Happy Birthday, Mom

It has been a while since I made a card … I did not even get Christmas cards out this year. But, my mother-in-law’s birthday was last month and she always deserves a homemade card, so I got to work.

I started by coating a plain sheet of white cardstock (cut to size) with Distress Ink. I sprinkled a bit of water, dried it and reapplied some ink. I repeated the process a few times until I got this result.

I then added a bit of ink with a stencil from Sweet Stamps (a Michigan Company).

Using Archival Ink, I stamped the image from Local King Rubber Stamp.

Then, I used another stencil (this one from Dylusions) to add a bit of Transparent Gloss Texture Paste. It will drive crystal clear, but add thick, shiny hexagons. You can see them in the photo below.

Then, I adhered it to a white card base and it was done … I love it — bright and filled with fun, inky techniques.

 

A Plaid Tree

I’m on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog today with directions on how to make glitter plaid!! Check it out, here.

Simply Elegant

I saw a card recently that was a tree cut out of white cardstock, on a white cardstock base. A few of the leaves were colored in traditional fall colors, but the rest of the card was white. I absolutely loved it.

So, when I got the new Frosted Film in from Tim Holtz, I thought I would make my own white-on-white card with just a hint of red.

You can get the directions on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog today.

Embossing the Possibilities

This month’s challenge on Scrap It Girl is to use embossing folders … or, if you don’t have any, pre-embossed paper.

I wanted to show off a couple of techniques, so I made a card.

I started with Shimmer Sheetz in blue, red and silver.

For the background, I embossed blue Shimmer Sheetz with the Bouquet embossing folder from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Then, I sanded the top, which made parts of it clear. I mounted this to a white cardstock base.

Next, I cut flowers out of both silver and red Shimmer Sheetz using dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs and a metal adaptor plate.

I used the dotted folder (also from ECD) to emboss the silver flower. Then, I swiped a StazOn ink pad over the top to color the raised dots.

I added a little ribbon, and the card is done … simple, but detailed!

Now it is your turn. Create a project with embossing folders and share your link at Scrap It Girl. You could win some fabulous prizes!

Do you want to build a snowman?

This card was inspired by the song from “Frozen.” It features one of the brand new die sets from Elizabeth Craft Designs … click here to see how I made it.

 

Sprinkle a Little Fairy Dust

Today, I wanted to share this adorable card I made. I used Flower Fairy stamps that I finally found — although I have been looking for them for over a year. I must admit I was a little disappointed in the stamps. While they are adorable, the packaging shows much more detail in the faces. I believe that you should get what you see, especially since the paper wraps all the way around the stamps, so you cannot look at them at all.

But, once I got over that disappointment, I did have fun coloring the images in with Copic markers. I then used a bit of Distress Ink to soften the white paper, added some background papers, a few other stamps from the set and some Piccolo pieces from Globecraft Memories. I also added a bit of their glitter, which is completely different from other glitters I have seen. The pieces vary in size and are round, rather than square. The sparkle is really unique.

I hope you enjoy a little fairy dust of your own!

Flower Cards

I love nature and find myself taking a plethora of pictures of flowers, clouds, leaves and trees. Close-up flowers are my greatest weakness. I can take dozens of photos every day in my yard alone. I cannot help myself — when I really look into the center of the flower, enlarged through the photo, I see amazingly captivating beauty. And, then the photo taking continues.

The only problem is that I end up with hundreds of photos of nature that I do not know what to do with. I have scrapped some of them and put others in a photo album, but that seems like such a waste to me.

So, I decided it was time to try to work them into a card. Here is my first attempt:

Hop on over to the Hobby Baby blog to read the directions on how to make it AND to get a coupon for 25% off your order from Globecraft Memories!

It’s a Medallion

I love the medallion stamps by Holly Berry House and I own quite a few of them.

So, when I stumbled across the Color Me Creative Copic Challenge, which required using aqua, red and white/cream, I knew a Holly Berry House stamp would be perfect.

I started by stamping four images with Momenta Ink. Then, I colored the images using BG000, BG02, BG05, R02, R05, R08 and R46.

While I only colored the parts that would be visible in each layer, I colored the underneath portion with a matching color so that I wouldn’t see the white paper underneath.

Then, I cut out each layer and inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I then attached the layers together with dimensional foam adhesive.

Next, I applied white Liquid Pearls by Ranger, Art Glitter’s Vintage Glass Glitter and Art Glitter Microfine Glitter to dress it up a bit.

Finally, I attached the medallion with additional foam adhesive on a red 5.25 x 5.25 card.

What do you think?

Flying American

When this new stamp by Impression Obsession, Inc. came into the scrapbook store, I had to have it.

Not only is it a hot-air balloon, but it also has an American flag and an anchor, both of which remind me of my son who is serving in the U.S. Navy in Guam.

Capitalizing on the patriotic nature of the stamp, I created this card for Scrap Tales.

You can find step-by-step directions on Scrap Tales blog, here, but if you just need to know who made the products, the cardstock is American Crafts, the hot-air balloon stamp is from Impression Obsession, Inc., the saying from Hero Arts, the background is made using a Texture Fade by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and I colored it with Distress Ink, and the stamped images are colored in with Copic markers.

In love with Copic

I knew once I tried Copic markers, I would have to have them.
So, for more than a year, I ignored my friends whenever they offered to let me use their markers. I told myself I didn’t need another product that was the latest trend, nor did I need one that worked best on special paper.
And then I kept looking at all of those beautiful stamped images colored in with Copic markers and I decided maybe it was OK just to look.
Well, there are some products you cannot just look at without knowing deep down inside that you must have them.
It happened to me when the store was having too good of a sale to pass up and I decided to indulge.
It took me several months to build up a collection that I could work with, but I have yet to regret my decision. In fact, I have purchased more stamps that I never would have bought before Copic to go with my markers.
At first, I spent time coloring to relax. Then, I started making a few projects, like the Riley card above, using a rubber stamp, a die by Dies Direct and Copic markers.
Granted, I am not as good as the person who taught me, but I am impressed with my personal results. I have tried several different types of markers, colored pencils, paint, watercolor pencils, chalk pencils and chalk to attempt to color in stamped images of the years and never had the success I have with Copic. In fact, my lack of skills caused me to stop stamping most images years ago.
My latest satisfaction came when making this card …

The flower that goes across the middle of the card was made with a Bo Bunny stamp. I used Copic markers to match the colors in the paper.
The coolest thing is I don’t own any of those bright colors. I simply lightly layered my Copic colors until I came up with colors that matched perfectly.
Then, because all things should sparkle, I added some Stickles to the top.