Hanging Hearts

Hanging Hearts
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I got the idea for this card...somewhere. My brain isn't functioning 100% yet otherwise I would give credit to the talented cardmaker. This person used baker's twine to dangle the hearts.

I just drew some lines with a pen. I hope no one cares too much. :-)

The ink I used for the sentiment didn't really work, so I used a glitter pen to go over the words. That didn't exactly work either, but it's much clearer in real life.

The hearts are made with a QuicKutz die cut.


Supplies:
Paper: The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank and pink paper)
Stamp: Craftsmart
Ink: ColorBox (Orchid)
ETC: Sharpie pen; Gelly Roll (Glitter Pen); QuicKutz (heart die cut); Glue Glider Pro; Tim Holtz ruler


Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm off to take {another} nap! ;-)

~Cynthia

Butterfly Birthday

Butterfly Birthday
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I recently purchase (on sale!!) one of K&Co's embellishment sets, Flora and Fauna Botanical Butterflies. It's SO cute. It has butterflies and birds and flowers and ferns. LOVE it.

I used a Fall-To-Layout for this card. I cut two strips of paper, added the butterfly, then stamped the sentiment. I really like this layout too. You could use it for any occasion.


Supplies:
Paper: BoBunny (Sun Kissed Skies and a piece from my paper stash which no longer has a name); Recollections (Ivory cardblank)
Stamp: Hero Arts (Birthday Messages)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
ETC: K&Co (Flora and Fauna Botanical Butterflies); Glue Glider Pro


The Hero Arts birthday stamp set is probably my most favorite birthday set ever. It's got cake, candles, balloons....and it has several birthday sentiments in different fonts, some casual and some more formal. Perfect for any recipient!


~Cynthia

Red and Kraft

Red and Kraft
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Gotta make this one quick...I'm fading fast. I've found I can only sit at the computer for about 15 minutes before I need a nap! ;-) Why does getting sick happen so fast, but recovery takes WEEKS??? LOL!! =D

Here's a super simple Valentine's Day card for ya.

I love kraft and anything. I used a QuicKutz two-piece heart die cut. I'm sorry to report I can't remember if I used the larger heart die cut, the smaller one or a combination. Oops.

Oh.

HAHA. I remember now. It totally helps if you actually LOOK AT THE CARD. *smacks forehead gently*

I die cut the larger heart from red cardstock and the smaller heart from kraft cardstock. Yeah, yeah, THAT'S it.

I cut a strip of kraft for a background ribbon and a strip of red for the sentiment.

**starting to fade**

I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and a dollar bin stamp.

OK, I can't type anymore.

Nap time.

zzzzzzzzz........



~Cynthia

Hey!

I'm so sorry I haven't been on here in a while--today is the first time in an entire week I've actually turned on my computer. Can you say FLU? Yes, I got slammed with it a week ago and the recovery has been S L O W. I hope to get back to blogging tomorrow. Sitting up takes a lot of effort still...but I can see the light at the end of this tunnel. Hope is a good thing. :-)


~Cynthia

Falling Hearts

Falling Hearts
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is the last card in the "I'm so glad Michael's has a dollar bin" series. ;-)

I used the same color scheme as the previous two, but used a different dollar stamp.

This stamp actually has 4 hearts, each with a different design, in a row. I only inked and stamped one of them--the heart outline. I filled in one of the images with red Stickles.

I stamped the sentiment accidentally off-center, then tried to look all cool and stuff by adding three little Stickles dots on the right side so it looked like I OBVIOUSLY did it that way on purpose. So there.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (red cardstock); Pop-Tone (black cardblank)
Stamp: Craft Smart (heart and sentiment)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
ETC: Stickles (Xmas Red)


Thanks for stopping in! I hope the sun will come out long enough to get pictures of my latest creations!


~Cynthia

V-Day Sparkle

V-Day Sparkle
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's another take on yesterday's card.

I used the same color scheme and the same stamp, but this time I used a gel sparkle pen instead of the Stickles and I also used a border punch. I layered the sentiment on the bottom too.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (red cardstock); Pop-Tone (black cardblank)
Stamp: Craft Smart (heart tree)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Color Box (Frost White)
ETC: Recollections (border punch); Gelly Roll (glitter pen); Glue Glider Pro



The snow is FINALLY melting here. And the roads are FINALLY clear. There is still about an inch or so on the ground though. Maybe tomorrow I will venture out to my scrapbook store. Oh, how I've missed it this past week!! ;-)

~Cynthia

Sparkle Hearts

Sparkle Hearts
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I'm still snowed in...well, more like iced in...so I have been using my time wisely. I've been making Valentine's Day cards.

Yep.

Here's the first in a short series of "I'm so thankful Michael's has a Dollar Bin" cards.

This little heart tree was only a dollar. I think it's so goofy it's hilarious!

The recipe: black cardblank, sentiment in white ink, red cardstock, black cardblank piece, red cardstock, stamp, red Stickles.

I learned a very important lesson from these cards. See that white ink I used on the bottom for the sentiment? Apparently, it takes like 4 days to dry. :-( I let them dry for 24 hours and then stacked them on top of each other. When I looked them over for their photo shoot, I saw little white smudges on the backs of the cards.

Nice.

I guess there's some distress action forth coming.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (red cardstock); Pop-Tone (black cardblank)
Stamp: Craft Smart (AKA Michael's Dollar Bin--heart tree)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); ColorBox (Frost White); Stickles (Xmas Red)
ETC: Glue Runner Pro


Thanks for stopping by today!

~Cynthia

So what happened was...

So what happened was...
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This card started out as a birthday card for a woman that loves blue. I find it hard to find blues that are not either baby boy blue or manly blue.

Alas, this quickly became a manly card. Which is good, I guess, because I need more manly birthday cards.

It's super simple too. A layer of green cardstock (that matches the ink for the leaf stamp), with a layer of blue cardstock (that matches the ink used for the birthday sentiment), with a top layer of white cardstock.

Three layers and two stamps. Done. :-)


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (green and blue cardstock); Gina K (Pure Luxury White cardstock)
Stamps: Stampendous (Encouraging Words leaf stem); Hero Arts (Birthday Messages)
Inks: VersaMagic (Night Sky Dew Drop); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Forest Moss)
ETC: Glue Glider Pro


We're on Day 5 of being snowed in here. The roads are starting to clear, but as I "walked" down the driveway to grab the newspaper and mail, I did that windmill thing....you know, arms flailing to keep my balance on a sheet of ice. I think I'll just stay home until it all melts. Like sometime in February.


~Cynthia

Purple Cupcake

Purple Cupcake
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I'm not sure if this card needs something....or if it's just clean and simple and I'm afraid of white spaces.

This is another birthday card that should have been mailed out and will now be LATE LATE LATE. *sigh*

I cut a piece of purple cardstock and border punched the bottom. I cut a piece of script paper and adhered that over the purple. The final layer is a piece of cream cardstock.

I stamped a seriously-cute-for-only-one-dollar cupcake on the cream paper. I used a glitter pen on the frosting and on the candle flame.

I distressed both the script paper and the cream cardstock with Distress Ink.

Inside I stamped Happy Birthday in purple, like the cupcake.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (purple and cream cardstock); unknown script paper; Recollections (ivory cardblank)
Stamp: Michael's (Dollar Bin cupcake); Stampabilities (Happy Birthday)
Ink: Stampin Up (Perfect Plum); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain)
ETC: Recollections (border punch); Glue Glider Pro; Gelly Roll (Glitter Pen)


I'm on Day 4 of being snowed in. I am totally cranking out Valentine's Day cards. But I totally miss my scrapbook store. *sigh* At least I have Nutter Butters.

~Cynthia

Purple gingham

Purple gingham
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's a birthday card that should have been mailed out on Monday and will now be late due to the post office not living up to the "neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail" thing.

I'm not complaining, right? Just a little bitter that the card will be late...oh and I can't get to my fave scrapbooking store either. Heh heh heh!

On to the card then.

The purple gingham paper is actually from a Bath and Body Works mail out from earlier this year. I thought the paper was too cute. When I was going through my paper scraps, I saw it and knew it needed to be a card!

I layered it with some periwinkle and white cardstock, added a bit of ribbon from my stash, and then stamped the sentiment.

I like the layers and yet how simple it is.

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (cardstock); Bath & Body Works ad mailer; Recollections (white cardblank)
Stamp: Stampabilities (Happy Birthday)
Ink: Stampin Up (Perfect Plum)
ETC: Ribbon from stash; Glue Glider Pro


Happy crafting!! =D

~Cynthia

Mini Snow Album

Mini Snow Album
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Sorry for the poor photo today. We don't have any sun at the moment for a good shot. What we DO have is 5+ inches of SNOW on the ground!! For SC, this is a big major huge DEAL. :-)

Pretty much the entire city is shut down. The plows haven't made it out to where I live yet, so I'm stuck.

Oh, poor me. I'll just have to spend my days in the craft room. ;-)

This is just one of the things I created yesterday. It's a Mini Snow Album! I got the tags from Grace Hester (gracehester.typepad.com) for FREE. You know I love the FREE STUFF!!! =D

These are cute little tags with sweet flowers on them. I took a few pictures of the snow and the backyard, reduced them to about 2 inches, added some snowflakes (punched and stamped), then wrote captions. On some of the tags I wrote parts of poems about snow.

And I couldn't resist a bit of Distress Ink action! I used Tumbled Glass throughout the album. I edged the front and back cover with it and stamped all the snowflakes (two sizes) with it too.

