Day 4: Fall, Thanksgiving and Gratitude Hooplah

Hi, it's Carla with some fall-ish cards for our Thanksgiving week of fun and craftiness!

I like to customize the cards I make according to the occasion and the recipient. It's definitely not the most efficient way to make cards, though. I end up designing a new card each time because I don't want to mass-produce the same card -- and designing a new card each time is pretty time-consuming. 

Lately I've been playing with a solution to this dilemma. I call it modular card-making. The idea is to create my own card components so I can put together a custom card quickly. My main components are card bases, stamped sentiments, patterned paper, and embellishments. I find that with those things, plus a punch or two, I can assemble a pretty good little modular card kit. Then, whenever I need a specific kind of card, I have all the pieces ready, and I can put together a custom card in just a few minutes.

Here are three simple cards I made using this idea.  I dug into my extensive stash of leftover paper scraps and pulled out colors that would work for my fall card-sending. I made three card bases, all different sizes, according to the sizes of scraps I had. Then I added a bit of patterned paper. I found three stamps in my stash with sentiments that would fit in my circle punch. I punched and layered circles and scalloped circles, punched some fall leaves in different colors, and then I was ready to mix and match! 

For this Hello card, I added a few punched leaves and a couple of tiny flower embellishments.

To the Thinking of You card, I added a couple of leaf punches and a bit of ribbon.

For my Thank You card, you guessed it -- more leaf punches, plus my Martha Stewart Crafts Punch Around the Page maple leaf set.

And here's the whole little family of fall-colored cards.

You can see that any of these sentiments and embellishments could have gone on any of the cards. Even the patterned paper could be mixed and matched. I'm looking forward to putting together some more modular kits like this!

Have you done something similar? Tell us about it!

Double Card Challenge: Stash and Sketch

Hi there, Carla here with a card project. With a couple of friends' birthdays coming up, I wanted to make a card or two. While deciding what to do, I ended up taking on not one challenge, but two! 

First, our friend Tara over at Spot of Tea Designs posted a card-making use-your-stash challenge. I previously blogged here and here about how I like to make cards from my paper scraps, so I was all in for that.

Then, while surfing for inspiration, I found this card sketch site: Seize the Sketch.  Their most recent sketch was just what I needed to break out of my card-making rut. Here's the sketch:

I went through my stash of scraps for some coordinating colors. I decided pink would be a good color for one particular friend, and so with the sketch as my guide, I ended up making this card:

This card was so fun to create that I decided to make a few duplicates to have on hand the next time I need a girly birthday card!

Supplies:

Striped paper: 7 Gypsies

Dotted paper: Martha Stewart Crafts

Embossed pink cardstock

Cream cardstock

Heart and flower stickers: K&Company

Pink gemstones: Martha Stewart Crafts

Sentiment stamp: Inkadinkado

Embossing pad: Versamark

Embossing powder: Stampin' Up!

Make a Wish & Use Your Stash

Hi, there! Carla here today. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to use scraps from my stash to make cards. Here’s one I designed for my mom, using just a couple of stickers left over from different sets, a bit of patterned paper, and a punch. 

The secret to creating a card from scraps like this is to unite the elements with a consistent color scheme -- in this case, pink, brown, and blue. I began with the stickers, and I was super excited to find a scrap of old (but still great!) striped patterned paper that tied them both together!

To make the card, I layered brown cardstock on the white card. Then I took a scrap of pink cardstock almost the same size as the brown, and punched the loops on the four corners. I used a craft knife to cut away the sides between each punch, which allowed the loops to extend out from the pink rectangle. After layering the pink cardstock on the brown, all that was left to do was add my stickers and the strips of coordinating patterned paper.  

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Cactus Pink

Stickers: EK Success and Martha Stewart Crafts

Punch: Martha Stewart Crafts

A Valentines Treat from the Class Mom's

Virginia here with a little Valentine's treat/gift that I made for my son's sixth grade class. As sixth graders what can you really give them that isn't too baby-ish and that they can use? I found rulers in green, blue and red and lots of Airhead lollipops. I then used some of my Valentine's stash from Martha Stewart Crafts. I took the Mail envelope from a Valentine's kit and snipped the end of one corner with a scissor. Slid the rulers in an angle. Punched out a heart with the 2.5 inch scallop heart punch in Martha pattern heart paper. Added the words "Girls Rule", "Boys Rule" and Teachers Rule" to each of hearts and attached the hearts to the tip of the rulers (to look like an arrowhead). Then I added the Martha Stewart paper tape (from the Hearts and Flowers package) to attach my Airhead lollipops to the envelope. The finishing touch was the label addressed to each kid that they were from "The Class Moms".

I am working on a Valentine treat box for my husband. I hope to get it done before Friday. I will post it when it is done!