Father's Day

Father's Day, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Since I don't have any June birthdays to worry about, I went ahead and got my Father's Day card done early! YAY for early!!! =D

I got the idea for this card from another card maker. BUT....I can't for the life of me remember who made it. Nor can I find it. Some day, when I find it, I will give credit to that person......

Anyway.

Super easy card. I punched three squares, swiped each with a different color of blue Distress Ink, then stamped the hammer. I specifically got all crazy with the ink so it looks kind of distressed and kind of like the hammer is up in the clouds. Heh.

I spaced the squares to accommodate the wavy sentiment and called it a day! =D


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank and remnants of a card blank)
Stamps: 100 Proof Press (hammer); Hero Arts (sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Black Soot, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans)
ETC: Marvy (square punch); Glue Glider Pro

Thanks for checking it out! =D

~Cynthia

Shaped Congrats

Shaped Congrats, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Since I got this super sweet shout out from Nonna today, I thought I should get on the ball with the blogging and earn it!! =D

My oldest niece is graduating from high school this weekend and then going on to the University of South Carolina--my alma mater! So I decided to whip up a congrats card in the university's colors for her.

I got the idea from Ann over on the KingstonMama Crafts blog and Ann got the idea from Nichole Heady on her blog, Capture the Moment. Isn't it cool how an idea can ripple so far out, like a stone tossed in a pond?? :-)

First I cut white cardstock into a rectangle shape, cut the corners off to form a tag shape, scored the line across the top and glued that section closed...so that it just bends at the score line when it's opened. I also punched two holes at the top for the ribbon.

I cut another white border piece, stamped the script on it and layered it over two pieces of red cardstock which I used a border punch on and adhered them to the card.

I used two sizes of Lacey Circle die cuts to make the red and larger (script-stamped) white circle. Then I stamped the Gamecock on a scrap piece of white cardstock and punched it out, adhering all the circle layers to the border layers on the card. (The Gamecock is USC's mascot.)

Finally, I stamped the congrats sentiment, cut around it and ran a Black Soot Distress Marker along the edge to create a bit of contrast.


Supplies:
Paper: GinaK (white cardstock); Bazzill (red cardstock)
Stamps: Artful Legacy (Gamecock); Studio G (congrats); Lost Coast Post (cat story script)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot); Distress Marker (Black Soot)
ETC: Fiskars (border punch and 1/8-inch punch); Marvy Uchida (circle punch); Spellbinders (Nestabilities--Lacey Circles); stash (ribbon); Glue Glider Pro



So that's it for me today. Thanks so much for dropping by! =D


~Cynthia

12x12 Purse

12x12 Purse, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's another....um....consequence of my expensive trip to Michael's. ;-)

When the store redesigned the scrapbook section, they included new specialty "papers" in the traditional 12x12 size. Several designs of printed canvas caught my eye. I totally should have bought them ALL when I saw them months ago, but, you know, you have to draw the line somewhere! ;-)

But this past trip I saw the butterfly canvas sheet and loved it. And I made a super simple purse out of it!

I cut one 2-inch strip for the handle and then made the bag part out of the remainder. I chose to make only one handle that stretches from one side to the opposite side because the remaining canvas would have been really too small to hold anything.

This is guerrilla sewing at its best! No lining, no pockets, no zippers. Flipping the handle inside out was the most time consuming part of it.

I love the fabric and the tinted butterflies. I could totally see this tea-dyed too!



Thanks for looking!!

~Cynthia

More Necklaces

More Necklaces, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's Round Two of the necklaces I made from the Dollar Bin finds I bought at Michael's. (See this post for the lowdown on how I made them.)

I used a square from one of Reminisce's road construction papers for the necklace on the left. The whole page is filled with yellow signs--I had a hard time choosing just one! ;-)

The middle necklace with the monogrammed N is how they appeared originally.

The super awesome face on the right is from a piece of Graphic 45 paper. I showed that one to my mom and she thought it was weird. I think he's quite hilarious and that's the one I'm rockin' today!! ;-)


Thanks for dropping by!


