Changito Dos

Before my oldest son started Preschool last year, we spent sometime before school started in his classroom so he could get used to his new surroundings. One day while we were checking out all the toys, he noticed that there were balloons on the cabinets with names and dates listed. He asked me what they were, and I told him that those were all of him new friends' birthdays. With that, he told me, "well then, I need to bring them cards on their birthdays. You can make them!" So, the tradition began. Now in Kindergarten, he still likes to bring his friends cards on their birthdays and my little guy brings cards for his Preschool friends. My sweet boys!

Anyway, back to the card! Changito is always a hit with the kids. This set (Changito Dos) is especially easy to adapt to just about any card for the kids. The set even comes with a few different messages to insert into the frame for different occasions. This was a fun card to make, and a good one to use up some leftover paper from another project.

Take time to get inky today....

recipe: Stampendous Changito Dos; Tsukineko Graphite Black; DCWV Mat Stack; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; JoAnn's Ribbon; Clear Stickles

Teacher's Notecards

8/31/10  Edited to Add - This set of notecards was chosen as one of the two winners of the Stampendous Saturday Sketch Challenge.....Woo-Hoo!

 

Last year I made a set of these notecards for my son's preschool teachers. This year I think I'll make them again, but for his Kindergarten teacher. Instead of stamping various sentiments on the cards, I think this time I will use the computer and print her name on the cards to personalize them. I did one set with red cards and one with blue - I think I like the red best. What do you think?

It did take quite awhile to make a set of these, since each apple is cut out by hand. But I like they way they turned out. I applied double-sided tape to the back of the decorative paper BEFORE I cut them out. Stamp the apples on the kraft paper first, color the stem & leaf, then adhere the cut out apple.

I made a box out of kraft paper, and stamped the apples on the side of the box before I assembled it. Use of piece of craft acetate for the lid, a piece of raffia and VOILA! a great teacher's gift.

Hope you'll take time to get "inky" today....

recipe: Stampendous Apple; DCWV Classic Mat Stack; Yours Truly Red notecards; Archiver's kraft & blue cardstock; Tsukineko Graphite Black Ink; Prismacolor Pencils; Fiskars border punch

Thank You, Bus Driver!

This is the time of year for school-themed cards, with Teacher Appreciation Week coming up and the end of the school year. So, I thought I'd share a few I made last fall for my son to take to school. This card was for his bus driver, he had a few rough mornings that first week, so this was to thank her for her patience. Mrs. O is a very kind woman, who always takes time to comfort the kids when they are in the midst of separation anxiety (especially the Kindergartners and their Moms!)

I think these little mice are so cute! They are from the wonderful Stampendous stamp company....I seem to be on a Stampendous kick lately. Have you checked out their blog at www.stampendous.com? They have a great Saturday Sketch Challenge every week. Last week was my first time participating and I was one of the lucky winners! Woo-Hoo! Take a look at this week's sketch and give it a try! I'd love to see what you come up with!

recipe: Stampendous School for Max; The Paper Co.; JoAnn's Grosgrain Ribbon; Making Memories Brads; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Tsukineko Graphite Black Ink; DCWV Classic Mat Stack; CM Circle Cutting System

Thank You, Lunch Lady!

This is another card that would come in handy this time of year. I made it for my son's Lunch Lady last fall. Mrs. Dee is a sweet woman and all the kids love her, so I tried to make her little gifts a few times through the year to thank her. I thought the little Feed Me lunch box was perfect for the lunch lady!

recipe: Stampendous School for Changito; The Paper Co.; Marvy Scalloped Circle Punch; CM Circle Cutting System; JoAnn's Ruler Ribbon; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Tsukineko Graphite Black, Moonlight White Inks

Thank you, Teacher!

Here we go with Changito again! This is the card I made for my son's teacher last fall, after the first week of Kindergarten. It was a huge transition for him (and for Mommy) and I wanted to thank her for making his first week so much fun. Here we are at the end of the school year, and he's still loving it! Yay!

I'm sorry I can't remember where I originally saw this card, but I do know I "copied" it from some very talented cardmaker! I love that it incorporates a pop-tab...doesn't it look like a belt buckle?

I have a few more teacher cards I'll share with you later. Take time to be crafty today!

recipe: Stampendous School for Changito; Tsukineko Graphite Black Ink; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Hero Arts Flower & Gemstone; The Paper Co.; Marvy Scalloped Oval Punch; Ribbon Target $1 Spot

Changito Birthday Cake

Are you tired of Changito yet? I'm not! How can you not love this little guy?

This is my 4th entry for this week's Stampendous Sketch Challenge. I have one more idea, but I don't know if I'll get it done or not. I've had so much fun with this sketch, and I can hardly wait to see next week's.

I sat down last night and looked at the new Stampendous catalog again. My wish list keeps growing! The top of my list is still Changito Baker, though. I just can't get enough of him. The little bees are adorable, too and how can you resist that little trouble-maker Fluffles the Cat? Such a fun catalog! And full of beautiful cards for sweet inspiration!

recipe: Stampendous Changito Birthday; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; DCWV Animal Crackers Mat Stack, gcd studios Rose Circles; Tsukineko Graphite Black, Tsukineko Coffee Bean; Making Memories brads; Offray Ribbon; Grafix Clear Craft Plastic; Fiskars Border Punch; Red Stickles, Clear Stickles; Stampendous Pink Ultra Fine Glitter; Liquid Applique

Changito Skates

Hopefully we're done with snow here in the Chicago-area. I, for one, am ready for Spring to stay! However, this little Changito decided to go skating today. I've had this stamp set for awhile, but it the first time I've gotten it inky.

Once again, this card is for the Stampendous Sketch Challenge. I've really had a lot of fun working on my entries for this week. I've been trying to step outside my "comfort zone" and combine patterned papers. In the past, I've just used one pattern at a time unless it was 2-sided paper and obviously coordinated. For this card I used the DCWV Holiday Stack. What a beautiful collection of paper! It was fun to make a Christmas/Winter card that wasn't red and green. I really like this color combination. I hope you do too!

recipe: Stamps: Stampendous Changito Snowplay; paper: Grafix Clear Craft Plastic; Tsukineko Graphite Black ink; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Crystal Stickles; Hero Arts Gemstones; JoAnn's Ribbons; Liquid Applique; Fiskars Border Punch; Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch

Peek-a-boo, Changito!

I'm back again - two posts in one day - I'm on a roll! I wanted to show you another one of my entries for this weeks Stampendous Sketch Challenge. See the following website for details- http://stampendousblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/saturday-stampendous-card-sketch-challenge/

I made this card for my oldest son's teacher. Our school will celebrate Teacher's Appreciation Week during the first week of May, and I thought I would send her a card or little gift each day that week. Just a little gesture, but I want her to know how much our family truly appreciates her! My son, TJ, is in Kindergarten and has loved every minute of school this year, thanks to her! She is a wonderful & patient woman, and I wish TJ could have her again next year. With any luck, our youngest son will have her in a few years when he starts Kindergarten, too.

Back to the card. The Sketch Challenge requires that a transparency is used. I haven't worked with craft plastic very much, but I really enjoyed adding this element to my cards this week. It's like bringing the inside of the card out. I've never really decorated the insides of my cards before, so this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I like it, and will continue to do so in some of my cards.

Once again, I used my favorite little monkey on this card. I just can't get enough of Changito.

I have one more card in the "works" for this week's Stampendous Sketch Challenge - hopefully I'll get that one done this afternoon while my little man takes a nap. You guessed it, Changito makes another appearance!

Don't forget to check out http://stampendousblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/saturday-stampendous-card-sketch-challenge/ for details on this week's Sketch Challenge.

recipe: stamps: Stampendous School for Changito, Stampendous Book Border; The Paper Co.; Tsukineko Graphite Black, Tsukineko Moonlight White inks; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Marvy Punches

Rainy Day Changito

Edited to Add:  Beginner's Luck!  This card was one of the two that was chosen as winners of this week's Sketch Challenge!  I'm so excited!

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again! I love Changito! This little guy just makes me happy! He is so much fun to get good and inky!

I made this card for this week's Saturday Stampendous Sketch Challenge. It's my first attempt at this, and I am really excited to be a part of it. This week's sketch requires that you incorporate a transparency. This was the first card that came to mind, and I have to tell you it actually turned out almost exactly how I pictured it in my mind's eye. That never happens.

If you've never checked out the adorable Changito, you really should take a look at www.stampendous.com. They have a whole line of beautiful stamps and so many cute ones, too. Everytime I look at their beautiful catalog, I see another one or two or three that I HAVE to have! At the top of my wishlist currently is Changito Baker, Biker Bee, Changito Fireworks and the adorable Patriotic Pair. I also NEED the "gor-juss" Cling Music Score stamp. I have so many ideas for that stamp. It is so elegant!

OK- enough of my rambling. Thanks for stopping by today, I'll be back later with the other card I've created for the Stampendous Sketch Challenge.

Edited to Add: The second photo shown above is the inside of my card. I've never decorate the insides before, but have noticed that so many stampers are doing this now. (I love to look at the galleries on SplitCoast Stampers for inspiration!) So, for the first time I decorated the inside, and it was so much fun - just seems like the perfect finishing touch!

recipe: stamps: Stampendous Rainy Day Changito, DCWV Glitter Mat Stack, Water Paper ?; Ink Tsukineko Graphite Black; Prismacolor Pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Ribbon: JoAnn's; Sakura Star Glaze Pen, Fiskars Border Punch, Grafix Clear Craft Plastic

Let's Connect!

Vicky at Clips and Cuts is celebrating 100 posts and is inviting all of us to connect via our blogs. When you add your blog's URL and it will show up on everyone else's page too...so cool and such a fun way to connect with fellow bloggers and friends! Vicky's goal is to reach 1,000 so let's try to make it happen. Vicky has great ideas and check out her free downloads too.

Paper Crafts blog hop!
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I'm late!

I love this cuckoo clock image by Hero Arts. I initially got it because I had forgotten to make birthday cards for my brother and my brother-in-law (who both happen to have the same birthday, April 1st. What are the chances of that?) This card was for my BIL, my brother's was a bit different, I'll post that another time. Inside this card I used the computer to print "Oops! I'm late! Hope you're birthday was happy!"

I colored the image twice using my Prismacolor pencils and then cut one of the images apart and layered them with pop-dots. This is a nice way to create dimension, without the added bulk of a ribbon.

I like to use the computer to customize the insides of my cards. A lot of times I have a hard time finding just the right sentiment on a stamp, so I make my own on the computer.

recipe: stamp: Hero Arts Cuckoo; paper DCWV neutral stack, Prismacolor pencils, Goo-Gone, Tortillons; Crystal glaze, Sakura Star Gel Pen

Thanks for popping in! Take time to be creative today!