One-of-a-Kind Mom

 

Send a Smile 4 Kids needs Mother's Day cards, so I created this one for them. The theme of Double Trouble's current challenge, "A Magical Day," inspired the imagery & the font for the greeting. I also did the Double Dare for this challenge, by using a "Checkered Frames" die from Impression Obsession. The inspiration for this card came from one I saw on Pinterest.

I downloaded the unicorn image from Pixabay.com. I opened it in Photoshop, and sized it to fit my panel inside the frame. I used the Springtime Flourish font on my computer for the greeting. I typed each line on a separate layer, and then used the Move tool to position them. After I merged just the greeting layers into one layer, I added a purple-to-pink gradient layer for the unicorn. I created a clipping mask so it would affect just the image. I did the same gradient--reversed--on another layer, for the greeting, & did a clipping mask for that as well. Finally, I printed it onto a piece of white cardstock.

I die cut my frame from a piece of purple "Watercolor" patterned paper from Recollections. I also cut a panel of white cardstock with the same frame die. I adhered the outer white cardstock frame to an A2 size card base, and inlaid the purple frame inside. I saved the squares from the white cardstock I'd die cut, & inlaid each into its place in the purple frame.

I matted my focal panel with some more of the purple "Watercolor" paper, and adhered it to my card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue on sequins around the unicorn's neck, & added Star Dust Stickles to the horn.

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

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

Repeat Impressions "Anything Goes" Challenge ~ M2421

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).

The Best Birthday Ever

 

A woman I met at a virtual retreat last Fall has a birthday coming up soon. I decided to pull out the Gina K. Wreath Builder Template & coordinating "Wreath Builder" stamp set for her card. The theme of Creative Knockouts' current challenge, "Spring is in the Air," inspired the bright color palette.

I first cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" square. I taped the larger wreath template into my MISTI stamp positioning tool to use as a guide. I stamped the first flower in Simon Says Stamp Sunshine ink, turning the cardstock in the template until I had stamped 8 times. I followed with the pink flowers, using Lawn Fawn's Wild Rose ink. I stamped the dark green leaves around the outer perimeter with Memento Cottage Ivy ink, and the 2-leaf image with Memento Pear Tart. Finally, to fill out the wreath a bit more on the inside, I stamped a little accent image in Hero Arts Orchid ink.

I wanted to make an A2-size card, and wanted my panel to fill the card front with only a 1/8" mat on all 4 sides. So I cut my wreath panel in half, & added it to a dark green cardstock mat that I'd adhered to my card base. I left a gap in between the 2 wreath panels.

I stamped one of the rings from the "Wreath Builder" set in Cottage Ivy ink, and stamped the greeting in the center in Wild Rose. I die cut that with a 2" circle die from We R Memory Keepers, and used a Waffle Flower "Additional Circles" die to cut the mat from lavender cardstock. I matted a strip of white cardstock with lavender, and adhered it to cover the gap between my stamped panels. Finally, I adhered the matted greeting circle in the center of my card.

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

Birthday Rose

 

I had printed the "Rose Blossom" digital image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps onto a piece of cotton fabric several months ago. I had intended it for a project that I ended up not doing, so it's been sitting on a shelf over my desk ever since. I wanted to paint it with watercolors, so I had coated it with Daniel Smith Transparent Watercolor Ground. I've never done this before (painting watercolors on fabric), even with the watercolor ground, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I finally decided to go ahead & paint it, then make it into a card.

To prepare my fabric, after I'd printed the image onto it, I adhered it with double-sided sheet adhesive to a piece of white cardstock. Then I added the watercolor ground. As I said, this was all quite some time ago. I began painting wet-on-dry, adding the watercolor to the dry fabric. It didn't move quite as much as I wanted, so I switched to a wet-in-wet technique. I painted one petal at a time, adding clear water to the petal, then flooding in color. That worked OK, though the paint then tended to move more than I wanted. So I ended up doing a wet-on-kind-of-dry technique. I did make sure not to paint 2 adjacent petals before allowing the first to dry, so the rose wouldn't become all one solid color.

When I painted one of the leaves, the paint ended up getting away from me a bit, & stained the fabric outside the leaf. I tried wetting that area with just plain water & blotting with a paper towel, but it wouldn't come up. So I decided to embrace that, & just added green to the whole background, again painting wet-in-wet. I like the variegated color I ended up getting.

I heat embossed the "happy birthday" from Altenew's "Painted Greetings" set with Ranger Silver powder onto a strip of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum. I cut the strip longer than the width of my panel, folded the ends around the sides of the panel, & adhered them to the back. That way, I didn't have to worry about adhesive showing through the vellum. I matted my panel with black cardstock & adhered it to a white A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #392: "Birthday Wishes"

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

This Calls for a Celebration!

  

Die Cut Divas' challenge theme for this month is "Frame It." I created the frame for my card by die cutting an oval in a 4x5-1/4" panel of white cardstock with a Hero Arts "Nesting Oval Infinity" die. The design is based on the Wednesday Sketch Challenge #526 at My Favorite Things. I got the idea for the balloon bouquet from this card by Kristina Werner.

I used the round balloon images from Altenew's "Balloon Bunch" stamp set. I cut a 3-1/2" square of white cardstock, put it in my MISTI stamp positioning tool, & placed the first layer of the balloon in one corner. I stamped first with Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers ink, rotated the cardstock, & stamped a second balloon with Altenew Soft Lilac ink. I repeated this with Lawn Fawn Peach Fuzz & Sunflower inks for a total of 4 balloons. I took another scrap of cardstock & stamped again with Hero Arts Tide Pool ink for my last balloon. Then I stamped the second layer for each balloon with Hero Arts Bubble Gum, Altenew Lavender Fields, Lawn Fawn Apricot, Simon Says Stamp Sunshine, & My Favorite Things Blu Raspberry inks. Because the balloon shapes in this set are simple, I didn't get the coordinating dies. So I fussy cut all the balloons.

For my background, I ink blended Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass, & Spun Sugar Distress inks onto an A2-size panel of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I splattered on Champagne Gold & Light Gold watercolors from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors set.

 

After I die cut the oval from my white panel, I placed the panel in my MISTI. I stamped the greeting, also from "Balloon Bunch," in Versamark ink & heat embossed it with Ranger Gold Super Fine Detail embossing powder.

I adhered my ink-blended background to a white card base, & tacked the frame piece down with a piece of painter's tape, just to hold it while I arranged my balloons. Once I had them placed like I wanted, I used a piece of Glad Press 'n Seal to pick up the balloon bunch as one unit. I added white crochet twine to the back of each balloon, using a bit of double-sided tape to hold the strings in place. I added liquid glue to the backs of the balloons & stuck them onto my background, then carefully peeled up the Press 'n Seal. I cut another piece of twine, & tied a bow around the balloon strings. To keep that secure, I added a small dollop of glue under the bow & clamped the strings in place with my cross-lock tweezers until the glue dried. Finally, I added my cardstock frame with foam tape, covering the ends of the strings, & glued on a few Darice Crystal sequins, as per the sketch.

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

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

613 Avenue Create's January Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Season's Greetings

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Die Cut Divas December Challenge: "Anything Goes"

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

Holiday Tags

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

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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