Corona Care: QUICK & EASY Card PRINTABLES

Write number #1, glue dot buttons.

Years ago (2015 to be exact) I did a Studio 5 (Salt Lake City Television morning program) segment called Junk Drawer Cards. You can visit it here. 

It inspired my 3rd Corona Care Card release!  I wanted to do something easy and quick, something that, even if you aren't a crafty lady, you can produce easily AND in quantity.

I've been thrilled to read and see how many of my past Corona cards (Hang in there SLOTH card) and (Thank you Card Kit) you have been mass producing!  Just think about how many people you are making smile!

Print & Cut.  Adhere Pencil.

These cards only require a printer, some stuff you have hanging around the house and adhesive.

If you haven't already send out some ♥, DO IT.  You'll be amazed at how good it feels.

You can download the files here.  Enjoy!  Sue

Stick on band-aids.  Optional: punch out hearts, add brads.

Staple rubber band one end, stretch and staple other end.

Do you need a last minute Mother's Day Card?

Corona Care Card: FREE Thank YOU card Kit!

*thank you for such a huge response to my free kit.  they are all gone now.  So sorry!
_________________________

I See.
It's nice to be seen.  Noticed.  Appreciated.
I See HOW much YOU are giving and sacrificing right now.
Nurses
Doctors
Truck Drivers
Grocers
EMT
Mothers
Fathers
Seniors
The list goes on and on.

I was feeling particularly grateful while sitting in the hospital with my daughter for the caregivers who tenderly, with proficiency and humor helped Emma and helped us navigate difficult roads.

It didn't stop there. 
I never gave much thought to Truckers.  But they really are the backbone of our country's food supply chain, fuel and vital supplies.  They are often gone from their families for weeks on end and now it's hard to find a restroom or a place to sit and eat a meal.  One sweet older couple north of here, made dozens of lunch bags, sat on the side of the road with a sign "free lunch for Truckers".

Grocers have to work, so they are being exposed day after day so we can eat.
Seniors are missing out on their graduation ceremonies.
Mothers and Fathers are working at home, managing children who now have to learn on-line and all the craziness that ensues.

Possibly I'm missing YOU on that list.  So, I'm sending you a card.  A card kit!
You can take a few minutes to create something pretty, then pass it forward to someone that you know, that needs to be SEEN.

This Corona Care Card Kit will arrive in an envelope with everything you need to create the card, except for double-sided adhesive (but you can even use a glue stick!).

DOWNLOAD the instructional slideshow and printables!
Email me your mailing address and I'll pop your kit in the mail on Monday.
*Supplies are limited (although I am making 150 kits), so first come first serve.

Corona Care Cards: HANG in there SLOTH ~ FREE downloads

After almost 4 weeks of not working due to an unexpected death in our family (not corona related), I'm feeling very strange about getting back to things like all is normal.

Because they're not.  For anyone.  

During this time, as I watched the world come to a halt and people retreat to their homes, I tried to think what I could do to help, in any small kind of way.

I have something more substantial in mind, but until I can actually 'do it', I decided to dig through my archives and find cards to lift and lighten our friends and family during this challenging time. Maybe make a few changes (like my first find and Sloth Cutie, see original here),  or create new ones!

All I know is I have an entire hutch upstairs adorned with sympathy cards and each and every one of them made a difference to us.  At a time when we can't do lunch, visit, embrace or even go a funeral, a card becomes a lifeline.

Inside of card

My challenge to you is make a card and send it to someone who needs a smile.

I'll try and help you out in the coming days, so stay tuned.  Please follow my facebook page, Q's Creative Cards, as I will be doing live videos and tutorials.

In the meantime, you can Download Files here.  
Select each file by placing your curser over each file and checking the circle in the top right corner.  Once all three are chosen, click the download button in top left.

I kept the printables in an editable word document, so you can change the size if you wish and delete the other images so you don't waste ink!

Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
~Sue

I would seriously ♥ to see your versions of this card, so shoot me an email if you can!

Chews Happy Winter Treat - Free download

It's no wonder we associate the color blue with Winter.  Sunny skies are rare, our garden color is asleep and I feel like I'm in hibernation and maybe just a little 'blue'.

Here's a little gumball tube that is blue, but bright & cheery and sure to make you (or someone you know) smile.

Or course you can add the tag to any kind of treat, a white gift bag, pillow box etc...  

You can download the printable here, six to a sheet.  

Just print on white cardstock.

Punch out 'Chews' Happy with a 1 1/8" circle punch.

Next is a blue 1 3/8" circle punch.

then, Punch the smile circle with a 2" circle punch.

