CASEing Susan...again!

CASEing Susan...again!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Whenever my mojo leaves on vacation, I tend to visit one of the many blogs I have on my list for inspiration. Susan Raihala is one crafter who never ceases to inspire me!

This card is a take on one of her earlier creations. I love LOVE how simple it was to put this card together!

Punch four one-inch squares.

Corner round two opposite corners on each square. Voila! INSTANT PETALS!!

Make red paper using Distress Stain on leftover white card blank. Punch tiny little hearts from that paper.

Fiddle with a dang nail head and get it to stick on the card blank.

Do a small Triumph Dance.

Adhere petals and hearts

Stamp sentiment and adhere oddly so that in the photo it looks crooked, but in real life it's quite straight.

Wait.

Skip that last step, OK?

Anywho.

This was a fun card to produce, all thanks (once again) to Susan! =D


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank); We R Memory Keepers (Everyday Moments line--Anthologie)
Stamp: Craftsmart (sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick) and Distress Stain (Fired Brick)
ETC: Marvy (square punch); Crop-o-dile (corner rounder); Emagination (heart punch); Mark Richards (silver nail head); EK Success (3D Pop Dots); GlueDots


The sun has finally peaked its head out after what seems like three years of cloudiness. Alas, it won't be around long. Tomorrow we're supposed to get some seriously severe weather. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for gettin' crafty!

Stay safe, my friends!! ;-)


~Cynthia

Happy Hearts!

Happy Hearts!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Well, I can't say I'm pleased as punch with this one, but at least it's a step in the right direction. ;-) If anything, it felt good to be creating cards again.

I kinda, sorta got the idea from one of the CHA samples in Tim Holtz's booth--Stampers Anonymous, I think it was.

The background is a large script stamp, with the edges of the panel distressed.

I stamped several tiny tags, distressed the heck out of them and did the same thing to a banner.

Adhere everything.

Done.


Supplies:
Paper: The paper Studio (kraft card blank); unknown kraft paper
Stamps: Studio G (heart); Craftsmart (sentiment); Hero Arts (Italian Poetry Background)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Festive Berries, Walnut Stain)
ETC: Marvy (square punch) Wal-Mart (tiny tags); Memory Makers (paper distresser)



So that's it from here. I hope you find the time to get crafty this weekend! And thanks so much for the visit!!


~Cynthia

Hiatus

Internet problems are preventing me from posting and visiting. I'll catch up with everyone soon!! I hope!!

CASEing Susan

CASEing Susan, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Quick post today.

I made this card.

I CASE'd Susan Raihala.

My computer's in the shop for a few days.

I'm already going into withdrawal.

I'm borrowing a laptop.

This laptop is pathetic.

I can't even edit my photo.

The end.


~Cynthia

Insert Clever Card Title Here

Insert Clever Card Title Here, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Well, my card-making mojo might be working, but my clever-title mojo isn't! ;-)

No matter.

I love how this card turned out.

I was surfing for inspiration and you know how you go to one crafter's blog which leads you to another blog where you go WOW??

That was me over on the I Create blog, hosted by Jen Mitchell. I got there via Kim's Joyful Creations blog. As I wandered around Jen's blog, I kept saying WOW. Such beautiful creations!! :-)

I saw this card which Jen had created for the Less Is More challenge, using an Unscripted Sketches sketch.

Got all that? =D

So I ran a left over piece of card blank through the ol' Cuttlebug, cut up another piece of card blank for the banner, then stamped the sentiment, die cut the butterfly, adhered everything and called it a day.

Jen used washi tape--which I love--but I rather liked it plain. What do you think? To washi or not to washi?

This would be a super easy card to mass produce too. I used a snippet of paper for the butterfly...another great way to clean out the snippet bin!


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank and white cardstock) K&Co (I think that's where the blue paper is from)
Stamp: Endless Creations (sentiment)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
ETC: Cuttlebug (Seeing Spots embossing folder); Martha Stewart (butterfly punch); Marvy (square punch for making banner); Glue Glider Pro


So....huge thanks to both Kim and Jen for sharing their creations with all of us!! And a huge thanks to YOU for stopping by!


~Cynthia

A finished project!

A finished project!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here are my finished encouragement cards a la Stephanie Ackerman.

I am totally loving this project! I had soooo much fun making them!! I pretty much used every kind of Distress product Tim Holtz makes! And boy, did my fingers get good and INKY!! =D

All of the little sayings are quotes from the Psalms in the Bible. I'm sending them off to my friend, whose birthday is next week.


General Supply List:
(See Stephanie's blog for instructions)
Tim Holtz: Grunge Block Letters, Distress Inks, Distress Stains
Ranger: Adirondack Dabbers
Scotch: Quick Dry Glue
Bunch o' stamps
Fiskars: Glue Dots
7Gypsies: tissue paper
My mom's trusty typewriter ;-)




Happy Monday! Make it a good one! =D


~Cynthia

Work in Progress

Work in Progress, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's what I'm working on at the moment. I would've entitled this What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday...but it's not Wednesday and technically this stuff is on the floor. ;-)

I usually put my projects on the floor to take photos because that's where all the sunshine is! ;-)

So I'm making little encouragement cards a la Stephanie Ackerman.  She calls them "truth cards."

I die cut rectangles (so fast!) and covered them with 7Gypsies (I think) tissue paper. Then I added Distress Ink on the edges, stamped swirls and brushed Distress Stain all over.

I die cut some hearts, inked them up and stamped on them, distressed them with more ink.

Typed up some cool, encouraging Bible verses, distressed them too, and then painted some Grunge letters. When the the letters were dry, I sanded them and swiped over them lightly with a bit of Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

Adhere all.

The end.


Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful, crafty weekend!!

~Cynthia

One Little Word

One Little Word, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

In 2011, I decided to play along with Ali Edwards and her One Little Word project. It extended itself into 2012 so I didn't chose a word for that year.

I wasn't really going to play this year either, but as I read Ali's blog post about OLW, I thought...this is gonna be cool. I can feel it!

So my One Little Word for 2013 is LESS. I chose it because I want LESS bad stuff in my life. I really felt like taking it from the negative would have more impact than, say, choosing a word like JOY or PEACE. I do want joy and peace, but to achieve that I have to sweep out the non-joy and the non-peace.

Does that make any sense? =D

Anyway, I'm not taking Ali's class, but I did want to document my year living with LESS.

I got this cool cork journal for Christmas. It's perfect!

I die cut a little mason jar from white sparkly cardstock, then die cut it again from acetate-like plastic. I also die cut the lid from a sheet of metal.

Then I die cut the letters and layered everything. Sorry the colors aren't true to life, the sun has been hiding for DAYS. :-(

Living with LESS has already had an impact. I ran into a situation on Tuesday morning...and immediately began forming an angry email to the person in charge of the mess...when I heard a small whisper in my head...LESS. LESS anger, LESS attitude...LESS complaining. And just like that...the anger drained away.

Pretty cool, huh?

So...are you playing along with One Little Word??


~Cynthia

January Birthday

January Birthday, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

You know how January birthdays just kind of sneak up on you??

And you know how you kinda panic because the card should have been sent out like *yesterday*??

And you know how Full Panic Mode sets in when you see the mail carrier going up the other side of the street and you only have like an hour to make a card??

And you know how you've been making Christmas cards and therefore have no birthday card mojo?

Yeah, that was me.

So I did what I always do when I'm in Full Panic Mode.

I steal--I mean GRACIOUSLY borrow someone else's design.

This time I headed directly to Bonnie's blog...Stamping with Klass...to shamelessly copy one of her gorgeous cards.

Hey, I changed it up a bit! Ya can't even tell I shamelessly copied it!! =D

I stamped the dandelion and little seeds in Tuxedo Blank ink and the sentiment in Dusty Concord, which in real life matches the purple cardstock perfectly!

Then I corner punched the...um...CORNER. I added a bit of sparkle to the seeds and layered it all up on a white card blank.

The sky is so dark and gray here right now that I had to do some MAJOR tweaking on this just to get the hint of purple.

Trust me, it's purple in real life. ;-)


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (purple cardstock); Neenah (Solar White cardstock); Recollections (white card blank)
Stamps: Great Impressions (dandelion and seeds); Endless Creations (birthday)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Dusty Concord)
ETC: Martha Stewart (corner punch); Glue Glider Pro; Spica (Atyou clear glitter pen)


Now I have to go back to cleaning up Christmas decorations. Stay crafty, my friends!!

~Cynthia

December Daily Day 31--The End!

December Daily Day 31--The End!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

And, fellow crafters, we have now arrived at the end of the project known as December Daily 2012.

Yay.

Boo.

*sob*

This is my third year and each year I've learned new things.

I saw this lesson on another Dec Daily-er's blog: Don't compare yourself to others. True.

Preparing the album and supplies beforehand is of utmost importance.

Telling stories is the main idea of Dec Daily. (For next year: Tell more stories!)

I'm not sure the smaller 8x8 size works for me. Maybe 8x12 would be a better choice.

This is the first year I split my Advent Journal from my Dec Daily. I think it was a lot more fun from a photo standpoint, but I'm not sure I like having 2 separate books for the same year. With that said, I used Cindy's tutorial on Serious Play to make the Advent Journal and it was FABULOUS.

Use more pockets! (I think I say that every year!!)



Anyway, thanks so much for visiting and checking out my Dec Daily for the past 31 days. It's been so much fun to share this adventure and so much fun to read your comments!

And remember: Even if you think you can't do a December Daily album because your life is too boring...my life is way WAY more boring than yours so that is NO EXCUSE! ;-)


Happy New Year!!

~Cynthia

Tim's Tag January 2013

Tim's Tag January 2013, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

It's January 1 and you know what that means!! TIM'S TAG DAY!!!

I was so super-duper excited to see that Tim Holtz was continuing his tag creations for 2013! I have had so much fun working on them, going all MacGyver when I don't have the right supplies.

And this tag is no exception. I didn't have much of what Tim used, but I improvised and as my friend Jules would say...I'm pretty well chuffed at the outcome. ;-)

Since I use the smaller tags, I had to find a short quote. I wanted something about the New Year, the future, something like that. I found a Proverb in the Bible that worked nicely. It's Proverbs 23:18, shortened a bit to fit my smaller tag: "There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off."

Perfect!



Head over to Tim's blog for all the details. And definitely play along!! Such creative FUN and a wonderful way to start out the year!


Thank you so much for dropping in today! I appreciate you taking the time to visit and comment!! Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! =D


~Cynthia