Fishy Birthday Wishes

Hi there 🙂 With the weather finally feeling, and looking, like spring, everyone around here is talking about going fishing! When people start getting their rods and tackle out, we know that winter is finally over in the Canadian prairies! The Leaping Trout digital stamp set from Power Poppy has perfect images to use on cards for the avid fishermen around me! I printed the image twice, so I could mask it while I went to work on with my Distress Inks. I attached the image piece to the background before blending the ink, so there would be some continuity with the pattern of the background colors. When I was satisfied, I splattered water on it, to give it an even cooler effect. I removed the mask from the fish, and colored it with my Copics, adding a few white accents with my Posca pen.

I have some cool fishing dies from Gina K, so cut a rod and a hook from some silver card stock. I attached the 2 die cuts with a piece of silver thread, then glued them down. After matting the image with a pretty teal paper, I carefully positioned it on the background, so the ink blending patterns matched up. A simple stamped and embossed sentiment, cut out with a fishtail (ha) banner die, and more teal matting finishes the card off.

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Power Poppy Blossom Challenge – Sponge Bath

Get Creative Challenges – #120 Springtime Blues

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #203 ATG

Classic Design Challenge – #4 April ATG

Crafts Galore Encore – #110 April ATG

Fill Your Shoes

Hi there 🙂 We have a small staff at work, and recently, on of my work buddies left to bigger and better things. While we are so happy for her, it’s been pretty glum without her at work, as she brought a special spark to the office. I’ve have this Stamping Bella stamp by Mo Manning for quite some time, and it was the perfect one to make a farewell card for her! Although I’m not seeing this particular stamp any more at Stamping Bella, there’s many more Mo Manning ones available! Luckily, the image (without the sentiment included with the physical stamp), is available here at Mo’s Digital Pencil. I colored it up, then matted it with black. I found some coordinating designer paper that went well with the image, and layered a few prints up with the image. I picked through some of my older flower collections, and was lucky enough to find some that went well with this color scheme. I added black centres to the flowers, then die cut some flourishes and a black bow. A sweet goodbye to a very special lady <3

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Dream Valley Challenges – #290 Buttons and Bows

Creative Moments – #243 For a Special Lady

We Love Stamping – March Anything Stamped with option of Spring is In the Air (I didn’t use the option)

Creative Knockouts – #490 Add a Sentiment

Crafty Calendar – March – Buttons/Bows

Steampunk

Hi there 🙂 Recently my bestie and I were wandering through Michael’s, and found a bag of steampunk themed buttons at a great price. There were so many, that we split them up, and both of us have a ton. We have found some amazing deals in areas of the store other than the cardmaking department! It’s been so long since I’ve done a steampunk project, that I had to dive right in!! I found this image from Holly Durr (Durrmaid Art on Facebook). Although I don’t see this particular image available, I’m drooling over some of her other work! I colored this up with my Copics, then added a bit of ink blending, and some script stamping in the background, before distressing the edges.

I took a few of the design papers from a steampunk botanical pack that I have and started layering things up. I inked some of the edges with Distress ink, using a gear die cut as a stencil in some places, added some rub-on (!!!!) corner designs, and distressed a few of the edges of the black mats. After getting everything all assembled, I added some of the embellishments that inspired the whole project.

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Dream Valley Challenges – #289 Things With Wings

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge – #671 Female

A Perfect Time to Craft – #3 March ATG

Crafts Galore Encore – #109 ATG

Digi Choosday – Week 10 ATG

Blossoming Gift Card Holder

Hi there 🙂 I always like to have a few gift card holders on hand for last minute gifts. I made this one, which looks deceptively like a simple card, using a gorgeous image from Silly Shells. I colored Bounty Full of Flowers up with my Copics, then added a stamped sentiment to it. After matting it in blue, I went to work on the base.

This is a rather simple design, with a pocket, and ample room to write a greeting.

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Passion for Markers – #681 Colors of Spring

A Place to Start – March ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #201 ATG

Di’s Digi Stamps Challenge – Hand Colored Image

Polkadoodles Challenge – Week 10 ATG

70th Birthday

Hi there 🙂 My brother’s birthday is coming up, and then I realized that it was his 70th!! Couldn’t use a generic card for a special milestone like that, so got my thinking cap on! He has always had a huge love of horses, but before he left home, we found out I’m deathly allergic to them. Mom and Dad sold the ones we had and big brother was left without. I didn’t realize how big of a deal this was until many years later, after both of my parents had passed. Bro moved from the city to the farm, and immediately started acquiring his pets. He just beams when he talks of them, and is fully immersed in “horsey” life.

I’ve had this stamp, part of a set, for about 15 years, but haven’t used it in ages. It’s perfect for this occasion though! I did some masking, so I could put some trees in the background, then watercolored it with Distress inks. I wanted to implement twine (hay bales!) in some way on this card, and the current sketch at Creative Sketchy Girls was like a gift to bring all my ideas together.

I carefully glued the twine down, then stamped a circle sentiment with a die cut 70 in the middle. I popped that on with some foam dots and matted it up. It’s all ready to go in the mail to my one and only big brother 🙂

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Creative Sketchy Girls – #81 Sketch, shown above

CRAFT-alnica – #331 Male Card

Country View Challenges – March – Birthday Card for a Man

Stamping Sensations – March, Anything Stamped with Option Wings and Tails

Incy Wincy Designs – March Pets and/or Happiness

Get Well Greetings

Hi there 🙂 Recently, a special friend became ill, and is having a hard time kicking the nasty bug. I wanted to make a special card for this special lady, and was a bit stumped at what direction I was going to take. That is, until I saw this beautiful inspiration photo on the Power Poppy Challenge.

Although this is a seaside scene, I was inspired by the colors, and the bright pop of cheerful pink! I printed off 3 of the single blooms from the free Kindness is the Way Digital set from Power Poppy. After coloring them up with my Copics, I fussy cut them out. I took a piece of taupe card stock, and stenciled a stone pattern on it with some Distress Inks. Then, I layered it over a piece of sky blue paper to make the card background. I die cut a bunch of foliage from some different scraps of green paper, then placed them where the stones and sky met. The flowers were put on over this, to make things bright and cheery. I die cut a get well sentiment twice out of the same sky blue paper, and glued them together for a bit of dimension. To finish things off, and to bring the water theme of the inspiration photo into play, I added some dewdrops to the card with clear Nuvo.

I love how this card turned out, and the smile on my friend’s face showed that she did too!!

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Power Poppy Blossom Challenge – Inspired by the Sea

Classic Design Challenge – #3 March ATG

Creative Moments – #243 March – For a Special Lady

A Place to Start – March ATG

Creative Knockouts – #489 Lots of Layers

Leafy Sympathy

Hi there 🙂 My stash of sympathy cards, sadly, got completely depleted last year. I needed a quick on this weekend, so came up with CAS one layer card. I found an ivy stencil that I forgot I had, and used 2 different green Distress Inks to blend the pattern in. It was still a bit TOO simple, so I cut a mask slightly smaller than the front of the card, then blended the same 2 colors of green around the edge, to give the card a frame. The way the inks are blended, it almost looks like antique gold in the picture!! I used part of the mask to die cut the sentiment, and touched up the ink blending on the cut, before adhering it to the card. For just a bit of embellishment, I added gold pearls to parts of the ivy. A quick and easy card, and a quick and easy blog post!!

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Crazy is Our Name, Stencils are Our Game – March challenge with optional CAS

AAA Cards Challenge – #235 Inkblending Along an Edge

613 Avenue Create – March ATG with twist of CAS

Crafty Gals Corner – #241 Make It Green

Paper Dragonfly Challenge – #15 All That Glitters is Green and Gold

2023 Wall Calendar

Hi there! Wow, it took me longer to get around to blogging this creation than it did to make it!! About 6 years ago, I started making my own wall calendars. Although there’s some pretty ones out there, they are so darn expensive, and, well….I’m a crafter, so why not? The first time I did one, it was the normal January – December layout. This was an exercise in insanity, as I was also doing Christmas cards, baking and various other holiday “stuff” in December, and to add a calendar into the mix almost put me over the top!! Since then, I’ve done February – January layouts. I can take my time after the holidays, and relax while crafting it. This year, I used images from the Ocean Dreams pdf coloring book, by Mystic Art Mirrors. It was a Christmas gift from a friend, and I knew right away what I’d be using for my calendar. The only problem was, choosing 12 images!!!

After coloring all the images with my Copics, it was time to decide on the layout of each page. I have to be careful not to have too many layers, as it will make the whole thing too heavy, and the calendar will fall off the wall by April!!! I cut the image out with a pretty die, then framed it in black. I also added a black frame (done in strips, rather than the whole sheet, to cut down on weight) on the piece of white background paper. Since each of the images had bubbles in it (except January…but I added some!), I decided to carry that through with die cuts. I’d recently purchased some paper packs from Michael’s that were comprised of different shades of shimmer paper. I went to work with die cutting, and ended up using both the cuts, and the circle off cuts.

I printed off the calendar pages, then glued the assembled image pieces to them. Finally, I punched holes, and assembled the calendar with some rings. After about 3 1/2 weeks of work, it was all ready to put up on the wall 🙂

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges:

Classic Design Challenge – #3 March ATG

Crafts Galore Encore – #109 ATG

Jan’s Digi Stamp Challenge – March ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #201 ATG

Mirtillamente Challenge – #18 All about Math, Numbers, Water, Sparrow, Interior Peace, Zen (numbers on the calendar, and water with the images)

65 Candles

Hi there 🙂 A friend recently celebrated their 65th birthday. Her favorite color is orange, and fave flower is the gerbera daisy. So…..I had to incorporate all three into her card!! I dug around in my scrap drawer, because I knew I had a number of orange and orange print pieces, that I could use for cutting the candles out. I found a few more scraps and snippets along the way!

I have so many paper strips from making my own envelopes, and I was pleased and surprised with the selection!! I have 2 candle dies, and I began cutting, 2 candles at a time. It didn’t take long before I was ready to make a 29 & holding card!! So, I stacked 3 sheets of paper and cut through them all….woohoo! Easy peasy 🙂 I wanted to do the flames in gold sparkle and gold mirror card, but found I couldn’t stack those papers and get a good cut. My arm was falling off from cranking by then, so I used some Stickles for a portion of the flames! After layering and layering the candles, and attaching the flames (yes, there’s 65!), I cut out a birthday sentiment, and then a gold 65. I have an Inkadinkadoo stamp set featuring gerberas, so used that to stamp some more scraps. After fussy cutting them out, and adding a wee bit of shading, I stamped them again on the gold papers, and fussy cut the centers out and attached them. I tucked in a few die cut leaves around the flowers to finish the card off. There was no question who this card was made especially for, and she loved it!

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Time Out Challenges – #232 Happy 9th Birthday Time Out!

Creative Knockouts – #488 Birthday Wishes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #200 ATG

The Paper Funday Challenge – #50 ATG with option of Lots of Layers

Snippets Playground – #448 ATG with Snippets

Pineapple Gift

Hi there 🙂 I’m thrilled to be guest designing for Coloring With Pencils Challenge today. I was given an image from one of the fabulous sponsors, Leann’s World 101, to work with. I colored Penny up with my Prismacolor pencils, then cut it out with a tag die. I added the sentiment before printing the image.

To showcase the tag, I decided to make a gift bag/box to go with it. I cut the bottom part out of yellow card stock, then added the pineapple skin print with my pencils. I added the green leafy part to the top, then used some white and yellow ribbon to close the package up, and attach the tag. I’m loving the final result, and think it’s a fun presentation for a gift for someone special! I hope you can find some time to pick up your pencils, and join us for this month’s challenge!!

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Rabisco Challenge – #42 ATG with some sort of haberdashery

Penny’s Papercrafty Challenge – #540 ATG

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – #2307 ATG