Birthday Mum

 

 The sketch for this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge inspired the design of this card. I got my general color inspiration from palette #127 in Volume 1 (1st edition) of Sarah Renae Clark's Color Cube system.

 

 

 

I saw this card by Lin at her Hearts, Hugs, & Flowers blog, & liked the general floral arrangement. I don't have a sunflower die, but thought I could get a similar effect with some old layering flower punches by The Paper Studio I have. I punched one of each size from each of 3 different shades of yellow/orange cardstock. I glued together the 3 layers of each individual size, adding the glue only in the center & kind of fanning the petals apart as I glued the layers together. After the glue had set up, I added more glue to the center back of each of the 2 smaller layers & adhered them together, largest to smallest. While I liked the result, I felt it now looked more like a mum than a sunflower, so I decided to pivot & just go with that.

 

I cut some smaller flowers using dies from Scrapbook.com's "Sunny Lane Florals" set. I ended up not being able to make a good-looking arrangement with those & my mum, though, so I gave up on that. (I am keeping those flowers for some other project.) I did cut a flower center for my mum from my darkest shade of yellow-orange cardstock with one of the dies in that set, as the center of the flower looked a little stark without it.

 

For the stem, I used a branch die from Honey Bee Stamps' "Winter Greenery" set. I die cut it from green cardstock, & trimmed off most of the "branchy" parts from the main section with my scissors. Then I used double-sided tape to adhere the top end to the back of my flower. I added glue to reinforce the adhesion, and set that aside to dry.

 

I die cut 3 leaves from the "Skeleton Leaves" set by Tim Holtz. I adhered each to a different shade of cardstock, & then fussy cut around the perimeter, so I would have a solid backing to each leaf.

For my greeting, I first stamped one of the banners from Avery Elle's "Build a Banner" set (discontinued) onto white cardstock. I used Hero Arts Pool ink for the outline, Lawn Fawn Sunflower ink for the main background, & My Favorite Things Pineapple ink for the 2 bits where the ends fold under. Then I stamped the greeting, from the "Sentiment Strips: Birthday" set from Pretty Pink Posh in My Favorite Things Coral Crush ink. Finally, I die cut the banner with the coordinating die. I die cut 3 more banners from white cardstock, & layered them behind my greeting banner to give it a little more oomph.

To assemble the card, I cut a piece of blue gingham patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4-1/8 x 5-3/8". I laid out my elements until I liked the arrangement, then glued them in place. For the leaves, I added glue only to the base sections so the ends would kind of pop up around the flower. I added glue to the flower only in the center, & stuck that down on top of the leaves. I glued the stem all the way to the background, & trimmed off the bit that overhung at the bottom edge of the panel. I added my banner, & adhered my panel to a navy cardstock mat that I'd mounted to a white A2 card base. Once the glue dried, I zhuzhed the petals on the flower to fluff them up a bit, just for a bit of added dimension.

 

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

 

All Sorts Challenge #835: "Autumn Colors"

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Add Some Texture" (added texture with top layer of die cut leaves & fluffy mum)

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

The Paper Funday Challenge #81: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)

Creative Knockouts Challenge #557: "Halloween or Fall" (used fall leaves & flower)

Ellibelle's Corner October Garden Party Challenge #8

Holiday Greetings - From Rudolph & Friends

This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is "Sparkle." The inspiration for my card came from this one by Teri Pocock that I had saved on one of my Pinterest boards. I added my sparkle with Christmas Red Stickles glitter glue on Rudolph's nose as well as fake "snow" flakes along the tops of my snowy hills.

I began by punching my reindeer heads with the Stampin' Up "Owl" punch (discontinued). I punched a total of 9, so that I had extras to layer behind each head for increased sturdiness. I inked the edges of each with Walnut Stain Distress ink, including the layering pieces. For the antlers, I used a branch die from Honey Bee Stamps "Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery" set. I die cut it twice from dark brown cardstock, & trimmed off bits to add to my reindeer. I used a 3/8" circle die from Waffle Flower's "Additional Circles" to cut 2 brown noses & 1 red one. I glued the antlers to the backs of the main head pieces, and then glued the layering head pieces on, sandwiching the antlers in between. I don't know if this truly gives the antlers extra strength, but I figure it can't hurt! I glued the noses in place, added a bit of blush to their cheeks with a pink Prismacolor pencil, & used a white gel pen to add freckles to each. Finally, I applied a generous coat of Stickles to Rudolph's nose, & set that aside to dry.

I cut a panel of light blue cardstock to 4x5-1/4" for my background. I used My Favorite Things' "Snow Drifts" dies (discontinued) to cut 2 snow hills for the front. To create the fence, I die cut brown cardstock with 2 of the "Barn Wood Planks" dies from Honey Bee Stamps multiple times. I cut them narrower & shorter, & then glued each to a scrap of kraft cardstock for sturdiness. I trimmed the kraft around each plank, & cut one end of each of the vertical pieces to a point. Then I glued the vertical planks to my background panel, & glued the horizontal piece on top.

I stamped my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Merry and Bright" (discontinued) in Festive Berries Distress Oxide ink onto the bottom of my front snow bank. I heat set that, to keep the ink from smearing, & then glued down my snowy hills. To keep the hills level with the fence, I first glued a scrap of white cardstock to the bottom of my background, extending down from the bottom of the fence pickets, to support the hills. Finally, I added a bead of Glossy Accents to the top of each hill, & pressed clear iridescent flakes of "snow" into that. I set that aside to dry for a few hours.

After the Stickles & Glossy Accents had dried, I assembled my card. I added my deer heads with foam tape along the top of the fence. I glued on googly eyes to each with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. To finish, I added a red cardstock mat to my white A2 card base, & then adhered my panel to that.

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

Ellibelle's Corner: "Anything Goes"

Paper Funday: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Happy Mother's Day

I based the design & floral embellishments for this card on Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Sketch #607 challenge.

I began by creating the flower layers with an old punch from The Paper Studio. I punched 3 layers for each flower, then glued them together, adding glue just to the centers. I finished them off by adding a gem in the middle of each.

I embossed the panel to go behind the flowers with the "Floral Fantasy" embossing folder from Cuttlebug (discontinued). I matted it with navy cardstock to help it stand out, then adhered that to my white A2 card base.

I cut a strip from an inky background I'd made several months ago. I adhered that to my card, and then glued the flowers over it.

I stamped a greeting from Simon Says Stamp's "All About Mom" stamp set in Lawn Fawn Deep Sea ink. Finally, I die cut a vine using one of the Spellbinder's "Sprigs" dies (discontinued), and glued that next to the greeting.

I'm also entering my card in 613 Avenue Create's May challenge: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional twist of "Say It with Flowers")

Best Wishes

The oldest daughter of a friend I went to school with just got married. I made this card for her & her new husband. The design came from Sketch Challenge #512 at Try Stampin' on Tuesday's challenge blog, but I missed the deadline to enter their challenge. The overall look was inspired by this card I saw on Pinterest, & the embossed frame on this card by Libby Fens. Challenge #87 at Double Trouble Paper Crafting, which had partnered with the sketch challenge, inspired the design as well. The theme there is "It's Hip to be a Square," so to use square(s) and/or circle(s) on your project. I used one of the "Decorative Labels One" dies from Spellbinders (discontinued) for my square, & a circle die cut over that. I also did both heat & dry embossing, to fulfill the second part of their challenge.

I made my card 5x6-1/2", to accommodate both the greeting, from My Favorite Things' "Cause for Celebration" die set (discontinued), & the embossed "Decorative Labels One" die turned 45 degrees. I cut my card front from navy cardstock to that size, & embossed the die frame into it. I die cut a circle from Strathmore Mixed Media paper, & inked it with Antique Linen Distress ink, to give just a bit of color. For shimmer (because we all know the moon shimmers), I pressed my Versamark ink pad all over the circle, and then heat embossed with Ranger Holographic embossing powder.

I punched the owls from black cardstock with the Stampin' Up "Owl Builder" punch (discontinued). I also die cut the branch from Spellbinders' "Sweet Birds on a Branch" set from black. I glued them to the moon, & added a silver glitter heart that I'd punched. I trimmed off the branch where it overhung the moon edge, and adhered it centered over the embossed frame on the card front.

I die cut the greeting from a cream piece of The Paper Studio's Pearlized cardstock. I felt the color complemented the moon nicely. I glued that to my card front, & finally adhered the card front to a white card base.

Hoppy Birthday!

  

The current challenge at Double Trouble is "Fun Fold." They are partnering with Crafting Happiness for their Challenge #95, "Frogs (or Anything Goes)." I am entering this card in both challenges.

 

I followed a tutorial for a Flap Fold card at Splitcoaststampers.com. I used Bazzill Marine Mist cardstock for the card base, & patterned paper from Echo Park's "It's a Celebration" 6x6" pad to decorate. I punched along the upper short panel with the "Scallop Sentiment" border punch from Fiskars.

 

I stamped the frog (from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Birthday Pals" set) onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored it with my Tombow markers. I die cut the frog with a We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Circles" die, & cut a mat from pink Core'dinations cardstock with a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die, to give me a 1/16" border. I also stamped the present on a 1" circle I'd punched from bristol paper, and colored it with my markers. I die cut a 1-1/8" pink cardstock circle for the mat.

 

I use a 1-1/2" circle die to cut the hole in my card base. After I adhered the patterned paper on the front lower flap, I glued my matted focal circle within the opening, adding the glue only to the bottom area of the circle. I adhered the present circle with foam tape over the edge of the top flap, as a closure for the flap. Finally, I stamped the greeting on the upper flap.

 

Inside of card

 

For the inside of the card, I cut a 4" square of cream cardstock, & added a 1" tall border of patterned paper to the bottom edge. I masked off the border strip with a piece of Post It tape, & stamped the balloon & inside sentiment. I stamped the balloon again onto bristol paper, colored it, & fussy cut it out. To finish, I glued the colored balloon over the stamped on on the inside of the card.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's May Challenge: "Anything Goes" (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!

Holiday Cheer

I am in the middle of making holiday cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. Yes, it's crunch time for holiday card making! This card that I saw on Pinterest inspired the design for my card today. That one has only one candy cane, but I felt my design called for 2. I'm not sure if the other card maker used a larger circle punch or die than I did, but I thought having just one of the candy canes I made on my card left too much bare space.

I began by punching the circles for my candy canes. I used a 3/4" circle punch, and punched 10 red circles and 9 white for each cane. It really wasn't that bad time-wise, since I was punching instead of having to run the cardstock through with a circle die 38 times for both canes! Once I had punched them all, I used liquid glue to glue them all together. I followed the design of the inspiration card closely, so I could get the curve at the top correct.

For the background, I die cut a kraft panel with the largest of Memory Box's "Wrapped Stitch Rectangles." I laid my candy canes centered on the panel so I could get a sense of where to attach them together. I tacked them together with a dollop of liquid glue, though without gluing them to the panel just yet. (I just wanted to be able to move them as one unit.) Then I set those aside to dry.

I stamped a greeting from Hero Arts' "Color Layering Wreath" set in Versamark onto a scrap of red cardstock, and heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I die cut that with the oval from the "Stitched Tags" set by Pretty Pink Posh (apparently discontinued). I didn't want the greeting just "hanging out" on my card, so I cut two 3/8" long slits on either end of the oval with my craft knife. I threaded some red & white checked ribbon through the slits, going under the tag. I adhered the ends of the ribbon to the back of my panel.

By this time, my candy canes were dry. I glued them to my panel, centered & towards the top. Finally, I tied a bow with the same ribbon as I'd used under the greeting, and adhered that over my candy canes with a glue dot. I did squirt some more liquid glue under the top of the knot, just to make sure the bow didn't come untied. I mounted my panel to a white A2 card base, & this was done! It was so easy, I actually made 2 at the same time. Both took me only a couple of hours total to make, including figuring out how to put together the candy cane.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #108: "Stitched Dies"
Incy Wincy Designs: "Christmas"
Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes"
613 Avenue Create Challenge #215: "Anything Goes" (also playing the optional "Christmas/Winter" twist)

50th Anniversary Card

A couple my mom is friends with is celebrating their golden wedding anniversary this weekend. So of course, she asked me to make a card for them, which I gladly agreed to do. I did a search on Pinterest for 50th anniversary cards, and found this one that I used as my inspiration. I have the Stampin' Up owl punch, and their "Woodland Textures" embossing folder already, and the rest I made up/figured out as I went along.

I began with the owls. I punched all the pieces, and punched an extra chest piece for the man owl from black to cut into a vest, as in the inspiration card. I also cut a couple of beaks from yellow-orange cardstock. It's always bothered me that the punch does not include a separate beak piece, because I don't like leaving the beak area the same color as the body. So I had to cut my own, which took a few tries to get the size right, but I prevailed! :) After I had all the pieces cut/punched, I assembled the owls. I also added "buttons" to the vest with a white gel pen.

For the skirt on the lady owl's dress, I used a Martha Stewart "Vintage Floral" border punch. After I punched a piece of white cardstock, I cut it into a strip and pleated the upper edge. I had more trouble with that than any other part of the card. I finally got everything glued together to make it look like a ruffled skirt, but the "waistband" looked hideous to me. I looked again at the sample card, & noticed a bow at the owl's waist, so I tied a double bow with 1/8" wide blue satin ribbon. I glued it to the owl over the pleats, let the glue dry, and further tacked it down with a small stitch through the back of the knot and the owl. I didn't want that bow to go anywhere! I think it covers the (ugly) pleats quite well. :)

I created the greeting in Photoshop, and printed it on a strip of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with my laser printer. I ran that through my Mini Minc machine, with Heidi Swapp Gold foil. For the numbers, I initially was going to print them on the back of my cardstock, and fussy cut them. I did try that, but it was horrible, so I instead used my old Fiskars shape cutter & their "Letters-1" to cut them from gold mirror cardstock & black. I ran the numbers through my Xyron Sticker Maker, and adhered the gold over the black, offsetting to give a shadow.

To create the background, I cut a panel of Canson XL Mixed Media paper to 4.25x5.5". I inked up one side of my embossing folder with Broken China Distress Oxide ink, being careful not to ink up along the bottom "ground." I spritzed my paper lightly with water, and ran it through my die cutting machine with the inked folder. Much to my surprise, it came out pretty well, with the ink mostly just where I wanted it! I did have to go over several spots on the trees with a white gel pen where the ink had "leaked," but overall not too bad. I used Mowed Lawn Distress ink and a water brush to paint the ground area to look like grass.

Finally, it was time to assemble my card. I adhered the numbers in place, and glued down the owls. I backed the greeting strip with a narrow black mat, to create a visual triangle among that, the black number shadows, and the black vest, and adhered it to my background. I mounted the panel to a white A2 card base, and this card is done! My mom really liked it, and hopefully the happy couple will, too!

I'm entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's Challenge #208: "Anything Goes."

One Sketch, Two Cards

I used the sketch for Catch the Bug's Challenge Blog's "Stella Says Sketch" Challenge #606 for my design for two cards to donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I followed the sketch exactly for both cards, just using different products for each.

For my first card, I used Bugaboo's "Birdhouses" digi image for the focal panel. I printed it onto a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, intending to color it with Tombow markers. I had forgotten that those markers cause the printer ink to smear on the bristol, even when it's dry. So I changed my mind and went with my Mijello Mission Gold watercolors instead. I applied the colors mostly with a #4 round Black Velvet brush from the Silver Brush Company, and used a #8 round for the sky.

I used a patterned paper from Crate Paper's "Cool Kid" 6x6" pad to go behind my focal panel. I also cut strips from green and blue patterned papers from The Paper Studio's "So So Sweet" mat stack. I used a Fiskars "Scallop Sentiment" border punch to punch one long edge of the blue.

I die cut a doily, using a Spellbinders "Delicate Doilies" die, from white cardstock. After my focal panel had dried, I adhered the doily to the back, so about half of it is showing.

To finish my card, I adhered my patterned papers to an A2-size piece of orange cardstock. I stamped my greeting, from Stampendous' "Happy Messages" set, in Versamark ink, and heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. Finally, I adhered my focal image/doily piece to the panel, and mounted it to a white card base.

The image for my second card was inspired by a challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com, to use an image and make it look like it was reflected in a puddle, pond, etc. I chose Bugaboo's "Flower Pot 1" digital image (currently unavailable). I sized it on a blank "canvas" in Photoshop, then duplicated that layer and flipped the second image vertically. I blurred that second image slightly, then printed the composite onto a piece of Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I colored it with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up the color from the pencils and apply it to the paper. When the image was dry, I glazed a light blue over the lower portion, including the pot & flowers, to simulate a puddle.

I used patterned papers from the "So So Sweet" pad to go behind & below my focal panel. I matted the plaid onto a piece of pale blue cardstock. I used a Recollections border punch (name unknown) to punch a yellow strip, and adhered that & a teal strip below my plaid. I stamped the "smile" from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Happy Happy" set in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto the background. I also added Rhubarb Crumble Nuvo Crystal Drops to the centers of the flowers in the punched border, to bring the magenta from the plaid paper down the card.

I die cut a doily using a My Favorite Things "Decorative Doily Duo" (discontinued) from the yellow paper in the "So So Sweet" pad, and adhered it & my image panel to the card front. Finally, I mounted the card front to a white A2 card base, and these two encouragement cards are ready to go!

I'm also entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On Challenge #140: "Circles and/or Squares" (used circular doilies)

Happy Spring Chicks

This month's challenge at Live Love Cards has been about birds. I decided to create this "Happy Spring" card, using Stampin' Up's "Owl" punch (discontinued) to make chicks. After seeing a YouTube video tutorial at Maymay Made It's channel, I decided to make this an interactive card.

I began by creating my chicks. I punched the pieces for 4 little birds from yellow, blue & white cardstocks. I assembled the chicks, except for the eyes, since I wasn't sure at that point which way I wanted them to be looking. For the feet, I had punched extras of the bottom of the body part from orange, so I just cut off the yellow feet and glued the orange to the bottom back of each chick. I also die cut several flowers and leaves using the "Bitty Blossoms" set from Our Daily Bread Designs & an old "Flower & Leaf Trio" die (discontinued) from My Favorite Things. I die cut & embossed the flowers from colored cardstocks, and the leaves from Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I also die cut several grass sections from mixed media paper, for both the front & inside, using Lawn Fawn's "Grassy Hillside Borders" dies.

I used Twisted Citron & Mowed Lawn Distress inks to color the grass panels. I also used Mowed Lawn to color the leaves. I decided to add Simply White Nuvo Crystal Drops to the centers of the flowers. I also decided to use the Ebony Black Nuvo drops for the pupils on the chicks' eyes. The latter created a couple of problems for me!

After I planned my layout, I went ahead & glued on the chicks' eyes, then added the Nuvo drops, so they would have a chance to dry before I assembled my card. Unfortunately, when I was applying the drop to the second eye on the first chick, I didn't have the bottle perpendicular to my desk, so the drop kind of blobbed out to one side! I ended up having to scrape the whole eye off (gently) with my craft knife, punch a new eye, glue it back on, and then redo the Nuvo drop. This time, I made sure I held the bottle right! I didn't have that problem on any other chicks, though I did mess up one after the fact, when I put my hand in the wet drop! So I had to scrape, re-punch, re-glue, and reapply the pupil to that one as well.

View of inside of card

For my card base, I used 2 pieces of cardstock cut to 11x4.25", rather than the folded single letter-size sheet that Maymay used. I scored one in fourths (along the long side), and scored the other just in the middle, at the 5.5" mark. I had noticed on hers, because she scored the whole sheet, that the sides were a bit "floppy." So I decided to score the "outside" sheet just in the middle, to avoid this floppiness. I die cut an oval in the 2 middle panels of the inside piece, with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals LG" die. To create a "sky" backdrop, I adhered a piece of blue cardstock to the inside of my "outer" panel (the one I'd scored only in the middle). I also cut & scored the inner strips to put my elements on for the box part, and glued them in place.

Close-up of inside scene

I used liquid glue to adhere my grass pieces in place on the strips inside the box, and ATG adhesive to apply the grass to a panel of blue cardstock that I'd cut for the card front. I used Broken China Distress ink to add some shading to the sky on the front panel, just along the top & sides, to give it a bit more depth.

After I'd let the Nuvo drops dry for at least 24 hours, I went ahead and glued all my flowers, leaves, & chicks in place. I put 2 chicks on the front of the card, and 2 on the inside. Getting everything glued in place inside the box portion was admittedly a struggle, but I finally managed!

I die cut a banner with a die from Mama Elephant's "Tags a Lot" set, and stamped "Happy Spring!" with Lawn Fawn's "Claire's ABC's" in Lawn Fawn Fresh Lavender ink. I adhered that with foam tape to the card front. I then glued 2 toothpicks, one at each end. They are positioned so that it looks like either they are staked in the ground behind the chicks, or the chicks are holding them. Whichever way the viewer prefers! :) Finally, I finished adhering the inner panel to the outer, and this card was done!

Despite my struggles with this card, I'm really happy with how it came out! I am sending this to Send a Smile 4 Kids, so hopefully a hospitalized child will smile! :)

Smile

Lawn Fawnatics' Challenge #21 is an inspiration challenge. They posted a mood board, and challenged participants to create a project (using Lawn Fawn products, of course) inspired by the colors, photos, etc. I created this encouragement shaker card to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids. The colors and the bokeh effect in one of the photos inspired me.

I used the "Sweet Smiles" stamp set by Lawn Fawn for my focal point. I stamped the gumball machine & several gumballs onto a scrap of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I also stamped some of the faces included in the set on the gumballs. I hit the paper with my heat tool a bit, just to make sure the ink was dry & wouldn't smear. Then I colored the images with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, adding in a red Tombow marker for the machine itself. I used a water brush to blend out the colors and add shading.

For the greeting, I used Lawn Fawn's "Owen's ABC's" to spell out "smile." I stamped with Hero Arts Red Royal & Ultra Pink inks, alternating the colors. Then I used a 1/2" circle punch to punch out the letters. I thought this alphabet set went well with the gumball theme of the card.

Before I die cut my gumball machine, I used a craft knife to cut out the center part of the "bowl," to create my shaker window. I then die cut the machine with the coordinating die, and used my 1/2" punch to punch out the gumballs. I cut a piece of vellum with a Lawn Fawn "Large Cross-Stitched Rectangle" die, positioned my gumball machine on that, and traced around where my window would be with a pencil. I cut that out of the vellum panel, and then adhered the machine, some gumballs, and the greeting letters to the vellum.

I cut a piece of red bokeh-patterned paper (from Lawn Fawn, but I don't know the name) with another "Large Cross-Stitched Rectangle" die for my background. I traced the window area through the vellum/gumball machine panel, and cut that out with my craft knife. Then I adhered my vellum panel in place, hiding the adhesive behind the images.

I used the same rectangle die as for the patterned paper to cut 2 pieces of white 2mm-thick craft foam. I traced the opening for the shaker on each piece of foam, and cut it out with scissors, a little larger than the paper opening, so the edges of the foam wouldn't show.

I backed the window in my patterned paper with a piece of transparency, and adhered that panel to my foam pieces, which I adhered together with Scor Tape. To get the best seal between the foam layers around the shaker window, I glued the foam pieces with Ranger Multi Medium Matte, just around the opening. Then I set the panel under some acrylic blocks to let the glue dry thoroughly.

After the glue had dried, I filled the shaker with the remaining gumballs and some pink seed beads. I adhered another piece of transparency over the back to seal in the shaker material. (I got this tip from Nina-Marie Trapani.) After backing the window with a scrap of the red bokeh paper, I used more Scor Tape to adhere my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Happy Father's Day Koi

I've been on kind of a "Father's Day card" kick lately, since I want to send several to Send a Smile 4 Kids. (They have to receive cards by May 15, so they have time to ship them to the hospitals they serve.) I think Father's Day cards are hard to create when you're not creating them for a specific man. Not so much because they are masculine cards, but because you don't know what the recipient is into. So I just try to make them generally masculine. I don't know where (or when) I got this koi stamp, or who makes it, but I figured it would fit for a Father's Day card!

I stamped the koi onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I colored them with my Inktense pencils, kind of following photos I found online for how the colors might go. I also colored the background, first using color from a blue pencil, then over that with green, so they look like they are swimming in a pond.

For the "wood" panels, I stamped the "Wood Pallet Background" from Altenew (a new one for me) onto a piece of cream cardstock with Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink. I inked over it with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, followed by a coat of Pumice Stone ink, to give it a worn, weathered-wood look. My idea was to emulate a pier by the koi pond.

I cut a strip to go between the 2 woodgrain panels, and printed one of the greetings from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Father's Day Sentiments" digi set onto the bottom. I inked around the edges with Iced Spruce Distress ink, and then adhered that & the woodgrain panels to a piece of green cardstock. I inked the edges of the focal panel with Iced Spruce as well. After punching a piece of blue cardstock with Fiskars' "Threading Water" border punch (apparently discontinued), I cut it into a strip, inked the edges, & adhered it to the image panel so it's peeking out below. Finally, I glued the focal panel onto my card front, and mounted that to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Send a Smile 4 Kids: "For Dads or Special Males (From the Kids)"
613 Avenue Create #197: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #130: "Animals"

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!

Two Fall Cards

I'm still in full-swing making fall & Halloween cards to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids next month. I decided to focus on just general fall for this first one.

I used Sketch #SC593 from Splitcoaststampers.com for my design. I opened the "Sunflowers - Stain Glass" image from Bugaboo Stamps (discontinued) in Photoshop, as well as one of the greetings from Doodle Pantry's "Scarecrow Birdie" set. I created a blank "canvas" the size of my finished panel on the card, & moved the image & greeting onto that. After resizing & positioning each where I wanted it, I printed them onto a panel of Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I colored the image with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to pick up the color from the pencils and apply it to my paper. Finally, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to just the sunflowers & leaves, for an added bit of sparkle.

To finish my card, I cut 4 patterned paper pieces (all from my scrap stash) to size. I adhered my focal panel to a piece of purple cardstock that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5", and then adhered the other pieces in place. Finally, I mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

I suppose you could say my second card has a bit of a Halloween feel to it, mostly because of the patterned paper I used for the background. The paper is one that I've had--probably for years--in my scrap stash. I don't know why I got it (almost certainly for scrapbooking, though, since it was a 12x12" sheet); when I got it; and when I'd ever use it, since I don't really have Halloween photos to scrapbook. It seemed to be the perfect background for Doodle Pantry's "Candy Apple" image (apparently discontinued), though, so I used it here!

I chose Sketch #SC579 from Splitcoaststampers.com for this card design. After I sized the apple in Photoshop, I printed it on a piece of Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I colored it with my Inktense pencils & a damp paintbrush, and fussy cut it out. I "painted" the edges with a black brush-tip marker, just to camouflage the white core of the paper and make it blend in better with the black outline of the image.

After cutting my cardstock & patterned paper pieces to size, I printed the greeting, also from "Candy Apple," on the wider yellow strip. I used a 2" circle punch to create the "hole" for the apple to sit in. I assembled all my pieces, popped the apple up on foam tape, & coated the caramel with Glossy Accents.

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #164: "Fall Colors & a Sentiment"
Doodle Pantry Ants in My Pants Digital Challenge: "Anything Goes" (second card only)
Pile It On #117: "Autumn Colors/Theme"
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Fall Colors 4 Kids"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes" (first card only)

Two Encouragement Cards

I have 2 more cards for the "Texture-fied" challenge at the Lawnscaping challenge blog. Both will go to Darlene at Live Love Cards, to give to Meals on Wheels recipients. If you would like to donate cards, you can find out more information on her site.

I used Lawn Fawn's "Best Pun Ever" stamp set for both cards. For my first card, I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #206 for my design. I stamped the fan onto a scrap of white cardstock with Hero Arts Soft Granite ink, then colored it with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I punched it with a 2" circle punch. For the greeting, I die cut a slightly larger circle with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die from red cardstock. I curved the greeting stamps to match the curve of the die cut on my MISTI (not a very easy task!), and stamped with Versamark ink. I heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash to size, and matted it with teal & red cardstocks. I glued the red circle to the back of that, so the greeting still showed around the focal circle, then popped the fan up on foam adhesive.

For my background, I used The Crafters Workshop "Sunburst" 6x6" stencil and Ranger Texture paste. I spread the paste over the stencil onto some yellow cardstock, then let that dry. The rays didn't reach all the way in the corners, so after the paste had dried, I used tiny pieces of painter's tape to mask off the areas in between, and spread more paste on to extend the rays. When that had dried, I replaced the stencil, and sponged Wild Honey Distress ink over the paste. Finally, I adhered my focal piece, and matted the panel with navy & teal cardstocks, then mounted it to a white A2 card base.

For my second card, I used Sketch #SC569 from Splitcoaststampers.com for my design. I stamped the teapot & cup onto Canson XL Mixed Media paper with Versamark, and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I colored them with a Crimson Inktense pencil and waterbrush, getting a soft color. I used Stampabilities' Bright Pink dye ink to stamp the flowers from Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" set. On the teapot, I stamped the leaf image (also from "Botanicals 2" in Hero Arts Green Hills ink. The teacup was too small for the leaf stamp, so I just used a fine-tip green marker to draw in some leaves. Finally, I die cut them with the coordinating "Best Pun Ever" dies.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash, and glued the teapot to it, then popped the teacup over it with foam tape. I also stamped the steam trails from "Best Pun Ever" above the teapot's spout in Hero Arts Wet Cement ink.

For the background, I stamped the "You're Tea-riffic" in Wet Cement repeatedly on the top part of a white cardstock panel. I had masked off the bottom, so I wouldn't stamp there accidentally. When I had finished stamping, I cleaned my stamps, moved the masking tape, and stamped the bottom part in Green Hills, lining up the words at the seam, to give me a two-tone stamped background. Then I inked the top portion with Spun Sugar & the bottom with Bundled Sage Distress inks.

I cut a mat for my focal panel from white cardstock, and inked the perimeter with Wet Cement. I dried that with my heat tool, and adhered my focal panel to it, before gluing it to my background. I adhered a length of cream satin ribbon around the seam between the 2 colors on the background, and used more ribbon to tie a bow around the first piece. Finally, I cut a doily using a Spellbinders "Delicate Doilies" die, trimmed a bit off one side, and glued that next to the focal piece, to add just a bit of texture & visual interest.

To finish my card, I inked an A2-size piece of white cardstock with Wet Cement, just around the edges. After that dried, I adhered my main panel, and mounted that to a white A2 card base.

Have a Sweet Birthday

The theme for the current Lawnscaping challenge is "Pattern Palooza." I decided to create a second card for this challenge.

I stamped the gumball machine from Lawn Fawn's "Sweet Smiles" set onto a scrap of white cardstock. I colored the image with my Prismacolor colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper blending stump. After I'd finished coloring, I die cut it with the coordinating die.

For the greeting, I stamped the "BIRTHDAY" using Lawn Fawn's "Owen's ABC's." I used Hero Arts shadow inks in Pale Tomato, Orange Soda, Lemon Yellow, Lime Green, Pool, Navy, Grape Juice, & Raspberry Jam. When I had stamped all the letters, I used a 1/2" EK Success circle punch to punch them out. For the rest of the greeting, I used 2 stamps from "Sweet Smiles": "Have a ball" & "You're So Sweet." I masked off the "ball" in the first stamp, inked it with Versafine Onyx Black, & stamped it with my MISTI. Then I positioned the other stamp, masked off the "You're so," and inked & stamped it. Finally, I cut that into a banner with a die from a Project Life die set, and inked the edges with Worn Lipstick Distress ink.

I used 2 different patterned papers for my background. The teal stripe was a scrap from Carta Bella's "Soak Up the Sun" 6x6" pad, that I had left over from another card. The pink grid paper was from my scrap stash. I adhered them both to a piece of black paper that I'd cut to 4.25x5.5". I adhered my banner with the first part of my greeting in place, and then used Perfect Paper Adhesive to glue the letters for "BIRTHDAY" below it. I popped up my gumball machine with foam tape, and added just a bit of shading underneath with 2 grey Prismacolor pencils. All that was left was to adhere my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "For the Girls"
Live Love Cards August Challenge: "Birthday Cards"

Owl Card Trio

a2z Scrapbooking's challenge theme for March is "Embossing." Either wet or dry--use embossing on a project, and also use at least one Hero Arts product.

I created a trio of cards, using Sketch #SC579 from Splitcoaststampers.com & Hero Arts' "Curious Owl" stamp. For my first card, I stamped the owl on a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper using Hero Arts Cup o' Joe ink. I then stamped him again right over top with Versamark ink. (I had already converted my stamp to cling mount, so I could use my MISTI, or this would have been almost impossible.) Next I clear heat embossed the image. I used Distress inks in Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, and Gathered Twigs to watercolor the image, adding some Fossilized Amber for the beak & feet. After that dried, I painted the background with watered-down Salty Ocean Distress ink. I added some water droplets to the blue with my paintbrush, making sure not to get any on the owl. After that sat for several seconds, I blotted up the water with a paper towel, effectively bleaching the color under the droplets.

I ran 2 strips of kraft cardstock through the "Polka Dots" Cuttlebug embossing folder. I punched a half circle in the wider strip with a 2" circle punch, to create an opening for my owl. Finally, I glued them to the top & bottom of my watercolor panel. I printed my greeting, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Owl Sentiments" digital stamp set, onto a scrap of light blue cardstock. I cut it into a banner shape, and stapled it to my card front with my Tiny Attacher. Finally, I matted my panel with cream cardstock, and adhered it to a white A2 card base.

For my second card, I paper pieced the owl. I stamped him onto a piece of kraft cardstock for the background, and also onto 3 neutral patterned papers from my scrap stash. I fussy cut the paper sections, and glued them in place over the background image. I colored the eyes in with a white gel pen, using a black gel pen for the pupils. I masked off the image, and blended over the kraft with Brushed Corduroy & Gathered Twigs Distress inks. I added water splatters, and blotted them to leave lighter spots on the background. I added green cardstock strips to the top & bottom, again using my 2" circle punch on the wider strip. Finally, I printed & adhered my greeting (also from "Owl Sentiments"), matted the panel with cream, and mounted it to a white A2 card base.

I colored the owl for my final card with Prismacolor colored pencils, and used Gamsol on a paper stump to blend the colors. After masking the owl, I blended an ombre background with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, & Peeled Paint Distress inks. I again used white & black gel pens for the eyes, added my yellow cardstock strips, greeting strip, and matted it with kraft cardstock. I adhered my card front to a white A2 card base, and my trio of cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids was done!

I'm also entering my first card in Live Love Cards' March challenge to use colored cardstock.

Love and Kindness

Recently, Darlene DeVries had a video tutorial on Live Love Cards. She showed how you can create a "pop up" butterfly with three of the same stamped image. She also inspired the design of my card with one of hers for the January challenge.

I began by stamping a butterfly (stamp set source unknown) 3 times on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I colored each the same with my Zig Clean Color pens, and fussy cut them out. Then I glued them together to create the pop-up.

Detail of butterfly

Detail of butterfly

For my background, I stamped the "Wood Plank Background" by My Favorite Things onto a piece of white cardstock, using Ranger Archival Watering Can ink. I then inked over the panel with Hickory Smoke & Weathered Wood Distress inks. After marking which way I wanted the panel to face, I cut two 1/8" strips from the background. (It was important to mark the back of the panel, so the pieces would be oriented in the same direction.) I adhered each remaining background piece to a panel of black paper, leaving a gap between each strip, and a 1/16" border all around.

I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Acts of Kindness" set, onto another piece of white cardstock, and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I inked over that with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink. After trimming the length of the strip down some, I punched the left side with the "Apron Lace" border punch by Fiskars. I adhered it to my background, and stapled twice with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. After gluing down my butterfly, I mounted the card front to a white A2 card base. I will be sending this card in for the Lasting Hearts Card Drive.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge: Create with Critters
Open-Minded Crafting: Try Something New (pop-up technique was new to me)

Holiday Style--Shape Stamping

On Day 3 of Online Card Classes' "Holiday Style," May Park had a lesson on "Classic Shape Stamping." I created my card based on her lesson.

I first drew a triangle on a 4.25x5.5" panel of white cardstock. Then I used several small stamps from various sets (Hero Arts "Joy Snowman," Lawn Fawn "Peace Joy Love," Clearly Besotted "Holiday Sentiments," and one that I don't know the name of) to fill it in. The inks I used were Hero Arts Butter Bar, Red Royal, & Green Hills. Once I had all my images stamped, I used the smallest dot stamp from "Bokeh Dots" (Essentials by Ellen) to fill in any blank spots. Then I heat embossed those dots with Ranger Gold embossing powder.

For the greeting, I chose one from Hero Arts "Very Merry Christmas" set. I placed my card in my MISTI, and positioned my greeting stamp. I masked off the bottom portion, and inked the top with Green Hills, then removed my masking tape and stamped the first part. I cleaned my stamp (which I realized afterwards was really unnecessary in this case), and masked off the top. I used Red Royal on the "Holiday Season" part, and stamped that.

I punched a star from white cardstock that I'd covered in Stick It adhesive, using a punch from The Paper Studio. I then coated it in gold glitter, and glued it to the top of the tree. I applied 1/8" wide strips of Scor-Tape to either side of my panel, and covered them in the same gold glitter. Finally, I mounted my panel to a white A2 card base.

Bee Strong

One of the challenges for the final day of "Hope You Can Cling To" is aptly named "Finish Line." The challenge is to have a hand-drawn line on your project, and have another element of your card cross it. This was one of the easiest for me to do!

For my card design, I used Sketch #B-5 from Operation Write Home:

I have to admit, when I came across this sketch in my binder, I knew immediately that I would use this design, because of the line going behind the circle in the sketch.

I used the bee stamp & one of the greetings from Simon Says Stamp's "Circle Friends" stamp set, as well as 5 different shades of pink cardstock. I cut my cardstock pieces to 4.25x1.5", except for the topmost one, which I left wider. Then I punched one long edge of each strip with Fiskars' "Upper Crest" border punch. I think the hardest part of this whole card was figuring out the spacing of the strips on my background! After I finally determined how much space to leave between the punched edge of each strip, I adhered them in place with my ATG gun. I did end up trimming down the darkest strip before adhering it in place.

I stamped the greeting in Versafine Onyx Black ink on a scrap of the lightest pink, and die cut it with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I stamped the bee, also in Versafine, on a piece of Strathmore smooth bristol cardstock, colored it with my Zig Clean Color pens, and cut it out. I stamped it again on the card front, mostly to get the antennae back, and glued my fussy-cut piece on top. Finally, I added glitter to the wings with my clear Wink of Stella brush pen, & drew the bee trail (my line) with a white Uni-Ball Signo Broad gel pen. Hopefully, a cancer patient at MD Anderson Cancer Center will get encouragement from this card!