Anything can be saved

PricelessHappyFall
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

One of the things I like about making cards is that even if you make a mistake you can use it, cover it up or alter it into something you can use. The background of this card, circles from the SU! Priceless set, was created with a different card in mind and there are two red a red heart under the matted image. I hated it but knew I would be able to use it as some point.

The last episode of Use It Up it hit me that the heart could be covered by this fall image that had been put in the pre-stamped drawer waiting for a card at some point in the future. Now -- I love it.

I'd love to see how you rescue stuff.

Chimpmunk Love

Chimpmunk Love
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

A tail-less skunk looks a lot like a chipmunk don't you think?

the chipmunk is from the Pun Fun Set. The background on the tag is Pearlex and hairspray. The letters are misc stamps and brads.

I was thinking of the synthesizer on that Muscrat Love song by Captain and Tenille while I was making this tag. Of course I didn't remember it was a muscrat instead of a chipmunk. But then again a tail-less skunk doesn't look like a muscrat -- which looks a lot like a beaver.

Past Blasting

I've been going through a lot of STUFF. Trying to determine what stays and what goes. The craft room is never the tidiest in my house but now it's pretty much a disaster. So instead of the new stuff, yes there are new creations, I am sharing another older card.



This is a 6 page card/booklet that I made for a coworker to give to a friend. I kept the colors simple, real red, black and white. I used the retired Paisley background stamp, the retired Happy Birthday Greetings set and a few images I altered with Adobe PhotoShop to look like rubber stamps. (If you'd like me to explain how to do this please comment here and I will post the directions.)

Hope you like it.

First Cards -- EVER

My aunt passed away a year ago and we are now seriously cleaning out her house so we can rent it out. It was on the market for months but the market for even a great house is bad in her small town.

ANY WHO
I was going through boxes of stuff and came across a couple of cards I just had to share. They are the first cards I made myself. What a hoot. So nice that my relatives saved stuff like this. Some people I know toss cards they get immediately after reading them. This seems so cruel when the card is handmade special for you. One friend has even sent cards back to me so I could reuse the brads and other embellishments I had put on her cards.

ANY WHO
Here are the cards:

My aunt's birthday card from 1972 - it was still in the envelope so I had the postmark to go by. I was 7 years old.

This card had no envelope and no date so I have to guess at the date by the signatures in it. My cousin Janet's name is there but not her younger brother's so I have narrowed it down to 1974. Plus it's in cursive, 9 year old's cursive.

I am a Robot

Halloween 2007 - I am a Robot
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

I am not much of a scrapbooker. My son is 6 and a half and I haven't finished his baby book. [I may never get it done.]

I am going scrapbooking with a friend this coming weekend and so I am gearing up for that day-long event. Social scrapbooking keeps me on task. We are slightly competitive about how many pages we can get done in 12 hours. I never get a ton done, too busy chatting and cheering other scrappers most likely.

This is a page I did on the last scrapping trip. I LOVE the Cosmo Cricket paper and was so happy when it was made into fabric. Why I don't know - I don't sew and have no real use for the fabric but the thought of some robot-loving boy sleeping in robot jammies in a room with gears window coverings just makes me happy.

This page celebrates Halloween 2007 when we built a robot costume out of a Stampin' Up! packing box, a Bulk Buy Cheerios box, tin foil and aluminum tape. We added a jumbo calculator on the chest and small battery operated lights in the head piece. He walked around the house like a mummy, arms outstretched saying in an ominous monotone, "I AM A ROBOT."

The pictures would have covered too much of the beautiful paper so i cut the boy robot out . I had a lot of the metal tape used to make the costume left so cut the letters out of that.

This trip I am hoping to get a lot of Disney pages done. Be on the look out for that. If you wan to see pictures of night parade of other not too family specific images you can check out my flickr site.

1 tree three looks

RedBirdhouseDots
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

More in the Use It Up series.

This was the first card I made with the Branch Out stamp set.
I love this set.

Here are a couple more looks .

Grey Thanks - Use It Up

Yet another card from the Use It Up session a few days ago.

There are some details you may only be able to see in the close up, like the slight texture on the grey base from the SU Sanded background stamp or the leaf that is popped up.

I like this card. It's simple, slightly elegant and can be used for men or women. Man cards can be so difficult.


Stamps: A Little Bit of Happiness, Hostess set from the Spring/Summer 2008 catalog & Sanded background
Paper: Going Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, bordering blue, certainly celery, sage shadow, and mellow moss.
Embellishments: Black Brads

For You Deer - Use it up

For You Deer
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

The images are stamped with regular craft ink on a piece of acetate that has been painted with white acrylic paint. So easy, so quick, so cool that you an see the card stock through it.
Tiny scratch through tree courtesy of son checking to see if it really was paint. "Yes kid it comes off if you force it."

To see more Use It Up cards check out my flickr site.

Oddly Orange Mood - Use It Up Mode

I am in Use It Up Mode. Been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the drawer full of pre-stamped/pre-punched goodies and decided it was time to put them to use. Not all the cards created with scraps like these are gems, but not all cards I create when cutting on a mission are wonderful either.

I am also in an Oddly Orange Mood. Shades of orange are popping up all over the place in my work lately and that's probably a good thing. Everyone needs of bit if bright and cheery now and then. This first card is made with the now retired In-Color, Tangerine Tango, a strip of yellow and white plaid paper I never thought I would ever use, and a bit of old olive. I use the Upsy Daisy stamp set as a starting point for the watercolored image. I love the image and am happy enough with the card to post it.



The second card is my new favorite combination of colors. The now retired In-Color Kiwi Kiss, Only Orange, Summer Sun and Whisper White. I’ve been working with Very Vanilla so long (because I has SO much of it) that I forgot how wonderful white can be. I had this strip of lotus I had stamped months ago and finally put it on a card. Not thrilled with the text, but again happy enough with the card to post it.



I have several more cards from this late night Use It Up session, I finished 12, but they will have to wait to be posted. If they ever make it to the interweb at all.

845 views - huh?

tags
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

I was looking at my stats on Flickr and found that this is my most popular post by far. I has had 845 views to date and I'm not sure why. There are other tags, cards and photos that I think would rate higher on the Flickr "interesting" scale. Can anyone give me some insight? What has made these more popular than other items I have posted on Flickr. To see the rest go to my flickr site.