Elephants on Parade!

Sometimes the best way to try new products and techniques is by making tags. These were fun and easy!

I started by playing with Hero Arts’ new liquid watercolors (check out the great video in the link) in Strawberry, Moss and Indigo (the only three colors I have, but see how nicely they mix and play together?) . These come in a dropper bottle and are highly pigmented.

I used the watercolors to create a large background sheet (which I cut into tags), but they are also great for coloring individual images. I dropped some watercolors into a paint tray, let them dry, and keep them handy on my desk. They re-activate with the touch of a damp or wet brush.

Once the paper was dry, I stamped and white embossed a portion of Hero Arts Bold Prints Floral Mandala background.

The larger pink elephant on the left is a punch from EK Success; the smaller elephant is a Hero Arts layering stamp (which has a matching die). The balloons on the large pink elephant is from Stampin’ Up!’s Balloon Builders set (if you can’t find it, there are several other great balloon stamps on the website!).

So much fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Hello Honey Bear!

These Wild Things animal tags from Stampin’ Up! (A Little Wild set) are not just stinkin’ cute … they are very versatile, too!

Using the stamps and matching dies, it’s easy to make the cutest tags (which I plan to use for party favors at an upcoming baby shower!). Check them out:

See how they fold over? And have a built-in hole for a string?

But, wait! There’s more! You can also cut them apart to use on cards:

The 4 7/8 x 7″ sized card was made using the Papertrey Ink die Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection and Stampin’ Up! card stock. I love this die set!

Don’t forget about the back side of the stamps!

And one last idea … a cute banner would bed cute, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cardmaking Catch-Up

I’ve been so busy crafting (yay!) and teaching crafting (double yay!) that I’m falling behind on blog postings. Let’s catch up a bit.

I’ve been having lots of fun with this pop-up box die from Lawn Fawn. I was always so intimidated by the idea of a pop-up … until I got the Scalloped Box Card Pop-Up die and  watched this terrific video.  Surprise! It’s really easy, thanks to the die (which does the hard part of cutting the pieces.)

What I love about this card is that it folds flat so you can stick it in an envelope:

Everything used on this card is from Lawn Fawn, including the patterned paper. The stamps are from the Stuck on You set, with matching dies.

Here’s another card using the same die, with the Elphie Selfie set:

 

(Here are my earlier attempts using this die)

Thanks for “popping” by!

Fabulous Finds Friday: The Cats’ Meow

Today, I’m obsessed with cute cats.

Here are two quick and easy cards using two different kitties:

I love this playful cat set from Waffle Flower. Above is just one of the cute kitties from Flora Cat Play.

I die cut the Stitched Journal die from Lawn Fawn then painted a soft blue watercolor wash rectangle. I stamped the kitty in black VersaFine and lightly colored in the images with a bit of grey. Gel pens added color to the cat’s flowers and a Wink of Stella added a touch of glitter.

The background was stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink using images from Spellbinders Designer Series Feather stamp and die set. When everything was dry, I mounted the cat panel with foam dimensional tape.

I’ve always loved Laurel Burch designs, so I was delighted to find that Stampendous! has licensed her images for stamps. This was also fast and easy, and came about as I was playing with the stamp, testing it out. (This cutie is from the Indigo Cats set.)

I stamped the cat on watercolor paper with VersaFine black ink, then colored with a mix of Ranger Distress yellow and mustard markers (which I first scribbled on my palette, then picked up with a watercolor brush.)

I added some color with sparkly gel pens. I did a light wash of blue watercolor around the cat and decided it needed more interest, so I used the stencil that comes with the stamp set to add a bit of Ranger Distress blue ink. I trimmed the panel, edged it with black permanent marker and attached it to a top-folding yellow 4Bar card. A few sequins finished the deal.

Have a great weekend! Meow!

Happy Heart Balloon Bear

I know Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but I had to share this Valentine I made for a very special boy using this adorable balloon animal set, called Balloon Builders, from Stampin’ Up!

The set has various shapes that you mix and match to create designs. I played around a bit with the shapes to find the “formula.” (My first one was a bunny, but he came out a little creepy, so we went with the bear!)

I started with the largest balloon for the body then continued to build the bear. The main stamping was done in Stephanie Bernard’s ColorBox brown. The heart balloon was stamped in my old Marvy Matchables red.  The string, eyes, nose and inside the ear were hand drawn. Grass was added with watercolor pencils, then blended (I kind of made a mess of that….) and the sentiment (from the same set) was stamped in blue. The pierced panel is from the Richard Garay/Spellbinders Pierced Rectangles set. 

Oh, heck… here are two more cards I made for Valentine’s Day (but they can be used for other occasions, too!)

How sweet are those birds?

It’s the same die I used here, a Cath Edvalson design for Technique Tuesday. The paper is from Simple Stories and the sentiment from Stampin’ Up’s Bloomin’ Love set.

And this fast and easy card uses the Scribble Heart  Arrow die set from Simon Says Stamp. I cut a bunch from various brightly colored papers and glued them on this purple card stock (a discontinued color from Paper Source. You’ll see a lot of it because I bought a huge package when I found it on clearance!) The sequins are from Lawn Fawn, attached with Ranger Multi Medium. (I also used the inside of the hearts on other cards.)

These were so fast and easy I made a bunch (note the inside pieces, too) :

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Dog-gone it!

Our pets so easily become part of our family! Which is one reason why I love this Hot Diggity Dog set from Stampin’ Up!

Besides the cute sayings (“never underestimate the warmth of a cold nose” or “pugs & kisses”) what I REALLY love is the sympathy sentiment, “no greater companion, no better friend. so sorry for your loss.” How often I’ve needed a card to express that loss.

Here are two simple, fast and easy cards I made using the set:

I stamped the body on a square, then stamped and black embossed the head, cut it out and attached with a small foam square. The textured blue background was run through one of my new favorite embossing folders, Fabric Weave, from Spellbinders’ Celebra’tions Collection. I then decided I wanted a little something extra, so ran the piece through the Celebra’tions pierced rectangle die. (Ooops! I should have done this BEFORE I dry embossed, as I lost a bit of the nice texture.) Papers from Stampin’ Up!.

The next one is pretty straight forward:

Stamping, embossing, etc.

Thanks for coming by … and do check out the dog and cat sets from Stampin’ Up!.

The Cat’s Meow

In my last post I featured a cute dog-reading-a-newspaper stamp from Stampendous! We gotta give the cats some love, too, right?

Such as this amusing image, also from Stampendous! (there’s a dog version as well.)

This is a simple card — basic stamping, layering, light coloring. The background was made by running white cardstock through a Spellbinders M-Bossabilities embossing folder. The image was lightly colored using watercolor pencils, lightly blended.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dog-gone it!

I don’t use a lot of animal images in my card making, but this dog-reading-a-newspaper stamp from Stampendous! caught my eye for various reasons — first, as a former news reporter, I love anything newspaper related, and second … well, do you SEE the expression in that dog’s eyes? Credit Stampendous! owner Fran Seiford for the wonderful artwork. Perfect for a Fabulous Finds Friday stamp pick!

The image was stamped in Ranger’s Wendy Vecchi’s Archival Potting Soil and colored with watercolor pencils, then blended lightly. The background paper and the darling center piece die cut (stitched journaling die) are from Lawn Fawn.

In the next card, I finally found something to use on this stenciled background I made a while back (featured here and here.)

Same process. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Have a great weekend!

Cards for Soldiers

Last Friday I posted some info on Operation Write Home — an organization that sends handmade cards to troops so they can send cards home. I am also having a We R Memory Keepers paper give-away on my blog (deadline for entries is Father’s Day. See my Friday blog for more details.)

Anyhoo…. I have made a bunch of cards to send to WRMK and Operation Write Home. Here are a few:

Many soldiers have children back home, so I wanted to make some child-centric cards. I thought it would be fun to make some “interactive” cards — cards that children can color! (It didn’t hurt that I just got some gorgeous bright papers from Die Cuts With a View!) So I ran few sheets through various embossing folders (the pink embossed design is from Lifestyle Crafts), stamped some owls (Hero Arts) and a two-word instruction (hee hee … stamped with a tiny Hero Arts alphabet set). Fast, easy, and I hope fun!

Here’s the boy version:

Almost all the same stuff, but the embossing folder is by Sizzix (maybe a Tim Holtz design?).

One more color-me-in design:

This was a fun background. I started with a diagonal embossing folder (Lifestyle) and then turned the folder so that I created a cross-hatch pattern on the top half. Here’s a close-up:

Isn’t that fun? The elephant is an old one from Magenta …. the sentiment also an old one from Hero Arts.

Thanks for coming by!

Cards for a Cause

I love making cards and have compiled quite a stash. I send cards for birthdays, or just to say hello. I give cards to friends. And I still have a large stockpile!

For the past year or so I have been sending cards to Operation Write Home, a non-profit that sends blank cards to U.S. military personal; they, in turn, can use and send these cards home to loved ones. It is a very satisfying project!

For the upcoming July 4th Independence Day celebration, We Are Memory Makers and Scrapbooks Etc. are teaming with OWH to donate thousands of blank cards.

We R Memory Makers is having a great contest — lots of fun prizes. Find the rules and details at www.weronthenet.com.
Blank cards must be received by 5 p.m., July 6th.

OWH — which has sent out a million cards so far! — is looking for blank, handmade cards that servicemen and women can send home.
These can be birthday, love, miss you, thank you, thinking of you, etc.

There are certain rules to follow in making cards (for example, no glitter), so before making your cards check out the OWH website at www.operationwritehome.org. You
can also send “Any Hero” cards, which are cards with notes inside of them from you to the troops. This is a great school or scout project!

Here’s my hero card:

(images: Artistic Outpost; giant ric rack border from Bazzill Basics.)

Here’s another from my stash:

(bird image: Martha Stewart. Colored with chalk.)

Thanks for stopping by — come back Friday for a Fabulous Find!