Hello

Ellen Hutson's August Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights challenge features the colors hot pink, lemonade, and jadite on the mood board, among other images. I decided to use tints of those colors in the flower on my card.

My design inspiration came from the "hello" card on this post by Paulina of Pretty Pink Posh. I began by stamping the flower from "Mondo Magnolia," designed by Julie Ebersole for the Essentials by Ellen line, in Versamark ink onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I then heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. After determining the spacing, I die cut the panel into several strips, using the "Pocket Border" die by Pretty Pink Posh. I made sure to number the back of each strip as I cut, so I could reassemble them without any difficulty!

To color the flower, I taped the sections together on my non-stick craft mat, and colored each part with an Inktense pencil. I used a blue-green for the middle, yellow for the two strips adjacent to that, and pink for the top & bottom strips. When I had the color down, I separated the strips, and blended each color out with my detail water brush. This way, I was able to keep the shading pretty consistent across the image, without getting any of the colors where I didn't want it.

After I finished the coloring and let the strips dry, I mounted all the strips to a piece of white cardstock. The stitched edges that the "Pocket Border" die had left bothered me, because there was no faux stitching around the outside edges of the panel. So I ended up die cutting the panel with the largest of the "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies by Lawn Fawn. That created faux stitch lines around the entire panel, which made me much  happier!

For the greeting, I wanted to tie it in with the embossing on the flower. But I didn't want to put the heat-embossed "hello" (from "Mondo Magnolia") on a piece of white cardstock, since the card was so light already. So I tried something I've never done before. I smooshed Versamark on a piece of white cardstock, and heat embossed that whole piece with Liquid Platinum. When that cooled, I stamped the greeting on that with Versamark, and sprinkled Recollections Snow embossing powder over that. I melted the Snow powder with my heat gun, and was pleasantly surprised that the white didn't melt into the platinum! Finally, I cut that into a banner shape, die cut the right side with the "Large Stitched Rectangle" to get the faux stitching there as well, and glued it on the card front, before mounting the panel onto a white A2 card base.

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

Peace Love Joy

Merry Monday's Challenge #169 is to use light green, dark green, & red on a Christmas card. I decided to combine this challenge with Hero Arts' "Makeover" challenge. The idea there is to take an older project, and make a new one using that as inspiration.

Inspiration card

I had created my original (inspiration) card for Operation Write Home this past spring. I decided to keep the general design, but change pretty much everything else.

New card

I began my card by die cutting the tag from Strathmore Bristol paper, using the Mama Elephant "Tags a Lot" set. I stamped 3 of the crystals from Hero Arts' "Christmas Crystals" in Versamark ink, then heat embossed them with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I masked the crystals and inked the tag with Antique Linen Distress ink. I then removed the masks & colored the crystals with my Zig Clean Color markers. I basically traced around the inside of each facet with the marker, then used my detail water brush to pull the color out. Once that was dry, I stamped the words, also from "Christmas Crystals," in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I chose one of the patterned papers from the "Rejoice" 6x6" pad by Creative Imaginations/Iron Orchid Designs. I cut it down to a 1.5x5.5" strip, and inked the edges with Aged Mahogany Distress ink. I decided at that point that the tag didn't "pop" against the patterned paper. So I re-masked the images, and inked around the edges of the tag with Aged Mahogany as well. I drew the "strings" for the crystals with a fine-tip black marker, and glued a hole reinforcer to the tag. Once the glue had dried, I punched a hole, and threaded some red and green baker's twine through that.

For the background, I first stamped the "Looped Flower" background by Hero Arts on a piece of white cardstock, and white heat embossed that. I created an ombre effect with Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries, Fired Brick, and Aged Mahogany Distress inks. Finally, it was time to start assembling the card.

I began by adhering my patterned paper strip to the background. Then I cut 3 strips from green cardstock, I determined their placement, and glued them in place. I added foam tape to the back of the tag, and adhered it to the background. To finish, I mounted the completed card front to a white A2 card base. I did end up adding some Clear Wink of Stella to the crystals, followed by a coat of Glossy Accents. I wish that showed up in the photo! And that finished this card.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Live Love Cards August Challenge: "Holiday"

Have a Great Day!

The current challenge theme for A Blog Named Hero is "As Clean and Simple as Can Be." I think this card is about as CAS as you can get. Certainly as CAS as I have ever gotten! LOL

I started my card by die cutting a panel from white cardstock with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies. I adhered that to the front of a white A2 card base, then die cut a circle from the front of the card with one of the "Stitched Circles" dies by Simon Says Stamp. I then stamped the greeting, from Hero Arts' "Joy Ride" set, on the inside of the card, so it is visible through the die cut window.

To create some interest on the front of the card, and help break up all that white space, I used Hero Arts' "Tweed Pattern" stencil and some Golden Molding (modeling) Paste. I first masked off the edges of the card front outside the faux stitching, and masked the greeting with a piece of a Post It note. Then I taped the stencil on top of the card front, and spread the paste over the stencil, being careful to avoid covering the faux stitching around the circle window. I did have to scrape a little paste from around the window after I finished, but it wasn't too bad. Finally, I set that aside to dry. And that finished this card!

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

Holiday Wreath

Merry Monday is having a color challenge, using the colors of red, light green, & dark green. I'm really trying to ramp up my production of holiday cards early, rather than wait until the last minute yet again, so this challenge is perfect for me!

I began by cutting a piece of red patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4.25x5.5". I die cut an opening in the center with a Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Scallops" die. For the wreath panel, I cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper to slightly smaller than my card front. I stamped the "Color a Wreath," by Hero Arts, in the center of that panel, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and clear heat embossed it.

I used a red and green Zig Clean Color markers to color the wreath. I began with the dark green baubles, adding the color at full strength to part of the circle, then drawing it out with a damp paintbrush to create a highlight. For the lighter green circles, I scribbled the same marker on an acrylic block. I wet each circle with clear water, then picked up a little color with my paintbrush, and dropped it into the water. I did have to "manipulate" the color a bit to get the shading right, but for the most part, I let the water do the work for me. I did the same process with the red circles as I did with the dark green ones.

For the bow, I colored the outer portions with a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen in gold. I colored the underside of the bow portions with my red Clean Color marker, then went over it with a brown marker, just to deepen the color a bit.

I decided I wanted my window panel to pop up, for a bit of dimension around the wreath. So I added lots of foam tape to the back of the red piece, and adhered it to the wreath panel. To finish, I added some more adhesive with my ATG gun to the back of the wreath panel, and then mounted the whole thing to a white A2 card base.

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

A Blog Named Hero's "As Clean as Can Be"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Live Love Cards August challenge: "Holiday"

Halloween Already???

Yes, I'm a little ahead of the game! I've already started creating Halloween/Fall cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. While they don't need them as far in advance as Operation Write Home did, I still can't exactly wait until the end of September to make my cards to send in. So here are my two most recent.

Both cards use stamps from 2 different Hampton Art sets, though I don't know the name of either. I picked the sets up at Michael's on sale last fall, and didn't think to note the names from the shelf tags. Neither set was labeled on its packaging.

For my first card, I used Sketch #257 from Operation Write Home:

I used the cross-bones patterned paper from Recollections' "Witch Dust Halloween" collection, layering it on a black mat. I stamped my greeting on a piece of white cardstock, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I inked that piece with Gathered Twigs Distress ink, to tie it in with the rather grungy look of the patterned paper. I also stamped the bat on a die cut circle and inked it with Gathered Twigs, going around the perimeter with Black Soot Distress ink. I die cut a portion of a spiderweb patterned paper from Jillibean Soup's "Owloween Stew" 6x6" pad with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and inked the edge with Black Soot. Then I was ready to assemble my card.

I adhered the patterned paper panel to a piece of kraft cardstock. I glued the "bat" circle behind the matted greeting strip, and then adhered that to the card front. Then I glued the spiderweb circle in place, and added a black brad for the smallest circle in the sketch. I was debating what to do for the three small dots in the sketch, when it occurred to me to stamp a spider hanging down from the greeting in that space. Finally, I matted the card front on more black paper, and adhered that to a white A2 card base.

For my second card, I decided to go a little more "cute." I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #253:

I cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper for the main layer. I stamped the pumpkins image in the lower left corner, using Versafine Onyx Black, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I then colored it with Zig Clean Color markers, using a damp brush to draw the color out to create highlights. I stamped the greeting, from the same stamp set, on another piece of bristol with Versafine, and clear heat embossed that as well. Then I die cut it in a circle with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I die cut a mat from green cardstock with a "Standard Circles LG" die, and glued the greeting to that.

I cut a strip of patterned paper from "Owloween Stew" for the piece behind the greeting. I adhered it on the bristol panel, and placed the greeting, just to see how it looked. For some reason, the greeting circle just didn't look grounded, so I cut a slit above & below the greeting itself, and threaded a narrow strip of purple cardstock through the slits. After matting the bristol panel with more green, I glued the greeting circle in place, and glued the purple strip to the patterned paper. Finally, I matted the main panel with black paper, and matted that with more of the green cardstock, before adhering it to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering both cards in Send a Smile 4 Kids' "Anything Goes 4 Kids" challenge.

Happy Holidays

The current Lawnscaping challenge (which ends today) is "Embossing." I created another holiday card for my last entry, using both heat & dry embossing.

I started by embossing a piece of white cardstock with the "Snowflakes" embossing folder by Darice. I stamped the penguin from Lawn Fawn's "Winter Penguin" mini set in Versafine Onyx Black ink on a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I colored him in with my Zig Clean Color markers, using a damp paintbrush to help create shading and highlights. I then die cut him with the coordinating die.

For the ice, I cut a piece of bristol paper to 3x5.5", then die cut a long edge with one of the "Landscape Trio" dies by Mama Elephant.  Then I inked it with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. After trimming a bit off the bottom of my embossed snowflake panel, I adhered it to a white A2-size card base, and adhered the ice panel to the bottom of the card front.  I glued my penguin in place, and stamped the heart "skate trail" behind him.

I placed my card in my MISTI, and positioned the greeting, from the same stamp set. I curved the "happy" slightly, to follow the curve of the ice panel. Then I stamped the greeting in Versafine, using a black pen to connect the end of the "happy" with the skate trail. I ended up not liking the gap between the words though, and kind of wished I'd placed the "holidays" higher. But I compensated by stamping a small heart from Lawn Fawn's "Peace Joy Love" set, to help connect the words a bit better. As a finishing touch, I added a drop of Star Dust Stickles to the center of each snowflake in the "sky" portion.

With Heartfelt Sympathy

I decided to create a sympathy card, just to have on hand in the event that we need one sometime. I'm really trying to build up a stash of various themed cards, so I'm not pressured to make one at the last minute for something!

I used the Sketch #551 from Splitcoaststampers.com for my design. I chose the "Agapanthus Flower" and one of the greetings from Doodle Pantry's "Sympathy Sentiments" (apparently retired) for my focal panel. After combining them on a digital "canvas" in Photoshop, I printed the image on to a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I colored the flower with Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors.

For the background, I cut a strip of blue cardstock and adhered it at an angle to another piece of watercolor paper, that I'd cut to 4x5.25". I trimmed off the overhanging ends, and then embossed it with the "Flower Clusters" embossing folder by Sizzix. I wrapped a piece of ribbon around the panel, just above the blue strip. After poking holes through the paper, I stitched a line along each edge of the ribbon, using white embroidery floss. I matted both that and the focal panel with a pale blue cardstock. Finally, I glued the focal panel to the background, and mounted that onto a white A2-size card base.

Joy of the Season

Merry Monday's Challenge #169 is "Light Green, Dark Green, & Red." I used this card that I found through Pinterest for my design inspiration.

I began with my upper panel. I embossed a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper with Hero Arts' "Arrow Pattern" stencil. Then I blended Cracked Pistachio & Pine Needles Distress inks on that panel, creating an ombre look. Once I had the ink blended pretty smoothly, I sprayed the panel with my homemade Perfect Pearls mist. This gave it a bit of shimmer and helped blend the inks a little more. Then I set that aside to dry.

I stamped the greeting, from this Hero Arts set, on a piece of white cardstock, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. The spacing under "wishing" in this particular stamp has always bothered me, and made me feel like I needed to put something there. So for this card, I pierced 2 lines of holes, and stitched little cross stitches with red embroidery floss.

To assemble the card, I adhered the ink-blended panel to my white cardstock, and wrapped a piece of red satin ribbon around the seam. Then I tied a bow onto that with more ribbon. Finally, I matted that with dark green cardstock, and adhered the completed card front to a white A2-size card base.

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

You're the Coolest!

The current Lawnscaping challenge is "Embossing." I actually started my card intending to make a CAS card. I kind of got carried away with my background stamping, though, so I don't think this qualifies as CAS anymore!

I decided to try my  hand at a technique called "spotlight coloring." Basically (at least as I understand it), the brighter colors are confined to a certain, defined area, while the rest of the images are shades of a neutral color. A key to making this technique work, is to have some of the images overlap the border between the "color" & "neutral" areas. That part, at least, I think I pulled off pretty well! :)

My design inspiration came from Operation Write Home's Sketch #B-23:

Granted, my card is pretty loosely based on the sketch: smaller circle in place of the heart, no outer mat, and the greeting on a banner instead of directly on the card front. But the sketch was my jumping-off point.

I chose the 2 popsicles and a greeting from Lawn Fawn's "Best Pun Ever" stamp set. To prepare my card front, I first cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies. (As a side note, Catherine Pooler had suggested the Strathmore Bristol for use with Zig Clean Color pens, and I must say, it alleviated my buyer's remorse with these pens! They just seem to blend so much better than on watercolor paper. Pure heaven!) I then positioned the largest of the "Stitched Circles" dies by Simon Says Stamp in the upper middle of the panel, and die cut that. I taped the circle and frame together on the back side with low-tack painter's tape, just to keep the circle from shifting while I stamped the popsicles.

After masking the border outside the faux stitching on the frame, I stamped the popsicles several times over the panel, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Once I had filled the panel, I heat embossed the images with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Then I removed the circle from the frame, and colored the popsicles in with my Clean Color pens, using my detail water brush draw the color out to create highlights. When I had finished that, I set it aside to dry, and colored the popsicles in the outer frame with grey. Finally, I removed the painter's tape from around the edge of the panel.

For the greeting, I stamped it in Versafine on a scrap of Bristol, and clear heat embossed it. I inked over that with Wild Honey Distress ink, to tie it in with the orange popsicles. I cut it into a banner shape, and adhered it to my card front with foam tape. To finish, I mounted the outer frame to a white A2-size card base, and inlaid & glued the circle in place, making sure to line up the images. I will be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids. Hopefully a cool kid will get a kick out of it! :)

No One Like You

Send a Smile 4 Kids is have a "CAS Cards 4 Kids" challenge. I decided to create this card with that challenge in mind.

I die cut the "Stitched Filmstrip" die by Pretty Pink Posh from 140 lb. watercolor paper for my focal panel. I then pressed Mermaid Lagoon & Cracked Pistachio Distress ink pads onto my non-stick craft sheet, and spritzed the ink with water. I smooshed my filmstrip around in the ink, until I got it covered completely. Then I dried it with my heat tool, and pressed it into the ink puddles again, to get further depth of color. Once that was dry, I cleaned up my craft sheet, and repeated the process, this time with just Abandoned Coral Distress ink. When the filmstrip looked like I wanted, I set it aside.

I had already marked the spaces where the openings in the filmstrip would go, onto a piece of Strathmore bristol paper. I stamped 3 of the images from Hero Arts' "Woodland Creatures" set, plus the ladybug from that set, one in each of the spaces. Because I would be coloring them with my Zig Clean Color pens, I made sure to stamp them in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, which is waterproof when dry. After I had given the images a few minutes to dry, I colored them in, and erased the pencil marks on the bristol.

For the background, I used a dot stencil by Donna Downey Studio. I colored some Golden Light Molding Paste with Mermaid Lagoon, and spread it over the stencil, onto a piece of pale blue cardstock. Once I'd covered the cardstock, I set that aside to dry.

I stamped a greeting from the same Hero Arts set onto another piece of pale blue cardstock, using Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder, then inked over it with Mermaid Lagoon. The embossing resisted the ink, letting the light blue greeting show. I cut that into a banner strip, and glued it to the now-dry background panel.

I ran my filmstrip die cut through my Xyron Create-a-Sticker machine, to apply adhesive to the back side. Then I adhered it over my stamped bristol piece, and trimmed off the excess bristol from around the filmstrip. Then I glued that to my background, above the greeting strip. Finally, I mounted the completed card front to a white A2-size card base.

I'm also entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking's August "Texture" challenge.

Season's Tweetings

The current Lawnscaping challenge is "Embossing." I'm trying to build up my stash of holiday cards now, to avoid the catastrophe I had last year. (Mailing cards on Christmas Eve morning, anyone?) So I decided to make a holiday card for my first card for this challenge.

I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #258 for my design:

I started by stamping the little birds and branch from Lawn Fawn's "Winter Sparrows" mini set on a scrap of Strathmore Mixed Media paper. I used Ranger Archival Jet Black ink for the birds, and Hero Arts Cup o' Joe for the branch. I colored the birds with my Zig Clean Color pens, and then die cut everything with the coordinating dies. I adhered the branch to a piece of light blue cardstock that I'd cut for the focal panel, and then glued down the birds.

The greeting in the stamp set is on one line, but I wanted it shorter, so my embellishment wouldn't cover it up. So I masked the "tweetings" portion on the stamp, and inked up "season's" with Archival Jet Black, then removed the masking tape and stamped it on my focal panel. I repeated the process, masking off "season's" and stamping the "tweetings" underneath.

For the snowflake, I used one of the dies from Spellbinders' "2013 Snowflake Pendant" set. I cut it out of white glitter paper, and set that aside while I worked on the background panels & banners.

I embossed another piece of blue cardstock with the "A2 Snowflakes" embossing folder by The Paper Studio. I cut my banner pieces from 3 patterned papers that I found in my scrap stash. After matting the focal panel, I determined how long to make the banners, and trimmed & glued them to the embossed panel. Then I adhered the focal panel to the background. For the snow, I used the bullet tip of my Versamarker and made dots on the focal panel, around the greeting, birds, & branch. Then I heat embossed the snowflakes with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I matted the embossed panel with a lighter blue, then matted that with a dark blue. I adhered the completed card front to a white A2 card base, and that finished this card!

I'm also entering this card in the August 2015 "Holiday" challenge at Live Love Cards.

Two Thank You Cards

My mom recently asked me to make 2 thank you cards for her to send. The inspiration for my first card came from this one I had found through Pinterest. I used 5 different embossing folders for the banners: "Bloom" & "Courtyard" by Lifestyle Crafts; "Dotted Flower Rings" & "Stitched Lace" by Sizzix; and "A2 Tiny Polka Dot" by The Paper Studio. (I only wish the embossing showed up better in the photo!)

I first cut my strips just a smidge over 3/4" wide by 5.5" long, then embossed each one. I decided at that point to stamp my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Thanks" set, on my card front panel, so I would know how long to cut my banners. I cut the left banner strip to 3.5" long, and glued it down. I went on from there, cutting each banner to a different length, as in the inspiration card, and gluing them to the panel.

For the ribbon, I wanted black to match the black stamped greeting, but the closest I had in the width I wanted was a dark royal blue. So I used a Ranger Adirondack paint dauber in Pitch Black and painted a length of my blue ribbon. Problem solved! After drying it with my heat tool, I tied that around the top of my panel in a knot. I kept it in place with ATG adhesive on the back of the panel, and a dot of Ranger Multi Medium Matte under the knot on the front. Finally, I adhered my panel to a white A2 card base. Since the panel was only about 4" wide, I trimmed off the remaining 1/4" from the card base.

The inspiration for my second card also came from Pinterest. Because I didn't have an "on the edge"-style die like in that card, I used one of the "Many Thanks" dies by My Favorite Things, and some partial die-cutting. I die cut just the upper part of the letters, leaving a small bit along the bottom edge uncut. I used a craft knife to cut the spaces around the letters free, and cut the cardstock below the word, leaving a strip about 1/8" wide.

For the lower portion, I used the "Mini Aztec" stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. I masked the upper portion of a piece of white cardstock I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". I taped the stencil down over that, and spread Ranger Texture Paste over it. Once I had covered it with a thin coat, I removed the stencil and set the panel aside to dry, while I cleaned my stencil & palette knife. After the paste had dried, I replaced the stencil over the panel. I then blended Distress inks in Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, and Chipped Sapphire over the dried paste, creating an ombre look across the panel. Unfortunately, when I removed the tape masking off the upper portion of the panel, it tore the paper a little. So I just cut that portion off, and adhered the remaining cardstock to the front of a white A2 card base. I used my two-way glue pen to adhere the "thanks" above the panel, and this card was finished!

Two More Special Birthday Cards

A couple of days ago, I posted about Lexys, a little girl with an inoperable brain tumor, who wants cards for her upcoming birthday. I had found her story through Facebook. I also found an article about a young man in Danville, VA, named Tate, who has cerebral palsy. He is turning 16 on August 30, 2015, and his mother has asked citizens of Danville to send him birthday cards, just to let him know there are people who care about him. The person who posted this article link on Facebook suggested, why should the cards just be from Danville residents? Why not from across the country? So again, I made one each for my mom & me to send to this very special young man.

I decided to make a shaped card for him first. I have not made one in a long time, and felt this occasion warranted something a little different. I looked through several cards I'd pinned on Pinterest, and came across this one, which I used for my inspiration. I used one of the "Balloons" dies from Simon Says Stamp to cut the pieces for my card. I cut 2 pieces from white cardstock, and one from 140 lb watercolor paper. I scored along the top of one of the cardstock pieces, about 3/8" from the edge. I applied adhesive above the score line, and adhered the other cardstock piece to that, forming my card base. I also cut off the bottom bit from the back piece, so the card will stand up.

For the front piece, I heat embossed one of the greetings from Simon Says Stamp's "Big Birthday Greetings," using Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I then applied Distress inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, and Seedless Preserves on my non-stick craft mat. After spraying the ink with my homemade Perfect Pearls mist, I plopped the balloon face-down in the puddles, smooshing it around to get the color on the paper. Once I had the paper fully inked, I dried it with my heat tool, then daubed it into the ink again, to get some smaller droplets of pearly color. When it looked like I wanted, I dried it with my heat tool again.

I adhered the watercolor piece to my card base, and tied a piece of purple baker's twine around the bottom of the front. I spread Ranger Multi Medium Matte along the twine, then wrapped it around the handle of my stylus and let it dry, so it would be curled. Finally, I stamped the inside sentiment, and this card was done.

For the second card, I used this one, which I also found through Pinterest, as my jumping-off point. I first embossed a piece of blue cardstock with the "Happy Birthday" embossing folder by Provo Craft. For the "16," I used an old lettering template, and traced the "1" & "6" ten times each onto black paper. I fussy cut all those, and glued each number, one on top of another, to get chipboard-thick numbers. (In case you're wondering how I cut the inside of the "6," I actually punched it with a 1/8" hole punch. I'm not that masochistic! LOL)

I stamped my greeting, from the "Big Birthday Wishes" set, in Versafine Onyx Black ink on a piece of kraft cardstock, then cut that into a banner shape. I also cut a banner to back the "16." I adhered the banners to my embossed panel, then glued the numbers on. I matted the panel with more black, and adhered that to a kraft panel. Finally, I mounted the completed card front to a white A2 card base, and stamped a sentiment on the inside. Hopefully, Tate will enjoy these cards!

Two Special Birthday Cards

There is a little girl in Michigan, Lexys, who has an inoperable brain tumor. (You can find out more about her at this link.) I learned of her through Facebook. Her 6th birthday is coming up on August 27, 2015, and she has one request: birthday cards. Sadly, she likely will not live long after this birthday. So I decided to make 2 cards to send to her, one from me and one from my mom.

For such a special girl, I decided to make a couple of fun cards. My first card is a shaker. I got the inspiration from this post by Chari Moss, where she did a shaker card using the gumball machine & gumballs from the "Sweet Smiles" stamp set by Lawn Fawn. She also used the coordinating dies.

I stamped the gumball machine & some individual gumballs on a piece of bristol paper in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, then colored them in with Zig Clean Color pens. Unfortunately, I discovered that these pens do not blend well on bristol. (I had heard they did, which is why I tried.) I'm not sure if the brand of bristol paper matters, but this paper sucked the ink right in. :( So I quickly abandoned any thoughts of blending and just did solid coloring. I think it turned out OK anyway.

After cutting the center part of the machine out with a craft knife, leaving a small border, I cut the whole thing and the gumballs out with the coordinating dies. I also die cut a piece of pink paper with one of the "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies by Lawn Fawn, and a piece of a glittery confetti patterned paper with another of those dies. I then die cut the gumball machine out of the pink paper, to create a window. I backed that piece with a piece of acetate, and glued my gumball machine on top of the window with a little Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

To create the shaker, I applied a LOT of foam tape to the back of the pink panel, making sure to leave no gaps in the tape around the opening in the upper part of the machine. Once I had all the tape in place, I placed my gumballs in the shaker, making sure they faced down (so the faces would be visible when the panel was seen from the front), and added some seed beads from my stash. Finally, I removed the liner papers from the tape, and sealed the shaker portion with a piece of pink parchment paper. For my greeting, I stamped one of the ones from Simon Says Stamp's "Birthday Messages" on another piece of the pink parchment. I cut it into a banner shape, and glued it on the pink panel. Then I just had to adhere the pink panel to the confetti pattern, and mount that to my white A2 card base.

For my second card I created a pop-up card, inspired by one that I saw in a video by Darlene Devries. I used the "Small Cherry Pattern" paper by Mary Engelbreit (which I'm sure is probably no longer available), that I found in my stash. For the greeting, I die cut 2 labels from white cardstock using one of the "Labels Wavy" dies by Sizzix. I inked the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress ink, and printed each part of the greeting (which I'd typed & formatted in Photoshop) on them.

Pop-up inside card

For the pop-up, I combined 3 images from Bugaboo Stamps: "Yummy Cupcake," "Present Bear" (retired, I believe), & "Mouse--Big Balloon." I printed them on 140 lb. watercolor paper and colored them with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. I used more of the "Small Cherry Pattern" for the interior panel & pop-up mechanism, reinforcing the pop-up part with a scrap of white cardstock on the back side. I inked the perimeter of the white A2 card base with Worn Lipstick, and finally adhered the interior panel in place. I adhered the images to the pop-up, and glued down the inner sentiment label. As a finishing touch, I applied clear Wink of Stella glitter to the balloon, and coated that and the cherry with Glossy Accents. I also used my white Marvy Liquid Applique pen for the icing on the cupcake.

Inside sentiment

I'm entering both cards in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Food and/or Drink."

Holiday Season Harmony

Since Operation Write Home is no longer accepting cards, I'm starting to focus more on making cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids, and building up my own stash. Challenge #168 at Merry Monday is to make a Christmas card using pastel colors. I came up with this card, inspired by this one I found on Pinterest:

To begin, I stamped one of the images from Hero Arts' "Christmas Crystals" set on a scrap of Strathmore Mixed Media paper, using Versamark ink. I then heat embossed that with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I chose 3 colors of Zig Clean Color pens, and colored in the different sections of the crystal. The blue I actually had to scribble off onto an acrylic block, and pick it up with a wet brush, to get the lighter color. After I'd filled in all the sections, I let it dry, then cut it out with my scissors.

I had seen this tutorial by Jennifer McGuire on making your own shimmer paper, so I decided to give it a try on this card. I took a small piece of white cardstock, and applied Spun Sugar Distress ink to it, using the direct-to-paper method. While that was still wet, I spread some PearlEx Sparkle Gold pigment powder over it with a soft brush, then rubbed it with my finger to get a more even coverage. To set the powder, I sprayed water into the air with my mister bottle, and then waved the paper through the mist. Finally, when that had dried, I die cut it with a Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Scallops" die.

For the background, I cut a piece of mint cardstock to 4x5.25". I used the "A2 Snowflakes" embossing folder by The Paper Studio to emboss just the top portion. I then stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Very Merry Christmas" set, in Versamark below the embossing, and heat embossed that with Liquid Platinum. Then I inserted just the bottom portion of my panel into the folder, and embossed that. I scored a line along the bottom of the top portion and the top of the bottom portion, just to give the embossed areas a finished look.

I glued my crystal to the pink circle, and glued that in place on the background panel. I poked a hole at the top of the crystal, and threaded a holographic metallic thread by Coats through the hole and around the top of the panel, repeating that a few times. Finally, I taped the ends of the thread on the back. For the mat, I heat embossed the right and bottom edges of a 4.25x5.5" piece of white cardstock with Liquid Platinum. I adhered the card front to the upper left corner of my mat piece, then mounted that onto a white A2 card base.

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

a2z Scrapbooking's August challenge: "Texture"
A Blog Named Hero's "Metallic" challenge

Two Encouragement Cards

Facebook, in my opinion, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it helps people--both friends and members just with similar interests--keep in touch. A curse, because of all the negative junk some people insist on posting. One of the more positive places in the FB universe is The Doubliedoo group, which Sandy Allnock started for Operation Write Home alumni to keep in touch since OWH's mission has come to a close. This is just a group of cardmakers, most of us not knowing each other personally, who come together and share our creations, and maybe a bit of our lives. One of the members recently shared that her mother is dying, and suggested we could send thinking of you/encouragement cards to help cheer her up a little. I made these 2 cards, for my mom & me to send to her.

For my first card, I used a tutorial by ShirA. The main difficulty involved converting her measurements, which are metric, into inches. I did use centimeters to measure the pleats on the inside, just to make it easier, but otherwise just kind of made up my own measurements to create a 5x8" card.

I stamped the butterflies and the flower from Hero Arts' "Butterflies #3" set onto 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, & colored them with my new Zig Clean Color Brush Pens. These pens take a little getting used to, but they provide nice, vibrant colors. I also stamped the "thinking of you" from Hero Arts' "Floral" set on the watercolor paper, so the white would match among all the pieces. I stamped the flourish from the "Floral" set in Hero Arts Soft Leaf ink, also on watercolor paper. Finally I die cut the flowers, butterflies, & flourishes with the coordinating dies. I also die cut & embossed the greeting with a Spellbinders "Labels Four" die. With that panel still in the die, I inked the center part with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. For the background, I die cut Spellbinders' "Grateful Lattice" from dark blue cardstock. I ran it through my Xyron Creative Station to apply adhesive to the back, then stuck it to the front of my card, before gluing down the collage elements.

For the inside, I first adhered my pleated patterned paper piece to the card base. I cut "grass blades" from 2 different green patterned papers (sources unknown), and glued them to the pleats in the middle of the inside panel. I stamped, colored, & die cut more butterflies, and glued them in place--some on the very back panel, and others on the grass blades. And that finished my first card.

For my second card, I created a center step card, using a template by Hot Off The Press. This template makes the card creation so easy. No measuring necessary--just trace the lines and cut & fold as directed. Even the decorative panel patterns are provided. Again, just trace & cut! I created my card base out of a piece of light blue cardstock, and used a pink glitter patterned paper (from my scrap stash) for the side & bottom panels. For the main panel, I used a piece of pink parchment patterned paper.

