Cards and Challenges

Hello! I have a few cards to share from the last couple of months that were inspired by challenges.

First up, I was inspired by this sketch from Sketch Saturday:

I started by dry embossing a piece of whitewash Core-dinations cardstock and sanding the raised areas. I then layered a piece of patterned paper over it and found matching ink to ink the edges. For the tag, I used different blue Distress and Distress Oxide inks and used the smooshing technique, drying between colors. The sentiment and picture were cut from patterned paper and attached to the tag. I stapled a piece of blue ric rac to the top of the tag. To finish off the card, I added a puffy star sticker and some clear star sequins.

My next card was inspired by this sketch from Stick It Down:

I found a sheet of patterned paper that had been in my stash a long time. It had green leaves spread out over it. I ended up getting out my leaf stamps in a similar style and adding more leaves to the paper in different colors. Then I cut it into pieces and used it on my card front. I layered it over wood grain patterned paper. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and added some ink splatters to finish off the card.

Finally, I have a card inspired by this color challenge:

I used a set of masks and found inks that were close to the colors in the inspiration image to create the background. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on coordinating cardstock and drew stitches around the border of my card front. I used my Cricut to cut the cake. I used Nuvo drops for the flame and took a fine tip Sharpie to outlin the frosting to make it stand out a bit.

 

November Calendar Page

Hello! I am back with my November calendar page. I started with this sketch from Stick It Down:

I started by cutting leaves instead of hexagons for this fall page. I laid those out on my kraft cardstock background. Then I used my sewing machine to add some detail to the corners of my layout. I then laid out my photos. I went with 6- 4x6s and then divided those down further so I could include more photos. I typed and printed my journaling and cut it into strips which I added to my photos. I used chipboard letters and embellishments, along with a few pieces of washi tape to embellish the page. 

 

September Calendar Page

I was looking through my blog and I realized that I never posted my September calendar page! I used the Stick it Down double page sketch from August:

I adjusted this sketch to fit more photos as well- instead of just the one pair of photos on the left page, I added a second. For the background on the left hand page, I ink blended over a mask. Then I covered that and spraying with red ink. I added the circle around that with a yellow Distress Stain, which picked up some of the red, making in orange. I fussy cut a bunch of flowers from patterned paper, and cut circles from some solid water color patterned paper. I arranged those along the right edge of my layout and in a couple of clusters on the left hand page. I maded the "Polaroid" style frames by cutting mats larger than my photos. I hand wrote my journaling on white cardstock strips and the photo mats. The title was cut using the Cricut. I finished things off with some canvas flair and enamel dots.

 

October Calendar Page

Hello! I'm back today with my October calendar page! I started with the current double page sketch from Stick It Down:

I adjusted the photos a lot to work with the number of photos I had. I started by doing six smaller photos on the left page instead of 4 larger. I made the large photo on the right a square photo collage to maximize my photo space. I did the weaving for the background. This is a great design for scraps. There were several pieces that were not the full length that I cut and covered the gap with photos- this does require more concentration when it comes to the weaving. I cut the trees with my Cricut and added texture with colored pencils. I used my Cricut to cut the title as well. For my journaling, I found some coordinating brown strips of cardstock in my stash and hand wrote the captions. To finish things off, I added some chipboard and stickers.

 

Card Catch Up

Hello all! I have been so busy taking and editing photos that I haven't had a chance to post here in a while! I have a bunch of cards to share.

First up is a birthday card for my sister-in-law. I was inspired by the current challenge from The Card Concept:

I really liked the ring of flowers and the hat. I used kraft cardstock to emulate the hat. I stamped my flowers in a curve on my card front. To make the colors more vibrant, I stamped the first layer with white pigment ink and then stamped over the top of that. I used a couple of flower layering stamp sets. To give the effect that the flowers were overlapping each other, I used masks to cover the flowers I stamped first. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment. At that point I felt the background needed some texture, so I took a background stamp and stamped it with Versamark over everything. I then blended some brown ink on the the edges. I then sprayed the whole thing with Perfect Pearls mixed with water and added a few splatters. Finally, I added some gold splatters as well.

Next is a card I made last month for one of my nephews. I started with a preprinted watercolor background. I stamped and watercolored the fish on white cardstock. I tore around each image and rubbed blue ink over the to torn edges. I then added sparkly dimensional paint over the dots on the the pieces on the fish and seahorse and brown Nuvo dots for the starfish to emulate sand. I attached the fish with regular adhesive and foam adhesive, stamped the sentiment, and added a scattering of sequins.

My next card used the current Stick It Down card sketch: 

I started with the craft cardstock and stamped and heat embossed the image and sentiment on it. I colored the image with colored pencils. I layered the panel over two strips of patterned paper ( a little tip if you have a long strip of paper instead of a wide piece). I cut the circles from patterned paper. I wanted to add some texture by pressing them in Versamark and sprinkling and heating clear embossing powder multiple times.

For my next card, I used the last Sketch Saturday sketch: 

I started with a preprinted watercolor background and used a mask to ink blend the circles, making a ombre across the panel. I used a corner rounder for the corners and then cut the panel, placing the pieces on the front of my card base. I used my Cricut to cut the sentiment and cut a thin strip of silver cardstock to run across the bottom of the card. I finished things off with some sequins.

Finally, I have an anniversary card. I bought a set of masks to create the flowers a while ago. I had blended them on a card front just to try them and then it sat until I needed a card. I stamped the word "Anniversary" using a coordinating ink color and cut the word "happy" with my Cricut. I added some sparkly ink splatters for some texture. My whole design was off centered, so I added the twine to make it look intentional.

 Whew! I will be sharing my October calendar page tomorrow and then I will probably MIA for a while again. I have a busy month coming up!

Recent Cards

Hello! I have several cards to share today. No challenges, just creating and playing with products.

First up is a birthday card for one of my nephews. I used a cut from my Cricut to make the boy. I used a number sticker to add his age to the flag. For the background, I used a new background stamp. I stamped the background in black and then added various blue ink splatters. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in a matching blue color.

Next is a card I made for our Goddaughter. She plays hockey and was recently in a community production of "Sponge Bob Square Pants: The Musical." I used both of these activities as inspiration for my card. The background paper is from a watercolor background pad that I recently purchased. I cut the hockey player and flowers using my Cricut. I adhered the flowers directly on the background and the hockey player with foam adhesive. I stamped the sentiment directly on the background.

Next is a card for my nephew who turns 16 today. I used a scrap from the background I created for the first card and a piece of the watercolor patterned paper from the pad. I cut the key and tag with my Cricut. I also used the Cricut to cut and write on the insert for th tag. I pressed the key onto my Versamark inkpad and then heated silver embossing powder in three layers. I used silver Nuvo drops to add dimension to the ring. I finished off the card with some sequins.

My last card is for my nephew who turned 10. For this card, I started by cutting the balloons from three different sheets of the watercolor patterned paper. For the background, I used a piece of kraft cardstock, ran in through an embossing folder and then rubbed a Distress Oxide inkpad over the raised areas to make them stand out. I edged the balloons with coordinating ink. I adhered the blue and red balloons directly to the card front and used foam adhesive for the green to add dimension. I used some colorful twine for the strings of the balloons. To finish off the card, I stamped, heat embossed and fussy cut the sentiment banner. 

 

August Calendar page

Hi all! I am finally getting around to posting my August calendar page using the last challenge from July at Lasting Memories: use the letters in Autumn to create a layout.

Here's how it worked out for me:

A- aqua

U- upper case letters

T- tag

U- uneven number of photos

M- mica spray

N- numbers (in my journaling)

I started with a sketch from Page Maps. I added a couple more photos to my layout. I used the collection I recently picked up at a garage sale recently again. I just love the fun, bright colors of this one! I used my Cricut to cut the title letters three times from pink cardstock. I stacked them up for dimension. I used some banner punches to make the little banner at the top on either side of my layout. The green and pink rick rack is a border stickers and the lower border is yellow ribbon. I used some preprinted die cuts and stickers for embellishments. I added some ink splatters, sequins, and puffy stickers to finish off my clusters.

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout!