I mentioned a couple of days ago that I collect two things. The first was foreign coins and the second in boxes. It started out when my dear hubby and I were dating and he bought me this box with a gift of perfume in it.

Like the coin hobby by husband buys be boxes as gifts and I buy them wherever we travel. Family buy them for me and many have been hand made as well. In fact, I have made a number of the boxes in my collection.

I have no idea how many boxes I have, though this display holds most of them. Too understand the scale of this, the length is 6 feet and the height 2 feet (plus that bit on the next shelf down ;-)

The largest box I have? I guess that would be my cedar chest built by my brother-in-law. The smallest is this

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

A while back I participated in a couple of swaps. One was to create a card combining paper embroidery with teabag folding.

The other swap was to combine paper embroidery with rubber stamping. For this I used one of my hand-carved stamps and embossed it with gold powder.

I really like paper embroidery as it can be combined with so many other techniques. 

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Last summer when I went to Pittsburgh to meet with some Internet friends we had one whole day of parchment lessons. I had been self-taught up to this, then Em started from the very basics and worked us up to more advanced techniques. Along the way we learned tracing, embossing, piercing, and coloring with a variety of mediums. These are the four cards that I completed in the class.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net

Last year one of the groups I am on issued a technique challenge. We were all to make a card by stamping a 'sketch' design style on black cardstock and embossing in gold. A bit of Twinkling H2O mixed with Future Floor Polish is painted onto this background. Since I did not have the requisite rubber stamp style, I used an embossing pen and drew my design on the cardstock.

This is one of the cards I did for the challenge.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Three months last year I did the decorations for Women's Ministries events at church. For the January program I decorated on a 'snow' theme and made snowglobe centerpieces for each of the round tables.

These are based upon the collapsible unit from Some Assembly Required (http://www.some-assembly-required.com/index.php?section=browse&action=product-detail&view=&sku=NAS-Die+SG&img_num=1&sn=12). However, I enlarged the largest of the clear elements to the biggest it could be made to fit on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of transparency. Each of the other parts was enlarged the same percentage. The base units are all cut from regular cardstock. The center designs are two identical designs mounted on either side of the centermost transparency.

These collapse just like the small die cut units and were a big hit at the event.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

There are two things that I collect. One of these is foreign coins. I think the whole thing started when my mom got a Bolivian penny in some change back when I was a kid. Coins have held a fascination for me ever since.

I pick them up when I travel, friends send them from their own countries and my husband buys them for me from a local coin shop. The shop only really deals in US coins so when they get foreign coins at estate sales and such they just toss them in a box and sell them by the pound.

I sort the coins by country, then by denomination and save only one of each issue style. Whatever I have left in duplicates I use in crafts or donate to the Boy Scouts to use in their merit badges of coin collecting.

The ones I keep are marked in my catalog and filed in coin holder in drawers. I also keep a computer log of countries and the number of coins I have from each one. At last count I had 1179 different coins from 121 countries.

I do collect a few US coins. Mostly the state quarters, the presidential dollars, the westward nickels, and very antique coins.

I'll tell you about my other collection another day.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Here's a neat website for some instruction and some inspiration. www.docrafts.co.uk  has project ideas for cards, scrapbooking, and kids crafts, a gallery of artists' work, instructional videos and 'tips' categorized by papercrafts, rubber stamping, glass painting, funky foam, stickers, punching and cutting, scrapbooking, and adding color.

Other areas 'for members' are most likely to be helpful for UK residents.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net

Ever have one of those days when you don't want to do anything but veg out and waste time? Fortunately there are plenty of places on the Internet to assist you with this AND a couple of people ready and willing to help you find them!

One of our local radio stations posts daily (Monday through Friday) a 'work waster' designed to let you look busy at work while you actually waste time. Its a running gag they have, and sometimes their postings are useful, sometimes entertaining, and sometimes truly a waste of time. Check it out for yourself: http://www.1190kex.com/pages/pages/work_waster.php

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Today we took a field trip in the car to have a look around about 50 miles south of us. As we drove the country roads, stopped to buy local strawberries, and did a bit of shopping, I took the time to do some card stitching. I finished these two up when I got home - making a polished stone background to enhance the thread and cardstock colors.

This is a pattern I got from a friend on the Paper Embroidery group.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

One of the Yahoo groups I am on has a challenge this month to make an oriental card. I made two.

Both feature illustrations from a magazine called Taiwan Review. A variety of papers were used as backings and the 'grass cloth' is acutally from a wallpaper sample book.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

If you are like the majority of the card making/giving world, and you find it difficult to find fresh ideas for men's cards the new book "Cards for Men and Boys" by Elizabeth Moad will be a refreshing resource for you. [David & Charles, 2006, ISBN 0-7153-2580-9]

The table of contents lists several generic topics followed by sports, indoor leisure, outdoor leisure, and special celebrations (milestones and holidays). Indexing is presented in two separate lists: topics and techniques. This way you can select your man's hobby and look for a card idea or look for instructions on a technique you want to try and be assured that the card presented will be man-suitable.

