Allover Die Cut Card

This is the first card I made with my new Hero Arts all over die cut.  It is so beautiful.  I have been trying to use it in different ways.  I did not realize that I had not posted the first card.

I used some bright patterned paper that I had to put behind the white die cut.  The green flowers were fussy cut from another piece of paper.  The Penny Black sentiment was stamped and embossed in white.  Several pearls were scattered across the card.

The card has already been mailed.  I hope they like it.

Christmas in February

I am trying to make Christmas cards throughout the year so I have enough in December to mail out to everyone.  I have even decided to do some multiples of cards.  This is a card that will have 6 made just like it.

I like to buy gift tags at the end of the holiday season  to use on cards.  I have many that have not been used yet but this particular gift tag was just bought this year at Tuesday Morning.  I believe there were 12 in the packet so I will get my money's worth out of my 99 cent investment.

The paper is from a new American Crafts 6 x 6 I bought when I was in South Carolina.  I only bought three 6 x 6 pads while I was there.  It was my first time in AC Moore and they had quite a few but I only got one there.  The two Christmas ones were bought at a scrapbook store in Seneca, South Carolina.

I am playing along with the challenge at Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.  The challenge is to use Santa on a card.

Isn't he the sweetest looking Santa?  The cord I used on the card is the cord for the gift tag.  It matched perfectly so use it.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  The card is also fairly flat so should only cost me the extra for being nonmachinable.  I have 5 more cards to make just like one.  I also have all the insides ready.  I am going to be "somewhat" prepared for sending my Christmas cards in December.  Maybe I will even get them addressed in November.  Wouldn't that be a novel idea.

Have a wonderful day.  I am recovering from my vacation in South Carolina.  I am having lunch with a friend today.  I am looking forward to that.

Thursday - Another Christmas Card

My challenge to myself this week is a Christmas card each day.  I am doing pretty good so far.  I am combining three challenges for this card.

The first challenge is the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.  I believe you can see the sketch in my design.

The second challenge is at Time Out Challenges where the challenge is to make a Christmas card with the added twist of purple or pink.  I love to make non traditional color Christmas cards and I just happened to have this purple background already made.

The third challenge is Shopping your Stash.  Their challenge is to go paperless which means no patterned paper.  Just about everything I make has patterned paper - many layers of patterned paper on it.

The background paper is watercolor using a purple distress ink.  It may be the new color but since the paper had already been made for awhile, I don't know for sure.  The stamp set I used is from Hero Arts.  Everything is embossed in silver with white splatters on top.  I had never used the set before but I really like it.  The brush trees are beautiful embossed in white and silver.

I really like how the card turned out.  Love the tree.  Enjoy the remainder of your day.

Hi - Merry Christmas

I am joining the challenge on Merry Monday  -  a weekly Christmas card challenge - I am joining a little late into the year but hopefully will have a few more made when it comes to mail my holiday cards.

Their challenge is to focus on the sentiment.

I used three different sentiments on my card front.  The top one is a $1 stamp from somewhere.  The Merry Christmas is from Paper Smooches and the bottom sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set.  They were embossed with white embossing powder.  The top sentiment is matted in red and pop dotted.  The snowflakes are from an old Quickutz die.  They worked perfectly for this card.  I splattered some white paint on the card front, tied a red twine bow and added some red enamel dots.  I really like how the white pops on this wood look paper.

Thanks for the challenge.

Season's Greeting Santa

I am trying to make a few Christmas Cards.  I don't have many done and I know I will need them in December.  If I was really smart, as I finished a card, I should sign it, place it in an addressed envelope - it would be all ready to go.  Unfortunately, I am not that smart.  I also do not like to do duplicates/multiples of cards.  This would make it so much easier if I would do that - but the fun for me in card making, is the creative process.

I am combining two challenges for this card.  The first challenge is a weekly Christmas card challenge (so you are not rushed at the end).  Jingle Bells has a tic tac toe challenge.  I chose to do the diagonal:  Santa, Die Cuts, Gold.  The Santa is a piece of chipboard.  The Die Cut is the Green edging alongside the plaid paper.  The gold is in the embossed sentiment and gold enamel beads.

The second challenge is a monthly challenge from House of Cards.  The challenge for September is to use stitching.  It can be fake or it can be real.  I chose to dig out my sewing machine and do some contrast stitching on several layers of my card.  The main creamish colored layer is stitched all around the edge of the mat.  I stitched the plaid strip also.

The creamish mat of my card is cardstock with a dictionary page adhered to it with gel medium.  A layer of gesso was added on top.  I then dabbed on a creamish color of acrylic paint to just give it more depth of color (of course not much show so why did I go to all this work).  The chipboard was distressed with Brushed Corduroy distress ink to give it an aged look.  The sentiment was gold embossed.  The bow is made from strips of forn muslin that was tea died.  I think this adds a more rustic/antique look to a card especially since the papers and the Santa have an old fashioned flare to them.  As I mentioned above, I stitched some of the layers.  The sentiment is pop dotted for some height.  A couple gold enamel beads were added for a little contrast.  The card is about 6.5 inches by 4.5 inches.

The paper and chipboard are My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set (I think).  

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoyed my Christmas card.  One done - too many more to go.  

Have a Plan

The challenge on the Monday challenge blog for Simon Says Stamp is to "have a plan."

My plan for now is to start sending encouragement cards to people who are struggling.  This last week I sent one to a sister in law of one of my Ya Ya's who is slowly loosing her battle with cancer.  I have know Diane for many years because her children went to the same schools my girls did and they were all in the same 4H.  Another card went to a fellow card maker friend who is finally returning home have a long tour in the hospital.

This card I am sharing is for the next time I need to send a word of encouragement.

I kinda lifted this design from a card I saw a long time ago somewhere.  I know my fox is not the same one on the card I saw.  I did some coloring with gelatos to complete the card.

The fox is from Stampendous and the Hello is from Hero Arts.

Maybe with retirement I will be able to do this more often.  I hope so.  I always hope my cards make people smile when they receive them.

Non Traditional Christmas in August

In a private facebook group of cardmakers, the challenge was to make something with pink and purple.  I knew I had two of Tim Holtz's crazy birds colored with pink.  I did not know it would lead me down the road to a Christmas card.  It was not going to be a Christmas card but once I stamped the branch on the card front to ground the bird, it became and Christmas card.  Probably because it is a stamp from a very old Hero Arts set.

This is a square card approximately 4.25 inches.  The base is mixed media paper.  I scribbled a purple gelato on the front and used a baby wipe to blend it.  I placed a stencil over the top and rubbed out some of the color because I thought it was too dark.  You can see the faint circle in the background.  This did not lighten it enough for me so I watered down some gesso and swiped it across the front.  I finally got a soft lavender for my color.  (I know it looks darker in the picture - let's say I am not a good photographer.)  The bird was stamped on gessoed dictionary pages and colored with distress paints.  It was fussy cut.  I adhered the bird to the card front with glue and he was floating so the branch was added.  Now he is grounded.  I clear embossed both the sentiment and the branch.  I splattered watered down gesso across the front of the card.  White string was colored and tied around the top of the card.  The front is mounted with foam tape.  I even finished the inside of the card so it is ready to be mailed.

I am entering this card in two different challenges.

The Paper Players challenge is Hip To be Square.  The card is square.

The other challenge is Merry Monday Christmas where the challenge is to use pastels.

Thanks for stopping by.  I did enjoy the journey my crazy pink bird took me on yesterday thanks to Cora's color challenge.  Come back tomorrow to see my snarky, texty card.

Floral Thank You Take Two

Another floral thank you note.  The background is painted with acrylic paints on mixed media paper.  The floral stamp from Hero Arts was stamped in VersaMark and Hero Arts embossing powder was used.  The Thank You Sticker is from SRM Stickers.  The bow is from fabric.

Floral Thank You

The background was mixed media paper painted with acrylic paint.  The floral stamp from Hero Arts was stamped in Versa Mark and Hero Arts embossing powder was used.  The Thank You Sticker is from SRM Stickers.  The bow is from fabric.

More thank you notes for co workers.

Summertime

What says summer better than the colors of Yellow and Green.  Yellow represents the sunshine and Green represents the grass (that keeps growing and needing to be mowed) and birds - birds who wake up singing at the crack of dawn.  They are so happy.

I combined several challenges for this card.

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Summer

Simon Says Stamp  Monday Challenge - Summer

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - We're Going Dotty  

The background was made with a yellow gelato and Green Grass distress ink.  I scribbled the gelato on my sheet and added water.  I dipped the watercolor paper in it.  The distress ink was done the same way.  You needed to let them dry between dippings.  I believe I came back and redipped the yellow so it was a little brighter.  The cute little birdie was stamped on gessoed book pages and colored with distress paints.  He was cut out and glued to the panel.  Googly eyes were added with glossy accents.  The ribbon was dyed with the distress inks also.  The dots are embossing paste - the dots add just a little contrast to the green/yellow back ground.  Everything was matted with dark grey cardstock.  

I hope you are enjoying your summer.  Thanks for stopping by.  

It's Going to be a Boy

A baby shower today and the new arrival will be a boy when he greets the world in August.  I bought an entire 12 X 12 pad of paper and used one sheet of the patterned paper.  That is a very expensive piece of paper.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hero Arts Thank You

I have been wanting to try the smooshed ink background.  I have not gotten to wonderful of results but I decided to use them anyway.  I used a Hero Arts stamp set on this card.  It is a two step stamp.  I added the die cut in the corner with a new Tim Holtz die.

I was trying to case a card a friend made.  Hers was so much better.

Mixed Media Mojo June Challenge

How did it get to be June 1 already?  May was a super busy month for me if you will notice I had very few posts on my blog.  I did do something creative which I will share this week.  I just have not had the time to post.

But June 1 means it is time for a new challenge on the Mixed Media Mojo challenge blog.

Summer can mean many things.  For me, it means flowers.  I love to watch the different flowers bloom throughout the summer.  A tealish color is one of my favorite colors in all shades so I chose to do my project in that monochromatic color scheme.

I bought two bottles of acrylic paint - a light shade and a dark shade.  I had a embossing enamel called sea glass and the teal pleated canvas trim which is along the bottom.

The tag is a Paper Smooches die.  The tag is made from painted book page.  I stamped over the tag with a background stamp with a Hero Arts teal colored ink.  The sentiment is from Dina Wakely.  I thought it was very appropriate for the new path I am taking in my life in July - retirement.

The flowers are a combination of purchased flowers and handmade flowers.  Starting on the upper right side the two little flowers were white felt which I painted.  The large flower was a book page that was painted front and back and I cut out a flower with my Silhouette and layered it together.  The polka dot flower was also cut with the Silhouette from patterned paper.  The next light teal flower was also cut with the Silhouette.  The last three flowers were in my flower stash and I just added acrylic paint to make them coordinate.

The lace trim with the polka dot paper woven through was actually cream colored.  I put the lace in a watered down acrylic paint and let it dry.

The canvas board was painted with gesso and then acrylic paint.  The floral background is a Hero Arts background stamp.  I inked it with VersaMark and used Sea Glass Enamel powder from the Rubber Cafe.  Unfortunately it did not stamp all the way across but it is amazing what the tag and flowers can cover.

The upper left corner seemed off balance so I used some scalloped die cuts.  Inked them with VersaMark and used the Sea Glass enamel on them.

I then started layering.  The tag does have a double layer of foam tape on the back so it pops up a little higher.  Luckily I had those sparkly dots in my supplies which matched perfectly and were used for flower centers and on the tag.

I really love how the canvas turned out.  I now want more of that enamel in different colors.

Come join us at Mixed Media Mojo this month and create a summer mixed media project.

Mixed Media Mojo Monthly Challenge

The monthly challenge at Mixed Media Mojo is to choose lines from a tic tac board.  The twist is to use every square on the board.  Here is your tic tac board to inspire your creativity.

I chose the middle line:  Gesso, Stencil and Chipboard.  I am behind in my birthday cards so I decided to make a birthday card.

I took a piece of mixed media paper and colored it with a light pink Gelatos.  I then used my clear Gesso (yes there is clear Gesso) and put a layer over my pink color.  I wanted the pink color to be sealed.  I took a stencil and used a watercolor pencil.  I outlines the octagon shapes and colored them in with the watercolor pencil.  I took my water brush and blended the colors.  I added lighter color in other openings.  A second stencil was used to add the silver chevron stripe with silver embossing paste from Faber Castell.

The chipboard is from Basic Grey.  I first colored the chipboard with distress paint.  After it was dry, I inked it up with VersaMark and used a new product called Enamels from The Rubber Cafe.  The color is Sea Glass.  (of course, now I wish I had bought several more colors).  I punched the butterfly and colored it with silver embossing powder.  It is so pretty.  The sentiment was stamped on vellum with the same enamel.  The chipboard was glued to the front of the card with Glossy Accents.  I also used Glossy Accents to adhere the butterfly.

I wasn't quite happy with the color on the card front so on the one side I took my watercolor pencil and added the deeper pink into the openings of the chevron.  I was much happier with the front then.

To finish the card, I matted it in dark gray cardstock.  Wrapped the sentiment around the card front.  Added some silver cord above the sentiment.  The front panel was popped up on the card front.  I then took some enamel dots which are silver glitter (from a Halloween collection) and scattered them around the card front.

I hope you will join us at Mixed Media Mojo this month and play with our tic tac board.

I am also entering this card into the weekly Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Oldie Moldie Monday

Monday - time to show some love to your old supplies.  An old monkey stamp from Stampendous.  The paper isn't too old.  Glossy accents were added to the bubbles which had a little glitter on them

This card is going to a young boy with a very tragic story.  Hopefully it will cheer him up a little.

Remember to show your love for your old supplies - they still make great cards.

Recycled Art

This month on Mixed Media Mojo the monthly challenge is to use recycled items.

The recycled/upcycled items in this ATC are the card stock from programs for commencement.  I have sprayed the white card stock with pink and blue sprays.  I have also recycled a tag from a piece of clothing I purchased.

I matted the pink card stock with black.  I stamped the circles and dots on the pink card stock.  I inked the stamp with VersaMark and VersaFine black ink.  I then clear embossed the stamped images.  They shine and have a little texture.  I painted them with yellow distress paint to pick up the color in the flower I am going to use.

I covered the outside and the inside of the recycled tag with the blue card stock.  I stamped the sentiments and clear embossed them.  The tag was adhered to the front of the ATC.  I cut off the end of the top of the tag.  The flower was glued to the end of the bottom of the tag.  The top edge slides under the flower and closes the tag.  A few pearls and a enamel dot were added to the ATC.

I am entering this in the weekly challenge at Wicked Wednesday ATC which was to use a fold on your ATC.

Spring is Sprung

Yesterday was the first day of Spring.  Yeah.  Winter has been long - very long so happy to see Spring come.  Of course, I love Spring but I also hate Spring.  I love the warmth returning, the flowers and grass starting to grow but I hate the work - all the leaves that did not get raked need to be cleaned up.  Hopefully the rain predicted this week will wash away some of the grime left on our lawns.

This week the Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge is Spring.  I dug through my collection of backgrounds and found a yellow piece which I cut down to the correct size for an ATC.  This is a recycled background piece.  Recycled cardstock and a layer of an old book.  Add some gesso and paint and away we go.  I recently got the February color from Tim Holtz.  This time I got the ink not the paint.  The flower stamp is from Hero Arts.  I stamped it with Versamark and Black ink and then used clear embossing powder.  It really makes your image pop.  The flower was colored with distress ink and the leaves with distress paint.  A couple stencils and more distress paint added some texture to the ATC front.

The sentiment is a sticker from SRM Stickers.  I placed the sticker on a leftover piece of inked paper.  I added a strip of polka dot paper at the top of the ATC for some contrast.  I also used my favorite circle stamp from Stamps by Judith to add the circles.  Glitter gel was added to the flower and then glossy accents added to the petals and leaves.

I am leaving on vacation and if I can get up enough courage I want to do some art abandonment along the way.  I believe I will leave this piece somewhere in the Florida Keys.  I just want to try this but then I have lots of friends I could mail it to and they would love it also.  What to do what to do.

ATC - Green Bird

I have started making ATC's and find they are quite fun.  Little pieces of art.  Something to satisfy the creative urge in your soul.  This week I discovered a challenge blog for ATC's called Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog.  I thought I would play along with their challenge this week which is green.

I keep all my pieces of backgrounds I made so I went and dug through my box and I did find a piece of green background with blue highlights in it.  I think the background was made with different layers of acrylic paint.

I also decided to play along with the monthly challenge at Mixed Media Monthly Challenge which is Birds of a Feather.

I have had this Hero Arts bird stamp for awhile - I had to have it and then it sat.  I have now used it twice in the last couple months.  I inked the stamp with some VersaMark and Versafine black ink.  I then used clear embossing powder on top to it really pops and has some texture.  The sentiment is another Hero Arts stamp which I stamped the same way but only used part of the sentiment.  The other day I discovered and decided it was my goal to use up eyelets.  I added 5 eyelets to my ATC.  Some rub ons from Basic Gray were added to the front of the ATC.  I used my black Big Brush Pen and ran it along the edges of the card.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my green bird ATC.  Yes life is good - our temps are in the 60's and the snow is melting.

Never Inked Stamp

On a private facebook group, we had a challenge to use a stamp that had never seen ink before.  This stamp was sitting there along with my new pad of distress ink - the February color of the month.

The stamp set is from Hero Arts.  It has an outline stamp and then a stamp of the full image.  I first stamped the outline.  I colored the bloom with the distress ink.  I then inked up the full image of the bloom and stamped it over the top of the colored bloom.  This is how I got the depth of color.  I had first practiced on a piece of paper so kinda knew what I wanted to do.  I colored around the flower with a very light wash of a watercolor.

For the sentiment I inked up a piece of watercolor paper and let it dry.  I then stamped the sentiment.  The little dots are punched out of the remaining colored watercolor paper.  I put glossy accents on top and have my homemade enamel dots.

I colored the thread with distress ink also so it matches perfectly.

I am entering this in the monthly Our Daily Bread Designs challenge on Stars and Stamps - Operation Write Home's card blog.  The challenge is to have the focus on the sentiment.

I am also entering it in House of Cards monthly challenge to use enamel dots.  Well mine are fake enamel dots - hopefully that counts.

Enjoy your evening - I am cleaning - ugh.

Oldie Moldie Monday

I bet you thought I was going to miss posting Oldie Moldie Monday.  No - I just did not get the picture taken until tonight.

I found this paper - it is double sided - dots on one side and green on the other side.  I just dug through my solid scraps and found the brown and blue.  The truck is a favorite old stamp.  It is one I go to for masculine cards.  Actually my daughters had a brown pick up they drove.  The sentiment had never seen ink before.

I have made a couple of these cards.  I am donating them to some cause but I have to find it.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.