Sew nice

One of the highlights of last week's visit with Mom was a trip out to see her friend Kathy. Kathy has started an engraving business (http://www.engravit.net/) and is expanding into the scrapbook/paper crafting market. She has already created some wonderful laser-cut die sets (including the sewing set that I used for my card) and is exploring other products. I talked her ear off with suggestions about other chipboard products she should consider producing (things like albums, alphabets, storage solutions). And at the end of our visit she presented me with an entire box of chipboard shapes!!! It was physically painful having to wait until I got home this past weekend to use any of them but I managed to survive the ordeal.

My first project using Kathy's dies is this thank you card for my Mom. I used several pieces from the sewing set (buttons, spool, scissors, dressform) along with some glittery alpha stickers.

Here is a close-up of tthe spool as I'm quite pleased with how it worked out. I coloured the top & bottom of the spool with Copic C09 and then added Glossy Accent to give the impression of a raised lip. Next I coloured white cross-stitch floss with Copic R83 to match the background paper and then wound the floss around the spool. I really think it looks "real".

The scissors are also coloured (C03 for the blades, C09 for the handle) with Glossy Accents added to the handle. The buttons are coloured with R83 with Glossy Accents over top and they are sewn onto the paper. As a finishing touch I added stitching to the edge of the card.

Challenges:

Fussy & Fancy Challenge - pink & black

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - don't use any images, just die cuts, sentiments

Sentimental Sundays - anything goes

The end of vacation

I had a wonderful 2 weeks off - lots of driving, visiting and touring. There will be plenty of scrapbook pages coming if I ever get the chance to sort through the hundred + photos I took. But first things first, I have to make a few thank you cards.

The first card I've finished is for the friend who took care of our cats. She is a cat lover so I decided to make up this card for her.

The card is actually a re-do of one I made ages ago but wasn't totally happy with. I love the image (from Karen's Doodles) and the brown/pink papers (from Basic Grey "Bittersweet" collection), but I wasn't happy with the way the card was finished. I ended up changing the embellishments - adding the 3 brown/pink flowers with jewelled brad inserts, the brown scroll line and adding the sentiment. You can't see well in the photo but there are Stickles and Glossy Accents added to the crown, the pattern on the chaise, and the heart tag.

Challenges:

Karen's Doodles - Anything goes

Creative Card Crew - Cute & girly

Tiddly Inks Halloween Hop

Tiddly Inks is doing their second blog hop a little differently:

Link your entry in the Inlinkz box for the blog hop on the challenge blog and then wait until 6 PM when we close the Inlinkz list. Then come on back to the challenge blog and visit all the entries in the Inlinkz list. When you click on each entry, it should open a new window with the blogger's card and entry...kinda cool, huh? It means we don't have to direct you to the next blog.... just go back to the challenge blog to keep going through the entries.


The DT members have their amazing cards listed already, but the full blog hop STARTS AT 6 PM CST after eveyone has a chance to list their cards. :) The hop officially ends July 24, and we have planned a party on the PCP page from 6 PM until 10 PM on July 24, so please stop by.


There are some pretty good prizes, whether you participate or or just leave comments, so go take a peek at the full hop details here.


Happy Halloween! :) I hope you enjoy all the magical entries! :)

So, in keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I present my first Halloween card of the season ...

The images are both from Tiddly Inks and they are just sooooo cute. The little pumpkin is a freebie right now for members of the Tiddly Inks PCP group and when I first saw him, I just knew that he had to be layered. I printed him off 3 times and then fussy-cut each section. The vampire robot is on a spring so that he not only pops out, but bounces as well. I really wanted to capture that sense of movement since Halloween is all about the sugar rush. You can see the layering a bit better in this picture.

I used a Martha Stewart border punch (grass) for the bottom layer of the step card and the sentiment is just printed off my computer. How timely, that my LSS sent around an email yesterday telling us that she had the brand-new Cuttlebug folders in and one set just happened to be robot-themed. I embossed some Co-ordinations "Black Magic" paper and then sanded it to bring out the green.

Well, I have the feeling this won't be my only Halloween card even though I still have some left over from last year. I LOVE Halloween! Now, go back to Tiddly Inks and check out all the other projects on the blog hop.

Pollycraft flash your freebie

I adore Pollycraft digital images and she's been incredibly generous with freebies. If you aren't already following her website and PCP group, then go right on over and join. 

I coloured this cutie with Copic markers and then fussy-cut another copy of the balloons for layering over top (to give a 3-D look). There's some glossy accents on the heart on his sweater so it would stand out a bit more too. I found this red/white ribbon in a bargain bin at Michaels and I thought it just picked up the circus feel of the image. The sketch used is from MAWTT.

Challenges:

• Pollycraft Monday Challenge - bold & bright
• Pollycraft Monday Challenge - flash your freebie
• MAWTT - sketch; include an animal

LIfe's a beach!

I've had a pretty productive weekend that resulted in several cards and a scrapbook page. And just so you don't think I spent all my time inside, I also threw in a day of yardwork and a trip to the beach today. And so in honour of an afternoon spent sunning and sand-castle building, here is a simple little card made using a Michelle Perkett freebie (currently on offer at CDAC).

I used Basic Grey papers (from Green at Heart) along with some scrap ribbon. I wanted to add a bit of bling so added the row of rhinestones on the left along with a pink gem in the girl's hair. I also added some Stickles to the starfish but it is so subtle as to be unnoticeable.

The sketch is for CDAC's sketch challenge and was quite easy/versatile to use. I'll have to keep this one handy for the future.

Challenges:

• Everybody Art - vacation (nothing beats a vacation at the beach)
• C.R.A.F.T. - child/baby (features a child)
• All Sorts Challenge - summer days
• One Stop Craft Challenge - pink, blue, green and a hint of red (it's hard to see but the centres of the flowers is red)
• Our Creative Corner - beach
• By the Cute & Girly - warm summer days
• CDAC Sketch Challenge - sketch

Donkey smiles for Michelle

Todays card has been created as a RAK for a special person in the crafting world. Michelle is a design team member for many of my favourite sites and I've always admired her work although I've never actually communicated directly with her. She clearly is special though because since she was injured (see her full story here) more people than I can count have jumped forward to send her cards, words of encouragement and financial assistance with medical bills. Several digital companies are offering free images in honour of Michelle and I picked this one from Karen's Doodles.

Isn't the donkey just too cute? Of course I coloured him with Copics - the hooves were a challenge but finally ended up OK (although perhaps still a bit too dark?). I wanted to create a special/interesting card so I went with this overlapping tri-fold. If you want to try it, here are the steps. I'm afraid I don't have exact measurements.

1. Stick 2 card blanks on top of each other to create a 3-panel card. Make sure the front panels overlap each other, then close the card with the left panel on top.
2. Open the card and on the front left panel, measure about 1/3 of the way from the top-left corner and then about 2/3 of the way from the bottom-right corner. Cut a diagonal line between these 2 points making sure to stop at the fold.
3. Close the card so that the right panel is on top. Measure 2/3 of the way down from the top-right corner and 1/3 of the way up from the bottom-left corner. Cut a diagonal line between the 2 points, again making sure to stop at the fold.
4. Trim 1/2 - 3/4" from the shorter edge of both front panels.
5. Matte and layer the different card panels (I used Basic Grey patterned and miscellaneous purple card).
6. Decorate as desired

Here is another photo of the card taken to show the different panels.

I chose a Rainbow Echo sentiment (created just for Michelle) which I circle punched and then layered onto another circle of the same size. I adhered the donkey onto some white card and then cut out the entire thing so that he could be popped out and up. P.S., never fussy-cut an image with flower petals on it ... what was I thinking?

Well the card is on its way to Michelle and I hope it brings her some pleasure. Reading her blog it sounds as if she is being flooded.

Challenges:

• A Spoon Full of Sugar - kickin' it for Michelle
• Paper Sundaes - lots of layers
• Karen's Doodles - UK - shaped cards (I know this looks rectangular when closed but open it up and it's definitely not)
• By the Cute & Girly - warm summer days
• Allsorts Challenge - summer days
• Totally Gorjuss - thinking of you
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - animals

Twas the night before Christmas ...

Well, it's several nights before Christmas but it's never too early to get started on one's holiday cards. For this card I used a vintage image that was recently offered by Create with TLC. I'm not sure what the family is collecting but I decided that it was evergreens and mistletoe for the holidays. I coloured the image using Copics and then added a few dots around the border with Christmas red Stickles. I wanted to stick with traditional colours but make them quite vintage in feel so I used muted greens, reds & yellows for the clothes. I imagine that the girls' dresses would've been made by their mother, probably out of the same bolt of fabric, so they all match but with different trims and structure. I think I may have spent a bit too much time thinking on this one (LOL).

I love to re-use and recycle and so rather than making a poinsettia flower, I pulled this one off an old Christmas gift tag. A little trimming and it works wonderfully.

The sketch is from Crafty Creations:

I decided to treat this as if the card was divided into 4 squares and so I used two slightly different shades of brown card in order to create a bit more interest (all the colours are quite muted). The final touch was the ribbon which was found in my stash (and amazingly was exactly the right length).

Challenges:

• 
  
  Crafty Creations - sketch
• 
  
  Cute Card Thursday - Christmas
• 
  
  Fab 'n Funky - Christmas
• 
  
  Little Red Wagon - use a tree somewhere (the image includes a tree)
• 
  
  Stamp Something - something digital (the image is digital)