davebrethauer

Guest Blog with Nancy: A Pocket Card With Re-purpose Possibilities

Happy last day of March to you! Are you ready for April showers?  I have lots of photos to share for this weeks project, so I hope you are still with me by the end of this post. I knew I wanted to make a simple pocket card this week, but I was trying to think of how I could make it a little different. As I was looking though my punches, I saw a unopened (how could that be??) tag punch that gave me an idea to actually make a tag that could be used to adorn a gift or some kind. There are several different ways you could go about making this card, depending on how much space you wanted to write on the card, but for this project, I am making a smaller card for a quick note. I am choosing to leave the tag blank so a recipient could re-purpose the tag if they choose to do so, but you could also write a short message on the back of the tag as well. For this creation, I was inspired by all of the beautiful blooming trees we have in our surrounding area right now. I wanted to have the tree on the outside of the card represent a tree just starting to bud, and when you pull the tag out, the tree is really starting to bloom. I have posted several photos for you below. When I took these photos, the lighting was not ideal, so the colors are a little off, but you will get the basic idea.

Card as is would appear "unopened".

 

View of card as tag is beginning to be pulled out of pocket.

 

View of tag as it is removed from pocket.

 

View of tag removed from pocket. This would make a great little gift tag!! The back of the tag is white.

 

On this card, I used a Key Lime note card cut down to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4". I then cut a piece of Sweet Corn Biscotti paper to 3 1/2" x 2 1/4" & adhered to card. I cut an edge with a decorative punch, scored underneath & folded down exposing white side of note card. I created a pocket using 1/4" sticky (super sticky) tape.  I cut another piece of Biscotti Sweet Corn paper to 2 1/4" x 3/4", stamped "Spring Brings New Beginnings" (B1244) sentiment in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I attached a prima with a glue dot & adhered that piece to the front of my card. I stamped the "Perched Chick" (C1256) using Memento Tuxedo Black ink , masking off the chick, on a white scalloped square piece of card stock (I used Marvy Giga (pink) scalloped square punch). I sponged blue & green very softly around image using VersaMagic Chalk ink. I colored the image with colored pencils & used Cotton Candy stickles to create "pink buds". If you have any jewel or pearl stickers on hand, I think those would look beautiful!! I adhered the scalloped white square to a piece of brown card stock cut to 2" x 2". I popped this piece up with dimensionals onto the front of card making sure not to adhere only the bottom of that piece to it doesn't stick to the back of your pocket so your tag will be able to slide in behind this piece. I cut a piece of the Key Lime note card with my tag punch (I used Marvy Giga (purple) tag punch). Please note that this was made using only one Key Lime note card. You should be able to get your tag & still create your card if you plan your cuts with care. I stamped the entire "Perched Chick" image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink & colored & blended with pencils. I applied more Cotton Candy stickles to this image to create more "blooms". I stamped the chick from the "Perched Chick" image onto Sweet Corn Biscotti paper & shaded with colored pencils & added glitter to wings. I cut out the image & pieced it onto my tag. I punched a hole in the top of tag attaching a yellow button (looks orange  in photos, sorry) & threading it with embroidery floss (ribbon, twine, etc. would work as well) to create a loop for tag. Now you can slide your tag into the pocket & you're set!!

I hope you have enjoyed my project for this week. Have a great day!!

~Nancy~

Today I'd like to share a book idea submitted my a customer of my friend Laura, who owns Created with Love in Taipei, Taiwan. One of her customers used Memory Box papers and grocery bags (!) to create this terrific little book in one hour. That seems a bit fast - especially for me, because I tend to go a little slow with the 3 dimensional crafts! See for yourself the wonderful use of layers and colors here and just try not to get inspired!

What a fun project! 

Namaste Penguin

Hello everyone! Today's artwork comes from Johanna in New York! Johanna needed a quickie card to send to her new yoga instructor so using all of her stamping ingenuity, she made a yoga penguin out of one of our existing penguin images.

Can you guess which one?

The juggler?

The baseball penguin?

The reindeer penguin?

Nope - the angel penguin!

The angel penguin (C892)! Johanna definitely gets the award of the day for extending the use of this stamp. She cut out the halo, wings and feet...

...and then drew in some feet and added some paper layers. Truly brilliant!

Namaste Johanna! "The light within me honors the light within you".

Guest Blog with Nancy: Playing With Pandas

With spring finally here & all of the flowers starting to arrive in nurseries, I was inspired to use the "Garden Panda" stamp this week since I think most people are getting the urge to start digging in their gardens. When I started my project for this week, I had a completely different idea of where I was going with this card & ended up with something very different. Does this ever happen to you? I wanted to try and create a card that used very little coloring & using scraps from other projects. I am terrible for saving paper scraps. I never want to throw away any of them because I may have a use for them on another project. If you remember my project from last week, I had cut some grass using some paper from the Poppyfinch 6x6 pack. When I first started this card, I planned on coloring in the 
"ground" somehow. When I saw the scrap laying on my workspace, I knew it would work perfectly to cut to size for this card & it was quick & easy. This entire card actually comes together very quickly. I think it took me the longest to cut the "paper piecing" for the panda. As for the sentiment, I thought of using the "Spring is Here" stamp, but since the "Garden Panda" is holding a bunch of flowers, I thought it would work perfect for this card. I think it would make a great friendship card. I hope you enjoy!!   

    

To make this card, I started with a Sunflower note card. This note card is such a pretty yellow!! I then cut a piece of white card-stock with a decorative edge punch. I used the M.S. fence edge punch in this case, but you could use any decorative edge punch cut to 5 1/2" x 1 1/4". I left a little bit of extra at the base of the white card-stock so I would be able to adhere it to the Poppyfinch pattered paper cut to 5 1/2" x 1.75". I then adhered the decorative edge piece to the patterned paper piece. Then adhered that piece to the Sunflower note card. I cut another piece of white card-stock to apx. 2 1/8" x 2 5/8". I adhered a leftover piece of Sweetbay paper that I had already cut with decorative edge "grass" scissors & cut that piece to 2 1/8" and adhered it to the base of the white piece. I stamped the "Garden Panda" (C1219) onto a piece of patterned paper from the Poppyfinch 6 x 6 paper pack.  I colored the pocket with a Copic marker & carefully cut out the overalls & hat. I then stamped the panda onto the "grass" & white piece making sure to get the feet were stamped on the "grass" piece in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then glued the patterned pieces onto that image. I colored the cheeks, eyes & flowers with Copic markers. I adhered to a piece of purple card stock cut slightly larger and popped it up with dimensionals onto the Sunflower note card. I stamped the "Verdi Flourish" (C987) in the upper left hand corner using Color Box Olive Pastel Chalk ink. Using my stamp positioner, I stamped "Best of the Bunch" (B882) in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. If you wanted to add a little bling, you could add some of those marvelous Memory Box Jewels Stickers. They come in some very gorgeous colors!!

I appreciate all of you that have stopped by & left kind words for me!! It really means a lot!! I hope you have a fabulous week!!

~Nancy~

Polly from the Stamp Act

I've shared cards with you from lots of customers and friends since I started my blog a few years ago, and I am sure I have shared some of Polly's (owner of the Stamp Act in El Paso, Texas) on more than one occasion. So I thought I would share a few more of her creations today! It's always a treat to get some samples made with Memory Box stamps and images!

Here's the Highlight Bird (B1051), embossed and stamped over a beautifully sponged background. The citrus colored halo is wonderful with the browns, pinks and golds.  The Tendril Branch (F1037) is stamped over the bird.

Here a buzzing group of Bees - stamped on shrinkplastic, fly amongst the flowers. Turquoise and golden yellow are one of my favorite color combos!

Hats are flying in this classic card! One of the greatest things about stamping is learning how to take an element from an image and re-invent it! Polly stamped extras of the  Top Hat Penguin (C1075) and cut out the hat's to use for the high flying props.

Last, this gorgeous scene! I am blown away by the colored backgrounds - she has created such depth with the shading - and the silhouettes of the Dandelion image (D1046) at the bottom, as well as the Blossom Bird (D1052) are just beautiful in crisp, black ink.

Her background effects are gorgeous - brayered? Sponged? Both? I guess I'll have to take a class next time I'm there!

Pink Birds

Nancy's guest post from Tuesday was so inspirational. She definitely gave the image a storybook quality and managed to create a little work of art for the front of a card. What a lucky person to receive a card like that!

I wanted to put together a fresh, spring card for today and chose the Bluebird Branch (D1232) and Curly Q swirl (B1241). I masked the bird, so that the swirl would appear behind him when it was stamped on the left side, but allowed the swirl to stamp on top of the leaves on the right side. The bird was stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate, the swirl in Versamagic Tea Leaves. ardstock included Cotton candy (to stamp on), Raspberry for the layer, and Taffy for the notecard. A dauber around the edge of the cotton candy (with Versamagic Gingerbread ink) softened the edges.

The real work for this card goes into the blending on the bird's body. The goal is to get dark color along the back fading to a light color along the front. You will begin with your dark colors, gradually fading across the bird, and using lighter and lighter colors to fill in the space. Remember to leave the area around his face a little more open (not as much dark color) so that in the final step you can fill that area in with Cream. I used Prismacolor pencils for this and the process is as follows:

1.) Using Tuscan Red (PC937) color along the backside of the bird, fading about 1/8 of an inch into the body, towards the front.

2. Using Pink (PC929) begin again along the backside, on top of the Tuscan Red, and fade out the color a little further, towards the front of the body again.

3. Repeat this process with Seashell Pink, coloring hard along the backside, then fading a little further that the first two colors, towards the front of the bird. You should still have some uncolored area on the front side of the bird.

4. Color in the front side of the bird with Cream (PC914) up to the beak and face area. 

5. Blend the cream area into the dark areas with White (PC938). 

A special note to our readers in Texas (the San Antonio area) - we have sent one of our teachers, Theresa Laurent, to teach this weekend at Stamp Antonio. She has lots of fun things to share with you in class, so if you are near that awesome store, come learn a few things from her. She will be showcasing all of the new stamps and papers we have this year!

Guest Blog with Nancy: Springtime Squirrel

Hello again!! Thank you for visiting my second "guest blog" installment on Dave's blog. I have always considered myself to be somewhat challenged when it comes to creating "scenes" on cards. I wanted to challenge myself this week by creating a simple Spring scene using the "Nutty Squirrel (D1251) from the Springtime Woodland Collection. I usually steer away from creating scenes, but I had a lot of fun with this one & I hope you enjoy it as well. Unfortunately it is not so Spring-like weather wise yet here in the Northwest, although we have had some Spring "teaser" days that were gorgeous! Spring is a favorite season of mine so I'm excited that it is officially just around the corner. I would love to hear your thoughts on creating scenes on cards. Do you find them easy or challenging?  

 

I have included a close up shot below so you can get a little better view of the squirrel. This is such a cute image & I love how the acorn image is included on the side of the stamp. It really gives you so many possibilities.

 

For this card I started with an Blue Poppy note card. I cut a piece of patterned paper from the Sweetbay 6x6 paper pack cut to 2 1/2 x 5 1/4 inch & cut with decorative edge scissors to create a grassy edge. I then sponged the edges a bit with VersaMagic Sahara Sand ink. I took another piece of patterned paper from the Sweetbay 6x6 paper pack & used my Martha Stewart Fence Border punch to create the fence. I cut this piece 5 1/2 " wide to match the note card. I also sponge the fence with the Sahara Sand ink to give it sort of a rustic look. I adhered the "grassy hill" cut paper to the front of the note card, followed by the "fence" piece.  The "Nutty Squirrel (D1251)" (love this image) I stamped onto a piece of ivory card-stock in Memento Rich Cocoa ink & colored & blended with colored pencils. I paper pieced the apron on the squirrel from paper from the Sweetbay paper pack as well. I then trimmed the squirrel image. I masked some acorns & stamped a few together onto ivory card-stock in Memento Rich Cocoa ink, using the mask so I could create a small pile of acorns. I stamped a single acorn as well onto the same card-stock. I then colored & blended with colored pencils, and carefully trimmed the acorns out. I then adhered the cut out images onto my card. I added some shading with my colored pencils underneath to add some shadows. I stamped the sentiment (B1248) onto the "grass" using Memento Rich Cocoa ink. I used a stamp positioner for placing my sentiment. That gives you the option of moving the sentiment around your card before making it permanent. It also helps if the sentiment in mounted slightly crooked on the wood block. The stamp positioner allows you to position it straight.  I created the clouds by creating a hand made template and then sponging with VersaMagic Cloud White ink.  I added some blue gingham ribbon & voila!!

Thank you for stopping by my post today. If you have any questions for me, please leave me a note in the comments section and I will happy to get back to you.

~Nancy~

Be sure to check out Dave's post below to see his awesome pencil tutorial & how you can win $100 in Memory Box Bucks!! How cool is that?!

A Wise Old Owl

Hello everyone! Did that get your attention? Well, we've been working hard to bring you more and more ideas through our blogs and site and have just added another blog contributor to our design team! Patter Cross, our newest member, will be a great addition to our blog forum and will be bringing card, scrapbook and paper arts ideas to you each week. Since many of you have been visiting all of our blogs to learn all the latest Memory Box tips and techniques, we thought we'd reward everyone with a very special contest!  Jean, Cate, Laura and Patter are each offering $100 worth of Memory Box products to the winner of each of their respective contests! Each blog is holding a different contest - so check them all out! Simply visit our other blogs and read the contest descriptions to enter!

InKollage with Jean Okimoto

Color Whimsy with Laura Fulcher

Paper Amour with Cate Goins

Create x 3 with Patter Cross

This is a big giveaway - so be sure and enter! And tell your friends to sign up for the Memory Box e-newsletter so they can get advance news of our special contests and product releases!

Now back to business! I wanted to give a colored pencil tutorial today using the Tufted Owl (D1255) from our new Woodland Springtime release. So get out your pencils and let's get started!

You will need the following Prismacolor Pencils:

PC1005 Limepeel

PC915 Lemon Yellow

PC1002 Yellowed Orange

PC1012 Jasmine

PC918 Orange

I stamped the owl with Brilliance Graphite Black ink onto hot -press (smooth) watercolor paper, and added a wash of color around it. Once everything was dry, I began building the color up with the pencils.

I shaded the feathers with orange, beginning near the top of each feather and then fading as I went downwards. I added a little of the orange to the tip of the wings also. Once you have everything shaded in, use the yellowed orange pencil over the orange areas. This time, color the feathers in a little further down. You can see that the dark orange fills in about 1/3 of each feather, and the lighter orange (I only did the top row of feathers) fills in a little more.

Once you have added the yellowed orange color to each feather, color over the entire feather (on top of the oranges too) with the jasmine colored pencil. Press hard, so that the oranges and jasmine yellow blend together.

Use the jasmine colored pencil on the wings - begin coloring at the bottom of the wings (over the orange area) and shading up towards the shoulders.

Color the open areas with the lemon yellow pencil, so that the tops of the wing appears lighter than the bottom. Bring the lemon yellow down into the orange area, but lighten up on the pressure as you do so.

Begin adding a little of the orange color onto the head of the owl - starting at the sides.

Shade over the orange area with the yellowed orange pencil, shading further to the center of the owl's head.

Color the head of the owl with the jasmine pencil, pressing hard to blend the oranges and jasmine colors together. Add a soft layer of Limepeel to the left and right side of the owl's face.

Color over the limepeel areas with the jasmine pencil and shade further towards the center of the owl's face. Leave a little space open in the middle.

Color the rest of the owl's face with the lemon yellow pencil. Add some of the orange pencil color to the owl's beak and color the eyes in with lemon yellow (a little glitter glue might be fun here!).

I layered it onto a piece of Iris cardstock, and then onto a piece of patterned paper from the 6x6 Butterfield collection. Finally, I mounted it onto a Sweet Corn notecard and added a few Canary Yellow Jewel stickers.

A wise old owl - sure to brighten someone's day!

Silhouette Branch - Color and Method

I've been trying out some different looks with our Silhouette Branch (F1231) - an image that we released in January this year that has grown on me more and more. I am stuck on placing it in the corner, so that it seems to be growing from off the page and edging its way into view. SInce I can't seem to get un-stuck from the positioning part, I thought I'd try different colors, inks and daubering to see what I could produce from the image.

To begin I started with a green and blue scheme.

I stamped it in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink onto Robins Egg cardstock and allowed to dry completely. I sponged over the branches lightly with Versacolor Lime and Versamagic Sea Breeze - more in the upper left corner at the base of the branch.

This creates some subtle color shifts around the branches and turns out quite beautiful. The color scheme went rather smartly with the 6x6 Poppyfinch striped pattern, so I stuck that below. I added the flourish stamp(B1241 Curly Q) on a layer - it was all a little too green, so some neutral color punched it up. The leaves were colored in with Copic marker YG95 Pale Olive.

I loved the look of the blue and thought that if I went a little more blue, the green leaves would show up a bit more.

So I stamped on Robins Egg cardstock again (this time embossing in white, so that the effect was lighter) and didn't use quite so much green ink with the sponging.

I saw that maybe I didn't need green at all - so I opted for a blue (BG01 Aqua Blue) Copic marker to fill in all the little leaves, daubered a little bit of Versamagic Gingerbread around the edges and kept everything blue. For contrast, I used a neutral layer again, this time using the Happy Birthday (B1228) on the layer.

The white embossed lines looked terrific next to the blue and gave everything a more modern look.

But I kept thinking that the leaves would look cool green. A texture would be fun - and as I was digging  through my supplies out rolled a glaze pen.

I had to try it! By this point, I was getting good at coloring in this stamp - after all, there are about 85 leaves on it!

So I stamped in Pearlescent Chocolate again, dried it with a heat gun and set to coloring the leaves. The glaze pen (XPGB #830) was dark green and it gave each leaf a smooth "rubbery", almost leafy, texture.

The image then looked like it could use a few "berries", so I stuck some of our Cherry Red Jewel stickers on to liven things up. It was quite a different look, and combined nicely with the Dill notecard.

The glaze ink puddled a little, since that is the nature of the ink, creating this wonderful effect where it is a little fainter at the edges of an area and much deeper in the middle. I added a few Pistachio Jewel Stickers on- they were "not quite ripe berries".

Next, I realized I had only been thinking of this stamp as a spring image, so I wondered how it would look as a fall inspired branch. I wanted gradation along the leaves so I switched to colored pencils, since they are so easy to control in small spaces.

Quite a change! I stamped Pearlescent Chocolate on Eggshell, then (once dry), I colored in the leaves with yellows, oranges and greens (Prismacolor Limepeel is one of my favorite greens). Everything is mounted on a Gourd colored notecard, and the patterned paper is from our 6x6 Brandywine Collection. I thought the Jewel Stickers would still look great - I tried the Canary Yellow Jewel Stickers and they looked like little golden jewels growing on the limbs of the branch.

 

SO there you are - 4 different looks for this branch. I think you'll love it and probably find more ways to use it!

Guest Blog with Nancy: Ready For Spring

Greetings!! My name is Nancy & I am so honored that Dave is allowing me to invade his blog on Tuesdays as a "guest blogger". I will be sharing some of my creations using the fabulous new images from the Memory Box Spring 2009 collection. I would love for you to stop by on Tuesdays in the coming weeks, as I will be sharing more cards with you. When I first saw the Spring collection, I was immediately drawn to the Eclipse Tree (C1249) image. There are so many fun things you can do with this image & it looks great paired with other stamps or used alone. I don't know about you, but I have definitely had a case spring fever lately! 

ETA (3-13-09): I have changed the photo from the original post to hopefully give you a better view of card.

For this card, I started with a Russian Sage note card. I cut a 1 1/4" lengthwise strip off of the front of the card & adhered a 1" wide brown strip of card stock cut to the same length of the note card & trimmed with decorative scissors (tiny scallop) & adhered that piece to the backside of the front flap of note card so apx. 1/4" or so of the brown card stock is showing. Then I took a 1 1/4" piece of striped paper from the Poppyfinch 6x6 collection & adhered that to the inside edge of the card to cover the white that is showing. I then took a corner rounder & rounded the corners.  I stamped the Eclipse Tree (C1249) in Memento Rich Cocoa Ink onto a 2" x 3 1/2" piece of ivory card stock. Icolored & blended the image with colored pencils. I adhered the ivory cardstock to a piece of brown cardstock cut to slightly larger for trim. I chose to round only the top two corners. I stamped the sentiment "Spring is Here!" (B1245) onto a piece of ivory cardstock in Memento Rich Cocoa Ink & trimmed to size & then mounted to Russian Sage for trim. I then took another piece of pattered paper from the Poppyfinch 6x6 collection apx 2 3/8" x 3 1/2" & mounted that to a slightly larger piece of brown cardstock for trim. I tied a piece of ribbon around the lower end of that piece. I then mounted the pattered piece directly to the front of note card & mounted the image piece with dimensionals.

Thanks for visiting my post today!!

-NANCY-