I stamped the flowers and several leaves from Simon Says Stamp's "Summer Garden" set onto scraps of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I used Ranger Archival Watering Can ink for the flowers, and Hero Arts Green Hills for the leaves. I colored the flowers with my Clean Color Pens, and die cut them and the leaves with the coordinating dies. I stamped my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Sending Happy Thoughts" set, on the parchment panel, and arranged my flowers and leaves around the edges. I glued the floral elements down, and finally adhered the panel to my card base. This card actually wasn't hard to do. The only real time-consuming part was stamping, coloring, and die cutting all the flowers & leaves. Hopefully, the recipient will get some comfort from these cards, and the messages my mom & I wrote to her!

I'm entering my first card in a2z Scrapbooking's August challenge: "Texture" (added texture with the lattice die cut).

I'm also entering my second card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Homegrown Summer" challenge.

Happy Birthday Double Slider Card

We finally got to celebrate my brother's birthday this weekend. His actual birthday is July 29, but we didn't get a chance to get together until yesterday. I made this card for him, and stuck a gift card to one of his favorite eateries inside.

I followed this tutorial by Julie Davison to create the card. I used teal cardstock for the main card "base," & a patterned paper from the BasicGrey "Fact" 6x6" paper pad for the wrapper. I don't have the Word Window punch by Stampin' Up, which she used for the notches the slider goes around. So I just guessed the dimensions and used a ruler & craft knife to cut my notches. For the slider mechanism, I first tried cutting a strip from a plastic shopping bag. When that proved too difficult, I switched to a plastic bread bag--success!

To decorate the front of the card, I stamped the cupcake base & top from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Bash" set on white cardstock. I used Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink for the icing, and Pool for the wrapper. Then I cut both pieces with the coordinating dies (discontinued). I glued the cupcake wrapper to a piece of red cardstock, and adhered the top part with foam tape. I colored in the sprinkles on the icing with a yellow glitter gel pen, then dotted Glossy Accents over each for a bit of dimension & shine.

For the lower inside panel, I stamped a greeting from the same stamp set in Pool ink on white cardstock, & matted that with yellow cardstock. I punched a hole with my 1/8" hole punch in the other piece of yellow, and threaded yellow baker's twine through it, to make it easier to pull (which reveals the inside panels). Finally, I added a drop of Tombow Mono Multi glue to the back of the gift card, and let that dry. If you let that glue dry before sticking the pieces together, it forms a temporary bond, so the gift card (in this case) can be easily removed. He seemed really impressed, not only by the gift card, but the engineering for the "wrapping" as well! :)

I'm entering my card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Tie It Up" challenge.

Three Final "Background Check" Cards

"Background Check," Online Card Classes' latest offering, officially closes tomorrow. *Heavy sigh!* It's been fun, as all their classes are, and I've learned a lot. Even as this class comes to a close, I can't wait to hear what their next class theme will be!

I posted about the background for this card here. I decided to make it an encouragement card, inspired by Laura Bassen, to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I stamped the "happy mail" from Simon Says Stamp's "Sending Happy Thoughts" set on a piece of dark teal cardstock, and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I die cut the "Sending" die, also by Simon Says Stamp, out of white cardstock. If I were to do this again, I would probably use a darker color for more contrast, but I think it came out OK anyway. After adhering my "happy mail" panel on the background, I used tiny drops of Ranger Multi Medium Matte on the back of the "Sending" die cut to glue it down. To try and make the "Sending" stand out a little more, I applied a coat of Glossy Accents to it. All that was left then was to adhere the panel to a white A2 card base.

For my second card, I decided to go more masculine. I created the background for this card based on Kristina Werner's lesson on Day 5 of class, using embossing folders. I used the "Riveted Metal" embossing folder by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. I placed a piece of silver cardstock in partway, and ran it through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur. Then I flipped the cardstock around, and embossed the other end, leaving a blank space in the middle. For the greeting, I die cut one of the "Many Thanks" by My Favorite Things from a piece of light blue cardstock. I then spritzed that with After Midnight Dylusions spray ink. I applied little dots of glue to the top & bottom of each letter on the back, and adhered it in the blank space on the background panel. I let the glue dry for a few minutes, then stitched 2 lines with my sewing machine across the "thanks," to add some more texture, minus any bulk. Finally, I adhered the panel to my A2 card base.

My final card came together pretty quickly. I loosely based my design on one Kristina Werner did on Day 6 of class. I stamped my greeting, from Echo Park's This & That "Graceful #2" set, on a piece of white cardstock, and white heat embossed it. After die cutting it with the coordinating die, I swiped a Hero Arts Soft Pool ink pad (the same color I used in the bottom row of diamonds) over the banner. I wiped the excess ink off the embossing, and set that aside to dry for a bit. To add a bit of texture, I pierced holes in between the rows of diamonds, and stitched cross stitches with some Queen & Company baker's twine. I stapled the banner with my Tim Holtz tiny attacher tool, and mounted the finished card front to an A2 card base. I am entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Tie It Up" challenge.

Four "Background Check" Cards

Tomorrow is the last full day for live access to Online Card Classes' "Background Check," before they archive everything. :( It's been a fun class, and I've learned new techniques, gotten a few backgrounds done, and made some cards from those backgrounds. These are 4 of those cards.

