Friday, May 31, 2019

My First Subscription Box



Sometimes I feel like I'm in a rut in my cardmaking. Am I the only one? It's not really that I've lost my mojo; rather, it feels like all of my cards are the same. 

I recently went through one of these spells and decided to try something I'd not tried before - I ordered a subscription box. A bit extreme? Perhaps. But I figured the surprise element plus being nudged to use items I did not select might just change up my creativity a bit. The plus is the items would be coordinated so I wouldn't have to think too hard about it; I could simply create.

I didn't want a subscription box that had instructions of exact cards to replicate. I wanted to think of my own designs. I also didn't want a subscription that I would be bound to for very long.

I ended up choosing the Pink & Main subscription box.



Perhaps I chose it because I knew it would arrive in a pretty bright pink box, which happens to be the accent color in my Play Room. ;)





Surely I could get creative with all these goodies, right?


I decided before I started that I would make three cards. Here they are (in the order I made them)...




The inside of each card is decorated, too. And the good news - the only thing I used to make these cards other than what came in the kits was some black cardstock, adhesive, and Copic Markers and Amazapen Gel Pen for coloring.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Birthday Shellfie


It's Thursday - time to showcase The Project Bin, which is ALWAYS a joy because I love this company. The owner is a sweetheart and the stamps are just awesome!

Today I'm actually featuring two stamp sets. The turtle is from the Love Your Shellfie stamp set. I wanted a bigger birthday greeting to go with the darling little turtle so I used part of one of the stamps from the Birthday Girl stamp set. That particular stamp actually says Happy birthday pretty lady but I used a couple of post it notes to block out the pretty lady when stamping it.

I like how the turtle turned out with the layers of paper piecing.



For the inside of my card I added the turtle 
(in his naked form)




Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamp Sets: The Project Bin Birthday Girl and Love Your Shellfie stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and minimally colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Real Red CS and DP from my scrap file

Embellishments: Your Next Stamp Gum Drops

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Gallery Gazers CASE #11


As a member of the Gallery Gazers blog group, once each month I find a card in the SCS Gallery to CASE. This month I chose a card by lovinpaper (that's her SCS name; I'm not sure what her first name is; I think maybe it's Lisa). I was inspired by the way she carried the image from the front of her card to the inside as well. 

You can see her card front HERE and the inside of her card HERE.


Her card features a gorgeous floral stamp so I used a floral stamp on mine as well (although it's not the same stamp). Another difference on my card is the way I added the sentiment to the front. Hers was a stamped sentiment; mine is a die-cut sentiment. 


While her card was gorgeous without any embellishments, I added a piece of Baker's Twine to mine as well as some Stickles Glitter Glue to make the centers of my flowers sparkle. 



I carried the same image to the inside of my card like she did (this was what first captured my attention with her card).



I'll let lovinpaper (Lisa?) know I CASE'd her card... and I hope she'll be pleased that I did.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamp Sets: Stampin' UP! Lovely Lattice and Sugar Pea Designs Bountiful Blessings stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers 

Ink (for image inside card): Ranger Old Paper Distress Ink

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Wild Wasabi CS

Dies: My Favorite Things Blueprint 21 and Taylored Expressions Thanks (that came free with an order)

Embellishments: Stickles Glitter Glue and Baker's Twine from an unknown vendor

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Travel the World - Week 21


Note: This is my second blog post of the day. If you're wanting to see my Challenge Your Stash card that celebrates National Hamburger Day, either keep scrolling or go HERE.

This is the 21st week in my Travel the World personal challenge. Each week I am randomly choosing one country (there are 195 countries in the world) and doing a little research on that country. I then select one tidbit of information about the country as inspiration for the card I make.

This week's country is...


Germany

Germany shares borders with nine other countries: Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It is the fifth largest country in Europe; only the Ukraine, France, Spain and Sweden are bigger. 

Germany is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

One-third of Germany is still covered in forests and woodlands.

Germany was the first country in the world to adopt Daylight saving time. This occurred in 1916, in the midst of WWI.

Germany has the world’s narrowest street in the city of Reutlingen. Called “Spreuerhofstrasse,” the street is approximately one foot wide at the narrowest point, and nearly twenty inches wide at the widest.

German is the most widely taught third language across the world.

Prison escape is not punishable by law in Germany. German law maintains that it’s a basic human instinct to be free and therefore, prisoners have the right to escape jail. Escapes, however, rarely go unpunished because prisoners are held liable if they cause damage to property or inflict bodily harm against any individual upon their breakout.

It’s illegal to run out of fuel in the German Autobahn. Sixty-five percent of the highways in Germany (Autobahn) have no speed limit.

College education in Germany is free even for internationals.

Germany has legal say on what babies can be named. German law ban names that don’t denote a gender or use a family name as a first name. 

Berlin has the largest train station in Europe.

Germany is one of the world’s largest car producers – selling 6 million cars in 2015. VW’s Golf is one of the best selling cars of all time. In 2016, the top-selling car brands in Germany were Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes and BMW.

Most taxis in Germany are Mercedes.

Hamburgers got their name from Hamburg, Germany where a cut of beef called the Hamburg steak is from. This evolved into what we now know as the hamburger.

Germany is one of the world’s leading book nations, publishing around 94,000 titles every year. The first printed book was in German.

There are over 2100 castles in Germany. The one pictured here is the Hohenzollern Castle located in Stuttgart.

Toilet paper in Germany has the softness and consistency of paper towels.

Most Germans believe that open windows will cause illness, such as achy joints or the flu. Because of this, the window panes stay tightly shut even in the most beautiful weather.

Germans consider it bad luck to celebrate birthdays early. 

Rather than waving to your German friends, greet them by knocking on the table for good luck.

Whatever you do don’t cheers with water. Doing so, means you’re wishing death upon your drinking buddies, and you definitely wouldn’t want to do that.

Germans order their beer very differently. To order a single beer, raise one thumb. If you want to order two beers, raise your first finger. Be careful not to confuse your fingers and thumbs unless you want order the whole pub a round of drinks!

I decided to let this Germany fact be the inspiration for this week's card... The Christmas tree (Tannenbaum) tradition came from Germany.




Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp: High Hopes Woodland Santa stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Real Red CS and Paper Studio Buffalo Plaid Red/Black DP

Embellishments: SU Ribbon and Brads from unknown vendors

Celebrating National Hamburger Day


The 28th of each month is Challenge Your Stash Day. We are a group of cardmakers who decided we have way too many things in our own stash that need to be used. Therefore we create a card based on a theme - and we can only use items we already own. We take turns choosing the theme. 

This month it was my turn to choose the challenge theme.

My Challenge -

May 28th is National Hamburger Day (not to be confused with National Cheeseburger Day which is celebrated on September 18th). To celebrate, our CYS challenge this month is to include a hamburger (if you have one) or some other food (if you don't) on your card.


Sheesh! It's my theme... I picked it out. But what do you see on the hamburger on my card??? CHEESE! Duh! I am a mess!!!

oh. well.



No one really knows when this National Hamburger Day holiday was created but it must have been created by someone who loved the burger. 

Celebrating National Hamburger Day can be done in a variety of different ways. You can throw a hamburger-themed party, eat hamburgers for every meal, go out to your favorite hamburger restaurant and enjoy a burger or experiment with making your own burger. Of course, if none of those things appeal to you, then you can always visit the Burger Museum in Miami, Florida or visit the “Home of the Hamburger” Seymore, Wisconsin.



While the hamburger owes its name to the city of Hamburg in Germany, the hamburger, as it is known and loved today worldwide – a meat patty wedged inside two slices of bun, is distinctly an American invention.
The unofficial holiday is also sometimes known as National Hamburger Day.

How to Celebrate?

  • Eat hamburgers for all your meals on this day.
  • Gourmet up your burgers by adding toppings like caramelized onions and mushrooms and blue cheese.
  • Host a backyard barbecue and treat your guests to delicious homemade burgers.

Did You Know…

…that during the Second World War, American soldiers tried to rename the hamburger as liberty burger.

So there you have it... a hamburger (okay, it's a cheeseburger, since I messed up) on my card and some historical tidbits and more information about this fun holiday, too. Now who thinks we should go get a hamburger today???

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Set: Fun Stampers Journey Build a Burger stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and White and SU Creamy Caramel CS and DP from my scrap file

Embellishment: Celebrate It Ribbon

Monday, May 27, 2019

Fleece Navidad for the Troops


I'm enjoying making Christmas Cards for the Troops. This is my most recent - love the pun of the sheep sentiment/image. They are from Whipper Snapper Designs. I've had the stamps a very VERY long time.

The sentiment stamp is actually one long stamp with the two words in a row. I cut them apart to make them a better fit for my card.





Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamps: Whipper Snapper "Fleece" Navidad image and sentiment stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Poppy Parade CS and DP from my scrap file

Embellishments: Music Note Brads from an unknown vendor

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Sparkle!


I found the most amazing paper at Wal-Mart not too long ago. (Surprised me! I know; right?) It is so sparkly! And the amazing thing is you can print right onto it so I thought to myself, If it can be put through my printer, why can't I stamp onto it? Made perfect sense to me. So I gave it a try, using Catherine Pooler Midnight Ink. It. worked. perfectly! I was totally TOTALLY impressed!!!

What wasn't as impressive was trying to get a picture of it. Yowzer! My poor lighting and lack of fancy photography equipment makes that virtually impossible. I regret that. Because this card really sparkles! 

Sparkly Paper
Sparkly Glitter Brads (white and black)
Sparkly Ribbon (two different ones)
Sparkly Prima Flowers (two layers)

Yep, it sparkles!!!


I used the Floral and Sayings stamp set from Victorine Originals - I've used it several times, but this time I used a different silhouette stamp from the set.



I even tried laying the card on a flat 
surface to try to get a better photo.
It didn't help.


I am not - NOT - a symmetrical type of person. That's really kind of surprising because I'm an extremely organized type of person and they often tend to be symmetrical types, too. But I'm over-the-grid asymmetrical. ;) So I first made the card without the additional (Prima) flower and the symmetry of the look was driving me crazy. I just couldn't handle it. So I added an off-centered flower. I'm much happier now. LOL!



* * * * *
If you're new to SumMore Fun 
you can get a 10% discount 
by using the code JEANETTE10 at checkout.


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamp Set: Victorine Originals Floral and Sayings stamped with Catherine Pooler Midnight Ink

Papers: Diamond Print Glitter Inkjet CS and Recollections Black and 110# White CS

Embellishments: Michael's Ribbon, Prima Flowers, and Glitter Brads from an unknown vendor

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Going Places


It's a 3-day Holiday weekend for many people. that means going places - family gatherings, mini-vacations, or to the store to get more groceries for backyard picnics, etc. Whatever your plans, enjoy them and stay safe.



I even added a school bus (one of the new brads at Eyelet Outlet) to the traffic, as a reminder that for some people there's still a wee bit of school left after this weekend.



Eyelet Outlet Products Used:

Cloudy Washi




Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Eyelet Outlet ProductsTruck Stamp SetBus BradFirst Responder BradMotorcycle BradSun/Cloud BradTravel BradTruck BradTire Track Washi, and Cloudy Washi

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White CS

Friday, May 24, 2019

Flea Market Flip - #4


I've committed to doing a quarterly series (personal challenge) this year. For this quarter (April - June) the series is what I'm calling Flea Market Flip. The idea is to find an item at a yard sale, thrift store, even out of the trash and use it on a card.... but the item needs to be something that was not created for the purpose of cardmaking or paper-crafting.


Today's item is a 
packet of Bottle Wraps:


Cost: 74 cents
Found at a Thrift Store


As you can see in this picture,
I used one of the Bottle Wraps
like it was designer paper:



Here's the inside of my card:




Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamp Set: Gina K Birthday Hoot stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Repurposed Item: Brother Sister Design Studio Bottle Wraps

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Garden Green CS and a scrap piece of SU DP

Embellishments: Enamel Dots from an unknown vendor

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Pretty Lady Birthday Greetings


After a week off for vacation, The Project Bin's design team is creating once again. And what better way to do so than with the Birthday Girl stamp set.

I love the pretty font of the stamp I used from the set for today's card - and just look at all of those fun flourishes.

Denise has many great sets in The Project Bin online store so be sure to check it out.



The Birthday Girl stamp set:


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Stamp Set: The Project Bin Birthday Girl stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Dies: Spellbinders Circles

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Pretty in Pink CS and Paper Studio Lime Green Gingham and Pink Flower with Black/White Stripe DP

Embellishments: Cloud 9 Rain Drops