Leftover Triangles by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

I treated myself to an AccuCut die called Napkin Fold Cards in December and have been making a bunch of them. Each card includes triangles in two sizes and I always die cut lots of extras so I can mix and match the patterns and color combinations. Therefore: Lots of leftover triangles!

I thought it would be fun to design paper quilt blocks to glue into my Traveler’s Notebook. The photo above shows a 2-page spread with a pair of quilt blocks. The photo below shows three of them, hinged together vertically. They’ll go on another page in the notebook.

FYI: (For Your Inspiration) The remaining two photos show an array of Napkin Fold Cards. If anyone is interested in a class or in-store demo, I’d be happy to bring my die to The Queen’s Ink for a session. Please call during business hours - leave your name, phone and email info and if there is enough interest we’ll plan a session.

YOUR TURN:

• Start with gel-printed, hand-painted, hand-stenciled or hand-stamped papers instead of printed sheets!
• Turn triangles and squares into paper quilt blocks. 
• Adhere to card fronts, pages in an art journal or traveler’s notebook.
• Use a fine nib pen to add faux stitching lines.
• Use a sewing machine to add actual stitched lines to the blocks prior to glueing them to a project or into a book. (Keep a separate sewing machine needle for use on paper only - don’t use the one you use for fabric, paper will dull it.)

SUPPLIES for PAPER QUILT BLOCKS:

• Light or medium weight patterned papers or cardstock
• Square and triangle dies in sizes of choice
• Glue stick

FOR NAPKIN FOLD CARDS:

• Lightweight patterned papers
• AccuCut Napkin Fold Die
• Glue stick

Tab Hunter by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

Coming up with names for my tutorials is always a fun challenge. For this one, I’d like to think the words will have you looking for tab shapes, but if you’re a person of a certain age you’re probably thinking I’m writing about an actor by that name from way back when...

This morning I found a sandwich baggie with seven little faces sitting there, minding their own business. I thought they needed a new home: My Traveler’s Notebook! I know HOW I made them, though I don’t know why or when. I think I intended to add bodies and limbs and never got that far. I just know that they make me smile (and isn’t that enough?)... 

Do you have dies for tabs or small shapes like 6-pointed stars? Get ‘em out! Cut some pieces. Make some silly, scary, serious, whimsical or other sorts of faces:

• Mix in pieces of twine. 
• Add googly eyes or make eyes with hole reinforcements, circles, stamps or whatever strikes your fancy. 
• Add pompoms, bits of plastic greenery or other embellishments.
• Keep going...Add bodies and limbs!

Whatever you do, don’t tuck your creations away for months or years. Add them to cards to send to kids 5 and above* or grown-up friends who are kids at heart! Put them into a journal where lumpiness isn’t an issue. Glue magnets to the back and decorate the fridge.

*Safety first: Keep the small pieces away from toddlers and babies to avoid choke hazards. These are decorative only, not meant to be toys!

(??? Does anyone wonder why the number 26 appears at the lower right on the page with the 7 faces? It’s because I have started to number the pages in some, though not all, of my Traveler’s Notebook inserts. I leave the first two pages blank for a Table of Contents that I add to as I go. In months or years to come I can quickly locate something I need to find... I’ve got several finished inserts lined up on a shelf already and figured I needed some kind of ‘information retrieval system.’)

SUPPLIES

• Tab- and star-shaped dies
• Thick twine
• Scissors
• Adhesives of choice 
•  (Pick glue formulated for gems as well as paper)
• Googly eyes
• Pompoms and other embellishments

Best Day Ever Cards and Envelopes by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

As is my habit when I get new stamps, I tested a bunch of the Mary Engelbreit stamps on envelopes to see how they’d work and to experiment with other stamps in my collection. Three of the envelopes are shown above. All stamps are from RubberMoon.

The envelopes with the words BEST DAY EVER oriented as a vertical element make a great card front, too. I cropped a photo of one of them to show you what I mean. See below.

YOUR TURN:
Stamp some envelopes with most of the elements toward the left, leaving plenty of room to the right for the recipient’s name and address. Do a bit of coloring, or not. Use the same basic layout to stamp some cards.

SUPPLIES:

• All stamps from RubberMoon
• Ink in dark teal or color of choice
• Markers
• Colored pencils
• Cardstock
• Envelopes

Woodgrain Landscapes by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

Woodgrain paper is always fun to use as intended - as planks of wood, but if you use your eye as if they’re attached to a zoom lens on a camera you can find some interesting little landscapes within the grain. My Artist Trading Cards incorporate 2” square scraps that look like hillsides or paths. One of them even has a knot in the woodgrain that evokes sunshine.

Using my new Mary Engelbreit stamps from RubberMoon I stamped a little girl happily running along with her ice cream cone, accompanied by woodland creatures. A bit of coloring with pencils, markers and a fine nib pen, plus some Tim Holtz stickers (phrases cut into pieces) finish the ATCs.

Options:

• Customize the little girl by changing her skin tone and hair.
• Skip the stickers and stamp, machine-generate, or hand-write a message.
• Change the ice cream to strawberry or chocolate!
• Include kittens or ducks instead of, or in addition to, the bunnies.

SUPPLIES:

• Rubber stamps by Mary Engelbreit (RubberMoon)
• Ink in dark teal or other dark color
• Markers and colored pencils of choice
• Pigma Micron pen in Black (01)
• Gelly Roll pen in White (10)
• Stickers by Tim Holtz (ideaology)

Coloring with Copics with Nancy Sheads - Oddball Alice in Wonderland

Join Nancy for a new Copic markers class featuring the Oddball Alice in Wonderland Collection from Stamping Bella. In this class, you will make three whimsical cards featuring basic Copic techniques as well as embossing and ink blending. All necessary techniques are taught in class. Seats are limited, so sign up today! CLASS FEE $25

Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 1:00PM - 3:30 PM

Register online or call the Queen’s Ink at (301) 497-9449

BRING TO CLASS: The list below reflects the Copic markers that Nancy will use in class. You can follow along using the same colors OR substitute colors based upon your personal Copic collection. Please make sure your Copics are marked with Washi tape or some other means of identification. Markers are available for purchase at The Queen’s Ink. Students will receive a 10% discount on Copic markers. Nancy will be available prior to class to help with selection.

PLEASE NOTE: You must bring your own markers to participate in class. If you need markers, please contact The Queen’s Ink in advance of class. If you wait until class time, you may not be able to purchase the markers you need.

• BV25: Grayish Violet
• BG10: Cool Shadow
• BG11: Moon White
• BG23: Coral Sea
• BG15: Aqua
• Y11: Pale Yellow
• Y21: Buttercup Yellow
• YR23: Yellow Ochre
• YR24: Pale Sepia
• R24: Prawn
• R46: Strong Red
• B91: Pale Grayish Blue
• B93: Light Crockery Blue
• B95: Light Grayish Cobalt
• B97: Night Blue
• E000: Pale Fruit Pink
• E01: Pink Flamingo
• E04: Lipstick Natural
• E11: Barley Beige
• C1: Cool Gray No. 1
• C3: Cool Gray No. 3
• C5: Cool Gray No. 5
• 0: Colorless Blender

OTHER SUPPLIES: Please bring:

• Scissors suitable for fussy cutting
• Foam adhesive squares
• Tape runner adhesive or double-sided tape

Mary Engelbreit Does It Again! By Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

I was so excited when I heard that RubberMoon was introducing a new line of rubber stamps by Mary Engelbreit! Needless to say, a bunch of them found their way into my shopping bag on my last trip to The Queen’s Ink and they are available in the web store in case you can’t shop in person.

My first project is a simple one: It’s a self portrait. I’m dozing in my easy chair, dreaming of blue birds while my little kittens cavort under foot. Oh, wait a minute...I don’t have any cats - I’ve got a poodle, and my hair is curly, not straight. And I usually dream about chocolate and being able to sing like Tina Turner. 

Back to the project: It’s not a self portrait, it’s a quick and easy card to send to friends of a certain age.

1. Stamp on a soft flannel-finish cardstock in a dark color like blue or sepia rather than black. Compose the flat card as shown or as you prefer (perhaps you’d like your napping gal to be surrounded by bunnies instead of kittens, or perhaps those kittens are part of her dream and need to be leaping around overhead).
2. Do a tiny bit of coloring with pencils. Use a light touch and minimal shading.
3. Insert the card into a die-cut pocket cut from 2-sided patterned paper/cardstock, tuck the pocket into a regular envelope for mailing, or skip the pocket and envelope and send as a postcard.
4. Optional: Instead of a flat rectangle, make a side-fold card so you have space for a note.

Tip: The “at my age” stamp is from my collection (River City Rubber Works/discontinued) but a similar sentiment can be hand-lettered, computer-generated, or stamped one letter at a time with a mini alphabet set.

Supplies:

• Stamps by Mary Engelbreit (RubberMoon)
• Ink in denim blue or color of choice
• Colored pencils
• Flannel-finish cardstock in pale blue and pale green or cardstock of choice
• Patterned paper to coordinate with stamped card
• Optional: Die-cut pocket (shown - AccuCut for GrandeMARK machine)

She’s Sew Fine! By Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

My friend Chris surprised me with a unique and very special holiday gift - a pack of fabulous quilted cards! 

She told me how she made them and gave me permission to share them here on the blog. 

They’re super simple:
Sew strips of fabric to heavy-weight fusible webbing, add decorative stitching at seam lines, stitch down a quote (computer-generated, hand-lettered, stamped or stenciled on cardstock), fuse to cardstock and stitch around the edges. For a side-fold card, adhere to a card base, otherwise add an easel or leave them ad shown (suitable for framing...). 
DONE!

SUPPLIES:

• Fabric
• Sewing thread
• Fusible webbing (heavy-weight)
• Cardstock
• Optional: Stamps, computer and printer)