Artful Avocations

Blog NOT Abandoned! AND Some New Birthday Cards

Hello everyone!  I have not abandoned my blog, although it may seem that way since I haven't posted anything in months!  I thought I would have more time to post to my blog this summer, but I'm teaching summer school and that has taken precedence to my blogging.  This afternoon I am making the time to post three of the birthday cards I've made recently and actually got a picture of before I gave them away.  The first one was for one of Jamie's friends who likes the beach and had a beach party for her birthday.  So, in keeping with the beach theme, here is the card I came up with for her.
Because the card was going to be signed by a bunch of people and accompany a group gift, I made it large using an entire sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 Whisper White card stock and did a gate fold.  The focal image was stamped and sponged onto Whisper White card stock to create a beach scene and layered onto a piece of Tempting Turquoise card stock.  I had not intended to make the background look like a surf shack, but not wanting to trash the card after accidentally dropping an inked stamp on it (and of course the stamp bounced, making two unwanted partial impressions), I had to come up with "Plan B."  I must admit I like "Plan B" a whole lot more than whatever I was originally doing.  I really did not have a "Plan A" for the background, I was just kind of thinking about it as I was doing it.  I started stamping the surf lingo randomly on the background and was just going to leave it at that...blah white.  Although I was not happy with the background, it was after 1:00 a.m. and I really wanted to go to bed.  Then I dropped the stamp and it bounced!  Hmmm....now what?!  Immediately it hit me....it looked like weather worn graffiti!!  Cool!  Okay, now to just stamp out some more imperfect and faded impressions of the other surf lingo and add a wood-grain background.  So by stamping off the image and then stamping it onto my card and making sure NOT to make a good impression, I created a graffiti covered surf shack.  To make the wood-grain I very simply just swiped my ink pads from top to bottom of the card, pulling them as straight as possible and leaning or applying a little more pressure to one of the edges to get the darker lines that simulate the edges of the wooden planks. (Inks used for wood-grain:  More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa).  {Wood-grain backgrounds are really super simple to do - you should try it if you haven't.}  After I finished the shack, I adhered the focal image to the left side of the card front and attached some Prima flowers with a flower brad.
I LOVE these kinds of mistakes!!  :)
Stamps are from A Chemistry With Paper - Surf's Up! stamp set.
Card stocks and inks are from Stampin' Up!

Next up is another card for one of Jamie's friends who is a tennis coach and loves tennis, amongst a myriad of other extreme sports like sky diving and swimming with sharks!  Well, I didn't have any stamps for skydiving or swimming with sharks, so I made her a simple tennis themed card.
I started with a Stampin' Up! Big Shot Curly Label card made from Whisper White card stock.  I then embossed a happy birthday background (Cuttlebug) on Tempting Turquoise card stock.  Carefully finagling the card stock and die to line up just right, I die cut the curly label in the Temp. Turquoise piece and layered it onto the white background.  I had a red curly label from a previous card (never throw away scraps!) that I used on the inside of the card to layer under and frame the white curly label punch with the sentiment stamped on it.  I also use a white gel pen to go over the stitches ((which I think was a mistake, but oh well)). 

The tennis racquet and ball (popped on Dimensionals) are from an old foam mounted stamp set (remember those?) from DJ Inkers.  The labeling on the set does not have a copyright date, but I know I got it when I had my stamp store so it must be from the early to mid 90s.

The sentiment stamp, card stocks and ink are from Stampin' Up!
I colored the racquet and ball with Copic markers and highlighted them with a glitter gel pen - that doesn't seem to show up too well in the picture.  The ribbon is from Michael's.

Okay, on to the next and final card for today.  This card is not a fun as the other two, but a pretty card using the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set from Stampin' Up!
I used Going Gray to stamp out two of the lillies from the set and then cut them out very close to the outline and mounted with Dimensionals.  I used Copic markers to shade and color them and outlined them with a silver glitter pen.

All the card stock, designer series paper, inks, and punches are from Stampin' Up!
The ribbon is from Michael's and the two yellow brads are from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm always amazed to see how many of you keep visiting even when I haven't posted for so long.  I truly appreciate your e-mails and comments.  You are all so nice!  Thanks again! 

Stamping & Paper Crafting with Sharon Rivera

Stamping & Paper Crafting with Sharon Rivera

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Easter Bucket(??), Some Baskets & Slider Boxes

I hope everyone had a very nice Easter!  It's been a while since I've posted anything, so hopefully I'll make up for it with this post.  It's that time of year when I really start looking forward to summer when I have more time to play.  I will be teaching summer school this year, but guess what?  I'll be teaching scrapbooking and papercrafting classes!!  This is at my principal's request...I said I would teach math or reading.  But, scrapbooking and papercrafting is very cool too!

Well, I know Easter has come on gone this year and I should have posted these before now, but I really did most of these last minute and didn't have time to post until now.  That being said...On to the Easter Bucket.  I used my Sand Pail Template to make this for my mom. Nope, I did not give it to her empty.  I filled it up with goodies, but never got a picture of it.  I really, really love the way this looks in real life...very pretty.  The picture does not do it justice.  I have to say my friend, Sue, gave me the idea to make my sand pail into an Easter Basket.  She was admiring my Sand Pail and said, "This would make a great Easter Basket."  Yeah...I agree!

Here's a list of supplies and tools:
Sand Pail Template and "Easter Blessings" sentiment from All Year Bag Toppers from ACWP.
Flowers, pearls, and brad from Pretties Kit; card stocks, and ink from Stampin' Up!
Scalloped Oval Nestability die
Hello Kitty scalloped Sizzlet die
Dimensionals (SU!)

Okay, on to the next project...

This basket was made with a new template I'm working on.  It will be available soon at ACWP.  I know it's too late for Easter, but baskets are great all year.

This was the best picture I could get under the circumstances, so it's not very clear.  The second picture is clearer and shows a close up of the embellishment.  This is another one I really like in real life...very pretty too.

I gave this (filled with goodies) to my best stamping friend, Sue.  The basket is stamped with the butterfly and leafy branch from Stampin' Up!'s Great Friend stamp set, although they really don't show up much in the photo.  The card stock, ink, brads,and ribbon are also from Stampin' Up!  The flowers were from my stash and I just used a dabber to sponge on a little ink in their centers and around the die cut label from the SU! Matchbox Bigz die.  The sentiment on the label is from the Limitless Labels set from Papertrey, Ink.  The pink flower brad holding the bow on the handle is from a pack I think I bought at Target last year.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Keep scrolling for the next project.  :)

This next picture shows some slider boxes I made using the Stampin' Up! Bigz die.  I used the SU! curly label punch to punch out the windows.  The windows have a piece of thin acrylic (from Ellen Hutson's store) adhered to the inside...very sturdy stuff!  I really like this for windows as opposed to {flimsy} acetate sheets. 
Also used:
Limitless Labels from Papertrey, Ink
Daisies and Dots from ACWP
Rub-ons, wheel stamps (background on green boxes) card stock, ink, and ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Flower Soft from LSS
Buttons from my stash

These little baskets were made using Stampin' Up! 6x6 DSP.  Yes, I have finally decided I should use up some of the paper and ribbon I've been hoarding.  I know you know what I mean.  ;)  These are really easy to make and since I had to make so many, I kept the embellishment to just a printed ribbon around the top edge of the baskets.  Here is a link to my template for the basket.  I was able to use up some scraps for some of the handles too!  The ribbons are from all kinds of sources...I just tried to match up some of the printed ribbons with the DSP I used.

Ok, I did say I was using up some hoarded paper...I don't even know when this card stock was available from Stampin' Up!, but it is from a fairly recent Simply Scrappin' kit.  The Kit-Kat bars are wrapped with an assortment of papers that looked like "Easter" to me.  I just wrapped them and crimped the ends...no adhesive on the ends!  They just stay together when you crimp them.  The daisy on top is from Daisies and Dots from ACWP with the center done in Flower Soft.  The flower brads are from that package I bought [who knows when] from Target.  The basket is made from a full 12"x12" sheet of card stock, but otherwise made the same way as the little ones in the last picture, scored at 4" and 8" instead of 2" and 4".

