Birthday Card for Operation Kuwait

Can you believe November is here already and it's flying by? Geesh seems like it was Halloween just yesterday! I've been busy working on a couple of projects. One is some organization in my studio which you'll see soon! I need to complete it first. My second big project was making cards from my friend's military troop in Kuwait. I finally finished up my cards and got them shipped off to Colorado.

I made some birthday cards that are feminine, but could be used for gals who like pink or purple and they could be used for an adult or a child. The bases are made from Colonial White cardstock from Close To My Heart. All of the inks are pigment inks and chalk inks from Studio G. The cardstocks are all from my scrap bin and are from Close To My Heart and Bazzill. Amazing what's been hanging out in my scrap bags!

When making cards, I like to pre-cut everything. I tend to make piles and ink all of the edges. This sort of gives things time to dry a bit except when using pigments. Pigments take quite awhile to dry. The lavender cardstock in the upper left has metallic silver pigment ink on the edges. I couldn't get it to photograph and it's not super obvious when looking at them in bright sunlight either. It's very subtle.  

The stamps are from the Birthday Tags set from Papertrey Ink. That brad in the middle is a dark purple brad from Close To My Heart. The image is stamped in black pigment ink.

The cute purple ribbon with white and pink daisies is from my purple ribbon jar. I've had that one and lots of purple ribbons are ages. This is how I store many of my ribbons. If they come on spools longer than 3 yards, they go on the racks on my studio door. All other ribbons are in jars like this one. They are quite stuffed full so I have really cut back on my ribbon purchases unless it's something for a specific project or something I can't live without which is very rare these days. 

I wanted a little something inside the cards as well. This stamp is also from Birthday Tags from Papertrey Ink. The paper flower is from Prima. The flower is attached with a Glue Dot. There's a little purple bling as well. Not sure where that's from.

Here we have the finished cards with one open so you can see the little added piece on the inside. The star stamps are also on the Birthday Tags set from Papertrey Ink.

Dimensions:

Card base: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Lilac colored cardstock: 5 3/8" x 4 1/8"
Lavender colored cardstock: 5" x 3 3/4"
Pink cardstock: 4" x 2"

I do not receive any compensation for the products used on Inky Hot Mess. I use what I like. The products are not given to me. I have purchased every item used. So if I think something stinks, I'll tell you to save your money and go elsewhere. If a product is given to me to test out, I will let you know. 

Close To My Heart Items For Sale

Today I am posting several retired items from Close To My Heart for sale. The items will be available exclusively on Inky Hot Mess for a week. After a week, whatever hasn't sold will be moved to my Etsy store. If you'd like an item, please contact me! Prices may be slightly higher on Etsy due to the fees they charge. Shipping is not included in the price. US sales only. PayPal only for payment as well. You can pay with a credit card through PayPal and you don't need a PayPal account for payment. All items will be shipped via USPS.

ALL items are brand NEW unless otherwise stated. ALL items come from a smoke free studio!

Shimmer Designer Brads $3 SOLD

~Shimmer Designer Brads - $3 - Retired - Copper, Silver, Bronze - Set of 27 SOLD

Creative Clips $3

~Creative Clips - $3 - Retired - Set of 12

Triple Play Album Kit $25

3 Mini Albums

Die Cuts

Love This My Acrylix Stamp Set

Hollyhock Mini Album Instructions

Indian Corn Blue & Desert Sand Mini Album Kits

~ Triple Play Album Kit - $25 - Retired - Kit Makes 3 Albums - Everything needed to make 3 mini albums is included (except adhesive and a stamp block) -  Includes: "Love This" C-Size My Acrylix Stamps, Ink Cubes - Desert Sand, Indian Corn Blue, Sunset & Hollyhock, Instruction Booklet, 3 Mini Albums, 3 Sheets of Die Cuts, Colonial White Grosgrain Ribbon - 3 Kits Available

I'm also including a free gift with every purchase made until August 31, 2013! Want something? Have questions? Email me.

O Ribbon How Do I Store Thee?

I may have a small thing for ribbon. A teeny, tiny thing. Ok. Ok. Ok. So it's more than a thing. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE RIBBBBBON! So there you have it.

back rack - photo bombed by Forrest 

I prefer to buy ribbon by the spool. That doesn't mean I don't have shorter pieces because I have about 500 million of them and they're sorted in different jars that you'll see in the future one day when I finish that project. Famous last words, right? ;)

I don't have any wall space left. Well, I do, but it's behind the door and I'm leaving that blank for now. So what do I do with my ribbons? Hang them on the door! Now, I live in a house that's 70 years old and has real wooden doors. I didn't want to damage them because I love them and I can't replace them. Some day, I will strip the layers of paint off of them and stain them. Anyone up for that?

Because I didn't want to damage my doors a trip to Lowe's was in order. Imagine that. Why Lowe's? It's 10 minutes away and Home Depot is 40 minutes away. That's the only difference 90 percent of the time.

I did a little searching online and was looking for an over the door pantry shelf unit thingie. Yup. Another technical term. I needed something that I could just set the spools in without them falling out. And, yes, I did find just what I was looking for at Lowe's. This is what I purchased and it's from ClosetMaid. Home Depot also has a version. What you find in store may be different than what you find online.

front rack

My rack is 18 inches across. There are shorter ones available. Not sure about longer ones. This rack comes with hardware that allows for wall mounting if you prefer that method. So this pieces works for different mounting types and you could use it for punches and other items as well.

I actually had to purchase two of them. One hangs on each side of the door. I can't close my door tightly because of the racks, but I don't need to. All doors may not have this issue. I couldn't close the door when I had one rack no matter which side of the door it was on. Remember, I have old doors and old door jambs.

all of my Papertrey Ink ribbons in rainbow order 

This rack is completely adjustable. There are three sections to it. If you only need one or two sections, then you can use just them. The baskets are completely movable as well. You don't need to use all of them or you can buy another rack and borrow the baskets. I don't have the same number of baskets on both of my racks. They did come with the same number. I just rearranged them to suit my needs.

Until next time *

Organize! It's sooooo much easier when you can find what you're looking for and everything has a home.

DeNami Design

A few months ago, there was a stamp expo in Columbia, SC and I had the opportunity to work for DeNami Design. They have some fantastic products! A girl can never have too many stamps, buttons, or ribbons. :)

DeNami Design designs their own line of wood mounted rubber stamps. One of the big things they have that I love is their line of chickies. Who doesn't love a little chicky? DeNami Design has a chicky for every holiday and occasion.

They also have a fabulous line of buttons! I already had several colors and now I have every color they carry. I just love buttons and can never have enough.

Their buttons come in zipper bags. I have put each color in a plastic jar with a cap and label. Each label says who the buttons are from and what color they are so restocking is easy as pie!

The last item I purchased was glitter ribbon! Seriously GLITTER RIBBON!! You really did read that. When I worked for them I got the silver one. And now I have the black one. They have a few other colors. I have never seen glitter ribbon anywhere else. The spool is 25 yards and is about $11!! Unbelievable Price. Loving the sparkle!

If you place an order on the DeNami Design website and you spend $100, you get free shipping! I am all about the free shipping! They also do lots of promotions. If you join their Facebook or Twitter, you'll see all of the promotions, videos, and blogs. They're a very nice family to work for!

Until next time *

Got glitter?