#Birthday Boys | ft. Clearly Besotted "It's Good to be Bad"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I'm going to share with you another of my #birthday cards. There have been a couple others, that you can see here (with the three little pigs) and here (with Goldilocks and the three bears). All three of these are so super cute and again I just could not resist the urge to put this into a Polaroid frame.

So, I don't actually have a Polaroid frame die, so I have to make my own, which is incredibly easy. I used a square die and a larger rectangular die around it. Pass that through the die cutting machine, and if the bottom is a little too long, just trim it off. This is also something you could totally do by hand as well, using your paper trimmer or a straight edge.

To begin, I made my frame and cut out an acetate piece as well. The acetate isn't really necessary but I think it gives a finished look to the picture.

On a separate piece of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, I stamped this trio from Clearly Besotted's "Good to be Bad" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured them with Copics.

I then masked them off and used Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress inks for my grass; Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean Distress inks for my sky. Then I put my picture together.

I adhered it down on a piece of Kraft cardstock, because to me it looks like a bulletin board. I know I had a linen background stamp that I think would work perfectly to give that cross-hatched look but do you think I can find it anywhere? Nope.

My washi tape is rather thin, so I find that if I double it up it is a bit less transparent. I chose this particular patterned tape because I wanted it to coordinate with the sky and grass in the photo.

Finally I stamped the greeting using the hashtag from "Good to be Bad" and the Happy Birthday from "Wild Thing". Then I adhered the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar. You can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CAS(E) This Sketch

Challenge #239

CASology Challenge

#267 - BIG

Pastel Paradise | ft. MFT "Polynesian Paradise"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

When I get a new set, I'm typically after the big piece. The main stamp and my scene will be built around it; but those little stamps, that sit back and mind their own business can really come into their own light when you 'forget' about the big one. I've been challenging myself to use some of the littler pieces in a set to create something without the fanfare of the main image.

To begin, I cut a grey frame using two of my nested circle dies. I then cut a circle using 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and the larger die to create my window piece. I had considered doing an acetate overlay here, but I discarded the idea later.

For all the stamping I used CTMH Whisper ink. This is a dye based ink, so as long as you are careful you can use your Copic markers with it. This was a new discovery for me and it opens up so many doors of opportunity. I am no longer tied to a black outline. I literally have dozens of the CTMH inks and since I use Copics more than anything else, there are few cards I'd like to recreate with a softer edge.

For the flowers I stamped the small hibiscus flower from MFT's "Polynesian Paradise" and masked a couple off so that they would look like a bouquet. I also stamped the little lizard from the same set, but I used the mirror stamping technique so he would face the other way and work with what I had in mind.

Because this is also for a color challenge, I had a very limited palette to work with. Their colours this week were Aqua, Light Pink, Lavender and white - and you can pick a neutral so I chose the grey.

After coloring all the images, I covered the blossoms with clear Wink of Stella because it has to sparkle! (I used my BV markers for the Lavender, BG markers for the Aqua and my lightest R markers for the Light Pink.)

I masked the right side of the panel off except for just over an inch and used Glacier CTMH ink, when looking at my swatches, it was the closest to an Aqua colour that I have.

To put the piece together, I adhered the panel to an A2 sized card base, then I used Tombow Mono Multi Glue to put the circle in place and foam tape for my little chameleon. I used the same Whisper ink to stamp the Birthday greeting (from MFT's "The Whole Herd").

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss any future posts. If you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View web Version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

MFT Sketch Challenge #345

CAS(E) This Sketch #234

Color Throwdown #455

and 

Fusion Challenge: Pastel Pencils

My inspiration came from the colours in the picture.

Floral on Kraft | ft. Clearly Besotted "Thinking of You"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I wanted to share another image that was done with coloured pencils on kraft cardstock. Orchids are my absolute favourite flower, though many of them have the same structure their colours vary greatly. It seems to be one of those flowers that can work with any palette in the home, and with a little care and patience, they make an excellent housewarming gift.

To begin, I stamped the large orchid image from Clearly Besotted's "Thinking of You" stamp set using VersaMark ink, on 65lb Kraft cardstock from Recollections. While VersaMark is typically used for heat embossing (as you can see with the greeting, above) it can also be used to create a soft tone on tone effect. I chose to do this because it takes away the harsh lines of stamping in black, and is easier to colour over when using pencils.

I then used my Faber-Castell Polychormos pencils to colour in the image. There is a light, medium and dark shade for both the purples and the turquoise, two shades for the green as well as the soft shadow behind the flowers.

For the greeting I prepped the paper with my powder tool, and stamped the greeting using VersaMark ink again, and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I didn't want anything to take away from the vibrancy of the flowers.

I then wrapped some purple and white baker's twine around the panel and tied a bow. I don't know if it is just me, but I cannot seem to tie a bow with the right side up. Whenever I have to tie a bow, like this one, I have to turn the whole piece upside down to get it to look right. To secure that, I just used a piece of clear tape on the back so that the wrapped twine wouldn't move.

I then mounted this on a piece of turquoise paper that matched the medium shade of my pencils; and mounted the whole lot on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right side bar. If you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View Web Version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CAS(E) this Sketch

Challenge #323

and

Muse Challenge 227

Anything Goes

and

Time Out Challenge #89

Home Sweet Home

Because a potted plant seems to be the cliché gift for a new home, I felt that this would be an acceptable submission. (I hope they think so as well)

Thank you all for your votes, support and encouragement; with these, I was selected as a "featured member" through this post on the Muse Challenge. I cannot begin to tell you what this me.

This card was also selected for Honorable Mention over on CAS(E) this Sketch! I'm so excited to receive this recognition!

Gnome Day, It's a Thing | ft. Lawn Fawn

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Have you noticed that every week seems to be national-something-or-other week, and every month is national-support-this-cause month, and it can get really really heavy. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of causes and they all need the exposure, but sadly it gets to a point where I just scroll past it because it's always national-save-the-extinct-animals day.

So, while I was scrolling what national day it was, it turns out that June 21st is Garden Gnome Day. And while I missed the day completely, I couldn't let it pass me by. Every other day gets re-posted through the year so why not one that will at least make people smile?

I crated this card for my sister in law who is one of the most wonderful people I know, not only is she beautiful and kind, she's a hard working mom of two and an amazing wife to my awesome brother in law. So this was for her, to belatedly celebrate a day that celebrates something she loves. Gnomes!

To begin, I stamped the gnome from Lawn Fawn's "Gnome Sweet Gnome" on a scrap of Strathmore Bristol Smooth Cardstock using CTMH's Archival ink. This paper has a vellum finish that makes it awesome for the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, but it does take a little longer for any stamping to dry. So I set that aside.

I then used my two largest stitched square dies to cut a few frames. From one of those pieces I used the very inside to stamp the mushrooms and the flower from Lawn Fawn's "Gleeful Gardens". My idea here was to create a raised frame with a little garden picture inside, but with the gnome on the outside, like it was coming to life; or (if that's too terrifying to think about--because you never know) to have the gnome showing off a picture of his garden.

I coloured all my images in with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. For the gnome, I started light, pulled the colour out with my waterbrush, let that partially dry, then added more colour to get a watercolour look. For the mushrooms I didn't use any water, I just blended the colours straight from the pen. For the soft blue of the background, I traced around the images, and then pulled the colour out with water to create the halo.

Once everything was dry, I stamped the greeting using the same archival ink. I adhered the stitched square piece down first, where I wanted it to be on the card front. I then used my Tombow Mono glue to build up the frame around it. Finally, I used the same liquid adhesive on the back of gnome where he would be resting on the frame and some foam tape for where he hung off. This creates some support so when it is mailed it won't warp or bend and look sad.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss any future posts. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge #231