Another Tri Shutter Card

OK, I had a card base cut for this version of the Tri-Shutter Card and needed a bridal shower card. So, here's what came of it.

Looking at this card fully laid open makes it look very busy. But, open this card as a tri-shutter card and it much more exciting.

The front of the card uses Prima flowers from a "Got Flowers" jar that I received a long time ago. Lots of fun colors in these jars. I chose the pink and white flowers and used gold brads in the centers. The wagon is attached with dimensionals to make it look as if the wagon is full of the hearts. These are also attached with dimensionals at the top edges to pull them forward as well.

Some of the flowers in the center are attached to the top portion of the card and then attached to each other to make the trail down the card.

An additional area for signing is added to the back of the card so as not to take away from the main card.

To view the tutorial on how to create this card style, go to The Craftiblog tutorial for this sized card.

Tri Shutter Card

I must have been on a "try a new tutorial" kick today.

I tried out the tutorial for the Tri Shutter card found here: The Crafty Blog Tri Shutter Card

They are actually really fun to do, but I'm not sure how often I'll be doing them.

Here are some photos of the finished product:

Stationery Box

I found this GREAT tutorial for a stationery box on the Wonderfully Whimsy blog and had to try! This tutorial is super, it gives you all the dimensions and instructions you need to create this great project. The only thing I changed was to add 2 Velcro dots to the back of the box to hold it together better when it's closed. Here's my results:

I use the Stampin' Up set Petal Pizzazz with SU Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss ink. The main cardstock for the box is a textured cardstock from Best Occassions.

The inside of the box has openings to hold cards and envelopes, tags, small note cards, a note pad, and stamps. My box has 4 cards and envelopes, 4 small note cards and envelopes, 4 gift tags, one note pad, and 8 stamps.

Cowboy Sympathy

A small town nearby suffered a huge loss this past week. A 13 year old young man lost his life due to an ATV accident. He was one of a set of triplets. This is a major loss to the family and to our area.

Trying to find sympathy cards that fit this situation is quite difficult. I thought that "Bareback" from Stampin' Up was a very fitting set to use.

This is a tri-fold card. The base of this card is made with Close to Cocoa. The Old Olive strip was run thru the Cuttlebug using the Textile embossing folder. The main image is stamped on vellum using Chocolate Chip ink. Underneath the vellum is a layer of Very Vanilla sponged with Old Olive and Bashful Blue. The Sympathy sentiment is stamped with Chocolate Chip on the vanilla layer to help to keep it subtle. The vellum layer is attached to the Vanilla layer with Stampin' Up Hodgepodge Hardware brads. Hemp twine was attached with more Hodgepodge Hardware at the bottom of the image to add texture.

When the card is opened, there is a bible verse and sentiment. Opening the card fully reveals one final sentiment which is stamped on vellum and attached with Stampin' Up Hodgepodge Hardware. I felt that the running horses at the bottom completed the panel.

My heart goes out to this family. We are praying for God to be with them thru this difficult loss.

Rhubarb Season

Late May always brings a new season in North Dakota - RHUBARB SEASON! Yes, that's the time of year that you see all kinds of rhubarb dishes showing up at potluck dinners or other events. Time for rhubarb jam, rhubarb crisp, and all kinds of wonderful treats.


Here's one of our family's favorite rhubarb desserts - Rhubarb Cream Cake. This cake is easy to make and forms a delicious custardy layer on the bottom. It usually doesn't go to waste!

Rhubarb Cream Cake

1 (18 oz.) pkg white or yellow cake mix
+ ingredients to make the cake
3 cups (or so) cut up fresh or frozen rhubarb
1 cup sugar
sprinkling of cinnamon
12 oz. can evaporated milk

Prepare cake mix as package directs. Pour into gresed 9X13 pan. Arrange rhubarb over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with sugar and then a light sprinkling of cinnamon. Pour evaporated milk evenly over the entire mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until middle of cake is done. (A delicious custard forms at the bottom of the cake as it bakes and the rhubarb sinks thru to the bottom.) Serve warm or cold - with or without whipped topping. Store in refrigerator.

Graduation Card

Here's one more graduation card for this year. I loved the sketch challenge for this week found on Splitcoaststampers. I decided to use it for a graduation card for a young man from our church who is graduating this next Sunday. The sketch worked perfectly for this card and also the colors in the "To The Nines" specialty papers from Stampin' Up.

The inks used were Sage Shadow and Close to Cocoa. The "G" in the middle of the medallion was cut out using a 1 1/4" punch and the outer ring used a 1 3/4" punch. Super easy, but a nice card.

Hope you like it.

He really made it!

Well, Robert is now a graduate of LaMoure High School!

Graduation was held on Sunday and it turned out to be a wonderful day.
Lots of family and friends came to help us celebrate.

Everyone loved the table decorations that we put together.
We got them all done before the big day.
The slideshow scrapbook done on the TV was a hit as well.
I think Robert was pleased with everything. The senior slide show that he helped put together was excellent, the ceremony was great, he got a great scholarship from the local Dollars for Scholars Chapter, the decorations and food for the reception, the company......

Speaking of food, anyone want some leftover potato salad? heehee!

Graduation "scrapbook"

Well, graduation is just a few days away and I've been working on a project that will make the "scrapbooks" more accessible to people that come for open house. This is what I've come up with (and my son really likes it!).

I've been scanning old photos and some scrapbook pages and putting together a digital scrapbook. This will be put onto the television in the church basement where we are doing our celebration so everyone can see it.

Then, with the pictures that have been found, I'm taking some of them and cropping them down and putting 2 pictures on each side of a skewer stick and putting them into containers to set out on the tables. I have 12 containers and figure about 5 sticks can go in each one. So, I figure that's a fairly good number of pictures for people to see.

The containers were found at Target in their $1 bin. The ribbon is a wired ribbon and was purchased back at Christmas time. It's attached with Glue Dots continuous line at the top edge of the basket. The wire in the ribbon helps it to naturally mold around the edges. I then covered the floral foam inside with the ribbon and attached it with pins. I made loops with the ribbon to "fill the basket" as well.

The pictures are attached to skewer sticks using Glue Dots attached to the sticks and dimensionals between the pictures for stability. I'll take these photos after graduation and put them into real scrapbooks so they won't get wasted. I promise!

Let me know what you think of them.

Gotta go. Lots to do before Sunday. Have a great week!

Karen

Mother's Day

Mother's Day Cards

After having worked on 3 dozen graduation cards, I realized I also need to make some Mother's Day cards as well.

I saw the Sketch Challenge for today on Splitcoast Stampers and decided that this set (Brushstroke Hummingbird) would be a great set to use.


I wanted something with a floral theme and the hummingbird is just a great addition. The edgings for the background pieces were punched with Stampin' Up's Eyelet edge punch. I love how it adds the extra tiny punches to make for more detail and the background colors to show thru.

The stamping was done using Stampin' Up markers - Garden Green, Cameo Coral, and Ballet Blue. The floral image was then filled in with Blush Blossom and Certainly Celery. The hummingbird image was cut out and added to the card with dimensionals.

I love how these cards came out. I thought of adding some additional embellishments, but realized that would detract rather than add to this card.

Graduation cards - 2009

Graduation is coming in under 2 weeks in our small town in North Dakota. I've had an idea for a week or so for graduation cards to give to my son's classmates. Here's how they came out!

I used Stampin' Up's GREAT GRAD and CONGRATS sets for the stamped images. The black panel is embossed using a Cuttlebug and the Script embossing folder. The silver paper is from Bazzill. The red layer is Stampin' Up Red Riding Hood. Inks used are Stampin' Up Basic Black and Basic Gray.

Dimensions:
Vertical layers: red layer 4 1/4 x 2 1/4, silver layer 4 1/4x2, black layer 4 1/4x1 3/4
Main image: grad image stamped and cut to 3 1/4x 1 1/2
black layer 3 1/2x 1 3/4, silver layer 3 3/4 x 2 1/4
"G" stamped in black and cut out with Stampin' Up Scallop Circle punch and and add'l silver scallop was punched and placed behind so that the scallops alternate.

Let me know what you think. It will take a while to assemble all of these cards. But, it's so much easier now that I know my design.