First Xmas card of the season!

Okay, a little soon to be humming carols, but I'm prepping for Christmas cards!

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch #155 

 and some NEW schtuff, so linking to:

This latest challenge blog is the brain-child of Darnell Knauss. Incentive to shop (and use!) the stash. Plus the current theme includes Christmas cards.

 

I used a new paper pack from Close to My Heart, Yuletide Carol (yes!) and some Holly stickers from Paper Wishes that I've had since this time last year (bad).

 Rounded the unusual edge of the card, and tried to give the music-embossed panel and tag some vintage-ness with distress inks.

Sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

Have a good week!

Caroline

Supplies:

Yuletide Carols paper pack, black and cashmere card-stock, CTMH

Christmas Sentiment Sampler stamp set, and bookmark die, Paper Smooches

Embossing folder, Provocraft

Corner rounder and corner-chomper

Holly stickers, Paper Wishes

Black Soot and Walnut Stain distress inks

Clear embossing powder

Ribbon and jute string, the Stash

Stenciled +

 Hola! and happy weekend!

I am WAY behind on my Copics for Cardmakers homework, so posting something I made last weekend, instead.

I LOVE the idea of this blog challenge:

I "found" it last week, through my very artsy virtual friend, Lyndal Higgins.

The challenge is to add texture, dimension and technique to your card-making.

With that in mind, I finished up with some stenciled, watercolor, embossing-paste panels I had made, following Jennifer McGuire's examples, HERE.

I used the Dreamweaver's paste I had on hand, and a stencil I bought from Club Scrap. After allowing the paste to dry, you apply watercolour paint. I believe Jennifer used a texture paste, which absorbs the paint better than the stenciling paste I had. So my watercolouring is kinda pastel; her's were lovely and vibrant.

However, I jazzed it up with a water-coloured stamped image, on vellum. Vellum is EVERYWHERE again! The stamp is last year's, from CTMH (thanks, Diana Saunders, for reminding me it was in my stash!), and I added several colours of Distress Ink, direct-to-paper. I let it dry VERY patiently, and added it to my card front with clear foam tape, from Clear-Tac.

Some falling sequins from Studio Calico and Pretty Pink Posh, and good to go.

As the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday blog involves STENCILS & STAMPS, I've got that covered, too.

Now off to do my "homework!"

enjoy your weekend

Caroline

Supplies:

watercolour paper and watercolour paint set, vellum:  Michael's

cardstock and "blessings of the season" stamp:   CTMH

Stencil:  Club Scrap

Embossing paste:  Dreamweaver's, purchased from Paper Wishes

Distress inks: lipstick, marigold, persimmon, walnut stain; Ranger

Woodgrain sequins: Studio Calico

Flat copper sequins: Pretty Pink Posh

Your morning "blend"... Copics Day 1

Getting inky with Copics this week!

This is homework for Day 1, different colour combinations to practice blending.

I find it so Zen to sit and scribble away...

We're encouraged to upload our assignments, so I'm including my efforts.

A close-up of those cute little packages. 

I added some extra details with silver and white pens.

There's still plenty of time to sign up for the course!

Check out Online Card Classes.

Off to get inky again...

Caroline

Pop * Slide * Whiz *

You're probably getting a little tired of seeing these birthday candles...

I'm still having fun with them.

Another day, another birthday card!

This one features the colours over at Color Me...!

And because it IS a birthday card, I'll be linking it up over at Seize the Birthday 

 (although they're probably VERY tired of seeing my name...), where the topping option is "Sweet Treats."

I also tried out a new technique, and made an interactive pop-up slider card.

An apparently flat card. But see that ribbon at the back?

Pull it, and the message is revealed!

Here's a side-view, showing the easel effect.

Kind of fun!

I stamped The Stamps of Life candles4birthday outlines with grey Memento ink, then filled them in with Distress inks, then added some shading with Copics.

Some tone-on-tone stamping to establish the birthday (cupcake) theme, and a little washi tape for accent.

The card was surprisingly easy to construct. I'll be trying the pop/slide/whiz technique for some more of the birthdays coming up in the next few weeks.
**EDITED**
Here is a LINK which demonstrates how to make the pop-up slider card. Just click on the blue PLAY PRODUCT DEMO button.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

From "Wallrus.."

The newest Online Card Class starts this coming Monday:

The Pre-class gallery is open, and participants are encouraged to share their work.

