Oragami Box

I have seen these awesome Oragami Boxes on different blogs so I decided to try one!!

I used Katrina's step by step video tutorial as a guide -- nothing is better than a video tutorial !! -- and it was a snap to make!! (the link will give you all her tutorials, just scroll down till you find the oragami box tutorial).

All and all it was pretty simple to make. The most difficult part was attaching the ribbon to the top of the box. That is one of the things I like best, the fact that you can take the lid off and the ribbon comes off with it!! No untying! So you don't ever ruin the box...you can put in and take out the contents without having to untye the bow!!

Supplies: Cardstock-Chocolate Chip {bottom}, Mellow Moss {top strip}, Au Chocolat {top} (all from Stampin' Up!). Accessories- dauber (SU!), Chocolate Chip Ink (SU!), Chocolate chip ribbon (SU!).

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

I know....this is old

I know, Valentines Day was forever ago!! But at the time, I was so tired of making and posting valentine related items that I never did get these posted. But they are so darn cute that I just had to show you!! They were the valentine gifts my son gave his 2 teachers.

I made the milk cartons from the tutorial by Beate on SCS that you can see HERE. I started with white cardstock and stamped the heart randomly all over! I made one pink and one red. Then I made the milk carton and added a pink or red sleeve and tied some great black polka dot ribbon around both (man, I hoard that ribbon -- these teachers should be glad to get it!) LOL. Just a little doodling on the sleeves -- I kept it clean and simple! The cards were made using these cute stickers! I simply added them to a 3x3 white card and used my black marker to draw around the edges. I really like doing this -- seems to finish off the card!

I poured Strawberry Malted Milk balls into each and sealed the cartons. Although I think my sons teachers liked their gifts, I found out after that one is allergic to milk products and couldn't eat the sweet treats!! Drat !! Next time I'll have to be more careful!

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Flourishes!

Sharon (No Time to Stamp?) challenged us to make a simply stamped card that had flourishes on it!!

I love these flourishes I have from Gel-a-tins called Build Your Own Flourish.

See that designer paper ... I made it using the Faux Ribbon and the small stamps from one of the Borders & Corners sets that both come from Papertrey Ink. I really like the look, kinda like home-made vintage tags. You can see more like it HERE and HERE.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

February 26 - Design Basics Lesson #8

Hello and welcome. This is my 8th lesson in my own exploration of design basics. I am using a book called Design Basics Index by Jim Krause. You can explore the earlier lessons by clicking on the links on the right side of my blog if you are interested!! Enjoy.

Today's lesson is on Hierarchy. Defined as "a system of graded ranks".

Jim expalins that when looking at something, we will naturally be drawn to the item at the top of this "visual hierarchy". Sometimes it is the largest item, a well placed item, or because of the color of the item, or even because it is the most conceptually intriguing element. Then, our eye should follow a "visual pathway" of supporting elements.

I like this concept!! I'm thinking back to some of my favorite cards from people like Nichole Heady, Lisa Johnson, Sharon Johnson, and Debbie Olson and I can clearly find the eye-catching element or "the element that is the highest on the visual hierarchy". Cool!!

Now my turn!! Here are some cards that I made in the past where you can (or at least I can) clearly see my eye doing that...finding the element that is at the "top of the visual hierarchy" and then moving down the elements:

See this page from the valentine I sent my parents ---->

When I look at this, I totally look at the photo first (a good sign since it is a mini scrapbook) and then I find I move to the cluster of the flowers and heart in the bottom right, then up to the word angel and finally to the vertical red ribbon.... wow!! When I made this bage back in January, I didn't realize this but I keep opening and closing this image and every time I open it, my eyes do the same thing!! Did that happen to you when you looked at it???

<--------------

And here is another card where I can really see the visual heirarchy when I look at it. I totally look at the wire swirly charm. Then I look at the tiny sentiment and then the bold black bow. I keep thinking that I would move to the bow second becasue it is so much more intense...but I don't seem to. What does your eye do with this card???

Last card ------->

When I look at this card, I instantly go to the middle of the leaves, where there is more white inside the rectangle. Then I move out to that dark brown strip and finally on to the sentiment. Maybe not the best route (shouldn't the sentiment be more important than the strip???) But that is what my eye tends to do. Does that happen to you too??

Supplies:

Angel Valentine: Paper-Blush (Basic Grey), Ribbon (Making Memories- red, Michaels dollar bin - ivory), Flowers (Primas), Buttons (sm. heart - Teresa's Hand Dyed Buttons, brown - grandma Mary's stash), letters (Blush by Basic Grey), photo corners (dollar store), dauber (Stampin' Up!), Close to Cocoa Ink (SU!) sponged around edge. Note-the red outlined heart is cut from cardboard and covered with basic grey paper.

Wire Pendent Charm Card: Paper-Tempting Turquoise, Orchid Opulence, Basic Black (all Stampin' UP), Ink-Basic Black (SU!), Versamark (Tsukineko), Stamps-Deligt in Life, Fancy Flexible Phrases (SU!), Accessories-oval chipboard(Fancy Pants), Black organdy ribbon (Michaels), Hobby knife, wire (Michaels). Note - this pendent was made based on a website that made wire pendents and the wire pendent I made by hand. I can't find the link but if I do find it, I'll edit it in here.

Masking Card: Cardstock-Whisper White (SU!), Ink-Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Stamps-Beautiful Blooms, Paper Tray (Papertrey Ink), Dauber (SU!), Post It notes (3M). Note - this card is all masked -- it is a one layer card !!

Thanks for visiting. Let me know what you think about the lesson!

Donelda

Plastic Challenge

Playing around tonight so I had to upload. Over at Daring Cardmakers they challenged us to make something using plastic packaging that is destined for the bin or recycling. What a great idea! I love recycling things in my crafting. See that blue and green "friend" tag...well, it is a bread clip! I used my alcohol inks to pretty it up and voila, a great tag. You might also recognize the green polka dot paper...it is actually some of the packaging that comes with the Papertrey Ink stamp sets. I saved it and knew some day I'd use it. Since I was "recycling" I decided that today was the day! Supplies: Cardstock-Basic Black (SU!), Green (unknown), polkadot (PTI packaging); stamps-Faux Ribbon (PTI), Ink-Basic Black (SU!), Accessories-bread tag, alcohol inks lettuce and stream (Ranger), ribbon (unknown), designer label punch (SU!), marker (Zig). Thanks for dropping in for a visit. Remember, tomorrow is "lesson day" See you there! Donelda

Girlfriends!

I had put the Beautiful Blooms set on my Papertrey Ink wish list because I knew it would make some beautiful cards. I've yet to put all the flowers together to make a great collage card, until now!! I did borrow a flower and some "bits" from the Green Thumb set as well. I seem to always be trying to meet a challenge that I set for myself. This time, I've been trying to use my Sahara Sand cardstock. I checked to make sure that Purely Pomegrante would show up well on it (I only own classic dye ink from Stampin' Up) and it did! So I added it to Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa. I love the color combo! For the sentiment, I wanted to use the "girl friend" sentiment from Green Thumb. Honestly, I just noticed the little tiny "girl" this afternoon while making another card! I knew it would make the perfect card to be able to enter on Caardvarks challenge -- Lovefest - Friendship. I stamped it and then used an oval to encircle it. The sentiment was a tad too small so I added a few little flowers on either side. Finally, I had to decide what to do with the sentiment -- how to attach it. I didn't want a ribbon going all the way through the flower and leaf collage, so I made little slits in the oval using my hobby knife and found a unique way to tie on the ribbon. It gave just the right amount of color on the right side of the card!! If you haven't tried a Caardvarks challenge yet, you really should!! If you haven't purchased any Papertrey Ink stamps yet, you really should do that too -- you won't be sorry! Thanks for visiting. Donelda

Challenge and challenge

Well, I did these cards to meet 2 different challenges. One was Beate's weekend sketch challenge #36. It was a great sketch, just the style I love to do!

The other challenge was one that I made for myself. I have wanted to make a birthday "set" for a while. Well, and now that I think about it, I am consisitently trying to use the stuff I already have! And I've had this wonderful Basic Grey paper - Stella Ruby - for a very long time and need to start using it! So, I did!!

Here is a close up of the coloring. I did it using my Prisma pencil crayons and then blending them with a stump and odorless thinner. This is my very favorite way of coloring in images that are detailed! You can't go wrong, it looks beautiful every time!! At Splitcoaststampers, this technique is called Gamsol Magic (the name Gamsol is a brand name which some believe to be the best, however, I've had great luck with the brand I've bought from Michaels).

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!

Donelda

A Flying Mouse?

Have you ever seen a flying mouse ?? Well, here's one!

This is an ATC that is made using Zindorf's brayered sky technique. Boy, if you haven't seen her cards yet, you should definately check out her gallery -- she does some amazing work!!

I am in Jessica's House Mouse swap #5 and need to figure out what technique I am going to do so I was playing around with this as an option. However, this took a ton of time and I"m not sure I could do it 10 times. So, I decided to put a hand-drawn sentiment and enter it into Jen's Limited supply challenge from today!!

Thanks for the visit!

Donelda

Challenge Card

Made this card for today's Ways to Use It Challenge #154 where Julia wanted us to make a window card! Well, I don't usually make window cards and now I know why....my brain doesn't think that way!! Look how plain that window is...something just not right!! Anyway, I do like the sentiment that I made to go with it. It says "it ZOOMeD by" and on the inside it reads "YOuR BiRTHdaY THaT is" A bit of a play on the idea of the mouse "zooming by the cat" .... Anyway, I've decided that I must get some white rub on letters! That was too hard writing those words on there as I don't have that great hand writing like some of the expert card makers!! Supplies: Stamps-MeowMeow (SU!); Ink-Basic Black(SU!), Paper-Brown is Bazzil and designer stripes is Basic Grey; Accessories-watercolor pencil crayons (SU!), 1 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder, white gel pen (Marvy), sticker letters Thanks for visiting! Donelda

No Time To Make a Card because....

.... I was too busy taking pictures of the moon!!

It was a lunar eclipse last night and the conditions were perfect!! The sky was clear, the moon was full and the temperatures were not too cold to hang around outside.

We had a bit of a "Lunar Party". My son and I got all dressed up in our outdoor clothes, and went and played in the dark back yard while I photographed the moon changing. He doesn't have school today or tomorrow so it was a good

night for him to stay up late!!

I love how these photos came out!! The orange is too cool, and look, you can see the craters and everything!!

So, I'm sorry that there is no card this morning but this was a great opportunity that couldn't be missed. Who knows if the weather will cooperate in 2010 when the next lunar eclipse is supposed to happen!!

Have a great day....I think I might be singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for the rest of the day!!

Donelda

GREEN

Well, here is a card that I made for the Arty Girlz Challenge -- "GREEN". Do you think I used enough green - hehehe.

I love this image from Cornish Heritage Farms!! However, I think that it is retired -- sorry!!

The image is colored with prisma color pencil crayons and then blended with odorless thinner. That is my favorite way of coloring my images!! If you haven't tried it and want a tutorial, it is called Gamsol Magic on Splitcoaststampers. Have fun.

I made the card extremely simple so that it didn't distract from the awesome image!!

Thanks or visiting!!

Donelda

Technique Tag

If you haven't been over to Tim Holtz' blog, then you should. He started a blog just before Christmas and demonstrated some awesome techniques every day up to Christmas. And he gave out some increadible prizes too!! I didn't win any but had fun trying and leaning all those techniques.

Since Christmas, he is going to suggest a technique each month. This tag card was one I made for the January technique where you emboss an image, sponge around it, then melt the embossing off with your iron and some brown wrapping paper. It was a lot of fun!!

I haven't done February's technique since it uses Grungeboard (a great new product of Tim's) but I've been waiting for my local stores to get the Elements Set of Grungeboard in -- all they have is letters. If only I could do the ordering for them :-)

Thanks for dropping in for a visit. I'd love to see your try at this fun technique!! Give it a try and leave me a post with a link!!

Donelda

February 19 - Design Basics Lesson #7

Hello and welcome. This is my 7th lesson in my own exploration of Design Basics. I am using the book Design Basics Index by Jim Krause. He has the best book!! See the list along the right side of my blog where you can access all the lessons if you are interested! Lesson #7 - Harmony by VISUAL ECHO. This is actually a continuation of my last lesson. In that lesson, I read that it was possible to create harmony (or agreement between elements) by using the background paper and borrowing the same colors and design in the entire card. You can check it out HERE. Today, I am continuing working with Harmony through VISUAL ECHO, however, today my focus is on echoed TEXT and echoed STYLE. On my first cards, I designed a very pretty purple card with elegant flowers in the same purple. However, on one card (the one on the left) I have used a plain serif style text. This text does not match the elegance of the card!! However, on the other card (the right) I have used a more script and italisized font which is more elegant and matches the style of the card better. What do you think? Do you think the card on the right looks more harmonious?? On this second card, I am looking at Harmony and Visual Echo by considering the style of the elements. The card on the left features an image of a little cute fish with a relaxed sentiment - a simple "hi". These elements match the cute colored circles of the backgroud paper. However, the card on the right shows a very elegant bird flying gracefully through the air and a very fancy sentiment "Bonjour". These elements do not appear to match the simple and basic background paper as well as the other image. I am sure that this is probably a personal preference but I really think the cute little fishy matches the background much better than the fancy bird!!! What do you think?? Supplies: Cardstock-Whisper White, Orchid Opulance (SU), Dark Green (Bazzil); Designer paper- (Provo Craft); Ink-Basic Black, Orchid Opulance (SU); Stamps-Carte Postale, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Fancy Flexible Phrases, Fishy Friends (all SU), Beautiful Blooms (Papertrey Ink); Accessories-ribbon (Michaels dollar bin). I hope you enjoyed this lesson as much as I did. Off to create more cards using visual echo. Thanks for visiting. Donelda

Two Moos - Friends

I was checking out Godelieve's blog last month and she had these things called "Moos" on there. They were beautiful but I had to ask myself...what is a Moo??? Thankfully, she had also left a link to a side called Make a Moo or Two. I went there and found out that a moo is "a little card with the size of 2,8 x 7 cm or approximately 1,1 x 2,8 inches. Besides this fixed size it's what you make of it".

Now that sounded like a whole bunch of fun. I decided to follow Godelieve's approach and do this kind of collage type. I had the background left over from a previous card and I loved the brown and green. I stamped many different images in the same brown and green and then glued on some seed beads. Finally, I drew a border around the images as they felt like they were falling off the Moo.

I don't do "collage" very often but at this size, it was the perfect place to play around with it. So, what do you do with these cute little Moos you might ask. Well, Godelieve has the perfect solutions - you can add them to a card (just like an embellishment) or she also made a keychain out of some. As well, you could save them (kinda like ATCs or Inchies).

ETA: I see that the colors are washed out in the photo ... to see the great green in the background, you can click on the image to enlarge it.

Thanks for dropping in for the visit. I'd love to see the Moos you might choose to make!!

Donelda

Sorry!

Sorry everyone but I added the comment verification option as I've been getting some spam like items in my comments and I don't want to end up with any problems with my computer!! Sorry if this is a bother for you but I want to make sure nothing interrupts my ability to blog! I hope it doesn't deter you from leaving comments as I love hearing from all of you!! Thanks for understanding. Donelda

Buttons and Flowers for a Birthday

It is my Mother In Law's birthday so I wanted to make an extra special Card for her. She loves to sew, so I always try to add buttons and such on her cards!! This card is quite simple in design. Some beautiful designer paper (It is K&Company - their paper is beautiful) sewn with my sewing machine starts it all off. Then I added the scallop with the sentiment and those cute little flowers from Papertrey Ink. Finished it all off with a big flower, some buttons, and a bit of ribbon!!

Supplies: Cardstock (Very Vanilla), Designer Paper (K&Co), Ink-Bordering Blue (SU), Stampes-Paper Trey and Borders and Corners {Square} (both Papertrey Ink), Accessories- Scallop punch (borrowed from Robin - thanks again Robin!!), various buttons, BazzillBasics flower, ribbon (Michaels), thread, sewing machine, dauber.

Thanks for visiting. Donelda

Nautical Stuff and Lighthouses

Here is my card for Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge #22 . It is a layout based on Leslie's sketch HERE. I started out wanting to use the lighthouse image. Because this is a "stamp simply" challenge, I decided to simply add a little bit of color using my Stampin' Up pastels. I love them since they are so easy -- fool proof in fact - and make a quick way to add a small amount of color!!

Next, I picked this dark cardstock out of my K&Co. Designer Cards pad (the ones that are pre-scored). I liked the circle images as they reminded me of compasses -- another nautical item. Then I used the lighter green designer paper across the bottom and put the whole thing on some mellow moss cardstock. I didn't want to add ribbon as it didn't fit the nautical theme, so I used some tan colored braiding cord instead. Finally, I couldn't resist the shells along the bottom, even though it wasn't part of the layout (but I know Sharon won't mind, she is not a stickler for rules - she just wants us to all have fun!!).

Being from Nova Scotia, I love all things nautical....it is one of the things I miss the most out here in the middle of the prairies!

Supplies: Stamp-Yaquina Head, Or (Cornish Heritage Farms); Paper-Mellow Moss (SU!), K&Co.; Ink-Basic Black (SU!); Accessories-Pastels (SU!), Braiding Cord (Bead Party), Shells (PEI).

Thanks for stopping by!

Donelda

Last of the Valentines

Again, sorry everyone

that I've been slack on posting, thought I was better but my body was just tricking me for the day....

Here are some more Valentine cards I made. Did them for Jen's Limited Supply challenge where she wanted us to use background stamps and limit the rest!! Well, I have this beautiful Anna Griffin background stamp but I rarely ever think to pull it out.

I decided to do some lavender based valentine cards!!

Supplies: Cardstock-Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant (I think or maybe it is the 07 Ink Color Purple which I can't remember the name of...)Whisper White (SU), Ink-Lovely Lavender, Basic Black (SU), Stamp- Anna Griffin background, Circle of Friendship (SU), Fancy Flexible Phrases (SU), Lavender ribbon (Making Memories), Black organdy (SU), silver wire, Silver Suruko Gel Pen, Designer lable punch (SU), hobby knife.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Valentine for Grandma and Grandpa

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been sick, sick, sick!! Here is the valentine that I made for Grandma and Grandpa. I got the inspiration from Beth's Try a New Technique 150 where she wanted us to make a photo wallet. I had seen one forever ago on Debbie Olson's blog and have been meaning to make one ever since..... that was a long long long time ago!!

I picked the color scheme of brown, caramel and red!! and then added various buttons, ribbon, and flowers to match. It was a ton of fun and I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa will love it!!

Supplies: Cardstock-brown, caramel, red (Brazzil), Ink-Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Real REd (SU), Stamps - itty bitty backgrounds (SU), Dollar stamps from Michaels, Accessories- various buttons, various ribbon, prima lowers, SU brads, other heart shaped brad (unknown), rhinstone (dollar store), lace from Great Grandma Mary's sewing stash, brown marker.

Thanks for visiting. Donelda

February 12 - Design Basics Lesson #6

Today is Tuesday and we know what that means!!!!

If you haven't been following along, I've listed the previous lessons on the right side of my blog for you to easily find and read! Enjoy.

This is the 6th lesson in my own exploration of Design Basics. I am learning lots of great stuff from a book called Design Basics Index by Jim Krause. Welcome to my learning.

Lesson #6 - Harmony by VISUAL ECHO.

This lesson is a continuation of understanding how Harmony making agreement between elements of a design. Today the focus is on VISUAL ECHO.

When using visual echo, Jim says it "...establishes and eye-pleasing sense of unity between elements of a layout". In this card example, I have taken the design of the backgroud paper and borrowed both the colors (red and brown) as well as an actual repetition of the desgn which you can see on the diamond on the front of the card.

I made the diamond element on this card using Papertrey Ink stamps. You can see them under the card in the picture. This is one of the reasons why I LOVE Papertrey Ink stamps. Nicole adds a ton of little stamps which you can use to make some great designs. It took a bit of work to distress the element to make it actually match the background paper but I really like the end result!

Supplies: Cardstock-Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip (all SU); Designer Paper-Stella Ruby (Basic Grey) Ink-Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, River Rock (all SU); Stamps-Borders & Corners {oval} and {square}, Text Box, and Faux Ribbon (all Papertrey Ink), Everyday Flexible Phrases (SU); Accessories-corner rounder, dauber.

Can't wait to see your cards with Visual Echo in them!! Thanks for visiting!!

Donelda

Yum, Yum Good.

I decided to create something for Sharon's Bake Off challenge on her blog No Time to Stamp? This little House Mouse stamp looked like he was enjoyging some baked goods! On the little cupcake, I added some frosting (modeling paste) and sprinkles (seed beads)

It was a very fun card to make.

Supplies: Gumball paper from ... I've forgotten, I'll edit it in later, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White (SU!), Basic black ink (SU!), HOuse Mouse, Year Round fun 2, Michael's dollar stor for sentiment. Prisma color pencil crayons, seed beads, light modeling paste

Thanks for visiting. See you tomorrow night for the next lesson!!

Donelda

Bookmarks!

Tonight was all about creating something for my son! Tonight he was reading a book and needed to mark his place. I was astonished to see him use a pretzel (yes, you read that right) as a bookmark!! Now, I know he has some bookmarks, but obvious they are not "cool" enough to use! I asked if he wanted me to make him a couple of bookmarks and he said YES!! Since he is a big Pokemon fan, I decided to go with that! I downloaded a few pictures from the internet and scanned the logo "gotta catch em all" (man, someone was really thinking when they came up with that!). It was a great way to use up some scraps of light cardboard and paper. I used DMC floss for the tassels!

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Anniversary Card

I was wanting to try out this weeks sketch over at Card Positioning Systems and I also needed an Anniversary card for later this month. I decided to put the two together!

I have to say, the thing that excites me the most about this card is that striped paper...see it...I MADE IT myself!! That is right! I made it from Papertrey Ink stamps and then cut out the shape using my Fiskars template and circle cutter. I've made a similar piece of background paper that you can see HERE. On top of this piece, I added "Happily Ever After" inside of an oval and cut it out. I sponged the edges of both pieces and adheared them together. I have realized that I only own one "happy anniversary" stamp and it is not elegant at all. I'm going to have to see what I can do about that!

I wanted that to be the focal point, so I simply added some dots using the same color of ink as cardstock, a small swirl and a few rhinstones for some wow factor. Finished the card off with a touch of elegance - that wonderful chocolate chip taffeta ribbon from Stampin' Up! I can't seem to stop using it!!

After this picture was taken, I decided that the whole card needed just the slightest bit of sponging around it, to keep it consistent with the focal image.

Supplies: Cardstock-Soft Sky, Very Vanilla; Ink-Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa; Stamps-Faux Ribbon, Corners & Borders {Oval} (both Papertrey Ink), Finest Flourishes, Fancy Flexible Phrases (both Stampin' Up); Accessories- cutting tool and template (Fiskars), Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon (SU!), rhinstones (unknown), dauber (SU!).

I hope you like it! Thanks for dropping in for a visit.

Donelda

A Few Challenge Items

I've been working on some of my favorite challenges today. I am going to up load them so people can link to my blog and see them.

Here is an altered frame for Caardvarks (see link on right). I love the designer paper!! Not so keen on how the swirl turned out!! Chipboard and I don't seem to get along. It never ends up looking like I want it to look!!

Supplies: Designer paper is Overton House Designs by EK Success, Cardstock is So Saffrom by SU!, Ink is Barely Banana and Close to Cocoa (SU!), Stamps-Delight in Life (SU!) and Beautiful Blossoms (Papertrey Ink); Accessories-Taffeta Ribbon(SU!), Chipboard swirl (fancy Pants)

Next up is this cute little baby card to show the baby love for Caardvarks (see link on right). Very little stamping on this card but I love that pieced bunny!!

Supplies: Paper-background is from K&Company, blues are from We R Memories; Ink-basic black (SU!); stamps-just one of the Studio g stamps from Michael's; Accessories-black pen(zig), white gel pen (Marvy), buttons and ribbon (unknown).

Thanks for dropping by tonight. Donelda