A Little Pickup

Woodblock Floral

Playing along today with Less is More for a black-and-white challenge. I chose a vintage stamp from my stash that I’ve always loved for its drama and simplicity, stamping first in Versamark onyx ink then embossing with black powder. I added just a little interest in the frame by cutting with a dotted rectangle die then embossing with a smaller die inside. 

Thanks for looking!

Get Well Card

Playing along today with the latest AAA challenge "Mood Board," all about medicine. A great chance to make a get well card for my stash!

I used an Altenew stamp for the kitten, yarn ball and sentiment. Starting with watercolor paper, I stamped the kitten and yarn ball with distress oxide inks, then cut out the kitten with a circle smaller than the image, to give the impression of her paws reaching out. I also added a tail to the yarn ball to extend over the edges of the paper layers. I chose a subtle brown color for the kitten, to denote feeling a little less energetic than usual, and a bright yellow for the yarn, to represent starting to feel better. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine onyx ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder to smooth out the ink on the watercolor paper.

Thanks for looking!

Chinese Lanterns

Playing along with the latest challenge over at Less is More, "Vellum." I started by using my watercolor crayons on the Chinese Lantern stamp from Penny Black, then cut a square of vellum paper and an embossed frame, adhering them together. I added a double-layer sentiment, staggering the layers to give a shadow effect, then added some bling with a few jewels.

The vellum softened the stamped image quite nicely, but I added a bit of highlighting on top of the vellum with my glitter pen. I like the sparkle!

Thanks for looking!

Christmas in July

Playing along today with AAA Cards Challenge "Christmas in July (Pets)."

What happens in July? Camping! I chose one of my favorite little pets to roast marshmallows over a campfire, all dressed up as Santa's elf. I mounted it on a red, Christmas paper background.

This card was fun because I was able to use one of my vintage stamp sets from Stamping' Up! along with a Christmas release that Simon Says Stamp put out a couple years ago.

Thanks for looking!

Rainbow Stripes

I’m on a balloon kick lately!

For the latest challenge, Code Word: Stripes over at Addicted to CAS, I started with a pale watercolor in rainbow colors using an Altenew stencil on watercolor paper. I cut out the balloon from a scrap of red card stock, added the highlight with white pen, then popped it up slightly with adhesive squares. I then drew on the string with a gel pen, and added a few gems. 

I used a hot foil die for the sentiment in silver foil, fussy cut it then adhered it to the card with liquid glue. The card was trimmed with a Spellbinders die, then adhered to white card stock.

  

Shaker Card

Shaker cards are always a challenge for me, so I thought it would be fun to try again. My granddaughter wants to travel to “someplace with palm trees” and the color scheme of Game 216 are her colors, giving me inspiration for her birthday card.

With shaker cards I always run into the problem of the tiny jewels and crystals in the shaker window sticking to the adhesive on the sides. This time, instead of using wider foam tape all around to create the shaker, I cut a rectangle from foam, adhered that to the acrylic with liquid glue, then added a very thin line of foam tape to the outside of the acrylic to pop up more room for the crystals. Along with loading up the window with crystals and jewels, it seemed to do the trick. I used heat-resistant acrylic for the window, onto which I embossed the palm tree, and created the “Happy Birthday” banner with vellum card stock.

 

Glam Cat

 

For this card I used an older Altenew set with layers for the whiskers. To add a bit of fun I took a rose stamp from another set for kitty to hold in her teeth. I added a bit of glamour and bling with two layers of silver embossing powder for the cat's fur, with a tiny bit of white on her tail and paws, and some glitter pen on the rose, lettering, and heart background.

Cats are just naturally glamorous but a little help can't hurt!

Supporting Ukraine

Sunflowers and Sky Blue Heart

 The war in Ukraine has become more real to me, as one of the card designers who has inspired me over the past few years is a Ukrainian citizen. Yana Smakula and her husband Oles are not just Ukranian citizens. They are active resistance members who regularly purchase and deliver medical, food, and military supplies to the front in spite of now spending their nights in bunkers. I admire their show of strength and determination in the face of the bully Putin.

I made this card with the only sunflower (Ukraine's national flower) stamp I own, which is vintage Stampin Up. The flowers were done in watercolors and alcohol inks, the heart in Distress Oxides.

Floral Silhouette

It’s really been awhile since I posted to this blog. I’ve nearly forgotten how to do it! And I see I need to practice my card photography skills.

Coming out of a kind of creative slump, I decided the best therapy is to join a card challenge. This one is for the AAA cards challenge “silhouette,” a perfect opportunity to creat a clean and simple card with just three features.

For the sun I made a template from a circle die, then blended Distress Oxides in two shades. For the flower silhouette I dug back into my old Stampin’ Up stash and found a solid stamp. I used Versafine onyx ink for that and for the sentiment, which is from a Simon Says Stamp collection. Then I die cut the picture and adhered it to a card of 110# bond.

Making this card was great therapy!

The Mythical, Mystical Llamacorn

Today I’m playing along with the challenge over at AAA: use up to 1/3 white space with optional twist. I stamped the mystical beast using the Flora and Fauna Mermaid Animals set. I challenged myself to practice my alcohol marker skills, which are very basic, to give her some color. Then I trimmed the 80lb card stock with a A4 die and mounted it on a 100lb Neenah vertical card using foam tape.

Sparkly Diamonds

Code Word: Diamonds

Today I'm playing along at the Less is More challenge. I used a cube creator stencil from Altenew for the diamond-shaped goldfish, swimming into a net of "diamonds" created by using a generic fishing net die as a stencil. The ink is Distress Oxide in Spiced Marmalade and Mermaid Lagoon. I smooshed some GinaK clear Glitz glitter gel on the goldfish to make them sparkle, then gave them sparkly blue eyes. Thanks for looking!

Rainbow Swirl

It's been well over a year since I replaced card making with mask making! Now that I have a good mask inventory to share with people (should they be needed!) I'm getting back to my favorite craft/art, card making. It feels good.

Stencils and dry embossing are lots of fun, so I've tried both here. I masked off a 1" strip on the left of a piece of Neenah Classic Crest, and blended on distress oxide inks in rainbow colors. Once the ink was dry, I ran the card through my embossing machine using a Hero Arts stencil. I love the result! I added a sentiment using one of CZ Design's word stamp sets, then dressed it up a little with just a few pieces of bling. I kept it CAS to enter AAA Card's current challenge.

Stenciled Rainbow Dahlias

I created this card with Altenew's Dahlia stencil and distress oxide inks. It needed a little something more, so I ran it through my embossing machine using one of my favorite texture plates. Then I added some "dew drops" using crystals to match the rainbow colors of the petals. Easy, simple! Thanks for looking.

Birthday Flower

Another 11th hour entry to the One Layer Card challenge over at Less is More! I know a lot of people don't look forward to the OLC challenges, but I'm finding that I'm enjoying the simplicity.

For this card I started with a simple flower from Simon Says Stamp's Beautiful Flowers set, stamped with Gina K's black amalgam ink that's alcohol ink-friendly. I then colored the flower with alcohol pens, and stamped the "Happy" sentiment (also from the Beautiful Flowers set). I wrote the birthday sentiment using my Kuritake brush pen.

Happy Birthday Balloons

 

A last-minute entry to the Less is More OLC challenge, Focus on the Sentiment. 

I began with a balloon stencil I made with my Cricut back when I was taking an online card class. With Distress Oxides I colored the balloons in Mermaid Lagoon and Squeezed Lemonade, creating a fun green shade when the two blended.

When the inks were dry, I simply stamped the sentiment, from Simon Says Stamp's Sketched Flowers set, in Gina K's black amalgam ink and heat embossed with Ranger clear embossing powder. I free-handed a little string to one balloon and that's it!

 

Friend Grid

Another grid pattern card, this one using Altenew's Grid Stencil with Distress Oxide inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Peeled Paint, and Squeezed Lemonade. I stamped over the grid with an old favorite from Stampin' Up! and added a die cut Prim Poppy from Memory Box. 

 

Grid Pattern Heart

Playing along today with Code Word "GRID" over at Addicted to CAS. I kept this simple, using a grid I'd made with my Cricut as a stencil with Distress Oxides in Worn Lipstick. The sentiment is from Honey Bee, stamped with Versafine Onyx and heat embossed with Ranger clear embossing powder. 

I die cut the layer with Lawn Fawn's Large Cross-Stitched Rectangle dies and adhered it to a card of 110-lb. Neenah solar white card stock.

 

Fintastic Friend

After a little break from cardmaking while I celebrated the holidays with family and friends, I'm excited to be entering CAS challenges again! Today I'm playing along Less Is More in a unique sketch challenge.

 

For this card I used a mermaid-fin stencil I created with my Cricut Explore Air. The colors are Distress Oxides in Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, and Mermaid Lagoon. I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx using Sunny Studios' Magical Mermaids stamp set. The mermaid tail is from Flora and Fauna's cute Mermaid Animals set. I stamped the tail with Versamark then heat embossed it with Ranger's Enchanted Gold. I added the bubbles for a little bit of bling.

Just for fun I made another card for this challenge! It was such a creative sketch my head filled with ideas. Butterflies seemed to fit.

I made this design using Simon Says Stamp's Beautiful Day set that was in a kit last summer. For the background I used the butterfly stencil from the kit and Distress Oxides in Seedless Preserves and Fossilised Amber. I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx and heat embossed with Ranger clear embossing powder. After adding a few sparkly gems and a little bit of glitter pen here and there, I was done!

Both of the designs were masked first using extra-wide purple tape.

 

Mostly White

Break time is over! After a couple of months when my creativity hijacked by a kitchen remodel that took way longer than I expected, I'm back at my craft table and making Christmas cards! This week I'm playing along with AAA Cards CAS Game "Mostly White," a design theme I really love. Had fun trying out some new Christmas dies.

For this one I used two Simon Says Stamp designs, Merry Dies from CZ Designs and Corbel Ornament Collage. I made the background using a partial emboss technique with one of my older Cuttlebug embossing folders after running the dies through. I popped up the embossed section with double-stick foam tape, then filled in the ornament die cuts using a Gelly Roll glitter pen. I stacked four die cuts of the word Merry and glued them together, then mounted them inside the die cut space letterpress-style.

 The picture below shows the glitter on the ornament a little better.