2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 10 | Of Christmas Past

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

Today is the final day in this year's card series, and I chose to keep this card for last, because it was really this stamp that started it all.

Six years ago, when I started making cards and had no idea where to start, what was I to do? It was Pinterest. I scrolled and scrolled looking in wonder at the beauty people were creating and adding to the world, not just for Christmas, but for everything! Birthdays, Easter, Sympathy, Divorce, Babies, New Pets - I cannot remember wanting to be a part of anything more than I wanted to be a part of this.

And then there it was. The sweet little fox that started it all. His big bushy tail wrapped around him as he sat in the corner of the card. I fell in love with that little fox and that was the beginning for me. I haven't stopped since.

I have taken breaks, I have been frustrated, angry and sad. I've used card making to pull me out of dark moments of despair. When my Father passed away, I would sit for hours just surrounded by my colours, letting their beauty guide me back.

Each birthday, funeral, wedding and anniversary has been marked in some way with my cards, that little something more that I could do.

I discovered more brands, I soaked up YouTube videos like a dry sponge wanting to absorb it all; but I still come back to that little fox when I just need something to make me smile.

So for today's card, my ghost of Christmas past, I hope he brings a smile to your face as well.

I stamped the fox from "Into the Woods" with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink, I masked him off and stamped the log from "Critters in the Forest" and masked that as well.

I used Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide Inks and my dollarstore blending brushes to create my sky. Once that was dry, I masked off the bottom and used Moonstone Glimmer Paste by Nuvo through the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil to finish off my background.

I removed all my masks and coloured the images with Copic markers. I mounted my panel to a coordinating piece of purple cardstock then adhered the whole lot 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, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 7 | Sea-Sons Greetings

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

So you know that moment when something bad happens? That moment when you're like "Well, "crap", did that just happen?" Not something catastrophic, that's not what I'm talking about here, but something that wasn't in the plan for that day. That was my yesterday.

After I got finished with Day 6, I loaded up my video games (because as cool as I make myself sound here, I'm actually a giant nerd), and everything was totally fine, I was going from one zone to the next and waiting on the loading screen, and waiting, and waiting.

And. Waiting.

After more than 5 minutes, and the game not booting me from the server (which is generally what happens when you get caught in the loading screen), I hit the windows key so I could manually shut down the game to restart. And my screen looked like something from the Matrix. Well "crap". It still brought up the start menu, so I shut down the computer, waited a bit and restarted.

Restart went fine, there was nothing delayed or anything like that, then my background went back to the Matrix. It allowed me to log in, and it all looked okay. It said I have some drivers to update, so I went to do that, download went fine. Then the install. That's when the site told me that these weren't even valid for my computer. The same site that scanned my computer and said I needed these drivers.

So ultimately, I ended up having to get a new computer. I'm still blogging on my old one, because nothing else has happened and all my programs are here, but gaming is now happening on a different computer.

The point to my very long story, is that sometimes things happen that are not according to plan.

When I saw the stamp set I used in today's card, my whole plan was a complete underwater Christmas series. The whole Christmas was going to be ocean themed. This set was just absolutely adorable, but as you can see from the previous cards in this year's series - that didn't actually happen, and if you could look into the future, you'd find that this was the only underwater card I created. It was the first card I made this year, but then stuff that I didn't plan on happened and it was the only ocean card.

I stamped the images from Christmas Fishes with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, masking them off as I went. I wanted to create a one layer card, but still have a lot of depth.

Once all the images were stamped, I masked the bottom, what will become my sandy area and used my dollarstore blending brushes to add some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I then used the wavy stencil and added more Distress Ink, trying to keep it darker around the edges.

Once that was dry, I masked off the upper portion and applied some Scattered Straw Distress Ink to the bottom, adding a very light touch of Gathered Twigs to darken it up.

I removed all the masks and coloured my images with Copic markers. I also used some of my brown Copics to add dots to the sand area, giving it more texture.

The greeting is Stamped with VersaFine Onyx ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

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, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 3 | Holly Jelly Days

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

Every year there is something that all the kids want. Something that's all the rage. Something they'll just "die" without. This card is inspired by books that my daughter and her cousins are just "all about"; you'll forgive me if my lingo isn't down with the generation LOL. The things we do for our kids, right?

The images from Lawn Fawn are stamped with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured with Copic markers.

I masked off the images and used Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink along with my Dollar Store blending brush, to create a soft aura around the images. Once the background was completely dry, I used the Lawn Fawndamentals Liquid Stardust to create some shiny splatter.

I removed the masks and then heat embossed the greeting from the same same narwhal stamp set with clear embossing powder over VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

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, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 2 | Frosty Merry Christmas

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

It's no surprise that I don't like winter. This is, what, our sixth? no, our fifth winter season together; and every year we discuss how much I hate winter and how I don't like the snow, or the cold or the grey or the anything that has to do with anything winter related.

But let's be real for a minute. Hating winter and being cold is one thing, SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing and it's scary. It's waking up to see a grey sky with a little bit of snow on the ground and staring out the window and crying for an hour. It's struggling to do anything because the blanket of snow on the ground literally feels as though it is smothering you, or in this case, me. It's your partner worrying about you because the forecast looks bad. It's more than some seasonal blues, it's a crushing weight that is incredibly lonely.

Find something that you love. Find help, it's a real thing and it's a terrible thing to go through alone.

Now that that's out of the way, lets get back to the card. The thing that I love, the thing helps me get through the winter.

The images from Lawn Fawn's Frosty Fairy Friends are stamped with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured with Copic markers.

I then masked the images and used Shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink for the background sky. I didn't intend for these to be this year's winter colours, but as I worked through this year's series it turned out that purple and blue were where it's at.

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, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

MFT "Friends at First Sip" | Appreciate Your Friendship

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

So remember how I switched jobs a couple months back? Loving it, by the way. But it's now stampede week in Calgary. If you don't know what that is, you should Google it. "The Calgary Stampede". Basically, it's a giant 10 day party, where people skip work, engage in crappy behaviour and spend the day drunk, eating the weirdest food ever. Today, is day one. That means there's a parade. A parade that shuts down roads to our downtown core. A parade that somehow gives the impression that parking rules no longer apply (not to mention the next nine days). I work with guys in the construction industry and entire sites have to shut down for this "party". So hopefully, I'll be able to get to work without losing my mind, and just pray to the gods that my parking space hasn't been snagged by someone hoping to avoid getting towed.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep that much last night. Coffee was the first thing on my agenda this morning, luckily, MFT has an awesome new(ish) set all about the black gold in a cup.

To begin, I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured her in with Copic markers. I then masked her off and used my Dollar Store (FTW) blending brushes to add some Tumbled Glass and Mowed Lawn Distress inks to create a soft background.

I really wanted her to be the star of the show, so I chose not to create a more detailed background, but I definitely did not want her to be floating in the middle of nothing - she hasn't had *that* much coffee, yet.

I then stamped the greeting from the same set and trimmed down the panel. I adhered it to a piece of kraft cardstock, then mounted the whole lot 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, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Lawn Fawn "On the Beach" | Have a Relaxing Birthday

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

Well it's summer time now. My kids are all off school, and for the most part seem to be under the impression they can play video games or sit in front of a screen all day long. That is not the case. Last night the two older ones sat down and had to write out a step-by-step checklist of their chores. Sure, the chore is "do the kitchen" but what exactly does that entail? They sent in their lists last night, where they will be consolidated and finalized today (for each of their chores, not just the kitchen) then laminated as a checklist, so we don't have to continually send them back to rewash a dish, or actually wipe down all the baseboards in the bathroom when cleaning the floor. It'll be good to have everyone on the same page regarding our expectations. It'll definitely make for a smoother summer, and hopefully instill some good habits for their futures.

Today I have a (mostly) single layer birthday card, that can be used for either as either a masculine or feminine (which is always handy) using Lawn Fawn's "On the Beach" stamp set.

To begin, I stamped all the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock then coloured them with Copic markers and masked them off. I used the negative space of a circular mask to allow for ink blending.

I used my dollar store (FTW) blending brushes along with Distress Ink to create a soft sandy/beachy background for this guy to be hanging out on.

Once I peeled the masks away, I put the panel back into my MISTI and stamped the greeting. I then adhered this panel to a piece of patterned paper and mounted the whole lot 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, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Clearly Besotted | "Some Birdie Loves You" Happy Heart Day 2019

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

Today I thought I would share a card I created using the "Some Birdie Loves You" stamp set by Clearly Besotted two ways. The card itself is the same, but I've changed the colour palette to get two different looks.

To begin, I stamped the toucan on right and masked it off, I then stamped the toucan on the left, masked it and stamped the branch from Mama Elephant so that they would have something to sit on. I didn't want to create a mask for the branch because I'm super lazy, so I very carefully sponged Distress Inks around the birds and the foliage, trying to get as little ink as possible in the branch itself. 

I removed the masks and stamped the hearts at the top and the greeting using Memento Tuxedo black ink, then coloured all the images with Copic markers.

To finish off the panels, I used clear Wink of Stella over the beaks and the hearts and put Glossy Accents over the hearts as well. As a finishing touch, I used my white gel pen to add some highlights to the birds, leaves and some dots in the centre of each of the flowers. I adhered each panel to a piece of coordinating cardstock then mounted the lot the the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card(s) 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.

Lawn Fawn "Lovable Legends" | Unbelievable Birthday

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

Two in a row. That's right folks. LOL. See? I am really trying. Perhaps my crafting is cyclical? Lots of posting, lots of making but never do they meet..

Today I have a simple to make birthday card, featuring Lawn  Fawn's "Lovable Legends" stamps set.

To begin, I cut down a piece of 140lb cold press watercolour paper using the largest of the "Small Stitched Rectangles" die, I then used Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon and Twisted Citron Distress Inks to create my background. I just sponged them on randomly, much like the beginnings of a galaxy background. In the end you couldn't really see the Twisted Citron, but it did help create some nice highlights when I was sponging.

I used some clean water in my Distress Sprayer and spritzed the background to get that wonderful distressed look.

Once the panel was completely dry - not just mostly, but completely! - I prepped it with my powder tool and stamped the giant squid and the greeting with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with Lawn Fawn's White embossing powder.

I then used Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to drop in some colour to the squid. My idea here was to create a somewhat transparent look with the purple acting as the shadows around his curves.

The stamp set comes with a long dotted wave border stamp, so I used that along with the Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink to create some tone-on-tone wave textures.

I had an extra frame from another project that coordinated well with the panel and (more importantly fit) so I adhered both to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

To finish it off, I covered the giant squid with clear Wink of Stella (and as you can see, I went a little bit heavy handed here). But I gotta have that glitter. I then added some clear and iridescent bubbles.

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, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate every like, thumbs up, new subscriber and comment - I LOVE hearing from everyone!

Lawn Fawn "Coaster Critters" | Awesome Birthday

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

I mentioned in the last post, the one with the late Christmas card, that I've been creating more than I've been posting. Which is good - I have a bunch of cards stocked up now, so I don't feel pressured or the need to scramble when something comes up. But it's also bad - I haven't been sharing with you all and I miss that. I love reading all your comments!

I never thought it would be so hard to be a full-time Mom with three kids, have a full-time job and do everything else that is expected of us adults. Lemme tell y'all, I don't remember it being this hard, before. But then I only had one kid and it was just me and her. There are so many more people in the house now that finding even a few extra minutes is tough. The older two are great and pretty self-sufficient now (for the most part), the little one *thinks* she can do it all on her own .... but not so much.

Anyway, today I wanted to share this super fun birthday card featuring Lawn Fawn's "Coaster Critters" stamp set. I'll be honest, this one didn't really strike my fancy when it came out. In fact, it took a little while for me to warm up to this set. Don't get me wrong, it's super cute, I just didn't know what to do with it. It seemed to me that this was a one and done sort of set. How many roller-coaster cards can a person make? Luckily, I'm a huge fan of mixing and matching sets and none do it better than Lawn Fawn.

We all know I'm a fan of one layer cards, I love the magic of masking! To begin I stamped the three little critters (which will be making appearances outside this county fair) as well as the ticket book with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. Then masked them off. I then stamped the balloons and masked them, then the larger piece of the roller-coaster, masked that then the smaller piece and the flag and masked those. Yeah, I masked a lot. LOL

I used Tumbled Glass and Cracked Pistachio Distress inks to create my sky and grass, adding a bit of Bundled Sage to the very bottom.

I removed all the masks (which I save with the stamps to use again - literally until they fall apart or the ink starts to seep through) and coloured all the images with Copic markers. I really wanted to keep this one in primaries. I added some detail with my white gel pen, then stamped my greeting with the same Memento Ink.

To finish off the card I used clear Wink of Stella on the balloons, all the metal of the coaster cars and rails as well as the top of the stand.

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, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think! I cannot tell you how much each of your "likes", comments, subscribes and "thumbs up" means to me.

This card is for:

Missing You | ft. Studio Katia "Floral Trimmings"

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

Today started out not awesome. It wasn't as bad as Monday, but it definitely wasn't spectacular. Then my honey sent flowers to my office and it turned my day right around. Not only was it the first time he has ever sent me flowers, it absolutely made my day to know that he was thinking about me and the hard time I've been going through the last couple of days.

I think a lot of our motivations in crafting comes from these very things. Just letting someone know you are thinking about them, especially when they are having a difficult time can make all the difference in the world. You never know how you can turn a day around just by sending a card to let them know they are in your thoughts. I highly recommend it.

Today, I want to share a card featuring Studio Katia stamps and embellishments. This card wasn't made for anyone in particular, but it's always good to have one on hand for those times when someone just happens to pop into your head out of the blue.

To begin, I stamped the "Floral Trimmings" stamp from Studio Katia with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I coloured the images in with Copic markers. Like I talked about in my video "You are so Loved", I generally like to go big and bold with my floral colouring. Just throwing sunshine off the page, so to speak. That's what I was going for in this image.

To add some detail, I used a white gel pen to add highlights to the petals and leaves as well as dots in the middle of the larger flowers. I then stamped the greeting from Simon Says Stamp with Memento ink over top of the image.

I adhered the panel to a piece of coordinating pink cardstock then mounted the entire piece to the front of an A2 sized card base. Then, because I'm me and I just can't resist, I added a scattering of crystals from Studio Katia across the panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own, and maybe let someone know you're thinking of them. 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.

Make the Card Fit Your Scene - Deepest Thanks | ft. Lawn Fawn "You are Sublime" and "Jawsome"

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

Today I'm going to share a fun way to get all the images you want on to a single card. Just make the card bigger!! Sometimes the hardest thing (especially with Lawn Fawn) is getting all the images we want to use on a standard A2 sized card base. These images are so stinkin' cute and their sets coordinate so well that we just don't always have the space we want to make the scene in our heads come to life. So why not make a bigger card? Who says all our cards have to be the standard A2 size?

Today's card is a whopping 9x4" and even then I had to remove a couple from my vision. But hey, it happens. Don't limit yourself, do what makes you happy.

To begin, I cut a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock to just slightly smaller than my 9x4" card base. I stamped all of my images using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then masked them off.

Once the masks were all in place, I used Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Blue Print Sketch Distress Inks to create my background, working from top to bottom to get a smooth blend and adding more ink as I went so it would be darker at the bottom.

Once that was completely dry, I removed the masks and coloured all the images using Copic Markers. If I were to go back and do this card again, I think I would have used some of the solid image stamps to create more in the background to give the card some extra depth.

I mounted my panel the front of my card base using my tape runner. Then to finish off the card I used some "Ocean Wave" crystals from Studio Katia to be the bubbles and applied Glossy Accents by Ranger over the windows of the submarine and the visor of the diver.

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, 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:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Cheer Up, Bunny | Single Layer Card ft. Lawn Fawn's "Some Bunny"

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

Today I have a card (and video) featuring Lawn Fawn's "Some Bunny" stamp set, as well as a couple of their older sets. I decided to do a single layer card because I haven't done one of those in a while and I felt it was time. I had this idea in my head since I saw the set and while it didn't become a "cheer up" card until I actually made it, the concept was the same.

I recommend watching in HD over on YouTube!

Check out the video above to see how this card came together, how I create and store my masks as well as a complete list of the Copic markers I used to create this card.

I hope you like today's card and video (if you haven't watched it, please do so! It means the world to me) 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 was featured!! April 20, 2018
Fawny Flickr Friday!

Monster Hugs | ft Lawn Fawn "Monster Mash" and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

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

We've all needed a get well card for someone we care about. Whether they're just feeling down and we want to help cheer them up, or there's an illness and our only expression is the written word. It's always nice to know that someone, somewhere is thinking about us when we need that support the most.

I've done many get well cards, usually floral thinking of you type things that are pretty or simple cute designs to make someone smile; but what about those kids that are under the weather? With social media recording our every day lives, we see more and more these really sick kids that are missing out on family gatherings, birthday parties and school.

Today I have a get well card, specifically for those kids. They may be going through things that most adults could never dream of, but deep down, they're still kids - and finding the right expression, something they will understand is very important.

To begin, I stamped the monsters from Lawn Fawn's "Monster Mash" with CTMH archival ink on Strathmore 140lb cold press watercolour paper. I created my own greeting using part of the sentiment from the same set and the large letters from CTMH "Framework Alphabet".

To colour each area, I added a line of colour with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers where I wanted the deepest colour and then used clean water to pull the colour out. If you haven't used these markers, I highly recommend you check out my review (linked above) and give them a try. These were definitely one of the best purchases I have ever made.

For the grass and the sky, I wet the paper with clean water then dropped in the colour from the pen, I wanted it to be rather vibrant, so this took a couple layers - there is a ton of pigment in these pens and they blend incredibly well.

Once the panel was completely dry, I used super sticky two-way tape to adhere it 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 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.

Sympathy Silhouette | ft. Distress Inks

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

We all have our favourite types of cards to make, I seem to go through phases - aside from whichever season or series I'm working on, I find I typically make a lot of birthday cards to fill in the spaces but every so often I find myself making a lot of sympathy cards - or "thinking of you" cards that can be used as sympathy cards.

I find them calming and comforting when I'm not feeling very awesome.

To begin, I used Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to create my background. I then splattered it with clean water and patted it dry with a clean paper towel.

Once the background was completely dry, I used the floral silhouette stamp from CTMH "Paper Garden" with archival ink. I prefer to use archival ink because it is waterproof and won't bleed if the background isn't actually completely dry.

I stamped the greeting with the same archival ink and then mounted that panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base (this time in black). To finish off the card I added a few mini diamonds to brighten it up a touch and to add a bit of embellishment because I just can't stop myself.

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.

Floral Thoughts Series | In My Thoughts ft. Clearly Besotted "Thinking of You"

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

"Thinking of you" cards are pretty versatile, depending on what you write on the inside, they can be used for almost any occasion. Sympathy, Birthday, Anniversary - it all depends on what you want to say. Sometimes people are just in your thoughts because they popped into your head for no reason at all, and it's always nice to know someone is thinking of you.

For this reason, I tend to leave the inside blank so I, or someone else can write a more personalized message.

To begin, I stamped the orchid image from Clearly Besotted "Thinking of You" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I coloured the image with Copic markers and then masked it off.

I used Spun Sugar Distress Ink with a damask stencil to add a light pattern to the background. Once that was completely dry, I removed the mask and used a light warm gray marker to create a shadow to the right of the flowers.

I stamped the greeting from the same set with Memento Ink and mounted the panel to a piece of coordinating pink cardstock. To add a bit of interest and to ground the image I added a length of dark pink bakers twine.

Finally I adhered the whole piece 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 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.

Happy Heart Day Series | Tropical Love ft Lawn Fawn "Gnome Sweet Gnome"

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

Sometimes you start out trying to do one thing, or just playing around with no real plan and the result turns out better than you thought it would.

This card is also my first attempt at "mirror stamping" - a fun technique where you can flip an image so it faces the other way. It definitely takes practice, but the results can be very satisfying.

To begin, I stamped the right flamingo from Lawn Fawn's "Gnome Sweet Gnome" set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then used the mirror stamping technique with Paper Smooches "Stamp Mirror Blocks" set to get the flamingo on the left.

The image will not come out as crisp as the original stamp and I highly recommend a stamping tool like the MISTI to get it lined up the way you want it; to fill in the areas that didn't stamp as clearly, I used a Copic-safe liner to trace the lines of the stamp.

I then masked them both off and started on the background. I created a circle mask for where I wanted my setting sun to be and then began sponging Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Faded Jeans Distress ink to create the water.

For the sky, I started with Wild Honey at the bottom and worked a blend with Dried Marigold and Worn Lipstick Distress inks, going back and forth until I was happy with the gradient.

Once those were completely dry I removed the sun mask and sponged in Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw.

I then removed the masks from the flamingos and coloured them with Copic markers. I used my Black Soot Distress marker to create the island shadows in the background, and my Salty Ocean Distress marker to create texture in the water. For the white reflection of the water I used the Copic Opaque White.

Finally I mounted the panel to a slightly larger piece of black cardstock and then adhered the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. I felt that this card really spoke for itself so I opted to not include a greeting.

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.

Floral Thoughts Series | Wildflower Wishes ft. Stampin' Up "Flowering Fields"

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

We say that change is a wonderful thing and maybe it is... later on. It's terrifying and it's saddening and it's stressful. There's a reason it's called a comfort zone. Anything outside that can be so overwhelming we're left paralyzed, we're stuck in one spot as our minds try to catch up with what's happening around us.

Change can be the most terrifying thing, especially when we don't expect it. When we're walking along our carefully planned out lives, then suddenly a tree blocks our way.  We didn't ask for the tree, we didn't ask for a shake up to our routine. Now we have to forge a new path, take a new road fraught with unfamiliarity.

But what if, while we find a way around this obstacle, we find a beautiful new place that we never even knew existed? So while change can be frightening and stressful, there is also a chance that we can find something we never expected to see.

To begin, I stamped the flower images from Stampin' Up "Flowering Fields" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then masked all the images and sponged Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar and Milled Lavender Distress inks to create the background.

I removed the masked and coloured all the images with Copic markers and stamped the greeting with Memento ink.

I adhered the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card I added clear Wink of Stella over the petals and the butterfly to give it some shimmer. Sadly, the camera just doesn't pick it up as well as I would like.

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.

You Do You | Single Layer ft. Distress Oxide Inks

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

Getting to know myself has been one of the hardest things I have ever started to do. I say started because I spent a very long time putting my needs and dreams and wants last. Sounds funny? Maybe you're one of the lucky ones. My time as a stay at home mom over the last five and a half years had me making everyone but myself a priority. It's kids and husband and house first.

Part of me is super excited to try and focus on me and see what it is that I want to do. I want to do something that makes me happy and I want to do something where I feel accomplished. You know what I'm saying.

To begin, I masked off the front of a standard A2 sized card base and used Abandoned Coral and Wild Honey Distress Oxide ink to create the background.

Once that was dry, I put the card base in the MISTI and stamped the image and greeting using CTMH Archival black ink. I love to use archival ink (and CTMH is my favourite) over the Distress inks because it is waterproof - so in the event that the coloured ink isn't completely dry the black won't run.

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.

Floral Thoughts Series | ft. Clearly Besotted "Sunshine & Smiles"

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

Today I have a clean and simple floral card for you. I really like designs such as this one, you can choose any colour palette and swap out the greeting to fit nearly any occasion that you need a card for.

The floral images by Clearly Besotted are my favourites, I love the fine lines the stamps give and the large blossoms are great for practicing colouring and shading in any medium you feel like working with!

To begin, I stamped this floral image and greeting from Clearly Besotted's "Sunshine & Smiles" set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I coloured it with Copic markers, then masked it off.

I then used Shaded Lilac Distress ink with my large Damask stencil to create a soft background.

Any time I use a stencil, whether for sponging (like this card) or with embossing paste, I always clean the stencil right away with warm soapy water (I use baby soap) and a stiff brush. I know that I don't have to do this as promptly with ink, but I have found it best to be consistent, because sooner or later there will be a day where I'm using embossing paste and I forget. Then I would be very sad.

I removed the mask and adhered the panel to a slightly larger purple piece and then mounted the whole lot to a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card I added clear Wink of Stella to the very centre of the flowers just to give it a bit of shine.

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.

The poll product review poll closes tonight at 7pm (December 6 2017) so please click on over to Facebook and let me know what you would like to see reviewed!

Happy Holidays Series | Single Layer Wreath ft. Lawn Fawn "Deck the Halls"

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

If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I love single layer cards. I know that technically a single layer card is a card that is right on the front of the card base, but I like to think that a mostly single layer card (where it all really happens on one panel) totally counts as a single layer as well.

So far this year, you've seen many cutesy Holiday cards in the series, many of which were done using Lawn Fawn's stamps. And this one is no different, except for the cutesy part. Despite being best known for their sweet little critters, Lawn Fawn also puts out some excellent sets that can be used in a more classical arrangement.

Like this wreath, for example.

To begin, I traced a light circle with a pencil so that I would know where the curve of my wreath should be. I then mounted all the boughs from Lawn Fawn's "Deck the Halls" set on my acrylic blocks and stamped them, starting with the largest using CTMH inks in Ponderosa Pine, New England Ivy and Topiary.

Once the boughs were dry, I prepped the panel with my powder tool and stamped the pine cone and greeting using VersaMark ink and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. I then mounted the panel on a piece of dark green cardstock and adhered that to the front of my standard A2 sized card base.

To finish off the card I added some adhesive gems from my stash to look like berries.

I think that this card would be super fun in a non-traditional palette, for example my house gets done up in blues and silvers for the Holidays, so I could make this card with silver boughs and blue pine cones or vise versa. It's always fun to make things coordinate. At least I think so.

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.