My first one was inspired by some that Kristina Werner did on Day 3. (I told how I did the background in this post.) I die cut a piece of vellum with the largest of Spellbinders' "Classic Ovals SM" dies, and heat embossed it with Hero Arts' "Looped Flower" background stamp & Ranger Silver embossing powder. I die cut another oval, using the same die set, from white cardstock. I stamped the greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Summer Garden" set, on that, and heat embossed it with silver as well. I glued the vellum piece onto my background, using dots of Ranger Multi Medium Matte, & hiding the adhesive behind the embossed spots on the vellum. Then I glued the greeting panel on top, and added a few Pretty Pink Posh 4mm & 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins. I also cut a thin strip of silver cardstock, and adhered it along the right side of the panel, then mounted the whole thing to a white A2 card base.

My next 2 cards were inspired by Laura Bassen, and were actually really simple to put together. For the first, I die cut a window in my background, using a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I positioned the background on the front of a white A2 card base, and traced where the window was. I then stamped my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Big Birthday Wishes" set, within that circle, using Versafine Onyx Black ink & clear heat embossing. I cut a piece of fun foam slightly smaller than the background, and cut out a hole where the window would go. Then I adhered that with a strong, double-sided adhesive tape, and mounted the completed card front to my card base.

I followed pretty much the same procedure for my second card, using a Spellbinder's "Labels Four" die for the window. I heat embossed my greeting, from My Favorite Things' "Simply Fabulous Sayings," on a piece of dark blue cardstock, using Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I added foam tape to my background this time, and adhered it over the blue, before mounting it to my white A2 card base. I finished up by adding some White Opal Liquid Pearls.

Kristina Werner inspired my final card as well. I used one of the stamps from Echo Park's This & That "Graceful #2" stamp set for my greeting. I masked off the "Happy" with painter's tape, and inked up the rest with Hero Arts' Soft Granite. After removing the tape, I stamped the greeting on a strip of white cardstock, using my MISTI. I ended up having to repeat the process, since the first stamping wasn't dark or even enough. Then I masked off everything but the "Happy," and inked it up with Hero Arts' Butter Bar. I stamped that twice as well, and then cut the cardstock into a banner shape. I inked the edges with Wild Honey Distress ink, and stitched along the top with some light grey thread. Finally, I adhered my greeting, and mounted the completed card front to an A2 card base. I will be sending all these cards to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

Two More Backgrounds

Online Card Classes' "Background Check" class ends this week *sniff*. I've created several backgrounds during class, and even turned a couple of them into cards! Here are two more backgrounds.

Laura Bassen had a lesson for Day 5 of class on using a stencil and embossing paste over an ink-blended background. I used Distress inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Shaded Lilac, and Cracked Pistachio for my background. I must admit, I wasn't sure how the Cracked Pistachio & Shaded Lilac would blend, since the lilac has red, which is the complement of Cracked Pistachio's green. But I guess because both colors are so light, I didn't create any real "mud"! I started out with Mermaid Lagoon at the bottom, going about halfway up the panel. Then I added the Shaded Lilac, and finished with Cracked Pistachio at the top. I did go back over each "border" between the strips of color, with both colors involved, to get a smooth blend. I also made sure to use a light hand when inking. That's a trick I'm still trying to get used to.

After I'd finished inking, I taped the "Pointed Star" stencil by Jenni Bowlin over the panel, then spread Golden Light Molding Paste through the stencil. Once I had the coverage I wanted, I removed the stencil and cleaned it, my palette knife, & non-stick craft mat immediately. (This is important, to keep the paste from hardening and becoming pretty much impossible to remove from your stencil & tools.) Then I set the background aside to dry.

Shari Carroll's lesson on Day 5 inspired my second background. She demonstrated faux letterpress. I've tried this technique before with embossing folders & dye ink, usually with less-than-stellar results. She showed it using a background die and pigment ink. So I decided to give that a try.

I used 110 lb. white cardstock for this. You really need a good, heavyweight cardstock, to avoid having the die cut through the paper. This can happen, even with setting up your die cutting "sandwich" for embossing. (Ask me how I know! LOL) I don't have many background dies, but thought the "Butterfly Magic" from Spellbinders would make a pretty background. I used a piece of painter's tape to tape the die to my embossing mat, and some temporary adhesive to keep my cardstock in place underneath. I inked the die up with Stampabilities' "Light Pink" pigment ink, then carefully lowered it onto my cardstock. I then ran that through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur. Even though I did get some ink spots outside the lines, I still am very pleased with how this came out! Now I just have to turn my backgrounds into finished cards. Stay tuned...! :)

Wish Big

My brother turned 39 last week, but we aren't able to get together to celebrate until this weekend. So I've had a little extra time to make his birthday cards. ;) I made this pop-up card for one, and plan to include a gift card on the slider tag, that he will find when he "opens" the card!

To create the card, I followed the instructions in this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. I chose a patterned paper from Me & My Big Ideas for the front, and adhered it to a piece of lightweight white cardstock, just to add stability to it. I then cut & scored the front, following the instructions.

For the focal panel on the card front, I stamped the cake, candles, & one of the greetings from the "Wish Big" stamp set, designed by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored them with colored pencils, blending that out with Gamsol on a paper stump. Finally, I matted the panel with a light blue cardstock, and adhered it to the slider portion of the card front.

For the inside/back of the card, I used a piece of light blue cardstock. For the portion that shows through when you pull the slider tag, I stamped a greeting from Simon Says Stamp's "Big Birthday Wishes" in Hero Arts Navy ink. And that finished off this card. Hopefully he will like the card itself, and not just the gift card that will be attached! LOL

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