Happy Shark Week!! (and CAS card)

Today marks that official day that only comes once a year, but is most possibly the best week of the year next to Christmas...

HAPPY SHARK WEEK!

In honor of such a fantastic 7 days of educational shark programming on the Discovery Channel, I have created this Shark Week side-step card...

"show me your teeth" seems to be the motto of Shark Week this year. I thought it was really cute to have everything so happy and cartoonish! All of the die-cuts are from Lettering Delights' 'Something Fishy' set. The shark I used is actually what LD called a dolphin, but the shark they had looked more like a pathetic little guppy... definitely was not going to fly! I put together all of the cuts using Make-the-Cut software and my Silhouette SD machine. I added some Stickles and some blue rhinestones to look like bubbles... this card turned out way better than I thought it would! Let's just say it's been a rough technical difficulty kind of day with my SD and MTC... sigh

I also made a card for the CAS-ual Fridays blog. This week you had to create a card that was 9" x 4" definitely not your typical shape card! And try to embrace the white space you'll be left with. I made a birthday card for a family member...

CAS-ual Friday card entry

CAS-ual Friday entry, close up

This is my first entry to the CAS-ual challenge, I loved that it was something different! The majority of the cuts are from a die cut stack by Me and my Big Ideas, a few bling bits and some cotton candy stickles.

Will you be tuning in for Shark Week tonight? I know I will! And the measurements for my side-step card will be Tuesday's How-To so come back in a couple days!

<3 Rachel w k

Double Embossing and Moxie

Can you taste Friday yet? I'm just about drooling for the weekend. But I'm super excited for a new season of Project Runway tonight! It's about the only 'reality' show my hubby will sit and watch with me :)

Today I made my first card ever to enter into Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger! I had a lot of fun with the inspiration photo, and it is my favorite colors to craft with :) green, blue, and whites! I was inspired by the colors and the great geometric patterns throughout. I found a couple great patterned papers that I paired together...

for the Moxie Fab challenge

Tuesday Trigger photo at Moxie Fab

I also created a card for day 150 over at 365 Cards.  The challenge was to use a background that was either dry embossed or heat embossed.  I couldn't pick between the two so I used both, and I used them together. It's hard to capture in the photo because the heat embossing shines so much, but this is definitely a new favorite technique for me! I dry embossed the background flowers with a cuttlebug folder, and then I used a normal glue pen to trace over the flowers, then added white and silver emboss powers. The glue pen actually worked better than my normal glue pad stamps and I'll probably use it this way always! I love it! I then took a skinny sentiments stamp from Hero Arts "sending you hugs and kisses" and stamped it a few times along the curves of the flower stems...

Day 150 at 365 Cards, embossing

Let me know if you're watching Project Runway as well, I'm sure I'll be tweeting about it :) @itsracheldub

<3 Rachel W K

Polka Dots and Baby Cards!

Merry Christmas in July! There are a lot of fun blog hops going on, and the weather (finally) is just perfect! It's really making me ready for fall and the holidays (but not snow)

I've been trying to get all these birthday cards finished for the billions of people with August and September birthdays, and figured I should do some challenges, too!

Over at 365Cards the challenge today was to do half and half... with half polka dots and half solid papers. I made my grandma's birthday card for this...

Birthday Card for 365Cards Challenge

My grandma L-O-V-E-S chickens. She used to own a lot of them and have a huge chicken coop and everything, they were basically children. She can't have them anymore because she's just not able to take care of them (she's turning 94!) but when I saw this Lettering Delights chicken graphic I knew she would really love it.  I popped the chicken up with foam dots, and the solid orange card stock was embossed with Swiss Dots folder.

Chicken Card Deets:

chicken graphic - lettering delights

papers - DCWV lemon stack and solid brights stack

swiss dots cuttlebug emboss folder

ek success flower border punch

stamps from imaginesence and tpc studios

bakers twine from a baked good in the grocery store!

The next card is for the lovely Amie who recently told her bloggy ladies that she's expecting a baby!! I immediately asked her if I could make her a card, and I have never made a baby card before so I was excited to do it for her :) I used the sketch from MoJo Mondays #201.

mojomonday challenge #201

Card made for mojo monday and for Amie

I feel bad that I'm ruining the surprise for Amie if she sees this post, but I'm also including some extra little goodies in her package! I can't wait to send it out and for her to get it! Congrats Amie! Please visit her at her blog and give her some love!

Baby Love Deets:

paper from dcwv lemon stack and citrus stack

stamps from inkadinkado and fiskars

buttons, ribbon, and brad random finds in my stash

inked with colorbox, gel pens, and artist's loft markers

<3 Rachel W K

Mommy and Son Birthday Cards

I'm sure you have a slew of friends who have birthdays coming up... it always seems like August and September are just flooded with birthdays, and the other months are always missing out on the party. So ya, I've been trying to make slightly different cards than your basic balloons and cakes!

Well one of my closest friends in Connecticut, and her son (my favorite 5 year old!) have birthdays in the first week on August.  Like most 4 year old boys turning 5, this little guy is obsessed with planes, trains, and automobiles. He knows more about the Metro North train line than I do!

A special Truck card for Brady, turning 5 years old!

Truck Card Details:

paper is all basic colors from my stash, nothing fancy

truck shape from the Make the Cut gallery, and welded together for a card

all shapes in card were cut using my Silhouette SD machine

top of truck is texture embossed with a Cuttlebug folder

'5' stickers from my stash

I made him a shape card that looks like a Dump Truck (all kids get so excited when the garbage man comes by!). I also wanted to make him something special, so I created these personalized blocks for him. He can spell his name and I added some little trucks and cars to each block. I really love how they turned out! If you want customized blocks with your child's name, in any colors you want, just email me and we'll work something out!

customized play blocks

his name spelled in different mix-n-match fonts and colors

Don't they look great? Even my hubby was oohing and aahing over them while I was working on them. I really am pleased with this gift!

And his mom... She's such a great friend, and is a preschool teacher by day and the mom of a kindergarten boy by night (well, actually 24 hours a day) so let's just say she really values her adult time. I think happy hour is the thing we're both best at together :)

Happy Birthday Cocktail

Because Happy Hour should last for 24 hours when it's your birthday :)

Martini Card Details:

martini shape svg from Make the Cut gallery, welded together to make a card

all shapes in this card were cut with my Silhouette SD machine

yellow dot paper from DCWV lemon stack

pink and blue paper from DCWV glitter stack

olive filled in with Stickles 'green' and 'thistle'

stamp from TPC Studios

ribbon, skewer, and adhesives from stash

Hope you all had a great weekend!

<3 Rachel W K

Crafting up Some Home State Pride

Since my parents are visiting I wanted to make something that represents the place I grew up as well as the place I live now.  All around etsy there are tons of variations on state-pride prints and artworks and jewelry and stickers and.... It's easy enough to make my own, and I have always loved representing my home town or home team (where ever that may be!).

Ahhhh my two loves. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and hated it and loved it at the same time, and I still do. I now live in Connecticut where I mostly love it, except for those multiple months where temperatures drop below 50 degrees.... and mosquitoes, ya those things don't really exist in Phoenix.

My heart definitely belongs in two states at once. When I'm in Connecticut I'm always planning my next trip to Arizona.  And usually the second the plane lands in Phoenix, I'm already missing Connecticut. So this little piece of paper art shows that I can love two things at the same time :) especially if it's popcorn and chocolate, that is a really good food combo right there.

What I Used:
I cut the state outlines, hearts, and 'home' with my Silhouette SD and Making the Cut software.
All papers are DCWV. The Lemon stack, the Glitter stack, and the Safari stack
The first piece I used water colors to splatter the background page.
I used icicle Stickles to glitter up the 'home' lettering
Lettering Delights has a great set of all 50 states

Both of these measure 8.5" x 11" and they will be framed very shortly.  I apologize for the photos. It was difficult for me to get enough light to show off the glitter sparkles without shining on the metallic paper. I'm sure you get the idea, though :)

What state does your heart belong to?


<3 RWK

How-To Tuesday: Make Button Stamps

Happy How-To Tuesday!  My parents are coming into town today and I am so so excited to see them. My dad hasn't been out to Connecticut since I moved here two years ago and I'm excited to see how my mom has progressed with her speech... it's always so hard to tell over the phone.

Today's How-To was inspired by the one and only Martha (of course) to make button stamps. The best part about this craft is that it is FREE and very very kid friendly; a perfect craft to keep little ones entertained on a summery day.

Materials:
Old sewing or crafting buttons. Pick the ones with the neatest shapes!
Wine corks in your stash
Glue dots or any other strong adhesive
Inks and Papers for stamping

Step 1, find some neat buttons

Step 1: find some old wine corks

Step 1 - This is the easiest step but will probably take you the longest. I spent so much time rummaging through my buttons and making sure to pick only the plastic wine corks I don't care about. I'm not a sewer, so I'm sure you'll find much more exciting buttons than I! Did you notice the writing on the ends of my corks? If the wine or champagne was enjoyed on a certain occasion, I write the event and date on it with a sharpie. Cute huh? (The ones you can see in the left corner say 'Turkey Day' 'Parents 1st Visit' and there is one peeking out that says 'He Proposed!' aww)

Step 2: Glue em

Step 2 - Adhere the boring side of your button to the end of your cork. I used glue dots because they stuck very well and then I didn't have to wait any time for glue to dry.

You're finished!

Did you see that? No more steps! You're finished! So (sew?) easy right? I doubled up the stamp capacity by putting a button on each end of the cork. 3 corks equals 6 stamps!

Button Stamps

 This is the row of paper I stamped with my buttons. Tips for stamping: since the button is a hard plastic, try stamping with a piece of fabric or folded paper towel under your paper. By gently rocking your inked up stamp you should get full coverage.

It was actually pretty cool to see the shapes that I ended up getting once the button got stamped... some were what I expected and some weren't! Oh the joys and surprises of crafting :)

Have fun! And try this one with the kiddos!


<3 RWK