I Thank My Lucky Stars for You

This project is what I would term a "leftovers" card. I have a small pile of pieces left from different projects on my scrap desk, in addition to the rather larger pile of scraps of paper and cardstock also on my desk. Today I decided to pull out those little pieces and make something with them. This card is the result.

I based my design on one of Operation Write Home's bonus sketches. It basically has a sunburst design on the top portion, with a smaller (plain) bottom panel. The starting point of the sunburst in the sketch is offset to the left side, but the patterned paper I used dictated it had to be more centered.

The main piece I pulled out was the stars-&-stripes patterned paper scrap, from the We R Memory Keepers "Red White and Blue" 6x6" pad. I also found a large circle die cut that I'd made using a pattern from 7 Gypsies' "Postale" 6x6" paper pad. I cut that slightly smaller with a die from this set. After I die cut it, I inked around the edges with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink.

I also had a piece of cardstock that I'd tried doing a blue ombre inking on, but that hadn't turned out too well as a whole. So I stamped my greeting, from this Hero Arts set, on that, white heat embossed it, and die cut it with a Spellbinders Standard Circles SM die. I layered that onto the scalloped circle piece.

For the bottom panel, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock to 1.5x5.25": the measurements in the sketch. I cut out the chevron-style triangles using a die from a set by Momenta (sorry, but I don't know the name). I cut a piece of white cardstock to 2x5.25", and sprayed it a couple of times with Postbox Red Dylusions spray ink. When that dried, I layered the kraft piece over it.

I glued the patterned paper panel to the section of the white cardstock that extended past the top of the kraft piece. Then I glued my greeting piece in the middle. For the mat, I blended Faded Jeans Distress ink around the front of a white A2 card base. It looked a little too warm, so I went over it again with Broken China Distress ink. This gave it a more teal hue, to match the stars in the patterned paper better. Finally, I adhered the card front panel to the base. I will be using this as an AnyHero card for Operation Write Home, to write a thank you note to an overseas hero for his/her service & sacrifice.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Witch Kraft"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"

Wishing You Peace at Christmas

My second card for Our Daily Bread Designs' sketch challenge is a Christmas card. I know--Christmas is not quite around the corner--yet--and I'm sick of some of the Big Box craft stores putting out their Christmas decorations and supplies in June. But we send out a lot of cards for Christmas, and I decided not to repeat last year's effort of over 100 cards in one month, which left me incredibly burned out!

Again, I based my card on the ODBD sketch:

The only real change I made to the sketch was to substitute a die-cut doily for the banners.

This time I chose the "Chickadee Single" stamp. I stamped it on a piece of white cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and cut it out with the coordinating die. I die cut a label from a patterned paper in the Creative Imaginations/Iron Orchid Designs "Rejoice" 6x6" pad, using a die from Spellbinders' "Labels Eight" set. I traced around the same die onto burgundy cardstock, and cut it out with scissors to create a narrow mat. After coloring the berries, branch, and chickadee's beak and feet with colored pencils, I glued that die cut down to the label panel. Finally, I stamped the greeting underneath the chickadee, using some of the stamps from this set and Tuxedo Black.

I chose 2 patterned papers from The Paper Studio for the background and smaller, checkered panel. I double-matted the background with burgundy and kraft cardstocks. I also matted the checkered panel with burgundy. I temporarily positioned the checkered & label panels onto the card front, and marked the bottom edge, as well as where the label came onto the checkered piece. I glued a piece of dark red ribbon onto the small panel, so the label would cover most of it. Then I glued the label & checkered panels together.

I cut a doily out of white cardstock using Lifestyle Crafts' "Dainty Doily" die. I lightly sponged Scattered Straw Distress ink over it, just to soften the look. I cut off a portion, and glued it in place on the card front. Then I glued the label/checkered panel over it, wrapped the ribbon behind the patterned paper, and adhered the completed card front to a 4.5x7.25" card base.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Hello, Beautiful

Our Daily Bread Designs' current bi-weekly challenge is a sketch challenge. I ended up making 2 cards; this is my first.

As per the challenge rules, I based my card on their sketch:

I began by choosing which ODBD stamp I wanted to use. I decided on the largest and smallest of the "Sweet William Singles" flower stamps. I die cut a piece of cream cardstock with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die. I then stamped the larger flower a few times onto that, and filled in with the smallest stamp, using Cherry Red pigment ink from Stampabilities. I cut a piece of burgundy patterned paper from my scrap stash to have an 1/8" mat all around the focal panel, and rounded the corners with my 1/4" Corner Chomper.

For the background, I embossed a piece of green cardstock with one side of the "Garden Lattice" M-Bossabilites folder by Spellbinders. I chose a piece of teal paper with a subtle pattern from my scraps for the mat, and cut the banners and smaller mats from it as well. I found a paper with a small floral pattern on my scrap desk left from another project, and used that for the panel behind the stamped piece.

I used a stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "Summer Garden" set for my greeting. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto another piece of cream cardstock, then matted it with the teal paper. And that finished this card front.

Or so I thought. Apparently, I'd gotten a little glue on my finger, which had gotten tacky. Not realizing this, I touched the greeting panel, and the glue stuck to the cardstock and tore it a little. My heart sank at first, because there was no really good way to redo it, short of starting over on the whole card. But then I thought this would be a good opportunity for embellishing! So I found some sequins by Doodlebug Designs, some rhinestones, and a pink button. I adhered the button & sequins to the panel, adding the rhinestones on top of the sequins to give a more "finished" look. I added rhinestones to a couple of the flower centers as well. The upper corner of the greeting panel looked a little barren, so I colored a tiny clear button with Lettuce alcohol ink, and added that & a couple more sequins and rhinestones. I stitched through the button holes with black embroidery floss, and THAT finished the card front! Finally, I adhered the completed card front to a 4.5x7.25" card base.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

I Thank My Lucky Stars

This is my second card for the "Ombre" challenge at A Blog Named Hero. I used the following sketch by Operation Write Home as the basis for my design:

As you can see, I made a few alterations. I left off the bottom right circle to have room for the greeting, omitted the left-hand strip, and die cut hexagons instead of circles. Other than that...!

I used a greeting and star from the Hero Arts "Year Round Sentiments" stamp set. I stamped the star 5 times onto white cardstock, using Versamark ink. Then I heat embossed them with Ranger Super Fine Detail white embossing powder. I die cut the hexagons, using one of Lifestyle Crafts' "Nesting Hexagons" dies, and blended Barn Door Distress ink over them, wiping the excess off the embossed stars. Then I set those aside while I worked on the background.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4x5.25", and stamped my greeting in the lower right corner, again using Versamark. I white heat embossed that, and then blended Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, and Salty Ocean, to get the ombre effect on the background.

I nestled the bottom left hexagon next to the greeting, and then positioned the rest of them and glued them all down. I blended Barn Door around the edges of the front of an A2 card base, and then adhered the main panel to that. A quick and easy CAS card, that one of our overseas military heroes can use to send a thank-you note home!

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Operation Write Home/Our Daily Bread Designs August "Stars"

So Proud of You

A Blog Named Hero's current challenge is "Ombre." I've had the Hero Arts "Li'l Hoot" stamp set for quite some time, and have used it in other cards. But for some reason, I'd never stamped the elephants. So I decided to do that for this card. I wanted to go for an African sunset type scene, so I blended Distress inks in Barn Door, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, and finally Mustard Seed, to create the background.

The sketch I used for this card is this one from Operation Write Home:

I flipped the sketch horizontally for my card, but otherwise stuck to it exactly.

I stamped the elephants in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper, then colored them using Inktense pencils and my water brush.

I stamped the greeting, from the same Hero Arts set, onto another piece of the Mixed Media paper, also in Jet Black. The stamp I used for that is all on one line, so to get it on two lines, I masked off half of the stamp with painter's tape, inked the greeting, removed the tape, and stamped. Then, after cleaning the stamp thoroughly, I just repeated the process to stamp the rest of the greeting. I die cut and embossed the greeting piece with a Spellbinders Classic Ovals die. While the paper was still in the die, I blended Wild Honey over the middle, then removed the die and sponged a little Wild Honey lightly around the edges.

I scribbled some silhouetted tree forms onto the ombre background with a black brush tip marker, and added grasses along the bottom. I mounted the panel onto a piece of black paper, cut to 4.25x5.5". I glued down the elephants, added a few grasses at their feet, then glued on the greeting. Finally, I added googly eyes to the elephants, just for the "cute" factor, since I think this card would be perfect for a kid. I mounted the card front to an A2 card base, and that finished off the card. I will be sending this to Operation Write Home.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

You're a Winner Masculine Card

This is my final card for the "Cutting Edge" Blog Hop, hosted by Paulina at Pretty Pink Posh this weekend.

I decided to do a definitely masculine card this time. I would call it "clean & simple," but I don't know if all the inking & spatters make it especially clean! LOL My design is (somewhat loosely) based on Operation Write Home's Sketch #180:

I stamped the Hero Arts "Designer Woodgrain" background on kraft cardstock using Walnut Stain Distress ink. I had initially tried using Gold and then Espresso Adirondack acrylic paint daubers on the stamp, but neither one provided the clear image with enough contrast that I wanted. So finally my third try with Walnut Stain proved successful.

For the greeting, I used one of the stamps from this set, & again stamped it in Walnut Stain, this time on a lighter tan cardstock. I "separated" the stamp, by masking off the "winner!" with a piece of tape and inking up only the "you're a" part. I removed the tape, stamped, and then repeated the process to stamp the "winner!" portion. I used a paintbrush and clean water to flick water droplets on the stamped words. Distress inks react with water, so that caused some bleeding and a bit of very subtle fading in some of the letters. I also applied a little ink to an acrylic block, thinned it with water, and used the same brush to spatter the ink onto the cardstock. Finally, I cut the words into banner shapes and inked the edges with more Walnut Stain.

Instead of a vertical strip of cardstock, as in the sketch, I decided to use a row of hexagons. So I used one of the dies from the Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Hexagons" set to cut 5 hexagons out of scraps of various patterned papers I had left on my desk from other projects. I glued the green one in the horizontal center of the card, 1/8" in from the left edge, and then glued the rest above and below that. I did have to trim off a little from the top & bottom ones. These provided a bit of color to an otherwise monochromatic card.

After gluing down the hexagons, I glued the greeting banners to the panel. Finally, I adhered the front to a card base, which I'd inked with--yep, you guessed it--Walnut Stain, to create a dark brown mat. A simple card, but one that took a lot of thought on my part. I will be sending this one also to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking Blog's August "Encouragement"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Witch Kraft"

Never Give Up

This is my second card for the Pretty Pink Posh "Cutting Edge" blog hop. You can read more about the hop at the Pretty Pink Posh blog.

I based my card on Sketch #159 by Operation Write Home:

For the focal image, I stamped the flower from Sizzix/Echo Park's This & That "Graceful #2" set onto white cardstock using Memento Rose Bud ink. I blended Spun Sugar Distress ink over the image, just to add a bit of additional color. Then I cut it out with the coordinating die.

I stamped the greeting from Hero Arts' "You're a Rainbow" set on a piece of vellum, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and clear heat embossed it. After cutting the vellum into a strip, I ran that through my Xyron Sticker Maker, to apply adhesive to the back.

I cut the background panel and embossed it with the Sizzix/Hero Arts "Dot Swirl" embossing folder. The green cardstock I used had a white core, so that showing through on the embossed areas helps emphasize the texture of the embossing. Kind of an added bonus, since I had not really planned on that!

I glued the flower to the embossed panel, and then adhered the greeting over the bottom of the flower. To add some further interest, I added a green snap to each end of the greeting strip.

I used the larger of Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" dies to cut the lighter green panel. I then adhered the embossed panel to that. I cut a length of light pink embroidery floss, and wrapped it around the card front, tying the ends in a bow. I put a drop of Ranger Multi Medium under the knot, just to keep it secure. While that dried, I blended Worn Lipstick Distress ink around the sides of the front of an A2 card base. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to the base. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking Blog's "Encouragement" challenge.

Shoot for the Moon

Paulina at Pretty Pink Posh is conducting her "Cutting Edge" blog hop this weekend, & I decided to participate. It's open to any card maker with a blog. The main requirement for the project(s) entered is to use at least one die, and give the brand & name of the die(s). (There are other requirements, but you can read more about them & the hop at the Pretty Pink Posh blog.)

The design of the first card I made for the hop is based on Operation Write Home's Sketch #234:

I substituted Spellbinders' Scalloped Labels One die for the 2-1/2" square. I also used a Spellbinders Standard Circles SM die to cut and emboss the circle element.

I began by stamping my focal panel. I used the moon and one of the greetings from Hero Arts' "Shoot for the Moon" set. I stamped them on white cardstock, using Versafine Onyx Black for the greeting and Stampabilities Pastel Yellow for the moon. I felt the moon looked a little washed-out, so after the ink had dried, I outlined it in a grey fine-point marker. After that, I die cut the piece and inked the edges with Peacock Feathers Distress ink.

I chose my patterned papers from two different 6x6" pads: Farmhouse Paper Company's "302 Paper Pack" and "Remarkable," from My Mind's Eye's Collectables (sic) collection. After deciding which patterns would go where, I cut those panels to size, and die cut and embossed the circle piece.

I created the mats for the smaller panels, as well as the overall card, by blending Peacock Feathers onto pieces of white cardstock. For the mat behind the striped piece, I used Mustard Seed Distress ink instead of Peacock Feathers. To make the striped panel stand out a little more, I inked around the edges of that with Peacock Feathers as well. I did not ink around the other patterned papers, though, since I felt there was already enough contrast.

Most of the work actually went into choosing the sketch and papers, and inking the different pieces. Assembly was easy, thanks to the sketch. I just glued all the panels in place and adhered the whole card front to an A2-size (4.25x5.5") card base. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids, for someone to give to a hospitalized youngster.

Besides the blog hop, I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking Blog's "Encouragement"

You Make Me Happy Happy!

The current challenge at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is to make a summer card with a die cut. I immediately thought of their "Happy Happy" stamp & die set. What could be more summery than flying a kite on a bright sunny day?

I stamped the sun and kite on 2 scraps of patterned paper in my stash, then cut them with the coordinating dies. I trimmed the tail off the kite, since I planned to make my own later. I also stamped the cloud shape 4 times on vellum with Versamark ink, then heat embossed them with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I cut them out with the cloud die in the set.

I blended Tumbled Glass Distress ink over the whole front of my white card base to create a sky. I next ran my clouds through my Xyron Sticker Maker machine, to apply an even coat of adhesive to the back, so no spots of adhesive would show through the vellum. Then I positioned them on my card front, letting a couple hang over the edge. I trimmed off the overhanging parts. Finally, I glued my sun in position.

I determined where I wanted the kite to go, and placed a small drop of Ranger Matte Multi Medium. I stuck one end of a length of pink bakers twine in the Multi Medium, and let that dry. After it had dried completely, I tied short lengths of blue ribbon to the twine, cutting the ends short. I looped the twine a few times, applying dots of the same Multi Medium under where the twine crossed itself, to hold the loops in place. I ran a little medium that I'd put on my finger along the rest of the twine, just to help it hold a bit of a curve, and let it hang loose. I adhered the kite over the starting end of the twine with foam adhesive for dimension.

I stamped the greeting from the same set using the same Memento Tuxedo Black ink I'd used to the stamp the sun and kite. As a finishing touch, I added "Glam Pink" Stickles to the sun's cheeks, and "Onyx Pearl" Liquid Pearls to the eyes. I also went over the sun and kite with my clear Wink of Stella brush marker to give them a bit of sparkle. Next stop for this card will be Send a Smile 4 Kids!

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday "Blue"

You Brighten My Day

I have been a participant in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2," which has been going on for the past few weeks. This is my final card for that class.

The design was inspired by one that Kryssi Ng did for the Bonus Day of class. I started by stamping the fox's balloons, from this set, in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink on Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I next stamped the fox, other balloons, and the bunny. Finally, I stamped the greeting using one from this Simon Says Stamp set in Jet Black.

I watercolored the balloons using paints by Master's Touch. I wet each balloon with clear water, and then dropped in the color. I used watercolor pencils for the critters, since I wanted a little more control over the shading. Finally, I did a blue watercolor wash over the background for the sky.

For the mat, I wanted something to play off the colorful balloons. So I took Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn, and Salty Ocean. I blended them in spots around the sides of an A2-size cardstock panel, making sure to overlap and blend the colors together where they met.

I adhered the mat panel to a top-folding A2 card base, then adhered the focal panel to that. And that was it--a fairly quick and easy card to put together. This card will be going to a hospitalized child through the Send a Smile 4 Kids organization.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Two Sympathy Cards

A while back, I posted this card and this card that I'd made for a girl named Katy who was waiting for a second heart transplant. Sadly, I found out the other night that she had lost her battle. So I made a couple of sympathy cards for her family.

My first card was inspired by one Jennifer McGuire did for Day 9 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. The focus for her card was floral building stamps. I used this one by WPlus9, the same as she used.

I masked off 1/2" on the left side of the card with painters tape, and stamped a subtle background using Hero Arts' "Looped Flower" stamp and Spun Sugar Distress ink. Next, I stamped the flowers and leaves using Memento inks in Angel Pink, Rose Bud, Lilac Posies, Pear Tart, and Bamboo Leaves, adding Cantaloupe for the flower centers. I got the 2-tone shading on the leaves and flowers by stamping first in the lighter color, then re-inking the stamp with the darker shade. I wiped away the color from the edges of the stamp, then stamped over the original image. Another technique Jennifer taught in her lesson.

After I'd finished all my stamping, I removed the masking, and replaced it on the other side of the 1/2" line, to cover my stamping. Then I placed another piece of painters tape 1/8" away, and smooshed Versamark ink in that space. I sprinkled Ranger Silver embossing powder over that, and heat embossed it. I did the same for the wide stripe, just covering my first embossing with painters tape.

I used a digital stamp from Doodle Pantry for my greeting, printing it directly on the card front. As a final touch, I added two pieces of 1/8" wide pink ribbon to the upper right corner.

My second card is a CASE of one Laura Bassen did for Day 11 of "Stretch Your Stamps 2." I used one of the images from this stamp set to stamp the rows on the upper part, in Memento New Sprout, Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Summer Sky, and Danube Blue inks. I centered the bottom-most graphic, and went out and up from there.

For the greeting, I used another digital stamp from the same Doodle Pantry set. I printed it on the bottom right corner of the card front panel. Then, after cutting between the top and bottom sections, I trimmed off another 3/16" from above the greeting. I applied foam tape behind both sections, and mounted them to an A2 card base, with a slight gap in between them. I added some faux "pearls" with a silver Viva Paper Pen and Royal Blue Liquid Pearls, and the card was done. I only hope they will bring some comfort to Katy's family in this most difficult time.

I'm entering both cards in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Thanx Stars

I have had this "thanx" label and the star monoprint panel sitting on my scrap desk for several weeks. I had started them for 2 different projects, which ended up taking different directions, so I never did use those particular pieces. I decided now was finally the time to use them. I felt they complemented each other nicely, so I made a card with both of them.

I used this sketch from Operation Write Home as the basis for my design:

I replaced the 3 banners with the die cut label, but otherwise, stuck to the sketch. (In fact, I'd originally created the star monoprint panel with this sketch in mind. Like I said, that card just took a different direction, so I'd never used this piece.)

I'd created the monoprint panel using a technique Tim Holtz taught in Online Card Classes' "Watercolor for Card Makers" class earlier this year. I inked up the back of the Tim Holtz "Stars" layering stencil with Distress inks, misted it with water, and then placed it ink side down onto a piece of watercolor paper. I inked the 2 mats for that panel with Mowed Lawn & Picked Raspberry Distress inks. For the "thanx" label, I stamped one of the greetings from this Hero Arts set onto white cardstock, heat embossed it, and colored it with colored pencils and Gamsol. Then I cut it with one of the dies from this set, and inked the edges with Seedless Preserves Distress ink.

For the background, I embossed a piece of white cardstock with The Paper Studio's "Tiny Stars" embossing folder. Then I blended Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink over the whole panel. This color both echoes the yellow in the monoprint panel and complements the purple on the label.

After gluing down the monoprint panel, I went to work on the label. I threaded 2 lengths of blue bakers twine through the holes, behind the label, and around the back of the embossed star panel. Because of the thickness of the monoprint panel, I had to pop the left side of the label up slightly. So I cut 3 small strips of scrap cardstock, glued them together, and adhered them to the back of the label. Then I glued the label down to the card front.

To finish, I blended Seedless Preserves on the front of an A2 top-folding card base. Then I adhered the main panel to the card base. I will use this card to write a thank-you note to a hero overseas through Operation Write Home.

Two More "Stretch Your Stamps 2" Cards

I have been enjoying Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. I've learned a lot, and have enjoyed creating cards inspired by the different instructors' examples! These are 2 more.

My graphic "hello" card was inspired by a set that Kelly Rasmussen did for Day 8 of class. For the top border, I used one of the stamps from Avery Elle's "Rounded Diamonds" set to stamp a row of diamonds in Adirondack's "Clover" pigment ink on a piece of white cardstock. Then, in the spaces above and below, I stamped the same motif in Hero Arts' Navy mid-tone shadow ink. I adhered that strip to the top of an A2-size card base.

I die cut the greeting using this die from Simon Says Stamp out of another piece of white cardstock. I made sure to keep all the inner pieces of the letters, since I was using the "negative" of the die cut and would need them to fill in the letters. For the layer behind the die cut word, I blended Chipped Sapphire Distress ink (which is close in color to the Hero Arts Navy) on another scrap of white cardstock. Then I adhered that to my card base, below the border. I applied LOTS of foam adhesive to the back of the die cut panel, and then mounted it on the card base over the Chipped Sapphire piece. Finally, I glued the inner parts of the letters to the background to complete the word.

I based my second card on a one-layer design by Laura Bassen, again focusing on graphic stamps. This time, I used a tear-drop-shaped stamp from that same Avery Elle set. I marked the center of my card base with a light pencil dot. Then I stamped the tear-drop in rainbow order around that point, using Memento dye inks in Rose Bud, Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion, Bamboo Leaves, Summer Sky, Danube Blue, & Grape Jelly. I repeated this process in the corners.

Detail of sparkly embossing on "you"

For the greeting, I cut the "you" from black cardstock using this Simon Says Stamp die. I coated it in Versamark, then heat embossed it with Stampendous "Marcasite" embossing powder, to give it dimension and sparkle. I finished the greeting with one of the stamps from this set.

I felt the card still needed a little something, so I added a drop of Stardust Stickles to the center of each of the stamped areas. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids, hopefully to brighten the day of a hospitalized child.

You're a Winner!

Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge blog's theme this week is "Scratched Up." I decided to take this opportunity to make a masculine card. I figure this would be perfect for a pre-teen or teenage boy!

I didn't use a specific sketch for this card. I started by taking a piece of brown Core'dinations cardstock, and embossing it with the Tim Holtz Alterations "Bubble" embossing folder. Then I took a sanding block, and sanded over the embossing, revealing the lighter core of the cardstock. I also took a distressing tool and roughed up the edges.

I stamped the greeting from this Simon Says Stamp set on a piece of vellum, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and clear heat embossed that. I carefully tore the edges of the panel, and finally inked them with Walnut Stain Distress ink. To keep any adhesive from showing through the vellum, I ran it through my Xyron Sticker Maker machine, to apply an even coat of adhesive to the back.

I stamped the game controller from the same stamp set on a piece of white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored it with colored pencils, and blended the color with Gamsol on a paper stump. I fussy cut the image, and "painted" around the edge with a black brush-tip marker, to blend it in with the stamped outline. I determined where I wanted the game controller and the greeting on the card front, and sketched 2 lines to look like wires going from the game unit. I poked holes along the lines, and then stitched with black embroidery floss. I glued the game controller in place and adhered the greeting panel.

I blended Walnut Stain onto the front of a white A2-size card base to act as a mat. Finally, I glued the embossed panel to the card base.

I Miss You

This is my second card for the sketch challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs' blog. While I did keep to the basic sketch, I omitted the mats behind the layers.

My inspiration for the focal panel background came from a lesson at Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class, by Lisa Spangler. I stamped Stampabilities' "Wrought Iron Background" stamp on white cardstock using Versamark ink. Then I clear heat embossed it, and when the embossing had cooled, I blended Scattered Straw Distress ink over the panel. I spattered Heidi Swapp "Seafoam" and Dylusions "Postbox Red" spray inks over the panel, just to add some flecks of color. Finally, I did a technique called "iron off embossing." I placed the panel under a couple of sheets of copy paper, and used a warm iron to melt the embossing into the paper, thus removing it from the panel. Finally, I die cut it with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" die.

For the focal image, I stamped Our Daily Bread Designs' "Chickadee" onto a piece of watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I colored only the berries & branch with Inktense pencils, blending the color with my water brush. I did add a bit of orange on the bird's claws and beak, but basically left it uncolored. Because I wanted to pop the bird up from the background, I die cut it with the coordinating die, and cut 4 more pieces from white cardstock. Then I glued all the layers together. This pops it up, while providing more support to the smaller bits on the die cut.

Stitched Journaling card & embossing detail

I used the border embossing folder from the "Poppy" set by Cuttlebug & Anna Griffin to emboss the red and green strips. After I embossed those, I went over the green with Bundled Sage and the red with Victorian Velvet Distress inks, just to give a little more depth. I also used the main embossing folder from that set to emboss a piece of navy cardstock. I made a diffuser from matboard to use when I embossed, so the lower left corner of the panel would not be embossed, since I wanted to stamp my greeting there.

After gluing down my red and green strips, I stamped a greeting from this Hero Arts set on the navy panel, using Versamark. I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail white embossing powder. Finally, I glued my focal panel on the card front, and glued the chickadee to that. I will be sending this card to Operation Write Home, for an overseas hero to write home to his/her loved ones.

You're Always in My Heart

I have been participating in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" the past couple of weeks. My card this time was inspired by one that Shari Carroll did for Day 1, which focused on background stamps. She stamped a background image, then cut it into 1" squares and mounted those on her card front with foam adhesive.

I had a piece left over from this card. Since my "leftovers" pile is getting a bit high for my taste, I decided to do something with this piece. So, taking my cue from Shari's card, I cut the panel into 3/4" squares. Then I arranged those around the perimeter of piece of navy cardstock. I originally cut the navy to 4.25x5.5", but ended up having to cut it a bit narrower, to get the spacing on the squares to work out right. When I finally got the tiles spaced correctly, I glued them down.

I used a stamp from this Hero Arts set for my greeting. Since I wanted to fill the open area a little more vertically, I "split" the one-line greeting over 2 lines. I masked off the "in my heart" part with painter's tape, then inked up the "you're always" with Versamark, removed the tape, and stamped on the navy panel. Then I reversed the process, masking off the first part and stamping the rest of the greeting below the first line. I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail white embossing powder.

I felt the inner part of the panel was still a bit too spartan, so I punched a heart from one of the leftover square tiles I'd cut, and glued it nestled into the greeting. I still thought it was a bit top-heavy, though. So I inked up a scrap of white cardstock with Picked Raspberry Distress ink, and used a small heart punch to punch out several hearts. Then I glued them in a line below the greeting.

Since I'd cut my navy panel narrower than 4.25", I decided to double mat it along the top and bottom. So I inked up white cardstock with Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress inks, cut narrow strips, and glued them to the edges of the blue panel. Finally I adhered the card front to an A2-size card base, and added a coat of Glossy Accents to each of the tiny pink hearts.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday "Blue" challenge.

Lots of Thanks

Kristina Werner created a card for Day 1 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class, which I have been participating in. Basically, she used a background stamp, white heat embossed the image, painted it with watercolors, and then cut pieces from that for her card. My card follows her design pretty closely.

For my background, I chose the Hero Arts/BasicGrey "Spice Market Large Petal Background" stamp. I inked with Versamark, and stamped it on watercolor paper. I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail white embossing powder. Then I created a palette by smooshing Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, & Festive Berries onto an acrylic block. I picked up each color with my Ranger water brush, and colored different parts of the image, going from the center outward. The white heat embossed areas resisted the ink, giving a lovely detailed look without all the work.

