I’m back! It’s Been a Rough Patch!

Hello friends! 🙂 Are you still with me out there? (This is a bit of a long post to catch you up with what’s happened.)

Wow! It sure has been a while since I’ve been able to even TRY to get back into things. This was a really abrupt and rude unplanned disappearance from me and I was getting worried for a while about how I would even begin to start up again! I actually feel pretty “rusty” and unpracticed from my absence and I have a few things to share with you too!

Firstly, I want to thank you ALL from the very bottom of my heart for your wonderful comments, personal e-mail, cards and social media contact that I’ve heard from many of you. There were days that I just went to tears hearing from my fellow crafty friends as it came on a few days that I REALLY needed it the most! I thank you SO MUCH for that and it really helped to get me though some difficult pain days.

So what happened was a worsening of something that I believed to be a minor back issue that I thought would resolve on it’s own, but the issue grew worse and more painful to the point that I couldn’t sit, stand, walk or even getting out of bed was painful enough that I had a procedure to try and control the nerve pain. With this done, along with physical therapy and adjustments to my life style, I am feeling better now. It’s not COMPLETELY pain free, but it’s tolerable enough to do normal tasks for a period of time until I need to move around again. It’s just a life style adjustment that I can live with and hopefully fit in with what I love to do which is crafting! It really bothered me to just “walk away”, but sometimes when your health is in trouble, you just have to do what you have to do and heal. I have just learned that SEVERAL small breaks a day are better than none at all and I will pay for it later if I don’t! 🙂 Thanks for sticking it out with me!

———————————————————————-

And so with that, I would like to share a couple of things that actually took way longer to complete than what I would normally take the time to complete and it was actually the very last little bit that I had accomplished before I had to completely step out of my room for a while. My husband wouldn’t let me go back in there until he was sure that I could tolerate my pain ok. Still working through the exercises until my follow up Dr. appointment, but I think I’ll be fine from here…I sure hope so as I’m ready to ROCK N ROLL!!! LOL

I had made a couple of masculine cards:

Vicki-Brutus Monroe-Rock ON

Although I don’t have a black light, if you hold up the card to a black light, the watercolor background that I made will glow! It’s a pretty cool affect!

I took one of the foilable image panels from the kit and took several of the Neon Aqua Pigments and smooshed them over the background until I was happy. I tried to foil over it, but it didn’t completely get all of it. I added the strip of holographic paper at the bottom and the stamped elements along with the stars over it. For the sentiment, I heat embossed it with the EP that came in the kit and popped it up with foam tape. My bro seemed to like it and I think those neon watercolors turned out pretty cool! 🙂

Vicki-NN-FathersDay

This is probably one of my all time faves from Newton’s Nook called Winston’s BBQ. I think they have had this set for a while, but It’s a great one for masculine themed designs!

I’ve used a kraft cardstock background and stamped several of the images from the set all over the background with the same color of ink. For the main panel, I stamped Winston, the grill and sentiment together and colored with my Copic markers. I also sponged some blue ink around the edges of it for a “sky” looking appearance.

I’ve taken a strip of silver foil cardstock and ran an embossing folder through it to place across the center of the card. I used some foam tape to pop up the image panel over top. All of these layers were placed over an A2 sized white top folding card base.

Of course, last but not least, I wanted to share a card I had completed for a guest design card meant for June and that was completed at the end of May, but I was unable to share it before I had to leave for a while. This is the card I gave to my husband for Father’s Day and he really does feel like my super hero! 🙂

Vicki-PNDSuperBoyDog-June15

Isn’t this just the cutest?! I made this card using the adorable Paper Nest Dolls Superboy Owen and his sweet companion Superpuppy too! I had so much fun blending the background in the different colors! I added some blue stars stamped in the background. the city scape behind him was made with a city scape die cut layered a couple of times. I used some yellow cardstock behind the building for a lighted building affect. The wall was made using some gray colored cardstock and then a brick stencil with some red ink colored embossing paste to over it with. Then I just added the sentiment by white heat embossing it over a black strip that I die cut out.