I went looking through my blog posts, and couldn't find this card.  I made it in January for one of my nephew's birthdays.  It features a great stamp set from the now defunct "Freshly Squeezed Stamps." It was kind of a build-a-bear set, with the makings for bears, penguins and walruses (if that's the correct plural!).  I had fun making the walruses different, using only three color families of Copics (coz that's all I had!).

I also included a bookmark with this card:

TTFA!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Paper Smooches bookmark dies and border dies

Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Copic Markers

Memento Tuxedo Black inkpad

Cardstock and alphbet stamps, CTMH

Flower Soft "snow"

Baker's twine

Gilding the ... card!

Still on the birthday card band-wagon...

This one was made for my SIL.  Autumn is such a beautiful time of year for a birthday. Or to get married. Or for anything, I guess. Love the leaves and colours.
Linking up to: Seize the Birthday.

I CASE'd this card from a technique shown on a Paper Wishes webisode (here's the link to the instructions, but the episode is worth watching, too).  I used the same embossing folder and Perfect Pearls Metallic powders.  I inked the raised portion of the folder with the Perfect Medium ink-pad (it works like Versamark--kinda sticky), then ran some brown card-stock through the Big-Shot. This transfers the Medium to the recessed parts of the design. Then I used a dry paint-brush to add Gold, Bronze and Copper Perfect Pearls pigment powder to the design, brushing off the excess. The powder sticks only in the recessed areas, giving a gilded, metallic look to the design. 

Since this is a technique (even if I made up the name!), I'm linking it up to Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge: Rock the Techniques.

And also linked to a new-to-me challenge, The Mixed Media Card Challenge.  

This is a fun one! Invites you to get really messy... In this case, I added TEXTURE with dry embossing, DIMENSION with die-cuts & embossing powder, and that gilding TECHNIQUE with the pearl pigment powder. Oh, and the challenge this month is to use Autumn Colours.

 Here's a photo taken on more of an angle, to show that beautiful, gleaming effect.

I changed up the rest of the card from the original, adding a gold-embossed sentiment on a separate die-cut label, and then those lovely leaves (Paper Smooches dies--just the right size!) (and a BARGAIN at $4.49). They are cut from hammered gold, holographic mocha and metallic bronze papers.  I added three more leaves to the inside, too.

As the embossing folder wasn't the same size as my A2 card front, I borrowed a trick from Jennifer McGuire, and gold-embossed the top and bottom edges of my card, where the brown panel didn't cover it. Gives some extra glitz and ties in nicely to the elements on the front.

So there you have it, GILD-IT technique, and BDay card #5 of 10 for this season. Come back to see more!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Products linked above, plus:

Cardstock: chocolate and colonial white card-base, CTMH; 

water color paper for label, bronze metallic paper, Michael's.

Label die and sentiment stamp: Paper Wishes LINK HERE and HERE

gold adhesive nail heads LINK HERE

Ranger gold embossing powder LINK HERE

If I forgot anything, contact me and I'll tell you more...

Happy Birdday to Ewe...

 Still in the birthday card-making mode.

Here's one I sent to my mum this morning.

She LOVES sheep. Usually stuffed or pictured, vs. running around on the hoof. She does a lot of knitting--not sure if that had anything to do with it.

Anyhoo! 

I purchased this OWH set of cute critters and matching dies back in the summer, with that little sheep in mind for my mom. She attended the Copic certification workshop with me in June, so she'll appreciate the colouring!

Here's the card:

 Water-coloured the background with Distress Ink minis. The sky was sponged on. The grass created by swiping the edge of the inkpad onto the paper, making streaks that were then spritzed with pearlized water to mix and soften them.

I cut apart and mixed the sentiments to create the birthday message, and added a few seagulls to the sky so it made sense!

I sent my mom's birthday gift off earlier (it's the latest book in a fantasy series she follows), so I thought I'd include a book-mark with the card.

This months Simon Says Stamp card kit had just the right ingredients! 

I used my trusty Paper Smooches book-mark die as a base and played around with the papers and stamps from the SSS kit.

Here's the result:

Here's a close-up of the stamped panel. SO MUCH fun to create a bookshelf scene...

And I used the washi tape in the kit as part of the tassel. My mum was a librarian, so she'll love the whole name/date/sign-out thing...

Happy crafting,

Caroline

P.S.:  I'm linking the BDay card up to Seize the Birthday, Anything goes option.

Supplies:

White daisy, Colonial white, Lagoon cardstock, CTMH; Black textured cardstock, Wasau Papers; patterned paper from the SSS kit; water-colour paper, Tim Holtz/Ranger

Hero Arts  "Missing You" stamp set and matching dies

"To thine own shelf be true" stamp set from Simon Says Stamp

Paper Smooches bookmark dies

Stitched rectangle die from Lil' Inker Designs

Ribbon and twine, Michael's

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink pad, Tsuneiko

Distress Ink minis, in Tumbled Glass, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss, Antique Linen, Evergreen Bough: Ranger Industries

Copic markers

More birthday wishes...

What a happy, crafty day!

There's something about creating that is so satisfying.  Plus I took the dog on an über-long walk, so he is happy, too...

One last card, for two different challenges:

The One-layer Simplicity Challenge theme for September is "It's Hip to be Square."

And Color Me...! has a monochromatic theme of Daffodil yellow plus neutral.

 I went with a square card, and used the giant birthday candles from The Stamps of Life to create a square frame.
The candles are a two-step stamp, using grey (neutral), and I coloured the flames with Copic markers.

Did some doodling to frame it all, and then decided the sentiment in the middle needed a little extra something, so I added some yellow Distress ink (Scattered Straw) over top, with a diagonal stencil from My Favorite Things.
Kinda bright and cheery, and ONLY ONE LAYER (shockers!).

Have a creative week,

Caroline

Seizing the linky frog by the neck...

 Second post: creating a new URL so I can link up this B&W card to

Seize the Birthday's challenge:

Black & White is the option this week.

 Details on supplies can be found on my previous post HERE. 

Love The Stamps of Life for simple, graphic images.

TTFN

Caroline

Seizing some Awesomeness...

Enjoying some crafty time, today, and playing with some new supplies.

Here's the design from Freshly Made Sketches this week. Lots of potential with this one!

I purchased this awesome set from My Favorite Things, along with the matching dies; SO cool! They will come in handy for sending "missing you" cards to my three geeky & cheeky boys this year (Amy Tsuruta, you NEED this set!).

Here's what I made:

 

And, another birthday card for Seize the Birthday, this time using the "toppings" option of B&W:

 

Candles4birthdays stamp set from The Stamps of Life.

I thought those polka-dot candles looked awesome in black & white. Like a vintage cartoon. Stamping the sentiment on vellum avoided hiding the flames.

 

Off to enjoy some time outside on this sunny day!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Awesome card:

Cardstock in Thistle and White Daisy, gold dot washi tape, Smokey Plum ink: CTMH. 

Gold paper: Paper Wishes

Vellum: Michael's

Gold enamel dots: My Mind's Eye

Gold Stickles glitter glue: Ranger.

Happy Birthday card:

White Daisy card-stock, Black Archival ink: CTMH

Black textured card-stock: Wausau Paper

Copic markers: C1, C3, C5,C7; atyouSpica pen

Signo-Uniball silver pen

Vellum: Michael's

foam tape

Seize the Birthday {and make a wish!}

Hey crafty peeps. Long time, no blog!

Still adjusting to the empty nest, learning to love my DH all over again, and CLEARING OUT THE MESS left behind by those fledglings...

But! September is a birthday heavy-month for our family, so here's the first of several BD cards.

I'm sending this one in to:

Seize the Birthday's "anything goes" . The actual challenge this week is to use black & white--may try one of those later.

Anyway, today's card uses the awesome technique of water-coloring with embossing folders.

Ink up the embossing folder, spritz with pearlized water, then place your watercolor paper or card-stock inside the folder, and press.  I used Distress ink minis for this one, and Paper Wishes' wonderful dandelion embossing folder.

Inked up the edges with some sponged Tumbled Glass and Crushed Olive ink.

The sentiment is a new die set from the Stamps of Life.  The set includes the words as well as a shadow die.  I used vellum for the shadow, to make the sentiment distinct from the background, but without hiding all that watercolor goodness.

Here's a close-up:

I created perfectly matching letters by inking white card-stock with the Crushed Olive ink.

Final look:

Inside of the card says "make a wish."

Happy weekend!

Caroline

Supplies:

Watercolor paper & vellum--Michael's

Card-stock in Twilight and White Daisy, CTMH

Distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss and Tumbled Glass.

Ranger Perfect Pearls powder; mister
foam tape 
Corner-rounder

Liquid Glass

Wink of Stella glitter pen