September2011B

I have had these 4 projects finished for about a week and I almost forgot to post them. I usually only make cards, but once in awhile I will do an occassional scrapbook layout. In this case, I did an 8 x8 page of my grandson Michael. He was 18 months in these pictures (He is now 7 years old; my how time flies by.) I used a few of the techniques from Inspiration Showcase Card Class. On the upper left hand corner, I embossed the paper with an embossing folder (used glossy paper) and then used Latte Chalk ink over the embossed area. The butterfly was stamped with Hero Arts Moments Background (E3019) stamp and I used Tea Dye distress ink. For the panel on the center right, I used the Hero Arts Fall Memories (E3375) stamp and stamped with white embossing ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then I distressed the panel with distress ink (can't remember the colors). For the bottom left hand panel, I stamped a piece of layering paper with the Happy Definition Stamp (CG269) with scattered straw distress ink and then heat set it. Then I stamped the Maple leaf (CG228) with Poppy Chalk ink and used perfect pearls over the leaf. It was fun making this layout and I came to the conclusion that I need to put together more scrapbook pages of my grandchildren.
For this first card, I stamped the leaves (HA Real Leaves CL457) onto water color paper and used distress ink. After I stamped the leaves, I lightly sprayed each leaf with water so that the color would run a bit. Then I heated the paper with a heat gun. This technique is called "Wicking". To see how this technique is done, please go here to see a video.

For this second card, I stamped the trees (HA Whimsical House CL484) onto pattern paper and paper pieced the trees and added a sentiment.

For this last card I stamped my trees (Whimisical House CL484) onto white cardstock and colored them with copic markers. After I finished coloring, I took the colorless blending pen and put dots onto the tree to give it dimension. The sentiment is from the HA Friends stamp set CL351.

I am entering these projects to the Hero Arts September2011B challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a great day.

CAS-ual Fridays -- CFC21

This week at CAS-ual Fridays the challenge is to pick three shades of the same color and add the color brown to the combo. At first I tried purple and brown and did not like the colors together. I finished the card and left the card on my work table over night. When I returned to my work table the next morning, I decided that I did not like the colors or the card and decided to make a new card in different colors.

Here is the card that I decided to enter into the challenge. I took three different shades of yellow cardstock (Stampin Up) and stamped the flowers with Tsukineko Rich Cocoa ink (the lightest color doesn't show up very well on camera). I added brown ribbon down the middle of the center panel and added scalloped edges. The flowers are from Hero Arts. They are part of the new stamps and Die cut sets that Hero Arts and Sizix are making. The set is called: Playful Flowers and Butterflies 657778. I added glossy accents to the center of the flowers and also to the little dots on the outside of the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate the comments. Have a great day!!

CAS-ual Friday's CFC #20

This week at CAS-ual Friday's the challenge is to create a Clean And Simple Mini Card no larger than 4 x4. The final measurement of this card is 3.5" x 3.5" square card. I use a simple technique of dry embossing the front panel with the Sizzix Dots & Flowers embossing folder and then lightly sanded over the top of the dots until the white core of the paper appeared. Then I lightly colored the top of the dots with markers. I learned this technique from the Inspiration Showcase card class taught by Jennifer McGuire

I had lots of fun coloring the butterfly and the dots on the paper. I love making the mini cards because of their small size and that they are quick to make. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Sending Smiles CL490 (sentiment) and Three Artistic Butterflies LP215. I took the words from the sentiment "You Are Very Special To Me" and cut them apart so that I could use only a portion of that sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments.

The Penny Black Blog Challenge

for this week is to make a card using the colors purple, Green, and cream.

I usually have a difficult time deciding how I want my cards to look and sometimes I go to my pagemap sketches to get an idea for my layout. (A lot of times I just can not visualize how my design will look.) Going to these sketches help me a lot; guess that I should use these sketches more often.

The stamp that I chose was perfect for this sketch. Most of the time when I begin a stamping project, I usually will stamp and color my image and then pick the paper and design. I do love it when I can make a card in under an hour. I guess if I used card sketches more often, it would not take me so long to make a card.
I spotlighted the 4th flower, but it is hard to see on camera. The image was colored with Prisma color pencils. I used yellow gems for the flower centers. The card sketch that I used came from here. The stamp set is Penny Black: Flowers & Wishes (30-047).

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week end.

Inspiration Showcase Card Class

I am still on day one of the Inspiration Showcase Card Class. I have gone through the lessons for the first three days, but I am behind in class. That is Okay, I am having fun learning about all the techniques that Jennifer McGuire is teaching. She is an awesome teacher and she makes some gorgeous cards. Thanks Jennifer for teaching this class.
The technique that I used for this card is called "Patterned Paper Trapped Embossed Resist". I stamped the Lotus background (CG349) stamp with clear embossing ink onto pattern paper. Then I heat embossed with clear embossing powder. When the embossing was cool, I rubbed Faded Jeans distress ink all over the embossed paper. Then I buffed the resisted ink with a dry cloth. Once the technique was finished, I assembled the pieces for my finished card. The sentiment (Smiles and Laughter F2361) on the tag was stamped on white cardstock in black ink and I used a decorative edge corner punch for the bottom of the tag. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day.

These cards are for

three different challenges. My owl card, below, is for the CAS-ual Friday challenge (CFC #19). this week's challenge is to make a card that is paper pieced. I choose three owls from the "Owl Together Now" stamp set from Stampin Up! The paper that I used were scraps that were left over from other projects. I made this next card for the Hero Arts challenge. For more details on their challenge, please go here. The stamps are Hero Arts: Thoughtful Messages CL184, Tall Pumpkin G5269, and Traditional Pumpkin F5270. The pumpkins were colored with Prisma color pencils and I lightly blended some antique linen distress ink around the pumpkins using a blending tool.

This last card is an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. I am currently taking the Inspiration Showcase card class that she is teaching on-line. The technique that I used for this card is called Paint Resist. I inked up the flowing flowers stamp with a pearl paint dabber and then let the paint dry before going onto the next step. After the paint was completely dried, I inked up a blending too with Tatered Rose Distress ink and inked around the outside edges. Next I applied Antique Linen to the center of the image. Then I buffed the image with a damp cloth to remove the resisted ink.

Stamps used: Flowing Flowers CG146 (hero arts). The sentiment comes from C.C. Designs (Amy R stamps) stamp set "Get well Sentiments".

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day!

It seems that lately

things have been preventing me from making many cards. I keep telling myself that I will make the time to at least stamp a few images so that I can turn them into one or two cards. But, before I know it, the whole day has gone by and I feel as though I have not accomplished anything. It took me all week to make these three cards, but at least I did got them finished. And, now that I think about it, I did accomplish something positive. I will be entering these cards into this months challenge on the Hero Arts Flickr group. For the "time for thanks" card I used the following Hero Arts Stamps: Graph Background S5435, Big & Small flowers CL374, Blossom Art CL495, and So Thankful CL466.

The Hero Arts samps that I used for the Sunflowers card are: Three Sunflowers S5420 and Find Joy CL497. The Hero Arts stamps that were used for the butterfly card are: Silhouette Grass S5316, Antique Engraving CL383, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Everyday Sayings CL342.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful weekend.

CAS-ual Friday CFC18

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to enter this weeks challenge. I was having a little bit of a difficult time trying to decide which book to use for my inspiration. This weeks challenge over at casual friday's involves making a card that is black, red, and white and the inspiration is to be a book. After thinking about it for a very long time, I decide to use the book "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein. My inspiration came from the "Eight Balloons" on page 58 of this book. Here is my card--the balloon image comes from Hero Arts Celebrate All CL292 and the sentiment is a Gina K (stamp TV) stamp set and comes from the Follow Your Dreams stamp set. This card was easy and fun to make once I figured out what I wanted to do. Here is the poem that inspired me from "A Light in the Attic" :

Eight Balloons

Eight balloons no one was buyin' all broke loose one afternoon. Eight balloons with strings a flyin', Free to do what they wanted to. One flew up to touch the sun--POP! One thought highways might be fun--POP! One took a nap in a cactus pile--POP! One stayed to play with a careless child--POP! One tried to taste some bacon fryin'--POP! One fell in love with a porcupine--POP! Onelooked close in a crocodile's mouth--POP! One sat around 'til his air ran out--WHOOSH! Eight balloons no one was buyin'-- They broke loose and away they flew, Free to float and free to fly And free to pop where they wanted to.

Author: Shel Silverstein, "A Light in the Attic", page 58

I didn't have room to stamp 8 balloons; that is why there is only 6, but the poem was a great inspiration. Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week.