I made several other little baskets for Easter, but either didn't take pictures of them before I gave them away or haven't watermarked them yet.

I've got some new templates I'm working on as well, so check back often to see if they're in the store yet.

Thanks so much for visiting me here AND thank you so much for your comments.  I have been overwhelmend by ALL of you who have emailed me for the Cupcake/Muffin Treat Box template.  Thank you all for your nice comments!   Scroll down for one last basket today...

This last basket I made from strips of Green Galore and Gable Green SU! card stock that I cut into 1" x 11" strips.  I simply found the center of each strip and laid out 4 of them evenly spaced.  Then I took 4 more and wove them through the first four...over and under to form the bottom of the basket.  Next I folded these strips upwards to form the basket sides.  I adhered to Gable Green stips together to form a longer strip and wove that around to form the bottom row on the basket's sides.  For the second row, I just repeated what I did for the first row.  I used one of the strips to form the handle.  With the remaining pieces of Gable Green, I adhered them around the top edge...one on the outside and one on the inside to cover up the loose ends.  I then inserted brads all the way around the basket to decorate it and to help hold it together.  This basket comes out to a pretty good size too.  It's about 5" square.

Thanks again for stopping by!

NEW Template!

Wow!  I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.  Where does the time go?  I drew this template last month and am just now getting it posted for all you template lovers.  :)  I did slice a pretty deep cut into my right thumb (not good when you're right-handed) and had to get some stitches, so that kind of slowed me down in getting some projects done.  The stitches came out this afternoon, so here I am trying to get a post done.

This Sand Pail is super easy to put together and comes with a page full of darling sea creatures, the shovel (in two sizes for layering), and two pieces to layer at the top of the pail (see the solid blue part at the top of the pail).  You can see the sea critters and accessories in the next picture.  The Sand Pail measures approximately
3 inches wide at the bottom and 4 inches wide at the top.  It is 2-1/4 inches deep and 3-7/8" tall minus the handle.  Including the handle, the overall height is approximately 6-3/4 inches tall.

In this sample, I simply printed the template on white card stock and covered it with Stampin' Up! DSP.  The top edge of the pail is covered with SU! Tempting Turquoise card stock as is the bottom layer of the shovel and the handle.  The top layer of the shovel is white card stock.  The "Surf's Up!" and "Beach Party" sentiments are from A Chemistry With Paper's Surf's Up! set, stamped in black ink.  The crab and starfish were printed on white card stock and colored with chalks.  The turquoise brads are from a multi-colored pack I picked up at Target.  The ribbon is from Michael's.

The Sand Pail pictured in the background was simply printed on white card stock and stamped with two different sized dots from A Chemistry With Paper's Daisies and Dots set in Stampin' Ups! Green Galore and Tempting Turquoise.

This template is available as a download at www.shopacwp.com for $5.00.  Make sure you select Download as the shipping option in the checkout to be able to download your template files as soon as the payment is made.  I hope you like this template.  I would love to hear what you think.  Really!  Thanks for visiting!

Stationery Gift

I used my monogram JustRite Stamper  to create this.  I came across Sharon Johnson's beautiful sample in the JustRite gallery and knew I had to case it!  Mine does not do hers justice.  I made a much simpler version with what I had on hand.

What a fast and easy project!  If you need a quick and elegant gift for someone, this is perfect.  I'm thinking ahead to the end of the school year and am planning on making these for my two room moms.

Scroll down to see the cards inside the box.

All papers are from Stampin' Up!  The circle punches are from SU! and Marvy Uchida.  The scalloped border punch is from SU!  The ribbon is from SU!

Stationery Box

Here is another stationery box that I made using up some of my larger scraps.  I don't have a template for this, I just started putting together pieces and after a half hour or so, viola!  A stationery box!  The chipboard flowers were left over from a class I did for my after school papercrafters.  (I cut them with a Sizzix die.)

Inside the box is an assortment of larger cards and smaller cards with envelopes.  I only made three of each (because I find it really difficult to make more than one of anything!!!  Card swaps kill me!!  lol).  There is plenty of room to insert more cards and envelopes, stamps, and a pen.

The only things stamped on this project are the leaves.  The leaf stamp in from ACWP's Stylized Flowers set.  I used Always Artichoke ink from SU! to stamp them.

The die cut flowers were cut from white chipboard, so I just rubbed the edges with Pink Pirouette ink from SU!  and adhered them with dimensionals.  The card stock is also Pink Pirouette from SU!  The buttons and linen thread are from SU! too.  The green paper is from K & Company.  The ribbon is from Michael's.  Scroll down to see more views of this project.

Thanks for looking!

Inspired

I've made these boxes before and they really are fun to make.  When I saw the cover of Stampin' Up!'s new Celebrando Creativitdad catalog, I had to make these!  I did not use a template to make these, but there is one on Splitcoaststampers.  I like to try to make projects like this from scrap pieces of card stock, so that is what I did for the smaller box.  The larger box is actually a full sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 card stock, so it's pretty big!

I used Pink Pirouette and Bali Breeze card stock from SU!  The pink gingham paper is from my stash.  Ribbon is from Michael's.  I used my Martha Stewart lace scallop border punch to make the bands around the boxes.  The flower brad are from SU!  The crystal brads are from my stash and I colored the crystal with a bright pink alcohol marker.  (The brads are like the ones from the Pretties kit from SU!)  I LOVE these boxes!!  Who cares if there's nothing in them!!

Need some summer about now???

Here's the ticket!  A beach party invitation and Nugget slider box to take your mind off the winter weather.

I stamped the card with stamp images from ACWP's Surf's Up!

To begin,  I stamped the palm tree and watercolored it. Then I watercolored the ocean on the bottom half of the card front and the sky on the top half.  I just used ink from some SU! ink pads to do this. I used Bashful Blue for the sky and Taken With Teal for the ocean.  I used Close to Cocoa and Old Olive for the palm tree.

Next, I cut two pieces of Creamy Caramel card stock the width of the card and tore the top edges to create my hills of sand.  Then I used the sand stamp to stamp the hills using Close to Cocoa ink.  I layered them onto the card, just adhering the bottom and sides so I could slip in the surfboards later.

I stamped the surfboards on Whisper White, watercolored them and then cut them out.  They are adhered to the card using dimensionals.

On the top of the card I stamped the words Beach Party and then masked it with a rectangular scrap of paper.  Using the stripe stamp intended for the surfboard, I stamped the "canopy" stripes over the mask to create a white rectangle around the words Beach Party.  Then I watercolored the stripes.

The slider box is stamped all over with the Flip Flop stamp.  The surfboard is adhered to the box with dimensionals.

The card base is from my stash, but I believe it's from DCWV.  The ribbon is from Michael's.  The top flap doesn't really want to stay closed, so I used a little piece of Velcro as a closure.

Hope this warms you up a bit!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

The Greatest is Love!

 Using *my favorite* stamp set, I stamped the sentiment on 80# cold pressed watercolor paper in black Stazon ink.  After letting it dry a moment, I watercolored the flowers and swished some color across the background and the torn edges.
The stamp image is from A Chemistry With Paper, white and pink card stock is from Stampin Up!, the pink gingham paper is from Making Memories, the scallop border punch is from Stampin' Up!, and the button brads are from my stash (sorry I don't remember who makes them).

I have several more cards to post, but I've ran out of time...must go to my mom's for her Superbowl birthday party.  She turns 88 on Tuesday!  She's really into the Lakers, Dodgers, and Angels so decided she "needed" a big screen tv.  It is easier to see the numbers and names on the jerseys you know.  ;)  Have a great Sunday!  Thanks for looking.

Soda for Two

I actually got a jump start on Valentine cards this year.  Probably the first time ever!!  This one uses stamps from ACWP's Soda Fountain and Fruity Valentine sets.
Card stock, ink, brad, and dimensionals are from Stampin' Up!  Ribbon is from WalMart.  Glitter on heart is from Martha Stewart.
Happy Valentine's Day...early!