In a word 'Love'

For this card I wanted to try a technique that I had never tried before which is faux metal.  I watched Kristina Werner do this in one of her you tube videos:

For my card I thought it would be fun to use a new alphabet set I got from Michaels to make metal looking tags that spelled out a word.  Here is what I came up with:

I thought I would go for a look that is more grungy than usual, so I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder on a piece of kraft cardstock.  I made another crumpled paper flower out of the same script paper I used before, this time with 9 circles.  I inked the edges of the flower in gray to coordinate with everything.  A sparkly brad and some prima flowers added just enough sparkle.

Once I followed Kristina's technique with the alphabet stamp set I mentioned I used my nestabilities circles to cut the letters out out, and my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in each. I attached them to the card front with black hemp twine and foam squares.  I love how they turned out, I even love the impression left behind by the dies.  My husband was even impressed (at least thats what he told me, lol).

On the inside of the card I used the same shades of cardstock as on the front and inked them to match and stamped a nice sentiment.

I think any loved one would enjoy receiving this card.  :)


I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

1.  Simon Says Stamp and Show - Show your favourite word
2. Fussy and Fancy Friday - Punches and dies
3. Deep Ocean Challenge - Use punches and dies
4. Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Anything goes
5. Simon Says challenge - Anything goes
6. Moving Along With the Times - Garden or Flowers

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Basic Gray, Whisper White, Crumb cake.  Bazzill Basics Antique Script.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up!  Petite Pairs, Recollections Rubber Stamp Set (alphabet)

Ink:  Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink Charcoal, Stampin' Up!  Going Gray.  Versamark Watermark ink.  Stampin' Up! Silver embossing powder. 

Adhesive:  Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive Runner, Glue Dots, foam squares.

Embellishments:  Prima Flowers Melisse Nature Garden, Creative Charms brads, black hemp twine from stash.

Tools:  Paper trimmer, scissors, bone folder, tweezers, heat tool, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestablities Standard Circles Small and Large, Sizzix Tim Holtz Texture fade Cracked,  Ranger Inkssentials blending tool, We R Memory Keepers brad setter, Crop-A-Dile

Wedding Wishes

Today's card started with Glubers.  What a wonderful invention!  If you don't know what these are, they are huge glue dots that you can stick ribbon and other things to make your own flowers and rosettes.  So fun!

I started with a 2" Gluber, and since I didn't really know what I was doing I chose some green ribbon that I had alot of.  I just stuck the ribbon around the Gluber starting with the outside edge and pleating with my fingers as I went until I got to the middle.  At the middle I cut my ribbon, tucked the end under, and added some self-adhesive rhinestones.  So cute!

To make my card I chose a base of green to match the flower, and decided I wanted to make something 'vintagey' (a lovely non existent word, lol).  I chose antique newsprint, some black, and some kraft.

I decided the newsprint text was a bit too dark for what I wanted to do, so I brushed some white crackle paint over the middle and dried it with my heat gun. The crackle is very subtle and difficult to see in the main picture so I took a close up:

Since the newsprint paper was thinner than regular patterned paper it buckled and wrinkled more than usual, but I really like the effect.  After inking the edges and over the paint with creamy brown I matted the piece with black and kraft, added the base ribbon and adhered it to the front of the card.

For the sentiment, I punched a small tag out of kraft, heat embossed the sentiment in white, and inked the edges with creamy brown.  Even though  the ink colour is quite close to the kraft it was just enough to add a bit of dimension to the tag.  I added a bit of green string to the tag and adhered it with foam squares.

On the inside I used the same papers on the front but layered them so that the kraft would hold the sentiment, and leave lots of room for the giver to leave a nice note.  I put paint and ink on the newsprint  for the inside also, just enough paint to peek out behind the black.

This card was pretty quick to make, and it was a bit messy so the best of both worlds!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Pretty Little Ribbon Challenge - To die for  - die cuts and punches
2. Fussy and Fancy Friday - Punches and Dies
3. Everybody Art - Wedding
4. Party Time Tuesdays - Anything goes + kraft
5. Creative Card Crew - Ribbon
6. Deep Ocean Challenge - Punches and dies
7. Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Anything goes
8. Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes
9. Moving Along With the Times - Gardening or Flowers
10. Catered Crop - B for Bodacious  - I used lots of creamy Brown and Brown kraft :)

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Garden Green, Basic Black, Crumb Cake.  Bazzill Basics Antique Newsprint.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Petite Pairs.

Ink:  Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink Creamy Brown, Versamark watermark ink, Martha Stewart White Embossing Powder, Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint Picket Fence.

Embellishments:  Green grosgrain ribbon from stash, Michaels Rhinestone Stickers, green craft string from my stash.

Adhesives:  Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive Runner, Cosmo Cricket Glubers, Glue Dots, foam squares.

Tools:  Paper trimmer, scissors, sponge, bone folder, heat tool, paint brush, Ranger heat resistant craft sheet, Stampin' Up! Embossing Buddy, We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile, Stampin' Up! Extra Large Tag punch.

Butterfly birthday wishes

Since my big card making sprint (and buying sprint I must admit)  at Christmas time I've been trying to resist buying new things since I already have a lot of stuff that needs to get used.  In March, however, I did my taxes and since I was lucky enough to get a bit of a refund I decided to restock some things, and splurge on a few other things.  I ordered a bunch of stuff from a few different places a few weeks ago and it all came in around the same time, so I got to play!  Here is the first of many creations to come:

The light is funny in this picture, it kind of looks like I used my flash even though I didn't but hopefully you get the idea.  I keep trying to experiment with different places, times of day, and lighting to get the best picture.  I don't think I've come across the best combination yet but I'll keep trying!

I started with a 6.5 x 6.5 paper pad from Kaiser Craft that I saw Kristina Werner use in one of her videos.  It's so pretty with soft colours, and lovely imagery.  I chose the sheet with  a pale blue background and line drawings of hydrangeas (I think?).  I paired it with a sheet of script paper (I seem to be attracted to anything with type or writing on it lately), and some Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake cardstock.  Crumb Cake is my absolute favourite shade of kraft!

I sponged the patterned papers with charcoal ink, and the white circle with creamy brown ink to coordinate with the kraft.  I used both of my two new Stampin' Up! sets by choosing an image from one, and a sentiment from the other, and heat embossing them in silver.  I decided to use a piece of beautiful ribbon that I purchased with my gift certificate won from Ribbon Carousel several weeks ago.  The ribbon was a bit wider than I needed so I pleated the ribbon with the help of some glue dots, then twisting it a bit before adhering to the back.  To conserve the special ribbon, the knot is a sort of faux- tie that I added after the long piece was adhered.

By the way, I was really impressed with Ribbon Carousel's prices, their shipping costs are really reasonable (always a concern when ordering from Canada) and everything came bundled neatly and in cute little patterned packets.  I actually saved the packaging to use later, lol!  I will definitely be ordering from them again!

I decided on embellishments last, and as I really liked the script pattern I decided to make a paper flower out of it.  I wanted to make a different type of flower than I had before, so I used a technique I have seen Christine Urias use on a Scraptime video.  I have been watching her videos for a while, and since there are over 700 I couldn't find the one showing this technique in order to link here, but I highly suggest looking at her website www.scraptime.ca. She has covered so many things that I am sure you will learn something new!
To make this flower you just need to punch or die cut several circles.  Spray the circles with water and crumple them up.  They look almost like spit balls at this point but not nearly as gross, lol.   Once the little balls dry (or you can dry them with a heat tool), you carefully un-crumple them, stack several, poke a hole in the middle, add a brad, and voila - you have a flower!  I only needed to use three circles to make my flower, although I seem to remember Christine using 6 in her video.  Since I couldn't find the original video I could be making that number up, but I'm sure you could stack as many circles as you wanted to  make your flower as full as you would like.

I used a gem studded brad in the middle of my flower for sparkle, and inked the edges of the petals with more creamy brown ink.  I added a couple of small Prima flowers (also purchased at Ribbon Carousel), and although a lot was going on I felt like the card needed something more, so I added some faux stitching at the top and bottom with my white gel pen.  I really like the look of stitching so I think I may have to search for my sewing machine in the basement soon, but for the time being my gel pen works great for this.

On the inside of the card, I adhered a couple of strips of the patterns inked in charcoal, and a piece of white inked with creamy brown.  I added the companion sentiment to the sentiment on the front by heat embossing it in silver. All done!

I love how pretty this card is!  Now, what to play with next?  Hmmmm......


I will enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Catered Crop - Get krafty. 
2. Fussy and Fancy Friday - Punches and Dies 
3. Pile it On -  Sparkle and Shine
4. Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes + Kraft
5. Creative Card Crew -  Ribbon
6. Ladybug Crafts Ink- Birthday
7. Deep Ocean Challenge - Use punches/dies
8. Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Anything Goes
9. Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
10. Moving Along with the Times - Gardening or Flowers

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, Whisper White.  Bazzill Basics Antique Script.  Kaiser Craft Bonjour 6.5 Paper Pad.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Petite Pairs, Kindness Matters.

Ink:  Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink Creamy Brown, Charcoal.  Versamark Watermark Ink pad. Stampin' Up! Silver Embossing Powder.

Embellishments: Ribbon Carousel Champagne Silky Crushed ribbon, Prima Flowers Camille Almanac, Creative Charms brads.

Adhesive:  Mini Glue Dots, Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive Runner.

Tools:  Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large, paper trimmer, bone folder, scissors, tweezers, heat tool, Stampin' Up! embossing buddy, sponge We R Memory Keepers brad setting tool.

Believe in yourself

For the first time I placed an order with Gina K designs recently, and it came in last week. I was really excited to get the stuff and I had to play with it right away.

While my first love is Stampin' Up! cardstock, I find their white and cream cardstocks to be a bit flimsy for card bases, so I ordered some 120# cardstock from Gina K in those colours.  I had also ordered the Spellbinders Small Standard circles Nestabilites to go with my Large set.  I placed a large enough order to get the free "Believe in yourself" stamp set so here I used all three.

I started with the base weight white, and decided to use patterned paper from one of my favourite My Mind's Eye 6x6 pads.  I thought black and white with a bit of red would be fun, so after layering the card front I heat embossed the sentiment and added black and red ribbon. 

I stamped the butterfly in red, then die cut the image to ensure I had the right size circle.  I die cut a slightly larger circle from the patterned paper to mat the image.  I decided the butterfly needed to be glittery so I coloured the blank spaces with my Sakura glitter pen and foam taped the circles over the ribbon and I was done. 

 Can you believe I made two cards in a row without any extra inking?  lol :)

 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge:  Black and white with accent colour 
2. Pretty Little Ribbon:  To die for 
3. Stampin' for the Weekend:  Sparkle and Shine 
4. Simon Says Stamp & Show: Anything Goes 
5. Craft Your Passion:  Die cuts and punches 
6. The Paper Shelter:  Wings and things 
7. Fussy and Fancy Friday: Punches and Dies 
8. Pile it On: Sparkle and Shine

 

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:   Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight 120# Pure white, Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye Meadowlark 6x6 Designer Paper Pad.

Stamps:  Gina K Designs Believe in Yourself.

Ink:  Color Box Fluid Chalk ink Lipstick Red, Versamark Watermark ink pad.

Embossing powder:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black.

Pen:  Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star

Ribbon:  Red and Black from my stash.

Adhesive:  Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive Runner, foam squares.

Dies:  Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Small and Large.

Tools:  Paper Trimmer, Cuttlebug, scissors, Stampin' Up! heat tool, embossing buddy.

A birthday up in the air.

While I haven't been posting lately, I have been crafting a bit and this will be the first of two posts tonight.

 

Yet another belated birthday card, hopefully the last one for a while.  I love this patterned paper from American Crafts, and since the person I was making the card for likes planes, I thought of a great way to use it.

I have a really cute Recollections stamp set from Michaels with no name made up of various vehicles.  I stamped the plane from the set in brown ink and used my Bic Mark Its to colour the image.  

Once I cut out the image I chose some cardstock to coordinate with the pattern and layered them together.  I adhered the plane with foam tape and decided to put the sentiment on a strip of leftover white cardstock.  I cut the right side with a 'v' and matted the white with some kraft.  I felt it looked bare so I added some mini brads along the edge, and adhered some buttons threaded with hemp twine.

To finish I used a Stampin' Up marker in the same colour as the ink to make a swirly dash line behind the plane to suggest the route the plane had taken.  I think this was a fun touch, and I really like how it turned out!

On the inside, I adhered some white cardstock with a strip of the cloud pattern.  Once I stamped the sentiment I stamped another plane and added more dash lines.  This card is definitely one of my favourites!  :)

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

1. Catered Crop:  The Get Krafty Recipe Swap
2. Everybody Art:  Card for a man.
3. The Paper Shelter:  Wings and Things

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Whisper White, Recollections kraft, American Crafts Hello Sunshine Dandy.

Stamps:  Recollections rubber stamp set, Stampin' Up! On Your Birthday, Bitty Birthday.

Ink:  Stampin' Up!  Chocolate Chip.

Markers:  Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Chocolate Chip, Bic Mark Its Oceanview Blue, Rambunctious Red, Cloud Nine Grey.

Adhesive:  Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive runner, foam squares, Glue Dots.

Embellishments:  Recollections mini brads, buttons and hemp twine from my stash.

Tools:  Paper trimmer, scissors, bone folder, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Happy New Home

I love stamping and card making magazines.  They are of course great for inspiration, and unlike other types of magazines they don't outlive their usefulness since you can look at them over and over and still get new ideas.  There are some magazines I prefer over others, but sometimes when looking for the ones I like I come across ones that I've not read before.  Sometimes if they come with something free I am more apt to pick it up and try it out.  That is what happened when I found Craft Stamper Magazine.  It comes with a free stamp, and with it I made the following card:

Since Craft Stamper is a UK magazine the most current issue they had was the March issue.  I was quite inspired by the examples they had for the stamp.  As a result I decided to make a 'Happy New Home' card.

Once I decided what to make I had a pretty clear idea of what to do.  I chose the patterned paper and cardstock I wanted to work with, and cut everything down the way I wanted.

My original plan was to stamp the castle I would colour in black and the remaining castles in gray, but after sponging the text pattern I realized the text was more of a brownish tone than a grayish tone so I decided to stamp the rest of the castle images in a light brown.  I like the contrast much better.

I coloured the main castle with red and gray markers, and added some glitter pen to the door and windows.

I adhered the background patterns together, added some ribbon with a good size bow, and foam taped the main image panel over the ribbon.  Once completed the whole thing was attached to the card base.

For the inside, I didn't have a 'new home' sentiment stamp so I decided to hand write the sentiment on a piece of cream cardstock.  I sponged the cardstock with more gray, and adhered it to the inside with other bits of patterned paper.

I like how this card turned out!


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
2. Pile it On - All about 's'

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Basic Gray, Very Vanilla.  Lily Bee Design Memorandum 6x6 Tiny Tablet.

Stamp:  Free stamp from March 2012 Craft Stamper Magazine by The Octopode Factory.

Ink:  Memories Black.  Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink Charcoal, Creamy Brown.

Markers/ Pens:  Bic Mark Its Rambunctious Red, Cloud Nine Gray.  Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star.  Black ink uni-ball pen.

Ribbon:  Gray satin ribbon from stash.

Adhesive:  Tombo Mono Permanent Adhesive Runner, foam squares.

Tools:  Paper Trimmer, scissors, bone folder.

More Belated Birthday Wishes

With the second birthday card I started with the background.

I used the waxed paper technique, which I have heard of but never seen demonstrated before until I saw the technique on a Stamp TV video.

I thought this technique looked really fun so I started with some white cardstock and went to work.  Once ironed with the waxed paper I was surprised at how smooth the cardstock still was.  I had expected it to have some texture to it, but it doesn't at all.

I chose some Colorbox chalk inks that I thought would work well together - two shades of brown and one of pink.  I didn't add all of the inks directly to the paper like in the video.  Instead I added the light brown direct to paper, then added the dark brown and pink with a Ranger blending tool. I found this a bit easier since the chalk ink pads are so juicy, with the blending tool I could add the ink where I wanted it more easily. I love these inks because they are so colourful and soft looking at the same time. I think the background almost looks like old plaster. Here is a close up:

Once the background was done it was time to choose stamps and coordinating patterned paper.  I had the Graphic 45 stamp picked out, and as I was searching through my patterned paper stash I came across this sheet with postmarks all over it from Fancy Pants Designs.  I thought the colours and pattern would be perfect.

I stamped the image in the darker brown on white cardstock, and sponged the edges with both shades of brown. Once the image and background were mounted on black, I mounted the image on a larger square of the pattern which had also been sponged with the darker brown.  I added some Prima ribbon and twine to the background panel, then foam taped the image over the ribbon.  The whole panel was adhered to a base of kraft and the card front was complete.  I considered adding glitter or gems, but in the end I decided there was so much ink and sponging that it wasn't necessary.

I finished the inside with a panel of white sponged with the same two shades of brown, and a couple of scraps from the other papers.

The sentiment actually consists of two stamps.  The little "(a little late!)" stamp certainly comes in handy, and it is small enough to add to cards that are already finished if I ever need to.

I really love how the entire card turned out.  I will definitely use the waxed paper technique again. :)

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

1. Deep Ocean - Use More Than One Stamp
2. Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
3. Pile it On - All About 's'

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black.  Recollections Kraft.  Fancy Pants Designs Its the Little Things 6x6 Paper Pad.  Waxed paper - grocery store brand.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! On Your Birthday, Bitty Birthday.  Hampton Art Graphic 45 Paris Postage.

Ink:  Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink Chestnut Roan, Creamy Brown, Rouge.

Ribbon:  Prima Ribbon, hemp twine from stash.

Adhesive:  Tombow Mono Adhesive Runner Permanent, Foam Squares

Tools:  Paper trimmer, scissors, household iron, Ranger Non-stick Craft Sheet, Ranger Inksentials Blending Tool, foam applicators, sponge, bone folder.

Spring Birthday Greetings (a little late)

My husband were talking the other day and we realized we had just missed a whole bunch of family birthdays.  March is a big month in our family for birthdays, and as you may have noticed we are more than a week into April.  Whoops!  You'd think as the resident card maker I'd be better at keeping track of these things but unfortunately I'm not.  Well, its not too late!  This is when I get to use my 'belated' birthday stamps - which unfortunately get more use then I would like to admit, lol.

When trying to decide what I wanted to do I realized that purple is my favourite colour but I rarely use it as a base colour when making cards. For this reason I chose the base colour first - Rich Razzleberry from Stampin' Up!, then searched through my stash for patterned paper to coordinate. I thought Lily Bee Design's Head over Heels collection worked the best, and since I couldn't decide which sheets to use I thought I would use little bits of a bunch of them.

I started by using some scraps I already had, then cut more randomly sized strips.  I tore the ends of each, then adhered them to a piece of kraft cardstock matted on cream.  I took care not to adhere the ends, so once they were attached I could manipulate the ends of the scraps, tearing and curling until they were how I wanted.

I didn't size the strips lengthwise before adhering, instead once they were glued down I flipped the card front over and trimmed the ends to ensure the line at the top was even.  I added some ribbon and some twine, and adhered the sentiment over the strands with foam squares.  I couldn't resist inking the edges of the sentiment to make it stand out.

On the inside I cut a panel of cream, stamped a belated birthday message, inked the edges, and added two more strips.  Since I stamped the message in the corner there is still lots of room to write.

This card was really easy and quick.  The bright spring-y colours make for a cheerful card, and I love how the patterned strips kind of look like peeling wallpaper.  This card is really fun and demonstrates a good way to use up leftover scraps, and a good way to avoid making decisions!


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. The Pink Elephant - Clean and Simple
2. Craft Your Passion - Dots and Stripes, either or both
3. Ladybug Crafts Ink - Spots an Stripes
4. Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
5. Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Spring
6. Allsorts - Colour Bingo - Ribbon, Stripes, Purple
7. Pile It on - All About 's'

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla.  Recollections Kraft.  Lily Bee Design Head over Heels 6x6 Tiny Tablet.

Ink:  Memories Black.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up!  On your Birthday

Ribbon:  Hemp twine and purple satin ribbon from stash.

Adhesive:  Snake Tape Viper

Tools:  Paper trimmer, scissors, bone folder.

Sentimental Birds on a Wire

If you looked out my window you would never know that it was Easter Sunday.  We had a snow storm last night and its still snowing!  It is supposed to turn to rain later today which means the roads aren't going to be great so I think we will leave our travels until tomorrow.  In the meantime here is another card:

I love little black birds and I have been wanting these stamps from the Sweet Stamp Shop for a while, and then Scrapbook steals included it in one of their daily 'steals' a few weeks ago.  I took advantage of the offer, and even after shipping I got a pretty good deal I think!

I wanted to so something fairly quick just to try these stamps out, and I hadn't done one of these water colour backgrounds in a while, so I thought I would try to make one that looked like a spring sunset.  I was a bit out of practice so it didn't turn out exactly as I had expected, but that is part of the fun!

I started with my Ranger craft sheet and coloured various shades of Stampin' Write markers, then spritzed it with water.  I then placed a piece of white cardstock on top and rubbed it into the ink.  I don't think I added enough water because it was a bit more streaky than I expected.  For this reason after it dried a bit I added a bit more ink to my craft sheet, just pale blue this time, with a lot more water.  The extra blue filled in some white spots and the extra water added a bit of splotchyness which I like. 

Once the background was dry (I helped it along with my heat tool) I stamped the birds in black and added the sentiment, then highlighted the love birds and sentiment with glitter pen.  After some ink around the edges, some matting of kraft cardstock, and some baker's twine I adhered the front of the card to my black card base.

I stamped the inside with one of the bird stamps, and added a sentiment at the top of the white panel leaving a large space for a note.  I really like how the sentiment is not even so it looks like an old typewriter.

This card was really quick to make, and the background is fun because you never know what you'll end up with.


I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

1. Deep Ocean - Use More Than One Stamp
2. Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
3. Lets Ink It Up - Distressing
4. Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Spring
5. Creative Card Crew - Spring
6. Pile it on - All about 's' 

I used the following supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Whisper White.  Recollections Kraft

Stamps:  Sweet Stamp Shop Sentimental Birds.

Ink: Memories Black.

Markers:  Stampin' Up!  Stampin' Write markers Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue.  Sakura Gelly roll Clear Star.

Baker's Twine:  Sew Easy Fancy Floss Baker's Twine Lemonade, Lollipop, Lilac

Adhesive:  Snake Tape Garter, Viper.  Scotch Quick Dry.

Tools:  Paper Trimmer, Sponge, Ranger Non-stick Craft Mat, Water Spritzer, Stampin' Up! heat tool.

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I've had an enjoyable weekend so far, and an extra long one since I had Good Friday off of work, and the way my days off fell this week I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. I have been taking advantage of my time off and as a result I have made five cards so far with plans to make more. To make things easier I will post each one separately, and since it is Easter Sunday (if only the early hours) here is a new Easter card I made:

My Cuttlebug got a good work out with this one!  I have been hoarding a bunch of Cottage Cutz dies I got from Scrapbook Steals around Christmas time, and I came across the picket fence die a few days ago when i was looking for something else.  I immediately had this idea, and I am impressed at how it worked out.

The card was pretty easy, although time consuming.  I die cut all of the components except the bunny that I cut by hand, and the clouds that I cut freehand.

To give the clouds interest I cut a white sheet of patterned paper into cloud shapes slightly bigger than the plain white ones and distressed the edges with a distressing tool to make the clouds look a bit fluffy.

The sun was cut with two different dies, the middle was a regular circle die, and the rays of the sun come from a star die.  I cut two of the stars and then cut them apart so that the points of the star could be glued to the circle to make it look like a sun.  I added some glitter pen to make the sun shimmer, and once the bunny was shaded and his eggs coloured I added some glitter pen to him too. You know I couldn't resist!

I used a leftover strip of kraft for the sidewalk and used a gray Copic and a blender pen to make lines on the sidewalk.  Once that was done and I figured out where to put everything I glued it all into place.  Since I didn't ink anything (can you believe it?) assembly went pretty quickly, and I kept the inside pretty simple.

I love my Cuttlebug, this card was so much fun.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Creative Card Crew - Spring
2. Crafty Cardmakers - Easter
3. Twisted Tuesday Challenges - Add Clouds Not Stamped
4. Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
5. Everybody Art - Easter
6. Lets Ink it Up - Distressing
7. Basic Gray - Easter
8. Allsorts - Colour Bingo (Pink, Yellow, Blue)
9. Simon Says Stamp - Use Your Favourite Tool
10. Colour Throwdown - Tempting Turquoise, Dusty Durango, Pear Pizazz, Pumpkin Pie
11. The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes with Easter in Mind

The following supplies were used to make this card:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Sahara Sand, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Old Olive, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie.  Basic Grey Basics White 6x6 paper pad.

Stamps:  Craft Smart stamp from Micheals.

Ink: Memories Black.

Markers:  Bic Mark Its Tuxedo Black, Yellow Blaze, Pink Flamingo, Polynesian Purple.  Copic W3 Warm Grey.  Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star.  Prismacolor Colorless Blender.

Adhesive:  Snake Tape Anaconda, Viper, Scotch Quick Dry, foam squares.

Dies:  Cottage Cutz Grass Border, Picket Fence Mini, Simple Tree Mini.  Quickutz Star Icon. Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large.

Tools:  Cuttlebug, paper trimmer, scissors, Tonic Studios Tim Holtz paper distresser.

So many ideas, so little time!

For the last bit I have been trying to post at least once or twice a weekend since I work all week.  Unfortunately I ended up with a one day weekend this week and between that and housework and family I don't think I'm going to get to make cards this week, which is a shame since I have sooo many ideas!  Oh well, maybe I'll have to make some time during the week...