Lastly, I punched a blue 2 1/2" scalloped circle.

If you have a die-cutting machine you could use that instead...but I love my circle punches!  Enjoy & Happy Winter days to you all!  Sue

Studio 5: Easy Chalkboard Tags - free printables!

*Quick view: download the tags here (11 files!).   

Busy weekend getting ready for a last-minute segment for Studio 5...but so happy I got to share these printable chalkboard tags with you...just in time for gift-wrapping (unless you're one of those uber-organized people who has had her gifts wrapped for weeks!)

You'll have to watch the video to find out my true paper-crafting confession!  I'm hoping some of you can share in my shame.

But shame & problem solved with these quick, easy printable tags that are actually best when kept simple.  These are design heavy, so just cutting them out and tying them to a gift is the best way to go.  

A few tips though...

Think BIG.  We normally think of tags as being small, but wow, what an impact they make when printed large!

Avoid busy background wrapping, stick to solid colors; white and craft look really good with chalkboard designs.  

Keep a handy basket of trims with your printed and cut tags so everyone can enjoy using them when needed.  Jute, twine, solid ribbon etc... all work well with these.

All printers work a bit differently, but the good news is I printed over a 100 sheets on less than one black cartridge.  I thought it would take much more, but I printed on draft/fast mode and it looked nice and chalky.  That's value!

If you're crafty and have time to embellish...you can!  Sponge a little white ink on tags and blend in with a cotton ball, it will add more chalkiness to parts of tag if you wish.

I love, love, love General's Pastel Chalk Pencils.  The only chalk pencils I know of with a pencil tip that can be sharpened to a point so you can color in some of the detailed parts of the tag.  This is what I'm using for my Chalkboard class (Chalkology) in January.  


Gems, brads, buttons or small silk flowers all work as well, just make sure they don't overwhelm the design.  On the other hand, BIG embellishments work well as long as they are next to and not on the tag (refer to my House tag gift bag with the large green poinsettia flower...big impact!)

 You can download the tags here (11 files!).  I keep my files on my Shutterfly account. (click on the PDF File tab at top of page to get downloads) Easy to download and refer back to if you ever lose them. Just download and save to your computer.  Open and print on white cardstock.

If you enjoyed these tags, then perhaps you would like to take it one step further and create these beautiful cards using chalkboard printables with my new class, Chalkology!

Even if you've never made a card, my easy step-by-step slideshow and ready to assemble kits will make you a card-maker in just a few hours!

Merry Christmas to you all and thanks for dropping by. 

Studio 5: Crafty ways to show gratitude

Always a pleasure to visit Studio 5; great people, great vibe! In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I'm happy to share with you a few crafty ways to share things you and your guests are grateful for.

Thanksgiving is a perfect time to gather the family and get crafty!

No presents and few decorations =  more time to craft!

I also love the opportunity to teach and participate in being grateful and am always looking for new ways to do this.

This simple and cute project is a great way to think about what we're grateful long before the big day.  It's also nice to avoid those sometimes awkward "what are we thankful for" Thanksgiving table traditions by anonymously (if you wish) reading what family & friends have submitted all month long.

The idea is to use this Turkey centerpiece as home decor the entire month of November, leaving a little pad of paper and pencil next to it.  Have a little family meeting and let everyone know the challenge: Whenever you think of something you're grateful for, write it down and put it in the Turkey bag!  I love how spontaneous these comments can be and how many more 'grateful' thoughts you have when you're challenged.

Supplies:

5 1/4" x 8 1/2" gift bag

Patterned Paper (greens and oranges work well)

Cardstock (orange & Green or whatever coordinates with your patterned paper)

Instructions:

1.      Cut top off of gift bag so bottom part measures 5 1/2".

2.      Download templates here: Click on PDF link at top of page.

3.      Print them out on cardstock, cut out.

4.      Place templates on paper and cut out.

a.     Green cardstock:  Background large Feathers and waddle

b.     Orange cardstock: Head

c.     Green patterned paper :  Half circle feathers

d.     Orange patterned paper:  Half circle feathers and photo corners

e.     Brown cardstock: Beak 

5.      Print out "Blessings Brighten" sentiment on cardstock.  Trim to measure

6.      Adhere & assemble all the pieces (I used pop-up foam squares for some of the layers)

7.      Make two of these and adhere one to each side of the bag.

You could coordinate your table setting a little more by making these miniature place settings.

Customize each place settings by typing and printing out your guests names.  You can match the sentiment on the centerpiece by downloading this free font, Landsdowne.

Thanksgiving Mini Album Favor

Another idea that can be very easy (depending on how crafty you feel) is making a 6" x 6" mini album for a table setting/favor.

This doesn't have to be a one-time album/gift...use it every year!  just add pages the longer you use it.  You could add pictures, memories, gratitude thoughts or everything.  What a great keepsake that everyone will treasure!

Simply cut 6" x 6" squares pages from cardstock as your base.  Use a clip ring to keep pages together.  Decorate as you wish, add photos, tags, ribbon or anything you like.

Photo Place Settings

Photos of guests with things they are grateful for as place settings may require a little forethought but could be a fun and meaningful addition to your Thanksgiving table. 

You could do this a few different ways

a.     Arrange to take pictures of guests with things they are grateful for.

b.     Find photos of guests (may take a bit of detective work) for a nice surprise.

c.    Only take pictures of objects (that are literal or symbolic) of things you know your guests are grateful for.  Use them as place settings and have them guess where they are supposed to sit.

Studio 5: Paper Crafted "Give Thanks" Turkey Centerpiece

Create this unique paper crafted Thanksgiving table ensemble with simple supplies, step-by-step instructions and in just a few hours.

This “Give Thanks” centerpiece is three dimensional so it can be seen from all sides, yet not so bulky that you can’t fit the gravy on the table!

Adorable mini turkeys pull the look together and do double duty as place cards and/or napkin holders.

You can download the free templates here.  You can either download the jpegs or go to the PDF Files page and download printable pages.

What you’ll need to complete this project:
Scrapbook Paper! I used the beautiful new Moonrise paper from SEI, but find any coordinating paper that you’d like OR go through your scraps and see what you come up with.

You’ll need 3 sheets of two and 2 sheets of two different colored papers for the centerpiece. Double sided is nice.

Foamcore (or Foam Board), is available at most craft and office supply stores. 1/4” for the place cards and ½” for the centerpiece, but you can always stack two pieces of ¼” if you can’t find ½”.


Circle Punches (or you can cut them by hand or use your favorite die-cutter).
Ink pads to distress with (I used black for the dark brown paper and Tim Holtz Distress Frayed Burlap ink for the others).

Chipboard, which you can buy at craft stores, or you can sometimes get it for free if you ask. You can also recycle your cereal (and other food packaging) boxes, as this is the same material. Just make sure to cover it all.
Exacto or utility knife to cut foam board and Scissors to cut chipboard and paper.
Adhesive; I used Scotch ATG tape, but anything that is strong will work.

Step 1: Punch out circles for double-sided Centerpiece Turkey. You’ll need
• 26 - 3”dark brown circles
• 26 – 2 ½” orange/yellow scalloped circles
• 30 – 3” polka dot circles
• 30 – 2 ½” green patterned scalloped circles


Step 2: Distress each side. I used black ink for the Dk brown and Frayed Burlap (Distress) ink for the rest. To speed up this process, lay circle flat on table and rub ink pad directly over edges. This only works with the distress ink, I used a sponge for the black ink on the brown paper.

Step 3: Fold circles into cones. I folded them all first and then laid a strip of adhesive along the bottom of the cone and folded them closed. Creating an assembly line will save you quite a bit of time.
Step 4: Create Feathers. Lay a strip of adhesive on the back of the smaller folded circles and tuck them into the larger circle cones.

Step 5: Create Tail Feather bases. Print out Tail Feather Templates (large & medium). Assemble and then trace out on chipboard and matching paper. Adhere paper to chipboard. Lay a strip of adhesive on back of double feather cones and adhere all along the circumference of the base. You may want to lay them all out first to make sure your spacing is correct.


For larger Tail Feather base, cover the front and back of chipboard with paper and feathers. Create two separate chipboard pieces for the medium tail feather bases.
Step 6: Create Turkey bodies. Print out Large Turkey body, cut out template and trace on Dark brown cardstock. Cut out (optional: sponge the edges with black ink). Print and cut out Turkey Wattle and beak. Trace on patterned paper and adhere to front of turkey. Attach two brads above the beak for eyes.

Print out “Give Thanks” heart on Orange patterned paper and cut out. Distress edges and adhere to front of turkey with ½” foam squares.


Lay turkey body in center of Medium Tail feather base and adhere the 3 extra polka-dot cone feathers around his head to fill in the spaces. Refer to image.


Step 7: Assemble Turkey:
Print out Foam board divider template and trace onto foam board. Cut out with knife.


Adhere tail feather bases and dividers together. This will stabalize the entire project so it can stand on it’s own. You could use ½” plywood as well.
Finish by adhering turkey bodies to the front and back of project.