I tied it all together with a little piece of thin white ribbon.

This was so much fun to do! I went the easy way on the photos. I took them with my cell phone, emailed them to myself, then edited them. Boom! DONE. =D



I hope you're staying warm wherever you are today! I am SO grateful our power is still on!! :-)

~Cynthia

Jar of Flowers

Jar of Flowers
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I think I forgot to post this one.

And I forgot to send it.

Poor, sad, neglected card.

:-(

It started out as a different card, got messed up, got cut up, got rescued and got turned into this cute card.

I messed up the front of the cardblank, that watermelon colored part, so I cut off the back, trimmed it up and adhered it to a white cardblank.

I stamped the jar and flower stamp on a piece of white cardstock and cut out the jar. I put it on the watermelon paper, masked it and stamped the flower part of the stamp. I used a white gel pen to color the flowers on the watermelon paper.

It was supposed to be a thank you card, but I guess I wasn't thankful enough to send it.

Oops.


Supplies:
Paper: Die Cuts With a View (watermelon cardblank); Recollections (white cardblank)
Stamp: Endless Creations
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
ETC: Uni-ball Signo Pen


Thanks for stopping over here today! Have a great one!!

~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 7

Page 7
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Well, this is the end of another album journey. I always hate getting to the last page of a good book, don't you? It makes me sad.

Same thing for an album too. :-)

On the left side I made a tag with stamps and Distress Inks. I added a ribbon, making the tag more like a bookmark, and distressed that too. There's a little quote behind the ribbon from Dr. Seuss that says, "Oh, the places you'll go." I love that book!

On the right I deconstructed another Hallmark card. This one had some beautiful handmade paper attached to it. I cut out the word Dream, adhered the person on the swing and some little stars.



I made a card yesterday for my friend's birthday, but did I take a picture of it before I mailed it? No, I did not.

It was cute.

Really.

;-)


~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 6

Page 6
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is one of my favorite pages in this mini-album!

On the left, I adhered a piece of designer paper that I had carefully cut out to resemble a photo, complete with photo corners! There was a cloud already on the album paper so I thought a flying/airplane theme would work really well.

The quote above the airplane is by Leonardo daVinci: "Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the Earth with your eyes forever skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to be."

At the bottom of the page, I added a quote that says, "Take in all life has to give," which I cut out from another Hallmark card. I distressed the edges a bit with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

On the right side of the layout, the main image is a shiny silver airplane. This, and all the quotes on this page as well as the one on the bottom of the left page, are from the same Hallmark card and are all distressed with Walnut Stain Ink.

The top curved quote says, "High-fly it" and the bottom quote says, "Blue-sky it."

Only one more page to go! Then I guess I'll have to get back to showing you some cards. I guess that means I'll actually have to MAKE some cards. Oops. ;-)


~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 5

Page 5
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I loved the colors on these two pages, so I didn't add much.

I covered the left side's picture frame with a tag I found in a parking lot. I brushed some Distress Inks on it and stamped a swirly flower stem. Then I added a Prima flower (sprayed with Glimmer Mist) that matched the color scheme.

I painted over the speech bubble at the top because it was about coffee and added this quote from one of my favorite Hallmark cards ever: "Conformity--proudly serving painfully boring people since time began."

On the edge I added a quote from Tom Turiano: "In the backcountry, it's just you and your gear. It's a total test of who you are and what you can do--and therein lies the reward."

On the right side, I added just a hint of Distress Ink to the inside of the frame, then adhered a grungeboard 7 that I hit with more Distress Ink. Underneath, I covered another coffee quote and added a blog comment by Rowan: "Hey guys....in the philosophy of life I would say take the route that provides more memories and better times."


I hope you take the route the provides more memories and better times today! =D

~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 4

Page 4
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Happy New Year!!

I'm pretty excited to start this year because I've joined a few online classes! One is an art journal journey and the other is a take on Ali Edwards' One Little Word album called My Little Word. I'm combining them into My Little Word Art Journal. (Ha ha ha!!)

In my little Coffee Cup...I mean Travel and Cupcake Journal, I've gone from a very busy page (Page 3) to a pretty serene page here.

On the left I've adhered a piece I stamped months ago and had left sitting around, waiting for the perfect spot. I so love this stamp. It's one of the very first I ever purchased. I also used a Tim Holtz grungepaper key, covered with Distress Embossing Powder. Seriously cool effect, like a rusty key.

The heart beneath it is actually on the paper itself, so the 'fly bird' fit perfectly! I added a strip of script paper at the bottom.

On the right side, I kept it very simple. I adhered a bird from a pack of ephemera I bought. Then I typed the word 'dream,' cut them out and added them to the clouds. I also sanded parts of the background paper to create more of a worn look.

The quote at the bottom says: "There is no bad weather, just bad gear!" So so so true. :-)


~Cynthia