Here’s a closer view of the coloring I’ve done on the images. I’ve used a silver gel pen to color in the buckle on his outfit. I fussy cut the images out after coloring.

Here you can also see the splattering that I’ve done with some white shimmer paint in the background with the blue stars.

Other news

I actually got a bit of really cool news while I was down and thanks to a lovely craft friend, she tagged me and let me know about this, but my set of Whimsy Stamps “Bee cards” were shown in the Making Cards & Papercraft Magazine for August 2019! Chosen as a “top spot” editor’s pick right inside the front cover! I was very surprised and to see what was said about it along with my blog address was pretty cool! So go get your copy of this magazine! It’s my first time having a peek at it and they’ve got some pretty neat inspiration in there!

Although I have been in a great deal of pain and mainly dealing with what came with it, of course my husband was great at trying to “distract” me from it and trying to get me to smile as much as possible. He knew first hand how I was feeling each day and like I mentioned above, he’s my super hero! So there were a few fun or smiling moments here and there while I was being patient with myself as much as I could anyway.

Vicki-backyard fireworks

I wasn’t able to do much to celebrate 4th of July, but going out in my backyard, my neighborhood seemed to have a pretty cool display! You can see the half moon at the bottom underneath the left side of the firework. Needed bug spray, but it was a nice night!

Vicki-Styx Concert

Back in April, hubby and I had gotten some Styx concert tickets and I was worried about going due to the problems I was having. Of course hubby said not to worry about it as our seats were great with no one behind us so I could sit, stand or whatever I needed to do! It was loud enough with the music and it took my mind off things plus I could always clap and sing the songs! 🙂 We took a good break in the middle of it so I could move around away from the seat too. It was a great concert!

Vicki-Black Eyed Susans

In my backyard, I have different flowers and I really enjoy going out in nature to see the flowers, birds, bees, etc. The flowers this Summer really helped me relax, smile and just enjoy the beauty that is around.

Some days were absolutely horrible, but there are also these days too…

Vicki-Purple Cone Flowers

Vicki-Iris

Vicki-red Iris

Vicki-orange Iris

Vicki-Yellow Iris

Vicki-Hydrengas

I’m soooo happy to finally be able to write up a post and now that I’m able to start getting back into my stamp room, I’m very excited to be able to come back to my design teams (who were ALL so absolutely wonderful with letting me have the time to heal and recover! It meant so much!) and I will be along again soon to share new creations now! Yay! Hope everyone is doing well and I’ve missed you!

Crafty hugs

Anything Goes at Cute Card Thursday With Curly

Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a wonderful week so far!! It’s really starting to feel like Summer now with the warmer temps!

Today is a new challenge this week over at Cute Card Thursday! This week we have our “Anything Goes” challenge with our sponsor Whimsy Stamps! So of course, I am using a cute image from Whimsy Stamps for my card today:

Vicki-WSCurly-June6

Tee hee! This little guy holding the tiny “sea creature” makes me smile and giggle! I’m not really sure what reaction he has about it! His name is just as cute too! This is Curly from Whimsy Stamps. I thought he needed a scene, so I made one for him.

I started with some Bristol Smooth watercolor paper and masked off the line between the sky and the sand. I used my Distress Inks to blend in the colors. After doing the sky, I thought that it was a bit too dark, so what I did was take a baby wipe and swiped it across which lightened up the colors the way I wanted them for the sky. The bottom “sand” portion was also masked, and I blended the bottom blue color into the sandy colors which created a nice shoreline. I then took a water bottle and spritzed some water droplets over it to create “texture” for the sand. I also took some Copic markers to create more texture with the pointillism technique, plus added some white ones with a gel pen. the water at the bottom was covered with a glitter pen. (You can see better details in the photos/description below.)

So, I’ve got him all colored up in the following Copic markers:

Flippers/water gear – B32, B34, B37, Y11
Swim Trunks – R32, R35, R37, Y11, Y15
Sea Creature – BV23, BV29
Hair – E41, E43, E44, E47
Skin – E000, E00, E02, E11, E21, R20
I used gel pens to color lines on trunks and cheeks, I’ve used a glitter pen over the “sea creature” and his flippers along with the bottom water area.

