Pawfect Birthday | ft. MFT "New Best Friend"

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

Today I have a card I created for my older daughter's birthday coming up. She's going to be 12 and I can't even believe it. It's crazy to think of how fast the time goes, especially when you're watching your kids grow up. It's just insane.

Or you can watch in HD on YouTube!

Please check out the video above for the full tutorial on how I put this card together, as well as all the Copic markers I used to colour the images.

Finally a card that isn't Lawn Fawn! hahaha, I have another little card coming and it IS Lawn Fawn, I don't really think any of us should be surprised at this point. LOL!!

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

This card is for:

My Favorite Things

Sketch Challenge #377

Clean and Simple Winter Birthday | ft. Distress Oxide Inks

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

Today I have a clean and simple masculine birthday card, this card can be recreated in pretty much any palette. The Holiday series may be over, but winter is in full force here in Calgary, so I thought a winter birthday card would be appropriate.

I was really, really on the fence about the Distress Oxide inks, but I really try to give things a fair shake and try them out before I judge them. So I picked up a couple of oxides and at first I didn't see what the big deal was. I have most of the regular Distress inks, so why would I need the same colours in another formula?

But the more I used them, the more I liked them; especially for backgrounds. They blend so incredibly smoothly that I find myself reaching for them more often than my beloved Distress inks. And that's saying something.

To begin, I cut down a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock and masked the top and the bottom. I then used the Broken China and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide inks to blend my background with the darker being more towards the lower left side. I used the Distress sprayer to spritz clean water over the ink and get a nice splatter look. It's almost like a snowstorm.

Once the panel was completely dry, I used my MISTI and stamped the tree as well as the greeting with CTMH Archival ink. I prefer to use archival ink over the Distress Oxides as it is waterproof and won't run if the ink is still a bit damp.

I mounted the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, then added some blue enamel dots to finish it off.

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 or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Clean and Simple | Tropical Birthday ft MFT and Mama Elephant

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

Today I wanted to share another card that I created using the smaller stamps in a set. This one is a mashup of My Favorite Things and Mama Elephant. I wanted to create something clean and simple but still fun, and who doesn't like to think of their birthday as a mini vacation? I know I do.

So thinking of a mini vacation makes me think of somewhere warm and tropical and so naturally it just came to this.

To begin, I stamped the parrot from MFT's "Polynesian Paradise" and the branch from Mama Elephant's "Lunar Extras" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, coloured them with Copics and fussy cut them out.

I used Tumbled Glass Distress ink to sponge a background directly to the front of my standard A2 sized card base and stamped the birthday greeting with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

Once the background was dry, I adhered the branch flat on the panel, then raised the parrot up on some foam tape and placed him on the branch.

To finish it off, I added a few enamel dots in coordinating colours around the stamped images.

I hope you liked 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 or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Challenge #7

Seize the Birthday

Time for Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More

Challenge #264

Floral Thoughts Series | ft. Prismacolor Watercolour Pencils

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

Before I jump into Christmas, I thought I would share a card that has been sitting around my craft room for a while. We're descending rapidly into deep fall, yesterday it was t-shirt weather, today I sent my kids off to school in their winter jackets. That's life on the prairies. I'm sure tomorrow will be nice again, but today I wanted to extend the feeling of summer.

To begin, I stamped this floral image from Hero Arts (I don't remember the name of the stamp) on to 110lb white cardstock using CTMH Archival ink. I then used my Prismacolor watercolour pencils to shade in the areas where I wanted the most shadows and used clean water to pull the colour out.

When using water on regular cardstock - the trick is to make sure it is dry before adding more water. Luckily these pencils are fantastic for laying down layers and they blend so beautifully. If too much water is applied the paper will become gummy and your project will be ruined.

While that was drying I used some shimmering embossing paste through a stencil to create my background panel.

Once both panels were completely dry, I cut the floral image in half and used some super sticky two-way tape to adhere it to the embossed panel. I mounted those to a piece of silver shimmering cardstock from Recollections, leaving only the tiniest border and tied some yellow twine around them.

I then adhered those to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, and to finish it off I added a few enamel dots across the front.

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 or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Window Daisy | Paper Punches!

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

Today, I thought I would step away from the stamping and colouring (I know, right??!?!) and do something that I haven't done in a while.

Paper punching!! While the greeting is clearly stamped from Clearly Besotted, the rest of the card was made with punches. I cannot remember the last time I did this.

To begin, I punched the small daisy from some plain white cardstock, I punched the centre from a scrap of yellow patterned paper.

I punched the larger square 4 times, then punched a smaller square out of the middle of each to create some frames. I could totally have done this with my dies, but then I couldn't say I did all of this card with punches, right?

I used the larger square punch to get the green patterned background and built my frames up on that one. Had I done this with dies, the frames would have been even and not wonky on the bottom. But that's part of the joy. At least it was wonky for all of them.

I'm nothing, if not consistent.

I then adhered my frame to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, then stamped the greeting from Clearly Besotted. I added my little daisy to the centre.

To finish it off, I used a scattering of enamel dots from my own Spring Daisy mix.

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

Tropical Birthday | ft. MFT's Polynesian Paradise

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

Today I have a clean and simple birthday card that I'm hoping will warm the heart of the person I give it to. I know several people who loooove the tropics and I thought that this card would be loved just as much.

I've really been trying to challenge myself to use some of the smaller stamps in a set instead of running for the big one each time. Don't get me wrong, it was hard not to reach for the little dancer in this set.

Believe me, I sat for a bit trying to figure out how she could fit in here, but in the end I was able to control myself. Just barely.

To begin, I stamped the toucan from MFT's "Polynesian Paradise" stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly card stock. I then coloured it with Copics and fussy cut him out.

Next I used some Dried Marigold Distress ink to sponge a circular area on my standard A2 sized card base. I then used some orange cardstock to create two banner accent pieces. I wanted a bit more black to tie the card together so I used my Gelly Roll black glaze pen to add some stitch detail to the larger banner.

I stamped the Happy Birthday greeting using Memento Tuxedo black ink. Once I had the banners adhered in place, I popped the little toucan up on some foam tape to give the card a bit of dimension.

To finish it off I added a few enamel dots for interest and because you know I gotta have my bling.

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:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Challenge #5

Fusion Card Challenge

Orange and Black Stationary

CAS Hello Baby | ft. MFT's "Magical Dragons"

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

I know that I have been doing a lot of birthday cards lately, so today I thought I would show you a clean and simple baby card that I created for a friend of mine. We're not entirely sure what she's having so I went with sweet gender neutral tones, and the dragons from My Favorite Things' "Magical Dragons" stamp set are just perfect.

To begin, I stamped the little dragon with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, I then masked off his face and stamped the larger dragon. I didn't want a huge amount of overlap, and with these two, I found an almost tenderness to their interaction that worked out perfectly for this card.

I coloured both the images in with Copic Markers. I stamped a greeting from CTMH with the Memento ink as well.

I matted the panel with a soft purple cardstock and then adhered the entire piece to a standard A2 sized card base.

Finally I added a scattering of coordinating enamel dots to finish off the card.

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:

Muse Challenge #227

Anything Goes

and

Simon Says Stamp

Work It Wednesday - July 27th 2017

Baby Birthday Bears | ft. Lawn Fawn | Fusion Challenge

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

Today I have a super cute birthday card (for both a boy and a girl). When I started card making, it was Lawn Fawn that got me going. Not personally, obviously, but it was their designs and sweet sentiments that finally pushed me over. I couldn't resist, and really who could?

To begin, I stamped the bear from Lawn Fawn's "Party Animal" stamp set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I coloured that in with Copics and set that aside. 

I then used the gift stamps to create my own patterned background. 

I matted each white piece with a coordinating blue (and pink for the girl card - seen below). I used foam tape to pop up the bear piece and finished both cards with coordinating enamel dots.

This card is for:

Fusion Challenge

Sand, Beach

I opted to just use sketch for inspiration

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.

Hippo Birthday | ft. Lawn Fawn "Year Four" Stamp Set

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

Today's card was created for my sweet niece when she turned 5. She wanted the "Hungry, Hungry Hippo" game, and I thought it would be fun to create a card that coordinated with the gift. I'm sure that was lost on her, but her Mom appreciated it.

To begin, I stamped the images from Lawn Fawn's "Year Four" stamp set, as though they were standing on top of each other, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. There was only a little bit of masking for this one using 1" Post-It tape. (The cake is from Lawn Fawn's "Year Three" set)

I cut the panel down to 5 1/2" x 3 1/4", coloured the images in with Copic markers and added foam tape on the back.

For the borders on the card base, I found some super fun polka dot washi tape. The tape I used came from the dollar store, so it wasn't of fantastic quality. That being said, the pattern was also pretty basic so I doubled it up to make the dots appear brighter. (#thriftycrafting)

Once the card was put together, I felt it needed a little something else. Clearly these little guys are waiting on a party so I thought some fun enamel embellishments would be perfect. I typically just use the dots or sequins, but these shapes have been sitting in my stash for ages.

Finally, I added some clear Wink of Stella to the balloon and the icing of the cake, but once again it was lost between the camera and the screen.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to 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.