Shimmer Cardstock

Oh, how I love shimmer cardstock!  I wish I could use it on everything.  When I saw the Monday Challenge from Simon Says Stamp I thought it would be perfect.  To make it even more fun, I used my Copics to color a flower from Power Poppy's Azalea stamp set.  I cut out the image with Lil Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles and matted with more shimmer paper!  The sentiment, from Clearly Besotted's Sweet Little Sentiments, was heat embossed in Ranger liquid platinum.

I'm entering this card into Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge: No Ordinary Paper.

I'm also entering it into MarkerPop's Challenge #74: Anything Goes.

It Moose be Love!

My local scrapbook store was having a consignment sale last week and I got some great Simon Says Stamp and Lawn Fawn stamp sets.  Most had never even been used and were $5!  I was so excited to find Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Arctic.  I love that moose!  So of course I needed to make a card with the moose.  I stamped and reverse stamped the moose and then colored with my Copic markers.  I added a hat to one moose and the sweet little heart.  The sentiment is white heat embossed on a banner from Mama Elephant Basics creative cuts.

I'm entering this card into MarkerPop's Challenge #74: Anything Goes.

Thanks a Bunch

I got the new Miniature Florals stamp from Clearly Besotted recently and I have been just randomly coloring each image with my Copics.  I decided to combine a few to create a card.  I cut them out and attached them each to a cross stitched rectangle from My Favorite Things with foam tape.  I white heat embossed the bow and sentiment.

I'm entering this card into MarkerPop's Challenge #74: Anything Goes.

Hello Butterflies!

A few weeks ago Jennifer McGuire had a blog post on shadow stamping and I have been wanting to create a card using that technique with my Paper Smooches Flap Happy and Graceful Beauties butterflies.  I finally had time to do that yesterday, but completely forgot to post a picture.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Scripty Saying and I heat embossed it in white.

I'm entering this card into the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge.

And Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes.

Watercolor Blog Hop

I wanted to make a card for the Watercolor Blog Hop hosted by Pretty Pink Posh.  I used the Moroccan Tiles stencil from My Favorite Things for the background.  I drew in the shapes lightly with a pencil on Distress Watercolor paper and then colored them using Distress Inks and my Zig watercolor brush.

I cut some tags out of the Distress Watercolor paper and vellum, using Lil Inker Designs: Stitched Tags.  Then I stamped with black Versamark ink the elephant and happy birthday sentiment from WPlus9's Unforgettable.  Using the same distress inks I colored the middle tag.  To finish off I tied the tags together with twine and added a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins.

I'm also participating in the Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge #2.

RAWRING Good Birthday

I've been wanting to try the dot copic coloring that I have seen used lately and I needed to make a card for a friend who likes dinosaurs and I thought they would look great with the dot coloring.  I found out that unlike Jennifer McGuire, dot copic coloring takes me a lot longer than regular shading, but I really like the result.  The whole card probably took me 6 hours or more.  Fortunately, Michelle loves my cards and I know she will appreciate the work.  In fact, she got it today and she loved it!

I started out by stamping all of the dinosaurs, the palm tree, leaves, and some rocks from Lawn Fawn's Critters from the Past on Copic Xpress It Blending Card in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Then came the part that took the longest, coloring the images using copic markers, but with a lot of little dots.  I start by coloring each image normally with the lightest color, then I added, darkest to light, all the little dots. I generally used at least 4 different shades of each color.  I found this tobe the easiest way to get the images to look blended.

After I got all of the images colored, I fussy cut around each one and colored the edges with a Memento Tuxedo Black marker.  I messed around with the images trying to decide how I wanted them to be arranged.  I decided to only use 3 of the adult dinosaurs and the baby dino and egg.  I also wanted to do a shaker card with partial die cutting and the images just seemed to work well with it.  I don't have any die cut letters, so I used my Cricut Expression to cut out the window with the word BIRTHDAY still attached instead.  I used Distress ink to shade in the background on the front panel and the back panel of the shaker card.  I did a little masking to make sure the hill connected between the inside and outside the shaker window.

For the rest of the front panel, I used Harold's and Jessie's ABCs to create the sentiment which I heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  I used a gold paint pen to add the stitching around the edges.  Next I added a piece of acetate behind the front panel and added a variety of Pretty Pink Posh sequins and seed beads, before using foam tape to attach the front panel to the back.  Last I added all of the fussy cut images with Tombow Mono Multi glue.

At the very end I decided to add a little Wink of Stella to the letters in BIRTHDAY, which you can't really see in the photo, but looks great in person.

I'm trying my very best to participate in every day in Kathy's, at the Daily Marker, 30 Day Coloring Challenge 2! I was super busy during the first challenge so I didn't have much time, but so far I'm 3 for 3!

I'm entering this card into the Lawnscaping Calling All Critters Challenge.

I'm also entering this card into MarkerPop's Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks So Much

I finally got around to using the awesome new butterfly dies from Paper Smooches: Graceful Beauties.  I was inspired by a sketch from Papertrey Ink:

First I started out by creating the background on some craft cardstock.  I added the stitched details with Lil Inker Design's Stitched Mats: Rectangles.  I got the idea from a Jennifer McGuire video on getting more out of your stencils.  I masked off the edges before adding the dots using Hero Arts Unicorn White Pigment Ink, a sponge dauber, and My Favorite Things Swiss Dots stencils.  Next I shifted the stencil in order to add the colored dots between the white ones with Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade, Chipped Sapphire and Mowed Lawn, to match the colors I planned for the butterflies.  I stamped the butterflies from the Graceful Beauties set in distress ink on watercolor paper.  Then I used a darker shade of distress ink and a watercolor brush to add in a little shading.  I fussy cut each of the butterflies and arranged on the white rectangles cut with the Lil Inker Stitched Mats.  The sentiment was heat embossed in Ranger princess gold.  I had to cut the stamp in order for the sentiment to fit in the remaining white rectangle.  Last, I added some Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

I'm entering this card into the Paper Smooches Sparks - Anything Goes Challenge.

And Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Stencil It.

Another Mother's Day Card

This next Mother's Day card was to be from me and my 6 siblings.  I thought it would be fun to have a critter for each of us on the card.  I have also wanted to try a window card for a while and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.  Most of the critters are from Mama Elephant stamp sets: Arctic Penguins and Carnival Cupcakes.  The dog and cat are from Simon Says Stamp You are Pawesome.  I used the Mama Elephant happy die to cut out some fun foam for a little dimension and white heat embossed the Mother's Day from Mama Elephant's Happy Everything onto a little flag.  The papers are from Lawn Fawn.  I just adore the little hearts.  I covered the opening with acetate paper because I wanted the critters to be on the inside of the card.  All the critters were colored with copic markers.

I am also entering this card into the Markerpop Anything Goes Challenge.

Mother's Day Card

Now that Mother's Day is over, I can finally share the card.  For the background I used a striped stencil and some distress ink.  I cut out the scalloped and stitched paper with Mama Elephant's Creative Basics dies.  The sentiment and elephant are from Wplus9's Love Mom stamp set.  The sentiment was heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum.  The elephant and flower were colored with copic markers.  The flowers are from Avery Elle's Fabulous Florals.

I am entering this card into Markerpop's Anything Goes Challenge.

Two Cards

I've been super busy at work lately, but I have managed to make a few cards lately, but haven't had much time to post them, so this will be short and sweet.

Card One - Birthday Card for my Aunt's 50th (again) Birthday

I used an awesome silver shimmer card base with Altenew Vintage Flowers, Mama Elephant Happy Everything stamp and Happy die, Lil Inker Designs Stitched Mats: Ovals, and Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear 6mm and 4mm sequins.  I finished everything off with a quick coat of my clear Wink of Stella for a little more shimmer.  I just love the layered stamping of the Altenew flowers set!

Card Two - For my husband's colleague, from him and several others.  They work at Wofford College, Go Terriers! (their colors are black and gold)

On the outside I used some gold striped paper on a black card base, with Simon Says Stamp Stylish Simon and You Are Pawesome, heat embossed on vellum.  Love that bow tie!  The inside is Mama Elephant Three Amigos, another set I just adore.  I can't get enough of these guys and their fun signs!

I'm entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Clean and Simple.

You are wonderful

I made this card on Wednesday and had planned to blog about it on Thursday, but I have been sick the last couple of days.  My inspiration came from Online Card Classes Stretch Your Dies Day 3 - Dry Embossing.  I used Paper Smooches Frame 1 die to dry emboss the pretty stitched frame onto white cardstock. Then I used a combination of Hero Arts and Memento Inks with my Paper Smooches Kudos stamps to create the sentiment and accents inside the dry embossed frame.  To finish the card I used the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Border Dies 1 and some paper from Lawn Fawn, along with a few enamel dots.  Originally I had planned to have a straight border, but the die shifted as I ran it thru my Cuttlebug, but I decided it looked fun and kept it anyways.  I hope you like it!  It was little dark when I took the photo, so sorry about the shadows.

I am entering this into the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge this week.

OCC Stretch Your Dies Day 2

I didn't really have any flower dies that worked with any of the techniques shown on day 2.  However, I decided to use my cricut explore machine to create a card using the negative die cut technique.  I plan to use the flowers left over from this to create another card with Kristina Werner's suggested idea of cutting out some smaller dies with a larger die shape.

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches scripty sayings and it was white heat embossed on Lawn Fawn's stitched labels.

I am entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's Bright & Bold Challenge.

Mama Elephant Three Amigos

This weekend I finally had some time to play with my new stamp set from Mama Elephant.  I think the Three Amigos set it so cute.  The critters are just so adorable!  I love all the different sentiments that are included, it was hard to decide which to use.  I settled on Happy Birthday and used the tiny present from the Arctic Penguins sets.  The frame die is from Mama Elephant Femme Frames set and the little tags are Lil Inker Designs Anytime Tags.

I am entering this card into Markerpop's Challenge #64 Anything Goes.

Together Forever

I made another card for the Lil Inker Designs Monthly Meet Up Challange: Anything Goes.  This card like the last one will be donated to Operation Write Home.  For this card I used Stitched Mats: Rectangles die, Stitched Hearts die, Stitched Mats: Long and Skinny Rectangles die, Puzzle Pieces dies and the Together Forever sentiment from the Piece of Me stamp set.

Once again I am entering this card into the Monthly Meet Up Challenge

And the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: No Rules.

Hello

While coming up with an idea for a project for Lil' Inker Designs Monthly Meet Up Challenge, I realized that I apparently have an obsession with their dies.  I have a lot of dies, but only 2 stamp sets!  For the card I used Stitched Mats: Long & Skinny Rectangles dies, Border Builders Die,  Scattered Sequins Die, and the hello sentiment from Darling Diamonds stamp set.

I am of course entering this into the monthly meet up challenge.

I am also entering this into the Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge: No Rules.

Wedding Card

We have a wedding to go to next weekend and I finally had time to sit down and create a card.  I started by embossing some white paper with a diamond pattern using my Cuttlebug and embossing folder.  I matted this with a nice gray cardstock.  Next I heat embossed Congratulations on some of the same white paper with Ranger Liquid Platinum.  I matted this sentiment on gray cardstock as well but added a little additional detail with Pretty Pink Posh's Stitched Borders scalloped die.  Then I stamped two sets of some roses in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with my Copic markers, cut them out and colored the edges with my memento tuxedo black marker.  I added this around the sentiment and popped them up with some foam squares.  To finish the card off I added some 4mm Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins and some gray enamel dots at the center of some of the diamonds.

I am entering this card into MarkerPop's Anything Goes Challenge #62.

So Busy

I've been super busy lately with work and getting our house ready to put on the market that I haven't had a lot of time to craft.  I've had a card idea stuck in my head for 4-5 days and I finally had a little time to make it.  I used Paper Smooches Lots of Love stamps to create the background by stamping the large X & O in Distress Ink Spun Sugar.  Next I cut out all of the critters from Paper Smooches Zoo Crew using the coordinating dies and then stamped them in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored each of the zoo crew animals with Copic markers.  I cut out the background with Mama Elephants scalloped border creative cuts and then I cut out an oval in the center using Lil Inker Designs Stitched Mats Ovals.  I arranged each of the critters in the window created by the oval.  I cut out a banner using Paper Smooches Banner Die and then stamped its coordinating stamp with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The sentiment was created with the heart from Paper Smooches Zoo Crew and the letters are from Paper Smooches Mini Monograms, also white heat embossed.  To finish the card off I mounted everything on gray paper and added a few Pretty Pink Posh sequins.  I hope you enjoy it!

I am entering this card into the Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge.

As well as MarkerPop's Valentine's Day Challenge #61.

Fun Heart Card

I wanted to play with my new Paper Smooches Lots of Love Stamp, so I decided to make a fun Valentine's Day Card.  I started with plain white paper and dashed stamp from Lawn Fawn's Argyle Backdrops.  Using my new MISTI and Memento Teal Zeal ink I created the dashed backdrop.  Next I used the heart, x and o stamps from the Paper Smooches Lots of Love set to fill in diamond background with Memento Rose Bud and Lulu Lavender ink.  The sentiment is also from Paper Smooches Lots of Love.  First I stamped it with a light gray ink and colored with my Copic Markers. Using my MISTI I restamped it in the same place with Versamark Ink and heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum powder.  Next cut out the sentiment using my Paper Smooches Frame 1 die.  I colored the border with Copics and added some liquid platinum embossing power to the edges.  To finish off I added a few Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins.

You can't really see the embossing well in the first picture so I zoomed it in.  I think it looks really great!

I am entering this card into the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge.

   

I'm also entering this into the MarkerPop's BiWeekly Challenge 60 - Anything Goes.

And lastly into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart.