Oh Yeah, and These Cards...

These two birthdays snuck up on me and I had to put these two cards together one night. 

First up is a birthday card for my nephew who will be 7 in a little over a week and we will be celebrating this weekend. I was inspired by this sketch at Sketch Saturday:

I decided to use my Cricut to cut out the super hero for my card. The background for my card is Core'dinations White Wash cardstock that I dry embossed and then sanded to accentuate the embossing. 

The second card is for my nephew who is turning one in a few days. I was inspired by last week's sketch at Cardabilities:

For the background of my card, I used a background stamp and Distress Stains. I punched the banners from patterned paper and edged them with ink. I used my Cricut to cut the letters using the "Makin' the Grade" cartridge. The balloons for stamped, heat embossed, and fussy cut. I drew the strings for the balloons with a pen. Some twine embellishments finished off the card.

Cards- again!

I'm back with a few more cards. Soon I should have some scrapbook pages to share again. 

First up is a couple of cards I made using the current sketch at Stick it Down:

I made a couple of graduation cards. I have recently seen several examples of work using inks and plastic packaging to create backgrounds.  I used watercolor paper for my background and Distress Stains for the ink. I then found some coordinating die cuts and stamped and heat embossed the image and sentiment on them. 

For my second card, I tried a technique that May Flaum demonstrated recently on her blog.  I love how using the watermark ink for the stamping makes a subtle design on the the background. I will definitely be doing this more! A die cut sentiment, some washi tape and sequins finished this card off.

Stick It Down Double Page Guest Designer

 Hi all! I'm early this month completing my calendar layout because... I am guest designing at Stick It Down again! My June layout was chosen as a favorite, so I got to work with this sketch this month:

Here is what I came up with:

I was also inspired by the July 3rd Got Talent challenge at My Scraps and More which was to do hand stitching. I went a little crazy with it, in fact.  I stitched 5 large flowers on my page. I think the reason I rarely stitch on a page is because, when I do, I go all out and it takes HOURS. I am happy with the texture it added, although a lot of it ended up being covered. :( 

I used some very OLD letter stickers for my title. The font was so dainty, they got a bit lost against the background, so I outlined them with a blue pen. You can see some of my stitching below and one of my flower clusters.

And my second flower cluster and some more stitching.

Materials:
Cardstock- Bazzill
Patterned Paper, brads, and flair- October Afternoon
Stickers- October Afternoon, K and Co.
Flowers- Prima, Michaels
Pens- Zig and Sakura
Floss- DMC
Wood Veneer- American Crafts
Gelato- Faber Castell
Ink- Tattered Angels
Canvas- Prima

Saint Peg Dolls

A few months ago, a good friend wrote on her blog about a saint peg doll exchange that she participated in. I had started to see ideas for painting peg dolls, but nothing that inspired me to try it. After I saw her post, I said to my friends, "We must do this!" What a wonderful way to get kids interested in the saints! A few weeks after that, things got rolling and a group of 14 of us decided to do it! Some of us chose to paint two saints, others chose to do one. 

I chose St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Nicholas for two of my children. (It is kind of fun to see them all lined up, isn't it?)

First, I chose to paint St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I was inspired by several dolls of her that I found on Pinterest. I had fun painting these. My favorite part is the rosary, which I made with Liquid Pearls, so it has a bit of raised texture.

Next up, I painted St. Nicholas. Again, I was inspired by some dolls I found on Pinterest. I struggled with the arms on these, and I am still not satisfied. I started by painting them in the gray like I did on the St. Elizabeths, but the contrast with the red was too much, so then I used the rusty brown, which helped.

I wanted all of my children to have a peg doll of their patron saint, so I also made a St. William of Monte Vergine/ Vercelli and St. Adrian. Since I only had to make one of each of these, I went  little more detailed on them.

First up was St. William. There is a legend that says that he was building a church with his only companion being a donkey. A wolf came out of the forest and ate the donkey. St. William ordered that the wolf take the donkey's place. The wolf obeyed, realizing that he had interrupted God's work. He carried the stone and supplies for St. William. (source)

St. Adrian was a pagan soldier that was inspired to belief by the Christians he saw dying for their faith. He went on to become a Christian and died for his faith.

Neither of these saints had dolls available to look at on Pinterest, so I went from illustrations of them. In about a week, we will be doing our exchange, I am so excited to see all the other saints!

CAS(E) this Sketch #130 and #131

Hello all! I have a couple more cards to share to finish out my crazy month of card creating!  Both use sketches from CAS(E) this Sketch. First up is a card using this week's sketch:

I haven't played with alcohol inks in a while and this spots on this sketch inspired me to pull them out.  I started with some glossy cardstock and dropped some ink on it.  I let them spread, but I did try to pick up some of the inks with a paper towel to make some smaller spots... I wasn't all that successful. It still came out pretty cool.  I stamped the sentiment and flowers with Staz On to finish off the card.

Next up is a card using last week's sketch:

For this card, I started with a smooth white cardstock piece.  I cut a mask for the hills and then used some Distress Inks and a blending tool to make the hills.  I then used the blending tool to make the sky. I finished off the card by stamping and heat embossing the animals and the sentiment.

A Few More Cards

Hello! Today I have a few more cards to share that I created last week. 

First up is this anniversary card. I was inspired by the final lesson in Cards for Scrapbookers at Big Picture Classes. For this card, I used my Cricut to cut the flowers from white cardstock.  I backed the holes with different patterned papers. Then I used the pieces that were cut out and placed them back in the holes and misted the card front. I cut the sentiment from white cardstock as well. Some ribbon flower stems and pearl flower middles finished off the card.

Next up is a card using last week's sketch from Sketch Saturday:

I worked with some older My Mind's Eye scraps for this and a couple of stamps and heat embossing. For the thin strips, I took a piece of washi tape and cut it with my trimmer.

Finally, I have a card inspired by this post by Jennifer McGuire. My kids watched the video with me and thought the technique was so cool that I had to try it.  The stamp set I used is a wood mounted set, so the images aren't lined up perfectly, but I am still pretty happy with how it turned out.  After I had stamped and embossed all the layers, I used a few colors of Distress Ink to create the background.

There you have it! I have a couple more cards to make this week, and then I should be able to take a bit of a break from the card making!

Make a Wish

Good morning!  Today I am sharing a card that I made for my grandma whose birthday was this past weekend.  I was inspired by the third lesson in Cards for Scrapbookers at Big Picture Classes. The lesson was on using pre-printed sentiments on embellishments and/or letter stickers to make the sentiment on a card.

I used some die cuts and transparent pieces on my card.  I added some interest to my patterned paper background with some stamps and coordinating inks. I also used some mini letter stickers to complete my sentiment.