Card Kitchen Witchiness

It's time for another Jillibean Soup's Card Kitchen (card kit) card, this one from the October collection.  And again, I modify them just a bit to make them my own.

This month's patterns use Bella Boulevard paper and tabbed Index Journaling cards from LilyBee Designs. For my changes, I colored in the moon behind the witch with Copic Marker (Y38), added a knot-fringe of baker's twine from The Twinery to the button, and some Close To My Heart Itty Bitty Bling to the bats (gotta have bling!).

Do you celebrate Halloween?  Granddaughter Charlotte is going out as Tinker Bell this year -- and of course, she'll be adorable!  No, I didn't make the costume but I did buy it for our recent trip to Disney World, where it was so stinkin' hot, she didn't wear it. Then it will be perfect for a slightly chillier night for trick-or-treating.



DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

So Glad We are Friends

Aren't these the most adorable little squirrels? 

This little card -- "So Glad We Are Friends" -- incorporates a textured pink mesh under the blue banner to give it a little more interest on the Jillibean Soup CardKitchen kit card.  Isn't it a sweet card, with those adorable squirrels?

...and Happy Labor Day, especially to all those union members and trades workers whose excellence in their crafts built America to what it is today. Thank you to family members especially, including hubby John (Plumbers' Local 690), and my favorite Aunt Joan (Teachers' Union) and my late grandpa Bert (Printers' Union). 

Camping: Where the Fun Never Stops!

Ahhh, summertime!  Can you hear the cicadas chirping, screaming!, in your backyard trees?  That's how I know it's August. That, and the humidity for sure. 

Some are packing up their families into trailers and campers and heading off for cooler, scenic climates. Me? Well, let's just say roughing it is not my style. I came >>>this close<<< to going camping once when I was a Girl Scout leader, but successfully avoided it. Phew!

 

But the theme this month over at Jillibean Soup's Card Kitchen card club is travel and specifically camping, and features these cute, cute papers and die cuts. I ramped up the card >>CardMonkey Style<&lt by adding some chevron-printed turquoise and green ribbon.

Whatever the rest of your summer brings, make it fun, will you?

Sunnyside up,

Rumple Ribbon Thursday -- Smile!

Buttercream Rumple Ribbon takes center stage today on this adorable kit card that I modified to personalize.

Again, the base of the card is from the June collection from The Card Kitchen by Jillibean Soup. 

Changing it up, I added a pretty pink button topped by a navy dotted fabric flower from Close To My Heart. I moved the sticker from the kit to be next to the button, and changed up standard ribbon for my favorite Rumple Ribbon. 

I hope this finds you on a "smiley" day. :)

Be Two Things: Classy & Fabulous!

Welcome back for another Rumple Ribbon Thursday here on the CardMonkey blog! 

Today's message certainly applies to Rumple Ribbons: Classy & Fabulous!

This cute card was one I modified from the June collection from The Card Kitchen by Jillibean Soup.  I added Rumple Ribbons in Crazy Coral and matching pearls. It just makes the card "me!" 

Don't you just love the broad range of colors in which Rumple Ribbons are available?  Coral is my new "it" color for the summer ... I've got a whole wardrobe in it, everything from a cardigan to capris, and I've gotten a lot of compliments on how the color looks on me. 

Do you have an "it" color?  Do you just wear it, or do you craft in it, too?

Rumple Ribbon Thursday - Layering Colors

I'm looking at this card and realizing one of the things that I really like about Rumple Ribbons that are made from seam binding compared to, say, satin ribbons. That is, the ribbon itself is thin enough to layer with multiple colors for a very special effect, yet have enough body to hold a nice bow or cut tail. 

Here, I've once again added Rumple Ribbons to the base design of a Card Kitchen kit card from Jillibean Soup. I likely would not have combined yellow, red and blue myself ... but why not? They're all primary colors and as we heard in kindergarten, it's really okay to blend these colors. Or any colors, right?

Rumple Ribbons Thursday: Lemonade Love

Bright sunny skies, butterflies, daisies, lemonade and love -- doesn't this just scream Summer to you?  

This pretty card is made using a base from April's Card Kitchen kit by Jillibean Soup. I added a sweet yellow butterfly and complemented the card using Lovebug Creations' Rumple Ribbon in Lemonade.

I just love all of these fun, refreshing elements on this card -- how about you? 

The Advantage of Card Kits

I have had a couple of people inquiring about using card kits -- whether I like them and if so, why. Honestly, I'm fussy ...  I've tried a few card kits and thus far, the only one that I just love is The Card Kitchen kits by Jillibean Soup.  

I like their style. I like that they typically include 10-12 full sheets of 12x12 paper or a full 6x6" paper pad. I like the die cuts and embellishments that come with them. And why use them?  Well, I feel they keep my creative mojo going. Some days, we just don't have the ooompfh, you know?  

When a kit comes in (always the first week of each month, assuming I pay using PayPal promptly), I like to sit and read the instructions first, and then cut each of the card's papers at once. For each of the 8 cards, I put the cut pieces and the planned embellishments into the cello bag that will eventually hold the finished card.  The Card Kitchen kits also include the card blank and envelope, so that goes into the corresponding cello bag as well. 

You may also have noticed that sometimes I change up the design of the kit card. I may add Rumple Ribbon, or buttons, or CTMH Liquid Paper. I might change the sentiment as well, or add my own die cut that changes up the card's plan entirely. The nice thing, it's totally up to you!

For this card I show here, I've made it exactly as the designer planned it for The Card Kitchen. Once all the pieces were in their cello bag, when I make it, a card like this flies together -- less than 5 minutes!  Wouldn't these be great to take to a crop or party, so you'd only have to bring along adhesives and scissors? 

Rumple Ribbon Thursday: Happy Memorial Day!

Have I told you lately how much I love Lovebug Creations' Rumple Ribbon? 

As I headed into making my patriotic cards for the summer holidays, I begged Kimi of LBC to please make red/white/blue ribbons -- and she responded in all glory!

She made two sets of R-W-B ... one that is called the Old Glory collection, and the other is the Star Spangled collection, both of which are now available from http://lovebugcreations.net. 
Old Glory has more vintage, subdued colors of Betsy Ross Blue, Washington White and Revere's Ride Red. In the Star Spangled collection, you'll find parts of the "Simply" colors -- Simply Red, Simply White, Simply Blue.  (Simply Black and Simply Grey are also now available.)  

For this card, I once again added Rumple Ribbons to a Jillibean Soup Card Kitchen card, to make it my own. I mixed up colors from the two patriotic collections, and used Simply Red, and Betsy Ross Blue. Aren't they perfect matches for the Jillibean Soup diecuts?  

Do you have plans for Memorial Day?  Our (private) community's pool opened earlier this month, and there's a pool party to welcome the summer.  In Warminster, there'll be the traditional parade sponsored by the VFW; when I served as Township Supervisor, I rode in the parade (sometimes in a convertible, more often in a golf cart) and threw candy to the kids lining the parade route. Honestly, it was about my favorite part of the job when I served. (And I'm glad I'm only a cardmaker now, not a politician!) 

Happy Memorial Day, and thank you to all veterans who have served our country, including my father (Army), uncle (Army), nephew (Army and Coast Guard), father-in-law (Marines), mother-in-law (Air Force), and ex-father-in-law (Navy). 

DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Bicycling into Summer on a Red Bicycle

Did you see the first summertime red bicycle card I posted last Saturday?  Well, here's another! 

This too uses the May Card Kitchen kit from Jillibean Soup. The red bicycle is printed on the "Bite Sized Bits" paper that came on the kit. This card is as-designed -- easy-peasy and great for a Tuesday, don't you think?

Card Kitchen "Celebrate" Card

Our family has an awful lot of occasions to celebrate this month. 

In our immediate family, we have three birthdays (my hubby, son-in-law and Dad)

... Mothers' Day for our three living Moms (me, my Mom and my daughter), 

... plus graduations: my niece Nicole and nephew Max graduate from high school; and my oldest niece graduates from Franklin & Marshall University (Lancaster, PA) with a music degree. 

I bet you're just as busy! This cute card could be used as an invitation, a congratulations card or a birthday card.

To make it, I used a design from May's Card Kitchen kit from Jillibean Soup. I removed one element from atop the tag, and cut the word "Party!" using a design from Silhouette America's online store. I popped it up in red (which photographs as pink) to give a little more zing. What do you think?  

Happy celebrations, whatever is on your calendar!!
  

Feels like Summer Today

Has summer started where you live?  Spring?  I've noticed as I've aged that my Pennsylvania springs are much shorter, and air conditioning season starts well before the Summer Solstice. 

This card makes me think of summer memories of my youth, when I'd ride with bicycles with friends, and we'd decorate our bikes for summer holidays' parades.

The base of this card is made from May's Card Kitchen kit from Jillibean Soup. I swapped out the sentiment sticker with one that honors "Memories", and used Really Reasonable Ribbon in red instead of the planned navy binding. 

This card makes me long for picnic days. How about you?

Trendy Color Combo: Green, Gray and Yellow

I'm loving this color combination: yellow, yellow green, white and light gray. And I found it in the Jillibean Soup Card Kitchen card kit for April, well, at least in part. 

The kit called for a cream-colored bow and a "Hello" sentiment in yellow that just didn't do it for me. Remember: You're always encouraged to change up these kits to make them your own!  

I swapped out the cream ribbon for Lovebug Creations' Rumple Ribbon in "Green Goddess." Yummy! Then, using one of the Pink By Designs stamps I recently received as part of my work on the Lovebug Creations Creative Team, I instead used the sentiment: "You really made my day."  A heart sticker from the kit was changed up for a sweet yellow butterfly that complemented the Jillibean Bite Sized Bit.  

Rumple Ribbon Thursday - Thank you!

Hi, friends ... It's Ellen CardMonkey here, and it's Rumple Ribbon Thursday.

 

I'm excited to show you this card for several reasons.

 

First of all, I was able to use several different techniques and supplies on this card that just made me smile.  And secondly, I'm writing this post WAY ahead of time because I'll be on vacation when this is posting ... and that it's up means that I'm enjoying myself in Disney World with my hubby, daughter/son-in-law and granddaughter Charlotte!

 

Let me tell you how I made this card. I used Jillibean Soup papers and patterns found in the April Card Kitchen kit. Do you like kits?  I do because it gets my Mojo going, and I usually can change it up to suit my own style.

 

In this case, instead of using the "ordinary" ribbon, I substituted Lovebug Creations' Rumple Ribbon in Caddy Blue. Isn't it just perfect!? 

 

The kit provided a simple kraft die cut butterfly to use. I wanted something with a little more zing, so I pulled out my Copics ABS (Air Brush System) and airbrushed the butterfly in turquoise, purple, yellow, brown and green.  I then used a white gel pen to add definition.  Can you see the cute antennae?  They're turquoise electrical wire topped with Swarovski beads.

I hope you try these techniques and enjoy them!
 

An Unplanned Trip to Scrapbook Expo

Saturday morning is my time to spend with my granddaughter -- time together I call "Gii & Me".  Don't you just love that sweet name that Charlotte gave me, "Giiiiiiii?"  

Even not feeling well, Charlotte is almost
always the most pleasant little girl! ♥

Well, today little Charlotte woke up at 3 a.m., feeling under the weather. Her temp went all the way up to 103.7, OMG! and she was coughing up a storm. Poor thing!  So our playdate was cancelled and she stayed home with Mommy and Daddy, watching some Disney movies about princesses.  

That meant I was able to visit the Scrapbook Expo when it traveled to nearby Oaks, PA.  I bought some cute stamps from Rubbernecker Stamps and Stamps by Judith; you'll be seeing those a bit later. I suppose it was worth the trip ... but always worth the trip are the nice people I meet at paperfests.

Rubbernecker Stamps: Poppies

Even when it's just chatting in line, waiting to pay for purchases, hands down, the people who paper craft are just charming!  

I'm working on finishing up my cards from the Jillibean Soup Card Kitchen card kit. With 8 unique designs and plenty of paper left to figure out your own designs, I ♥ this collection in particular.  Here is one of the cards I made tonight:

Hello there, Sunshine!

In continuing celebration of SPRING!, here is another card I made using The Card Kitchen collection by Jillibean Soup, for April.

I hope you enjoy your Friday ... yay, the weekend's coming!!