For Place Card Turkeys, repeat the process except punch out the following

• 7 – 2” orange/yellow circles

• 7 – 1 3/8” dark brown circles

There is only one layer of feathers for the place card.
Use template for Placecard turkey body, Tail Feathers, Wattle and beak.
Use smaller brads for eyes.
Cut a 2” x 3 ½” piece of chipboard mounted on the back of place card so it will stand on it’s own. Bend strip at 2” mark.



Alternatively you could attach the entire place card to a knapkin holder.
To customize your names for the place cards, purchase the font (SNF GOODY) for $3 at scrapnfonts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Free Favorite Fonts For You!

One of my favorite 'wasting time/eyes glazing over/in front of a computer screen' is finding new free fonts. I get asked about this a lot in my classes and decided to share some new favorites of mine as well as a little tutorial if you don't already know how to get them on your computer.

I wrote a post like this almost exactly a year ago, so if you'd like 4 other great free fonts and a picture tutorial then click here.

Download here




Download here

Download here




Download here



Download here

Finding cool free fonts is a time consuming affair, so feel free to share your font treasures as a comment on this post.
I found these five fonts at http://www.1001freefonts.com/, but there are SO many free fonts sites now. It is nice to know which ones to trust though, as there is nothing worse than getting a virus from one.
The following websites are ones that I trust. There are more, but these six alone will keep you busy for weeks on end!

1. http://www.1001freefonts.com/
2. http://www.dafont.com/
3. http://www.urbanfonts.com/
4. http://simplythebest.net/fonts
5. http://www.acidfonts.com/ 
6. http://www.fontsquirrel.com/  

If you're unfamiliar with how to add these fonts to your computer, follow this link to my picture tutorial. Things, however, have changed for me a little bit since last year. I got a new computer last month and now when I click on the download I get an automatic 'install' window, which lo and behold, automatically adds the font to my computer. Of course it always asks me "are you SURE you want to do this, are you sure it is safe?" I've had no problems with the sites above.

Here is an image of what my font folder looks like. You can access this under your control panel, which is found under your start button, which is usually found in the lower LH corner of your screen. Click on the image to embiggen.

The following image is of the font window that pops up once you download your font. You can see the "install" button that automatically installs it for me. If you don't get this same button, then follow my instructions on my other blog post.  

Good luck and have fun!

Celebrate with Banners Video with Kristine McKay

Oh my goodness, Susan Neal and Kristine McKay (super crafty Studio 5 contributor) in the same room! We had SO much fun doing this. Too much fun! We had to do several takes because we just went on and on and on. Hope you enjoy the tips, ideas and free downloads!

I knew when I found this quote by Jane Austin, that it would make the perfect birthday card.  There's nothing more celebratory than banners, so it was a great fit.  Download the PDF (or use the JPEGS) to print out 2 cards per 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white cardstock.  The rest is scoring, folding and getting creative with punched out circles.  Mix & Match, change up the colors and make a bunch!


Here's another quick card that requires a scallop edged circle paper.  Cut off the scallops and follow the step-by-steps below.

Cut & Print technique: This is by far my favorite and most requested technique.  You'll be able to customize every card (or scrapbook page!) and will save you money. 

Create your sentiment on a word program or photo editing software.  There are thousands of free fonts to download; I like having a huge selection to suit my mood and project.

Print sentiment on plain printer paper.  Place the sentiment in the center of the page, but not right at the top.

Use re-positional adhesive to tack die-cut (or punch, or sticker or whatever else you want to print on) directly over the printed sentiment.  To check that your placement is correct, hold the page up to a light source.  Move if necessary.

Run the page back through the printer.  Perfect placement everytime!  You can download the PDF (or JPEG) on my free download page.  Enjoy!

Here's another trick...distress the edges of your die-cut before you remove it to place on your project.  So much easier!



Studio 5: Utah Football Frenzy Printable Party

The car-flags are fluttering in the wind, the red U's and blue Y's are shining from the rooftops and the BYU-U banter can be heard just about anywhere. Here in Utah, it's football frenzy and I'm here to help!

Please visit this link for all the free printable party/downloads and read the article at the Studio 5 website.

And for a added bonus, I'm giving away the two cookbooks we talked about today. Jenny Stanger's UTE and COUGARS cookbook. Just leave your SCHOOL SPIRIT as a comment and I'll pick two winners by the end of the week!

P.S. One of my Studio 5 peeps, Michelle Lunt, kindly let me know that both books can be purchased at Parcels & Paper in Sandy, UT...in case you don't win!