Happy 30th!

A friend's daughter turned 30 this past weekend, so she commissioned me to make a special card for her. The main element she wanted me to include was a Rottweiler image colored to look like her daughter's dog, Mocha. She sent me several photos of Mocha for reference for her colors & markings, & I found a Rottweiler coloring page that proved to be perfect for this card.

I first printed the coloring page, since it was a pdf file & I wanted to make it a resizable image file. I scanned the printout into my computer, & opened it in Photoshop. I created a blank "canvas" in Photoshop, sized to 4x5-1/4", which would be the final size of my main panel. I used that to help me resize the dog image. I used a greeting from Dreamees, from a CD that I'd gotten in a papercrafting magazine several years ago. I positioned & sized the greeting on my canvas in Photoshop to work with the dog. Once I knew what size I wanted the dog, I created another blank canvas & moved the image to that so I could print just the dog onto a panel of Strathmore vellum bristol paper.

I colored the dog with my Prismacolor pencils, referencing the photos of Mocha my friend had sent. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to get the markings & colors right. After I finished coloring, I fussy cut it out.

For my background, I wanted to create a little scene with a light blue cloudy sky. Because the ink in my printer smears if I ink blend over it with Distress inks, I needed to add my stenciled clouds before I printed the greeting. So I cut a panel of Canson XL mixed media paper to my panel size, & ink blended the clouds on the upper portion with Tumbled Glass Distress ink & the "Cloud" stencil from My Favorite Things (discontinued). (My camera couldn't pick up the stenciling because it's so faint, but it does show in real life.) After I finished stenciling the clouds, I printed the greeting at the top of the panel. To add a finishing touch, I used a blue Tombow marker to color in the outline "fabulous" letters & a pale purple for the butterfly.

I die cut a few grass layers with the "Grassy Hillside Borders" dies from Lawn Fawn for my foreground. I cut another layer with Picket Fence Studios' "A2 Tall Grass" die (discontinued). I added the layers to the bottom of my panel, situating the dog's feet within the layers to make it look like she was standing in the grass, rather than just on top of it.

I wanted to make number balloons like the fancy ones party shops sell. I found the "Balloon Dreams" font on dafont.com, & used that to type a 3 & a 0 in Photoshop. I sized the numbers, & added a triangle to the base of each, which I "drew" with Photoshop's Shape tool. I flipped my "balloons" horizontally so they would print backwards, & printed them onto plain copy paper. (By printing them reversed, I could adhere them to the back of my cardstock & they would be correct when I cut them out.) I roughly cut around them & temporarily adhered them to the back of a scrap of gold mirror cardstock. I fussy cut around each number, & then removed the paper templates.

I die cut several balloons from rainbow colors of cardstock with the "Birthday Balloons" dies from My Favorite Things (discontinued). I applied embossing ink to the front of each, & coated them with Ranger Clear Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I repeated this 2 more times. In hindsight, I'm kind of sorry I went that route. I wanted shiny balloons, but by the time I'd glued them to the card, the heat embossed layers were a bit crazed & dull, rather than clear & shiny. I could have used Glossy Accents in the first place, but because the balloons were so small, I wasn't sure how I could manage & not have them look like one huge balloon, or get messed up somehow if I added it before gluing them to the card. But, they're really not that bad, & since they're in the background, I just left them alone. I did adhere the end of a piece of crochet twine for a balloon string to the back of each balloon before gluing them to the card.

After I glued the regular balloons, I glued the number balloons down on top of them. I was able to use Glossy Accents on those without messing anything up, to make them a bit more dimensional & shiny. Then I set the card aside overnight to let the Glossy Accents dry thoroughly.

I die cut a balloon holder from Recollections holographic cardstock with a die from My Favorite Things' "Party Decor" set (discontinued). To gather the balloon strings behind it, I first punched a 1/16" hole where the holder would cover it. I threaded the ends of the strings through the hole & taped them to the back of the panel. Because the gathered strings created a little bulk on the front, I added the balloon holder with a small foam dot to make it even with them & glued the top of the holder directly to the strings to keep it from flipping up. Finally, I matted the panel with blue cardstock that I adhered to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Seize the Birthday #309: "Anything Goes"

Critter Crazy Challenge #100: "Birthday Bash"

Little Red Wagon Challenge #816: "Honky Cat" (aka any household pet)

Ellibelle's Corner I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge: "Something to Celebrate"

Paper Funday Challenge #78: "Anything Goes" (playing the optional "Fun with Stencils" twist)

Season's Greetings Mouse

This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is a sketch challenge. I followed the sketch pretty literally, just slightly changing the lengths of the strips going across to incorporate my greeting into the design better.

CCT July 2025 Sketch

I decided to pull out the "Merry Little Mice" stamp set from Honey Bee for my focal image. I actually got this set during their New Year's Eve sale last year, but it has sat in my as-yet-unused stash since. This seemed to be the perfect occasion to use it though.

I decided to begin with the background, since I was using white pigment ink & that would need time to dry. I got out my Penny Black "Dotlets" stencil (discontinued) & stenciled onto a panel of kraft cardstock with Lawn Fawn's Yeti ink. After I hit it with my heat gun to speed the drying a little, as well as letting it sit & air dry for a few hours, I replaced the stencil. I shifted the stencil slightly to one side & up, & inked over it again with Candied Apple Distress ink. My intended look was offset stenciling, but it didn't quite match my vision in the end. While the bit on each circle where the red ink is not over the white does look a hint darker if you look at it just right, it's not truly as noticeable as it should be. I'm not sure what happened, but I think maybe the kraft cardstock I used is just too pale to allow the darker ink color. I might need to experiment with this technique more. At any rate, I decided it's OK, & moved on.

I stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto a second piece of kraft cardstock. I don't often color on kraft cardstock with my colored pencils, but decided it would complement my stenciled panel better than white. I used my Prismacolor pencils, & then cut out the image with the coordinating die. Because the pencils covered some of the black stamped lines with a colored haze, I tried going over them with a black felt-tip pen. Unfortunately, the ink wouldn't really mark on the waxy finish, so I ended up using my black colored pencil. That worked much better, so a little pro tip there. Finally, I used a black glaze pen to go over the mouse's eyes & nose to give them a bit of shine.

For the greeting, I pulled out my "Sentiment Strips: Christmas" set from Pretty Pink Posh. I stamped it onto a scrap of white cardstock with the Versafine black ink. I cut it into a 3/8"-wide strip to match the 3/8" wide ribbon I wanted to use for the accent strip on my card.

To assemble the card, I first trimmed my stenciled panel to 4x5-1/4". I adhered green cardstock to my white A2 card base to mat my main panel. I cut a piece of patterned paper from the "Christmas Plaids" 6x6" pad from Recollections, & adhered that to my stenciled panel to go behind my mouse. I wrapped the striped ribbon around the panel & adhered the ends to the back. I added my greeting strip, & trimmed the ends slightly to fit the width of the panel. Finally, I adhered the stenciled panel to my card base, & glued the mouse on. I am really pleased with how this card came out, & will send it to Send a Smile 4 Kids. Hopefully it will bring some joy to a hospitalized child this coming holiday season!

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

Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Christmas in July 4 Kids"

Creative Knockouts Challenge #550: "Christmas in July"

The Paper Funday Challenge #78: "Anything Goes" (playing the "fun with stencils" optional twist)

Yappy Mother's Day

Every year for Mother's Day, I create a card for my sister-in-law from their dog. This year the current challenges at Double Trouble Paper Crafting & Try a Sketch on Tuesday inspired my color choices & design. (Melissa Grant's card featured at TSOT inspired the stenciling on my card.)

Double Trouble's challenge, as usual, is a 3-2-1 Recipe challenge. The elements this month are 3 pastel colors (excluding neutrals), 2 words in one greeting, & 1 slimline card (either mini or full-size). You can exceed the numbers of elements, but need to include at least that many of each. I went with Tattered Rose, Squeezed Lemonade, & Cracked Pistachio Distress inks for my pastels; a 3-word greeting; & a mini slimline card.

I stamped the puppy from Hero Arts' "Fawn and Friends" stamp set (discontinued) onto a scrap of Strathmore vellum bristol paper, & colored it to look like their dog, Glennis. Then I die cut it with the coordinating die.

For the background, I used my chosen Distress inks to color over the "Gingham" stencil by Tim Holtz. Inspired by the sketch, I masked off each section as I ink blended, moving the masks as necessary.

I stamped my greeting with Lawn Fawn's "Harold's ABCs," using their Doe ink for a softer look. I cut each word into a strip, & inked the edges with the same Distress ink colors I'd used for the background, going in the same color order as I'd done the stenciling.

