Today, it's Donelda's turn to pick a card from the March/April issue of Paper Crafts magazine. How fun that she picked her first card from the same page as I did! She chose this fun card from designer Courtney Kelley:
Ahhh. Look at all that awesome white space. I also like the off-centre layout. Here's what I ended up with:
I am ridiculously pleased with how this turned out. I like the cool blue tones, and how I was finally able to use a couple of the many (MANY) punched butterflies I've made from various catalogues and magazines. The beautiful epoxy faux-brad was made by my talented friend Angela. Now, that being said, if I was doing the card over again, I would nudge that top butterfly over to the right a bit, and the brad to the left a little, but I'll accept it as is. ☺ This card is going into the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.
I can't wait to see what direction Donelda took with today's inspiration!
Supplies: white caedstock, Unity Giving It All Meaning & Memory Box happy birthday stamps, tumbled glass & broken china distress inks, clear embossing powder, Martha Stewart scoring board & butterfly punches, Stampin' Up scallop border punch, epoxy brad
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Last November and December, my creative friend Donelda and I got together (virtually, of course; we live a few provinces apart) and challenged each other to CASE some of the amazing cards you can always find in Paper Crafts magazine. We've decided to play again! This time we're using the March/April issue that came out recently. Here's my first choice:
This CAS (clean and simple) beauty was created by Angeline Yong Jeet Leen. I picked it both because of the layout and also for the colours. Then I ultimately ignored most of the colours and ended up with this:
I actually stamped and watercoloured this amazing flower image for a different card, but when it didn't work out, realized it would work for this layout. I used the same stamp with Versamark ink to create the patterned panel. Both the flower stamp and the sentiment are from a clear stamp set I was lucky enough to win on the Simon Says Stamp blog! Speaking of, since they are accommodating enough to have an Anything Goes challenge this week, I'll enter this card. I'm also entering it in Lily Pad Cards' flower challenge.
Don't forget to pop over to Donelda's blog, Wiggy's World, to see what her take on today's card is. Tomorrow we'll be back with her pick!
Supplies: white & Stampin' Up old olive cardstock, Hero Arts/Basic Grey stamps, Versafine onyx black, Versamark, Stampin' Up old olive, faded lipstick & peeled paint distress inks, clear embossing powder, dimensionals
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This week at Crafty Creations Challenges, it's Game On! Any style of game qualifies, whether it's sports or board games or whatever your definition. (Ooh, Hunger Games maybe!) For some reason, even though I'm not a big sports person myself (give me a book any day), I wanted my project to be sports-related.
Fortunately, I have these great Snoopy images! I have Hello Kitty sports stamps, too, and... that's about it. I'd also picked up a Studio G sports-related set at Michaels once, and that provided the sentiment. I used a classic inchie-stamp layout.
My teammate Jaime is offering a great prize from Close to My Heart this week, so you'll want to get YOUR game on and link up!
Supplies: white, blue, yellow, purple & black cardstock, PSA Essentials Peanuts Sports Stars & Studio G stamps, Memories black & Versafine onyx black inks, clear embossing powder, Cuttlebug scalloped square die
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Although I do believe I have rediscovered my creativity from where it was hiding in the corner, I thought I would share a few cards made by the other cardmaker in the family, my ten-year-old granddaughter.
This was for her "other" grandfather's birthday. :P Originally she thought she wanted to do a beach scene, but when she spotted this cute deer image (thanks, Ang!) she decided on a woodland scene, instead. One of her favourite techniques is multicoloured stamp inking, which she did for the bird on the tree. (We would have put some red liquid pearls on the berries, but they wouldn't have had time to dry before she needed to give the card.) She cut out the deer and the cloud herself!
This was a "could we make a card just for fun, Grandma?" card. She wanted to try my Cuttlebug, thought this embossing folder looked like bubble wrap, and that the cat face had the perfect cat-on-bubble-wrap expression.
And this is a card for her mother's birthday this weekend. My girl is also very good at discovering stamp sets I've yet to ink up myself, this one a Christmas gift from Meg. If you look closely, you can see where she discovered that cardstock can scorch when you're embossing if you're not careful! It's also been suggested I need heart-shaped die-cuts. :P
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... of Mother Goose! (That's the librarian in me showing.) This week we are looking for Mother Goose-themed projects at Crafty Creations Challenges. Meljen's Designs, our sponsor this week, supplied some delightful images for the design team. Here's what I came up with:
I thought this was perfect to use for a new baby card. I printed the entire image on dark blue cardstock, then paper-pieced the cow and moon. I went over the swirls with white gel pen to show up against the dark background. This image is called "Over the Moon" and seemed like the perfect congratulatory sentiment. And yes, I DO have a star stamp that small! It added that extra something that was needed to finish the card.
Join us at Crafty Creations Challenges for your chance to win four images from Meljen's Designs!
Supplies: white, blue & yellow cardstock, Recollections blue and yellow gingham patterned paper, Meljen's Designs Over the Moon digital image, Digi Doodle Shop frame 3 digital image, Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies star stamp, Colorbox frost white ink, white gel pen
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Nothing wrong with playing with Flashback Fridays on a Sunday, I'm sure! My stamping buddy Jen is providing the challenge inspiration this week, and it's a fun one: revisit your first paper-piecing project. Mine is from my fourth-ever blog post:
And you know, other than maybe stamping the mittens in blue instead of black, I'd happily make this card now. ☺My original post is here with all the details.
Thanks, Jen, for a fun look back!
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This week, the challenge at Crafty Creations Challenges is to incorporate stripes into your project. This worked nicely with an idea that was already percolating in my brain, and when I discovered the new challenge blog Retro Sketches, it all came together into this:
I'll be needing one of those significant-number birthday cards soon, and this stamp has lately become my go-to image for that purpose. I've been seeing lots of blog posts around the interwebs about making your own washi tape, and decided I wanted some Union Jack tape to go on the card. I found the perfect image to use on a teacher website (you really can't ever get rid of the teacher gene), printed it on tissue paper, and applied it to some ordinary double-sided tape. Here's a pearl of wisdom based on my experience... when I first made it a couple of weeks ago, the tape easily lifted off the wax paper I put it on. When I went to use it, not so much. I peeled it off the best I could then added some new adhesive.
Here's a little close-up of the shiny embossing on the image:
I'm always amazed at the crispness of the lettering on this stamp! The (real) stamp peeking out from behind was a little goody sent to me by my friend Angela. It makes me think I might have to investigate my dad's and grandfather's stamp collections!
Remember to link up your card or other project with stripes at Crafty Creations Challenges this week! While you're at it, check out the new Retro Sketches challenge blog, too!
Supplies: white & blue cardstock, Market Street Stamps Sip On stamp, Memories passion red ink, Ranger rich red embossing powder, homemade Union Jack washi tape, postage stamp, Icicle Stickles, pop-dot tape
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I am a tea drinker. Which is funny, because I spent the first couple of decades of my life as a coffee-lover. My dad would share his coffee with me from my toddler-hood, and by high school, I was a confirmed java-fiend. (Completely debunks the whole coffee stunts your growth myth, by the way.) But nowadays, apart from the odd Starbucks coffee-based beverage, it's all tea, all the time.
Emily, knowing this, gave me a perfect stamp set for Christmas. To thank her, I sent her a card made with it:
When I was designing this card in my mind (you know, in the middle of the night, half-asleep?), I was picturing paper-piecing the teapot and cup. Well, no, not if they're solid stamps. So instead, I "kissed" them with my Hero Arts envelope background. I was really pleased that the white ink worked over the darker blue; I wasn't sure it would. And, it just so happens that Lily Pad Cards is currently running a Kissing Challenge, so of course I'm going to link up to it. And I can never resist a Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge!
Supplies: white cardstock, Papertrey Ink (I think) patterned paper, Lawn Fawn My Cup of Tea stamps, Hero Arts envelope pattern stamp, VersaMagic Aegean blue, Colorbox frost white, Memento London fog & Versafine onyx black inks, clear embossing powder, white floss, pop-dot tape
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