Stash Buster Cards #1

I'm on a mission!!!  I need to cut down on some of my stash of patterned paper.  So...I decided to just start digging in and get it done.  Here are the first of hopefully many stash buster cards.  I ended up making four of each design.  These will all be going to Operation Write Home.

I have no idea where the papers came from - they were all just hanging out loose in my pile.  I cut the Thank You base with Cricut Craft Room Essentials.  The Air Mail stamp is from Stampabilities and the Thank You stamp is from the TPC Vintage Greetings set.  I heat embossed the Air Mail stamp and the sentiment using gold embossing powder from Craft Essentials.  The thinking of you stamp and key are from an old Dimensions stamp set (Thoughts of Fancy) I have that I think might be on it's last legs - the stamps are all gooey and really funky.  I'm sort of surprised I got such a good impression out of them!

ChildSafe Success Story

Hi all! Just wanted to remind you that I am running a fundraiser through Close To My Heart through the end of April. Here's the link for more information : http://www.gabbysews.com/2014/04/fundraising-for-sexual-abuse-victims.html

The funds I raise are going to ChildSafe Colorado and I wanted to share a success story they have posted on their website:

Katy:

Katy, age 5, comes from an upper middle class, two-parent home with loving, supportive parents and extended family. Katy attended daycare at a home that was considered a second family to Katy. What Katy's parents didn't know was that from the time Katy was 6 months old until she was 3, she was being sexually abused by the daycare provider's husband.

Kay's parents noticed that she was at times aggressive, slapping and kicking her parents. Katy felt that her parents must have known what Jim was doing to her and felt it was okay because they continued to take her to Jim's home for daycare. Jim told her he was her best friend, so at Katy's young age of 3, in her mind a best friend was someone who couldn't be trusted and who hurt you. In preschool she was labeled as "bad" because she frequently hit or bit other children.

When Katy persisted in kissing and touching little boys at preschool, the staff was alarmed. She, like many of the children in treatment at ChildSafe, was headed for expulsion from preschool and further labeling. The very coping mechanisms that this child developed as a way of dealing with her early sexual abuse became the source of yet another layer of dysfunction and problems.

Fortunately, at age 3, Katy began receiving therapy from ChildSafe when her parents found out what Jim had done to her. In addition, her parents became actively involved in one of the parents' therapy groups where they were given tools to help her heal.

Today, at age 5, Katy is well on her way to leading a functional, healthy life – quite different from the life she would have led without therapeutic intervention.

Fundraising for Sexual Abuse Victims

I am bellydancing in a fun event coming up in May called Shimmy Mob.  Shimmy Mob is a flash mob type of event and is the largest event of its kind due to the number of geographical territories covered in one day.  The event is designed to celebrate World Bellydance Day and to also raise awareness and funds for women's and children's shelters in the participating communities.  At last count there are over 160 locations signed up spanning locations in Asia, South America, Australia, Canada, and the United States.  To learn more about Shimmy Mob and to see videos of past year's events you can visit http:\\www.shimmymob.com.

Part of our responsibility as a dancer in the event is that we will each individually raise $50 to be donated to our selected charity.  The charity for the Northern Colorado event is ChildSafe.  ChildSafe is Northern Colorado's only comprehensive outpatient treatment program for victims of sexual abuse and their families.  They combine group, individual, and family therapy to heal the trauma of sexual abuse.  They also provide in-service training and consultation to area professionals and community groups on child sexual abuse issues.  To learn more about ChildSafe and how you can get involved please visit http:\\childsafecolorado.org.

As part of my fundraising efforts I have set up an online fundraiser through my Close To My Heart website.  Through April 30th 20% of all purchases made through the link on my page for the fundraiser will be donated to ChildSafe.  You can access my website here.  Once on my main page look for the ChildSafe Fundraiser event and click Join.  That will put you directly into my shopping site.

Thanks for your support of this wonderful cause and please let me know if you have any questions!  Also if you are in the Old Town area of Ft. Collins on May 10th, be on the lookout for all kinds of happy dancers!!

School Memories

My niece will be starting kindergarten in the fall and I want to capture some memories about her elementary years as a gift for my sister.  This is the first mini album that I have designed.  All my other albums have been made following instructions and plans created by others.  I did use some of what I learned in those other albums and incorporated them in this one.  It was really fun to use my imagination and create something new!  Very rewarding feeling to finish it!!