To ground the puppy, I die cut a heart from white cardstock with a die from the Nellie's Choice "Straight Heart" set (discontinued). I laid it on my background where I wanted it & made tick marks where it overlapped each stenciled section. I masked off each section as I'd done with the background & inked in the corresponding colors. Then I glued that to my background, & glued the puppy on top.

I adhered my greeting strips, angling them for a more playful look. Finally, I adhered my panel to a white mini slimline card base. All I have left to do now is add an inside sentiment, & this card will be ready to present.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Make It Girly"

Ellibelle's Corner: Ellibelle's Corner April Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Paper Funday Challenge #75: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Merry Christmas to You

Yes, it's the Christmas card creating time of year for me again! This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is "Flower/Flourish." I actually made use of both on this card, with some foiling in the background using the Prima "Flourish" stencil (discontinued) to jazz things up a bit.

I decided to go with a mini slimline card size for this. I actually had an inside sentiment panel left over from last year that I had not yet used, so I kind of built this card around that. Hey, whatever gets things used, right? :)

I cut a panel of Bazzill Dark Seas cardstock to 3-1/4x6-1/4". I stamped the smaller poinsettia flower from Honey Bee's "Pretty Poinsettias" set (discontinued) in 2 opposite corners. I wanted to color them with my colored pencils, but wanted to heat emboss in gold as well. To make it easier, I first stamped (using my MISTI stamp positioning tool) with Lawn Fawn's Hippo ink, to give me the coloring outlines. I left the stamp in my MISTI, & colored the images with my Prismacolor pencils. When I finished coloring, I put my panel back into the corner of my MISTI, & restamped with embossing ink over each flower. I heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold embossing powder.

To do the foiling on the background, I first cut a mask for each of the poinsettia images. I lined up the masks over the flowers, & laid my stencil over the panel. I pounced leafing glue through the stencil with a makeup wedge. I removed the stencil & flower masks, & let the glue dry for about half an hour until it was tacky. Then I cut a piece of Opal DecoFoil to size & laid it over my panel. To transfer the foil, I put the panel between the plates for my die cutting machine, covered it with a piece of copy paper to keep the plate from marking it up, & ran it through my machine. Much to my delight, it worked like a charm! I love how the opal foil adds interest, but doesn't overwhelm the poinsettias.

I used a greeting from Gina K's "Holiday Wreath Builder" stamp set. I heat embossed it with Antique Gold onto a scrap of the Dark Seas cardstock, & die cut it with a Spellbinders "Lacey Circles" die (discontinued). And I hated it! I just didn't like the way the die cut blended in with the background too much. So I tried again with a lighter blue cardstock, & liked that much better. To give it a bit of dimension, I die cut another circle from the lighter blue, & then layered those & the Dark Seas die cut together. Finally, I glued it centered onto my panel. I adhered my panel to a white card base, & that wrapped this up! I am so happy with this card, AND the fact that I finally got that inside panel into a card. :)

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

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

Paper Funday Challenge #69: "Anything Goes" (playing the make your own background twist)

Double Trouble #175: "Any Way You Punch It"

Peaceful Lighthouse

This card took quite a bit of pre-planning & also focus while I was making it. Thankfully, I was able to use the masks from the Waffle Flower "Lighthouse Stencil-n-Stamp" set I used for the bulk of my design to help me determine where to position everything before I started stenciling & stamping.

Once I had my design worked out, I began by ink blending the sand area with Distress inks. I used Antique Linen first, and then darkened/warmed it with Tea Dye. I added Chipped Sapphire over the area to the far left, just to differentiate that spot & make it look "rocky."

I positioned the sand & lighthouse masks to protect those areas, & then ink blended the sky with Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, & Chipped Sapphire Distress inks. That was probably the easiest part of the whole card! After I had all the colors down, I added the light beam with that stencil & Lawn Fawn's Yeti white pigment ink.

For the water area, I taped the Hero Arts "Waves" stencil (discontinued) in place, & masked above it with yellow Frog tape. I ink blended with the same colors as the sky, minus the Chipped Sapphire. Then I removed the stencil. The white areas that the stencil had covered seemed a bit too stark, so I blended over them with the same colors as before to try & get a tone-on-tone effect. That didn't give enough contrast, though, and the colors actually looked kind of "mushy." So I positioned the "Waves" stencil back where I had had it, & inked over it with Chipped Sapphire, making sure to go dark enough that it covered the underlying colors, rather than just blending with them. It's a rather stylized look, but I think it came out OK.

I removed just the lighthouse mask, & stamped the lighthouse with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I stamped it about 3 times, just to get a good solid coverage. The area right above the sand mask didn't really stamp due to the thickness of the mask under the bottom of the stamp. Fortunately I was able to use a black marker to fill in the missing part. I also stamped the birds in black. I used the stencil to add the light in the windows. I blended yellow & pink ink to the top part where you can see through the glass to the sky behind. To add a little something extra in the corners, I pierced holes & made French knots with a pale rose embroidery floss. Finally, I matted the panel with blue cardstock & adhered it to a white A2-size card base. I decided a greeting on the front would detract from the scene, so I'll just write a personal message inside.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero August Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Double Trouble Challenge #146: "SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing"

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I used the sketch for Try Stampin' on Tuesday's Challenge #597, plus the photo from Inspiration Station's Prompt #47 challenge as the basis for my card. The inspiration photo made me think of Ireland - perfect for a St. Patrick's Day card!

I used Honey Bee Stamps "Plaid Background" stencils (discontinued) to create my background. For the hashed stripes, I brought in a stamp from My Favorite Things' "Plaid Background Builder" set (also discontinued). I used Twisted Citron & Salvaged Patina Distress inks for the stenciled portion of the plaid, & Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide ink for the stamping.

I googled "Irish blessing" to get the blessing for the main panel. I found one (I forget the site name), & decided it fit with the sketch design perfectly. I created a blank "canvas" in Photoshop the size I wanted the main panel. I copied & pasted the text for the blessing, & formatted it with the Celtic Hand font. It took a bit of fiddling with the font size to get the lines of text to come out how I wanted, but I prevailed! I printed that onto a panel of light green cardstock. I also created the greeting in Photoshop, using the Ramsey SD font. I printed that onto a strip of light blue-green cardstock.

For the shamrocks, I created a pattern using the custom shape tool in Photoshop. I printed that onto copy paper. The cardstock I chose to stitch on was too thick to see through to use my lightpad to transfer the pattern. So I traced the pattern onto tracing paper, placed that on the back of each circle, & used it as a guide to pierce my stitching holes. I used green DMC floss to do the stitching.

To assemble my card, I adhered the plaid panel to a white A2-size card base. Then I added the greeting strip & stitched circles. At this point, I realized I'd forgotten to add the twine. I prefer to keep the insides of my cards "clean," so I carefully peeled away the top part of the front plaid panel, & taped the ends of a length of twine behind the panel. Then I tied a knot with another piece of twine around the first. I used a little liquid glue on the knot to keep it from coming untied, & added more glue behind the knot to keep it in place. I stuck the top of the background panel back to the card base, & that finished this card.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's Challenge #133, "Use the Color Green." I'm playing the optional twist of adding plaid.

Joy to the World

The current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is a Tic-Tac-Toe Stash challenge. I chose the diagonal line with the Nativity, Patterned paper, & Embossing (heat embossing, in my case) squares.

I had an alcohol ink background that I'd done for a different card, that had not turned out at all as I'd intended. It's been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now, and I finally decided to use it for this card. The blue alcohol inks had gotten rather dark in places, & I was concerned my image wouldn't show up well. So I spritzed the panel with isopropyl alcohol & daubed it with a paper towel to remove some of the ink. To my delight, it worked really well! I then heat embossed one of the images from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "O Holy Night" stamp set with Wow Perissa embossing powder. I had to be very careful with the heat embossing, since my background is Yupo paper, which is rather sensitive to heat. Thankfully, I was able to melt the embossing powder without warping the paper too much. After the embossing had cooled, I die cut it with a circle die. I cut another circle from white cardstock, & adhered my Yupo circle to that, just to provide more stability & flatten it.

I used the "Big Rays" stencil from A Colorful Life Designs to stencil my background. I inked with Fossilized Amber Distress ink onto a light yellow cardstock. When I removed the stencil, I felt the contrast between the inked & uninked areas was a bit too stark, though. So I blended over the whole panel with just the ink that was left on my blending foam. That knocked the contrast back by darkening between the rays slightly. Then I die cut the panel with the stitched rectangle from Mama Elephant's "Femme Frames" set (discontinued).

After I glued my focal circle in place, I stamped my greeting (from the same set) in Lawn Fawn's Blue Jay ink. I cut a panel of patterned paper from Graphic45's "Christmas Carol" 6x6" pad with the largest of the "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I used that to mat my main panel, & then adhered it to a white card base.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's "Let's Get A-Round to It" challenge.

Happy Birthday #2

The son of a friend of my mom's recently turned 2 years old. My mom asked me if I had any birthday cards that were appropriate for a young child. I didn't, so I created this one.

I stamped the bear & party hat, from Lawn Fawn's "Really High Five" set, onto scraps of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I used my Prismacolor colored pencils to color them in. Because the balloon I would die cut wouldn't have an outline, I decided to fussy-cut the images so they would match better. Thankfully, they weren't too hard to cut out! After I cut them out, I "painted" the edges of each with a black brush-tip marker, to camouflage the white core of the paper & give a cleaner appearance.

I die cut the star balloon from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" set & stamped the "2" from Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's 123s" onto that. I heat embossed the (outline) number, then colored it in with a Versamarker pen & applied more embossing powder. I used my heat gun to melt the powder for a custom balloon. I added shading to the balloon with a blue colored pencil, just so it didn't look so flat.

For the background, I added clouds with the My Favorite Things "Rolling Clouds" stencil & Tumbled Glass Distress ink. They are light, but they are there. I matted that with a rainbow striped paper from the "Party Boy" 6x6" patterned paper pad from Photoplay. I glued my balloon in place & tied a bow from crochet twine around the balloon neck. I "sealed" the knot of the bow with a little liquid glue. I glued the bear on the background, & glued the one end of the twine to his paw, so he can "hold" the balloon string. I also glued the party hat on top of his head.

I heat embossed my greeting - also from "Really High Five" - onto a scrap of blue cardstock. I cut it into 2 labels, & added them to my card at angles for a more playful feel.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

The Paper Funday Challenge #45: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero September Challenge: "Die-lightful"

Double Trouble Challenge #121: "Punch It Out" (had a can of soda during my crafty session)

Squirrelly Happy Halloween

Challenge #200 at Dies R Us challenge blog is "Anything Goes with any brand of die DRU sells." I have been in full-on Halloween card creating mode, to send several to Send a Smile 4 Kids. I came across Sketch #SC866 at Splitcoaststampers.com, & thought, if you turn it sideways, it looks like a stepped wall. What else to do but put a bunch of Jack-o'-Lanterns - that 2 squirrels have dutifully carved - on the "steps"? I used stamps & dies from Lawn Fawn's "Pick of the Patch" set for this card.

I stamped the pumpkins, squirrels, knife, & scoop onto Strathmore Smooth bristol paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I used my Tombow markers to color everything, & add a bit of detail to the pumpkins. Then I stamped the faces on the Jack-o'-Lanterns. Finally I die cut everything with the coordinating dies.

For the wall, I cut the stepped levels into a piece of grey cardstock. I used the "Small Brick Wall" stencil from My Favorite Things to stencil the bricks. I used 2 colors of Distress ink - Rusty Hinge & Fired Brick - to add a bit of "life" to the bricks. I used the other half of the grey cardstock to create the ledges at the tops of the steps. I adhered it to the back of the wall panel so it stuck about 1/8" above the bricks, & then trimmed off the vertical bits so it was just a ledge on each step.

I used My Favorite Things' "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil & Salvaged Patina Distress ink to do the sky on a panel of white cardstock. I stamped the greeting onto a scrap of green cardstock with Lawn Fawn's Jalapeno ink. Then I die cut the top of the grass with a "Grassy Fields" die (discontinued), also from My Favorite Things.

I adhered the wall to my stenciled background, & added the grass, applying ATG adhesive only to the bottom part of the strip. That way I could tuck my pumpkin & one of the squirrels behind the grass. I glued all the images onto my card. I added some shine to the squirrels' noses with a black glaze pen, & that finished this card.

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

Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Cute Fall/Halloween Cards 4 Kids"

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

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

Welcome to the Jungle

I created this card inspired by the photo in the InspirationStation Challenge #35. The whole jungle look of their picture for this challenge made me think of Doodle Pantry's "Safari Animals" digital set (discontinued). I decided to use all the animals in the set, along with its "Welcome to the Jungle" greeting. I'll be sending this card to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I used Sketch #SC734 from Splitcoaststampers for my design. I created a 5-1/2x2-1/2" blank canvas in Photoshop, as per the sketch, and positioned the animal images on that, overlapping them slightly with each other. I created another 5-1/2x1-3/4" canvas, & positioned the greeting, leaving room for the chevrons in the sketch. I printed the animals onto a scrap of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper, since I wanted to color them with my Prismacolor pencils. I printed the greeting onto a strip of tan patterned paper from my scrap stash.

After I colored the animals, I fussy cut them out. (I wanted to add a stenciled cloud background, which I felt would be much easier with the animals separate from the background.) I used a black glaze pen to go over the animals' eyes, & added in catchlights with a white gel pen.  For the sky, I used Speckled Egg Distress ink & My Favorite Things' "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil on white cardstock. I die cut 2 grass strips from a patterned paper scrap, with the My Favorite Things "Grassy Fields" dies (discontinued). I adhered the taller strip in place, glued down the animals, & then added the shorter strip in front of them.

I cut the 2 chevrons from patterned papers I found in my scrap stash, & glued them in place on the greeting strip. I adhered my background to a white A2-size card base, added my greeting strip, & that finished this card.

I'm also entering this card in Paper Funday's August 2022 "Anything Goes" Challenge #44.

A Banner Hello

I have had the gold die cut strips, made with Spellbinders' "Octagon Strips and Accents" dies (discontinued), for several months. I had made them to use on a project, but that ended up not working out. They were too good to chuck, though, so I held onto them. The other day, I finally decided this was The Time to use them.

I used the outer die in the set to cut 2 backing pieces of peach pearlized cardstock, & glued the gold die cuts to those. I used the same die with the corresponding insert to cut another strip from purple cardstock. I wanted something to break up the gold banners, and give me a third element. I cut a third peach piece to back the purple strip for continuity, & glued them together.

For the background, I applied Golden's Light Molding Paste through Hero Arts' "Deco Pattern" stencil. I left kind of a ragged edge towards the bottom right corner, so I could add a die cut greeting. I die cut the greeting from Hero Arts' "Hello Stamp & Cut" set once from gold & once from the purple I'd used for the third strip. I glued the purple down to my background panel, then layered the gold on top, offset so the purple provided a shadow.

After I decided how long I wanted my banners, I cut each strip to length. I wanted to stitch them, but with the thickness of the layered banners, I couldn't stitch straight through to the card front. So I poked holes along the top of each banner, & stitched with white thread. Then I used liquid tacky glue to glue just the tops of the banners along my panel, lining up the stitching lines & letting the rest of each lift up. Finally, I matted my panel with a light teal cardstock that I'd adhered to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge #114: "YouNique Technique"

Dies R Us Challenge #195: "Dad's Day/Masculine"

Paper Funday Challenges Challenge #42: "Anything Goes with Optional Twist: Masculine" (playing the twist)

Creative Knockouts Challenge #458: "Something to Say"

Happy Holiday Wishes

I am honored & excited to be guest designing for Christmas Card Throwdown sketch challenge this week! You can find all the details & enter your card at their site.

Christmas Card Throwdown Sketch

For the images on my card I used WPlus9's "Poinsettia Builder" stamp set. This layering set is very easy to use. I stamped the first layer of each flower with Lawn Fawn Guava ink, then followed with Memento Love Letter, Altenew Ruby Red, & finished with a double-stamping of Ranger Red Geranium Archival ink. I used Delicata Golden Glitz for the flower centers, & Delta Emerald Green and Memento Cottage Ivy for the leaves on the 2 larger flowers. The smallest flower doesn't have a leaf layer to go with it, & looked rather naked without any. So I just used a couple of Tombow markers to indicate leaves on that one. I stamped my greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Holiday Greetings Mix 1" set, onto a scrap of white cardstock & cut it into a banner.

I wanted to try something different for my background. I used an A2-size panel of navy cardstock & Prima's "Flourish" stencil (discontinued). I temporarily adhered the stencil to my panel, and used a makeup wedge to apply metal leafing glue through the openings. After I removed the stencil, I let the glue dry until it was tacky, then added Nuvo Radiant Gold gilding flakes to the adhesive. After I covered the panel with the flakes, I used a stiff bristle paintbrush to scrub away the excess. Finally, I lightly buffed the surface with a sanding block to remove any "straggler" flakes.

I die cut each flower with a circle die, and cut mat layers for them from Bazzill Icy Mint cardstock. After I glued the circles to their respective mats, I glued them & my greeting to my background. Finally, I adhered my background to a white A2 card base. I really love how this card turned out. Now go create your own holiday card & enter the challenge! :)

Big Birthday Present

The current challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge blog is "Tween/Teen Cards." I created this card with an old digital image from Kenny K, "Present Surprise" (discontinued). The design inspiration came from Sketch #SC746 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I sized the image in Photoshop, and printed it on a panel of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I used Prismacolor pencils to color it. For a little detail above the image, I used My Favorite Things' "Wonky Dots" stencil & Kitsch Flamingo Distress ink. The stenciling echoes the pink dots on the present.

The rainbow greeting banner was actually a scrap left over from another card I'd made. I heat embossed "happy birthday," using stamps from Altenew's "Birthday Builder" set & Ranger Navy embossing powder. I cut the end of the strip at an angle for a bit more fun, & adhered it to my panel. I glued on 3 buttons from my stash in coordinating colors. After the glue dried, I stitched through the holes with white crochet twine. Finally, I added my panel to a teal cardstock mat that I'd adhered to a white A2-size card base.

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

Happy Birthday!

 

A woman I met at an online retreat last Fall has a birthday coming up, so I made her this card. I used several Lawn Fawn products to create my elements.

I stamped the mice, from "Bubbles of Joy," as well as one of the party hats from "Beam Me Up," on scraps of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. (This is my preferred ink & paper combination when I use colored pencils.) I used my Prismacolor pencils to color them, then die cut them with the coordinating dies. I used a bit of liquid glue to add a hat to each mouse's head, & went over their eyes with a black glaze pen.

I used My Favorite Things' "Rolling Clouds" stencil & Tumbled Glass Distress ink to create the sky. I cut the grass with a couple of "Grassy Hillside Borders" dies from a scrap of Recollections "Watercolor" 12x12" patterned paper. I used another purple scrap from the same paper pad for my balloon, which I die cut with a "Party Balloons" die. I also die cut 3 more balloons from scrap white cardstock & glued them to the back of my purple balloon to create dimension. I heat embossed the greeting, from "Beam Me Up," on the balloon and used a white gel pen to add the exclamation point.

After I adhered the back grass layer to my card front, I glued down the running mouse. I tied a piece of white crochet twine around the neck of the balloon, & glued the balloon to my card. I stretched the twine to the mouse's paw, and used a drop of liquid glue to hold it in place. (I clamped the twine with my cross-lock tweezers while the glue dried, to keep it fairly taut.) I added the second mouse to the balloon with liquid glue. I used scraps of cardstock behind his upper part where he hung over the top of the balloon, to keep him level with the balloon. Finally, I adhered the front grass piece with foam tape.

 

Inside of card

To add a little something to the inside of the card, I die cut another grassy layer, and adhered that in place. I used a third mouse from "Bubbles of Joy," with his little party hat, and added the cupcake from Lawn Fawn's "Party Unicorn" stamp & die set. I positioned the mouse so he is looking up where the inside message will go. I really love how this card came out!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #402: "Finish the Inside"

Dies R Us Challenge #169: "Anything Goes Using Die Brands Sold by DRU" (used Lawn Fawn dies)

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

Have a Magical Day!

  

Dies R Us Challenge Blog has teamed up with the Double Trouble Challenge for the current challenge. The Double Trouble theme is "A Magical Day," with the optional twist of using a metal die. For Dies R Us, the challenge is to use a metal die. I created this card to send to a woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall, whose birthday is coming up soon.

I recently received the "Party Unicorn" mini stamp set & coordinating dies from Lawn Fawn as a gift during my birthday month. I had not gotten to play with it yet, but thought it went perfectly with the themes of both these challenges. I stamped the unicorn & cupcake on Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper in Simon Says Stamp Fog ink. I used my Tombow markers to color the images, and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

For the background, I used the "Mini Cloud Edges" stencil from My Favorite Things to add a rainbow cloud sky. I used Kitsch Flamingo, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, & Milled Lavender Distress inks. After I finished inking, I splattered the panel with water droplets, let that sit for several seconds, then blotted with a dry cloth to create some bleached spots for a more ethereal look.

I die cut a cloud from a scrap of Canson XL Mixed Media paper with a die from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Clouds & Raindrops" set (discontinued). I lightly inked the bottom edge with Milled Lavender & did Tumbled Glass on the top, just so it wasn't so stark white.

I wanted some accent around the edges of my background, so I die cut with the largest of the "Large Cross-stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I adhered that to a white A2-size card base. I adhered the die cut cloud with foam tape, to help it stand out from the background a bit. I glued the cupcake to the unicorn, and adhered her in place. I added foam tape behind her head, & glued her flat to the cloud. That way she is on the same level as the cloud. I added Diamond Stickles to her horn & the heart topper on the cupcake, & streaks of it on the die cut cloud.

I used a greeting from Lawn Fawn that they had also sent me for my birthday month. I stamped that in Lawn Fawn's Fresh Lavender ink. I wanted a soft color to go with the whole look of the card, but that would still show up against the background. Since I had foam-mounted my images, I did use my MISTI stamp positioning tool to stamp the greeting, just in case I didn't get a good impression on the first try. Thankfully, it stamped well & I didn't have to re-stamp. As a finishing touch, I added Diamond Stickles dots around the panel, because you always need more glitter with unicorns! :)

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

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"

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"

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)

Happy Birthday Balloons

My Favorite Things' Wednesday Sketch Challenge #474 inspired the design of this card. I need a birthday card for a friend, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use this sketch and some new (and old) products!

I thought the circles in the sketch translated well to balloons. I used 2 dies from Lawn Fawn's "Party Balloons" set for the largest balloons, and a few from My Favorite Things' "Bundle of Balloons" to fill out the design. I die cut the 10 balloons from rainbow colors of cardstock. I chose a cream cardstock for my background, as I wanted something neutral, but not stark white. I glued all the balloons on, basically following the sketch. I didn't add balloon strings, since I felt that would just clutter the design, and they were unnecessary anyway. I finished that panel by adding a narrow strip of lavender cardstock along the left edge.

I stamped the greeting, from MFT's "Big Birthday Sentiments," in Versamark ink onto a strip of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum. I heat embossed it with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. After trimming the left end into a fishtail banner, I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple the banner to the edge of my panel.

For the dark teal panel, I used a new-to-me Echo Park stencil, "Birthday Balloons." I taped my cardstock to the back of the stencil, & used a palette knife to smear Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel medium over the stencil. Once I had a smooth layer of gel, I carefully removed the stencil; cleaned that, my work surface, & palette knife; and set the panel aside to dry.

After the gel dried, I adhered the teal panel flat to a white A2-size card base. I popped the main panel up with craft/fun foam, using double-sided tape to adhere everything. The hardest/longest part of this process was probably the design. I know that sounds ironic, since I was working from a pre-made sketch. But just trying to figure out what balloon sizes fit where, so I could die cut each from the "right" color took a while. But I love how this card came out.

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

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Creative Knockouts Challenge #335: "Birthday Wishes"

Spiral Thanks

I created this card inspired by the sketch and photo for the Fusion "Winter" challenge. The dark greens & whites in the trees directed my overall color scheme.

I cut a panel of white cardstock to 5.5x4.25". I must admit, it was a bit of a struggle to position Altenew's "Illusion Spiral" stencil. I wanted it to look kind of like stylized sun rays, with the center of the spiral being the "sun." But I quickly discovered that the way the "rays" are cut in the stencil, they don't go out evenly from the center area, & have odd angles. So I ended up positioning it higher on the panel than I had originally intended, & covered the bottom with my greeting strip. That gave me the look I was after!

I inked through the stencil first with Evergreen Bough Distress ink, using a small makeup brush to blend the color softly & fade out towards white at the edges. Once I had the color blended smoothly, I used a smaller makeup brush & Pine Needles Distress ink to deepen the color just towards the center of the design.

I die cut the greeting with a "Many Thanks" die by My Favorite Things (discontinued). I felt the pale blue cardstock was a bit too flat-looking, next to the ombre of the stenciling. So I used a foam ink blending tool with Tumbled Glass Distress ink to blend up from the bottom of the die cut word. After that, I went in with Peacock Feathers Distress ink to darken the color a bit at the bottom of the letters. I glued that to a strip of dark teal cardstock, adhered that to my panel, & mounted the finished panel to a white card base. Overall, this was a pretty easy card to make. The design and stencil position were the only really hard parts. :)

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

613 Avenue Create's Challenge #229: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
Die Cut Divas: "New Things" (the "Illusion Spiral" stencil is new for me)