I participated in the *virtual* Crop on the Cape, hosted by Jenn Shurkus, last weekend. I always enjoy Jenn’s “Creative Chick” online classes and am always happy to support creative small businesses who have certainly been impacted during the last year. I highly recommend her classes. There were lots of demos and challenges during the three days which made it lots of fun. I created this card for one of the challenges that was based on a color scheme and group of photos for inspiration. I had this Newton’s Nook stamp set in my stash and decided to use the current sketch provided for the Inky Paws Challenge on the Newton’s Nook blog to make some birthday happiness.
I colored the kitty and cupcake with Copic markers. The Happy Birthday sentiment is part of the same stamp set, along with some other cute images and sentiments. I kept the card simple with just a little dimension added to the hexagon and some epoxy stickers (I love that shiny texture on a card!) to finish it off. Thanks for visiting.
Bling – Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards, Ltd. – Citron
Embossing folder – Sizzix “Tropical Paisley”
Cardstock – Bazzill
Twinkling H2Os
This is sort of a mixed media card. I used the Unscripted Sketch #255 for inspiration. I created the background from a monoprint I made using my Gelli plate. I applied some blue acrylic paint, mixed with pearl in a fairly thin layer. Then I pressed the embossing folder into the paint. I used both sides of the folder, which gives an one type of impression on the raised side and a reverse impression on the other–the difference when you emboss or impress/deboss (you can sort of see the darker color versus the lighter color). I pulled the print and used it for the background paper.
Then I applied Twinkling H2Os to the iris stamp and spritzed with water to get the color down, then once it was dry, I over-stamped with the same image with black archival ink. You can see a detailed look at it to your left and hopefully you can see the sheen of these Twinkling H2O watercolors. Thanks for stopping by.
Acorn – Impression Obsession Heart Art Studios “Acorn”
Patterned paper – BoBunny “Trail Mix Collection” 6 X 6″ paper pad
Cardstock – Bazzill
Ranger Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint, Barn Door and Wild Honey
This is a birthday card for a friend who receives a squirrely card from us each year while we all go camping together. I based this card’s design on Unscripted Sketches Summer Flashback Sketch #69. I distressed the patterned paper with Ranger Distress Inks and spattered with water to create a background that matched the stamped leaves and acorns, which I distressed with the same ink colors. I popped up the acorn and one of the oak leaves with dimensional adhesive for a little 3-D effect. I created this card outside on a picnic table up in the mountains while camping. I had some chipmunk friends nearby, just to set the mood! Thanks for visiting today and Happy Birthday, Allyn!
PostScript: This card was selected as one of the Top Three cards created and posted using Unscripted Sketches Summer Flashback Sketch #69! Hurray!
Stamp – from Penny Black “Delicate Florals” set and Judikins “Calligraphic Flourish”
Die cut – made from Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels Four”
Rhinestones – Me & My Big Ideas
Patterned cardstock – Bo Bunny “Passion Fruit Flourish”
Cardstock – Bazzill
I like fancy fold cards, but seldom take the time to make them. I had made a card like this and held onto it as a “template” so I could remember how to do it again! So I’m not sure if this particular accordion fold has a special name, but I call this an offset accordion fold! There is really nothing fancy about the process, but having an unusual fold does make the card seem kind of fancy. I stamped the Judikins flourishes all over the flourish cardstock to tie in some of the orange from the floral image. I colored the Penny Black tulip with Copic markers and used the larges die in my set for the image, so I had to trim the orange cardstock around it to give it a little frame and a little more weight both visually and to stand up to the folds. This is a birthday card for one of my stamping buddies. Thank you for stopping by today!
This sketch was one of many featured in the My Country/Mit Land Blog Hop at OWH Stars and Stamps. This particular design was beautifully illustrated at Dixie’s Blog, “What’s Next?” You can find the sketch there, too. I tried something new with the banner on this one. I used the new (to me, anyway) product from Heidi Swapp that is pre-cut and is all white (with a texture applied). I added color with Colorbox Chalk inks. It is pretty nice to be able to customize these depending on you color scheme. Thanks for visiting today!
Paper – SEI “White Elegance: Diamond” (chalk inks applied)
Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Inks (Orchid Pastel and Rouge)
Ribbon – from stash
Cardstock – WorldWin Colormates
Stickers – EK Success Sticko “Pink Diamonds”
For this birthday card, I used the current sketch over at Card Patterns: Sketch 168 for this card (flipped on its side) AND I got to use my new rhododendron cling stamp from Impression Obsession. I colored the image with Copic markers and layered it with some dark green to bring out the greens of the leaves for contrast. The SEI patterned paper is white on white paper–the pattern is printed with a kind of “pearl” ink. So when I applied Colorbox Chalk inks to it, the “pearly” part acted as a resist and the uncoated portion picked up the ink color. So you can make the paper any color you want! Thanks for stopping by.
Patterned papers – My Mind’s Eye “Mary Mary Happy Birthday” (both sides)
Die cut – made from Spellbinder’s Nestabililities “Lacey Circles”
Button Candy Dots – Pebbles, Inc.
I used the Card Patterns Sketch #161 for this card, which features one of the bear images from the latest challenge. I used an image from the current Progressive Freebies Challenge at Crafter’s Digital Art Center. This is a festive birthday card that I’ll forward on for Operation Write Home soon. Thanks for visiting today.
Patterned paper – Basic Grey “Out of Print: publication”
Border punch – EK Success Edger Punch “Morocco Lace”
Stamp – Hero Arts “Flourish Birthday”
Chipboard adhesive butterfly – K & Company “Flora & Fauna Butterfly”
Cardstock – Bazzill
This is a wonderful sketch over at Clean & Simple Stamping right now: Clean and Simple Sketch #184. The overlapping of border punched strips is very effective and can make really amazing designs. Now that I tried this punch I want to try some others! Depending on the punch it can be nice with patterned papers, too, but there was too much detail in my chosen punch to make that work well in this case. Thanks for stopping by today.
Stamps – Stampendous “Icing Fluffles” and The Cat’s Pajamas “Take the Cake”
Die cuts – Spellbinder’s Nestabilities “Labels Fifteen”
Patterned paper – Doodlebug Designs “Colorwheel: Kite Strings”
Cardstock – Bazzill
Another card featuring “Fluffles.” He (or she?) is a favorite in our house! I made this for the OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party challenge #5: It’s a Party. We are challenged to make birthday cards in this one. This card would be nice for a Hero to send to any loved one, but particularly a child. Thanks for visiting.
Patterned paper – Graphic 45, “Tropical Travelogue Colllection: Rainforest”
Stamps – Northwood Stamps “Capital For You” and Hero Arts “Everyday Sayings” (little sprig)
Cardstock – Bazzill
Die cut – Spellbinders Shapeabilities “Fancy Tags”
Ribbon – Offray
This is a very simple sketch a group of us challenged ourselves to use. Sometimes the simpler the sketch, the more challenging it is! The tropical patterned paper here is the star, to be sure. Thanks for stopping by.
penguinpapers 