Make It Monday #114: Blown Ink + Fusion #4

I wasn't going to play along with the Make It Monday #114 : Blown Ink because I don't have any reinkers. I do have a couple of Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays (Mustard and Primrose) that haven't seen much use, so decided to play a bit and see if I could achieve some sort of usable design.

After a few panels went in the recycling bin, and I had a better feel for how the ink would behave, I came up with this panel.

The top of the panel was sprayed after I finished blowing the ink - I wanted a solid block of color under the negative of the "hello" die cut.

That Color Shine really does have a great color saturation and glimmer!

My second card is for the Fusion Card Challenge #4, and I fused the sketch and inspiration photo to create a card.

This is a card started with the half doily and really built itself very quickly. I am not 100% sold on the enamel dots on the sentiment strip, but love everything else about this card.

This one is also being entered in the Simon Says Stamp challenge as Anything Goes this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CAS(E) Sketch #25 + CASual Fridays + Simon Says

I was tidying my desk after finishing a couple of messy things tonight, when I spotted this card I made for the current CAS(E) Sketch Challenge.

I forgot to photograph it earlier, but realize if I don't post tonight I would miss the deadline, so we have the dreaded night time photo when you don't have a lightbox.  The card base is Soft Stone, so should have a bit of a gray cast to it.

It is one thing to miss a challenge because I haven't had time to make a card, but I hate missing because I didn't get a post up. Enough excuses - here is the sketch from Jackie Rockwell.

The challenge at CASual Fridays is Birthdays, so I am linking this card up over there.

At Simon Says Stamp the challenge is Anything Goes this week, so I am also linking this card up there.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink April 2013 Blog Hop Challenge

The challenge for the April Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is to add a tilted element to your project.

I was thrilled to see a box of goodies waiting at the door yesterday afternoon and started playing with them immediately.

Now that I've tried the partial die cut technique, I just can't stop - I love the look!

Morning carpool is calling me, but I will be back later to see what everyone else has created this month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse + Colour Q and Make It Monday

Why is it that some cards come together super fast and every time you look at them you think "I really like that", and others really don't work the way you envisioned?

This first card is one of those fast & easy ones.

The Muse for Challenge #14 is Virginia Lu and this card.

I replaced the flowers with butterflies and made a birthday card sticking very close to Virginia's design. The color palette is from Colour Q Challenge #186.

This card is also being entered in the Simon Says . . . Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp this week.

This second card is for the Make It Monday #113: Perfect Pearls Challenge. You can see Nichole Heady's tutorial here and join in the fun.

Oh my, I went in twenty different directions with this challenge. Let's just say the recycle basket is a little fuller this morning. I might come back to some of the other ideas later in the week, but this card came about because I rescued the sentiment from another card by cutting it down to a small panel. 

It is very hard to have everything shine in one photo, but you can see here I was able to use multiple colors of Perfect Pearls on the one stamp. This was way easier than I thought it would be and even wiping off the excess powder didn't mess up the color separation.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Three Cards/Five Challenges

We have had a very busy, very beautiful weekend here. The highlight for us was attending the retirement of our neighbor after twenty years service as a member of the Marine Corps - the day started with a military ceremony on the base parade deck and ended with a Luau at their home. I made this card, using the MFT sketch as my starting point.

I had what I thought were brass star brads in my stash, but when I went to attach them, I discovered they were push pins!?! 

I little muscle and wire clippers removed the pins and Glossy Accents was strong enough to hold the star in place.

For this second card, I used the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch and the CASual Fridays Challenge to make a birthday card.

 

I had fun making this final card for my daughter's birthday. When I saw the Simon Says Stamp Blog challenge this week is Travel/Cityscapes I knew I was going to use my new Hero Arts Cityscape die and a water colored background. Her really big gift this year is a trip to New York City, but she will be busy writing state tests on her actual birthday and have to wait 47 days for her trip once the school year is finished. 

I punched out all the "windows" on the building die cuts to mimic a sunrise (or sunset) being reflected off the glass.

This last card is also being entered in the Moxie Fab World The Wonder of Watercolor Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Tuesday Trigger: Wake-up Call

I have two cards to share today - both for the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World. I love everything about the retro, clean graphic style of this poster, including the sentiment. Late afternoon I might go for a chai tea, but most of the time coffee is my drink of choice and absolutely, definitely to start the day.

For the first card I stayed close to the original design and played around with various dies to get the look I wanted. It is the time of year to build up a stash of teacher appropriate thank you cards and this is a great one to deliver a coffee gift card.

Because only the negative of the "you" die cut was used on this card, I made a second card.

The Trigger photo inspired the use of the polka dot paper and color palette. 

For this card I finally played with the partial die cut technique I've seen a couple of places around the blogosphere in the last few weeks. I first saw it used by Joyce at Cards-by-the Sea and she directed us to Laura Bassen's tutorial at the Hero Arts blog.  Seeing this card today by Kelly Griglione, and the fact I had a little time to play around, prompted me to give it a try.

This is something I will definitely do again and is easier than it looks! My biggest tip is to have a sharp blade on your exacto knife for the cuts between letters.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CFC98: All That Glitters

My card making and posting is being timed between loads of laundry today. This one is for the CASual Fridays Challenge: All That Glitters.

CFC98:  Use glitter, stickles, glitter ribbon, etc on your CAS project to make it sparkle.

I used the pink and orange glitter papers from an American Crafts 6x6 pad to die cut the letters and part of a border. The "you" comes from Casual Fridays Stamps Only You set.

My card base is 4x4" - I've been playing around with a couple of different sizes for Thank You cards and trying to have a couple of little gift sets on hand. These make a pretty and useful teacher gift for the end of the year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #112: Embossed Alphabet Die Cuts

The PTI Make It Monday tutorial is presented by Ashley this week - you can watch it here. The challenge is to emboss alphabet die cuts and I strayed just a little bit, embossing a word die cut for this card instead of individual alphabet letters.

I cut the word "hello" from Raspberry Fizz card stock and stamped & white embossed a Background Basics: Text Style II stamp.

The "sweet baby" is from Daily Designs Sentiments and stamped on a Half & Half die cut. I created a color block design with dry embossed pieces of Raspberry Fizz and a scrap of patterned paper. A twine tied button anchors all the pieces together.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Fusion + MFT Thank You

I missed the first week of the Fusion Card Challenge, so put it to the top of the list when I knew I would have a little creative time today.

With this challenge, you have the option of using the sketch, the inspiration photo or both to create a Fusion - I used both on this card.

I had a small scrap of green chevron paper on my desk from a card I made last week and used it to cut an open circle border and left the remaining piece to anchor the design. The large dots look black in this photo, but are a dark grey and the sentiment is from MFT's Let's Toast stamp set.

This second card is for the My Favorite Things Weekly Stamp Club (MFTWSC119)  at Splitcoaststampers. You can check out the details of this sketch based challenge here on the MFT Forum.

I made the banner with Sentiment Strips dies and alphabet stamps from Let's Toast. Another Sentiment Strip is used to make the "birthday" banner.

Starbucks gift cards are popular with my daughter & her friends, so I love using this a la Mode Miss You a Latte to make her birthday cards.

My heart goes out to all those in Boston today - my daughter's seventh grade teacher ran the Boston Marathon numerous times, including the year she taught my daughter so it is a race we have paid attention to the last few years.

Jacquie

Make It Monday: Watercoloring Embossed Images Take Two

I am back with another take on the MIM challenge to watercolor an embossed image on a project. The details of the challenge and Heather's tutorial can be found on Capture the Moment.

I stamped and heat embossed the World Map using VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder, then watercolored the image with a few different shades of Distress Inks. The birthday ticket stamp from Just the Ticket and Destination ticket stamp were made the same way.

Can you guess what we promised our daughter for her 16th birthday?

The letters are cut using the Headline Alphabet dies and we are heading to New York City!

We live in an area where there are lots of people (like us) not from here - a few years ago friends were taking a trip to their birth city when their kids turned 16. I thought this was a neat idea, but we head to our kids' "birth city" every summer to visit family & friends anyway. My daughter said she would pick New York if she could go anywhere, so this trip has been planned, revised and gone through a few configurations over the last three years, but it is happening.

I am deep in the final planning stage right now, so feel free to share any tips or favorites things to do and see!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM#111 + CASology + CAS(E)

It has been a tough week to get in some crafting time, so I am combining a few challenges again today.

The Make It Monday challenge is to use a watercolored embossed image - you can see Heather's tutorial at Capture the Moment and link up your card too.

The CASology Cue Card this week is travel, so I stamped the globe from PTI's Destinations stamp set on a piece of Spring Rain card stock and heat embossed the image. The image is then watercolored to highlight the lines of the continents and water.

Did you recognize the card design from CAS(E) this Sketch?

The diagonal line is created with the Twist Die cover plate, and provides a spot to anchor the sentiment panels and the globe.

This sentiment is an absolute favorite of mine and something I am always saying to my destination focussed dear husband.

I have another watercolor panel drying, just not sure which direction that card is going and I have a few more chores to finish before I can get back to it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Magical Magnolias + Chevrons + Colour Q

It is serendipity how challenges work together sometimes. This card was started in my mind with the CASual Fridays Challenge to use both Flowers & Chevrons.

 

I had a Cuttlebug embossing folder and Memory Box die out on my desk, but hadn't found the time to put together a card yet. Yesterday Cath posted the new Tuesday Trigger: Magical Magnolias at Moxie Fab World and Arielle posted this week's Colour Q Challenge which inspired me to get this card done.

Now, I realize my flower die is not the same as the Magnolia blossoms on the tree, but they both have a very soft, feminine feel, so I went with it :)

I used the debossed side of the main panel, colored my flowers and pearls with the same copic marker and finished it off with one of my oldest wood mount stamps and favorite sentiments. In real life the pearls & flowers are the same color - the pearls are looking a little peachy to me here & I'm not sure why?

Since Simon Says . . . April Showers and Spring Flowers this week, I am also linking this up to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog.

ETA: I've had a couple of questions about the embossing folder - it is a Cuttlebug folder from Provo Craft called "Charles" that also comes with a single chevron border embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

My Favorite Things sketch + Simon Says Birthday

I made a birthday card for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week. You can check out the details at the MFT Forum here.

Super easy card, but I love both the sketch and the way the card turned out!

The sentiment is from the ALM Birthday Girl set and mounted on fishtail flag die cuts that I cut both ends.

I am also entering this card over at Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog where Simon Says . . . Birthday this week.  They are celebrating their 4th birthday and have some extra great prizes this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday Collage + Tuesday Trigger: Friendly Flowers + Simon Says Birthday

When I saw the Make It Monday video this week, I was a little intimidated. Making a collage with my stamps is not something I usually do or feel comfortable with, so I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed making this first card. You can check out the tutorial and join in on the fun over at Capture the Moment.

The main focal stamp and birthday stamp are both from Papertrey Ink, along with the card stock and dies. I had to dig into a few other stamp sets to put together my background collage.

Because this is a birthday card, I am also linking it up to the Simon Says . . . Happy Birthday challenge celebrating the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog's birthday.

The second card I am sharing is for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Friendly Flowers. As always, Cath comes up with a fabulous trigger image.

I pulled out my Lovely Layers die looking for the larger scalloped circle to cut a few little felt flowers and ended up using the larger dies instead. 

One of my favorite things about the trigger image is the pop of red, so I had to thread my button with red floss and anchor the panel on a red card base.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse + Simon Says Birthday

The Muse this week is Laurie Willison and you can check out her card here, along with all the details on how to play along, although time is running out for this week's challenge.

I went with a brighter color palette, but stayed very close Laurie's design.

You can see here how the sentiment is stamped on the card front and framed with the popped up panel.

The Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog is celebrating its 4th birthday this week, so this card is also being linked to their challenge for Birthday Cards.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Retrosketches #57 Sympathy Card

Sadly, I need another sympathy card so I turned to the current retrosketch to help me put it together.

I love the sketch and it really helped make this card come together quickly. A Technique Tuesday stamp, Distress Ink, Authentique papers, Martha Stewart butterfly punch and piece of fiber from my stash are all that are used here.

One of the rectangles is popped up with foam adhesive and the whole panel is also adhered onto the card base with foam adhesive.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie