Thursday, January 31, 2019

Inspiration Thursday 5-2019

Hello again and Happy Thursday!  Ready for some more inspiration?  Time for a mood board!

Here ya go!





And here is my card:




I LOVE the colors!  I just had so many ways to play with them but decided to keep it simple today.  I started with a white card base and cut a panel from gray card stock 4 x 5 1/4 inches.  I then cut a pink panel 3 3/4 x 5 inches and ran it through the Big Shot with an embossing folder - I love the details in the flowers.  I went through my scrap box and found a small piece of gray patterned paper that reminds me of the center of the mood board..  I stamped the "you are" with black Memento Luxe ink and embossed with clear embossing powder using my MISTI so I could be certain I had it straight and dark enough.  I die cut the "sweet" (not sure where the die is from) using the same gray card stock three times and stacked them together before gluing down.  I think I'm mailing this one to my daughter for Valentine's Day! ~ Gracie

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Sketch It Wednesday 5-2019

Hello again and happy Wednesday!  What day is it??  It's Sketch It Wednesday - bet you thought I was going to say hump day!  Our them is "Love" and our colors are red, pink and white.

Here is our sketch for inspiration today:





And here is my card:




I started my card today by turning the sketch length-ways.  I used white card stock to make my card base.  I went through my scrap box and found some pretty patterned paper to make a panel sized 4 x 5 1/4 inches.  To make the slope at the bottom I chose to use a Tonic border die and turned the paper over and used the reverse side.  I added a strip of white card stock behind the die cut and trimmed it and adhered it to the panel with foam tape.  I die cut the Little B sentiment "With Love" three times and glued them together to make the sentiment stand out.  It just looked plain so I dug around in my stash and found the pearl with rhinestones, the metal hot air balloon, the string of pearls and I made a bow from maroon crepe ribbon.  I adhered the embellishments with hot glue.  I really like it better with embellishments! ~ Gracie

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Technique Tuesday 5-2019

It's Gracie again!  Tuesdays are days to play - we are learning new techniques!  Our theme this month is "Love" and our colors are red, pink and white.  Our technique this month is "Die Cut Monoprint".

Here is the link to the inspirational video:


And here are my cards:






Oh, my!  This was fun but I sure made a mess lol!  It's a really cool technique - you can knock out two cards at one time!  I started with white card stock and distress inks (Candied Apple, Pickled Raspberry and Worn Lipstick) applied liberally then die cut the hearts wreath.  I then made sandwich with the die cut and white card stock, running the die cut back through the Big Shot lightly spritzed with water and ended up with the panel for the second card.  The die cut's ink transferred nicely and I used the negative spaces on the original to inlay the first panel.  I also die cut the "With Love" Little B sentiment from the original panel.  I used a light pink card base for the first card.  After the ink dried well I applied a thin layer of Crystal Effects to the in-laid hearts to finish off the first card.

I stamped a sentiment on the second, added a key with a ribbon and secured it with hot glue and attached it to a pale pink card base.  Do watch the video!  My instructions are clear as mud!!! ~ Gracie

Monday, January 28, 2019

Mistletoe Monday 5-2019

Hello again!  Gracie here to make a Christmas card!  The challenge today is to use our colors for the month - red, pink and white!

Here is my card:





I started my card with a white card stock card base.  I trimmed a panel of cranberry red card stock to 4 X 5 1/4 inches and adhered it to the front of the card.  I cut another panel 3 3/4 x 5 inches and ran it through the Big Shot with a wood grain embossing folder.  I die cut an owl from Tonic Studios and the sentiment with gold glimmer card stock,white card stock and the cranberry red card stock and in-laid the owl for depth.  I  attached the owl with foam tape.  I finished off the card with red glitter enamel dots! ~ Gracie

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Clean & Simple Sunday 5-2019

Hello and Happy Sunday!  It's Gracie here this week kicking off February!  Love is in the air and "Love" is our theme this month and our colors are red, pink and white.

Here is my card for today:


Sunday's cards are clean and simple.  I try.  I really try lol.  I started with a pale pink card base and cut a panel 4 X 5 1/4 inches from a pretty patterned pink paper in my stash.  I have this lovely cameo die cut from Tonic Studio and I cut it from white card stock and again from a brighter pink patterned paper from my stash.  I inlaid the darker pink in the white to make the cameo.  I added a string of pearls with hot glue around the cameo.  After adhereing the cameo to to panel, I added a strip of the darker pink patterned paper.  I loved the vintage look so I added a stip of beige crepe ribbon and covered it with beige insertion lace.  I then added a strip of white lace below and attached another string of pearls with hot glue.  I added a bow made of the crepe ribbon with a ribbon bow using hot glue.  I finished it off with a "sentimental" word sentiment from Tim Holtz.  It sounds tedious but it came together rather quickly! ~ Gracie

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Scene It Saturday 3-2019

I let a patterned paper become a scene for these two cards.


This cute paper is part of a 12 x 12 pack from Martha Stewart called Frosty Elegance.  I chose two different girls skating and used the coordinating paper along the side against a silver paper.  The sentiment is from Unity called Fabulous Girl and I heat embossed it with WOW Platinum embossing powder. The snowflake was die cut from the middle of the silver paper before the skating panel was placed on it.  As I looked back at this week, I realized there were a lot of snowflakes, lol.  I guess that is the easiest way to make a Winter card that isn't Christmas based. I will see you next month. - Denise 

Friday, January 18, 2019

Color Me Friday 3-2019

I made a card with the colors for the month of  blue and white to come up with a masculine birthday.


This background stamp by Unity called Vroom makes an easy card to whip up.  I colored one of the cars with alcohol markers to make it stand out.  I colored a piece of white card stock with the same marker and then stamped with a sentiment from a Unity set called Hugs, Kisses and Birthday Wishes.  I did a few other cards at the same time with various colors and you could easily customize it for your favorite car person. - Denise 

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Inspiration Thursday 3-2019

This is the inspiration board we are using for this month.



Here are a couple of  cards inspired by the pictures of buildings on the board.
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I make birthday cards for the members of our small church and was looking for a new way to use the hymnal pages of the same hymnal I used last year.  I knew I wanted to cut some sort of shape out of they pages, but the inspiration board this month included a couple of pictures of buildings.  I thought it would be fun to do an outline of our church which has a pretty distinctive shape (it was built in 1965).  I drew reasonably close image of the roof line and then scanned that into Cricut Design Space.  I used that image with various squares and rectangles and welded them all together to get the shape of the church.  I used a separate cross for the top.  I put Stick-It on the back of the page I wanted to use and cut the shape on my Cricut Expression.  The paper wants to tear instead of cut, so I might try a different blade or setting next time. I also might attach it to cardstock and see how that works.  I used paper from Martha Stewart called Frosty Elegance to give a wintery background. Since the sentiments are personalized, I do those using my computer and printer. - Denise

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Sketch It Wednesday 3-2019

I love using sketches as a way to make a card when my ideas just aren't flowing.  Here is the sketch we are using this month.


Here are the cards I made based on this sketch.


I think I mentioned that I have been making multiple cards at one time.  This was very easy to do with papers from the kit by Echo Park called Hello Winter.  All the papers coordinate, so I just kept cutting the sized I needed with the various patterns.  I stamped three of the panels with the same stamp from Unity called Let's be Jolly.  On the fourth card, I used a sticker from the paper kit. The snowflake accent was cut with a die in my Cuttlebug in a silver paper.  Since I was only showing half on each card, I only needed to cut two of them, then cut those in half (one for each card)  I also cut the border for the smaller panel inside the border for the middle panel at the same time on my Cuttlebug.  That saved both time and paper. It really is almost as quick to do four cards like this as it is to do one, so I encourage you to try it. - Denise. 



Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Technique Tuesday 3-2019

The technique for January is called metallic stenciling and a video on how to do various techniques can be found here.


I chose to use the Texture Paste with a silver embossing powder that is then heat embossed.  I made a stencil on my Cricut using a file found on the cartridge Artfully Sent.  The sentiment was done in the regular way with embossing powder using a stamp from the Unity set called Time to Enjoy Life.

Here is a close up of how wonderfully textured the snowflakes turn out using this method. 

Since this is kind of messy, I went ahead and did four panels at the same time.  One thing I found out is that by the time I cleaned up the stencil, the one thin snowflake had started to dry, so next time I will add the embossing powder as i take the stencils off the paper.

Here are the other two panels with a different sentiment using the Unity kit called Snow, Snow Cute.


This was pretty cool and I will be trying it again. - Denise



Monday, January 14, 2019

Mistletoe Monday 3-2019

Mistletoe Monday brings more Christmas cards.


I had an Echo Park pack called Hello Winter out for other cards this week, so I decided to use it for today too.  Choosing three coordinating papers along with a small piece of silver cardstock made them a quick project.  I stamped the sentiment from a Unity kit called Cherry Christmas and used white embossing powder.  I added three snowflake brads from The Paper Studio and popped that panel up on foam tape.  Once again I did two cards at the same time which is my New Year's Resolution.  It has made me feel that I am more productive with my craft time. - Denise

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Clean & Simple Sunday 3-2019

Hi, Denise here with my first week for the new year and new challenges. This month our color scheme is blue, white, and sliver and we will focus on Winter birthdays.


This year I decided that every time I made a card, I would make at least two.  Since I would have either stamps or papers out, it would help to go ahead and make multiple cards.  I used a new background stamp of snowflakes that I purchased last month from Unity called Snowflake Frenzy.  On the first card, I stamped on a plain white card base with Versamark, then stamped with the sentiment in Versamark directly on top of the first stamping.  I used WOW metallic platinum embossing powder and heat embossed all of it. The sentiment is from Altenew's Painted Greetings.  I decided that the sentiment ran into the snowflakes too much, so I made a quick paper mask to put on the base when I stamped the next background.  I removed the mask and stamped again with the sentiment in the empty space before heat embossing all of them at the same time.  I used a make-up brush to blend three colors of Distress Oxide ink (Salty Ocean, Broken Chine, and Blueprint Sketch) over the embossing.  I spritzed a little water and blotted it.  I makes a nice wintery looking background.  I did a couple of others with a Thank You sentiment too. All in all these are quick to do. - Denise

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Scene It Saturday 2-2019

Time to make a scene!  Here is my card:





I have used a lot of die cuts this week.  Today I used an unbranded forest die with white card stock to cut out trees and snow flakes.  I placed them on a navy blue background then placed the panel on a white panel.  I die cut the "Happy Birthday" sentiment with silver glitter card stock from Co'ordinations.  I added rhinestones for embellishment and placed the panel on a navy blue card stock base.

I have had a lot of fun making birthday cards this week!  Thanks for joining us and I will see y'all next month!  Stay warm! ~ Gracie

Friday, January 11, 2019

Color Me Friday 2-2019

It's Color Me Friday - today we make a card we choose using the colors for the month.  This month the colors are white, blue and silver.

Here is my card:





Another birthday card!  I started my card with a cake die cut using light blue glitter card stock from Co'ordinations.  I also die cut some snowflakes from royal blue glitter card stock.  The sentiment is a stamp from Art Impressions.  I mounted the sentiment on silver glitter card stock.  I used a strip of the royal blue for embellishment under the sentiment.  I also added some blue glitter enamel dots.  I used a light blue card stock for a card base.  ~ Gracie

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Inspiration Thursday 2-2019

Hello again!  Gracie here for Inspiration Thursday!  Today we have a mood board for inspiration:




And here is my card:





January starts our busy time for birthdays.  Most of our grandchildren and nieces and nephews were born in January and February so I have a lot of cards to crank out!  I love this sweet little stamp set from Raisin Boat.  I partial die cut a piece of white card stock then stamped the die cut with the angel with Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored the angel with my Spectrum Noir markers.  After playing around with the die cut I decided I liked it as an inlay and I placed the panel on a piece of coral card stock.  I used blue card stock for the card base.  I added rhinestones for embellishment.  Your turn! ~ Gracie

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Sketch It Wednesday 2-2019

It's Wednesday and today we have a card sketch for inspiration!




And here is my card:





I started my card with a simple candle die cut using silver glitter card stock from Co'ordinations.  I placed it on light blue card stock and added a "Happy Birthday"silver sticker from Hot Off The Press.  I made the "note paper" using the small hole punch on my Cropadile and my small scissors (I punched holes then snipped the ends of the holes to make it look like I had torn it from a notebook).  I die cut the arrow.  I used white pearl card stock for a card base.  Easy peasy! ~ Gracie

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Technique Tuesday 2-2019

Hello again!  It's Tuesday and time to try a new technique!  So get out your spatula and your embossing paste!  We are going to try Metallic Stenciling. 

Here is the link:


And here are the cards I made for today:






For the first card I used a stencil from Heidi Swap.  I used Ranger embossing paste followed with silver embossing powder.    The sentiment is from Tim Holtz.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks for the background (Broken China and Faded Jeans) and misted with water,  I placed the panel on white card stock and used blue card stock as a card base.

For the second card I used a die cut panel as a stencil.  I know the colors this week are silver but I tried gold since my stars on the first card didn't seem to stand out as well.  The gold really popped!  I pounced Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks on the background (Broken China and Faded Jeans).  I used three die cut snowflakes from the die cut panel as embellishment.  The sentiment is from graphic45.  I used white card stock for a card base.  I will be playing with this technique again! ~ Gracie

Monday, January 7, 2019

Mistletoe Monday 2-2019

Hello again!  Time for Mistletoe Monday and time to get a jump on those Christmas cards!  Just think - start today and by Christmas you will have 50 cards!  Our color scheme is white, blue and silver.

Here is my card:






I bought new Spellbinder dies over the holidays and they were perfect for my Christmas card.  I used silver glitter card stock from Co'ordinations and glued the stable and the sentiment to navy card stock.  The star and the figures were placed using foam dots.  I placed the panel on a white card stock panel and used the same navy card stock to make a card base.  It's a very simple card. ~ Gracie

Sunday, January 6, 2019

Clean & Simple Sunday 2-2019

Hello and Happy New Year!  It's Gracie joining you this week!  I hope you are all warm and comfortable!  We are cold and wet here in Mississippi - perfect weather to hide in my craft room!  Today is Clean and Simple Sunday; our theme for January is Winter Birthdays and our color scheme is blue, silver and white.

Here is my card for today:





I love Bugaboo Stamps!  I really like their character stamps.  This stamp is Margaret Calendar January.  I printed her on Nennah Solor White card stock and colored her with Spectrum Noir markers.  I trimmed her down to 3 3/4 x 5 inches and placed her on glitter card stock from Co'ordinations trimmed to 4 x 5 1/4 inches.  I cut and scored royal blue card stock to make a card base.  The sentiment is from Altenew and is stamped with Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  She is ready to party! ~ Gracie

Saturday, January 5, 2019

January Card a Day Challenges - Scene It Saturday

Hi everyone,

Today is the LAST day for challenges this month on the Card a Day Challenge blog! Have you participated??? I'll be here again in February with another week's worth of challenges. Today is Scene It Saturday, where we create a scene using the color scheme/inspiration board of the month. Here is my card:

This BEAUTIFUL peacock is from a Catherine Pooler release and I just love it. The colors here are so bright and vibrant, just like the inspiration board for this month (see Thursday's challenge).

I hope that you enjoyed this month's challenges, and thank you so much for staying with me through this! Happy January, friends!

Colleen

Friday, January 4, 2019

January Card a Day Challenge - Color Me Friday

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Card a Day Challenge! Today is Color Me Friday, where we create a card using the color scheme of the month. This month's color scheme is blue, silver, and white. Here is my card for today:

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This 5x7 card is from the My Creative Scrapbook kit. I love the colors so much in this kit, and they fit nicely with the color scheme of blue, silver and white. This card is so classy with the beautiful organic background against the flowers and sentiment that reads "Live for the moments you can't put into words". This would be an appropriate generational birthday card!

Colleen

Thursday, January 3, 2019

January Card a Day Challenges - Inspiration Thursday

Hi everyone,

Welcome to another day of challenges at Card a Day Challenge. Today is Inspiration Thursday, where we create a card from an inspiration board. Here is the inspiration board and my card for today:
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I had so much fun playing with the colors from the inspiration board. It really challenged me to mix colors that I normally would not have considered combining. My 5x7 card is from the My Creative Scrapbook kit. I absolutely fell in love with the colors in this kit, and immediately thought they would be perfect for today's card. I incorporated the technique from Tuesday's Metallic Stenciling as well. What I wasn't sure about was how or where to add orange to the card. So I started small with Nuvo drops and LOVED it! Then I decided to add orange to the center of my beautiful flower to create a nice balance of colors. I encourage you to try inspiration boards because they challenge us to combine colors for a unique look!

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

January Card a Day Challenge - Sketch It Wednesday

Hi everyone,

Welcome to another day of challenges with Card a Day Challenge blog. The theme this month is birthdays, and the color scheme is blue, silver, and white. Today is Sketch It Wednesday, where we create a card from a sketch using the theme of the month. Here is the sketch and my card for this month:

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It may be hard to see the sketch in my card because there are so many layers, but the sketch has many layers. That's the beauty of sketches, it is a foundation for us to get our creative juices flowing. This card is from the My Creative Scrapbook summer and winter kit. I have my background layers set up as in the sketch, with lace and flowers surrounding it. On the right side is the sentiment "HB" for Happy Birthday. I hope that you use this sketch and show me what you've created from it!

Colleen


Tuesday, January 1, 2019

January Card a Day Challenge - Technique Tuesday

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year!!!! And welcome back to the Card a Day Challenge for January 2019. The theme this month is birthdays, and the colors are blue, silver, and white. Today is Technique Tuesday, and this month's technique is Metallic Stenciling. Jennifer McGuire has a great video tutorial on this technique, so check it out! Here is my card for today:


This is a 5x7 card made from the My Creative Scrapbook fall kit. I absolutely LOVE the colors in this kit, and they worked nicely for this month's color scheme. The metallic stenciling is the silver behind the sentiment, framing it nicely. Next I added layers of patterned paper from this kit behind it, and finished with the butterfly and orange Nuvo Drops. The orange color just added a nice pop of color to my card. I am so happy with how this turned out and I love the metallic stenciling technique!

See you tomorrow!

Colleen