Monochromatic Monday - Except it's a Day Late | ft. Lawn Fawn "Toadally Awesome" and Bayou Backdrop

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

So remember a couple months ago when I said that I was going to do Monochromatic Mondays, because I like having a series to work on, and the ones I had just weren't enough? And then I posted one, and haven't done another.

Today I have one for you and it's only one day (and a couple months) late! This one has a video to go with it - and it's a good video.

I recommend watching it in HD over on YouTube!

Check out the video above to see how I put this card together and my awesome commentary about paper-piecing (and how I never do it ... until now) as well as watch me talk myself OUT of adding a million embellishments at the end.

The patterned paper I completely forgot the name of that I use in the card is called Coastal Village. So not colour anything. HAHAHA

I have a full listing of the Distress Oxide inks as well as the Copic markers I used to create this card!

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

Happy Heart Day Series | Kisses Magic Slider ft. Lawn Fawn "Sealed with a Kiss"

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

For every series, I try to do at least one (or maybe two) interactive cards. I love this type of card because they're so fun! Getting a card is nice, getting a handmade card is better, getting an interactive handmade card is the best. They take a bit more time, but the results are absolutely worth it. As a card maker you feel more accomplished and as the recipient, you know how much effort was put in.

To create this card, I cut down a piece of patterned heart paper and adhered it to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. I then cut down a piece of vellum to the same size and put that over top. This step isn't really necessary, but the paper was pretty busy so I wanted to mute that down a bit.

I cut out all the pieces I needed using Lawn Fawn's "Magic Color Slider" die set and began stamping my images. For stamping on the acetate, I used StazOn Black ink. StazOn is a solvent ink that will dry on smooth surfaces. If you are using a different kind of ink and finding that it smudges, give this ink a try.

I stamped the remaining images from Lawn Fawn's "Sealed with a Kiss" set using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I coloured all the images ink with Copic markers then masked them off, so I could sponge the background.

I started with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, but found that was too light, so I added Worn Lipstick to the edges and pulled that in until I got a blend I liked.

The outline of the seal on the right and the word "Sealed" are darker because of the extra layer of ink.

Once the slider was done, I adhered that to the front of my panel.

If you are having trouble making your slider card slide, I recommend cutting a second channel piece from the dies (that's the one that looks like a U, I have found that doubling the channel pieces allows for a much smoother slide.

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.

Happy Holidays Series | Dimensional Goody Bag ft. Lawn Fawn "Goodie Bag" Die

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

For each seasonal series, I like to include a couple "not cards", generally a tag and a goody bag. I've already done the tag (which you can see here), today I have the goody bag or gift card holder - it will work for either. I wanted to kick it up a notch this time around, so I made a windowed goody bag with a dimensional scene.

To begin, I used the "Goodie Bag" die and cut a piece of kraft cardstock twice to form the bag. I then cut just the front panel of it again from a piece of "Perfectly Plaid - Chill" patterned paper. I then used the outside stitched rectangle to cut a window from the patterned paper and one of the kraft panels.

Using super strong tape, I adhered the patterned paper panel to the kraft panel. I used the "Stitched Hillside Border" dies to cut some snowbanks from 110lb white cardstock and trimmed them down to the width of my bag, adhering one to the outside of the bag to give even more dimension.

On a scrap of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock I stamped two trees and the Sasquatch from "Lovable Legends" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and cut them out using the Brother 2 Scan N Cut, then coloured them with Copics. 

For the inside back panel of my scene I sponged Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and a bit of Faded Jeans Distress Inks to create a sky making it the darkest at the top. I used the Distress Sprayer to spritz on some water and give it a splattered look.

Once all my pieces were dry, I adhered some sparkling snowflakes that were left over from another project to be stars in the sky.

To get the dimensional snow, I used a Marvy Snow Marker to add snow to the trees and the tops of the hillsides. I've found the best way to use this marker is to press it down on an acrylic block and use a small cheap paintbrush to add it where I want it. I cannot control the flow from the marker directly and I have ruined more than one project trying to apply it directly - lesson learned.

I adhered a piece of acetate to the inside of my window and assembled my whole scene before securing it to the bottom of the bag. I used two layers of foam tape around the edges of the window and pressed the scene into place. Only when I was satisfied with its position did I finish assembling the bag.

This took a bit of time to put together, I recommend folding the bag together to see where all the pieces need to go without adhesive or with a repositionable adhesive before bonding it permanently. The end results are well worth the potential frustration, and with a bit of time and patience these can come together relatively quickly.

To finish off the bag, I adhered a few more sparkling snowflakes to the outside and used coordinating ribbon and baker's twine for the bow at the top. I didn't actually have mini bells, but I had brads that were bells, so I clipped off one of the pokey things and curled the other, then used some invisible thread and a needle to tie them into place.

I'm excited to create more of these for the seasons to come, but I'll definitely be saving them for those special friends who will treasure the bag as well as the gift inside.

I hope you like today's post 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 Holidays Series | 4x4 ft. Lawn Fawn "Mini Wreath"

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

I typically do all my cards in the standard A2 (4 1/4 x 5 1/2") but every now and then I like to mix things up a bit, so today I have a sweet 4x4" card. This could easily be done in the standard A2 size format, and give you room for a greeting.

To begin, I used the "Mini Wreath" die from Lawn Fawn and cut 4 wreaths from dark green cardstock and 4 from light green cardstock. I used the mini bow that comes with the set to cut two silver and two gold bows, then used the little berry dies and cut those from red glittering cardstock.

I assembled my wreaths using liquid glue and then set them aside to dry.

I then cut a piece of 65lb kraft cardstock down 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 and used the Wood Grain Backdrop stamp with CTMH Chocolate ink, then sponged Gathered Twigs Distress ink around the edges to darken them up.

For the next layer I used the same dark green cardstock and adhered that down to the front of my card base. I then added the wood grain layer and added the wreaths.

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 Holidays Series | Micro-Dimensional Scene ft. Lawn Fawn "Ready, Set, Snow"

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

A couple of months ago, I created this Micro-Dimensional Scene and the response was huge! So I thought I would create another one for Christmas time; the Ready, Set, Snow set from Lawn Fawn is the perfect way to do this!

To begin, I stamped out the snow globe pieces with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, I coloured the images in with Copic markers and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. As you know, I'm not typically one for coordinating dies as I have the Brother 2 Scan N Cut (which is AMAZING) but for certain things, having the dies is incredibly helpful.

Over the falling snow background piece I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse to get a soft blue shimmer. I adhered that to the back wall, then used a second frame piece to add just a touch of dimension. I adhered the houses to the front of the snowy border piece and then added another frame for just a bit more dimension.

I stamped Santa and his sleigh directly on to my acetate piece with Staz-On ink and adhered that to the top of the frame I had just put down. I then adhered my final frame (for a total of 3) to the top of that.

To finish it off I used Glossy Accents by Ranger over the greeting plaque and set the whole thing aside to dry completely. It only takes a couple hours for Glossy Accents to dry, but I like to err on the side of caution and left it over night.

For the background panel, I used a stencil I created with Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Hillside Border" dies and sponged on more of the Nuvo Embellishment Mousse to make it look like snow drifts. Though the mousse is shimmering, I used it on shimmering cardstock so there wouldn't be a stark contrast between where I sponged and the actual cardstock.

I adhered that panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base, then used strong two-way tape to adhere my snow globe in place. It's a little difficult to see all the dimension that this piece has, but in real life it is quite apparent.

If you give micro-dimensional pieces a try, I would love to see them! I think you'll be amazed at how much dimension you can get while still minimizing the bulk on the card.

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.

Home Sweet Home | ft. Mama Elephant and Lawn Fawn

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

My in-laws recently moved from our relatively large city to a substantially smaller city in the mountains. It's been their retirement dream for some time, as they are both avid hiker/skiers, living in the mountains would be ideal for them. Imagine being able to do everything you wanted to, but get to sleep in for an extra 90 minutes and NOT have to go to bed early the night before? How awesome would that be?

Well, they're living their dream now, but it isn't easy leaving a house you've lived in for 20 plus years, where your kids left home (and came back ... again) where you were when your Grandchildren were born, where you've laughed and loved for so long.

To begin, I stamped the branch from Mama Elephant's "Lunar Extras" in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then stamped the house and added the door and the string(?) from Lawn Fawn's "Home Sweet Home" set.

I coloured the images with Copic Markers and stamped the greeting from the same Lawn Fawn set. To bring a bit more life to the panel, I sponged Tumbled Glass Distress ink around the edges, and used a length of yellow twine around the top to make a bow.

I then popped the panel up on foam tape and adhered it to 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 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.

This card is for:

Addicted to CAS Challenge

#120 Florals

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 5 ft. My Favorite Things

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

I know Halloween is over, but I have more cards and it's still fall and I love Halloween and if it were up to me it would be this spooky season every season forever, hahahahaha!!!

Also, my blog and I don't have Christmas stuff ready yet. But I'm please with the direction the yuletide season is taking my work this year.

Anyway, today's card is one of my favourite of the year, and while it is late I'm hoping you'll think it was worth it.

To begin, I cut a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly paper down to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8" and stamped the bat from #MFTstamps "Witch Way is the Candy?" three times in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and again on Post-It tape to create masks. I masked them off and then sponged Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to create a night sky look. I would normally have used Dusty Concord, but I wanted something a bit brighter because the bats would be dark, and I didn't have it with me at the crop, so there was that.

I then used a #8 round watercolour brush to splatter on clean water and pressed it dry with some clean paper towel to create the splatter star look. If you have never done that technique on regular paper, I highly recommend you practice a couple times before doing it on your project. Otherwise you may be disappointed with the results of too much water on paper that isn't actually meant to handle it.

Once that was completely dry (and don't forget Distress ink takes a bit longer than other inks to dry), I prepped the piece with my powder tool and heat embossed the greeting from a Recollections (Michael's store brand) set in silver.

I then coloured the bats using the warm grey family. I never actually use my black Copic marker to make black, I typically use W5, 7, 9 to make it look as though it is black. I use a tiny bit of C1 or C0 to give a touch of shading to the eyes. I then used my black gel pen to brighten up the eye dot and my white gel pen for his little teeth.

To finish it off, I used glossy accents over the eyes and mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base.

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 and leave me a comment in the comments section below, I love to hear from you.

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 6

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

Welcome to the sixth installment of the Mother's Day 2016 Series.

As a child living on a farm, I was always so amazed by how many stars were in the sky at night. Being away from the lights of the city really lets you see how expansive the sky is, and I think it something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.

I remember asking my father how many stars there were, and he told me that if I could count every night for the rest of my life, I would never even come close to counting all the stars in the sky. That is the inspiration for this card.

To create this card, I began by sponging Chipped Sapphire and Seedless Preserves Distress ink onto regular cardstock. I then used the splatter technique and a medium sized paintbrush to create the smaller stars in the background. Because this is not watercolour cardstock, you must use a very light hand when splattering so that the paper doesn't warp too much.

Once that was completely dry, I used my powder tool to prep the panel for heat embossing. I used white powder to heat emboss the greeting.

The stars were added last using the silver Delicata pigment ink. I adhered the panel using strong double sided tape, to ensure that it would lay flat on the card base.

The sentiment on the inside reads: "Count the stars in the sky."

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Mother's Day 2016 Series - Card 4

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

Welcome to the fourth installment of the Mother's Day 2016 Card series. Today I thought I would also include a card made for the Mom of our Moms (and Dads); a card for Grandma.

I thought it would be nice to include something for Grandma because while we do have a Grandparents Day, we sometimes forget that Grandmas are still Moms.

Card for Mom

Card for Grandma

To create today's card, I began by stamping the floral image on Copic friendly paper, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and on a piece of masking paper. I then covered the image with the mask, and sponged the background panel using Tumbled Glass and Milled Lavender Distress ink.

I then coloured the image using Copic markers. I wasn't sure of the colours for fuchsias so I did some googling. Once the colouring was complete, I used a clear Wink of Stella glitter pen over the blossoms and then glossy accents to give them a shine.

For the greeting, I used some stamps from Lawn Fawn's Mom and Me stamp set, using Memento for the black (so it would match) and Golden Glitz Delicata for the "Mom" and "Grandma".

The panel was die cut using the largest of Lawn Fawn's stitched rectangle dies. I then adhered the panel onto a standard A2 card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Lawnscaping Challenge: Beautiful Florals

Raised Birthday Greetings

Hi everyone, thank you so much for stopping by.

I swear, every time I turn around I'm out of Birthday Cards, and to be honest I don't even know where they go.

My oldest daughter's 10th birthday is coming up right quick and I wanted to create something that was fun, but a little more mature because she isn't so little anymore. I loved the design so much (Thanks to Michele for the inspiration!) that I ended up creating two cards.

I really do need to create more backgrounds, I love to do it and I always end up wondering why I don't do it more often. Funny how that goes.

In Cracked Pistachio

In Tattered Rose

To create these cards, I masked at a diagonal an inch and a half away from the corners. I created both backgrounds by sponging on the colour (Cracked Pistachio for the first, and Tattered Rose for the second), then used the same colours to stamp the fern in a repeating pattern.

I then die cut Lawn Fawn's Happy Birthday to You die, four times for each and stacked them up. I masked halfway through and used the same colours to sponge the bottom half.

I adhered the die cuts down with Ranger's Multi Medium Matte and used a long block to hold it in place while it dried.

I added three gems to the top of the card for a bit of balance, using colours as close as possible to the inks.

I hope you like today's cards and are inspired to create something of your own.


This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

 Create Your Own Background

and

Muse Challenge #156

Inspired by Michele Ferguson's Card

Valentine's Day 2016 Series - Card 12

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

This card was so much fun to make, and quite a deviation from what I normally do (stamp, stamp, stamp....).

To create this card, I used the large stitched cloud boarder from Lawn Fawn to make a mask. I then used Tattered Rose distress ink to sponge upward to shade. I started from the top and worked my way down toward the bottom of the panel.

The hearts are cut from regular cardstock and then sponged with Victorian Velvet and edged with Worn Lipstick distress inks.

I had considered raising the hearts on foam tape, but I couldn't find my foam tape, and I'm kinda glad for it, because I ended up liking it better without the dimension. The different sizes of hearts gives the illusion of dimension and that worked well enough for me.

The matte is just the actual card base sponged with Worn Lipstick distress ink to match the edges of the heats.

I hope you all liked this card and are inspired to create something of your own.

I'd like to enter this card to the following challenges:

1. Fusion Challenge: Paper Hearts

I used both the inspiration photo of paper hearts and the sketch for this card.

2. Time Out Challenge: Love is the Flower you've got to let Grow

I thought the size differences in the hearts was a nice parallel to the growth as well as representing the love.

Delicate Birthday in Purples

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

Today's card was made by request for my Mother-in-law, who has been a wonderful source of encouragement in my card making journey. Her support and that of my friends and family is something that I can't express enough gratitude for.

For the flower, I took a couple colours of distress markers and coloured directly on the stamp, then I stamped it down, shifted the image and stamped it again. I sponged the background using a very light hand with antique linen. The greeting was gold embossed and die cut then raised up with foam tape. I added 1/4" satin ribbon and 6mm orchid sequins as accents. The matte is a deep purple to complement the other shades within the card.

This card is for the Time Out Challenge #47. I only recently stumbled across this challenge while looking at some of the beautiful cards posted in an MFT challenge. The artists behind these cards are so incredibly talented and I feel so honoured to have my cards featured next to theirs.

Thank you again for stopping by, I hope you all have a wonderfully crafty day.