The book contains over 70 ideas including several templates. Even if you never duplicate any card exactly, you will have plenty of inspiration from which to make your own unique creation.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Here's a handy tool to have in your craft supplies...a proportional scale. There are three ways to use it:

1-When you have a picture or pattern of a given size and need it to fit in a smaller space. Find the measurement of the original on the inner circle. Rotate this inner circle till the starting measurement lines up with the desired finished measurements on the outer circle. Now, in the little 'window' you read the percentage reduction and this is what you will set on your copier.

2-When you have a set of instructions that are larger than you want to make. Line up as above on one known measurement and you will be able to easily find the matches for each of the subsequent parts of your instructions.

3-When you have a pattern that says to enlarge 125 percent you can tell what the finished size will be. Line up the line above the 'window' with the stated percent enlargement. Now look at the original size on the inner circle and you will see the finished size directly above it on the outside ring.

You can pick up your own proportional scale at photography, craft, and art stores for just a few dollars.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

People are always asking me if I have pictures of my grandkids. Sure, on the walls...on my desk...on my computer...but NOT in my purse. It's heavy enough as it is!

Well, enough of that! I made this little book out of plastic slide mounts. Each photo has a 'window' of transparency to protect it and the whole is bound with ribbons glued to the spine with The Ultimate glue.

It's a very lightweight album to show off pictures of my 5 beautiful grandchildren.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Here's a card I did yesterday just for fun. I had this great flower-print grosgrain ribbon so I cut out a pair of flip-flops from yellow cardstock, punched three holes, and threaded the ribbon. It is glued to the back with Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue. I added pink punch-out flowers with floral brad centers to the toe area. The flip-flops are then glued to the front of a 5.5 x 7.5 pink card. I used pink gel pen to 'stitch' around the outline of the shoes and added some summer stickers.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

I found these 2-inch ceramic boxes at www.orientaltrading.com for $14.95 per dozen (http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=search&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=button.search&Ntt=56%2F9206&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&N=0).

I used Ranger Industries alcohol inks...

...Alcohol, metallic marker, and a wood peg with velcro to hold a small felt pad.

With these supplies and tools I did the 'polished stone' technique (http://lumpystuff.com/article_ai2.htm) to end up with these finished products.

When the inks are fully dry I spray two coats of clear acrylic sealer to protect the artwork.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

The new issue of Rubberstampmadness magazine had a neat topic in the Tips & Techniques column. I had to give it a shot!

The gist is to stamp a scenic or collage stamp with white ink on black cardstock and again with black ink on white cardstock. The white version is colored in and then torn top to bottom leaving a strip featuring the focal point.

The colored version is glued on the black and white version and the whole is trimmed and mounted on a card face. Here are three that I did.

For mine I used Staz-on inks on both versions. The white is glossy cardstock, the black is semi-gloss. I heatset the inks and used Marvy watercolor markers for the coloring.

Neat technique!

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net  

Today's entry will share some recent cards I have made.

This is the card DH will get for Father's day. I used wood grained cardstock as the base which is creased on the left face and split on the right face. Pictures of hinges were downloaded from the internet as well as the picture of the latch. I cut a hole in the latch and built a loop of cardstock underneath to slide into the hole. The lock is made of two ephemera stickers that I stuck back to back. I cut the loop at the side so it could be slipped on and off the latch allowing the card to open. Since the challenge was to make a card with brads or eyelets the latch and the hinges are attached with 'plus brads'. They were actually the inspiration for the entire card! The card is lined with the wood grained cardstock as well.

I made this card for a vellum challenge. I used two different colors of vellum in different widths and first punched a border along both edges of each. Then I ran them through the paper crimper. I mounted them on the card with foam tape under each layer and then added satin ribbon, also with foam tape. On the right I used vellum stickers to spell out LOVE and adhered silver peel-off stickers with hearts to link the letters together, Two hearts from the same sheet of peel-offs are added to the ribbon.

For a challenge to make a card with checks, I broke out lots of scrapbook scraps and made this little quilt card. The instructions for this card are on my website at http://mystudio3d.com/QuiltedCard.htm. I attached satin cord to the card and glued miniature closepins to the card as well. The quilt is held in the closepins and also glued to the card. Butterfly stickers were applied and flight-trails drawn in with Sharpie marker. The greeting is a silver peel-off colored with Sharpies to match the butterfly trails.

Finally, this paper embroidery card was made for a challenge to use this particular pattern (the pattern is actually just a single side border.) From the first time I saw the pattern it reminded me of bunting seen at a patriotic event so I broke out the red, white and blue. After pricking the borders on my red and blue cardstocks I glued down a length of white ribbon up the center of each border. Then I stitched over the top of it, blue and white on the red paper - red and white on the blue paper. After stitching I cut the blue to fit inside the borders on the red paper and designed the fireworks center. It is stitched in gold metallic thread and enhanced with gold round and star brads. After mounting on white cardstock I added gold star peel-off borders at the top and the bottom to tame the ends of the ribbons.

I hope you enjoyed the recent work coming out of my studio.

Ddd studio3d@ccwebster.net