Who doesn't love PURPLE cards??!!

Well, OK, some people don't like purple cards at all. Me? I was using up a snippet, thank you! I think that's totally legal. ;-)

Technically, I'm using TWO snippets here! The purple cardstock is a leftover and the Core'dinations paper is also a snippet.

I ran the black/purple Core'dinations paper through a Fiskars crimper, then sanded the paper to bring out the purple lines.

I took the other snippet of Core'dinations and ran that through Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die cut and then a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I sanded again.

Finally, I stamped the celebrate border across the bottom and finished off with a bit of Distress Ink around the edges. I used a sparkly gel pen on the dots and the sentiment.

I totally planned to move the flower down toward the center a bit and then promptly forgot. So it looks a tad wonky. Heh.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (purple cardstock); Core'dinations (Black Magic, Hocus Pocus pad); The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank)
Stamps: Stampology (Celebrate border set)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Dusty Concord)
ETC: Cuttlebug (Spots and Dots embossing folder)


I can't believe it's Friday already. Where did this week go?? Have a wonderful weekend!!


~Cynthia

Well. Let's see if Mr. Blogger is going to play nice today, shall we?? ;-)

Here's yet another Jules' snippet inspired cards.

I used bits of leftover paper, one happy balloon stamp, and lots of distressing.

I think it would be cool to stamp the recipient's name or the date above the horizontal piece when I'm ready to send it out.



Supplies:
Paper: The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank and cardblank remnant); BoBunny (Gabrielle collection)
Stamp: Hero Arts (Birthday Messages set)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain, Antique Linen)
ETC: Sakura glitter pen; Making Memories distresser; Glue Glider Pro



And that's it for me today! Have a wonderfully creative day!! =D

~Cynthia

More Snippets!

This week has been crazy busy and I just now got some time to sit down and blog my latest snippet creation.

It's been quite fun, rifling through my leftover bits and pieces and making a card with whatever my hands find. This card started with a die cut piece of beachy shell paper that I was going to use for another project. I didn't really like the color, so I threw it into the Snippet File. When I pulled it out, I decided to suck it up and make something with it.

You know, I actually found some paper that matched the colors of the shells!

I think the final product isn't all that bad.

It's kind of beachy...and manly...and clean and simple.


PS: Mr. Blogger is being quite evil today so I'm done messing with this. I wanted to sign off nicely after I listed the supplies, but Mr. Blogger will not let me do anything. Humph.

PPS: Thanks to Jules for the Snippet Inspiration. =D

~Cynthia

Lowe's is the new craft store!

Lowe's is the new craft store!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I had to go back to taking pictures outside because my journal is larger than my scanner bed. At least you get a lovely view of the bricks on my front porch! ;-)

So Carolyn over on A Colorful Journey posted about a trip to Home Depot resulting in a purchase of drywall tape. The particular type she bought had lovely holes in it, like Punchinella--the leftover stuff from sequin production.

I've never actually seen Punchinella for sale anywhere. So OF COURSE I headed straight for Home Depot! And of course, they didn't have it. (But their employees were under the effects of heat exhaustion and quite funny about everything!)

So I headed to Lowe's. And they had it. SO EXCITED. And...they also had a smaller roll of that awesome yellow caution tape!

SCORE!!!

Here then is a page from my mixed media journal, complete with Punchinella look-alike dots and actual tape, layered over a dress pattern I glued down over the gesso-covered page.

It's all browns and tans. Really cool effects with inks and Distress Stains.

I stamped "discipline" on the right because the quotes I wrote on the left have to do with how God disciplines His children, but ever punishes them.



We finally got a bit of rain here this afternoon. It dropped the temperature about seven degrees. But it increased the humidity about 400%. =D

Have a crafty kind of day!

~Cynthia

Super CAS Snippet

OK, so I've learned another valuable lesson in my "now scanning the cards" world.

Always clean off the scanner bed before scanning anything.

My apologies for the odd brown blob on the card. I promise it's not really on the card! :-)

On the up-side of using the scanner: You can really see the card well; I don't have to wait for a sunny day to get a good picture; I can use italics and post links; I can also blog random stuff above the picture and list the supplies below it.

Kind of a win-win-win situation, eh?

On to the card then! I'm still using up snippets, Jules style. This was a random piece of green cardstock I found in my snippet files. I simply scored a few lines, stamped a candle and added a bit of glitter to the flame.

I don't think you can get any clean-and-simpler than that! ;-)



Supplies:
Paper Snippet: Bazzill (green cardstock)
Stamp: Hero Arts (Birthday Messages set)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
ETC: Sakura (glitter pen)


Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

A Simple Card

OK, here's hoping this works! :-)

Instead of taking my latest card outside to photograph it, I decided to scan it on my printer instead.

It doesn't look as "live" as it usually does.

Hmmm.

Anyway. Just an experiment!

I needed a card for a friend I've kind of lost touch with since my last move. And then Jules on the Always With a Heart blog has been posting these gorgeous cards made with her leftovers, or snippets as she calls them, and I've gotten inspired to use up some of my snippets too!

So yesterday, I went through my snippets and actually found some really nice pieces and made several cards!

This one is pretty simple.

OK, the cardblank isn't technically a snippet...aaaand the stamped image isn't actually a snippet either.

Oh dear. Hmmm. Well, it's the SPIRIT of the challenge that counts, right??? ;-)



Supplies:
Paper: BoBunny (Gabrielle collection); Recollections (ivory cardblank)
Stamp: Studio G (bird stamp)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain)
ETC: Glue Glider Pro; Sakura (glitter pen--I traced the bird with it.)



So let me know what you think of the new picture style. Can you see it OK?

~Cynthia

Day 13...

Day 13..., a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

As I typed the title, I realized it sounded a bit like I was marooned on a desert island or something.

Day 13...Water running low. No boats in sight. Beginning to suffer from dehydration and heat exhaustion...

But no. It's merely Day 13 of my December Daily!

My apologies for any confusion.

I used two different types of page inserts: the regular 8x8 (right side of page) and then the cool 4x6 pages (left side) which have ATC-type sections too. I added the 4x6 hither and fither so they're not on every page.

The flash cards are from Pretty Little Studio. They make the cutest stuff!

The journal card is from the kit made by My Mind's Eye, which is where all the paper in my Dec Daily came from.

I tried to leave plenty of space for journaling and pictures and whatnots. This past year I used one whole spread for each day; this year I did one page for each day. But the 4x6 pages are moveable, so any place I need more room I can slip in a 4x6.



I had a busy weekend and I'm still trying to recover. Jules has inspired me to use up my "snips" instead of cutting up new pieces of paper. I think I'll make a few Thinking of You cards using just snips. Thanks, Jules! :-)


~Cynthia

Checkered Flowers

Checkered Flowers, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, new favorite stamp here. I love LOVE this crazy floral background stamp. And it's from Studio G--you know, the...ahem...inexpensive stuff from Michael's. This is a 4x4 stamp, and it was on sale, so I bought 3 different ones. LOVE.

I stamped it four times and since I'm not a great liner-upper, I covered the spots where the stamping lined up! =D

I cut some of that awesome picnic tablecloth paper, then thought it would be cool with some red cardstock below, which I also used a border punch on.

Then it needed a bit more--something bold and festive!

And whenever I need something bold and festive I turn to Tim Holtz!

The flowers are Bigz die cuts from Tim's Tattered Florals. On the larger one I stamped the same floral background stamp.

Finally, I added one tiny bit of bling in the flower center.


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white cardblank and white paper); Reminisce (red checked paper); Bazzill (red cardstock)
Stamp: Studio G (Floral Background)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
ETC: Fiskars border punch; Hero Arts (bling); Glue Glider Pro; Bigz (Tattered Floral die cuts)


Have a great weekend, everyone!!

~Cynthia

I painted the shadow!

I painted the shadow!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

No, no, not the band...the ART JOURNAL!

I painted the shadow on my art journal page! ;-)

Check down a few blog posts to see the original picture. I stuck my art journal on the rocks near the pond in the backyard to take a picture and realized there was a shadow over the page. I liked the effect so much I decided to paint it.

All I used was a black watercolor crayon and my sweet lil waterbrush....the one I love so much. =D

I also did this outside, in late afternoon, in the heat. So I hurried a bit. Heh.

I think the big knots on the far left side need a bit of tweaking, but I think it's pretty close to the original.


Thanks for dropping by today!

~Cynthia

CASEing LateBlossom

CASEing LateBlossom, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I probably should have added "AGAIN" to the end of today's title.

I really love what Susan (LateBlossom on the Simplicity blog) can do with a few stamps, a few inks and lots of white space.

With all the layering and colors in my art journals, it's so refreshing to make cards that are pretty simple.

I used a background stamp for the script. I masked off the bottom because the stamp was too wide (up and down) for the card. And then I stamped it twice because it's not long enough (left to right) to cover the whole piece of paper. But I just covered up the section where they joined and you can't really tell. ;-)

I punched two circles from cardstock. The blue one is stamped in Black Soot Distress Ink with another background stamp--and so is the little green flower. (The flower is one of Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die cuts.)

The green circle has Happy Birthday stamped in the same ink as the script background--Chipped Sapphire.


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white cardblank and white paper); Bazzill (blue and green cardstock)
Stamps: Glitz Design (Distressing--script stamp); Studio G (Floral Background); Hero Arts (Birthday Messages set)
inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot and Chipped Sapphire)
ETC: Marvy-Uchida (circle punch); Tim Holtz (Sizzix Bigz Dies, Tattered Florals); Glue Dots; Glue Glider Pro


Well, it's WAY to hot to do anything outside here in South Carolina. I hope we'll get some rain tonight or tomorrow to cool things off. Till then, I'll just have to play in my craft studio!! =D



Thanks for stopping in! Enjoy your day!

~Cynthia

On the High Seas

On the High Seas, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here is my "I like this card better than yesterday's attempt" card.

It totally started out in a different direction though. Susan (LateBlossom) on the Simplicity blog used some cute blue rick-rack for the ocean waves beneath her sail boat.

It was like *smack* why didn't I think of that??!! Rick-rack! It looks like ocean waves! *double smack*

So I jauntily purchased some pretty blue rick-rack.

Which then proceeded to violently CLASH with the nice blue ink I used for the sky.

Then I found a scrap piece of blue cardstock which coordinated so nicely with my nice blue ink, it was like they were MADE for each other! =D

I grabbed a border punch and made my OWN waves.

SO THERE, RICK-RACK PEOPLE.



Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white cardblank); Bazzill (white cardstock); stash (unknown blue cardstock)
Stamps: Stacy Stamps (sailboat); Hero Arts (Birthday Messages set)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Tumbled Glass)
ETC: Sakura glitter pen (red); EK Success (3-D Glue Dots)


Stay cool; be crafty.

~Cynthia

Birthday Blues...and a few Greens...

Birthday Blues...and a few Greens..., a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Well...

I'm not sure I like this card. The more I stare at it, the less I like it.

I CASE'd it from a card I had saved on Splitcoast Stampers some time ago. I changed everything, except the layout.

I like hers better.

(You can check out all her wonderful cards on Splitcoast Stampers under LynniePoo or on her blog, My Stamping Addiction, here on Blogspot.)

So, after pondering this card for a bit, I made another one. I'll post that tomorrow.


Supplies:
Paper: The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank for card and smallest square); Fancy Pants (Like Father Like Son collection--Little Tyke, both sides)
Stamp: Inkdadinkado (Wheat stamp #97205); Stampendous (Everything Happy set)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky)
ETC: Wavy acrylic block, Glue Glider Pro



Thanks for stopping by today! For those in the Southeast...stay cool!! ;-)


~Cynthia

Ooo! Cool shadows!

Ooo! Cool shadows!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, this is has never happened before. I guess you could call it a happy accident!!

When I took my art journal outside to get a picture of the page, I had the idea of placing the journal near the fish pond. It has a net over it to keep the hawks and owls and herons from eating the koi fish. When I laid the journal down, this amazing shadow from the net went across the page. So cool!!

Originally, I was playing along with Carolyn on A Colorful Journey. She challenged us to use up some paper we didn't like by layering paints and gesso and what-have-you to create a fabulous background.

I layered gesso and watercolors in reds and oranges, with drips of black paint. It looked angry with tear-induced mascara streaks.

So I calmed everything down with more paper and more gesso. I wiped some of the paint off to expose sections of the paper.

Now I have to head back into the studio to paint the shadow!

Hmmmmm....

Paint The Shadow.

Sounds like a great name for a blog.

Or a band.... ;-)


~Cynthia

Dec Daily: Mostly Done

Dec Daily: Mostly Done, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, maybe because this past year's December Daily album was my very first and as such I had no idea what I was doing...but....I really, really like this year's album.

It's so dang coordinated I could possibly cry.

I used a kit from My Mind's Eye called the Merry Days of Christmas. Lots of cranberries, winter sky pale blues and lots of sage greens! There was a page of punch outs and I bought a separate page from MME that I used as well--same color scheme.

I cut all the pages to 8x8 and added one or two embellishments, leaving plenty of room for photos or receipts or notes or journaling.

I also used lots of Pretty Little Studio's embellishments for the date on each page. You can see the 27 up there--that's from Pretty Little Studio. I merely backed it with punched out paper from MME.

