Journal Page For Elaina

My sweet great niece is graduating from high school.  How time has flown.  She is such a lovely young woman and I do love spending time with her. 

Her parents are doing a journal for her graduation party and people can bring a pge done or do something there to design the page.  Of course I had to make a special page for her.

In her junior year of high school she traveled to France with her French Club.  She thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  I did make her a mixed media book for her trip memories the year she traveled.

Here is my journal entry.

I made a opening in which my message to her can be slid into.  There is a pull tab on it so she can pull it out and put it back in.

The background is done with oxide inks.  The eiffel tower stamp is from Penny Black.  The sentiment stamp is also a Penny Black Stamp.

I am entering it into the challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where the challenge is Quote.  I think this may be the first time I have done this challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.  Today I am working on her graduation card.  It is fun to create for someone special and someone who appreciates the work you put into a creation.

Have a wonderful day. 

Playing With Alcohol Inks

I was playing with Alcohol Inks when visiting a friend and we tried a technique that we had seen in a video by Jennifer McGuire.  You put water in a dish and then dropped alcohol inks on top of the water.  You then took regular card stock and immersed it in the water.  This is how the two die cut pieces were colored.  With this technique both sides are colored so you have to choose which side to use.  The base of the card is done with Oxide Inks.

I was doing a sketch challenge and I never got it posted in time. 

The floral stamp is from Rubbernecker Stamps.  The sentiment is from Altenew Stamps.

The black and white stripe is washi tape put on card stock. 

It was great fun to make this card.

Seize The Birthday

I have been trying to get some birthday cards made ahead of time.  Seize the Birthday is a perfect challenge to help you build you stash.  Plus the challenge this week is Anything Goes - those are the best challenges.

I was recently visiting a friend and we were playing with alcohol inks.  My friend plays so well with alcohol inks.  I don't.  She looked at this alcohol ink play and saw a flower and drew it in.  I love what she did.  I need to just play some more and see what I can do.

I stamped a sentiment with black archival ink and matted the panel with black.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday - time to show some love for your old supplies.

I am working on a military box and these cards went into it.

These cards used 3 sheets of paper from a 6 x 6 pad.  There is another card - but it has gone into the witness protection program - it is no where to be found.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Oldie Moldie Monday

While I was looking for something in a 12 x 12 Iris container I came across this pretty piece of paper.  It was not an entire sheet but there was enough to make 3 birthday cards.  These cards will go in the troop box I am working on. 

I made two of this card.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.  They still make wonderful cards.  I loved the soft colors in this piece. 

CAS(E) This Sketch

I keep working on trying to improve on my Clean and Simple card making skills.

I do try to do the weekly sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch each week if time permits.  This sketch has all kinds of possibilities.

I am in love with this floral stamp from Ellen Hudson.  It was a little bigger than my card base but I trimmed the edges.

I stamped the image on Bristol Smooth card stock with VersaFine Black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then colored it very loosely with watered down ink from Gina K Designs.  I started with with a very light color and then added a darker shade in the center on the flowers.  The leaves were painted with distress oxide ink.

The background was the same card stock smooshed in watered down ink. 

I added a small amount of tape to hod the floral piece on the card front and then used a rectangle die to cut through both layers.  The floral image has the same design cut element on it as the card front.  I then removed the floral design and added foam tape to it. 

The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine black onyx ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  After everything was adhered, I added just a few sequins to the card.

I love this new sentiment stamp I bought at the Expo.  This card will be mailed to my daughter and son in law living in Alaska.

Thanks for stopping by.

Freshly Made Sketches Card Sketch Challenge

I am trying to work on my clean and simple card making so I try to do several different sketches each week.  It is a struggle for me.  I always want to add something extra.  I must "walk away" from the card.

One of the challenges I try to do is Freshly Made Sketches.  It is a sketch challenge every Wednesday.  Here is this week's sketch.

This card is made with all Gina K Designs products.  The flower is from her June kit and I stamped it in three different colors of ink from the same color family.  I did both the large and small flowers. 

The background was made with Bristol Smooth card stock which was smooshed into watered down ink.  The lightest color that was used on the flower.  I also did the same technique on the sentiment strip.  I first only had the large flowers on the card and stamped one of the leaves under each flower.  I thought it looked a little bare - so I tucked the smaller flower in under the large flower.  The sentiment strip is added with foam tape to give it a little dimension.

I really like how it turned out and I do have enough flowers to make another card so I should really do that.

Thanks for stopping by.  

Playing With Supplies - Rubbernecker Challenge #35

I was in Minnesota this last week end spending time with my creative friend Annie.  Three of us went to the Scrapbook Expo.  We all stimulated the paper/stamp/die industry very well.

One of the booths I enjoy visiting at the Expo is the Rubbernecker Stamp booth.  They have so many stamps and dies and fun stuff.  I am sharing two of my new stamps with you today.  The background is a floral type swirl and the birthday sentiment.

I based my card on the current sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I used my distress oxides (yes - once again - I am using my distress oxides - I love them - what else can I say) to make my background.  I colored two pieces of Bristol smooth card stock.  One is light and one is darker to provide the two colors I needed for the sketch.

I also flipped the sketch.

I stamped the floral swirl in black VersaFine ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder.
The sentiment was stamped the same way on the darker paper and die cut with a circle die.  Another circle die was used to cut a mat for the sentiment.  The main part of the card was also matted with black.  A thin strip of the black and white stripe from My Favorite Things divides the two colors on the base.

Here it is in another color of distress oxide inks.

I am also entering it into the current challenge at Rubbernecker Stamps Challenge Blog where the current challenge is Birthday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday - time to show some love for your old supplies.

I found these sheets of coordinating paper.  They were thin but they were beautiful so  they became thank you cards.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Happy Little Stampers June ATC Challenge

It is time to play along with our ATC challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

ATC's are fun art to create.  They are small pieces of artwork that measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

I made a background with distress oxide inks.  The little monsters were stamped and then I used my Scan N Cut to cut out the images.  I colored the images with distress oxide inks.  I added a small strip of black and white stripe paper (My Favorite Things has a 6 x 6 pad of just black and white stripe.)  I wanted to have a visual break between the stripe and the background so added a very thin strip of black card stock.  The monsters were adhered standing on top of the sentiment.

Here is a close up of each ATC.  The Monsters are from Art Gone Wild.

Don't they make you smile?

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for our ATC Challenge. 

Did I tell you there were prizes?

Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies June Challenge

It is time for another challenge at Happy Little Stampers using your dies.  It is a wonderful challenge because Anything Goes.

I recently bought this die/embossing folder set at Hobby Lobby.  I am so proud of myself that I came home and made a card right away.

The embossing folder embosses the stripes and the floral but while embossing it also cuts out the center of the floral wreath leaving you a beautiful opening for your sentiment.

The Hello is a die that came with the embossing folder.

I added a light green mat behind the white embossed panel.  The butterflies and hello were cut out of a blue/green patterned paper.

After the card was assembled, I splattered it with an oxide ink.

This was a very easy card to bring together.  I am going to have to make some more.

Die out your dies and come join us at Happy Little Stampers June Die Challenge. 

Did I tell you there were prizes?

Happy Little Stampers June Mixed Media Challenge

It is time for another mixed media challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

I personally love layers - many layers on my card - so this was a fun card to make.  I started with different layers of kraft paper.  The card base is kraft paper.  A dark brown card stock was used to to mat each layer to provide some contrast.

The first layer was painted with a blue metallic paint.  The same blue paint was brushed over the blue areas of the birds.  The next layer was kraft paper smooshed into distress oxide inks.  This is the first time I have used oxide inks on kraft paper.  I do like the look.  (I do apologize for not taking pictures of each layer.)  I used some embossing paste through a stencil for one more layer for my card.  Embossing paste absorbs the colors of the oxide inks. 

God metallic paint was added to the enter of the flowers to add some sparkle.  The bird image was foam mounted onto the oxide ink panel. Cream colored thread was added behind the image for another layer. 

Here is a close up of one corner of the card.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers and play along with our Mixed Media challenge

Did I tell you there are prizes?.

Hello Monkey

Many years ago I had a friend fight cancer and I started sending her a card every week.  For some reason I did lots of monkey cards because I wanted to make her smile.  Years later I had a student worker who also loved monkeys and her favorite color is orange.  I learned to love using orange in my card making from her.  She needs a little cheering up so hopefully this monkey brings a smile to her face.  (I am glad to use some of my collection of monkeys up - this applique patch is very well aged.)

The challenge at The Paper Players is Animal Antics (feature any animal).  My monkey is an animal.

I was cleaning up and trying to put all my backgrounds that I have made in one place and found this piece of bright orange/yellow/pink and the green piece.  I have no idea what medium was used to make these panels.

I did use distress oxide inks to color the base background.

The sentiment was die cut from a scrap of brown.  Luckily there was enough brown to mat the monkey piece and the orange piece.  I used a piece of scrap green card stock to mat the background.

Thanks for stopping by.  Remember to make a card and send it and make someone smile.

Happy Little Stampers June Christmas Challenge

It is time for a new Christmas challenge At Happy Little Stampers. 

I made many of this card for my friend to send to her shut ins this December.  The images are leftovers from a card she made made last year.  She asked if I could design a card to use these beautiful images.  I made a total of 22 of this card.

The images are matted with silver glitter paper.  They were adhered to a dry embossed layer of white card stock which had been matted with a blue card stock.

The joy was cut with my Silhouette. 

It is a very pretty card.  I know the shut ins will be happy to receive this card.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for the June Christmas Challenge. 

Did I tell you there are prizes. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday - time to show some love for your old supplies.

As I was looking for the perfect shade of card stock, I ran across a piece of this Winnie The Pooh paper.  I now have 4 cards which will bring smiles to someone's face.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies. 

Happy Birthday Celebrations

I am working on some cards for a military box a friend is doing for  a troop from Minnesota.  She helped me when I did a box for a Wisconsin troop in March. 

I made a couple birthday cards with this same design.

The stamp for the flower is from Gina K Designs.  I watercolored it with distress oxide inks.  I first laid water into each flower and then came in with distress oxide ink.  I did this on all the petals, dried it and came back in with another layer of color just concentrating the color in the center of each flower.  I had made a background with just a little color on it by using the same color of oxide ink with lots of water added to it to give a hint of color in the background.  I then heat embossed the flower and sentiment on the front.

AAA Cards is celebrating four years of being a challenge blog.  Happy birthday to them.  I am entering my card in their challenge.

The monthly watercolor challenge for June at Happy Little Stampers is Anything Goes with the optional twist of smile.  I know I would smile when I opened the envelope and saw this birthday greeting inside.

The challenge at CAS on Sunday is embossing.  I first stamped my image and sentiment with Black Onyx VersaFine Ink and then used clear embossing powder over the top.  I never could get the hang of using black embossing powder so this is how I do my black embossing.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Playing With More Paper

I had some paper left over from the cards I posted on Wednesday and I wanted to use it up.

I liked the new sketch at Try Stamping on Tuesday. 

Of course, I did stray from the sketch a little.  Please forgive me.

I have enough paper to make one more using this same group of well aged paper.  The stamp is very well aged also.  I believe it is only the 2nd time I have used it.

This will go in a box being sent over to a troop from Minnesota.  A card making friend is coordinating this drive.  She helped me earlier in the spring when I sent cards over to a Wisconsin troop.

Thanks for stopping by.