A Happy Heart

All of my spare time this week has been spent on making Valentines - my company gives us MLK day as a holiday, so I got an extra day to create! Over the next few days I will post the Valentine designs I've been working on. Here's the first one - Valentines are sometimes hard to create for men, but I like to combine pinks and browns and I think it achieves the right effect. Let me know what you think! Cardstock : Base: Riding Hood Red (SU!) 8 ½" x 5 ½" - scored at 4 ¼"; Mat layer: Chocolate Chip (SU!) 4 ¹⁄₈" x 5 ³⁄₈"; Patterned layer: Daisy Stripes (Kelly Panacci, Inc.) 4" x 5 ¼"; Scalloped mat: Riding Hood Red (SU!) 3" x 3 ¾"; Image layers: Very Vanilla (SU!) 2 ³⁄₈" x 3", Stamps : A Happy Heart (SU!) Ink : Riding Hood Red (SU!) Accessories : Cuttlebug, Spellbinders' Nestability scalloped rectangle; Corner punch (SU!), Ribbon (The Ribbon Retreat)

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Copper Tree

I recently saw a technique demonstrated on Scrapbook Memories TV using a Dreamweaver stencil and embossing paste. Then she used glue and metal leaf to create a beautiful card. I had to try the technique! It's kind of messy, but produces a beautiful result. Here are the steps for the embossing and leafing: 1. Tape the tree stencil onto the dark colored card stock. Tape out all of the edges with removable tape to keep the paste from smearing onto the edges of the paper. Now spread the embossing paste onto the stencil. You spread it on thickly, and scrape away the extra with a flat blade. Put it back in the jar - you can keep using it over and over. 2. In approximately 45-60 minutes, the paste will be dry. Reposition the clean stencil back on the pasted design and use a glue pad to apply glue to the exposed image. 3. Lay the metal leafing gently on top of the gold pasted tree design and tap it on with your finger. 4. Burnish the leafing with a stencil brush and don’t be afraid to brush hard, because this process will remove all the little ragged edges of the excess leafing around the embossed edges. Catch the excess pieces and save them in a container - these can be used again. The webpage for the TV show is great, by the way! Every project on every show is fully explained: http://www.scrapbookmemoriestv.com/projects/800/812_4.html. Here is my ingredient list:

Cardstock : Base: Night of Navy (SU!) 8 ½” x 5 ½” - scored at 4 ¼”; Mat layer: Metallic Copper paper (Wausau) - 4" x 5 ¼”; Image layer: Night of Navy (SU!) trimmed 4¾” x 5" Accessories : Dreamweaver stencil; Dreamweaver metallic copper embossing paste; paste applicator; The Essential Glue Pad (Tsukineko); metal leaf; stencil brush Thanks for stopping by!

Pink Happiness

After Christmas, I always seem to start "thinking PINK"! Is the approach of Valentines day? A wish for Spring? Not sure - but a lot my cards seem to be pink. This is one I did in October. It's a CASE of a beautiful card by Christy S on SplitcoastStampers: (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...1&si=sc193)

Cardstock : Base: Pink Pirouette (SU!) 8 ½” x 5 ½” - scored at 4 ¼”; Mat layer: Berry Bliss DSP (SU!) 4 1/8” x 5 3/8”; Butterfly layer: Regal Rose (SU!) 2” x 5 ½”, Whisper White (SU!) 1 7/8” x 5 ½”; Image layers: Regal Rose (SU!) 2 7/8” x 4 5/8”, Almost Artichoke (SU!) 2 5/8” x 4 3/8”, Whisper White (SU!) 2 ½” x 4 ¾”; Circle: Almost Artichoke (SU!); Sentiment: Whisper White (SU!) Stamps : Inspired by Nature (SU!); Essence of Love (SU!) Ink : Pink Pirouette (SU!); Almost Artichoke (SU!) Accessories : Markers: Almost Artichoke, Regal Rose, Rose Red (SU!); Punch: Large Oval (SU!); Punch: 1 ¾” Circle (SU!); Ribbon

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Ballerina Birthday

Here’s a card for a 7-year-old who loves to dance! The green layer is embossed with the Cuttlebug, using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The ovals were cut using the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities large oval dies. I stamped the tutu on Whisper White in basic black, and then outlined with a sparkly gel pen. It is mounted using foam tape on the ovals. I finished with a sparkly pink ribbon tied in a bow, and mounted with a glue dot. The enveloped is bordered with another Stampendous stamp in Basic Black, and colored with Copics. Cardstock

• Base: Pretty in Pink (SU!) 8½” x 5½” - scored at 4¼”
• Mat layers: Sage Shadow (SU!) 3¾” x 5”, Pretty in Pink (SU!) 3¼” x 4½”
• Ovals: Whisper White (SU!) and Pretty in Pink (SU!)
• Image: Whisper White (SU!)

Stamps

• Tutu: Stampendous
• Envelope border: Stampendous

Ink

• Basic Black (SU!)

Accessories

• Cuttlebug
• Swiss Dots embossing folder
• Nestabilities dies – large ovals
• Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen
• Copic markers (E00, RV11, Y13)
• Ribbon – from the Christmas sale at Michael’s
• Scotch ATG 714 – ¼” adhesive tape
• Glue dot
• Foam tape

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Welcome to CraftGreetings Blog

Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome to my blog. My New Year's resolution is to blog at least once a week to share my hand-crafted greetings - so here's my first! I will make sure in all my posts that I describe a recipe for a card as completely as possible - along with brand names of products I use. I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, so I use a lot of SU! products, but I also am a craft-a-holic who shops Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and several websites continuously. I'm also fortunate enough to have a circle of friends who all love crafting as much as I do, and they all contribute to my ideas and favorite products regularly. If you every have any questions, please send me an email at llwright@craftgreetings.com. Thanks and Enjoy!