I had originally planned to use my Cinch to bind the album but it turned out to be way too thick - 4" total.  So I changed my plan and created a binding big enough using the Hidden Hinge Binding System created by Kathy Orta (you've got to check her out - she's a genius!).  I ended up having to make one strip of page flanges from an 8.5X11 sheet of card stock and then use about 1/2 of another sheet to make more and then glue them together.  I made my pages 1/8" apart and my flanges are all 3/8" tall.  You can get 9 pages from one 8.5X11 sheet but I have 14 pages altogether.  I wasn't sure it was going to work but in the end I'm happy with the result.  The book did turn out larger than I ever thought it would but I don't think it looks too horribly strange.

My covers and spine are made from heavy chipboard covered with Core'dinations card stock and then decorated with paper from the School Days collection from The Paper Studio (I used this same paper collection throughout the entire album).  I cut out Sydney's name with my Cricut using the font from Paper Lace.  I really like that font and it lends itself very well to using the weld feature.  The pencil is actually cut from the cover of the paper collection.  I don't think the pictures show it very well but the pencil is glittered as are several of the other papers from the collection.  I used some American Crafts washi tape in a really cool plaid (reminds me of school uniforms) on the spine to give the bendable parts more strength.  I also added some ribbon from my stash to keep it closed.


The album contains two pages (front and back) for each grade - kindergarten through sixth.  The first page of each grade is the same except for the grade I stamped in the corner so I didn't take pictures of all of the first pages.  All the stamps I used in this album are from a really neat 7 Gypsies set.  I picked it up at my local LSS on clearance several months ago but really had no idea what I was going to use it for.  I did alter the stamp a bit by cutting off a section where you filled in the name of the child.  I thought it was sort of silly to have that on there when the album itself has her name on it!  The grade page is a bit smaller than the second page. I wanted to create a little bit of interest and make it obvious that the two pages went together.

I made some tags and journaling cards for each grade that I slipped into pockets I created from coordinating paper.  The journaling cards were stamped from the 7 Gypsies set and I matted them all on black card stock.  On one side you can fill in the information and then the other side is available as a photo mat.

One of the papers in the collection was a collage of all sorts of school related sayings and pictures.  I cut one of each out and then backed them with black card stock to make them a little more stable.  I used many of those to create little slider pockets for tags or pictures.  You can see those on the back of the smaller grade page with a tag sticking out.  I used some Paper Studio twine to add a little decorative touch to the tags.  I figure the tags can be used for either pictures or journaling.

I also created two large photo/journaling tags for each grade and those slip into pockets I created at the top of each page.  I used my circle punches to create little tabs that stick out the top.  I used the same paper on the tags as I did on the main pocket for each section.







Here are all the pages so you can see the different paper combinations I used (kindergarten is shown above as the sample).  I didn't use any of the papers for more than one grade and I kept the same color mixes the same within each grade.  I really liked this paper collection because they all coordinated with black which made creating mats very easy!

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

Sixth Grade

Inside Front Cover

Inside Back Cover

I plan to fill the album full of things Sydney tells me about school.  Unfortunately we live about 900 miles apart so I don't get to see her very much.  I'm hoping that as she gets older her shyness on Skype will lessen.  Although she does look really cute when she tucks her head and shrugs her shoulders when I ask her questions.  I sure hope she and my sister like the little album when it's all finished!

Dimensions:

Overall album size - 7" tall x 5.75" across x 4.25" wide
Pages - 6"x4" and 6"x5.5"
Large tags - 3.25"x5.5"
Small tags - cut from Tags, Bags, Boxes, and More Cricut cartridge at 3"
Journaling cards - 3.5"x 3.75" and 3" x 3.5"

Constructed with Scor-tape (lots and lots of Scor-tape), ATG, Aleene's Quick Dry Glue, and Zig Two-Way adhesive.  This thing was an adhesive monster!  I probably used about $10 worth of adhesive on it!!

Take Time To Laugh

For these cards I used MojoMonday Sketch #326.  Of course, I tweaked it a bit - I really can't leave anything alone.  I used some old Paper Studio paper I had in my stash along with some kraft card stock.  I inked all the edges in Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and stamped the sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black.  The sentiment is from the Fiskars Laugh With Me set.  The ribbon is from American Crafts and I adhered it with Scor-tape to be sure it doesn't move.

I was actually able to make six cards but only had four sentiments stamped out.  I saw an idea recently to leave the sentiments off until you know what you are going to need.  I really like that idea and want to start building up a supply of these "almost done" sort of cards.  It would be so easy just to pick one out and then grab whatever sentiment you needed at the time.

I also think this design would be great to make a collection pack of cards or even monogram notecard sets.  I think I see some ideas for my Etsy shop!  Someday maybe I'll really have enough stuff built up to actually open that shop I've put together!!  I just keep sending them all off to OWH or giving them to friends and family.  Anyone else have that problem?

More Masculine Birthday Cards

I used an old One Sheet Wonder sketch from Susan Roberts for these cards.  I changed it up just a little bit by trimming the corner diagonal pieces about 1/8" so they would standout a little bit from the corresponding paper layered underneath.


I made four cards from one 6X6 piece of paper from the Authentique Essentials Collection.  My solid papers were all Core'dinations card stock and I used a Darice Stripes embossing folder on the base layer (rubbed with ink to give it more dimension).  I used my Cricut Craft Room Essentials to cut out the scallop circle (2.25") in brown and the sentiment circle (2") in cream.  The sentiment stamp is from the My Favorite Things Howdy set and the squiggles along the left edge were stamped directly on the card base using the Fiskar's Happy Birthday set.  I used Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink for all the inking.

Three cards are going to Operation Write Home.

Happy Birthday Box Card

My nephew's birthday is coming up and I made him a box card.    I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog so I'm safe in posting this before his birthday.  I was inspired by Jessica Wilson at CraftinandStampin to make this card and used the measurements provided by French Martin to make my own base since I am using an Expression 2 and can't use the SVG that Jessica had.  I had already decided to use balloons in mine after seeing Jessica's video so I was really surprised that Frenchie's video was made with balloons!  She saved me a lot of time in figuring out how to make the balloons look like they were floating.

It was lots of fun to make and I hope he likes it!  Being a young boy I think the gift card will probably make a bigger splash with him but I'm sure my sister will think the card is awesome.  I had lots of fun making it.

You can check out Jessica and French's videos linked above for detailed instructions on putting the box together but here are my basic measurements and materials used.

Box card stock - basic white card stock cut at 9" x 5 1/2" - score on long side at 2 1/8", 4 1/4", 6 3/8", and 8 1/2".  Then you turn the card to the short side and score at 2 3/4".  You will want to refer to one of the videos above for the cutting instructions - it's not hard but I think it's easier to understand by seeing it.

All my solid card stock is Core'dinations and the patterned paper all comes from an American Crafts Hip Hip Hooray pad I picked up at Tuesday Morning.  The stamps were all from the Fiskars Happy Birthday set.  All the die cuts (except for the circle punches) were from my Create-a-Critter Cricut cartridge.  I cut the party hat and pinwheel at 2.5" and the balloons at 1".  I used some scrap plastic that came off one of my stamp sets to adhere the balloons to the box.  The circle punches are some basic Fiskars punches.  The celebrate banner was hand cut.

I used a lot of different inks to get the look I was going for.  The base of the box is actually white card stock that I inked all over with some Stampabilities Yellow Pigment Ink.  I really wanted a light yellow for the box but I just didn't have the right color in my stash.  For the other stamping I used Momento Dew Drop in Bamboo Leaves, Danube Blue, Grape Jelly, and Tangelo.  The red ink is Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Barn Door.  I added some Diamond Stickles to the center of the pinwheel, the top of the party hat, and in the center of the birthday medallion.  It was still wet when I was taking pictures so I couldn't show you that it folds up all nice and flat so it will fit perfectly in an A2 sized envelope.

I used glue dots to hold my balloons together, pop dots on all the die cut elements, Aleene's Quick Dry for the box construction, and ATG to adhere all the pattern papers.  I'm a little concerned that I might have added so much dimension that it will cost a little extra postage.  I'm mailing it tomorrow so I'll make sure and check it out with the mail clerk.