Vintage Birthday Card

I made this birthday card for someone who likes antiques.  The little inset of the bluebirds is a piece from an antique postcard.  The rest of the papers and embellishments are all new.  Most of the papers are from CTMH's retired paper pack, "Simple Pleasures."  The Colonial White mat was embossed with the Cuttlebug.  all the papers were distressed with CTMH Desert Sand ink.

My Favorite Adhesives

Like most crafters, I have a plethora of glues in my studio--some are MUST HAVES, and some I rarely or never use.  For the most part, I use three types of adhesives: glue sticks, double-sided tape, and white glue.  I also always have glue dots and dimensional adhesive on hand.

GLUE STICKS:  As long as they are acid free/archival safe, I'll use any brand glue stick.  I generally only use them for layouts that will be stored within page protectors, so I'm not too worried about the handling of papers to cause them to pull apart.  Glue sticks are the most economical, so using them on large pieces on layouts works well.

ADHESIVE TAPE:  Scor-Tape (shown above) is my absolute favorite double-sided tape.   It's made in Korea, and I'm not sure how to pronounce the name actually on the roll of tape, but it is distributed here in the U.S. by the same company that sells the Scor-Pad, and they call it Scor-Tape.  It works like the common red tacky tape, but has one feature that makes it 100% better in my opinion:  Scor-Tape tears by hand easily, so you don't have to grab your scissors ever time you use a piece.  It comes in several widths (1/4" is my go-to size), and of course it's acid free/archival safe.

WHITE GLUE:  Without reservation, Art Glitter glue is my favorite liquid glue/white glue.  It dries in seconds, making it perfect for paper flowers and other 3D projects or for attaching embellishments to cards or layouts.  It's clear when it dries, so if you're a little messy, that's okay too.  I don't know of a chain store you can count on to carry it, but I'm sure it can be ordered online somewhere.  I usually special order it from my Local Scrapbook Store.

One more tip:  When storing white glue or other liquids like Close to My Heart's Liquid Glass or Art Glitter Glue, the plastic containers CTMH used to call "Ribbon Rounds" work great.  Most glues will fit in them upside down, which keeps the glue toward the top of the bottle.  Unfortunately, CTMH doesn't sell ribbon in these cylinders anymore, but if you already have some, this is a great storage solution.

Siimple Pleasures & Cherry-O Card

I'm always trying to use up some of my stash of old papers, and I was probably successful in using a whole 12x12 sheet for this card, so it doesn't look like I'll run out any time soon.  I used the CTMH retired "Simple Pleasures" for the brown and blue papers, and "Cherry-O" to make the Tim Holtz rose.  The ribbon is CTMH, the punch is from EK Success, and the sentiment is from CTMH's "Fringed Phrases" set.

Bright Sunshiny Day Card II

Another card with the new CTMH "Tommy" papers and the "Bright Sunshiny Day" stamp set.  I love these papers and stamps together.  Probably for the same reason I like these old, stained dishtowels I have:

Here's another reason I'm dreaming of the beach and sunshine.  This is what's happening right now out my window:

It's hard to see, but it's snowing sideways, and it's just the beginning.  We might get up to nine inches of snow tonight.

Bright Sunshiny Day Card / Mojo Monday 281

 

Two possible winter storms heading our way this week, so I'm thinking about warm weather.  The sentiment on this card says, "No matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine."  I'm tryin'.

Both the stamp set, "Bright Sunshiny Day" and the paper pack, "Tommy" are new products from the new CTMH Spring/Summer Idea Book.  Click HERE or the link on the side of my blog to view the new Idea Book.  The main colors are Outdoor Denim, Honey, and Cranberry.  I colored the stamps with my Copic Sketch markers.

The layout for this card came from the Mojo Monday Blog, #281.  Here's the original sketch:

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Happy TWENTIETH Birthday to my son Nick!  It was actually yesterday, but here's a picture of him today with his Iowa Hawkeye birthday balloon (from Jess & Neal).  Also notice Daisy's photobombing.  She rattles the doorknob to tell us she wants to go outside.  Now I have to edit my blogger profile: I can't describe Nick as a teenager any more.

For Always Vintage Valentine & Mojo Monday 279

Inspiration for this Valentine came from the Mojo Monday 279 sketch challenge.  I used an image from an early 1900s Valentine as a focal point.  The rest of the Valentine was too damaged to be of any value.  It's hard to see here, but across the bottom of the image, it says "To My Valentine."  The background paper is CTMH's Sweet Leaf, and the black papers are from CTMH's new paper pack, "For Always."  I added flowers cut from another antique Valentine.  Liquid Pearls edge the Ruby cs oval.  The sentiment is from an old CTMH stamp set "Fringed Phrases," which was stamped on white cs punched out with a SU punch.  The black lines around the edges are simply done with a ruler and a Copic marker.

 

For Sale?

Someone asked me recently if I ever sell any of my cards.  The answer is YES!!!  Pretty much everything you see on this blog that I haven't sold already is for sale.  (Well, not my personal scrapbook pages, of course.)  My prices are very affordable, even with shipping.  If you're interesting in purchasing something you see, contact me via a comment on a post, email, or Facebook, and I'll get back to you with exact prices.