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)