Be Merry

This is yet another card I did for Splitcoaststampers' Falliday Fest. The challenge was to make a card with an owl. I've had Hero Arts' "Curious Owl" stamp for at least a few years now, and I just get a hoot out of the expression on his face! Did you catch the pun there? :) I thought, since I'm in holiday card mode, it would be fun to put a Santa hat on him. He just has this "Good grief" expression--it seemed like a perfect combination! LOL

I stamped my owl onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper, with Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink. I colored him with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up & blend the color. When I finished, I let him dry, then fussy cut him out. I glued him to a red oval I'd cut with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals SM" die. I also went over his pupils with a black glaze pen, and when that had dried, I added catch lights with a white gel pen, just to make his eyes pop.

I cut strips of patterned paper (from my scrap stash), and adhered them to a red card front, leaving a 1/8" mat on all sides. I stamped my greeting, from My Favorite Things' "Joyous Christmas Sentiments," in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto the dotted patterned paper. I figured, with such bold letters, it would stand out on the patterned paper, especially stamped in black. So I didn't bother adding another layer for the greeting. I then adhered my owl oval in place.

For the Santa hat, I just freehand cut one from red felt. I had to do a bit of fiddling to get the sizing right. I cut a brim from white felt, and glued it to the red with fabric glue. I glued the hat to my card, and added a white pompom, using fabric glue for everything to make sure it would stay stuck. I laid some acrylic blocks on top, to hold it down while the glue dried. After everything had dried for a few hours, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base. I really love how this turned out, and hopefully whoever gets it will too! :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "Layer It"
Aud Sentiments: "Cute + a Sentiment"

Joy

This is another card I did for Falliday Fest at Splitcoaststampers.com. The theme was "Blue Christmas." I used Hero Arts' "Joy to the World" stamp set for the triangles, and My Favorite Things' "Joyous Christmas Sentiments" for the greeting.

I started by stamping my background. I traced a 4" circle onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. Using a hexagon template I got online & my MISTI, I stamped the triangle 6 times around the circle in Versamark. Then I heat embossed those with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I inked the circle with Faded Jeans Distress ink (in the center), and going out to Blueprint Sketch, & Chipped Sapphire around the edge. I used a water brush to "paint" some of the smaller triangles with plain water, and blotted up the water/ink to bleach the areas, just for some added interest.

For the greeting, I stamped the "Joy" onto another scrap of watercolor paper, and heat embossed it. I die cut that with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and inked it with Faded Jeans. I went around the edges with Blueprint Sketch, just to help tie it in with the background. I then popped it up over the center of my background. I die cut a silver shimmer paper mat with a "Nesting Scallop" die from Lifestyle Crafts, and adhered my inked circle to that. I die cut another scalloped circle, scored 1/2" from one edge, and adhered the top to the back of my card front to create the card base.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "Layer It"
Die Cut Divas "October is the Time to Emboss"

Peace Cardinal

The past couple of weeks, I've been participating in Splitcoaststampers.com's Falliday Fest. It's a series of 30 card challenges & 10 tutorials, and has been a lot of fun. This is one of the cards I created for that.

I recently got Hero Arts' "Color Layering Cardinal" stamp set & dies. We had a friend some years ago who loved cardinals, and I guess she passed that love on to me. So when I saw this stamp set, I knew I had to have it!

For this card, I stamped the cardinal on white cardstock, using Hero Arts Fresh Peach ink for the base layer, and Memento Lady Bug & Rhubarb Stalk for the second and third layers, respectively. I stamped the face & eye in Versafine Onyx Black, and the feet in Rhubarb Stalk. I must say, not having much experience with color layering stamps, this one is not too hard to work with. The only part I messed up was the black, and mostly because I wasn't sure what to line it up with. Thankfully, I had stamped 3 birds, so I just "ignored" the one I messed up! :) After I'd finished stamping, I die cut the body & legs with the coordinating dies, and added a bit of white gel pen to emphasize the highlight in the eye.

To create the sky area, I blended Distress inks in Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, & Chipped Sapphire onto a panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. I spritzed the panel with water from my Distress Sprayer, let it sit for several seconds, and blotted up the water. I dried that, inked over it again, & repeated the water "bleaching" process. I really like the effect doing this twice gave. I think it really adds more depth than just inking and bleaching once.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to A2 size, and die cut an oval from the center with the smallest of Spellbinders' "Grand Ovals Nestabilities" (no longer available) Then I ran it through my die cutting machine again, with the "Snowflakes" embossing folder from Darice.

For the greeting, I stamped the "peace" from the same stamp set in Rhubarb Stalk, and die cut it with one of the "Labels" dies from Sizzix/Tim Holtz. I inked the edges with Stormy Sky. I stamped & die cut the berry & small pine needle images with Memento Lady Bug & Cottage Ivy inks, and die cut them as well. I layered those behind the greeting, and added foam tape to the back.

I marked the position of the oval on my inked background, and used that as a guide to stamp the branch in Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink. I adhered my frame to the background, and glued the cardinal on top, "sitting" on the branch. Finally, I added my greeting, and mounted the card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "Layer It"
Die Cut Divas "October is the Time to Emboss"

Thoughts and Prayers

My mom recently learned that a member of her writers group passed away. So she asked me to make a sympathy card that the other members could sign to send to his widow.

I decided to do a white-on-white card. I cut a piece of white cardstock, and embossed it with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. (Sorry, but it's not labeled & I don't know the name.) I then machine stitched around the perimeter with white thread.

For my greeting, I stamped the prayers & 2 coordinating greetings from Hero Arts' "Prayers" stamp & cut set onto vellum, using Versamark ink. I then heat embossed it with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I trimmed the vellum into a strip, and adhered the ends to the back of my dry-embossed panel.

I cut another piece of white cardstock to slightly smaller than A9 size. I used a Prima stencil (name unknown) and Golden Light Molding Paste to create a pattern at the top right & lower left corners. I let the paste layer kind of fade out, by leaving the edges ragged. After that had dried thoroughly, I adhered my focal panel to the center, and mounted the whole thing on a white card base.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "Layer It"
Die Cut Divas: "Time to Emboss"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Merry Christmas Cardinal

The theme this week for the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge Blog is "Retro/Vintage." I just got the "Vintage Christmas Post" stamp set & dies, and figured they'd be perfect for this challenge! I also used one of the banners from the Avery Elle "Build a Banner" stamp set, as well as its coordinating die. I got the inspiration for the card design from Dawn Olchefske's tutorial for the Falliday Fest event at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I stamped my cardinal in Charcoal ink onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I also stamped the greenery in Forever Green, the banner in Charcoal, the pine cones in Cup o' Joe, & the greeting in Red Royal (all Hero Arts shadow inks). I colored the cardinal with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to apply the color. I discovered, looking at a photo of a cardinal for reference, that the black area around his face wasn't large enough as drawn on the stamp, so I extended it with a black Inktense pencil. After I finished coloring, I let that dry, and then die cut all my images with their coordinating dies.

I created my card base, following Dawn's instructions, from burgundy cardstock. I cut my patterned paper from one of the "Christmas Carol" 6x6" papers by Graphic45. The paper is double-sided, so I just flipped it over for the other triangle panels. After I adhered my paper panels, I went ahead & glued on my elements, with the banner overlapping the opening in the card. I made sure not to apply glue to the point that I would adhere my card shut, however!

Inside of card

For the inside, I cut a panel from more Mixed Media Paper, and stamped a greeting from Hero Arts' "Joy to the World" set in Red Royal ink. I adhered that inside the card, and this was done!

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

a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "Layer It"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Happy Birthday - with a Surprise!

Online Card Classes' "Wild Card" class is winding down this week, but I still found time to create a card inspired by Jennifer McGuire's lesson on Day 3.

I created my A2 card base from Simon Says Stamp's Fog cardstock. I placed it in my MISTI, and stamped the front with the "Painted Diamonds Background" stamp from Hero Arts. I then heat embossed that with Ranger Silver Pearl embossing powder, to give a subtle, shimmery tone-on-tone design.

I used Essentials by Ellen vellum for my belly band. I die cut a balloon with one of Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" dies, and attached that to the vellum strip with temporary adhesive. Then I stamped the greeting, from "Big Birthday Wishes" (Simon Says Stamp), in Versamark ink over both pieces, and heat embossed with Stampendous Sapphire PEARLustre embossing powder. Since the embossing powder didn't stick "cleanly" where the balloon overlapped the vellum, I removed the balloon, touched up the blank areas with a glue pen, applied more powder, and melted it. Finally, I glued the balloon in place permanently.

Inside of card

I die cut more balloons from paper scraps using another "Party Balloons" die. I adhered them to the inside, and tied lengths of crochet thread around the bottoms. To secure the thread, I added a dot of Perfect Paper Adhesive to each balloon, and after that dried, cut the strings. And that finished off this card!

Thank You Flower

My mom had a birthday recently, and received gifts from several people. So she asked me to create thank you cards that she could use to send to them. I have been taking Online Card Classes' "Wild Card" class, & decided to make a shaped thank you card, based on Debby Hughes' lesson on Day 1 of class.

I used the largest of DoCrafts' Xcut "Flower Bloom" dies to cut my card front & base pieces. I cut the front out of 140 lb. Strathmore watercolor paper. I then stamped the greeting (Stampabilities' "Thank You Circle Seal") in Versamark ink in the center of my flower, and heat embossed it with Recollections Snow embossing powder.

To color my flower, I used fingertip sponge daubers. I blended Crushed Olive Distress ink over the flower center first, spreading the color a little beyond the greeting. Then I blended Wild Honey Distress ink, starting from the outer edges with a heavier application, and getting lighter as I went towards the center. I had thought about spritzing it with water, but liked how it turned out so well that I just left it as is. Finally, I created my card base and adhered my main panel to the front of that.

Merry Christmas Pop Up

Day 3 of Online Card Classes' "Wild Card" class was all about pop-ups! I created one based on Kelly Marie Alvarez's & Laura Bassen's lessons.

I stamped my elements for the inside of the card, using the Christmas tree & snowman from Hero Arts' "Joy Snowman" & trees from Hero Arts' "Winter Cheer" stamp sets (both discontinued). I colored the ornaments on the Christmas tree with a red marker, the green doodads with a darker green marker, and added dots around the ornaments with a silver gel pen. I then die cut my images with the coordinating dies. I also die cut 2 snowy hills using Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Hillside Borders" dies.

For my background, I blended a sky with Tumbled Glass, Broken China, & Salty Ocean Distress inks. I let that dry thoroughly, then stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Joy to the World," in Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder.

Side view of inside

I created my pop up, following the instructions in class. I didn't have any pop-up dies, so I used a ruler & craft knife to cut the mechanisms.

Front of card with belly band

For the outside of the card, I cut & scored a piece of green cardstock. I ran it through my die cutting machine with Darice's "Snowflake Swirl" embossing folder, to emboss just the front of the card. I created a belly band from a scrap of patterned paper I had in my stash. I die cut a snowflake from white cardstock using one of the "Paper Snowflakes, Mini" dies by Sizzix for Tim Holtz. I backed it with a dark blue circle I die cut with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die. Finally, I adhered it to the belly band.

I'm entering my card in Through the Craft Room Door's "Anything Goes" challenge.

Birthday Surprise Shaker

This is another card inspired by Online Card Classes' "Wild Card" class. I have a friend who has a birthday this week, and decided to create a card for her based on Laurie Willison's shaker card lesson on Day 4.

I didn't have the die she used for the main panel, so I had to improvise. I die cut a panel from green cardstock with the largest of Simon Says Stamp's "Stitched Rectangles." I cut a flap into that with my craft knife, using an old Notch & Die tool for the tab.

I stamped one of the large images from WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" set onto white cardstock, using Memento Cottage Ivy ink for the leaves & Cantaloupe for the flower center; and Hero Arts Pale Tomato for the flowers. Since there is no coordinating die for that particular image, I fussy cut it. I die cut a panel from white cardstock using one of the "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I stamped my greeting, using the "It's Your Birthday" set by Simon Says Stamp, in Versafine Onyx Black, & adhered it to the flap on my card panel. Then I glued the flower cluster in place.

Inside of front shaker panel

I created a backer sheet for my shaker part by blending Twisted Citron & Mowed Lawn Distress inks onto a piece of Canson XL Mixed Media Paper, to create an ombre effect. I spritzed it with water from a Distress Sprayer, and blotted up the water, creating "bleach" spots in the ink. I created my shaker, adding some stamped & die cut images from "Spring Blooms," and sequins & seed beads. After assembling my shaker, I adhered it to the front of a white A2 card base.

Thanks

This is another card inspired by Wild Card, from Online Card Classes. Jennifer McGuire had a lesson on Day 1 on gatefold cards. My mom is in need of thank you cards, so I decided to make one based on Jennifer's lesson.

I stamped the "Mondo Magnolia" from Essentials by Ellen onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper, using Spun Sugar Distress ink. I then did some no-line watercoloring with Worn Lipstick Distress ink & a water brush. When that had dried, I die cut it with the coordinating die. I also die cut my greeting using Lawn Fawn's "Scripty Thanks" twice from teal cardstock. I used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue the die cuts together, just to give the greeting more substance.

I created my card base, and adhered purple cardstock to the front panels. I cut 2 pieces of lace from my stash and glued them along the open edges. Finally, I mounted my flower to one side with foam tape, and glued my die cut thanks on top.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion Challenges #332: "Anything Goes"
Virginia's View Challenge #24: "Focal Point"
Creative Knockouts #162: "Thankful Thoughts"

Wild Card - Day 1

I've been taking Online Card Classes' newest class, "Wild Card," this week. The focus of the class is on shaped & interactive cards. Debby Hughes had a lesson on Day 1 on making shaped cards. My card was inspired by hers.

I used the largest of DoCrafts' Xcut "Butterflies 1" dies to cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I inked it with Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon, & Candied Apple, and spritzed it with my homemade Perfect Pearls + water mist. When that had dried, I spritzed it lightly with my Distress Sprayer, to get larger water drops on it. I let that sit for several seconds, then blotted up the water, which bleached the color underneath.

For my greeting, I used Hero Arts' "Acts of Kindness" stamp set. I stamped one of the greetings on a vellum strip in Versamark ink, and heat embossed it with Recollections Gold Detail embossing powder. I also used a heart from the stamp set for the butterfly's body. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink, so I could more easily keep track of where I had stamped, and heat embossed it with Stampendous Marcasite embossing powder. (This is a black embossing powder that has sparkles in it. It's hard to get the glitter to show up in the photo!) When that had cooled, I adhered my vellum on top, and trimmed the ends of the strip to follow the outline of the butterfly.

I finished my card by creating a card base from white cardstock, and adhering my card front to that. I really like how this mini card came out! I will send it to Darlene at Live Love Cards, to send a note of encouragement to a Meals on Wheels recipient.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Work It Wednesday: Use Red, Orange, Yellow, and/or Brown
Pile It On Challenge #118: Sparkle
Die Cut Divas: Time to Emboss
Incy Wincy Designs: All that Glitters

Happy Birthday Wishes

My mom's 80th(!) birthday is this week, and the school where she teaches is throwing her a party today. One of the guests she invited is a good friend of ours, and I offered to make a card for her to give my mom. I wanted something extra special, so I found this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.com for a card with a detachable bookmark. My mom loves to read, so I figured this would be perfect!

After I created the card base from teal cardstock, I used my sewing machine with no thread to "stitch" the piercing line to make the bookmark detachable. I matted a piece of patterned paper from Echo Park's "Simple Life" 6x6" pad with green cardstock, and adhered that to the card front. I also matted a smaller piece to adhere to the coordinating bookmark.

Bookmark

To finish off the bookmark, I created a hole reinforcer by punching through a piece of green cardstock with a 1/4" hole punch, then punched around that with a 1/2" circle punch. I cut that in half, and glued it to the top of the bookmark, butted up against the green mat. Then I punched a hole through all layers with my 1/4" punch, & threaded through some fibers from my stash.

I chose the "It's Your Birthday" stamp set from Simon Says Stamp for the greeting. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black onto a strip of white cardstock, using my MISTI to help me place the words.

To add a special touch to the front of the card. I stamped one of the flowers & 2 leaves from Simon Says Stamp's "Summer Garden" set (discontinued) onto a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media Paper. I used Abandoned Coral Distress ink for the flower, and Peeled Paint for the leaves. After stamping, I used a damp paintbrush to blend the color on each piece. Then I die cut them with the coordinating dies.

I glued the leaves & flower to the greeting strip, and trimmed the strip so that it stopped behind the cluster. Finally, I adhered that to my card front, & added some Gold Stickles to the flower center.

Inside of card

For the inside of the card, I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4x5.25". I stamped the same flower & one of the leaves I'd used for the front in the corner, masking to get an overlapping cluster. I used a black fine-tip pen to draw lines all around the panel. I found a sentiment on this website, formatted it in Photoshop, and printed it on my panel. Then I adhered that inside the card, and it was finished!

Thinking of U

I recently saw this tutorial on a "faux stamped leather" technique, and decided to give it a try. I wanted to make a specifically masculine card to send in my package to Darlene at Live Love Cards, to go to a Meals on Wheels recipient.

I didn't have any really suitable stamps in my collection, so I went through my dies. I came across the "Foliage 2" set from Paper Smooches, which I had yet to use. I decided one of those would be perfect to make a stamp. So I die cut it from 3mm thick craft foam, and stuck that on an acrylic block.

First, I die cut a piece of kraft cardstock with the largest of Spellbinders' "Labels Eight" dies. I stamped the leaf image multiple times around the panel with Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink. I tried to keep it looking random by turning the stamp in different directions as I worked. Once I finished stamping, I put my panel on a mouse pad, rubbed over it with wax paper to make debossing a little easier, and traced loosely around each image with my stylus.

Next, I placed the "Labels Eight" die over the panel, with the cutting line face down, and traced around the inside of the die lightly with a pencil. I used my paper piercer to poke holes along my pencil line, then erased the line. This created stitching holes.

To ink the panel, I began with Fossilized Amber Distress ink, blending it over the entire piece. Then I blended Rusty Hinge, followed by Vintage Photo & a touch of Ground Espresso (all Distress inks). As I got darker, I added ink over smaller areas of the cardstock, finally blending the Ground Espresso only around the perimeter. After I had the "leather" look, I chose a light tan embroidery floss, and did a back stitch around the perimeter, using the holes I'd pierced before inking.

I used Hero Arts' "Year Round Sentiments" for the first part of my greeting. I masked off the "you" on the stamp, inked it with Cup o' Joe, removed the mask, and stamped the "Thinking of" on a strip of kraft cardstock. I die cut the "U" from more kraft with one of Simon Says Stamp's "Big U" dies, and inked it with Cup o' Joe to make it stand out more. Then I glued the banner to the "U," weaving it into the letter, and cut off the excess banner so it stopped behind the "U," before gluing everything to my card front panel.

For my card base, I cut 2 pieces of white cardstock with the same "Labels Eight" die. I scored one at 1/2" from the end for the back of my card, to create a hinge. I applied ATG adhesive above the score line, and adhered my other white panel to that. Finally, I glued my main panel to the front of my card base.

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

Sending You Prayers

Our Daily Bread Designs' current challenge theme is "Dots or Dashes." A woman I know has a sister who is under hospice care. So I decided to go ahead and create a sympathy card to send to her whenever her sister finally passes.

I cut a tag from 140 lb. watercolor paper, and rounded the upper 2 corners with my 1/2" Corner Chomper. I also created a hole reinforcer from the same paper with 1/4" & 1/2" punches. I backed the tag with Scor-Tape adhesive sheet, and ran it through my die cutting machine with the inside die from ODBD's "Fancy Fritillary." Because the paper & Scor-Tape were so thick, the die did not cut completely through, which was exactly what I wanted. I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Prayers" stamp set, in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. Finally, I added some fibers from my stash through the hole.

To color my tag, I used Fossilized Amber, Crushed Olive, & Broken China Distress inks. I applied areas of each color with a fingertip sponge dauber, and then spritzed the panel generously with water. I dried that with my heat tool, being careful not to "overcook" it, and applied another layer of the same colors. I spritzed the tag again to get some slight "texture," and dried it.

For my background, I cut another piece of watercolor paper to 4.25x5.5", and inked it thoroughly with Black Soot Distress ink. After I had covered the panel, I spritzed it lightly with my Distress Sprayer bottle, so I would get large water drops. I let that set for several seconds, then blotted it with a paper towel, to lift some of the ink. I just felt, since quite a bit of the background shows, this would give it a bit more interest, while still not detracting from the tag.

I removed the release paper from the Scor-Tape pieces I'd put on the back of my tag. I adhered it to the background at a slight angle, and used a black pen to add some faux stitching lines around the tag. After mounting my card front to a white A2 card base, I used some Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue down some black Doodlebug Designs sequins.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Powder Power"
Incy Wincy Designs: "Things That Fly"