Nurse Appreciation Cards

Hi, again.  One of the hospitals I donate cards to asked for 250 Nurse Appreciation Cards.  Now, I'm thinking regular Thank You cards will do, so I sent out an S.O.S. to my card making friends for help.  If I had a month, I could probably "whip out" 250 cards, but they want them a bit sooner than that.  Today's post will feature some of the cards I am making.  As my friends send in cards, I will update this post and include samples of what they create.  Since I am sure there are male nurses at this hospital, I am making some gender neutral cards.  I am also making multiples of each design, 5 for this request and the others to be distributed to my other charities.   Here goes:

I love rounding corners if there is a circular element on the card.

Thank you Kayte W. for the following stamps and dies....

and the inside.....

That's my stash so far.  Now to get back to work.

TIP OF THE DAY:  

Barbara R. contacted me after my last post to tell me she uses double sided tape on the back of her cardstock/paper before she cuts out her fancy dies.  It's the type of double sided tape that has paper on one side.  After she cuts out the design, she takes off the protective paper and the sticky tape stays on all those fragile, delicate parts for easy attaching.  What a great idea.  I love learning things from my friends.  Most probably all of you already knew this, but it was a new technique for me.  Garlene P. told me she uses a product called Stick It.  I have not heard of this, so I need to Google it.  But, she says if you use a bone folder to press it down, it works wonderfully well.  Thank you both for teaching this old dog new tricks.  If you have a different suggestion, please let us know. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs, 

Jill

Washi Tape

Hello again.  I have been playing with Washi tape today.  It's not a favorite medium of mine, but I have a stamp given to me by a good friend - Janet - which reads "Made with love. And tape, lots of tape".  Now this just screams "Use me with Washi tape" so today I did.  Here are some of the cards I created :

And then some random pieces to enhance the background…..

Yes, I am making Halloween cards already.  For those of you who are making cards for my military organizations, I need Halloween cards by Aug. 15.  I know that seems very early, but you have to remember that I box these cards up and mail them to the different military groups. It takes a bit of time to reach them.  It may then take a while for those groups to have a packing party in which they box the cards up to send to the deployed troops overseas.  Those boxes of cards are mailed overseas and who knows how long that takes.  After the boxes are distributed to the various units, the troops write home on them and once again they are mailed back to the states, or wherever.  That is a LOT of time in the mail, going here and there and sometimes back again. So, in order for these Halloween cards to have plenty of time to travel there and have time to get back home, I need them this early.  Any cards I receive after Aug. 15 will be distributed to the other charities we provide cards to. Those are all located in the USA so travel time is much shorter.

TIP OF THE DAY:  I have two tips, really.  One pertains to using Washi tape.  I find that it works best when you cut the tape a bit longer than your card  and wrap it around to the back.  That way, the edge doesn't come loose and stick to the card in front of it in the box.  As you see from the note above, these cards are handled by many people and are boxed several times.  Loose edges cause havoc and sometimes even ruin other cards.  I hate when that happens!  We work so hard on our creations and little steps like this can help them from being damaged.

TIP 2:  I had a "AH HA" moment last night - the light bulb actually went off over my head!  I love the dies that are intricate but I have always had problems attaching the cut-outs to the card.  No matter what technique I used, glue or tape came through the holes and again, often stuck the card to the one in front of it.  And believe me - I am very careful when trying to wipe off excess glue and tape.  But, with these delicate die cuts, I find it very hard getting a clean adherence.  ATG tape comes through the small spaces.  No matter how careful I am about wiping off excess tape when using the sticker machine, I can never get it all off.  Liquid glue with a small nozzle works, but is often very time consuming.  As a last result, I reached for my glue stick ( the one made for kids, is washable and goes on purple but dries clear).  I dabbed, not stroked, the glue on my cut-out piece and when I attached it to my card, I pressed it down with a paper towel.  Since the glue is purple when applied, it was very easy to see if any came through the holes and was easy to clean off.  I am thrilled to say it works and is so simple.  Here are some examples:

On the wreath....

 

On the pine needles and the pine cone...

 

On the tree trunks...

 

On the tree branches...

 

Everything is firmly glued down.  No loose ends or edges to catch on another card.  I am excited.  I did have one glue stick that was old and the glue part was a bit harder and didn't dab.  It went into the trash.  Fresh glue sticks dab just super great and work!  Try it if you are having this problem of loose ends. 

  Let me know if this helped you.  I would love to see some cards where you used this technique.  Or where you used Washi tape.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Jill

Masculine Cards, the Finale

Good morning.  I have had such a wonderful response to my challenge of making masculine cards.  Thank you all for sending in such creative cards.  Here are some  wonderful examples.....hope they inspire you to think "MANLY".

Betty R.

Betty R.

Betty R.

  Betty R.

      Deborah L.

  Deborah L.

  Ginny B.

  Ginny B.

  Ginny B.

  Kayte W.

  Kayte W.

  Kayte W.

  Kayte W.

  Penny W.

  Penny W.

  Penny W.

  Penny W.

  Tina T.

  Tina T.

Tina T.

  Tina T.

Wow - what a fabulous assortment.  There is a card for all ages here, from small tot to adult.  You are all such amazing card makers and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your talents with us.

TIP of the DAY:  Take a close look at Ginny B.'s third card - her background is awesome.  It is textured with a spray called Make It Stone!  She sprayed it on cardstock and when it was dry, she tells me she sealed it with a spray clear gloss.   ATG tape and dimensional tape both work well when sticking layers to it.  It creates such a different, interesting background.  Very MANLY!  Thanks, Ginny, for teaching me something new.  Shall we all run out and buy a can and play with it?  I know I am going to.  I think I will try different colors, maybe orange for the fall?  If you make any cards using this technique, please share with all of us.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs, Jill

Masculine Cards, the sequel

Happy Memorial Day, all.  I hope you are enjoying your holiday.  I know it is not June yet, but I have had such a wonderful response to my call for masculine cards, I thought I would share some now.  Maybe if you are having a hard time thinking in terms of "masculine", these might give you some ideas.  It is my personal opinion that so many of our cards can be made into masculine ones with a change of paper and colors.  Think neutrals - i.e. browns, dark hues, black/gray.  Check out some of the colors on these cards.  The natural colors help to make the card more "mature" for our older recipients.

The first group comes from Betty R. - The neutral colors add to the maleness of the cards.

Some wonderful cards from Kate D. -  Blues and browns are great together.  Even the bird card comes across as a masculine design.

I'll throw in one that I made....

We should not overlook our younger males.  This is such a cute card from Connie M. for that little cowboy.

And last but certainly not least, from Roberta G., we have more for the younger age group.  As her last card says, she "nailed it".:

I have more to share, but will wait until June to post.  Hope these cards inspire you to think "manly".  It's fun to see what colors and images you have that will combine to create a card targeting the men.  Let's see your creations!

Tip of the Day:

Don't start your grill under an eave or patio covering.  Be sure to have lots of ventilation and have a wonderful holiday!

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hugs, Jill

The Impossible Card

Good morning, one and all.  Two things happened the other day...coincidence?  Who knows, but I am in love with a new card design.  First, I received cards from Lenora S. for my charities.  One design in particular was new to me and I was studying it to try to figure how she made it.  Then, lo and behold, a "just for you" popped up on my Pinterest board and there was this fold! It's called The Impossible Card since it looks so intricate.  But, if you go to You Tube, there are plenty of instructions on making this deceptively simple design.  One thing I noticed, though, was that for my charities that use our cards for writing home, there was precious little space to actually write on.  So, I simply mounted my design on heavy card base, and there it is - a new and fun card.  Either way, mounted or unmounted, this is such a fun card to make with so many possibilities!

Here is Lenora S.'s card that first intrigued me - isn't it absolutely adorable?:

Here are several I have made, mounted on card stock so that they can be used for writing home.  I think the idea of the fold is still visible:

(Notice that two of them are masculine?  The top one was a special request.  She didn't even want a saying, thus the blank banner.)

TIP OF THE DAY:  Here is a picture of one of the cards before mounting -

  Front

  Back

I used double sided paper which is why the back is so "pretty".  I'm thinking you could attach white or ivory papers on top of the back as layers and give space for writing.  That is one way to keep the fold pristine without having to mount it.  It gives a little more writing area that way, but for the military units overseas who use them to write back home on, I believe the card base mount is the way to go.  

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs, Jill