Season's Greetings

 

The current Dies R Us Challenge is "Christmas." I used the "Angle Approach" Cut-Fold-Tuck die from Spellbinders (discontinued) for this card. This card I saw on Pinterest inspired the basic design of my card.

I die cut the main element from a piece of green Die Cuts with a View Flip Side cardstock. This has a light color on one side & a darker shade of the same color on the other. I carefully removed the cardstock from the die, and folded back the pieces around the perimeter. I also folded up the center circle bits to give them some lift.

I glued the die cut centered towards the top of a 4x5-1/4" piece of navy cardstock. I had a scrap piece of white cardstock left over from another card, that I'd embossed with the "Plaid" embossing folder from Sizzix & Tim Holtz. I decided to use that behind my greeting.

I wanted to heat emboss my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Holiday Greetings Mix 1" stamp set, onto the same navy cardstock as I'd used for the background. But, I didn't want to cut into another, larger piece of navy. So I cut off a little over an inch from the bottom of my panel, heat embossed my greeting a little higher than center, and carefully trimmed the greeting out. I adhered the negative strip to my card base, butted up against the bottom edge of the upper background panel. I adhered my white cardstock strip, which covered the seam between the 2 navy pieces, and glued my greeting on top of that.

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

 

Die Cut Divas December Challenge: "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create December Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Holiday Tags

 This is a slightly different post from me, since I'm not writing about a card. Instead, I'm sharing 6 holiday tags I made for the 10th annual "25 Tags of Christmas" challenges.

 

 

Tracy McNeely's tag on Day 26 inspired my first tag. I didn't have the same dies she used, but I have Sunny Studio's "Merry Sentiments" stamp set & coordinating die, which I figured is a good substitute. I first die cut 3 bulbs, keeping the negative cardstock as a stamping template for my MISTI stamp positioning tool. I put tape behind one of the die cut openings, sticky side facing up, & stuck one light bulb into that spot. I positioned the most solid stamp, and picked it up with the MISTI door. I used Lawn Fawn Jalapeno, Memento Lady Bug, & Hero Arts Tide Pool inks for this lightest layer. For the darker layer, I used Memento Cottage Ivy, Love Letter, & My Favorite Things Blu Raspberry inks. I stamped the base of each bulb with Memento London Fog & Gray Flannel, and silver heat embossed the filaments.

I die cut my tag with a Scrapbook.com "Nested Tags" die from Strathmore Mixed Media paper, and cut another from plain white cardstock as a backer. I inked the main tag with Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Blueprint Sketch, & Chipped Sapphire Distress inks, and added a bit of Black Soot Distress ink around the edges for some drama. I spattered the tag with silver pearlescent watercolor. I glued on my bulbs, & used a silver paint pen to draw in the "cord." After I adhered the tag to the backer, I used metallic silver embroidery floss to tie on 3 small silver jingle bells at the top.

 

My second tag was inspired by Carol Mayne's penguin tags on Day 1. I printed Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Festive Penguin" digital image onto a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper, and painted it with my watercolors. I die cut it with a scalloped circle die, & used another die 2 sizes larger to cut 2 green scalloped circles. I glued the green circles together for greater stability, & then glued the image circle on top. I punched a hole with a 1/8" hole punch, and threaded through a length of baker's twine.

 

 The inspiration for my 3rd tag came from Ardyth Percy-Robb's tag on Day 3. I die cut the poinsettia bract & leaf pieces from red & green cardstock scraps with the Poppystamps "Blooming Poinsettia" dies. I used Aged Mahogany & Pine Needles Distress inks on finger sponge daubers to add shading to the pieces. After curling the petals & leaves by running them over my bone folder, I adhered the center of the smaller flower layer to the larger with a tiny glue dot. I used more glue dots to adhere the leaves to the flower.

I embossed a white die cut tag with one of the "Bloom" embossing folders (discontinued) from Lifestyle Crafts, and glued my flower to that. I added red organza ribbon, & tied it with metallic embroidery floss. Finally, I glued some gold sequins in the center of the poinsettia for some bling.

Kim Heggins' tag on Day 1 inspired my 4th tag. I printed the "Winter Birds Trio" digital image (discontinued) from Bugaboo Stamps onto a 1-1/2"-tall strip of Canson XL watercolor paper, and painted it with my watercolors. I die cut a tag from a patterned paper from my scrap stash, & another from mint cardstock to go on the back. After adhering them back-to-back, I die cut the bottom with one of the "Stitched Borders 3" dies from Pretty Pink Posh. I then adhered my image panel with ATG tape. I stamped the greeting, from Lawn Fawn's "Winter Sparrows" set, onto the same mint cardstock, & added that under my image panel. I decided the image panel blended in to the background at the top too much, so I added another strip of mint above it. I threaded some cream satin ribbon through the top hole, and that finished this tag.

 

This tag's inspiration came from Carol Mayne's elegant creations on Day 4. I heat embossed the Essentials by Ellen "Mondo Poinsettia" (discontinued) in gold on white cardstock, and cut it out with the coordinating die. I heat embossed my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Color Layering Christmas Tree" stamp set, with the same gold onto a panel of burgundy cardstock. I matted that with a gold foil patterned paper from my scrap stash, that I had backed with white cardstock for more stability. Finally, I glued on my poinsettia.

For my 6th & final tag, I used Karen Bull's tag on Day 13 for my inspiration. I stamped the truck & presents from Stampendous' "Truck Tidings" (discontinued) onto Canson XL watercolor paper. After I painted the images with watercolors, I cut them out with the coordinating dies. Because the truck die also cuts out the side window, before I removed the paper from the die, I added double-sided tape behind the window to keep it attached to the truck body. I used the same tape to adhere the presents "into" the truck bed.

I die cut an oval from blue cardstock with a We R Memory Keepers die, & added a strip of brown cardstock to the bottom for a dirt road. I positioned that in my MISTI, and stamped the greeting. I ran the oval through my die cutting machine again with the same die, to cut the overhanging piece of the brown strip. I glued the truck in place & added the oval to a red mat. Finally, I used my Crop-a-Dile II to punch a 1/8" hole & threaded through a length of red satin ribbon.

Deck the Halls

  

I got the inspiration for this card from this one I saw on Pinterest. I have the same snowflake die, from Spellbinders' "2013 Snowflake Pendant" set (discontinued), so figured this would be a perfect time to use it.

I began by die cutting the snowflake from a paper from The Paper Studio's "Christmas Basics" 6x6" patterned paper pad. I positioned that panel onto a piece of white cardstock that I'd cut to the same size, & lightly traced the opening with a pencil, to guide my stamping.

I placed the panel in my MISTI stamp positioning tool, and used the penciled guidelines to place the jingle bell stamp from Sunny Studio Stamps' "Holiday Style" set. I stamped the different layers to build up what is a really realistic image. I used Memento London Fog ink for the base layer, and Hero Arts Charcoal & Black inks for the subsequent two layers. I also used London Fog for the hanger. I stamped the branch image from the same set multiple times across the top of the panel with Lawn Fawn's Noble Fir ink. Finally, I used a silver paint pen to draw a hook from the bell hanger to the branch.

I added my snowflake die cut panel to the white panel with foam tape. I mounted that to a green mat, and adhered my card front to a white A2-size card base. For the greeting, I used Lawn Fawn's "Deck the Halls" stamp set. I stamped it on a white strip with Noble Fir ink, and adhered that to my card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #378: "Christmas Delight"

613 Avenue Create's November Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Ink Smooshed Season's Greetings

  

I recently made several cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. One type they are always looking for is teen cards. I thought the rough-and-tumble look of this would make a good one for a teenager. I got my inspiration for this card from this one I saw on Pinterest.

I began with the ink smooshing on the background, using Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, & Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide inks. I pressed the ink pads--one color at a time--onto my non-stick craft mat, and spritzed lightly with water. I picked up the ink with a piece of clear plastic sheet protector, and pounced it onto a panel of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I focused the inks mostly around the edges, leaving the center more white with just a few splotches. After I finished with each color, I dried the panel, so the colors wouldn't get muddy.

Once I had finished the ink smooshing, I used a few stamps from My Favorite Things' "Sophisticated Snowflake" set (discontinued) to stamp with the same colors of Oxide inks. Some of the snowflakes I spritzed with a bit of water after stamping, and a few I stamped on the paper after I dampened it a bit, so they would melt into the background somewhat. Others, I stamped on dry paper & left them alone for a crisper feel.

I use Simon Says Stamp's "Season's Greetings" die--and oldie but a goodie--for the greeting. I die cut it from green shimmer cardstock, and a few times from white cardstock. To help me get the words positioned correctly, I also used the die to make an impression in my background panel. For that, I just positioned the die on my panel, & ran it through my die cutting machine with a light pressure setting, so it didn't cut through. I glued the first white die cut onto that impression, and glued the rest to that, stacking each one to make a thicker greeting. Finally, I glued on the green die cut. I even layered the apostrophe & tittle! Finally, I matted the panel with dark green cardstock, and added it to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #378: "Christmas Delight"

Send a Smile 4 Kids Challenge: "Happy Holidays 4 Kids or Anything Goes 4 Kids"

613 Avenue Create's November Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Jingle All the Way

 

The November Sketch challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown inspired the design for my card.

One of the challenges for this year's Falliday Fest event at Splitcoaststampers.com is "Let it Snow in Technicolor." Basically, use snowflakes on a holiday/winter card, and make them any color(s) BUT white. I had a technique piece that I'd done in a class at a recent online retreat. It didn't turn out exactly right, but I saved it, because it was still a pretty, colorful background. So I decided it would be perfect, paired with the Black Magic technique, to make Technicolor snowflakes!

I clear heat embossed several snowflakes on my panel, using My Favorite Things' "Sophisticated Snowflake" stamp set (discontinued). Once the embossing had cooled, I blended Black Soot Distress Oxide ink over the whole panel. Because the panel surface was a bit slick, the ink coverage ended up pretty streaky, and a lot of the background color showed around the snowflakes. But, I figured I'd keep going, and tried coating the panel with black acrylic paint. Same streaky result. So I wiped off the paint, and applied more Black Soot ink, this time going direct-to-paper with my ink pad. Some of the background color still showed through, but I decided the contrast was close enough for jazz, and so just dried the panel with my heat tool. Finally, I wiped off the ink that was on top of the embossed snowflakes, to reveal the bright colors underneath.

I used one of the greetings from Hero Arts' "Merry Christmas Message" stamp set (discontinued). I triple-stamped it on a scrap of white cardstock with Hero Arts Tide Pool ink. (I thought that went well with the Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink I'd used on the original background.) I die cut that with a Waffle Flower "Nesting Squares" die, oriented to make a diamond. I die cut another slightly larger square, with an "Additional Squares" die (also from Waffle Flower), from the same white scrap, & inked it direct-to-paper with Tide Pool. I used that as a mat for my greeting.

I cut a panel of patterned paper, from Bo Bunny's "Candy Cane Lane" 6x6" paper pad, to 4-1/8x5-3/8". I adhered that to my white A2-sized card base, leaving a 1/16" mat on all sides. I cut my snowflake panel into 2 narrower strips, and adhered them in place. Finally, I glued on my greeting, using my T-square ruler to make sure I got it straight.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's November "Anything Goes" challenge (not playing the twist).

Season's Greetings

  

The October technique challenge theme at Christmas Card Throwdown is "Fancy Folds." I decided to make a cascade card for my entry.

 

I found a tutorial by Beccy Muir through Pinterest for how to do this sort of card. I used a heavyweight cream cardstock for the card base, and patterned papers from The Paper Studio's "Happy Holidays" letter-size pad to decorate.

For my focal image, I die cut a circle from more of the cream cardstock. I stamped & die cut images from Lawn Fawn's "Deck the Halls" set, and glued them around the perimeter of the circle. I also used a holly leaf from WPlus9's "Be Merry Florals" (discontinued) & the bow from "Holiday Style" by Sunny Studio.

My initial idea was to have the greeting stamped directly on the circle base piece in the middle of the wreath. But I messed up the stamping, so I had to figure out another option. I used the "Season's Greetings" from Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" stamp set (discontinued) and one of the "Build a Banner" stamps by Avery Elle (discontinued). I first stamped the banner, then curved the greeting stamp to fit the curve of the banner & stamped it. Finally, I die cut the banner with the coordinating die.

I used an old Fiskars border punch to punch strips of blue cardstock. I figured the present theme of the punch went well for a holiday card. I trimmed the punched strips with my paper trimmer, leaving a 1/8" edge along the bottom. I glued each to the backs of my card folds, adding the glue to the front of the unpunched edge of the strips. I added one more strip along the bottom of the front, as per the tutorial instructions, and glued my wreath in place. I will add a panel to the back for the "inside" sentiment. This card was really easy to put together, thanks to Beccy's excellent tutorial!

Meowy Christmas

Janis at Her Peaceful Garden has been hosting her annual Cat Lovers Hop this week. One of the options to participate is to create a cat-themed project. I created this Christmas card using the new "Christmas Tree Cat" stamp set, illustrated by Anita Jeram for Colorado Craft Company.

 

I double-stamped the image onto a panel of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper with Simon Says Stamp's Fog ink. I wanted a no-line look, but still wanted faintly-visible lines to guide my coloring, hence my choice of ink. I used my Prismacolor pencils to color it. I colored the cat to look like our middle cat, Barney. I did have to refer to the stamp set's index sheet frequently to see what all the little bits & bobs on the tree were, so I knew how to color them.

After I finished coloring, I stamped the greeting in Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink. I chose this because it's a mid-tone cool grey, which complements the colors I used for the cat. I played around with placement a while, and finally decided to tuck it in next to the cat's head. It seems like that location was made for that greeting to nestle. Finally, I cut 2 narrow strips of red cardstock, adhered them to both sides of a white A2-size card base to frame my panel, & adhered the panel on top.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Merry Christmas Penguin

 

The current Christmas Card Throwdown challenge has the theme of "Winter Sweaters." I decided to pull out an old Hunkydory Crafts, Ltd. stamp set that I got in a papercrafting magazine a couple of years ago for my card. My design is from an old Operation Write Home sketch.

I began by stenciling the panel to go behind my image panel. I used the "Holiday Knit" stencil by Tim Holtz. I figured this reinforces the "sweater" theme even more! :) After I sprayed the back of the stencil with Krylon Easy Tack, I positioned it onto my cardstock piece. I used Worn Lipstick, Faded Jeans, & Bundled Sage Distress inks over the stencil. I masked adjacent sections of the design with yellow Frog tape as I went.

To tie into the theme yet again, I used a piece of Lawn Fawn's Knit Picky 6x6" patterned paper--a freebie I received with an order--as the background of my card. I cut it to 4x5-1/2", & adhered it to a white A2-sized card base. I layered a piece of sage green cardstock from my scrap stash over that. I matted my knit-stenciled panel with a narrow black mat, and adhered that in place.

I stamped the reindeer antlers head piece first on my Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper panel, then masked it. I stamped the penguin on that panel, and stamped the sweater on another scrap of bristol. I colored the images with my Tombow markers, using the blender pen to add highlighting. Finally, I fussy cut the sweater, "painted" the edges with a black marker to hide the paper's white core, & glued it over my penguin.

I chose a greeting from the same stamp set, & stamped it in black on a strip of light blue cardstock. After I matted that in black, I added 3 Bottle Green Nuvo Crystal Drops to the one end. I let that dry overnight, before adhering that & my image panel to my card.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Layer It Up"

Thanks So Very Much

 

The October Monthly Mix Challenge at Gina K Designs is "Colorblocking." I got the inspiration for the pattern on my card from this photo I found on Pinterest.

The hardest thing about this card was actually figuring out how to do the masking. I finally cut a piece of scrap cardstock to 6x4-1/2", & marked out where I wanted the bands of color. I used a metal ruler & craft knife to cut along the inner line for the outermost section, leaving me with a panel & an L-shaped piece to use as masks.

I cut another panel of white cardstock to 5-1/4x4". I taped my panel mask in place, and inked the outer band with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink. Then I covered that with my L-shaped mask, moved my panel mask 1/2" down and to the left, and inked the next section with Cracked Pistachio Oxide ink. I repeated this process, using Broken China, Evergreen Bough, Mermaid Lagoon, and finally Pine Needles Distress Oxide inks.

I chose a greeting from Gina K's "Autumn Wreath Builder" stamp set. After letting my inked panel dry for several hours, I heat embossed the greeting with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I also heat embossed one of the leaf images on either side of the greeting, just for a bit of decoration & to fill in the space a little more. Finally, I matted my panel with black cardstock, and added it to a white A2-sized card base.

I'm also entering this card in Creative Knockouts Challenge #372: "Embossing Delight."

Thinking of You

The theme of the October Monthly Mix challenge at Gina K Designs is "Color Blocking." I created this card for a friend of my mom's who is going through some trying times right now.

 

A photo I found on Pinterest inspired the background design. I decided to do a nearly-one-layer card, and ink the background, rather than cutting & adhering sections of cardstock. I used Distress inks in Milled Lavender, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Tattered Rose, Cracked Pistachio, & Tumbled Glass. (I was going for kind of a pastel rainbow vibe.) I began by penciling in guidelines on my panel, using a T-square ruler to make sure everything was straight & square. I taped off the 1" strip along the left side with one long piece of yellow Frog tape, and used more Frog tape pieces to mask off each triangle as I went along. I inked each triangle section one by one, making sure to spread my colors out so no two adjacent sections were the same color.

 

Once I finished the left column, I removed my tape and dried the ink with my heat tool. I then taped off that column to mask it. I repeated the same inking process on the wider column, taping off to mask as I went with each color.

 

I heat embossed the flower & greeting, from Gina K's "Peaceful Florals" set, with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I figured the background was too pretty to cover up, so decided not to stamp & color the flower on a separate panel. To mat my panel, I found a textured platinum metallic cardstock in my stash. I trimmed that to leave a 1/16" border on all sides, then adhered that to a white A2-sized card base.

Two Christmas Cards

 

 

 

The October Color Challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is to use blue, white, & kraft. I don't know that I would ever have thought to combine these 3 colors, but I like the way my cards came out!

 

I used the 4" Gina K Wreath Builder template, along with her "Holiday Wreath Builder" stamp set, for my first card. I stamped the flowers first, with Lawn Fawn Forget-Me-Not ink. I used Hero Arts Cornflower ink to stamp the leaves, & Lawn Fawn Blue Jay ink for the little snowflake images between the flowers. This was my first time using the Wreath Builder, and I must say, it made things very easy!

I chose a greeting from the same stamp set. I stamped the circular border image first onto a scrap of kraft cardstock, then heat embossed with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I then heat embossed the greeting, & die cut it with a We R Memory Keepers "Nested Circles" die.

I matted my wreath panel with kraft, trimming it to a 1/16" border on all sides. Finally, I adhered my greeting circle. I considered adding sequins or some similar embellishment, but decided against it.

For my second card, I started by stamping my background. I used images from Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" stamp set (discontinued) and Lawn Fawn's Yeti pigment ink.  I really like the subtle white stamping on the kraft panel.

 

I die cut the "Poinsettia Border" from Memory Box (discontinued) from white cardstock & a light blue glitter cardstock. I also cut the "Christmas Blessings" from Simon Says Stamp from the same glitter cardstock. I glued the frame for the poinsettia border onto my background, and inlaid the blue petals. I then glued my greeting on. In hindsight, I wish I'd stacked multiple die cuts for the greeting, or added another die cut for a shadow, but I didn't think of it in time. So, to help it stand out a bit better, I outlined the words with a white gel pen.

To finish the card, I added Blue Babe Nuvo Crystal Drops to the center of each of the tiny flowers in the poinsettia border, and White Blizzard Nuvo Glitter Drops to the berries. I trimmed my panel to 5x3-3/4", and added it to a white A2-sized card base.

Happy Hanukkah

 

Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine had a sketch challenge as part of their World Card Making Day celebration. The sketch they posted inspired the design of my card.

I needed to rotate the sketch 90 degrees for my elements to fit. I used a patterned paper cut to 5-1/2x4-1/4" as my background. I cut a piece of silver cardstock to 4-1/2x3-1/4", and cut a piece of white cardstock to the same size.

I positioned the white panel in my MISTI stamping tool, and centered the menorah stamp, from Hero Arts' "Happy Hanukkah" set, on the panel. I stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Blue Jay ink. I removed the panel and replaced it with the silver panel. I stamped the menorah on that in the same position, so I had a guide for die cutting. I repeated this process with the Star of David stamp, adding one on either side of the menorah.

I lined up my menorah & Star of David dies, from the coordinating "Happy Hanukkah Frame Cuts" die set, over the images on the silver panel, and ran that through my die cutting machine. I repeated for the other star. I laid the silver panel over the white one, just to make sure everything was lined up properly. I had to shimmy the silver panel a bit, but overall it worked fine! So I went ahead and added lots of foam tape to the back of my silver panel, and adhered it to the white. I did trim a bit the edges off the white panel after adhering, just to make sure they didn't peek out from behind the silver at all.

I stamped the greeting onto a scrap of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum, with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink. I heat set that so it wouldn't smear, then cut it into a label. I used Plus vellum adhesive to adhere either end over the menorah cutout. This is the best adhesive I've found for adhering vellum. It does show ever so slightly, but is hard to see if you're not looking for it. Finally, I adhered my focal panel to my card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #154: "Anything Goes with Dies Sold at Dies R Us"

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create's October Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Sending Pumpkin Hugs

 

 

The woman I send cards to for Send a Smile 4 Kids currently needs Fall cards. I made this one, inspired by the "Awesome Autumn" challenge at Lawn Fawnatics, using Sketch #SC745 from Splitcoaststampers.com as the basis for my design.

 

I thought it would be fun to have the 2 squirrels from Lawn Fawn's "Pick of the Patch" stamp set in each of the smaller circles, "looking" at the group of pumpkins in the middle. After I die cut the circles in a piece of Lawn Fawn "Knit Picky Fall" 6x6" patterned paper that I'd cut to 4x5-1/4", I lined it up over a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper cut to the same size. I traced the circle openings onto the bristol, so I would know where to stamp my images.

 

I stamped the squirrels first, & then stamped the pumpkins, masking the middle one when I stamped the right & left ones. Finally, I masked all the images, as well as the ground area in the middle circle, & inked the sky with Speckled Egg Distress ink. I placed a mask for the sky, and inked the grass with Shabby Shutters Distress ink. I removed all the masks, & colored my images with Tombow markers.

 

I used a "Sending Hugs" greeting stamp that I'd gotten as a freebie with an order from Lawn Fawn. The stamp is straight, but I was able to curve it on my MISTI tool to match the curve of the larger circle window. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp it.

I chose a tan cardstock for the mat on my card, & adhered that to a white A2-sized card base. I cut down the bristol panel slightly, just so the edges wouldn't peek out from behind the patterned paper. I added double-sided tape to the back of the bristol panel, and removed the liner paper only part of the way.

 

To position my bristol & patterned paper layers correctly, I taped the bristol to the back of my patterned paper with 2 pieces of painter's tape. I made sure the tape didn't attach to the double-sided adhesive I'd put on the bristol. I positioned the panels on my card, & when they were placed correctly, I pressed down where the double-sided tape adhesive was exposed. I carefully removed the painter's tape, removed the rest of the liner paper, & adhered the bristol panel completely. I added LOTS of foam tape to the back of my patterned paper, & adhered that in place over the bristol layer.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Creative Knockouts Challenge #370: "Fall"

Sending Hugs

 

 

 The current Lawn Fawnatics challenge theme is "Awesome Autumn." I created this CAS Autumn card to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I used Sketch #SC726 from Splitcoaststampers.com as the basis for my design. I used one of the "Stitched Leaves" dies from Lawn Fawn to cut a leaf from a plaid paper, also from Lawn Fawn. I glued that to a kraft cardstock circle.

I cut 4 strips of paper from some 6x6" patterned papers that I'd received from Lawn Fawn as a freebie with an order. I adhered them to a cream cardstock panel, as per the sketch, and glued my leaf circle over the intersection. I used a "Sending Hugs" greeting, another freebie from Lawn Fawn, & stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Sage Leaf ink. I adhered my card front to a white A2-sized card base, and that finished this quick & easy card.

You're Awesome!

 

I am in the midst of creating more cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. I decided to make a little scene card, using the fox from Lawn Fawn's "Really High Five" as my central character, hanging from the balloons from Mama Elephant's "Up and Away."

I began by creating masks for the fox, balloons, & speech bubble (from Lawn Fawn's "A Birdie Told Me" stamp set). I stamped the images & the greeting onto a panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and then covered them with my masks. I inked the clouds in rainbow colors, using My Favorite Things' "Cloud" stencil. I made sure to choose soft colors of ink, since I wanted the sky to be clearly in the background, and not compete with my images.

I removed the masks, & used my Tombow markers to color the fox & balloons. I chose colors for the balloons that went with the cloud colors, but more intense. I added a black strip to each side of a white A2-size card base, and adhered my image panel on top.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #368: "Anything Goes"

Hero Arts Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #14: "Critters"

Happy Skating Penguin

 

Christmas Card Throwdown's September theme challenge is "Polar Bears/Penguins." I have had this wood-mounted "Skating Penguin" stamp from Stampendous for several years, & thought it would be perfect for this challenge. I paired it with Mama Elephant's "Holly's Snowflakes" & My Sentiments Exactly's "Holiday Happiness to You" stamps for my card.

I used Sketch #SC752 from Splitcoaststampers.com for my design. I cut a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper to size, and with the help of my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, double-stamped the penguin with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored the beak & scarf with my Tombow markers, and used a pale grey marker to shade the skates. I also used a pale blue to add some "ice" & shading under the penguin's feet.

I cut a panel of red cardstock for the mat, & heat embossed my greeting at the bottom with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I also cut a strip of patterned paper from my scrap stash, and adhered it to a panel of sage green cardstock, before mounting that to my card base.

I felt the white background on my image panel was a little too white, so I used a few small stamps from "Holly's Snowflakes" & Lawn Fawn Kiddie Pool ink to add a bit of interest. Rather than cut out a mask for the penguin, I just blocked it off as needed with a sticky note. I finished by adhering my image panel to the red mat.

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

Creative Knockouts #368: "Anything Goes"

Hero Arts Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #14: "Critters"

613 Avenue Create's September Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Happy Birthday!

 

My sister-in-law's birthday is coming up soon, & I wanted to make her a special card. So I pulled out my Lawn Fawn "Magic Picture Changer" die set & "Birthday Before 'n Afters" stamp set and went to work.

I cut 2 pieces of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper large enough to accommodate the "Magic Picture Changer" & the frame from the "Magic Picture Changer Add-on" dies. I marked where the window would be on each piece, and used those marks as a guide to stamp my images. I stamped the wrapped present on the main panel, & the corresponding image on the other panel. I used a black felt-tip pen to draw lines for a baseboard, and then masked my present & the lower part of my scene. I inked the top "wall" part with Speckled Egg Distress ink, moved the tape mask to cover the wall & baseboard, and inked the floor with Gathered Twigs Distress ink. Finally, I removed both my masks and colored the present & baseboard with Tombow markers. I repeated the process for the other panel.

Card with the second image showing

I die cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash with the "Magic Picture Changer Add-on" frame die. I assembled the magic picture changer, and adhered my frame to the front. For the background, I embossed a piece of yellow cardstock with the "Chevron" embossing folder from Park Lane. I heat embossed my greeting, from "Birthday Before 'n Afters," with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I cut the happy birthday words into labels, and the secondary greeting into a narrow banner shape, and glued them in place. Finally, I adhered my magic picture changer to the background, and mounted it onto a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

My Favorite Things The Birthday Project Challenge: "We Like to Move It, Move It"

613 Avenue Create's September Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Humorous/Fun Card"

Yay! It's Your Birthday

 

My brother requested a card for him to give to my SIL for her birthday this month. I had gone all-out on a couple of cards my mom & I are giving her, so I felt a bit of self-induced pressure to make a special card for him to give her as well. A video tutorial by Karolyn Loncon for My Favorite Things' YouTube channel inspired the mechanism.

Because of the size of my main image, and the fact I wanted a double-slider card, I had to make an extreme-slimline card design. So I made my card base 10-1/2x3-1/2". It actually took quite a bit of pre-planning on my grid mat to figure out the final width!

I cut another panel of white cardstock to the final card front size, and inked it with Tumbled Glass Distress ink on a makeup blending brush. I used a technique I'd seen Jennifer McGuire do of just "rough" ink blending with a brush, to give a soft, cloudy-sky look.

For the main cloud & front cloud bank, I used the "Cloud" stencil from My Favorite Things as a template to trace the curves/bumps onto a piece of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I then cut along the lines with my scissors. I also used the My Favorite Things "Puffy Clouds" dies (discontinued) to cut smaller clouds to scatter around the cloud bank.

Card with images visible

I stamped the "T-Bird (Bear in Airplane)" image by Stacey Yacula onto vellum bristol paper, and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils. There is no coordinating die, so I fussy cut the image. I also stamped the smaller balloon from Winnie & Walter's "The Party" set (discontinued) with My Favorite Things' Pineapple ink, and stamped the outline with black. Then I fussy cut that as well.

I used an old Making Memories punch with a 5/8" slot attachment to punch 2 slits in my inked card front panel. I also used the straight die from the Essentials by Ellen "Swing n Slide" set to cut a channel above the line between the slits I'd punched. I positioned the channel just below where the bear would travel, since the balloon would adhere to the front side of the slide mechanism, & so didn't need a channel.

I cut a long 5/8" wide strip from a plastic bread bag for my slide mechanism. I threaded each end through a slit in my card front, & stapled the ends together with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to create a loop. I also cut 2 cardstock strips for my pull tab, 5/8" wide by 11" long. I glued those together to make a double-thick tab. I stapled one end of the pull tab to the plastic strip, just next to the staples holding the strip in a loop. I did go back and add a couple of pieces of Scotch tape over the staples in the plastic strip, just to reinforce the seam.

 

I cut two 1/4" wide strips of acetate for my bear. I adhered them to the back of the bear, threaded them through the channel, & adhered the other ends to the back of the plastic slider mechanism. I did the same for the balloon, only using 1 acetate strip & adhering it to the front of the slider. I made sure that both images were in their starting positions, in the middle of the panel, when I adhered the acetate strips to the slider.

I added foam tape to the back of my card front, making sure none of it interfered with the sliding mechanism. Then I adhered that to my card base. I chose a greeting from Simon Says Stamp's "Big Birthday Wishes" set (discontinued), and double-stamped that on my main cloud with Lawn Fawn Forget-Me-Not ink. I adhered my cloud bank with more foam tape, again making sure none of the adhesive would interfere with the sliding mechanism. I foam-mounted my main cloud over my images, adding foam only to the very top puffs (double layer) and where it overlapped with the cloud bank (single layer), again, so as not to interfere with any movement. I trimmed my pull tab, rounded the corners with my 1/8" Corner Chomper, & stamped "Pull" from the "Interactive Labels" by My Favorite Things onto the end of my tab. I adhered my remaining small clouds in place, and that finished this card. Labor intensive, yes, but a labor of love. I'm just really glad it worked out like I had envisioned! :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

My Favorite Things The Birthday Project Challenge: "We Like to Move It, Move It"

Creative Knockouts Challenge #367: "Lots of Layers"

Peace Love & Joy Cardinals

 

I created this card for Christmas Card Throwdown's September sketch challenge.

For this card, I basically turned the sketch diagonally. I made my greeting the center element, with the cardinals on either side. I added an extra bit of branch at the top to act as the banner in the sketch.

I began by stamping the cardinals, from Hero Arts "Vintage Christmas Post" stamp set (discontinued)--one of my favorite Christmas sets. Because I wanted a second cardinal facing the opposite direction, I used a mirror image stamp & my MISTI stamp positioning tool for that one. I stamped it on Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I had to stamp it about 3 or 4 times to get a good enough impression. I stamped the other cardinal in the original orientation.

To die cut the reversed bird, I used a trick from Jennifer McGuire. I positioned the die on the back of the paper, and held it over my phone with the flashlight turned on. The light shining through the paper allowed me to see the outline of the die, so I could position it correctly. Thankfully, for the other cardinal, I was of course able to position the die on top, so it was much easier to do!

After I'd die cut both birds, I colored them with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I made one a male, and the other I colored as a female. I then added a bit of white gel pen detail to the eyes.

For the background, I decided to make a subtle cloudy sky. I used My Favorite Things "Cloud" stencil & Tumbled Glass Distress ink on white cardstock. I made sure to keep my blending soft, so it would not compete with the cardinals and greeting.

I chose a greeting from Hero Arts' "Very Merry Christmas" set (discontinued). I stamped it with Lawn Fawn Doe ink onto a scrap of tan cardstock. I die cut that with a Hero Arts "Nesting Oval Infinity" die, and inked around the perimeter with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, just to make it stand out from the background better.

I die cut a branch from brown cardstock with the "Bare Branch" die from Impression Obsession. After adhering my greeting oval just above the center point of my background, I positioned my papa cardinal to where he slightly overlapped the oval. I used that to help me position my branch so he would stand on it, then glued both him & the branch in place. I glued the mama cardinal standing on the greeting oval. Finally, I die cut another branch piece, and glued it to the top left corner. I adhered my panel to a white card base, and that finished this card.

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

 

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Use Your Favorite Stamp" ("Vintage Christmas Post")

613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Merry Christmas

 

 

The current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is a sketch challenge. I created this card inspired by their sketch.

 

 

I began by die cutting Poppystamps' "Blooming Poinsettia" pieces from 140 lb. watercolor paper. I decided to color them by ink smooshing. I applied Festive Berries Distress ink to my non-stick craft mat, spritzed the ink with a bit of water, and dipped & daubed the poinsettia pieces into that. I dried them with my heat tool (no good reason--I just wanted to move along more quickly), cleaned my mat, & pressed Aged Mahogany Distress ink onto the mat. I repeated the ink smooshing process to add darker color variations to my bracts (the "petals" on a poinsettia flower). I dried them again, and then glued them together by applying glue to the flower centers and stacking the layers.

For the 2 side elements in the sketch, I chose a berry branch from the "Holiday Greens, Mini" die set by Tim Holtz. I die cut 2 branches from Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and colored them with my Tombow markers. Even though I knew I would use red Stickles to go on the berries, I went ahead & colored them red, to be sure no white would show through the glitter.

To border my background (yes, I have "white space" issues), I cut 2 strips from a red foil paper from an old American Crafts' "Christmas Foil" 5x7" cardstock pack. I ran them through my die cutting machine with 1 of the "Stitching Lines" dies from the Essentials by Ellen line. I adhered those to the top & bottom of my card front panel.

I used liquid glue to stick down my poinsettia & sprigs. I pulled my greeting from Hero Arts' "Vintage Christmas Post" set (discontinued) and stamped it in Delicata Ruby Red shimmer ink onto a scrap of white cardstock. I cut that into a banner, and adhered it to my card front. Finally, I mounted my finished panel to a white card base, and added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries.

Yappy Barkday!

 

 

My sister-in-law's birthday is coming up soon. She & my brother have 2 dogs, Glennis & Yeager, so he always wants me to make a card to her from them. While he hasn't requested one this year--yet--I decided to go ahead & make one. I used the sketch from the current Stella Says Sketch challenge at Catch the Bug's blog for my design.

I chose the "Birthday Pup 1" & "Birthday Pup 3" digital images from Bugaboo Stamps (both discontinued) for my focal image. They do not look like my brother's & sister-in-law's dogs, but I figured they are close enough. I created a 4x2" blank "canvas" in Photoshop, and dragged both images onto that. I resized them to fit, & positioned the dog on the right slightly overlapping the other one, so it looks like he's in front. I then printed the composite image onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper.

I used an ultra-fine tip Sharpie marker to draw 2 parallel lines behind the pups to make a baseboard for my little scene. Then I painted everything with my watercolors. I did paint the dogs to look like Glennis & Yeager. After the watercolor dried, I went back over the dogs' eyes with a black felt-tip pen, & added catch lights with a white gel pen.

For the greeting, I used Lawn Fawn's "Harold's ABCs." I could have done it on the computer, but I was feeling a bit lazy. Not that spelling out a greeting with tiny letter stamps doesn't take effort! :) I spelled out "Yappy Barkday!" with the stamps onto an acrylic block. I stamped that on a scrap of white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I cut that into a banner.

To finish the card, I first adhered a panel of teal cardstock to a white A2-size card base. I cut a strip from the "Citrus Matstack" from Die Cuts with a View, & adhered that towards the bottom of my card. I adhered my image panel, & finally glued the banner in place.

Stellar Birthday Card

 

I created this fun birthday card for the Lawn Fawnatics "Make the Sentiment the Star" challenge.

 

I began by die cutting a panel of Canson XL Mixed Media paper with the largest of the "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies by Lawn Fawn. I used yellow Frog tape to mask off the border outside the stitching lines. To create my galaxy background, I first inked the panel with Picked Raspberry, Mermaid Lagoon, Seedless Preserves, Mustard Seed, & Lucky Clover Distress inks. I hit that with my heat tool briefly, just so the inks wouldn't smear, and then blended Black Soot Distress ink over the whole sky. To create stars, I spattered on some Champagne Gold & White Gold metallic watercolors, from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors set.

After hitting the panel with my heat tool to dry the ink & watercolor, I heat embossed several stars/constellations from Lawn Fawn's "Super Star" stamp set with Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder.

For the greeting, I die cut the letters to spell "stellar" with Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's Capital ABCs." I used the coordinating stamps to stamp each letter onto the die cuts with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I stuck them to my panel with liquid glue. For the beginning of the greeting, I used one of the phrases from Lawn Fawn's "Out of this World" stamp set. I stamped it also with Onyx Black onto a scrap of white cardstock, cut that into a label, & glued it above the "stellar" word.

I wanted some extra pops of color, so I stamped the rocket, 2 planets, and the flame from "Out of this World" onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. I colored them with my Tombow markers. I die cut all but the flame, which doesn't have a coordinating die. That, I just fussy cut. I glued the flame to the bottom of the rocket, and then glued my images to the background. Finally, I adhered the panel to a white A2-size card base.

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

Creative Knockouts Challenge #365: "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create August Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Today You Can

 

I created this card to send to Scrapbook.com for their Cards for Kindness campaign. They are collecting cards for several charities to use. I figure encouragement cards are always good to have on hand. The color scheme & dragonfly theme from the current Fusion challenge inspired the design elements.

 

I had actually already made the brick panel for a scrapbook layout. It didn't work out for that, though, so I cut it down to use on a card. To create the pattern, I had used Ranger texture paste over My Favorite Things' "Small Brick Wall" stencil. Since it was already dry when I sat down to make this card, I went ahead & blended Peacock Feathers & Pine Needles Distress inks over the surface. I thought the texture paste would kind of absorb the color, but the ink just pretty much sat on the surface. To seal it, I first tried applying Distress Micro Glaze to the surface. But when I buffed off the excess, I still got color coming off the paste layer. So I finally added a coat of Perfect Paper Adhesive Matte liquid glue/sealer over the whole panel, which apparently did the trick of sealing in the color.

I used Technique Tuesday's "Dreamy Dragonfly" stamp set for the dragonflies & greeting. I stamped them on white cardstock with Lawn Fawn Fresh Lavender ink. I fussy cut the dragonflies, and cut the greeting into a banner shape. Once the glue layer had dried on the brick panel, I used more PPA Matte to adhere my images & greeting.

 

To finish the card, I matted a pale grey cardstock panel with teal, to pick up the blue in the Fusion inspiration photo. I adhered that to a white card base, and then used tacky glue to stick down my focal panel.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: "Anything Goes"

Creative Knockouts Challenge #365: "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create's August Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Have a Lovely Birthday

  

I created this card for a friend's upcoming birthday. The "Symmetry" lesson on Day 3 of My Favorite Things' Summer School 2020 inspired the design. The symmetry on my card actually runs along both the horizontal & vertical axes of the panel.

I began with the flowers. I used MFT's "Watercolor Flowers" stamp set (discontinued) and the coordinating dies. I die cut 2 sets of flowers & leaves first, since the dies are solid & it is a bear to try to line them up after stamping. I put the negative space from die cutting on my Cricut sticky mat that I cut down to fit into my MISTI stamp positioning tool. With that butted into the corner of my MISTI, all I had to do was stick the die cuts to the mat in the appropriate spaces, line up the stamps & pick them up with the door of my MISTI, and stamp away. I used Hero Arts Lemon Yellow, Lawn Fawn Sunflower, & MFT Pineapple inks for the yellow flowers; MFT Peach Bellini, Hero Arts Orange Soda, & MFT Coral Crush for the smaller peach flowers; Lawn Fawn Peach Fuzz, Apricot, & Guava for the larger peach flowers; and Hero Arts Bubble Gum, Lawn Fawn Wild Rose, & Memento Rhubarb Stalk for the pink flowers. For the leaves, I used Memento New Sprout & Pear Tart, adding Hero Arts Lime Green for the third layer on the larger leaves. I used Gina K Charcoal Brown ink for all the flower centers.

I stamped my greeting, from MFT's "Birthday Greetings" (discontinued), in the center of a blue panel, and heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I adhered that to my white card base, and arranged my flowers above & below. I taped the flowers in place temporarily with low-tack painter's tape, then lifted them one-by-one, applied glue to the back, and stuck everything down. I like the look of the flowers extending onto the white border of the card base. I cut off the bits that were overhanging the top & bottom edges, and that finished this card.

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

613 Avenue Create August 2020 Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
Die Cut Divas: "Flowers"

Rainbow Prayers

 

This card is for the Day 2 lesson from My Favorite Things' Summer School 2020. The lesson theme is "Rainbow." Because I wanted to make a sympathy card, I decided to go with a more pastel rainbow.

I used one of the brushstroke stamps from MFT's "Abstract Art" stamp set (discontinued) to stamp my rainbow. I lined it up on my card panel in my MISTI stamp positioning tool. I used Memento Angel Pink; Lawn Fawn Peach Fuzz; Altenew Vanilla Cream; and Memento New Sprout, Summer Sky, & Lulu Lavender inks. I started with the pink, and just moved my panel up in my MISTI for each subsequent stroke. I ended up cutting the panel down after I finished stamping, as I had extra space after the lavender, & didn't want to add any more colors.

I stamped the "prayers" from MFT's "Sending Prayers" set (discontinued) with Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink. I initially tried Hero Arts Soft Granite, but even a couple of impressions didn't cover the rainbow stripes adequately. The Morning Mist covered with only 1 stamping. I stamped the sub-greeting, from the same set, onto a strip of Bazzill Icy Mint cardstock, and adhered it below the prayers word.

I double-matted my panel with black & dark grey cardstocks, and finally adhered it to a white A2-size card base.

Take Care of Yourself

  

Karolyn Loncon's lesson about white space on Day 5 of My Favorite Things' Summer School 2020 inspired this card design. I'll be the first to admit, I don't generally do CAS cards. I find I'm more of a "kitchen sink" crafter--as in, everything and the kitchen sink! LOL But I decided to give this a go, and my card actually came together pretty quickly, once I had a direction.

For the butterfly, I inked up a scrap of white cardstock with Dried Marigold Distress ink, creating an ombre effect. I let that dry before die cutting. When the ink dried, I lost some of the darkness at the bottom, so I inked over that part a bit more with the same color, then dried it with my heat tool. I die cut that using the largest butterfly from MFT's "Flutter of Butterflies - Solid" die set (discontinued). I die cut the corresponding "Flutter of Butterflies - Lace" butterfly from Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum, & the body from a scrap of a champagne-shimmer cardstock. This is actually my favorite way to layer these butterfly dies. I gently folded the lace butterfly where the wings join the body, and then glued just the body to the inked layer. Finally, I glued the body on.

I die cut the scalloped rectangle from "Blueprints 20" from MFT (discontinued) from white cardstock. I stamped the "Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots" background on that, with Lawn Fawn Kiddie Pool ink, then adhered it to a white A2-size card base.

For the greeting, I die cut the stitched banner from "Blueprints 20" from white cardstock, and inked it with Dried Marigold. I dried it with my heat tool, then stamped the greeting, from MFT's "Get Well Wishes" (discontinued), with Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink. I glued that & my butterfly centered on the upper part of my scalloped panel. I love how this card came out. Maybe I should do CAS cards more often! :)