Thought I'd share a few Halloween cards I've made. I'm not typically a big Halloween card maker but this year has been a bit different!! I'm ready to start Christmas cards so I'll be updating again soon!!!







I hope you enjoy these and as always, if you want details on the images or anything else you can visit my blog!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Free Standing Halloween Card

This is a free standing card that you mail folded up and flat in a normal sized envelope. You can use it as a card or just as a general decoration that you put out somewhere. The recipient simply pushes the base down the card to open it. There is a side view on the website if you click on the image.

Aside from the time spent coloring, this is actually a fairly quick and easy card to make with the right tools. The key to this card working out right is for all the folds to be properly positioned. If you have a scoring board, this is easy to accomplish. The score locations are in the directions (click the image). I used the Martha Stewart scoring board, so they are relative to the way that one is marked.

Trick or Treat Leftovers

Here's a card I pulled together from the leftover pieces of the last card I posted.

There are some tricks to getting it to go together easier, so I'd recommend clicking on the image and checking out the directions if you like this one.

Trick or Treat Pumpkin Card

Here's a nice card that's not too hard to make. The colored paper is all from the same Bazzill basics stack, so the colors are the same muted tone and coordinate well together. Since they are muted they coordinate perfectly with the background mat which uses muted colors as well. The background was from a 12x12 sheet which had some printed distressing on the corners that I kept in the bottom right for visual interest where you are going to look when you open the card.



The pumpkin is colored and shaded on white paper using Copic markers. The shading adds another dimension. I highly recommend people develop some way of coloring their images but if you don't have any way of coloring a pumpkin image you can always just stamp it on orange cardstock.

If you have been following along you on my main blog should recognize this pumpkin image as one of the dollar stamps I've been using a lot. You can also think of this card as the final step up on the series of simple orange cards I posted using this image because this does represent what you can do when you move beyond a simple pack of cheap colored cardstock to a higher quality coordinated pack of cardstock and a modern stack that uses the same types of colors.

As always, click on the card for the larger image and direction sheet if you want more.

Witches Brew

Here's another Halloween card. This one is a fairly large image of two witches brewing up some magic that started out as an unmounted rubber stamp I brought last month. It's colored using Copic markers and then because the image was so large, simply framed with a black border to make the card front. I initially thought I was going to make it be a lot more complicated but there wasn't much else I could do and stay at the 4.5 x 5.5 card size and I really like that card size because its easy to get premade envelopes locally for them and the card tends to stay under 1 oz, or one stamp. As always click the image for full details.

Simple Halloween Cards

If you haven't caught them already on my main web site or off the sharedcards blog, here's a bunch of really simple Halloween card anyone can make. For some of them, you can even get your children or students involved. The best part is a lot of the stamps were just assorted holiday dollar stamps.

This next one looks complicated at first, but if you check out the instructions, it's really just stamping and cutting and meticulous placement.

As always just click on the card if you want sizes or more information.

A couple of fairly simple cards

It's been a while because I've been off at Copic Certification class and then at a rubber stamp convention buying up new stamps and then hanging Bygel rods on the wall to organize punches. The start of the new TV season has been taking away from my card making time too but I've finally got a few new cards done to post.

Before I start in on the new Halloween and Thanksgiving cards, I thought I would catch everyone here who isn't following my main blog up on a couple of simple cards I dug out of the pile from years past.

	This is a fairly simple card that shows what a creative corner punch and outside frame can do to dress up a simple stamp.
	Random interesting placement of squares of paper and some colorful zigzag paper that reminded me of a southwestern style.
	This card was leftover pattern paper dressed on the sides with ribbon and a color coordinated sentiment that you can punch out if you have the right punches.

Just click the image to see to the full instruction sheet if you want know what punch or stamp set I used.

I have finally become a Copic Certified Designer!!! I've been trying and trying to find a class to get this done but there were never any close to me but finally, on August 29, 2010 they had a class here in Albuquerque and I was accepted within a few hours of submitting my application so I was super excited!!!

So, here is one of the cards I made after taking the class and learning so much more about Copics. I used a new technique taught in the class that I never, ever thought of to create the denim effect on his jeans - how cute is that??? If you want more details on how it was done stop by my blog - Memories Unleashed!!!



I hope you enjoy!!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Two new cards

Here's a get well card I posted earlier this week:



Click on the image to get directions from the website if you like it.


Here's a deceptively simple male card I posted today. It's just rubber stamping and paper so it looks pretty easy to modify to just about any occasion but it's the little design choices that make it different. The center paper isn't just blue, it's patterned paper that I stamped on. The photo tabs only hide half of what's underneath and the center paper is smaller, which means all the colors come together in the photo tab and it ties the different elements together physically and visually. The background paper is also textured which helps it be a little more than just a simple paper card.



Again, click on the card for the website page if you want directions or the full screen image.

Cookies, squares and the doctor

Here's a card I did trying to use Copic markers to get a semi realistic hair look. Its also pretty interesting in the fact that all the stamps, including the one use to make the background were from the same vendor. That seems to rarely happen anymore.

I have been trying to use up some of the more traditionally female colors before I open more so here is another Copic colored image card. Coloring your stamped images adds another dimension and allows to take images like this and customize them to the colors you want to use.

Finally, here's a simple creative paper card. I made it using male colors but the basic idea works for just about any occasion and any coordinating color combination. It's even something you could think about doing with your scraps if you have big enough pieces.

As always, click on the card to go to my website if any of the cards interest you and you want the supply list or more detailed images.

Millie the mouse and two new floral cards

Just a quick post with the latest cards I've added on sharedcards.com. The first two are Millie the Mouse. This is a clever clear stamp set that comes with various items you can put in Millie's hand and on Millie's head so you might see more of Millie later. The next two are A7 sized cards in a male-ish and female version. Flowers might be pushing it depending on the guy but it is at least blue. The oval is unusually tall so I had to fussy cut it out and the mat layers out by using a tracing wheel. There are actually two ribbons on the pink versions to get the width I needed so its construction is actually a little more interesting than it appears at first glance. The coloring is of course Copic markers. I keep saying I need to make a card that doesn't use them but being able to color your stamped image opens up a whole new world of rubber stamps you can use and lets you tie in a bunch of different colors easily so they are proving hard to put down. As always click on the card for bigger images and directions and if you want to read a lot more about how they got created, each of these has their own post on http://sharedcards.blogspot.com/.

6 new cards, new Facebook page and new contest pages

Here's a quick summary of what I've made/posted this month so far on sharedcards.com:

	This is one my older and simpler cards.
	Another one of my earlier cards based on the same paper that shows it doesn't take a room of supplies to make an interesting card.
	I gave my Mom some of the butterflies I had stamped for the earlier butterfly cards and this what she created from my leftover butterflies.
	I've been blogging about different coloring techniques over on my main blog at sharedcards.blogspot.com and this was the one of two cards I did based on a Make and Take from a convention to get some experience using colored pencils and Gamsol blending.
	An alternate color scheme take on the previous card. It's not obvious from the scanned image but the card is really two cards in one. The puppy is the top of a card and the bottom flap is tucked inside that card so you pull up on the puppy to open the little top card.
	Same stamp, new original gatefold card, but colored with Copic marker.

In the near future, I'll be putting the watercolor version up and a take 2 on the Gamsol version where I figure out how to get darker, more fully colored images. I started it this weekend but I was disappointed with my attempts to turn those images into new cards.

Sharedcards.com finally has a Facebook page. My posts on this blog tend to be more digests of what I've gotten done since my last post and I'll continue doing that so if you just want to see the cards every couple of weeks, along with everyone else's card posts, this will be the place to come. I am going to start taking the time to update Facebook, and as result Twitter, as the cards are uploaded, so if you want real-time updates on what's been added that will be the place to go. The links are on the sharedcards.com at the bottom of every page, just click on one of the card images above. If you really want more of the back story reading behind the cards, I am going to start putting up more elaborate posts that I'm not sure everyone here might be interested in reading, like the blog posts on coloring techniques mentioned above, at http://sharedcards.blogspot.com. Since the blog posts will usually be related to the current card, that will tend to be fairly up to date, but blog posts take a little more effort than a quick scrible on the wall.

The sharedcards blog is also where I'm trying to get contests going so if you want to win completed versions of some of my cards and maybe some other stuff, you may want to check out the new contest page I put up this month on the sharedcards blog. All you have to do to win right now is publically follow the blog and then read it once a week to see if you won, once there are enough people following.

New Rubber!

I have been to two rubber stamping/paper crafting shows so far this summer and have picked up a ton of new stamps and a lot of unmounted rubber images that I had to stick on cling foam and cut out but got for about a third of what I would have had to pay if they were on wood. Ok maybe its gonna end being more like half by time I get more binders and add in the cling sheets for the binders but I could have never afforded this many images if they had been premounted on wood and its going to save me a lot space and they are real rubber. I love the acrylics for the same reason but rubber just seems to work well with any ink and the clear stamps are hit or miss sometimes.

I mainly got stuff that fit three main categories:

• Really cool words
  
• Images that can be colored
  
• Images suitable for Flowersoft, usually in combination with coloring.
  

I'm not expecting to get a lot of cards done this month but using the new stuff is going to be the theme so it will be lots of coloring - Copic mostly but maybe I'll throw in new colored pencil and watercolor pencil techniques I learned at the shows.

I also have 24 older cards I scanned to finish putting online as well. Those might actually get some time this month. We'll have to see what I really feel like doing after putting in long days at work.

Here's a quick index view of the uploads since my last post if you haven't found them on the website already. Click on them to get the directions and larger views:

	This butterfly escaped the last posting and was found in hiding.
	He was not alone either.
	Mostly Stampin' Up!, except the paper
	New rubber and Copics!
	Even the Cricut machine wanted to play with the new rubber!
	More new rubber, sayings and Copics
	New and old rubber, Copics and distressing for an any occasion male card.

A quick survey to help me decide how to post some of my older cards

I have 24 "older" cards from before I started posting everything that I have scanned and started image processing (straightening the scan, color correction, resizing) them. My idea was was to post them on my web site like all the other cards I've posted here with a full supply list and directions and sizes but reality is setting in that between work, buying new craft stuff, making new cards, etc it may be quite a while before I get them documented well enough to post them that way. It's much easier to do when all the supplies are still on the table.

Instead of waiting until they are completely documented, I have been thinking about just posting them in a new sort of as-is section were you can see them but the supply and directions will just say "TBD" until I get to them or someone specifically asks, which may be never.

So my question is this:

How many people find benefit in having all the directions? Are you mainly just looking at the pictures on the blog or the website? Does anyone benefit from the size measurements? How about the supply list? Is that helpful? More or less so than the directions?

Please post your thoughts as comments on this post and help me decide how much effort I should put into getting these older cards online.

More butterflies, A Bandaid and a Blingaid and a Father's Day Card

Just a quick post that there are 7 more cards on my website. The first three use the same butterfly stamp I talked about last time and the same mat stack. They are basically the same pattern, just different papers and sayings.


The next two bandaid cards I actually did a long time ago but am just publishing for the time. They are using done using the Cricut Expression and the Wild Cards cartridge.


Finally, there is my take one and take two of some of the Father's Day card cutouts on the cartridge. As always, click on any of the cards to go to the website and get better pictures and full directions.

Butterflies and Dragonflies

My new favorite stamp is the same one you needed to find for the Mother's day contest - this one. These are half the cards I have made so far with the set and my favorite little patterned stack and my favorite cardstock stack for the summer. It's not a complete list of what you need but these cards rely heavily on those three items if you are inspired to try to make something similar.

Hopefully it won't take so long to get the rest of the designs online and you'll be seeing them in a few days.

Click on any of the card to get full directions.

These two are new as well but use different stamp sets. Click on any of the cards to get full directions. Here are the ink and markers you need for butterfly one if you want to get into coloring with markers without spending a lot of money.

Hopefully more butterflies in a few days...