Snippets

Hi There

I do hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. Sat was brilliant here. Beautiful weather! My lovely hair dresser Mary gave me a fabulous hair cut. Had a wonderful lunch and a long over to catch up with a former co-worker. A trip to Michael’s with one of the last of my Christmas gift cards and a 15% off everything coupon. Couldn’t ask for more. Sunday was over cast, damp, cold and windy again. Spring is bound to win out soon.

I’ve been told it’s high time I let you all see what the old lady in The Closet looks like so I’ve add a profile photo. Let me tell you Mr. Blogger fought me on tooth and nail. I know I'm no raving beauty but good heavens I didn't expect him to kick up such a fuss. He would not allow me to up load that photo. When I finally won that battle I discovered ALL my followers had vanished, every last one of you, on top of that our Dear Mr. Blogger would not allow me to comment on any one's blog. I guess he's done pouting because all is well now. After all that I'm not sure I like me looking back at me but…

In updating my profile, I realized I never told you all we have a beautiful new great granddaughter. Hiilani was born on Nov. 14 '11. I haven’t asked permission to post her photo but I will and if it’s okay with her parents I’ll post it later.

Terry asked if my cards were A2 size. Yes Terry they usually are. On occasion I will make a larger size but I find them more difficult to do.

My card today is for my little sister, Donna. It is an easel card attached to a white A2 card. I had two little pieces of PP in my scrap file and managed to just fit them together and cut them out with SB Labels Three. The blue card beneath it is made up of two more scraps. The band across the top not only turns my square into a rectangle but hides the uneven edges of the papers beneath it. I traced a butterfly template and cut out three butterflies in three different shades of blue then ran them thru the Cuttlebug in three different EF. I distressed the edges with Broken China DI, then mounted them on to the easel with foam tape between each. I tucked the gold wire antennas into the foam tape and added a few half pearls. The flowers, feathers and pearls are from my stash.

This card was made of odds and end, bits and pieces so I’m sharing at the playground. If you don’t know what I’m talking about head over to the playground here and join the fun.  Di our lovely hostess and the Snippeters would love to have you I'm sure. I hear there are cupcakes and milk to be had and kites to be flown this week.   

Cheap Trick: I have rarely used foam tape because the white  isn’t aesthetically pleasing to me. I saw somewhere there is colored foam tape available but you all know I’m to cheap to buy all those different colors besides space is always a consideration. My solution is to use a marker and color the edges, all but makes it disappear. I adhere the tape to the underside of my project, color with marker then remove the protective cover and adhere it to my project, no inky fingers.

Have an Amazing Day!

Blessings
Bernie
Click here to give --- It’s Free

Congratulations ~ 100th Post Winner

Hi There

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.  I've had a bit of a bug but I'm feeling just fine today.  I do hope you are all well and enjoying spring like weather.  Spring and Winter are having a battle here.  I am always fascinated by how different the weather can be just a few short miles from one place to the next.  We live very close to the foothills of the Cascades.  In the higher elevations it is snowing gang busters.  It keeps trying to snow and hail here but gentle rains are winning and I am sure before long Spring will win out.   We are still experiencing strong winds and although we are damp here, just a few miles down the road it is very dry and the winds are causing dreadful dust storms.  Visibility has been so poor there was a 20 car pile up on Sat.  There have been several other accidents since then so the powers-that-be have been closing roads off and on since the weekend.  Thankfully no one has been injured.

I can’t believe this is my 100^th post!  I really can't believe you are actually sitting there reading what I have to say.  As promised I have a small candy to celebrate.  Truth be told I don't know how to use Mr. Linky and Random whatever,  I don't have the time or inclination to learn how they work at the moment.  Besides I wanted one of my followers to win, not someone who only stops buy when a candy is offered and I don't think you can stack the deck if you employ those.  Anywho, I've decided to simplify things and go old school.  I put the names for all my lovely followers in a bowl and had my grandson pull out a name. The winner is:

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Carys!

of CarysL Cards

Carys is only 14 years old and although my candy isn't very big I am thrilled to help fill her craft space with a few stamps, ribbons and a little flower punch. 

Congratulations sweetie. If you will send me your snail mail address at berniescraftcloset@gmail.com I’ll get this off to you as soon as possible. 

 

With all the weddings and graduations coming up I’ve made a number of these simple Congratulations cards for the craft fair. Isn’t this a fabulous stamp!  It is another well loved stamp found in a thrift shop. I suspect it is rather old, save for the manufactures name, Rubber Stampede, I could not find any other information about it.     

Cheap Trick:  Although some of the stamps I find in thrift shops are new or clean, most are not, actually some are incredibly dirty.  I give those a good scrub with Dawn dish soap and warm water then let them dry completely, usually over night.  I then use my adhesive eraser to erase the remaining ink then wipe with a baby wipe.  This almost always gets all the ink off the image and gives it a bit of 'tooth' as well.  It even gets off StazOn ink.  I've been doing this for years and can't remember who to give credit to for this great tip.  

Have an Amazing Day!

Blessings
Bernie

Click here to give --- It’s Free

Happy Birthday John

Hello! Wow it’s Friday already. I’ve enjoyed playing in the garden and yesterday with my grandson but I am looking forward to a little more crafty time this weekend.

My card today is for the sweet gentleman who delivers Jim’s Liquid Oxygen every Monday. John loves Jalapeño peppers, as a thank you for all he does for Jim I plant a few plants just for him each year. I am so severely allergic to hot peppers I’m afraid to pick them but John is happy to pick them himself. Monday is John’s birthday and the first peppers of the season will be ready for him to harvest. Couldn’t have timed it better if I’d tried.

It’s a simple card. I scored my card with a space just wide enough for the ribbon to sit in then positioned it in the stars EF to emboss just the top portion and ran it thru the Cuttlebug.  I’ve layered this onto black card then on to my blue card base.  The ribbon is layered on a strip of white then black card stock, just to make it appear a bit broader.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment, black half pearls for balance and it‘s done.

‘Cheap Trick’ Get an ATG gun. Over the years I have foolishly spent a fortune on glue runners, red sticky tape (name escapes me) and a variety of glues because I thought they were cheaper. I got my ATG with a 50% off coupon at Michael’s. It came with two rolls of tape, the glue is wonderful, holds well and lasted for such a long time. I find I use far less of it then I did the glue runners. I no long rely on glues and red sticky tape to make up for the glue runners short coming. Although it hasn’t eliminated the need for glues and red sticky tape, ultimately I find the ATG is a great money saver. Of course I only buy refills when I have a coupon.

Cherish This Day

Hi There;  Happy Wednesday! 

This card was inspired by a challenge on SCS some time ago.  There were some very inspiring cards summited, each using a lattice.  For my card I trimmed some white scraps to size. I cut two frames with an original Sizzix Frame Scallop Oval die. I wove and glued my lattice to one frame then sandwiched it with the other. I ran it thru the Cuttlebug in a Swiss Dot EF. I backed it with some pale green PP although the pattern doesn’t show here. The background was stamped with Versa Mark using Great Impressions’ Rose Background stamp then chalked lightly. The Sentiment is from Printworks, Alphabet Soup, Celebrate Life. The large leaves are Spellbinders Foliage. I made the purple organza flower added some MS greenery and a few EK Success flowers.  

‘Cheap Trick’ Make your own stamp positioner. I made mine out of two layers of foam core. Until I mistakenly pitched it out I had one made our of several layers of chip board aka cereal boxes. I’ve hear of people using Lego blocks. As long as you have a right angle that is deep enough to position your stamp within that angle it should work just as well as any pricey manufactured one.  
  
THANKS for taking the time to stop by and thank you for your lovely comments.
Have an Amazing Day!

Blessings

Bernie
Click here to give --- It’s Free

Sisters at Heart

Hi There

Hope you are enjoying your day and looking forward to a lovely weekend.

I made this card for my dearest friend. Susie is my forever friend. She has known me forever, well since high school and beyond. She knows all my secrets, where all the bodies are buried and she loves me anyway? And I love her. Susie reminded me recently that we will soon be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of our friendship. We met on the first day of high school and have been the best of friends ever since. Susie loves all shades and hues of purple.





The frame was made using a MS daisy border punch. Becca at Amazing Paper Grace has a wonderful tutorial on how to
Punch A Perfect Border Frame here.

The little hearts were already embossed on the pink card stock when I found it. I made the white flower from organza ribbon. The sentiments is a Michael’s $1 rubber stamp. Everything else is from my stash and you know was either found in a thrift shop or yard sale.



Don’t know why I can’t get a decent photo of it but the inside says:

Not Sisters At Birth

But we knew from the start

God put us together

To be Sisters at Heart.

Cheap Trick:  Becca of Amazing Paper Grace has an amazing talent for looking at her punches and coming up with fascinating new ways to use them.  Use the link above to go to her YouTube channel.  Unlike others Becca cuts to the meat of the subject and gives simple to understand directions without endless chatter.  Be warned you maybe there for a while as she has many tutorials.  Not just on the use of punches but all things Spellbinders and ribbon as well. 

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your comments.
Have an Amazing Day
Blessings
Bernie

Father Christmas

I LOVE Father Christmas. When I found this 1996 Hero Arts Stamp in a thrift shop a few days ago I just had to have him. I did it Di, I colored him! I used my watercolor pencils but when I used my blender pen I lost all my shading. I watched a few videos on YouTube and learned what I had done wrong. I should have watched them first. I’ve since picked up some paint brushes and will soon be trying it again. Not sure if I enjoy coloring but at least I didn’t hate it.

He turned out well enough that I layered him on red then green cardstock. I finally got to use my snowflake embossing folder and paper from the DCWV Christmas Combo Matstack. I found both on clearance last Feb. I believe the little snowflake came from that same sale. I made the poinsettia. Love this little flower so easy to make and the results are so different depending on the materials used.

Cheap Trick: Shop the after holiday sales. After each holiday the retailers must move this years stock to make room for the next holiday’s stock. He could store things but he knows the producers are working hard to come up with new colors, styles, patterns etc. for the following year. He also knows his customers want those new items and will likely pass over the previous years stock. So he saves himself the headaches and slashes prices.   As they say 'eventually everything old is new again'.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your comments.
Have an Amazing Day
Blessings
Bernie

Snowflake

Hi There;

With everyone complaining about the weather I almost feel guilty that we have been enjoying perfect weather here.

I have a wonderful neighbor who brings me ‘pretty things’ she thinks I may be able to use on a card. Recently she gave me a bit of torn paper with 'sugar' on it.

I trimmed it to size mounted it on some pretty blue card stock and on to my card base. The snowflake is recycled from a Christmas card I received last year. I tied on a matching ribbon. The ribbon didn’t hide a little blue blemish so stamped JOY directly on it, no more blemish.

Cheap Trick: Save your old blades. When your blade no longer gives you a nice crisp edge save it. Use the old blade to cut thru any damaging material then if needed go back with your good blade for that crisp edge. I also save my worn paper trimmer blades and use them when experimenting on a new project. Just a little way to give your blades a little longer life.
Thanks for stopping by. Your lovely comments make my day, thank you.
Have an Amazing Day
Blessings
Bernie

Lost & Found

Hi There!
Last October 2010 I mailed a card to my girl friend Diane in Alabama. A few weeks ago I found it my mail box.  One can only wonder where it had been. The envelope was a little dirty and the stamp was missing but otherwise it was fine.  I checked to be sure the card was unharmed, took a photo of it and sent it on again.  I'm happy to say this time it actually got to her.

I didn’t have a rectangle die so I used my Spellbinders Big Scalloped Squares LG and cut thru the center, over lapped the center scallops and used my ribbon to hide the cut. I stamped the corners in green chalk ink then embossed with Sparkle EP. I printed the sentiment on Word then cut and embossed with Classic Oval Lg. I used Crayola glitter glue around the edge and layered on to a Classic Scalloped Oval Lg. The Ribbon and Lace were thrift shop finds. The flower and dragon fly were in a blog candy from Pam of Smiffy’s Cards.   Thanks Pam!

“Cheap Trick” I found some EP in a yard sale grab bag but didn’t have a heat tool. I tried the microwave, the oven, holding it over the toaster, and even heating up a skillet. I wouldn’t advise any of those. 
What worked beautifully was my iron. After stamping with Versamark or chalk ink and sprinkling with EP I held my paper with a clothes pin or tweezers.  One area at a time, I gently rubbed the back of my paper against the iron in a circular motion,  just until the EP melted then moved to another area. Until you can afford a heat tool or if yours dies you can use this method in a pinch.

If you do this please be very careful.    To prevent bumping into it, set your iron well away from your work area on a solid heat proof surface.

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you for your wonderful comments.Have an Amazing Day.
Blessings
Bernie

Lace Flower

Hi There;  I do hope everyone is having a lovely day. I will be spending the day with my grandson. Should be a lot of fun.

For my card today I tried a few things new to me. I die cut my pattern paper with my trusty Sizzlet branch with leaves. It’s actually a very heavy cardstock from Girl’s Paperie. It proved to be a little to heavy for this die. I shimmed it and actually got the impression of the outer edge of the die but wasn’t able to completely cut thru the cardstock. I couldn’t bare to toss out such lovely paper so used my craft knife and carefully cut out the areas that the die hadn’t cut thru completely. I’m really pleased with the result but that took an incredibly long time so I wont be doing it again with such heavy cardstock.

The lace flower is also new to me. I gathering the lace with a needle and thread. The bottom layer was gathered on the very edge of the lace while the top layer was gathered thru the center and folded in half lengthwise.  A button holds the layers together. I made the pearl flourish myself.

“Cheap Trick” I can’t fit pearl or rhinestone flourishes into my budget so I made my own. I printed a few flourishes I found on line. I made a template by laying a transparency film over the printed flourish and pierced the film where the gems should go. I then laid the templates over my card until I found the placement I wanted. My templates are reversible and reuseable allowing for several options. I used a straight pin to make tiny prick marks thru the holes in the template. I found the pearls on discount at Michael’s. It proved to be easier then I expected. Since the pearls are on a strip of adhesive, I placed one end of the strip at the beginning of the flourish and slowly lower the rest in place over the remaining prick marks.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments. Your encouragement makes my day!
Have An Amazing Day!
Blessings
Bernie

Ape About You

This card is for my grandson Hanali’s birthday.

The picture came from a sadly abused children’s book found in the free box at a yard sale. I do wish parents would teach their children to respect books. This is the last of a number of wonderful animal pictures rescued from a once beautiful book. The frame is a Provo Craft die I’ve lost the name of. The sentiment was printed on Word and placed ‘just so’ to cover a crayon mark. The studs in the corners are an iron on product called jean-e-ology. I adhered them to the card with a dot of Tombow Momo Multi glue. I found these studs in my stash. I have no memory of ever seeing them before and there are four sheets of them! I have a bad case of CRS, you know Can’t Remember Stuff.

“Cheap Trick” Recycle whatever you can. Old greeting cards, damaged books, magazines, junk mail even clothing often offers something you can use on a card. Before you toss anything in the trash look at it for a second and see if there is a way you can reuse it or repurpose recycling center rather then the land field.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your lovely comments.

Have an Amazing Pink Day. Yes, Di today is National Pink Day. I know Di will be happy to celebrate. Will you? Come on, do something in a pink way, wear something pink, eat something pink, drink something pink and please click the pink ribbon on my side bar.

Blessings
Bernie

Happy Birthday Norma

This card is for my dear sister in law Norma. She and I are like twins from a different mother and have the most wonderful times together. Yard sales are always a must. She has driven cross country to visit and stopped at a yard sale in every state coming and going. A gal after my own heart. I dearly wish she lived closer.

The papers and lace were found during my most recent yard sale-ing adventure. I ran my red paper through the Cuttlebug in a Swirls EF then lightly sanded. Sizzix Leafy Branch die and MS punch were used for the greenery. I stamped the sentiment on a Spellbinders Oval Lg. with a stamp found in a thrift shop.

At a local craft shop this winter, one of the girls was sweeping up after having set out a new shipment of silk flowers. She was about to toss the loose flowers into the trash. When I asked if I could have them she looked at me as though I had two heads but let me have them. Can you imagine tossing out these beauties! Not I! I happily filled the pockets of my winter coat with an array of lovely flowers and was on my way. I added some tiny half pearls to the centers of these.

‘Cheap Trick’ or word for the day is ASK.  How often do you see someone tossing something you could make use of in the trash?  If you keep your eyes open you will be amazed at how often you will.  You may get an odd look but you’ve got nothing to lose.  The worst that can happen is the answer will be no.

Thanks for stopping by. I’d love it if you’d leave a comment.
Have an Amazing Day!
Blessings
Bernie

Gift Wrapped Father’s Day Shirts

Both of these cards were made using inexpensive Gift Wrap. The craft paper is the reverse of the patterned gift wrap. I’ve had the instructions for both shirts in my files for years and have no idea where I got them.

 This Father's Day card is for my Jim, a wonderful Dad to 5, Papa to 12 and Greatgrand Papa to 3.   I creased my denim paper for a little dimension, pierced a double seam then faux stitched with white gel pen and distressed by sanding the fold for that worn look. I used an origami shirt with some tiny brads for buttons. I believe you can Google this and find several tutorials. I printed the sentiment with Word using a free font called appropriately ‘Rope’. Some Jewelry hemp for a lariat to finish.

This card was made for my friend George’s birthday. The sentiment in the pocket says Celebrate. I pierced the ‘seams’ and faux stitched with a fine tip brown marker. I didn’t have a single button in my stash that would work with this paper so I colored some white buttons with my Sharpie markers. I rather like the tortoise shell effect.

'Cheap Trick' for the day is to look for alternative paper sources. Gift wrap is inexpensive and comes in a large array of colors and patterns. When giving a gift I like to use the same gift wrap on my card as I do to wrap my gift. There are many sources of paper, most of it ends up in the recycle bin but you could give it a longer life by using it on your cards. I find paper in magazines, junk mail, the insides of envelops, calendars and more.
Thanks for stopping by. I’d love it if you left a comment.
Have an Amazing Day
Blessings
Bernie

Thank You Card Set

All newly weds need to send out Thank You cards so I made this set of cards as a gift for our June bride Nikki and her prince charming Chris.

This set of six cards, two of each color, is all about fast and using scraps. I did this assembly line fashion. I printed the Thank Yous on Word cut to size, rounded the corners and attached to card base. I cut strips of scrap card stock and attached them to card fronts. I used a MS punch for a little green and an EK Success punch for some sweet little flowers. A dot of Crayola glitter glue on each flower center and a rhinestone at the opposite end of each strip of cardstock and they’re done.

To create this little card portfolio I used a template from Mirkwood designs at

http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/portfolio.htm

An EF in my Cuttlebug created the background.  I cut the ovals with Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Ovals Large and Classic Ovals Large. Repeat the flowers used on the cards an a little banner printed on Word. All tied up with a pretty white Organdy ribbon.

‘Cheap Trick’ for today is to use your scarps in your printer. Simply tape your scrap of card stock to the top edge of a sheet of printer paper with some low tack double sided tape and print. Taping card stock to card stock can get caught up the printer. Ask me how I know. Using printer paper lined up with the top edge always works best for me.

Thanks for coming to visit. I’d appreciate it if you leave me a comment.

Have an Amazing Day!

Blessings

Bernie

Sweet Sixteen

Happy Birthday Maggie!

I find orange the most difficult color to work with but green and orange are Maggie’s favorite colors and it was her special day.

I cut my green card stock to size then punched a lacy lower edge. Next I stamped the little fern with versa mark and embossed with Sparkle EP for a subtle background. I adhered this to a bit of orange DP then topped with a bit of lace, and adhered it to my card base. A bow topped with a flower and a half pearl with a sentiment printed with Word then cut by hand and tucked under the flower finished it off.  I stamped two dragonflies on velum again with versa mark and embossed with Sparkle EP. I fussy cut them, colored the body with a marker and lightly dusted the back of the wings with chalk. I made the antennas with some wire glued it between the two dragonflies and mounted it on the card. I am pleased with the results, what do you think?

‘Cheap Trick’ for today.  If you don't have a stamp use Word to print your sentiments. There are lots of wonderful fonts you can download off the web for free. This one is called Baroque Script from:
www.1001freefonts.com
Have an Amazing Day!
Blessings
Bernie

Thank You

I made this is a card for the lovely Di of Pixie’s Crafty Workshop who set up my blog and is still holding my hand as I find my way.

The inspiration for this card came from Michey. Go to http://www.parchmentpaperie.com/2011/04/butterfly-easel-card-tutorial.html for a full tutorial.

Michey used the Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Die to make her lovely card. I do not have this die but I really wanted to make this easel card. As an alternative to the die I traced a template of a butterfly I had in my stash and fussy cut. It worked beautifully but didn‘t leave me much space for my message. I positioned my butterfly template so the tips of the wings overlapped the fold of my card stock, traced it and cut only the top layer. This left me with my hinge and a nice surface for my butterfly to sit on with plenty of space for my message on the back. I followed Michey’s directions to finish.

I stamped the wings with a flourish using versa mark, and embossed with Sparkle EP. The thank you banner was stamped, hand cut then the edges lightly chalked as were the butterfly wings. I added a feather, two white flowers from my stash, some sweet little punched flowers and greens. Finished with some half pearls from Michael’s.

After I sent it off to Di I realized I’d forgotten the brads I’d intended to use to hold the banner in place. Oops!

I am madly in love with that little EK Success flower punch. I found it in a thrift shop for fifty cents a few months ago!

Cheap Trick for today: Until you can afford to buy a die find a template or if you are talented enough draw one yourself then cut it out by hand.

See you soon. Until then happy crafting.
Have an Amazing Day
Blessings
Bernie

June Bride

I’d like to thank everyone who visited and left such sweet comments welcoming me to blog land. I hope I didn’t miss thanking anyone.

I’ve been a bit busy as we have had the most wonderful guests. Fun was had by all. My niece has recently gotten into scrap booking and will be sweet sixteen shortly. As luck would have it I’ve been purging my stash. Anything I couldn’t use in my card making had been set aside to be donated to Goodwill. Instead I was thrilled to be able to give it all to Maggie as a birthday gift. It was such fun watching her sit on the living room floor like a child on Christmas morning sorting through all her new treasures. She was delighted. It was wonderful getting all those lovely thank you hugs.

I often buy grab bags at thrift shops and yard sales. Although more then worth the price, there are always a few things in most bags I can’t use. Don’t know why I’ve hoarded things I knew I’d never use for so long but now I’m happy I did.

Today's Card is a tri shutter card made for a sweet young lady who has found her prince charming. The sentiment was printed using Word. The frosty white paper was given to me by my daughter, a close out from the print shop she works at. The Start burst paper is Crayola’s Stardust inkjet printer paper. I found a pack of 10 sheets in a thrift shop for 99 cents! The front of the card was embossed with Cuttlebug’s Leafy Branch EF then three ready made flowers were added with glue dots. The flowers, ribbon, lace and pearls were all thrift shop finds. The rings came from the Dollar Tree’s wedding dept. The butterflies were a variety of stamps stamped on velum with versamark, embossed with silver EP, chalked from the back and fussy cut.

“Cheap Trick” You can find amazing bargains at thrift shops and yard sales.

Have an Amazing Day!

Bernie

Big Thank You & Happy Memorial Day

With heartfelt thanks to my fairy godmother / late night IT tech support UK / Dear Sweet Friend Di of Pixie’s Crafty Workshop http://pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com/ I embark on a new adventure. As I am computer illiterate Di has graciously set up this blog for me. She assures me I can’t brake it and it wont bite me so here I go in to blogland.

I hope you will join me in my tiny closet and share my joy for creating handcrafted cards.

　

This weekend as you gather with family and friends to celebrate the beginning of summer with BBQs and dips in the pool or take advantage of the many sales; I hope you will take a moment to remember the reason for the holiday. Remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice that we may enjoy our many freedoms.

I printed the sentiment using Word.   I embossed white card stock in a Stars EF in my lovely new Cuttlebug then sprayed with Sheer Shimmer Spritz Sparkle.  Camera not picking up the sparkle I then cut out the stars with my craft knife.  This looks better irl, working on my lighting.

“Cheap Trick” I saved the negative to use as a stencil on the inside.

Have an Amazing Day


Bernie