I fussy cut this image and used some liquid glue to attach over my scene.

Vicki-WSCurly-June6-flat

For the scene, I stamped the birds in the sky and a star fish image from an older Whimsy Stamps clear stamp set. I then took the sentiment from the WS Everyday Mini Sentiments and white heat embossed it over a black strip of cardstock and then used my scissors to cut out a banner to attach over the scene. I layered this over another piece of black cardstock that was attached to an A2 sized top folding white card base.

Lastly, I’ve taken some WS It’s a Party enamel dots and added them to the card.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today! Thanks for stopping in! I’ll be seeing you tomorrow for some fun news!

Challenges for this card:

A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Crafty Friends – Men/Boys
Sweet Stampin’ – World Ocean’s Day/Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff – Summer Fun
Always Fun – Summer Fun
Unicorn – For the Men/Boys

It’s Masculine at Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far! I’m ready for this rain to end over my way and would love to send it along to those that need it! June is a hop-jump and a skip away, so I’m hoping that Summer will dry things up.

Speaking of June, Father’s Day will be coming up shortly for us here in the U.S. so the new challenge at Cute Card Thursday is a very timely one to have! We’d like to see your “Masculine” creations this week! Here’s what I’ve come up with:

LOL!! Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps! I have used this hilarious image called Gus Tidbits Unconsciousness. He’s a really good one to use for not only masculine, but humorous creations too!

For the card, I’ve printed out both the image and sentiment together and then cut out the panel with a stitched rectangle die and then layered a piece of Stampin’ Up! Soft Suede behind it. Before attaching these pieces together, I’ve sponged some ink around the edges of it.

The checkered paper that I’ve used on my design came from a My Favorite Things paper pad collection. I die cut a piece to layer over a top folding A2 sized white card base with another stitched rectangle die and then placed the image panel over top it on the card.

I also cut out a banner with the same papers and added it to the upper right image panel and then added on a chipboard clock button from my stash with some twine ribbon tied around it and placed it over the banner with some foam tape. I’ve added a wooden button in the center of the bow.

Here’s a better look at the coloring on Gus. You can see on his eye glasses where I’ve added some glossy accents. It was a really fun and simple card to create!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my masculine creation today!

*P.S. Here is another update on the bird nest…we have a baby!!

If you remember, there were 3 blue eggs in the nest. We can’t tell for sure, but it looks like just one baby bird in there. As you can see, there is one egg in there. We see what looks like a crack on it, but it hasn’t hatched and we’re not sure it will. We have no idea where the other egg/bird went to! There is nothing on the ground. With all of these severe thunderstorms and rain, I can imagine they’re having a hard time out there. It shouldn’t be too much longer that this little guy will be taking flight! So we’ll see if we can keep track of what’s going on from here! 🙂

Challenges I’d like to enter my card for:

TGIF – #TGIFC213 All About That Gingham
Papercraft – For Men & Boys
Watercooler Wednesday – WWC223 Anything Goes
Simons Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

It’s Party Time!

Hello friends! It’s been sort of a crazy few days with our weather! Usually it’s pretty warm and sunny, but we’ve been having some severe rain and cooler temps. Plus more rain coming, so I guess I’ll be in my craft room playing! 🙂

Today I have this happy party fellow from Whimsy Stamps to share with you:

Vicki-WSPenguin Bday Party-May21

Isn’t he adorable?! This image is called Penguin Birthday by Crissy Armstrong. This was previously released as a rubber stamp, but this month it has been released in digital format so you can have either option available!

I have cut him out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Squares die set and cut an additional piece in black cardstock for a layer behind him. For the base of my card, I’ve used a green colored 5″ square top folding card base and attached a piece of striped paper across the lower section and sponged some white ink along the edges of the green card base panel. I then used a piece of 1/2″ score tape across the top of the striped strip panel and then used some fun glitter over top of it and burnished into the tape.

I’ve also used this same glitter to go over the Whimsy Stamps Happy Large Word die cut out from some double-sided sticker paper. I white heat embossed the “birthday” over a strip of black cardstock that I’ve cut into a banner and placed it directly underneath the glittered word die. This came from the Happy Everything Clear Stamp set.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on this cutie. You can also see the fun details of the glitter that I’ve used on the word die. I love the sort of “confetti flex” contained in this glitter. It’s something I got in a sample size from a card kit a couple of months ago and it’s great for birthdays! 🙂 Hard to see in the photo, but I’ve also used a clear glitter pen to go over the balloon and present. I sponged around the image panel with some of the same green ink that I’ve used for the card base cardstock color. I’ve used the following Copic markers to color him with:

Penguin – C8, C5, C3, C1, R00, R000, YR27, YR24, Y32
Balloon, party hat, present – YG01, YG11, YG13, V17, V15, V12
Shading, shadows, ground – C3, C1, E0000

Vicki-WSPenguin Bday Party-May21-flat

It’s always nice to have a good selection of birthday cards on hand when you need to hurry up and send one out and I think this one is great for any gender or age.

Challenges:

Little Red Wagon – Happy “BIRD”day!
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #348 Anything Goes
Allsorts – Happy Birthday!!!
Seize the Birthday – Anything Goes + toppings=Balloons!!

P.S. I know that many of you have been asking for updates on the bird nest situation and so here’s another photo of what we were able to capture:

20190520_185442

After the flowers were done blooming, we were able to get more of a clear shot and CAREFULLY get close enough to get the mother Robin sitting on her nest! Like I had mentioned, she doesn’t like it when we go out there. She chirps at us and waits for us to leave.

20190520_184645

Here is one of her standing in the nest. We think that she may have hatched those eggs as it looks like she might be feeding the babies! So next time we’ll check back in and see if we can get a look at those babies in there! 🙂

Hope you’ve enjoyed my post today! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you soon!!

In Stitches for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Wow, this week has really been flying by! I seem to think this almost every week, but I know when the weather starts getting warm, I seem to get more busy outside and perhaps that’s why with the weather being so nice, warm and sunny. I am enjoying it!

Today starts a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week and the theme is “Stitching (faux or real)“. There are all types of ways to incorporate stitching into your paper crafting and I enjoy adding it to my creations. So here’s how I’ve added it to my card for today. I thought this would be such a cute idea for a get well card.

Vicki-CCT582

To make the slider for my card design, I have used the Lawn Fawn Magic Picture Changer and the Magic Picture Changer Add-On dies. It looks pretty intimidating, but it actually wasn’t that bad to put together as the measuring and cutting is done with the die. I’ve used the adorable Get Well Before ‘n Afters stamp set to create this and I know I’ll be making another one with the whale to make another card as I’m in need of one. The turtles were colored with Copic markers and I’ve used them to also create the grass and sky background behind the turtle as he needed something to “ground” him and not be up in the air. I took a water-proof pen and added a scribble above his head as he’s not happy being up-side-down!

I’ve cut the “add-on” pieces and the background of the card with the Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes and Really Rainbow paper packs. But before attaching the “add-on” papers to the turtle frame, I took a needle and some linen thread and added a few cross-stitch marks around the blue frame. I’ve also cut a few clouds from a retired LF die set and added the die cut “bottle” that I colored from the same “Get Well” stamp set.

Before I attached the turtle mechanism onto the card, I also die cut a strip of grass with the Grassy Hillside Pop-Up Add-On die in some green cardstock. I then took one of the sentiments from the same “Get Well” stamp set and white heat embossed it at the bottom of this piece. The turtle mechanism was popped up over the card front base with some foam tape which was all mounted to an A2 sized top folding card base.

I thought it would be fun to decorate the envelope too, so I die cut a piece of the grass again and used it as a stencil to sponge in some grass along the bottom of the envelope and then I also stenciled some clouds over it.

Vicki-CCT582-A

And here’s what the turtle looks like when you pull the tab out. He is much happier now that he’s back on his feet again! I think I played with this card and pulled that tab to watch that turtle get on his feet over and over! LOL! I hope it will have the same effect on the person who receives it too!

Here’s a closer view of the coloring that I’ve done. It was a small image and so I’ve kept the coloring pretty simple. For the “happy” turtle I’ve made a few clouds in the sky. To make the slider part work, you don’t want to add anything other than the coloring so that it slides smoothly.

Vicki-CCT582-flat

Here you can sort of get a better look at the coordinating envelope that I’ve made to go with the card. Although I have made some hand stitched marks on my card, the dies themselves already have lots of cool stitch details in them when you cut it out, so I think it just helped add to the design. This card is going to a male, so I didn’t want to create anything that was too over done. I think this might bring a smile, what do you think?

P.S. If you remembered my post the other day, I shared a photo of the Robin’s nest with one egg in it. Well, since I’ve last checked, there are a couple more in there now:

3 robin eggs

Every time we go out there, the mother watches for us to leave as she wants to sit on her eggs! This is why we can’t get a photo of her actually sitting on it. But we will see if anything happens in a few weeks! 🙂

Thanks so much for dropping by today! I hope you are enjoying your week and I’ll see you soon!!

Challenges:

Sweet Stampers – Animals
Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1919 Anything Goes
Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes
A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stitches
Watercooler Wednesday – masculine anything goes WWC221

Under the Sea Shaker for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Welcome to another Thursday and a new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week! The challenge for this week is Brads, Sequins/Gems. So pull out your embellishments and have some fun creating! Looking forward to seeing your creations using these items!

I decided that I was going to use all three items for my card today:

Vicki-CCT579-SU

I’ve used an “oldie but a goodie” Stampin’ Up! stamp set for my masculine shaker card here. I’ve pulled out the “By the Tide” and “Hardwood” rubber stamp sets that I’ve had for a couple of years now. (Not sure if they’re still available or not in the catalog as it’s been such a long time since I’ve bought any SU! products.)

I started by stamping the background “Hardwood” stamp with Basic Gray ink over a piece of Marina Mist cardstock and then blended some gray and black distress inks along the edges of it. I mounted it with some Basic Gray cardstock. I’ve taken some twine pieces and used it to fashion a “netting” accent from the side of the card onto the bottom front and then added some blue glitter around it for some fun texture and sparkle.

For the shaker element of my card, I’ve used some circle dies to create the frames and that’s where I’ve attached the silver brads all around the edge. I’ve used some more distress inks and stamp some more images from the stamp set for the inside of the shaker design. I’ve added some sequins for the inside of the shaker window and placed it over the front of the card over the netting accent. I stamped the images with Gray and Cajun ink pads and then colored them in and randomly placed them over the card design.

Vicki-CCT579-SU-flat

Lastly, I’ve taken some rhinestones and colored them with a Copic marker so that I could get the blue color for my design.

Thanks for dropping in!

challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Going Around in Circles
Use Your Stuff – Yarn/String/Twine
Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
Retro Rubber – Anything Goes #rrcb109
Crafty Creations – Anything Goes

Whimsy Stamps Partner’s with Make a Wish Canada

Hello friends! It’s my pleasure today to post information about this special image that Whimsy Stamps has just released today in honor of our beloved illustrator Crissy Armstrong’s brother, Ray Gauvreau, who is currently battling cancer.

I have made a special card just for him that is being sent out his way:

Vicki-WS-Penguin Ray

I started out by coloring up this image with my Copic markers in the following:

Penguin body, IV wheels/post – C8, C5, C3, C1
penguin feet/beak, tongue, cheeks – YR24, YR21, Y23, R20, R11, R00, R000
Bandage, IV bag – E33, E31, Y11, R00
ground/shadow – C1, E0000

For the background of my card, I took some xyron printed paper and foiled the background which I think looks great for a masculine theme design and that is what I was trying to go for with this card. After foiling it, I took and sponged some yellow distress ink to blend around the edges of it for a bit of color, along with the image panel.

I had an old stamp set from my stash and thought it would be a great fit for this card, so I stamped the vertical “fight” sentiment next to the IV bag and then I took the other sentiment and heat embossed it with white EP and cut it in a strip to attach over the image. Lastly, I’ve added some white enamel dots to each corner of the design.

Here’s a close look at the image and how I’ve colored it in. It’s hard to tell in the photo of course, but I’ve also covered the IV bag with a clear glitter brush pen. I think this image is a really great one to add to a crafter’s collection for “get well” cards and encouragement too like this one. After cutting out the colored image panel and sponging the color around the edges, I’ve also layered this along with the foil panel with some black cardstock before attaching it onto a white top folding A2 sized card base.

Vicki-WS-Penguin Ray-flat

In this photo that I’ve laid flat, you can better see the shine from the foiled background that I’ve done.

Thank you so much for stopping in today and for your kind support too!

I will see you tomorrow for a special blog hop, so I hope you can join me!

Challenges:

Watercooler Wednesday – WWC213 – Anything Masculine Goes
Aud Sentiments – Any sentiment EXCEPT “Happy birthday”
QKR Stampede – #340 Anything Goes

Anything Goes for Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! Hope you had an amazing Christmas and Santa brought you everything you’ve wished for! It’s always a fun time of year to celebrate with family and friends!

Today is Thursday which means a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday! Another easy theme of “Anything Goes” for this week! Looking forward to seeing what you’ve been crafting through the Holiday Season!

Sometimes I like to try out working with different media that I don’t normally always use on my creations, so for this one I’ve pulled out my watercolor:

Vicki-CCT562-watercolor winter hats

I have used one of the prints from Simon Says Stamp Suzy’s Winter Warmth Watercolor Prints. I’ve decided to use my Kuretake Gansia Tambi Watercolor set with a #4 and #8 Silver Brushes to color the complete panel.

For a little bit of “snow splatter”, I took some white Folk Art Mixed Media acrylic paint spray around the edges of the dried watercolor piece. (Something new and fun for me to try out with this too!)

To finish up the design, I added some doodling in a couple of areas with my white gel pen and then attached the entire panel onto a white A2 sized top folding card base and rounded the corners of it with a corner chomper.

It was simple, but a fun card to make. Because SOMETIMES, you just need to take time to chill and have fun coloring or playing around with different media, right?! 🙂

Challenges I’d like to enter:

SSS Work It Wednesday – Try Something NEW (Mixed Media acrylic spray is new!)
QKR Stampede – Anything Goes #327
Crafty Creations – Anything Goes
The House that Stamps Built (D6218) – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Feeling Young at Heart

Hello friends! Stopping in to share another guest design creation that I’ve made! Here’s another I’ve made using the very sweet digital set Doctor at Heart:

Vicki-SnSNov-YoungatHeart

Isn’t this image darling?! My first thought on this set was to try and go a little “vintage” with my design. I opened up a Word doc. to insert the image and sentiment and sized and arranged it how I wanted it to look. I printed it out on some cream-colored card stock and then cut it out with the Tonic Studios Follow Your Heart die using the frame portion only.

I wasn’t sure I wanted the image to look “vintage” so in asking hubby, he told me that I needed to color him up with blue shorts, brown/tan shoes, orange top and blond hair! He was very specific about that!! LOL! So I colored this cute image up with my Copic markers and gave some “outlining” shadows around the sentiment too. I took a gel Stardust Pen and colored in the ‘metal parts’ of the stethoscope and then added some Nuvo Crystal Drops Morning Dew (Gloss-clear) to the heart circle the boy is holding and let it dry. I then used some distress inks and sponged around the edges of the heart image panel and spritzed it with water, waited a few seconds and dabbed it up with a paper towel. I love the watermark look it gives to add that vintage flair and tie it all in together.

Vicki-SnSNov-YoungatHeart3

So when you tilt the card, you notice that the background looks like I’ve used some special glitter paper, but I did NOT! I made my own glitter paper for the background! I took another piece of black cardstock and covered the entire panel with VersaMark Ink and sprinkled it with some Black Magic embossing powder. Stunning sparkle!

