Hot Dog! It’s Birthday Time!

Hello friends! As you know, I’ve been TRYING to get my MOJO flowing and I REALLY appreciate the feedback that I’ve gotten from you and others about things I can try including non-craft related things! (Honestly, right now in this world with what is going on, it is hard to concentrate along with worrying about my own family in different ways…so that doesn’t help either!) But I’ve been trying to find things to keep my mind focused and try new things that are interesting to me…so I will just keep going along and see what happens!! I would like to continue with as many “stamped smiles” as I possibly can right now….we all need that at this time!

Today’s card was made for my son’s birthday that was this past Saturday:

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I pulled out an older Simon Says Stamp card kit and used the So Pun Friends and the I Chews You stamp sets along with the coordinating dies. I’ve used the cardstock and cute Doodlebug So Much Pun Papers that came with the card kit as well. The tag was cut using the My Favorite Things Stitched Tag dies. I created the hole at the top of the tag with circle punches and the twine is from left over packaging.

I cut the tag shape out again with more of the papers from the kit and then popped up the image tag with foam tape and added some white enamel dots.

On the inside I stamped a birthday greeting and made a pocket to hold a gift card for him. We usually take him out to dinner for his birthday, but since he’s moved away I had to send him a gift card instead. Bummer…

Here’s a closer look at the cute smile face images that I colored up with my Copic markers. I cut out the food images with the So Pun Friends coordinating dies. For the sentiment, I stamped the speech bubble from the I Chews You stamp set over a piece of the Doodlebug papers and then added the sentiment from the So Pun Friends stamp set in the center of the speech bubble. I then die cut it out with the I Chews You coordinating dies.

I used some blue distress ink to blend some color over the center of the white area on the tag and then popped up the speech bubble with some foam tape over that area. The hotdog at the bottom was also popped up with foam tape as well.

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I actually had some fun pulling out this older card kit to play with and who could resist a hotdog smiling at you?! LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping in and for your continued support! It’s very much appreciated and I hope that I helped bring a smile or inspiration to you today!

I actually have a couple more birthdays coming up that I need to make cards for, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of those in the near future too!

Challenges:

Not Just Cards – March Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – Etc, etc, etc (3 enamel dots and 3 food images with smiles)
Cute Card Thursday – Celebrate!
TIME OUT – Birthday with optional twist: die cutting or fussy cutting
Seize the Birthday – #185 Touch of Green or Anything Goes

Owl-rageous Thanks

Hello friends! We’re finally on the last Friday of February! Yay!

Although we’ve had snow in our forecast recently, I’m feeling Spring will be in the air soon and I really look forward to it along with all of the pretty flowers and green grass! So today, I’m sharing a card I’ve made using this adorable Pairables set from Digi Doodle Studios:

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Isn’t this little owl the cutest?! I love how he has his little wings out for a hug! I’ve used several of the images from the “Owl-rageous” Pairables set to create the scene on my card. I have used Word.doc on my computer to arrange and size the different images where I wanted them for my scene and printed it out to color. I’ve also printed out the flower image from the set along with the sentiment separately to cut out for my design.

As you can see, I’ve taken the flower image and sized it differently and arranged it around the stump for the scene. I’ve also used it to cut it out separately to attach to the twine next to the sentiment as well as the twine bow at the bottom.

I’ve printed out the sentiment, cut it out and then cut the fish tails on each end and ink blended with brown ink around it. I’ve matted it with the same brown cardstock that I’ve layered the image panel on and it’s also the base of my top folding A2 sized card.

I’ve pulled out some textured woodgrain cardstock as well as the Spring Plaid papers from my Lawn Fawn stash. I thought the woodgrain and Spring-like colors worked well for this cute owl. I’ve finished it off with some clear sequins.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on this cutie! I’ve used the W tones to color him in and then the E20s to color the stump. I also end up going for the G24, G21 and G20 for coloring my grass. I love the bright Spring green it gives I think. I highlighted his cheeks and eyes with a white gel pen.

You can also see a subtle cloud line behind him. I’ve used the MFT Cloud Stencil with my ink blending tool and Tumbled Glass distress ink to create the background.

You can see that I’ve wrapped some twine around the center of the card where the two different papers meet as well as wrapped around each corner of the image panel. This is where I decided to add the cut out flowers on each end.

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I feel like this owl with my arms open and ready to take in all of Spring when it comes and thank Mother Nature for bringing it around! LOL! How about you?

Thanks so much for stopping in today my friends! I’ll be seeing you soon! 🙂

Challenges:

Creative Fingers – #180 Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2008 Anything Goes
Arty Divas – #16 Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday – Spring Fever

Seally Me!

Hello friends! I hope that you’ve had a great weekend! The temps actually got up high enough that I was able to take a nice walk Sunday! Then of course since it’s February, Mother Nature says we will be getting several inches of snow today! For some reason this month seems really long, so I’m ready to move along to March! LOL!

Since we are still getting snow, I thought it would be a great time to pull out this adorable “Seally for You” Pairables digi set from Digi Doodle Studios and make some cards:

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For my first card, I’ve arranged the images from the set and printed it out. You may recognize the balloon floating in the air which is another digital image that came from the DDS Little Ones Pairables set. (So don’t forget that you can always mix sets together to come up with some really fun scenes!)

To finish out the scene, I’ve used some masking paper and ripped up pieces of scrap paper to create the “hills” in the background along with the “water” that the seal is taking a ride on over a piece of ice. I used some blender brushes to blend the colors for the background.

I’ve used some liquid glue around the edges of this panel and covered it with some glitter. I printed out the sentiment from the set separately over a piece of colored cardstock and cut it out for the banner.

Since I was trying to keep this a “wintry” style card, I kept the colors more blue and purple. I found some fun papers in my stash that worked for a fun birthday theme and then I used an embossing folder and embossed that strip of Prism paper in the center that I’ve placed the ribbon over and added the bow. Lastly, I’ve added the heart sequins and covered the balloon and ice images with a glitter brush pen.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring on this cute little seal as well as all of the shimmer and sparkle everywhere! I’ve used a white gel pen for his cheeks, eyes and for lines on the water.

“Seally Me”….I’m always forgetting a birthday here and there! LOL! Which I guess is why I’ve decided to create another card:

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For this card, I’ve kept it pretty much the same in a more simplified way with less layers and details.

As you can see, I’ve printed out the scene panel with just the seal on the ice platform and then I’ve used blender brushes here again to just give the “water” a bit of color that fades out towards the center of the panel. I printed out the “icebergs” and sentiment separately and then cut them out to place over the design.

I’ve also used a MFT balloon die to cut out with black and turquoise glitter paper and popped that up along with the “icebergs” over the panel. Lastly I’ve added some sequins.

Here’s a closer view of the coloring on this seal. I’ve kept him the same colors, but for this one, it’s a bit softer in tones. Again, I’ve used a white gel pen for this cheeks, eyes and water as well as a glitter brush pen over the icebergs and ice platform.

I honestly am not sure which one I like better than the other, but that seal is cute regardless and that face might help me “get away” with being late for a birthday when I send it along! LOL!

Really hope that you’ve enjoyed my cards or have been inspired in some way! Still struggling with no MOJO, but trying to work through it and hopefully it’ll miss me and want to come back soon! Until then, I will keep trying to create through it.

Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter:

Di’s Digi Challenge – Use a Digi Image
Papercraft– #55 Winter Fun
Createful Heart Design – #17 Anything Goes
Jan’s Digi Stamps– #8 Anything Goes
The House That Stamps Built – F1920 Winter Color Palette
Aud Sentiments – #245 Anything Goes + Sentiment
Penny’s Paper-Crafty – #465 Anything Goes

Full Bloom Rainbow

Hello friends! I hope you’re having a great week so far! I’m wondering if this cold weather has me feeling this way lately, but I’m seriously lacking in creativity and just have misplaced my MOJO lately! If you’ve found it, please let me know! LOL!

In the meantime, I seriously needed to create a rainbow in my life and found that a young lady certainly was in need of a smile sent her way as well so I thought I would do just that:

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I had received my Pink and Main Crafty Courtyard Card Kit and really loved the happy colors and pretty blooms in the stamp set and so I started out using the stencil with rainbow order inks for the background!

I’ve also used the same color of Distress Oxide inks to do the stamping on the tag and envelope as well. I absolutely love the tag die set was included with the kit which I’ve used for the main focus of my card. I always want to add just a bit of black to my rainbow colors, so I decided to white heat emboss the sentiment from the stamp set and then used one of the tag die elements to cut it out with and pop up over the bottom of the tag.

I’ve also used the ribbon and enamel dots included in the kit to finish it off. (The floral sequins used for the photo prop were also included in the kit. LOL!)

Here’s a closer look at the details in the tag. For the black border around the tag, I just cut a piece down to size and then cut off the edges with my scissors to match up with the tag. The scallop tag behind it was cut with the paper and die from the kit. I used some circle punches to create the black re-enforcer and then I tied the ribbon together with some black twine from my own stash and topped the center with an enamel dot from the kit.

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This card has now been sent along to a young lady that is currently in the hospital dealing with cancer treatments and really needs some cheerful happy colors, so I hope that this will help fill her day with some cheer.

Hoping that this card has also sent some feelings of cheer today your way as well! Thanks so much for stopping in today friends and I’ll see you soon! 🙂

Challenges:

Allsorts – Dies and/or Punches
A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes #110
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2007 Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door– Anything Goes
Fab ‘N’ Funky – For a Child (sent to a 15 yr. old in hospital)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Add a Sentiment
Creative Knockouts – Flower Power

Guest Rock Star for Repeat Impressions POTW!

Hello friends! I’m hoping that you’ve had a wonderful weekend!

I’m very excited to be sharing my projects today as a guest “Rock Star” for Repeat Impressions! I’ve been asked to share a special post for their “Project of the Week” segment on their blog today! Yay!

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know how much I love to ink blend! It’s something that is fun to do, and I’m always amazed at the finished colors! I want you to get the same satisfaction when you do it too, so I thought that would take a fun photo tutorial for my guest POTW post!

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There is just something about this scene that makes me feel happy and relaxed! So of course, that sentiment goes just perfectly with it! This sentiment/saying is one of my all-time favorites and I was thrilled to use it for this design!

I’ve used the “Canoeing” (2905-G) along with the “Mountain Vista” (629-I) From Repeat Impressions for the image stamping over the ink blended scene.

Here’s a closer look at the details in this card with how I went about creating it. You can see the different blended colors in both the water and sky. The setting sun was colored in with a glitter gel pen which created some shimmer to it. The white gel pen highlighted details in the water.

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Really had fun creating this scene with these stamps which were just perfect for an ink blended background! I thought this would make for a wonderful retirement card! If you want to create one of these types of cards yourself, please be sure to check out the step-by-step tutorial over at the Repeat Impressions Blog to see how I went about doing this!

I loved that sentiment stamp so much, that I just couldn’t help but create one more card using it again with another ink blended design:

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Really LOVE how this one turned out!

What’s fun about ink blending is all of the different color combinations you can play with and blend together for different looks! This time, I’ve used different colors and started my ink blending in the center. I’ve also used a die to cut out the center of the ink blended panel, heat emboss the sentiment over it, layer with a piece of black cardstock behind it, and pop it up over the rest of the ink blended background. So even though it was cut out in the center, it’s a continuous ink blended design!

On this ink blended panel, I’ve used some Shimmer Spray over it which gives it a really pretty shimmer with a bit of a “water droplet” effect as the Distress Oxide Inks react to water/liquids. I think this turned out really cool as it gives it sort of a “Bokeh Effect”.

Before I cut out the center of the ink blended panel, I’ve used the “Flower Power Frame” (10202-Q) to stamp in black ink at the top and bottom of the panel. You can see that part of the stamped image was die cut on the sentiment panel. I colored the centers of the flowers with a yellow glitter gel pen for added detail.

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To add to the look, I thought it needed some sparkling clear sequins to finish it off!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my creations today and please be sure to stop on over at the Repeat Impressions Blog to check out the full tutorial on ink blending!

Thank you so much to Wendy and the fellow Rock Star friends for having me along as a guest! Really enjoyed creating these projects with these fabulous stamps!!

Also thank YOU for stopping in today! I appreciate your support so much! I’ll be seeing you again soon my friends!

Challenges I’d like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps &More – Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday – CAS
Cardz 4 Galz– Black and Bling (second card only)
Daring Cardmakers – Someone or Something You Love (ink blending, words/verse)
Creatalicious – #181 Anything Goes with optional embossing
The Creative Crafters – #25 Anything Goes

It’s Going to be “Owl-right!”

Hello friends and welcome to the weekend! I hope you have some great plans ahead of you and have some fun!

Today I’d like to share this card I’ve made with a darling feathered cutie and the punnyness that goes along with him….

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Isn’t this little guy the cutest owl you’ve seen? This image was actually created on my computer with the “Owl-rageous” Pairables digital stamp set from Digi Doodle Studios. The owl, the branch and the sentiment are all separate images, but I’ve pieced them together on my computer and printed it out to create this scene!

I’ve actually printed out an “extra” owl and flower to color in and pop up over the image for added dimension. I used the “out-of-the-box” technique to circle die cut out the image. The branch is sticking outside the circle.

I’ve used a woodgrain embossing folder and rubbed some white ink over it and also added a strip of yellow paper from my stash wrapped in twine along the edge.

I die cut a flower and rubbed some pink ink over it, attached a button and twine bow over it to pop up over the owl panel. Then added some sequins filled with glitter glue in the centers.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on the images. I’ve used a purple glitter gel pen for the tiny hearts on the branch and then a yellow glitter gel pen for the centers of the flowers. I’ve used some yellow ink to sponge around the circle panel.

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This card actually has me longing for Spring to come with those flowers! He’s letting us know that everything is OWLright!! ha ha ha!! Hope you’ve enjoyed my creation today and I really appreciate you stopping in! See you soon!

ETA: Hubby said I should include the song….

Challenges to enter:

Cheerful Sketches – Feb sketch
Love to Craft – LTCCB43 Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore – #72 Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2006 Anything Goes
Not Just Cards – Feb Anything Goes
Arty Divas – #115 Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge – ‘W’ is for “Anything You Wish”

Raggedy Love

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends!! Hope that you’re “feeling the love” and have a wonderful day today!

I wanted to share a card I made for Valentine’s Day.

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This really cute images is from Stamp On It called “Love You” digital stamp by QKR Stampede. I wanted to try and keep to the “original” Raggedy Ann style of colors as I could, so I ended up Google searching for photos so that I could use that as a basis for my coloring. I also thought that the rectangle die cut panels would go great for cutting her out with.

I sponged around the edges of the image panel with some blue distress ink, added some heart confetti pieces along with a white twine bow to the center of the heart.

Taking a closer look at the image, you can see how dimensional those confetti hearts are. There is actually a heart that prints out in the center of the “o” in the sentiment, but I decided to place one of those confetti hearts over it.

There is also some shimmer you can see in the heart with the bow that I’ve covered with a glitter brush pen. And in coloring her in, I’ve added some extra “dots” on her blue dress and then I took a white gel pen to add a pattern on her red patch on the apron and then also to add some “stripes” to her socks and “dots” to her cheeks.

If you look at her eyes, I’ve taken a black gel pen which gives them a slight dimension and makes them stand out a bit more.

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I really hope you’ve enjoyed my “Raggedy Love” card today and that you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day today!

Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you again very soon!

Challenges to enter this card for:

QKR Stampede – #385 Anything Goes
Pearly Sparkles – Include some red
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #125 Anything Goes
Make My Monday – #115 I Heart You
Try It On Tuesday – Share the Love
Double D – Hearts
The House That Stamps Built – DCC F520 Hearts
Aud Sentiments – Love/Valentine Sentiment

Seally For You

Hello there friends!

There’s something brand new in the Digi Doodle Studios store this month and it’s just perfect for making an adorable Valentine’s Day or love themed card! Check out this sweet card I’ve made for you today:

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Aren’t these snow seals just the sweetest?! I’ve used the brand new Pairables digital set called Seally for You from Digi Doodle Studios for my card here.

It’s really easy to create a scene on your computer with the images and then just print them out to color! I have this cute couple arranged in a “Titanic” situation (If you’ve seen the movie, then you know what I’m referring to! LOL!) on my scene here, but also have printed out a couple of extra hearts along with the fish and floating ice cube to fussy cut out and add to my scene later after assembling it. The “water waves” that I’ve added to my scene is actually from the DDS Otterly Loves Pairables. That is what is so cool about these Pairables sets, is that you can use the different elements together with another set to create some fun & unique scenes!

I used cut out vellum for the water and added another strip that I actually clear heat embossed the sentiment as it came out of the printer. You can heat emboss over vellum as the ink stays wet a little longer after printing it out. (Not for too long though!)

I added the colored up fish, hearts and ice cube to the design as well as sponged some soft pastel clouds with a stencil. I was also trying to be different by tilting the image layer over the card. The card front panel was embossed with a falling snow embossing folder, I wrapped some ribbon around the corner and attached this piece to an A2 sized top folding white card base.

I’ve colored the images with Copic markers. You can see that I’ve fussy cut out the smaller heart and then popped up the top heart with foam tape. I tucked the ice cube and one of the fish behind the vellum and then popped up the fish over the ice cube with foam tape. I took one fish and attached next to the heat embossed sentiment.

You can also see the hearts long with the ice cube and ice platform that I’ve taken a glitter brush pen to add some shimmer to them.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today or have been inspired to create your own fun digital scene to play with too! Thanks so much for dropping by today and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter my card for:

Challenge Up Your Life – Winter Landscape/Scene (6 total challenges)
Crafty Friends – Love/Romance
Get Creative – Use Hearts
Creative Inspirations – Anything Goes
C.R.A.F.T. – Love/Valentine’s
Creative Moments – #184 Anything Goes with twist: love

Guest Design Spot for The Paper Girls With Birthday Fun!

Hello friends!

I’m very excited to share my post with you today for The Paper Girls Challenge as I’ve been invited to be a guest designer for their current challenge of “BIRHTDAY“! We all need birthday themed projects, so this is a great way to join in the fun and add to your birthday card stash too! Hope you will join us!

I wanted to pull out some stamps that I had bought a while back and never pulled out to use yet, so this was fun! Here’s my card:

Who could resist a couple of cute party animals! LOL! I’ve pulled out this adorable “Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes” stamp set from My Favorite Things and made a fun party scene with it!

For the card front, I’ve die cut some Summer Splash cardstock with the Gift Box Cover-Up Dienamics and then used it to also cut some older MFT pattern papers to fit inside the die cut squares. I layered these pieces over a piece of MFT Daffodil cardstock (looks to be retired) and then mounted it over an A2 sized top folding white card base.

I’ve used the same Summer Splash cardstock to stamp the sentiment from the stamp set and used a banner die to cut it out with and used the Gift Box Cover die to cut the end of it to match with the upper right box area.

For the Gift Box Cover-Up “frame”, I took a sentiment from the MFT Penguins in Paradise and stamped the “cheers” image randomly with VersaMark ink all over it, but then decided that you couldn’t see it very well, so I added the word to the yellow banners with a black pen in my own writing.

I’ve used the coordinating die set for the Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes set to cut out the colored images and attached them to the card front. Some I’ve popped up with foam tape and the others were glued. I also wanted to add a little sparkle, so I’ve attached a few confetti sequins to finish it up.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on these cuties. I’ve used a white gel pen for their cheeks as well as adding some polka dots to the party banner.

You can see where I’ve used a marker to write the words on the banners and I also used it to create stitches along the top of each banner too.

I’ve also added some shimmer with a glitter pen over the cupcake frosting.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my birthday party animals card today and have been inspired in some way!

Thanks so much for stopping in today and I’ll be seeing you soon!!

Challenges:

MFT Birthday Project– Jan “Cheers”
Crafty Calendar – Use die cuts/punches
Seize the Birthday– Creatures Great & Small or Anything Goes
Creative Knockouts – Birthday Wishes
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal(s)

Turner Syndrome Awareness Blog Hop

Hello friends!

February is TSA month and If you’re not familiar with this, please read about it below:

Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder where a female is born with only one X chromosome, instead of two, leaving her with life-long medical issues and learning disabilities. This condition occurs one in 2,500 female births worldwide, but is more common among pregnancies that do not survive to full term. That is why Turner Syndrome Females are considered MIRACLES!

My TS related project is inspired by the TSA official color board:

For my project, I have combined two different digital sets that were kindly made especially for this blog hop and the TSA cause:

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I was really inspired by the wonderful colors along with the images from the inspirational board above, but it was fairly easy since the images were already pre-colored in the set to create with!

I’ve used the TSF Key digital set from Jan’s Digi Stamps for the images on my card. Also what’s cool about this set is that all of the proceeds from this set go directly to the Turner Syndrome Foundation! It’s a stunning set to have plus a great way to help with a terrific cause too!

I have printed out the images over a piece of white cardstock and cut them out. I also added one of the images in a repeat pattern to print out over a piece of green cardstock for a decorative strip on the background of my card design.

I took an embossing folder and embossed only the top portion of my card base, added the green printed strip with ribbon wrapped around it and sponged the edges. I layered some pink cardstock and cut a scallop square piece of lavender colored cardstock for behind my vanilla panel and popped it up over the card base with foam tape.

Lastly, I’ve attached the bow, button and twine to the side of the image panel and attached the cut-out butterfly to the top corner of the image panel. I glued only the center portion of the butterfly so that I could pop out the wings.

Here’s a closer view of the images. I’ve used a Copic marker on the vanilla-colored panel to create a “shadow” around the key image and then I attached the cut-out key over top of that. I’ve used the same Copic marker for a few more shadows around the key. For that butterfly, I’ve used a glitter gel pen to color portions of the butterfly and then a clear glitter brush pen to go over the wings.

You can see that TSA symbol on the key which is the same image used for the green background panel I created on the computer.

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