Along the bottom of each MME paper there was a tiny tag with the name of the kit. I cut them all off and adhered them to each page. (That's the brown rectangle on the bottom left of the top page.) I think it adds a touch of professionalism to the pages. It pulls it all together, kind of like I bought the album this way. Pre-made looking.

I have all the days done. Now I'm using the scraps to add a few 4x6 page inserts to hold more stuff. In 2010's album, I loved the idea of envelopes to hold things I collected. I'll use the 4x6 inserts instead of envelopes.

This is such a cool album. Not very sparkly, just colorful and peaceful.


Thanks for stopping by!

~Cynthia

Pssst! It's JULY!

Pssst! It's JULY!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Can you believe it?? It's JULY already! And you know what that means, right???

Time to get going on the album for December Daily!

Of the many lessons I learned putting together my first Dec Daily album in 2010, the most important was.....

START WORKING ON THE ALBUM SOONER.

So I promised...nay, vowed...nay, DEMANDED of myself that myself needed to get this done in July so that come November 27 (the first Sunday in Advent) I would be READY TO GO.

Therefore....this is the current mess on my craft table.

Bits and pieces.

Santas, snowflakes, and sleighs.

Reds, greens, silvers.

Coordinating papers. (Another lesson from this past year.)

Oddly (sadly?? Dunno.) I feel like those design team members who say, "I'm working on something, but I can't show you yet!" Because you won't see the finished product until November.

Maybe by then you will have forgotten the mess on my desk.

Heh.



Happy Christmas in July!!

~Cynthia

Little Birdy

Little Birdy, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

And I'm back to cards today!

I totally CASE'd this from the Splitcoast Stampers Gallery, posted by cardmaker createdbykay.

As is always the case, I didn't have most of what Kay used, so I improvised. I *did* have the Cuttlebug embossing folder. YAY! I love that one. :-) I also used the Stampin Up bird punch and a bit of my neglected seam binding for the blue ribbon. (It looks a bit wonky in the picture, but really it's only crinkled.)

I die cut the scalloped oval and stamped the sentiment in Chipped Sapphire, which matches the ribbon...in real life. ;-) Because of the crinkly-ness of the ribbon, I popped the oval up and over the ribbon.

I made this for my parents' wedding anniversary, which is later this week. Do you know I do NOT have an anniversary stamp????? How have I lived this long without one??? =D


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (green cardstock); Little Yellow Bicycle (Fresh Print Clothesline: Cornflowers); Recollections (ivory cardblank)
Stamps: Hero Arts (Classic Messages)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire)
ETC: Stampin Up (bird punch); The Sewing Place (seam binding); Cuttlebug (Leafy Branches embossing folder); EK Success (3D Pop Dots); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Petite Scalloped Ovals Small)


And that's it for me today! I send out my wishes for a safe and happy Fourth of July!

~Cynthia

Mysterious Man

Mysterious Man, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Oh, how I love my Mysterious Man!!

I saw this idea over at A Colorful Journey (dot com), where Carolyn had used a stencil from Spray Paint Stencils (dot com) of this seriously cool looking man.

I used some pages from an old English textbook I bought from the Friends of (my local) Library. Ripped them, then I randomly painted green watercolor all over the bits.

For the stencil....I just printed The Man out and then carefully, with super sharp scissors, cut the inside out, leaving a man-shaped stencil.

All of Spray Paint Stencil's stencils are free. (AND THEY HAVE LOTS.) Just download, print, and you're good to go. They even have instructions on how to make an actual stencil, versus cutting up a stiff sheet of paper like I did. :-)

I might not be done with this page, but for the moment I'm moving on. =D



A very very safe and Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends!! Let freedom ring!!!!

~Cynthia

Triangles are the new circles. Really.

Triangles are the new circles. Really., a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

As I was making this page in my Canson Mix Media journal, I decided the lowly triangle doesn't get a whole lot of respect in your average, every day art journal.

You know. Most artists prefer swirls and circles.

I rarely see triangles. And why *is* that, I ask. Respect the triangle!! ;-)

So this page is for you, triangle!

I used a base of yellow acrylic paint, followed by the dots and dashes in red. I made my own funky stencil using a piece of stiff paper and a hole punch/comb binder machine. Then I added a layer of old gold acrylic paint, with another layer of terra cotta. For the triangles I used watercolor crayons and a waterbrush.

It's just...you know...kinda funky. In a triangular sort of way. ;-)



Have a triangle day!

~Cynthia