blue/orange/white card. He thought the tassel was a "really cool" embellishment. The inside sentiment said, "Congratulations on your graduation! We're so proud of you."

I'm entering these cards in the current NBUS Challenge #51.

I had a leftover die-cut of a female graduate. and since the thrift store is located near a school with red and white as its school colors, I decided to make one last card. I couldn't resist adding a few sequins, too. It's for a girl, after all! I donated this card, along with most of the others I made, to the thrift store.

I think I am done making graduation cards for the year, but coming up with a few new ideas for this year's batch was a lot of fun. 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

80th birthday card...

My oldest sister's DH celebrated his birthday a couple of days ago. This is the card I made for him.

I have a new humorous stamp set and used one of the sentiments for this card. I also used a "Bird Crazy" bird to continue the comic nature of the card.

As I was putting together my card front, I tried to add some enamel dots to the corner, but didn't get them straight. When I tried to carefully pull them off, they ripped off part of the paper. I certainly didn't want to start over, so I pulled out my decorative corner dies and used the one you see here to cover up the "boo-boo" I had made. As you can see, I still ended up adding three tiny enamel dots to the decorative corner.

Before die-cutting the bird, I colored him with alcohol markers. I also added a little Glossy Accents to his eyeballs. I love using Glossy Accents, but mine is getting hard to use. The last quarter of a bottle has gotten so thick that I am having a hard time squeezing it out. I read that it is water-based and you can add water, a drop at a time, to thin it out. I may try that. I'll let you know if it works!

Both the bird and the sentiment square were popped up on foam squares.

The inside sentiment came with the same stamp set. I thought it was a nice finish to the card.

I was actually able to visit with my brother-in-law on his birthday, as we were both at the same graduation parties (two of them!). He said he really enjoyed the card, so I was pleased.

Besides attending two graduation parties this past weekend, we also attended the graduation ceremony for our grandson Max. This is a photo of him with his family in front of his high school. We're so proud of him and wish him well as he prepares to head to college in the fall. I will share the card I made for him in another post.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

More fun with colored pencils...

 

I had this image from Bugaboo Stamps in my card parts for *ahem* years. It was time to color it up and use it on a card. I pulled out my Prismacolor Pencils and mineral spirits and finally finished it. 

I cut it out with a cross-stitch rectangle die and popped it up on dimensionals. I also popped up my stamped sentiment banner. The three red dots you see were made with a Viva Decor pen.

I was able to use up a snippet of red-striped DSP on this card, too. I always wonder why I save narrow little scraps--until they are the perfect piece for a card like this.

The Prismacolor Pencils make coloring so easy. I'm truly grateful to my friend Lynette for introducing me to them. I've long struggled with coloring, sometimes doing okay and other times simply tossing my failed efforts in the trash. I think there will be fewer failures now.

I turned this into a get well card by stamping the inside with the sentiment you see here.

This card was donated to the thrift store. And speaking of the thrift store, I volunteered there for five hours yesterday. While I was going about my duties, one of the cashiers told me how much the customers enjoy buying the cards I bring in. She said that one particular lady told her that she comes in every week just to check out the handmade cards, and today she bought six of them!

I want to say a public THANK YOU to Lynette for also donating cards for me to bring to the thrift store. She has donated hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of cards, and they are so appreciated.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Birthday card for a sweet granddaughter...

I have a granddaugter who is just finishing up her second year of college, and this is the birthday card I made for her. It's a slimline center-step card. I've made center-step cards before, but never a slimline one.

Here is a picture of my granddaughter with her boyfriend, taken at a college swim meet. They were both on the swim team.

This card was a little tricky to cut, score and fold just right, but I managed it in the end. I was going to add some complimentary DSP for the narrow side pieces, but I decided that might make it look too busy. But looking at these photos, I wish I had used some subtly patterned red paper on each side. I think that might have looked nice. 

As you can see in this picture, I've inked around the edges of my scalloped panel and popped it up on foam squares.

The cherries were cut with a neat little die set that I've had for a while. I added some clear Nuvo Drops to the embossed areas on each cherry. It gives them a nice little shine.

On the inside, I added another scalloped panel that had been stamped with a birthday sentiment. I cut the cherries out again, split them into two separate cherries and adhered one on each side. The cherry stem on the left is actually the back side of the die-cut (so I could get it to face the opposite way). The red parts of the cherries are perfectly symmetrical, so I cut the cherry fruit and leaf and glued them to the back side of the stem. No one will be the wiser!

My granddaughter told me she loved this card, which is the best compliment I can get. She also told me she has saved all the cards I have made for her over the years. I was so very pleased. I guess we never know how our cards affect those who receive them. Most of us take for granted that a great many--probably most--of our cards will just be thrown away.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

A commissioned wedding card...

 During my crafting day at Lynette's (My Stamping Addiction) home, I used one of her pretty embossing folders.  Then I pulled out my metallic waterpaints and painted the central image. I was really pleased with the results.

The metallic paints have such a beautiful sheen, and I was able to get a bit of shading on my flowers by using a couple different shades of each color.

After cutting the panel to size, I matted it with some brushed silver metallic cardstock. I cut the sentiment out of the same sislver cardstock and layered it onto some matching white die-cuts to give it some dimension.

As a final touch, I glued on a few iridescent sequins. 

As soon as I saw how pretty the image turned out after painting it, I decided it would be perfect for a wedding card that I had been commissioned to make. 

An older (70+ years old) couple is getting married, and I thought they would appreciate the traditional simplicity of this card.

On the inside, I printed a wedding sentiment on a piece of vellum and adhered it only at the top, underneath the scalloped border. That border is actually cut from the same silver caradstock that was used on the front. I'm not sure why it looks so yellow in the photo. It might be reflecting a color in the room where I was taking the photo.

Thank you, Lynette, for your help with this card. It was your willingness to let me use your embossing folder that made it possible! 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

You're off to great places...

Talk about an easy graduation card to make! This is one of those five-minute cards. I have the graphic for the front in a Word file on my computer, and I just print it out so that it can be cut to size and put on an A2 card base.

I don't remember where I got the graphic (at least a year ago!), but I think it was a freebie on someone's blogsite. 

I have a die set to cut out the mortar board hat with its gold tassel. It's popped up on a couple of foam squares, but the end of the tassel is glued directly to the card front so that it doesn't accidentally get torn off.

My word file contains two card fronts and two card interior panels with the sentiment you see in the photo on the right.

Last night I printed out two more of these to make for the thrift store to sell. I'll be taking them, along with an assortment of other cards, to the store this week.

As I was creating this blog post, I wondered why the graduation cap is called a mortar board. That's really a funny name for this strange looking hat, don't you think? 

Nowadays, it's easy to find out all kinds of trivial information by Googling it, so that's what I did. I found that it's called a mortar board because it is shaped like the board that brickmasons use to hold their mortar. 

Then I thought, "But why is there a tassel?" Once again, the internet offered the answer. Graduation tassels date back to the 14th century. European universities used tassels to indicate different levels of academic achievement. This symbolism has now been given to honor cords which are hung around the neck and draped over the front of the graduation robe. But the tassels remain on the mortar boards.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl