Sunday, February 27, 2011

Guest designer for Paperworks Company sketch challenge

Such an exciting week for me ... I was chosen as this week's Guest Designer for Paperworks Company's sketch challenge. I was given the sketch earlier this week and very quickly decided what I wanted to do with it (in fact, I made the card the same day!). The oval shape reminded me of a lovely stamped image that I had coloured awhile ago but never used. At first I was going to make a standard card but then decided that it would be fun to convert this into a split front card. Here's what I came up with:

The image is a freebie from Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine - if you've never picked up a copy of this magazine then give it a try because most issues include a 2-page spread of free images that you can scan, copy and then use over and over. I coloured the image with Copic markers and then added some drops of Glossy Accents on the petals to give the impression of dewdrops. For the card base itself, the main paper is Coordinations "White Wash" with Basic Grey patterned paper for the trim and interior.

I have to chuckle a bit at posting this Spring card. I live in a very temperate area of Canada where we rarely get snow, yet what did I wake up to this morning? About 6" of snow! So I may be getting a bit ahead of myself with this Spring card, but I guess there's no harm in dreaming.

Challenges:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Looking forward ...

... to new opportunities

I created today's card as a going away/good luck in your new job card for my boss' boss, Trish. She has been a great leader for our team so I really wanted to send her a special card to wish her well in her new job.

I chose a vintage image from Create with TLC (coloured with Copics) and coupled it with Basic Grey papers from one of their newer sets, "Curio". I love the elegance of these papers - they are subtle and pretty and quite dignified. I kept the card clean of embellishments in respect for Trish's own personal style. I love being able to make cards that are appropriate for any occasion and any style!

Challenges:

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Daisy chain girl

The weather here is completely dreary - so far today we've had hail, snow, rain, sun, snow ... I think you get the picture. So in retaliation I've focused on making a very Spring-y card.
I used one of my favourite Stamping Bella stamps for this card. The colouring is done with Copics and then I've added some Glossy Accents to the balloons. And it's hard to see, but there are tiny pearls at each gather of her dress. This little lady is definitely ready for a fancy party! The papers are all Basic Grey and the sentiment is computer generated. I added a felt daisy chain strip across the front and then added more little pearls to the centre of each daisy. I've gotta say, those tiny pearls are a real pain to work with (I think I lost more than I ended up using).  For the card design, I used a sketch from Paperworks Company:
Challenges:

Monday, February 21, 2011

Extreme Birdhouse Makeover & Ezee Pzee Reveal

OK, I admit that I stole my title from the new issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine, but today's project is absolutely inspired by the CSM cover and I think you are going to LOVE IT (but then, it's an Ezee Pzee project so what isn't to love?).

Here are the components of my Ezee Pzee Dezign team package. Kathy at Ezee Pzee always puts together the most inspiring collections - can you believe the intricacy of the butterflies? And how about that acrylic swirl & bird!
As soon as I saw that we were getting a birdhouse, I knew that I wanted to convert my birdhouse into a wind-chime. I chose Basic Grey patterned paper, along with some acrylic paint for covering the hard to paper parts of the birdhouse. For the chimes, I found a set of really ugly windchimes at my local consignment store (for a grand total of $2) and dismantled them for the chimes.
I decorated my Ezee Pzee bird by first colouring with Copic markers and then adding a layer of Glossy Accents. The eye of the bird is a tiny black brad. I created a picket fence for my bird to perch on with a Martha Stewart border punch. The front of the birdhouse is embossed with a wood-grain embossing folder to give extra dimension. The flowers are coloured with Copics, Glossy Accented and also spritzed with a heirloom gold glimmer mist.
The back of the birdhouse is simple, with more of the wood-grain embossed paper and then a line of flowers. Don't tell anyone (lol) but these flowers are part of the soon-to-be released line of Ezee Pzee borders that Kathy & I have been working on. I'll probably get in trouble for showing them but they are just too perfect for this project that I figured I would risk it.
I decided to use all 3 butterflies on the one roof. I first inked them using cherry coloured Walnut Ink. Then I spritzed them with gold glimmer mist for a bit of shine. I added some tiny pearls to the wings of the centre butterfly. I love the detailed scrollwork on the butterfly wings - these needed next to no embellishing.

This final side of the birdhouse includes my favourite piece of the Ezee Pzee set - the acrylic bird. This bird is just so sweet that I didn't actually want to do anything with it but I finally forced myself to add some colour using alcohol inks. I attached it to the roof at a bit of an angle so that light can filter through it. The flower is layered paper cut using Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers die but I've added one of the Ezee Pzee chipboard flowers to the centre. At first I just used Copic markers and Glossy Accents on the flower but at the last minute I added some alcohol ink to link it more with the bird.
My last step was adding a line of scalloped felt along the roof line, and then another scalloped piece to the bottom (this is one of Martha Stewart's deep cut border punches). I'll be honest though, the main reason I added the scallop pieces was to hide my messy hot glue work building the birdhouse. I've never been able to use hot glue without making a mess!


Do you want to make your own birdhouse? Visit Ezee Pzee (on the web or Facebook) and put in an order. Or check out one of the stores that are lucky enough to carry these products. I'd love to see what you create!
Oh, and one final note, check out the other Dezign Team member blogs to see what they did with this great kit:

Challenges:





Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sparkly felt and a strip of ribbon

Today's card is based on a card I saw in a recent issue of Paper Craft magazine. The focus of the article was on using felt for projects - this is something I haven't done before but I did have a bunch of felt available (in the kids' doodle drawers).
I chose a sparkly white felt and free hand-cut a dress shape. I wanted to keep it very simple so just added a thin strip of ribbon around the waist. The dress really sparkles but unfortunately that doesn't come through in the photo. The sentiment is computer-generated then cut out and layered.

I've decided to donate this card to Cards for Kids since I don't have many opportunities to give cards to young ladies. My kids are still quite young (and boys) so all the cards I make for them & their friends are of the goofy/childish variety. I'm thoroughly enjoying making cards for Cards for Kids though since I can use it as an excuse to make cards for all ages and types of kids. If you love to make cards, then check out the site and think about donating a few!

Challenges:


Thursday, February 17, 2011

Christmas elf

My quest to make a couple of Christmas cards each month continues. This card uses a sweet image from Mo's Digital Pencil along with an interesting folded frame that I found on a challenge site. You can find the tutorial here.
I used a double-sided paper from my scrap bin for the frame but the larger backing paper is from Basic Grey. If you were looking at the entire sheet, you would see that the letters Christmas are spelled out using lines of tiny text. Of course I wasn't thinking and cut the paper the wrong way so the lines of text are running vertically. Well, at least the text is so small that it isn't obvious!

After colouring the little elf, I added some white fun flock to the pom poms and hat brim. There are also some gold Stickles on the bell at the end of his hat. I contemplated adding Glossy Accents to the candy cane but decided against it because I worried that the shine would look too splashy for such a vintage/muted card.

I used a sketch from Pixie Cottage although I have to admit to leaving out the corner adornments. I tried a lot of different things but they all just looked too busy. Probably should have made the card square so that there would've been room. Even without, I quite like this card. It's simple but interesting. And the folded frame gives it great dimension.


Challenges:

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Birthday book

Update:  Yippee! This card was chosen as a reader favourite on the Scrapbooks Etc gallery.

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I created this card template after seeing something similar in a crafting magazine. I used nothing but scrap papers (the diamond paper is left over from a Halloween Harry Potter scrapbook page) to create this book-shaped card. The image is part of a Harry Potter-inspired digital stamp set from Bugaboo - isn't it just fabulous?

One weirdness about the card - in the picture it looks like the top left brad is black but I swear that all 4 brads are the same colour burgundy!

Challenges:

Charisma Cardz - mythical/fantasy (Hermione, the wizard, is definitely fantasy!)
Copic Creations - use warm colours (the robes are neutral, but the Griffindor colours in the scarf, book and papers are all warm)
Karber Weekly - use a digi, birthday
Our Creative Corner - feature some kind of cutting technique (I hand-cut the swooped line to give the appearance of pages)
Stampin With The Dragon - anything goes
Stamping Vacation - no flowers
The Outlawz Copic Challenge - shading & highlighting

Monday, February 14, 2011

Peek-a-boo Bear

I haven't added an inside sentiment to today's card but I figure it could end up being either "And a happy birthday to you!" or "I love you!" depending on the occasion. Regardless of what I end up writing on the inside, I'm pretty pleased with the front. The cutie-patootie bear is a Dustin Pike creation - isn't he just so adorable? I coloured him with Copic markers and then popped him on top of a few layers of Basic Grey papers. The entire thing looked a bit plain so I added in some faux stitching which I think finishes off the card quite nicely. The heart tag was sitting in my stash and with the addition of "Peek-a-boo" makes a great sentiment.

I used a really nice sketch from i{heart}2stamp -

Challenges:
I can't believe how many challenges this card applies to. Everyone is thinking love & hearts this week!

Monday, February 7, 2011

A bunch of birthday balloons

Every challenge I check out these days is all about Valentine's Day, love, hearts, etc, etc. Well, I had to give in and do a lovey-dovey card but I refuse to make a Valentine's Day card this year (I'm anti-romance right now) so I turned this into a sweet birthday card that I plan to include in the next batch of cards going to Cards for Kids.
I usually use digi stamps but this Stamping Bella rubber stamp caught my eye a while ago. I love the delicacy of the figure and the swishyness (is that a word?) of the dress. After colouring, I added some Stickles to the dress & shoes to give a bit of glitter. I tried to make the scalloped hearts look as if they were part of the balloon cluster so I added a layer of Glossy Accents to both the balloons and the die cut hearts.

Challenges:

Thanks to Feline Playful for providing lists of challenges - I've found a couple of new challenges to follow and participate in. Yippee!

C.R.A.F.T. - use a die cut (I used nestabilities scalloped hearts)
Crazy Challenge - lots of love
Creative Cowgirls - love is in the air
I Did it Creations - love is in the air
Paper Crafting Journey - love is in the air
Paper Playtime - use cupid or hearts
Polkadoodle - with hearts
Simon Says Stamp - love is in the air
Stamp with Fun - love

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Can I brighten your day?

On the weekend I picked up a crafting magazine and inside was a pack of paper which ... well, to say it is bright is probably understating it. Never one to shirk a challenge, I decided to see if I could make a couple of cards with this extremely cheerful paper. I believe I succeeded. And although neither of these are my style, they should do quite nicely for Cards for Kids (my project to provide hand-made cards for hospitalized children).
I used a wonderful vintage-looking image of a kitten that I found through CDAC. This image was offered free by Robyn's Fetish for use in CDAC's second colour challenge. Don't you just adore how sweet and feminine the cat looks? I used last week's sketch from Midnight Madness for the layout and then added a single embellishment - the flowered branch - made using a Sizzix diecut.
This card uses another image that I've had forever (and in fact, has been coloured for close to a year). "Fairy Cake Tilly" is a freebie (that you can still get!) from Digital Doodling. I kept this card very simple as well because the design paper is just so darned bright.

I may not use much more of the free paper pack, but at least I met my personal challenge and used a couple of sheets of it!

Challenges: