Foiled Birthday

Hi everybody! How's your crafting coming along?

Stamp TV has a Mix It Up Monday Birthday Challenge going on that I decided to join. We were to pick from a numbered list of cardmaking techniques the date of our birth DAY (15th) and follow that for the design of our card. Mine turned out to be (1) One Layered Card, and (5) Foiling. Other options corresponding with numbers include stitching, die cuts, markers, etc. It's a fun challenge, and one easy enough for me to participate in.

I took a Tim Holtz stencil called Rays and put Transfer Gel Paste over it. Once removed from the stencil, I took my designed cardstock and let it dry a day. Then, I ran it through my Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Machine with a piece of Deco Foil's Amber Watercolor over top. The result is what you see on my card. I added some Fossilized Amber and Orange Marmalade Distress Inks along with a few gems to resemble raindrops.

This card will be sent to my nephew. I've already missed his birthday, but I want him to know I'm thinking about him. He's 22, I think...anyway, he should enjoy the card, especially the gold foiling. He's really into art, and this would be something a little different from a store-bought card.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I hope to see you again real soon ~ Have a happy weekend! (Oh, check out the P.S. below! Sure to put a smile on your face.)

P.S. Ready for a Snuggles update? I heard an odd noise coming from the bathroom the other day, so I went in to check it out. There was Snuggles, hiding behind the shower curtain. She has found a new hiding place!

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 6

Hi everybody! This is the last post for my Online Card Class called Rainbow Maker. Can you believe it?

I really appreciate everybody hanging in there with me as I get my homework done. Your comments have kept me going, even when I felt like giving up. You wouldn't believe how much your positive words help in the creative process. I could be covered with embossing paste, ink and adhesive, ready to hang it up, when I think "Who knows, somebody might like this..." and Voila! I get a positive comment. Absolutely makes my day.

This card was created with a Tim Holtz Stencil called Latticework and some embossing paste that I colored with soft rainbow colors. I chose some reinkers that aren't so bright to put in the embossing paste this time. I like everything but the pink, but that's okay. I'll probably try a different red next time.

The sentiment die came from Stephanie Barnard's The Stamps of Life, and the flower is a Spellbinders die called Asters and Poppies. Love those flowers! I added a little bling with Stickles, gems and sequins. Hope it's not too much.

I followed a lesson by Laura Bassen to create this card. Love that lady! She's so funny and keeps me laughing while I learn.

As usual, I stood at my kitchen stove to put this together. When I tried it at the craft table, Snuggles ran off with the Love die cut & I had to chase her around the dining room to get it! She's REALLY interested in the reinkers, but right now they're on the stove top, too. Now that class is over, I can put all this stuff away. Then what will she grab? Oh, I can hardly wait to find out...

Thank you for stopping by today. Like I said, your comments and visits mean the world to me. Hope to see you again soon ~

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 5

Hello! I am here again with homework for Day 5 of Online Card Classes Rainbow Maker. This one was a challenge, but I think it still turned out all right.

Kristina Werner showed us how to use glitter paste with a stencil. I didn't have glitter paste as shown in Kristina's video, so I used regular embossing paste. For my card, I colored a little bit of paste at a time, each dab a different rainbow color. I spread it on my heart stencil, made by die cutting the heart on a piece of Inkadinkado Masking Paper and then placing it on my cardstock. The heart is from Stampin Up!

Spreading the embossing paste wasn't hard, and coloring it wasn't, either. The challenge was to get it in the design you want. I'm telling you, that masking paper looked like one hot mess until I took it off and revealed the heart!

Laura Bassen's video showed using a stencil with colored embossing paste, and at the end she took her tool and used it from top to bottom of her design, putting slight pressure on the paste from one color into another. That's what I decided to try on my card, and I think it looks pretty neat.

The sentiment die is from my stash, but I think it's from Simon Says Stamps, probably designed by Kristina Werner. (If anybody knows, please feel free to share!) I cut the sentiment 3 times and stacked it before adhering to my colorful heart. I think it looks kind of wonky, but that's the way it is. Finally, I popped up the heart onto an embossed background layered on a light blue card base. The embossing folder is We R Memory Keepers Next Level. You have to look close, but the hearts are there!

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I particularly appreciate you hanging in there with me through this class! I have one more day's homework to go. I hope you enjoy that creation, too, once I get it finished.

Hope to see you again real soon ~

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 4

Hello everybody! How's your day going? I'm here with my homework for Day 4 of Online Card Classes Rainbow Maker. Can you believe it? Already, Day 4! WooHoo! I'm getting caught up.

For today's card, I followed the lesson by Kristina Werner. The background was created by watercoloring the background using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor set, bought from Amazon. The sentiment was created with a die from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life, and the daisies were cut from a Spellbinder's die I got from Maker's Mart Die Club. The ribbon is from Gina K Designs.

I had to put this card together on the stove top to keep Snuggles from drinking my dirty, watercolored water used to rinse my brush. That was an experience. Xyron, die cuts, ribbon, watercolor set and water were balancing on the cold burners. Fortunately, I got it done without her catching on to my activity. I had given her a strip of paper to keep her occupied, and it worked! My new secret. Don't tell, please. I need my sanity!

If any of you have considered taking a class, go to http://www.onlinecardclasses.com and look at the variety of classes offered. It's a tremendous learning experience, and you will enjoy experimenting with the homework. It's also self-paced, which is a big help.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I hope to see you again real soon for Day 5!

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 3

Hi everybody! Surprise, surprise, I'm here today with another card for Online Card Classes Rainbow Maker. This card took me a couple of days to put together. Why? You guessed it -- Snuggles (my kitten) wanted to help. She loved the strips of paper in rainbow colors and kept running away with them just as I was putting them down to be die cut.

The card idea was taken from a video by Nichol Spohr. She showed us ways to use colored cardstock for die cutting. I liked this idea and followed her suggestions to create my card. I left the inside of the card blank so I can tweak it for the occasion. This could be anything from birthday to new job.

The embossing folder I used is from Darice, the stars from The Ton's Panda Can't Do It, and the die for the sentiment is from Stephanie Barnard's The Stamps of Life. My cardstock came from Gina K Designs.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I'll see you again with homework from Day 4!

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 2

Hi everybody! I'm back already with Day 2's homework for Online Card Classes Rainbow Maker. This time I used different colors of the rainbow with die cuts and watercolor markers.

I used the same image as in my last post, Panda Can't Even from The Ton. This is not my normal to use the same image back-to-back on my cards, but while I had it out I thought it could be used again. As before, it was stamped with VersaFine Black ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The dies used for the hearts are from Reverse Confetti and came with a tag set. They had an outline and a heart die, so I used both on most of these. Can you tell which one I didn't use it for? Did you notice that? Our secret, okay? I used colored paper for each color of the rainbow, except for one, which was colored with watercolors. Can you tell which one for that? Another secret. I'm not gonna tell!

The inside of the card has another panda image and the sentiment, "Hi there." There was no room for that on the front.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits and I hope to see you again real soon for Day 3! (I'm slowly, but surely, getting caught up. Pray for the kitten--she wants to help.)

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 1, Again

Hi again! I'm here with another card for Day 1 at Rainbow Maker card class. Yes, I'm behind. Way behind! As stated in my previous post, I felt the rainbow tones in my first card were a little dark, so I created this one using lighter colors. They still kind of run together like mud in the center, but this the best I could do.

I tried to give the Pandas a platform to stand on, but it looks like they're peeing themselves! Oh, well. That was NOT my intention! There are NO mistakes in crafting, right?

The images used are from The Ton, and they're called Panda Can't Even. I love this set and have used it frequently in my cardmaking. In fact, my next post will use the same. Can't go wrong with a cute Panda!

After sponging on rainbow colors for my background, I stamped the images and sentiment in VersaFine's Black Ink and then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. You can't tell from the photo, but they really stand out due to the embossing.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I hope to see you again real soon ~ Day 2 Coming Right Up!

OCC Rainbow Maker Day 1

Hi everybody! I'm here today with homework from Day 1 with Online Card Classes Rainbow Maker. Yes, I'm taking another class...surprise, surprise! It has been a while, but I was more than ready to start some rainbow creations. We're already on Day 5, so I'm a bit behind on the homework. It's hard to do with the new addition in the family. Read on...

I feel this card's background is a little dark, but mind you I was doing this while swatting a playful new kitten off the table, snatching away the blending foams from her mouth, and trying to keep the ink away from her paws. THIS WAS A CHALLENGE!

Anyway, I was finally able to manage a few minutes to blend rainbow colors (I did start with red, but you can't tell because the orange & yellow blended in so much) on this Bristol Smooth paper and then flick some water on it.

Once the kitten went to sleep (YAY--finally!), I got out the VersaFine Black Ink to stamp the image and then heat emboss it with clear embossing powder. I did the same for the sentiment and a star. The other stars were in a pack of sequins I had, so I added some of those with a drop of Silver Stickles. If you're interested in the image, I'm afraid I have no idea where it came from. Found it in my stash!

I am somewhat pleased, but I think I may try this again with lighter colors of the rainbow. The class is a lot of fun, and I'm learning a lot even though I'm way behind on the homework.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I hope to see you again real soon ~

(and Snuggles)

Watercolor, Wheels and Wedding

Hello everybody! I am posting a card I created today for the Mix It Up Monday Challenge at Gina K Design's Stamp TV. We're supposed to watercolor, so I watercolored every single thing on this card except the die cut scalloped circle and the ribbon!

The stamp set I used is Beth Silaika's Karen Dolphin, which includes this cute dolphin, a whale and all the fish you see on this card. I used my Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Watercolor Brush Pens (from Amazon). First, I outlined the image and then used a waterbrush to lighten the color. I did the same to get the blue background. I also colored the dolphin in a very light grey, cut him out with a circle die, then layered onto a scalloped circle. The black Gina K ribbon was added before the circle was adhered.

Now I'd like to show you another card, created for my son, Chris, just for fun. He recently purchased a new car, so I had to use a diecut I've had for years. It's very appropriate!

This was a very simple card to create. I just layered some paper, stamped the sentiment and added the diecut. Fun!

Finally, what about that wedding I told you about? Yes! Chris and Katie were married June 17th in West Virginia, where both bride & groom are from. First, there's a picture of me with Chris; second, a good picture of Chris & Katie.

That's it for my blog today. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments and visits very much, and I hope to see you again real soon ~