Hope Your Day Blooms with Happiness

The current Lawn Fawnatics challenge is "Interactive Cards." I created this card with Lawn Fawn's "Magic Picture Changer" & "Magic Picture Changer Add-on" die sets. I also used the "Garden Before 'n Afters" stamp set for the images & greeting.

I began by tracing the openings with a pencil in the 2 dies that create the magic picture changer onto pieces of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. This helped me to know where to stamp my images so they would both show up in the window. I stamped the images on their respective panels, & colored them with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. Then I lined the dies up & cut out the pieces.

I die cut the frame for the magic picture changer from a patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. (I don't know the name, as it was just a gift with purchase.) After I assembled the magic picture changer, I adhered the frame in place, making sure my adhesive didn't interfere with the mechanism. I die cut the "pull" stopper piece from pink cardstock, & glued it to the pull tab. I also heat embossed my greeting with white embossing powder onto the same pink cardstock, cut it into labels, & glued those to the frame.

I die cut a piece of plaid patterned paper (another gift with purchase from Lawn Fawn) with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies, & adhered it to my white A2-size card base. I adhered the magic picture changer with foam tape, to make it easier for the recipient to pull the tab. And that finished this card!

I'm also entering this card in Send a Smile for Kids' "Easter/Spring Cards 4 Kids" challenge.

Out of This World Birthday

I had created a multi-colored inky background following a Jennifer McGuire tutorial that came out not to my liking. I was kind of disappointed at my "fail," since I had followed her instructions to the letter. Rather than chuck it, though, I decided to do something different with it. So I inked over the whole panel with Black Soot Distress ink & splattered with Gansai Tambi Starry Colors White Gold watercolor to make a galaxy background. That became the basis for this birthday card.

I stamped several images from Lawn Fawn's "Beam Me Up" set onto scraps of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and colored them with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. For shading & added dimension, I used a damp paintbrush to draw more diluted color out to the highlight areas. Finally, I die cut them with the coordinating dies.

I used an oval die to cut the "planet" from light grey cardstock, & adhered that to the bottom of my background panel. I trimmed off the excess, & glued my images to that. I stamped a greeting from "Beam Me Up" in black on the bottom of the planet. I matted the panel with a dark plum cardstock, & adhered that to a white A2-size card base. Finally, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue googly eyes on to each of the aliens. I love how this card came out, & I think it will bring a smile to a child's face. And to think, it all started with a "failed" background!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #486: "Celebrations"

613 Avenue Create January 2023 Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Santa & Friends

This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is all about "Santa & Friend(s)." Basically, create a Christmas card with Santa & one or more of his friends. I immediately thought of Bugaboo's "Scene It: Santa and Friends" digital image (discontinued), & thought it would be perfect for this challenge. With the proportions of this image, you really don't need anything else to make an impactful card!

I decided to make the image the size of my 5-1/4x4" panel, which leaves a 1/8" border on all sides of my A2-size card. I sized it in Photoshop, & printed it onto a panel of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I used my Prismacolor colored pencils to color the image. The most difficult part of coloring was trying to determine in a couple of spots what went where. Because this is a rather complex image, I just went one element at a time while coloring.

After I finished the coloring, I matted my panel with burgundy cardstock that I'd adhered to a white card base. I decided to add a little something extra, so I went over Rudolph's nose with White Blizzard Nuvo Glitter drops. I also added that to the bell on the elf's hat & more bits here and there around the snow areas. And that finished this card! The longest portion was honestly the coloring. I love how this came out, though!

I'm also entering this card in Send a Smile 4 Kids' "Happy Holidays 4 Kids" challenge.

Cozy Christmas Card

The Fall | Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop inspired the theme of this card. I used one of the coffee cups from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Holiday Cheer" digital stamp set for the focal image. The design is based on Sketch #SC571 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I sized the cup image in Photoshop, then printed it onto a panel of Canson Montval 140 lb. watercolor paper. I used my watercolors to paint it, and fussy-cut it out.

I used my We R Memory Keepers Frame punch board to create the frame for the image from white cardstock scraps. The watercolor paper I used for the cup has a bit of thickness to it, & I didn't want it to stick above the surrounding frame. I made a few frames, all the same size, so I could stack them for dimension. I did have to trim a bit from all but the topmost frame, just so their edges wouldn't stick out at all from behind. After I had cut all the frames, I stamped my greeting - from Hero Arts' "Cozy Penguin" set - onto the bottom of the front frame. Then I glued all my frames together.

I cut a backing layer from scrap cardstock the same size as the outer perimeter of the frames, & adhered 2 pieces of patterned paper from my scrap stash to that, positioned so they would show through the window in the stacked frames. (I wanted a countertop & wallpaper look.) I glued my frames on top, & glued down my coffee cup, so it appears to "sit" on the counter. I adhered a panel of patterned paper from graphic45's "Christmas Carol" 6x6" pad to a white A2 card base for my background, & then glued my framed image onto the card.

I'm also entering this card in Double Trouble's Challenge #125A: "Deja-BREW."

Season's Greetings

This week's challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is to use the colors blue, red, & white on your card. Other than black, those are the only colors you can use. I created this card, inspired by that challenge & Kristina Werner's lesson on Day 2 of Online Card Classes' "Holiday Card Workshop 2022."

I stamped the plaid design with My Favorite Things' "Plaid Background Builder" set (discontinued) & Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink onto a panel of Bazzill Icy Mint (pale blue) cardstock. Then I adhered that to my white A2 size card base.

For the snowflake, I used Hero Arts' "Color Layering Snowflake." I stamped the first layer with Hero Arts Cornflower ink, & the second with Lawn Fawn Forget-Me-Not ink. For the third layer, I used Ranger White Super Fine Detail embossing powder. I kind of wish (in hindsight) that I'd used a dark blue embossing powder instead of white, but I still think it looks OK. I just feel the dark blue would have popped more. Next time! :)

I stamped the greeting, from Hero Arts' "Finch Greetings," onto white cardstock with Forget-Me-Not ink, & fussy cut it out.

I laid the snowflake & greeting onto my background, & just felt the card needed a bit more. So I got some white holographic sewing thread & made a messy nest to put behind the snowflake. I used my ATG adhesive on the back of the snowflake to tack down the thread. Then I glued that to my card with liquid glue, just so it would hold very well over the Oxide ink. I glued my greeting down, centered below the snowflake, & that finished this card.

Peaceful

The current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is a sketch. I followed the sketch pretty much literally, except to extend the strips across the entire panel.

I got the inspiration for the background from Koren Wiskman's lesson on Day 7 of Online Card Classes' "Holiday Card Workshop 2022." I masked off the border with yellow Frog tape, & ink blended the center with Saltwater Taffy, Worn Lipstick, & Abandoned Coral Distress inks. I used the "Gracious Leaves" embossing folder from Memory Box to emboss the panel.

I heat embossed the greeting, from Simon Says Stamp's "Holiday Greetings Mix 1" stamp set, with gold onto a scrap of patterned paper I had in my stash. I cut that into a strip & added a narrow strip of matte gold foil cardstock along the bottom. I adhered that to my embossed panel. Finally, I added my panel to a Simon Says Stamp Fog cardstock mat that I'd adhered to a white A2-size card base.

I'm also entering this card in Through the Craft Room Door's "Anything Goes" challenge.

Snowy Season's Greetings

This is my second card for Christmas Card Throwdown's October Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. For this one I chose the diagonal row of Favorite Color (purple), Patterned Paper, & Die Cut.

I used the remainder of the same "failed" alcohol ink background from my first card for this challenge to die cut the snowflakes. As Jennifer McGuire says, if you do a background you don't like, just die cut from it! 😊 I cut a panel of pink patterned paper from an old 6x6" pad from BoBunny, & matted it with navy cardstock, to complement the dark blue snowflakes. I glued my snowflakes to that.

I die cut a label with one of the "Grommet Tags" set by Spellbinders (discontinued) from yellow cardstock, & heat embossed my greeting with navy embossing powder. The greeting comes from Hero Arts' "Holiday Cardinal" stamp set. I adhered 3 purple strips - scraps from an ink smooshed technique piece I'd done previously - to my pink panel. I then adhered my greeting label over those. As a finishing touch, I colored 2 clear gems with a navy Sharpie marker, and glued them over the holes in the ends of the label.

I'm also entering this card in Hero Arts' "Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero" October challenge: "Merry Everything."