Category: Budget & Stash Stretchers

Art Inspiration, Books, Journals & Albums, Budget & Stash Stretchers, Scrap Attack

Tag Journal Tag 1 Scrap Attack

Ruth Cooper

Hi Friends!

I have been busy, busy reorganizing in the studio. Over 37 years of stamping, I have a lot of stamps, I stopped counting when I knew I had several thousand. Well 10 boxes, mostly wood mounted, are walking out the door soon. I reduced from 28 drawers full to 19. I kept only what I really love using or for the type of art I am planning to do. The remaining 19 drawers are organized by type & labeled. It’s wonderful!

I started following the Scrapbooking with ME YouTube channel a few months ago and decided to work on her newest project to create a Tag Journal. Of course I watched the first video then promptly went rogue. I plan to make 2 one using my huge pile of scraps from the Bo Bunny Believe & Faith Collections and a Christmas one from a paper pad I received as a gift a couple years ago.

Miss E created a swing tag for the first tag but I created a booklet tag more less following her design.

Cover with 2 pockets
Cover Tags
Inside of Booklet with lots of journaling space
Back Cover
Back Tag flips up for more journaling space.

It was lots of fun to pick through the scraps, design the booklet and add some tags. I will add some more embellishments as time allows. I loved switching to the inverted corner punch or ticket style punch for my corners to change it up a bit.

I hope you are having a fabulous Labor Day Weekend.

Blessings!

Art Inspiration, Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, Creative Tips, My Favorite Things, Simon Says Stamp

Geometric Birthday

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

This week in February has all the birthdays I need to make cards for in the same week.

Our youngest son’s birthday was Tuesday and since my guys don’t like any fuss made for their birthdays I opted for a simple geometric design. Of course he probably would have been happier if I’d skip the card but hey, it’s what I do. BTW – my “baby” is now 27 years old. I don’t feel like the 60 I will turn soon so the age of my kids seems a bit unreal.

I don’t play with geometrics nearly enough. When My Favorite Things re-released their Trendy Triangles set, I knew I wanted it for my collection. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Birthday Sweets set. True to my favorite clean & simple designs, I opted for red & black on a light gray base.

Masculine cards can be difficult and geometrics can be one solution when you are creating. I don’t have sports, fishing or hunting guys in the family. My guys tend towards the technical side of things. That limits what I create in the masculine style. So geometrics, nature & vehicles are usually what I am working with.

Sometimes limited supplies can be an issue too if you are just starting out or are on a budget. Always be looking for ideas when you check out other card designs and see what you can adapt to what you already have. It’s always a good idea to start with a few stamp sets that can give you some versatility. Many suggest before purchasing, you think about the set & if you will be able to make 3 – 5 different designs with that set. And of course a good basic all around sentiment set is a must when getting started. You can always work within your budget with a little planning & thought.

Stay safe & warm.

Art Inspiration, Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards

Valentine Smile

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

You guessed it, it’s another Bits & Pieces card.

I grabbed the pieces to make this Valentine/Love card. I like to make my heart cards versatile for either the holiday, just to say “love you” or for an anniversary.

A classic red & black color combo. All the pieces came out of the box, I just had to die cut the sentiment down & add a card base.

In case you were wondering, this is a picture of the infamous Bits & Pieces box. It’s a 12 x 12 Iris Scrapbook case. I could probably make cards everyday for a couple of months with this box, just add card bases.

While fine tuning my schedule, I am going tentatively scheduling Wednesdays to be class/tutorial day where I catch up on some of my classes or try a tutorial I’ve been wanting to try. It’s important to try new things & keep skills up to date.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bash That Stash, Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, Challenges

Bash That Stash Polka Dots

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

It’s Monday and that means my heavy cleaning day so not as much time for art, which is why I am working on trying to manage my days a bit better.

Over on the Caffeine Fueled Chaos and Card Making Group they started the year with a “Bash That Stash” challenge. The premise is to use what you already have on hand. Some of us have bigger stashes than others, LOL! I certainly do.

Today’s challenge was Polka Dots and since I wanted to still do some quick creating, I dug into my infamous Bits & Pieces box.

I often test my embossing folders on plain old white cardstock so have a stack of them on hand. This one happened to have a swiss dot background, instant polka dots. I didn’t even have to dig in the patterned scraps for polka dot paper, the red was within reach. A quick sentiment, a little Stickles & instant card flat enough to mail easily. Which is important with rising postage costs.

I will probably only participate in the challenges now & then but I am definitely working on using more of my stash this year all around.

Have a Fantastic Week!

Art Inspiration, Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards

Card Candy

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I hope you are enjoying preparing for Christmas or other winter holidays you may celebrate.

I recently created some card candy for a small holiday swap with my fellow admins & mods on the Let’s Make Card group. I haven’t made card candy in ages.

If you are wondering what card candy is…… it’s basically premade card elements to make a quick card. Most of the work is done you just pop it onto a card with maybe some background paper & it’s ready to give or send.

We were to make 2 sets, one Christmas themed & one everyday based on a set of questions everyone answered. You will see 2 duplicate pieces here from my recent Winter Sparkle post. I was trying out 2 different blues and decided why not make the 2nd set for my card candy. You will also see in a couple of days that the snowman in buffalo plaid inspired a card for our last card class of the year.

I was going for a country/nature theme for the second set. I actually pulled out the infamous bits & pieces box for ideas. I was thinking that maybe after the first of the year I should spend a week with the bits & pieces box & see how many cards I can make. Might make a good New Year’s challenge.

Try revisiting an old technique or card making style & see what you can create. It helps keep your skills sharp & new materials give things a whole new look.

Thanks for stopping by!

Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, My Favorite Things

Warm Hugs & Frosty Kisses

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I have been puttering around & working on projects as well as contemplating some possible changes for the new year.

I follow Sandy Allnock on FB and remembered after seeing one of her posts that I missed last month’s project with My Favorite Stamps. So I went looking to see if the download was still available & it was. So I printed it out and followed along with Sandy’s tutorial.

Here is the result.

The MFT stamp set is named Warm Hugs and Frosty Kisses and this is just one of the images and a sentiment. It’s so nice of them to offer a digital image to try and is good marketing. I opted for a turquoise balloon instead of the red in the tutorial. I wasn’t too sure about the clouds at first but a little softening of them and they look pretty good.

I really appreciate these simple free classes. They don’t take a lot of time, are lots of fun and I’m learning a few new coloring tricks as I go along.

Some of our budgets have taken quite a hit this year but there are plenty of free/inexpensive classes & tutorials available if you start searching on Youtube & Pinterest. When you can afford it, support your favorite artists and companies.

Find something that looks like fun & play along. For a lot of them it’s pretty easy to use what you have on hand and I always encourage in my classes to change up the colors and layout to suit your taste. Then it’s more your own creation and not just a copy of the original.

I just checked and Sandy will be live with My Favorite Things Stamps this Friday. Head on over and check it out. The link to the tutorial above will take you to Sandy’s page.

Thanks for popping by.

Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards

Birthday Planes

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

A somewhat busy vacation week with a little bit of creating. I dusted off my Cameo a couple of weeks back & helped my daughter with a sign this week. I was really happy when hubby told me I could download my designs to a USB stick & keep the Cameo in the studio because there really isn’t enough room in the study to hook it to the computer.

I started this card on Tuesday, then I lost a crown at dinner, kinda shot the rest of the night. Wednesday was an adventure day so I finished it today after my dental appointment for the crown. Yep I know it’s after midnight but I don’t count it as Friday until I’ve gotten some sleep.

I discovered the new mini Couture Creations dies earlier this year so when some new ones popped up at one of the stores I shop, I ordered a couple. They are very budget friendly dies. Since I have been trying to do a few more “guy” cards I thought this Biplane was perfect. I paired it with Purple Daisy Design Vertical Birthday.

I worked on a couple of more projects today but they will take more time than a card to finish up. Hopefully I’ll have a bit of time tomorrow to create, we already know we are going out to dinner.

Have a Fabulous Weekend!

Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, Fun Stampers Journey, Penny Black, Spellbinders

Anniversary Bears

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I hope you have had time to catch your breath from all the holiday bustle & perhaps spend some time playing with new art goodies.

Today’s share is the anniversary card I made for my oldest daughter & son-in-law for their 17th wedding anniversary. I used the new Penny Black Nose to Nose stamp I picked up in Branson.

Originally released for the holidays, I think this stamp makes a great anniversary, love or Valentine card too. Let’s take a look at the basics.

  • Cut a card base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ from Cranberry Bliss cardstock & fold in half.
  • Cut a mat 4″ x 5 1/4″ from Brushed Silver & emboss with Darice Tribal Background embossing folder. Attach to card.
  • Stamp bears in Riverstone ink onto Whip Cream cardstock & color with your choice of colors. (Pro-tip – a gray or brown ink softens a stamped image.)
  • I used Spellbinders A2 Curved Matting Basics set B to trim image & cut a matching Cranberry Bliss mat. Adhere both layers together & pop onto card.
  • Since the sentiment distracted from the image on front, I stamped the new Fun Stampers Journey sentiment “All you need is love” on the inside of the card from the All The Feels stamp set.

Now that the holidays are coming to an end, before you put those holiday stamps away, take a look at them & see if some of the images are suitable for everyday & other occasion cards. It’s a great way to get your stash to stretch further.

If you haven’t already, take a bit of quiet time for yourself to recharge before the New Year’s celebrations begin.

Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, Fun Stampers Journey, My Favorite Things, Simon Says Stamp, Spellbinders

Christmas Greetings

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I thought I’d put a wrap on the holiday sharing the next couple of days leading up to Christmas. I created today’s card for a December swap. I love My Favorite Things Stamps or MFT for short & decided I really wanted to be an affiliate for them too so I got some new goodies in to play with recently including the BB Polar Bear Pals set.

Isn’t he cute? True to my clean & simply styling, it doesn’t always take a lot to create a fabulous card.

  • Cut a Whip Cream Card base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ & fold in half. Add a Whip Cream mat 4″ x 5 1/4″ sprinkled with Sparkle Silk on card base.
  • With white glitter paper use any type of snow drift, wave, hill, etc. die to cut a snowy hill. I used MFT Whimsical Waves now retired. Adhere to mat base. (Pro-tip: just because my wave die is retired doesn’t mean you can’t duplicate my card. See what dies you might have in your own stash that could create hills. Remember to use what you have, it’s doesn’t always have to be the newest item on the market. Although new goodies are lots of fun too.)
  • Stamp & color waving bear, die cut & pop up on card.
  • Die cut sentiment of choice & adhere to card. I used Simon Says Stamps Christmas Blessings paired with MFT retired Peaceful Greetings.

All done, quick, fun & elegant.

Don’t forget to head on out to see some Christmas lights or cozy up by the fire & relax. Share the joy of the season.

Budget & Stash Stretchers, Cards, Fun Stampers Journey, Spellbinders

8 Weeks of Christmas Inspiration – Week 5 Poinsettia

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

It’s time for another inspiration share & a quick update on The Puppy Love Project Craft Show. 

Considering I have been out of the craft show market for some time,  it was exciting to sell 6 items so far, especially since they benefit one of my favorite animal rescues. There are still several journals available & the Winter Wonderland wreath if you’d like to purchase an item & help. Check them out on my Facebook page. Thank-you for the support & encouragement in this adventure!

Today’s card is a CASE (copy & share everything) from the Spellbinders website gallery. I did not have the arched die they used, but I did have the Arched Elegance Die & the Layered Poisettia Etched Dies. 

Lovely! I always like white on white and the pop of color from the poinsettia is perfect. 

  • Cut a Whip Cream card base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2 ” & fold in half.
  • Die cut 2 arches from Whip Cream cardstock & adhere to card.
  • Stamp Merry Christmas from Sparkle Trim set in Clear Pigment ink & emboss with Silver Embossing powder.
  • Die cut Poinsettia flower pieces from Turbo Teal, brush edges with Catalina Splash & layer onto card.
  • I did not like to big leaf in the die set for this card, so I found a smaller leaf to use on the card & die cut from Kiwi Slice & used a Stylus tip to create the leaf veins on a foam mat.
  • I used a small round paper punch to punch 3 tiny circles from Silver glitter paper for center of flower.

Elegant doesn’t have to be complicated. If you see something you like but don’t own or don’t want to purchase the needed supplies, take a look at what you do own that might give you the same type of look using the supplies you already have on hand.

Have a Wonderful Weekend as we head into December’s holiday excitement!