Vicki-SnSNov-YoungatHeart2

For the look on the ribbon, I took some cream-colored seam binding ribbon and sprayed it with some water and rubbed it in some ink that I smeared onto my TH Glass Media Mat and crinkled it up and then let it dry. I wrapped it around the embossed glitter background panel and added a bow with a button and natural twine for the center of it. I mounted this glitter panel onto a 5 1/2″ squared cream-colored card base that I’ve ink blended around the edges in the same colors that I’ve used on the heart. The heart image panel was then popped up over the ribbon strip and glitter background with craft foam and then the seam binding bow was attached along the edge of the heart.

Vicki-SnSNov-YoungatHeart1

For the corners of my card, I had a very old corner punch that I punched out from black card stock and attached them to the corners of the card. I then used the Nuvo Crystal Drops Ripened Pumpkin to add some “dot” in the middle of each punched corner piece to finish it off. I think that the tiny bit of orange color ties in nicely with the glitter background and his orange shirt.

I really hope that you’ve enjoyed my fun ‘vintage charm’ creation as well! Thanks so much for stopping in today and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges I’d like o enter my card for:

Little Red Wagon – “Remember When” (used Crystal Nuvo Drops – Rippened Pumpkin – meant to be for Halloween)
Crafty Creations – Anything Goes
The Creatie Crafters – Anything Goes
Fussy and Fancy Friday – Anything Goes

Seeing Stars at Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends and welcome to Thursday already! It seems like the weeks are quickly going by faster and faster as we close in on the end of the year! It’s the “crazy crafting season” for sure! LOL!

Today brings up another Cute Card Thursday Challenge and for this week’s challenge, we’d like to see “STARS” on your creations! I think this is a good one for whatever it is you’re crafting even if it’s Christmas…or not! I have decided to make mine non-Christmasy this time:

I am pretty much “out-numbered” with males in my family, so most of my birthday cards are for men and I have a couple more birthdays to celebrate next month, so I thought this was a great opportunity to sneak one into my Christmas card-making time!

All the stamps and dies used on my card today come from My Favorite Things. (I have recently purchased some Christmas items and look forward to getting my hands crafty with some of it soon!)

I started my card out with the Blueprints 27 scallop rectangle die. I took some star images from a retired MFT stamp set called “Totally Happy” and randomly stamped them with VersaMark on this card front panel and then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. I taped off the scalloped edges so that they wouldn’t get inked. I’ve used the Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron Distress Oxide inks and blended them over the stars for an ink resist effect. I also spritzed this panel and dabbed it with a paper towel for the water drop look.

I thought it would be fun to make a shaker card, so I die cut a star from this ink blended panel with the MFT Star Shaker Window and Frame Die-namics set and then cut the frame out from some black card stock.

What makes this such an easy shaker card is that MFT also has these Star Shaker Pouches that coordinate with the die! So I’ve taken this and fit it through the die cut star area on my card front panel and then filled it from the back with some confetti stars, I found some matching-colored seed beads and pretty sparkly silver glitter chunks to fit inside and then covered the back with some white cardstock. Just love the sound when it shakes because you can hear the seed beads! 🙂

I then took a strip of black card stock and white heat embossed the sentiment (same stamp set mentioned above.) to stamp the greeting. I first layered the scallop inked panel over a black piece of cardstock and then attached the sentiment strip and cut off the edges to match that layer. I then mounted this panel over an A2 sized top folding white card base. I finished it off by adding some silver star sequins filled with some Silver Stickles in the centers of each one.

Sometimes you wonder about “adding too much bling” for a guy, but I think this is a fun shaker birthday card that a male would enjoy too! Hope you’ve had some fun on my blog today! I thank you so much for stopping by! I will see you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

Challenge Up Your Life – Celebrate/Anniversary, etc. (Happy 100th Challenge!)
Use Your Stuff – Stars
Crafty Cardmakers – Lots of Layers
Shopping Our Stash – (SOS 380) Tic Tac Toe (I used the middle row going down: stamps, glitter was handed from my grandma to my mom and then to me..so yeah, older than 5 years probably! LOL & Happy Birthday)
Watercooler Wednesday – WWC196 – “All About Occasions”

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: