Thursday, June 29, 2017

You Rock!

This is going to be a quick post.  I should be just under the deadline for the QKR Stampede Challenge - Paper Piecing .


This is QKR Stampede Image 9211, however I could not find it to link back to. Maybe it has been discontinued???



I find round cards difficult to make.  Lining everything up and getting it to set correctly can be challenging.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to do my paper piecing and cut the image.  The Silhouette was also used for the shape of the card, the rope trim and the star on the inside.  I needed the star to balance the card.  

I said this would be a quick post.  The end!

Thursday, June 22, 2017

For the Love of Gingham

I actually made and photographed this card more than 2 weeks ago and would have posted, but sometimes your life gets pushed in a different direction.  I'm taking few minutes to get this posted so I can enter Power Poppy's power-spark-june-challenge-go-ahead-bug.  For their Junebug Challenge, all you need to do is use a 'bug' on you card and in my case the bug (butterfly) is the the card.





Surprise! I used my Silhouette Cameo for the shape of the card.  If you don't own one these amazing machines, you may not know that you can use it to edit a digi and set it against a digital background
like my new favorite, black gingham.  This butterfly easal card was purchased from The Silhouette Design Store.  The pretty sunflowers are from Power Poppy's Sunshine of My Life digital collection.
I colored the sunflowers on the front with Copics and chose not to color the inside.  On the front I accented the gingham with a black frame. The only other items used are pearls and a pretty black bow from Paper Studio.  The sentiment is My Sentiments Exactly! H162.

The card below follows the basic technique as the butterfly only this time the shape was taken from the digi itself.  Did I tell you this machine is amazing?

The Retro Telephone image  is from Buddly Crafts.  As I was linking back to the store, I noticed they have a bunch of new digi's I need to check out. Love there stuff.

I did post this at Splitcoast Stampers late last month.

Final thought. Have you said "I love you" lately?

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Window and Roses

Well it finally warmed up didn't it. Now we can start complaining about the heat. They say we may break 100 deg. mark today.  So I will be enjoying the AC and looking out my window at all the pretty flowers my husband has planted.

I will be entering this in the Inkspirational Challenge136-designers-Choice-Widows.



When I buy a new digi, one of the first things I do is make into a cutting file. Some of them can be very challenging. Although this one may appear to be difficult, it was actually quite easy. The key is having no openings to the inner parts the digital image. The Silhouette  will cut those tiny branches, but they would be very week, so I used the offset tool to leave a little bit of a white edge.


I colored the image with Copics and placed in front of this pretty window, which was also cut with the Silhouette. I used Spellbinder's Exquisite Label's 10 for the card base.

One more thing before I go and I've been thinking about this awhile.  Don't you think it's proper blog etiquette to  leave a comment on at least one or two of the designers cards, when entering a contest?
Just saying...

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Go Big

I just love this Power Poppy sunflower. If you've been to my blog before, you may notice I tend to like larger images and maybe that's why the sunflower is one of my favorite images. It's definitely big and definitely not shy. So here is the irony.. I'm 5'2" and kind of shy.  I married a 6'2" fella, so maybe he's my sunflower?

This card is 7-1/2  X  3-5/8


Watercolors seem to be all the rage. I used my Zig watercolor markers. I've had them for over a year and I can tell you there are many projects that went to into file 13.  The Zig watercolor brush marker colors are very vibrant and beautiful, but I have trouble blending them. A friend suggested that I lay the colors down on an acrylic blog and blend them with a wet brush.  It kind of defeats the purpose of a brush marker, but it seems to work for me.  I have not used true watercolor paper, as it is too heavy to go through my printer.  This is some paper I found that has that porous type quality and close to 110# weight. 

I printed this with  MS Word and formated it to print with a black frame. The other pretty paper I used is DCWV Pocket Blossom. 

I'm linking this up to Power Poppy's May Challenge - Frame it Up.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

No Place Like Home

This has become my new passion! When I saw this  Parkside Row House from SVG Cuts, I became obsessed.  I went to Michaels and they had their 12X12 paper packs on sale for 70% off. I bought six!!  If you know me at all, you know I love all those beautiful papers, but struggle to use them on my cards.  The neat thing is the roof comes off and you can use them as gift boxes.

I wanted to share my excitement with you, so I have lots of pictures. 🙂







Pretty cool all lit up!


This assembled project is  13H X 5-1/2W  X 9-1/2D.  SVG Cuts has a large variety of cutting files, each one uniquely beautiful. For the Silhouette Cameo (which is what I have) you will need the designer upgrade.  Each file has a step by step video. 

I used Michaels' Recollections Painted Fancy for the patterned paper and aqua textured cardstock. The white trim is plain white cardstock  and the windows are lined with vellum. I tried various glues and my favorite is Score-Pal, but you better be certain of your placement before you make contact.
My next favorite is Zip Dry because you have plenty of time to adjust and any excess cleanly rubs off. 

I noticed after I took the pictures that my pearls were not straight.  I was able to straighten them, but didn't think I wanted to set up for a new shoot. 

I'm still making cards, but I have another house to finish. 





Monday, April 3, 2017

After the Rain

The Splitcoast CAS challenge this week was rain or anything that would relate to rain.



I attempted to water color this Just Inklined digital stamp.  I did not use watercolor paper and it wrinkled at bit. I used a Viva Paper Pen for some rain drops that don't show on the folder. After the time I spent coloring this I didn't want to ruin it with big drops that I couldn't correct, so it is what it is. I used Michael's Painted Fancy and a Memory Box Stitched Square to frame the image.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Bloomin Boots

This is a card I made for Splitcoast Stampers Saturday Inspiration Challenge. Ya, that's right... it took me a whole day to complete.  I think I've mention that I have the concentration of a gnat. I've been working on a large paper project and several other cards.  I'll drop a project and pick up another if I turn my head.  I guess after years of deadlines and stress, I've gone completely bonkers. And if you are old enough 😊you don't care how you get there or even if you get there.

Here is the link to my inspiration piece:  John Flevog - Montaigne-Blue


I thought this would be good practice coloring black.  Need more practice!

This Just Inklined digital image was colored with Copics and cut with the Silhouette Cameo. The sentiment is Verve Stamps and the die is Wonky-Stitched Rectangles from MFT.

This post took an hour, because I got distracted a couple of times.

 Related image

Monday, March 27, 2017

Folded Butterfly

Just when you're all comfy with your laziness and your mojo has taken a walk, someone comes along and starts poking at you.  A friend sent me an email suggesting that we should both promise to make a card this week.


Well, the poke was just what I needed, so thank you my friend. I can't wait to see yours.

I kind of copied this idea from an embellishment that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  I folded some light weight patterned paper and using scissors, snipped around the edges to shape the butterfly.  The body was cut using the Silhouette and some awesome Recollections glitter card stock. The center is brad from Making Memories.  I made an embossed frame with a Life Style die.

I will be entering this in the Double "D" Challenge - Things That Fly.




Thursday, February 9, 2017

Shadows and Light

A couple of years ago I took a water coloring class and I failed with a BIG FAT F!  The type of water color the instructor used was masking and precise strokes. I was looking for something more whimsical and less defined. I did learn something regarding shading and determining which direction the light was coming from.  I do like experimenting with my Copics. I think I will try some online classes if I ever again have the desire to use my water colors.



This is Power Poppy's digital stamp Sunshine of My Life.  I wanted to enter this in their challenge this month which calls for no-line coloring, I printed in a +30 brightness, but you can still see the lines.  It does however fit Double "D's" Challenge of "Lavender and Lace".  This is my second entry for their challenge.  I am number 13 on fist entry, and another number may do better for that random draw. 

Stamps:  Power Poppy, Spellbinder (Sentiment)
Dies: Memory Box Stitched Squares - Spellbinder Labels 41 & A2 Bracket Borders One
Paper: Create and Craft Double Sided Gingham Pastel & 120# white card stock.

And just for fun:


            





Saturday, February 4, 2017

Grandma's Table Cloth

I wanted to do something for the Double "D" Challenge which is Lavender and Lace  and I remembered these Gladiolas from Power Poppy.



I cut the image with the Silhouette Cameo and proceeded to color it with Copics. My (2) lavender Copics were pretty much dried out, so I went over the peddles with my Prisma pencils. 

The background is a Silhouette design fittingly called "Grandma's Tablecloth". When I placed the image on top of the lace background it was just too busy, so I due cut some vellum with Spellbinder's Floral Ovals and placed the gladiolas on top with some dimensionals. When I cut the vellum, the edges curled upwards, which I considered a plus. As a finishing touch, I added a little white bow from Paper Studio. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Peek-a Boo-Kitten

I'm on a Valentine kick. And how could you not be with cute stamps like this one from High Hopes?


 I haven't used this stamp for quite a few years, so I decided to visit their online store. Oh my goodness, they have some really cute stamps.

I cut the image with the Silhouette Cameo and colored it with Copics.  I used my pencils for shading around him and behind the fence, mostly because I did not want anything to bleed through. The fence and XOXO were also cut with the Silhouette Cameo. I used dimensionals under the kitten and fence, then added a couple of heart stickers from Hobby Lobby just to balance everything out.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Black Patent Heart

I made this card for the Double "D" Challenge - black-and-white-and-party-continues.  I don't think I have ever made a black and white card.  But the Double "D"s Design Team has really inspired me. Plus the prizes are pretty awesome.

I started out with some pattern paper that I purchased from Hobby Lobby's open stock.



I scanned the patterned paper and brought the image into the Silhouette Studio, extracted one of the "Love", enlarged it then cut it with some glossy black paper.  I needed the design cut to stand out a little more so I traced it and used the offset tool then cut it on white.


This card shape is one of my favorites.  I layered the scalloped frames with dimensional foam dots. The beautiful black heart is the finishing touch.  In this case a "Black Heart" is a good thing. 

Recollection's gloss black from Boo Paper Pad
Paper Studion patterned paper
White Cardstock
Penny Black Heart Die
Spellbinders Label Dies (I don't know the correct name)
foam dimensionals
Silhouette Cameo






Tuesday, January 17, 2017

HE WILL BRING YOU THROUGH IT

This is the first time I've used this QKR digi and I've had it for better than a year.  I just couldn't quite figure out how to use it until now.




I designed my card using the Silhouette Cameo.  I do this if even if I am not cutting anything. It makes arranging the layout very easy.  For this card I used QKR's  digi 17915 Flower Boarder.
I mirrored the image, then flipped it.  I inserted the sentiment from Silhouette's Design Studio between the flower boarders and used the alignment tool to center everything, then sent it to the printer.


So no cutting this time.  I colored the image with my Copics, and made some shadows to give it more dimension. I used a square Life Style die to emboss the edges. Then I used foam dimensionals to mount it onto the card.

I am entering this card in QKR Stampede's #226 CAS Challenge.