~Cynthia

OLW--Kind of

OLW--Kind of, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

The challenge for this week's One Layer Wednesday card is to keep your stamped area no larger than 2x2. I'm hoping that does not include the sentiment! ;-)

Soooooo, I decided to punch out a two-inch square shape from a scrap piece of cardstock. Then I brushed in Wild Honey Distress Ink and stamped the crackle background with Tea Stain Distress Ink, using the negative shape as a mask.

Totally shoulda stopped there.

I stamped the tiny flower and the sentiment with Black Soot Distress Ink.

So now it kinda sorta looks like a dead flower in the middle of a dry, sun-baked lake bed in the midst of a killer drought.

*sigh*

Totally not uploading this to the OLW challenge blog. :-/



It's Monday. It's GOTTA get better, right??? ;-)


~Cynthia

What I've Been Up To

What I've Been Up To, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I hadn't been to Michael's in a while and that meant trouble. Expensive kind of trouble. ;-)

I love perusing the Dollar Bin. LOVE.

I found these cute monogram necklaces for...you know...ONE DOLLAR. All that remained were the letters A, E, O and one N. Odd combo. But as I looked closely, I thought...I can totally do something with those.

So I bought five.

And this is what I did with them.

The top one (the letter O) is the necklace in its original condition.

The silver, blank one on the left is what happens when you use Tim Holtz's pokey tool to pop out the little letter sticker thing from the metal square. And the green inside is what happens when you take the photo outside--nice trees, eh?

Keep the letter sticker to use as a template. The size is roughly 1.5 inches square.

I traced the letter sticker, then roughly cut out the shape from a piece of left over paper. Lay that (the negative shape) over cardstock/designed paper to see if your chosen image will fit in the metal square.

Trace around the letter sticker and cut out the image. I distressed the edges of both my images--Walnut Stain for the Flying Crow and Black Soot on the Skull. This covers up the cut (white) edges. Using the Black Soot gives the image a burnt look.

Next add a smidgen of Glossy Accents to the metal square, spread that around then press the image down.

Then really glop the Glossy Accents on top of the image. Use an old paintbrush or your finger to move the Glossy Accents into the corners. Use enough to seal your image into the metal square.

Let dry overnight and you have an amazing piece of jewelry!

The necklace on the right is from a Memory Box 6x6 packet and the awesome skull is from Tim Holtz's Paper Stash--Lost and Found.

And just for the record, I'm totally rockin that Skull right now!! ;-)



Happy Friday!!! And thanks for stopping by today!


~Cynthia

Bird in the Branches

Bird in the Branches, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Happy Tuesday!! Before I start with today's card, I gotta take a sec and thank everyone for their super awesome comments on my take on Tim's May Tag!!!

WOW.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I appreciate you taking the time to click over here from Tim's blog. Or, if you're a regular visitor, thank you for taking the time to visit me regularly!!!! ;-) I loved all your comments and enjoyed reading each one! Thank you very very much!!! =D

And now...on to today's card.

I made this one for my aunt. I wasn't sure what kind of card to make for her--she is in her 80s and her memory isn't what it used to be....if you know what I mean. :-/

So I just went with a simple, springy, happy, serene card.

I stamped the branches, using a Post-It to mask off the bottom of the panel. Then I stamped the birds. I used the textured side of the cardstock on purpose--that's why there are lines in the birds and the branches aren't crisp. It really does look a lot better in real life. More like linen.

I dotted the birds' eyes with a black pen, then tapped a glitter pen on the eyes to make them sparkle.

I added a strip across the panel that matches the blue cardstock beneath the top ivory panel.

Then I stamped the sentiment on the bottom using the same ink as the birds.

Also--in real life--the blue ink matches the blue cardstock a whole lot better. ;-)

I got the idea from this card by Lisa on her I'm in Haven blog.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (ivory and blue cardstock); Recollections (ivory card blank)
Stamps: Inkadinkado (Delicate Branches set); Endless Creations (birthday sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Gathered Twigs, Faded Jeans)
ETC: Sakura (glitter pen); American Crafts (Pigment Pro pen)


That's it for me today. I hope you find time to craft happy!!

And...as ALWAYS...thank you SO MUCH for stopping by today!!

~Cynthia