Another Scarecrow Box Card

I used print and cut files (3 scarecrows, sign, and pumpkins), as well as patterned papers from the Silhouette Design Store for this box card.

The basic box card itself is my own simple design.

Autumn Photos

Up to now I haven't posted any photos except for crafts, but I am participating in the September challenges at RefuPeas, which means I am making an exception to gain some points for my team.

These are photos taken in September at the Dallas Arboretum. We don't get much in the way of fall colors here, so this was a treat. They even had a pumpkin patch ready for the Great Pumpkin.

Sketchtember

I joined a team for Sketchtember at RefuPeas. That was probably a bad idea, since this month we have done some traveling and been helping DS3 move out of our home and to a new place.

Another reason it was a bad idea is that I really don't do well with sketches. I signed up thinking it would be a good exercise for me, but very few of the sketches were suitable for card making, and I need to get photos printed before I can do any scrapbooking. The month has flown by, and I only made one project based on a sketch challenge. It's not my favorite, but here it is:

Box Cards Revisited

When I first saw box cards, I had to learn to make them. My scrapping buddies and I made quite a few before we got tired of them. Back then we made them with a 12 inch trimmer and a scoring tool. Then I made a cutting file and used my old blue Wishblade to speed up the process. Later, I used my Cameo. I downloaded and made some of the ones by SVG Cuts. Eventually I got tired of making box cards, and focused on my scrapbooking and other crafts. I made about one a year. When we started the moving process, it was a long time before I made another box card, and that was after we had moved halfway across the country. It was a stamped scarecrow box card for the RefuPeas 2018 CARDtober challenge.

In February, I designed a box card for my card group to do. Most of them had never made box cards. I showed some of the different box cards I had made so they could see the possibilities. They wanted to make the scarecrow box card, but it was too time intensive. Eventually it occurred to me to turn it into a print and cut file so it would go together faster. We made it last month as a group.

I have not had much interest in print and cut designs before, but I decided to play around with making more print and cut box cards. This week I made 3 box cards for family birthdays, two of which are print and cut.

I loved being able to use the print and cut designs from the Silhouette Design Store for two of these three. The other one was a cutting file that I had also purchased from the Silhouette Design Store. It took a lot longer to make the die-cut box card than the two print and cut versions. It's probably obvious, but the completely die-cut box card is the one in the middle:

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

Changing Your Perspective

These are cards that were going to be made for our card night, but when I first started them, I couldn't get past the offset and popped letters. I don't usually glue anything down until I am happy with it, but I had glued down the letters of the top card, and nothing I did looked right after that. I considered the idea a dud, felt like my creativity for the week had gone on vacation, and I set the two cards aside, not sure whether to try to salvage them later or put them in the trash.

I cleaned up most of the card making mess in my craft room yesterday, but these two unfinished and unloved cards were still sitting on my table. I was ready to toss them this morning. Then, another idea occurred to me, a simple one, but I went with it, and the cards were salvaged. I do wish that I had inked the letters and edges of the top card before gluing down the letters. I was afraid I would really ruin it if I tried to ink everything after the fact. I did ink the letters and edges for the second one since nothing had been glued down yet on that one. The inking on the edges looks better to me and shows the dimension more.

Sometimes you just have to step away for a bit when a project isn't going right, and try again later when you can look at it with a fresh perspective.

September Card Night

Before leaving on vacation, I decided that I would do the scarecrow box card (posted here last October), but an evening making the card again made me realize that it would be difficult to do in the time we have. I played around a bit with print and cut, then decided that I could scan the scarecrow and cornstalk stamped images and turn it into a print and cut box card. I ran out of time before we left, but I took my laptop on vacation, and when I had a bit of free time, I worked on creating the file. It worked well, so we'll be doing the scarecrow box card after all. In fact, we'll have time to make an additional card, as long as it would be fast and easy. I had a cute apple basket stamp that became the focal point for a rocker card, so we'll be making both of the cards shown below:

August Card Night

We did some traveling in July, and again in August. Trying to design cards and prepare kits was just too much, so we had a "get creative" card making night.  I provided birthday stamps, dies, and embossing folders. They brought their own patterned paper and cardstock and creativity.

I only got two cards done. One gal got at least 15 done, although she did multiples of more than one card. Another gal got 11 done. As far as numbers of cards made, I came in last, but I was happy with my cards. I made the flowers using Heartfelt Creations stamps. The paper was a pack that I found at Tuesday Morning. It's Shimelle's Head in the Clouds.