After the background dried, I trimmed it down into a wide strip and another narrower strip. I glued those directly to the front of my card base.

For the greeting, I first die cut the "thanks" using Lawn Fawn's "Scripty Thanks" die from black cardstock. The cardstock did have a white core, so I decided I wanted to camouflage that. I tried painting the edges with a black brush-tip marker, but it was too hard to get in all the little crevices. Next, I tried applying Black Soot Distress ink by pressing the pad directly to the die cut. Still no luck. So I finally smooshed the Black Soot onto my acrylic block and spritzed it with my water mister. Unfortunately, the ink splattered just a tiny bit onto my card front when I did that. But, the faint speckles turned out giving it a nice subtle detail, to give the stark white some interest, so it worked out OK! I swiped the die cut thanks through the wet ink, and it coated the edges--along with the rest of it--just fine.

After the Black Soot dried, I used my Zig 2-way glue pen to apply small dots of glue to the back of the thanks. Taking a cue from Debby Hughes, I pounced the back of the die cut onto some scratch paper, to take off a little of the glue so it wouldn't ooze out when I applied it to my card. Then I used my tweezers to help me position it, and glued it in place. I stamped the rest of the greeting, using 2 stamps from this Simon Says Stamp set, above and below the die cut. To finish, I coated the "thanks" die cut with Glossy Accents.

I'm entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking Blog's "Encouragement" challenge.

You Are Amazing

Our Daily Bread Designs' current challenge at their blog is to make a card using this sketch:

As you can see, I basically followed the sketch exactly.

I started by choosing my stamps. I decided to use the ODBD "Hummingbird" stamp. I went through my sentiment stamps, and found the one that says "You Are Amazing," in the "Word Labels" set by Sizzix. I felt it went well with the image, so I chose that. (The fact that it fit perfectly in the space I had for the greeting didn't hurt, either! LOL) I stamped the hummingbird on watercolor paper using Colorbox Archival Dye Ink in Putty. The I die cut it with the coordinating die. When the ink had dried completely, I used my Inktense pencils and a paintbrush with water to color the image.

I used patterned papers from Graphic 45's "Botanical Tea" and BasicGrey's "Hey Girl" 6x6" pads. I cut a strip from each piece, and matted them with navy blue cardstock. I also matted a piece of lavender cardstock with the navy, and glued my patterned paper strips in place. Then I stamped the greeting with Hero Arts' Navy mid-tone shadow ink.

For the focal panel, I used my mini ink blender tool to ink a piece of textured white cardstock with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I then die cut & embossed the panel using one of Spellbinders' "Labels Four" dies. While the cardstock was still in the die, I went around the inner edges with more Tumbled Glass. This darkened the panel towards the center, and left the edge a lighter blue, to give it a matted look without adding another layer. I glued the hummingbird onto this panel, and adhered it to the card front with foam tape. And that finished this fairly quick and simple card.

It's Raining Letters & Hearts!

I recently found out about a little girl named Katy who is going through a serious illness. She had had a heart transplant, and her body is now rejecting the heart. She is back on the transplant list, but as of now is still waiting. You can read more about her here. The woman who does that blog put out a call for handmade cards to be sent in to give to Katy. So I made this one for her.

My inspiration came from a card Kelly Marie Alvarez made as a lesson for Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. Day 4 emphasized alphabet and sentiment stamps. The idea of her card was for the letters to look like they were raining. My card is a pretty close CASE of hers.

I die cut the umbrella first from a piece of patterned paper that I had in my voluminous scrap stash. Then I colored the handle and along the rib lines with a blue glitter gel pen. I die cut the umbrella 5 more times from white cardstock, and glued all those together, adding the patterned paper piece on top. This gave it dimension when I glued it to the card, while still proving support for the handle, which I could not have done with foam tape.

Detail shot of umbrella, showing dimension

I used Lawn Fawn's Milo's ABCs stamp set for my letters. I spelled out "Thinking of You" on an acrylic block, and stamped that with a black dye ink pad by Stampabilities. Then, after temporarily adhering the umbrella to the panel, came the hard part--arranging my random letters around the card front panel. I say hard because these particular stamps are very skinny and fiddly, and thus hard to position face down without them tipping over. But I persevered, and finally got them all placed. Then I picked them all up at once with my Fiskars stamp press. I stamped them using Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I finished that part by filling in the blank spots with a small heart stamp from a set by The Paper Studio and Stampabilities Bright Pink ink.

After I had stamped all the letters and hearts, I permanently glued my umbrella to the card front. For the borders on either side, I first used a pair of decorative-edge scissors to cut a piece of pearlescent blue cardstock. I went along the cut edges with some Tumbled Glass Distress ink on a mini ink blending tool, just to mask the white core of the cardstock. After adding a narrow strip of yellow cardstock to either side of the focal panel, I glued my blue pieces peeking out from the yellow, and finally mounted it on a piece of pink patterned paper cut to 4.25x5.5". Finally, I mounted the whole front panel to an A2 card base.

As a couple of finishing touches, I added a coat of Glossy Accents to the canopy of the umbrella, and used my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush marker to add some shimmer to the hearts.

Monkeys Sending Smiles

I have been participating in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. This past Saturday was a bonus day of lessons, covering stamps that beg to be colored. One of the cards was by Stephanie Klauck. This is my CASE version of her card.

I used stamps from the same Mama Elephant set as Stephanie, though I substituted the monkey for the bunny she used. She demonstrated a technique called "mirror stamping." Basically, you use a second stamp that's slightly larger than the image you want to stamp. You position it face-down on an acrylic block, then stamp your image on the back side of that. Before the ink dries, you can stamp it onto your piece of paper or cardstock. While the impression is not as clear as stamping directly on the paper with the stamp, it gives you an image, and you can go over the lines with a marker to define them better.

I stamped both monkeys on white cardstock, using the mirror stamping technique for the second monkey. Then I colored them with colored pencils, using Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors out. I also added some black gel pen to the eyes, just to give them a little subtle shine. I did the same stamping & coloring with the balloons, minus the mirror stamping. Finally, I fussy cut the monkeys and balloons.

For my sky panel, I blended Tumbled Glass Distress ink over a piece of white cardstock. I die cut several clouds using the smaller 2 dies from this set. After positioning the die cut clouds on the inked cardstock, I glued them down one at a time, letting some hang over the edge. I trimmed the overhanging cloud parts, and set that aside.

I cut a piece of vellum slightly smaller than the blue inked panel. I stamped the balloons in Versamark, and heat embossed them using Ranger Super Fine Detail white embossing powder, mostly so the balloon strings would be visible without having white cardstock behind them. I glued one of the monkeys directly onto the vellum, so it looks like he is holding on to the balloons. I positioned my greeting stamp, making sure it was straight and centered before stamping it in Versamark and embossing it with American Crafts Zing! blue embossing powder.

Close-up of monkeys

Close-up of balloons

Stitching detail

I die cut 3 more clouds, and glued them to the vellum piece. Finally, I stitched the vellum to the sky panel. I adhered the fussy-cut balloons with foam adhesive over where I'd heat embossed them, and used the same foam tape to pop up the second monkey next to the first. I glued the entire panel to an A2 size, top-folding card base. Finally, to add a bit of sparkle, I went over the balloons with a clear Wink of Stella glitter brush marker. It doesn't show up well in the photos, but it adds just a subtle touch of shimmer.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Make It Sparkle" challenge.

Thanks So Much One-layer Card

The current challenge at Hero Arts' blog is one-layer cards. The deadline is tonight, so I decided to get one more entry in.

My inspiration this time came from a card Laura Sterckx made for Day 2 in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. She heat-embossed a background image, then created an ombre effect by blending different Distress inks over the embossing.

To begin, I masked off the center of my card front with a square just larger than my planned greeting stamp. Then I stamped Hero Arts' "Looped Flower" background stamp over it, using Versamark ink, and sprinkled on Recollections "Snow" embossing powder. Because I wanted a softer look around the greeting, I then took a small paintbrush and brushed away some of the powder from the center area, so the embossing looks like it fades away there. Then I heat set the embossing powder.

I stamped the greeting, from the "Word Labels" stamp & die set by Sizzix, in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and clear heat embossed it. Finally, I went over the whole front of the stamped & heat-embossed card base with Distress inks, starting at the top with Tumbled Glass, blending into Broken China, and finally Peacock Feathers at the bottom.

Even for a one-layer card, which can be tricky, this came together rather quickly and easily. Would that all my projects could be like that! :)

I will be sending this card along in my next shipment to Operation Write Home. I'm also entering this in a2z Scrapbooking's "Encouragement" challenge.

Two Cards Inspired by Online Card Classes

I'm one of the many students taking the "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class at Online Card Classes. Class started August 4, but I haven't been able to participate a whole lot so far. But the other day I finally got 2 cards done and photographed!

My first card was inspired by a lesson by the ever-funny & talented Julie Ebersole. She made what she calls a "word search card." Basically, you stamp your message in the middle using alphabet stamps, and then surround that with other random letters from the same stamp set. Believe me though, it is not as easy as it looks, since you have to make sure not to spell out inappropriate words with your random letters! A stamp press definitely helps with a card like this.

I started by cutting a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper to 3x4". Mixed Media paper is something I learned about through May Flaum during this year's Camp Scrap. It is basically like very thick (140 lb.) cardstock with a smooth surface, and takes wet mediums really well. This was important, because my next step was to create a color gradient using watercolors in red, orange, & yellow. I had to go over the paper two or 3 times to get the intensity of color and smooth blending I wanted, which would have ruined a thinner cardstock. I set that aside to dry while I worked on my greeting & random letters.

I spelled out my greeting on my Fiskars stamp press using Lawn Fawn's "Milo's ABCs" stamp set. When my watercolored panel had dried, I stamped the greeting approximately centered using Versafine Onyx Black ink, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I stamped my random letters in Iced Spruce Distress ink. I finished that panel by sponging around the edges slightly with Wild Honey Distress ink, just to mask the white core of the paper.

I used a standard A2 white card base I'd previously cut & scored. I felt it looked a little bland, so I took a black glitter gel pen and did faux stitching lines around the edges. It still looked too stark, so I flicked Squeezed Orange and Black Marble Dylusions spray inks over the front. Finally, I mounted my focal panel with foam adhesive.

Kristina Werner inspired my second card, with her lesson in Day One of class. I used Stampabilities "Wrought Iron Background" to stamp with Versamark ink on watercolor paper. I then white heat embossed this panel, and colored it with watercolors in rainbow order. When the watercolor dried, I die cut it using Simon Says Stamp's "Big Hello" die. I also cut a 1/4" wide strip from this panel to put across the bottom of the card.

I glued the die cut to a piece of white cardstock, and stamped the "you" from this set below it, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I glued down the narrow strip. I felt the "hello" & strip looked a little washed-out on the white background, so I went around them with a black glitter gel pen. This also tied those in with the black "you." (I also punched a star from the same watercolor panel and glued it above the "hello," mostly to cover up a spot where the black gel ink had smeared!) I matted that panel with purple glitter cardstock, and adhered that to a card base.

I will be sending these 2 cards to Send a Smile 4 Kids. This charity collects cards for children who are hospitalized. Either the kids can use them to give to their parents (e.g. for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas, etc.), or adults in the hospital like nurses can write messages in them to give to the young patients. I just recently discovered this organization, and will be making more cards to send in the future.

I'm entering my "Hello You" card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Make It Sparkle" challenge (used glitter gel pen & glitter cardstock).

Three Cups of....

A friend of my mom's let her know a few days ago that her husband was ill. So my mom asked me to make a get well card for him.

The design inspiration for my card comes from Operation Write Home's Sketch #151:

I rotated it 90 degrees counter-clockwise, and substituted (slightly larger) hexagons for the circles.

I began by adhering patterned papers from my scrap stash to an A2-size piece of cardstock. I determined where the hexagons would go, and positioned my die from this set, repeating the process for all 3 cut-outs. I ended up having to glue this panel to another cut the same size, for stability.

My stamp is the "Jam'n Cup Mini" from Texana Designs. After lining up the die cut panel with a 2-inch wide strip of cream cardstock, I marked where the cut-outs went, and stamped the image 3 times onto the cardstock, using Colorbox Chestnut Roan chalk ink. I colored the cups with colored pencils, blending with Gamsol on a paper stump. To "ease" the transition between the worn-looking patterned papers and the starkness of the cream cardstock, I used a Q-tip to blend Vintage Photo Distress ink around the cups.

I created a sentiment in Photoshop, and printed it onto the inside of an A2 card base. It reads, "Have a cup (or three) of whatever makes you feel better. Get well soon!" After that, I adhered the stamped strip of cardstock onto the front, then adhered the die cut panel over that, so the cups showed through the hexagon holes. And that finished off this card.

I'm entering this in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Get Well Bouquet

I recently found out that the mother of the executive director of Operation Write Home, Sandy Allnock, had fallen and has been in rehab. Apparently several card makers who had heard about this before (I assume from Sandy's blog) had sent her mom cards. Sandy gave a Situation Report about OWH on YouTube the other day, and mentioned this. She said that, if anyone else wanted to send a card, they could send it to her, and she will give them to her mom when she sees her at the end of this month. So, I decided to do just that.

The inspiration for my card came from this post by Nichol Magouirk. I borrowed her ideas for the bouquet in the vellum mason jar with the greeting on the front, and the partially stenciled background.

I used a mason jar stamp in my collection to stamp on vellum using Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, and fussy cut it out. For the greeting, I scanned the stamp image into my computer, and used the scanned image as a guide to format the text in Photoshop so it would be curved. I printed it onto a piece of white cardstock that I'd colored by blending Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink over it. Then I marked the cutting lines, cut it out, and glued it to the vellum jar.

For the bouquet, I used several stamps from Hero Arts' "Dauber Bunch" set. I stamped them on watercolor paper using Distress inks in Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Seedless Preserves, Vintage Photo (for the flower centers), and Mowed Lawn for the greenery. I then went over the flowers with my water brush, to blend the ink in with a lighter shade of the color I'd stamped in. I cut out all the flowers and leaf clusters. Finally, I lightly marked where the jar would go on my card front panel, and stamped stems within that area directly on the card front.

I used the Tim Holtz "Latticework" layering stencil from Stamper's Anonymous for the stenciled area. I taped it down over my card front, and smeared Golden Light Molding Paste over it, keeping the edges somewhat "rough" as in Nichol's card, & being careful not to go over where the jar would go.

After the paste dried, I began assembling the card. I ran the vellum jar piece through my Xyron machine, to apply an even coat of adhesive to the back, so no adhesive spots would show through the vellum. I stuck down all but the very top of the jar onto the card front, over where I'd stamped the stems. Then I placed & glued down my flowers and leaves, sticking some of the leaves under the top of the jar. After everything was glued down, I poked holes at each end where I wanted the twine to go "around" the top of the jar. Then I threaded pink bakers twine through the holes, and taped the ends on the back. I tied a bow with the same twine, and glued it in place with Ranger Matte Multi Medium.

While the Multi Medium dried, I cut my card base to be a 5x7" finished size. I scored and folded the cardstock, then inked around the front with Picked Raspberry, to give it a pop of color. I finished by rounding the corners of the card front and base with my 3/8" Corner Chomper, and adhering the front to the base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking Blog's "Encouragement"

Because It Has a Song

Paulina at Pretty Pink Posh's blog had issued a challenge last week to her readers to create, write, and (most importantly) SEND/GIVE at least 2 cards to friends, family members--someone who might need or at least appreciate a friendly message. Since I have a couple of family members who are going through a rough time right now, I decided to create cards for them, just to let them know I'm thinking about them. This card is one of those.

To begin, I chose the following sketch from Operation Write Home:

I had to make a few alterations to make my design work. Since my focal image & greeting stamps from this set, were "too" large, I cut the focal panel larger, left off the mat layers, and changed the banner into a panel. I did still double-mat the whole front, though, as indicated in the sketch.

I stamped the bird on watercolor paper using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I colored it as a bluebird, using Inktense pencils & my water brush, and added a bit of shadow underneath with a grey Inktense pencil blended out with water. Since I didn't have room on the card front to mat that panel, I inked around the edges with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink instead, so it wouldn't just blend in with the background.

I chose one of the patterns from The Paper Studio's "Off the Bolt" 4.5x6.5" paper pad for the background, and the dark blue patterned paper is from the My Mind's Eye "Blue Floral" 6x6" pad. Because there was adequate contrast between the dark blue and the background, I chose not to mat the blue strip.

To assemble the card, I rounded the corners of the background paper, and then glued the blue patterned paper strip in place on that. I rounded the top right corner of the bird panel and adhered it in place, and then rounded 2 opposite corners on the greeting panel and glued that down. Finally I matted the card front on a piece of dark blue cardstock, rounded those corners, and mounted that to a slightly larger card base with rounded corners, to make a side-folding landscape format card.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.