Coming Up Flowers at Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Welcome to Thursday! We are already near Easter this weekend and it’s a great time to be thinking about flowers! This is the new challenge this week over at Cute Card Thursday, so I hope you can join in the floral fun with us!

I decided to pull out some stamps that I received a few months ago by Repeat Impressions from a challenge win because they are ALL floral themed and I thought it would be perfect to work with for the challenge:

Vicki-CCT578-Flowers

To help with my design, I’ve used the tic-tac-toe board from the Repeat Impressions challenge. I have used the Flower Power Background stamp and stamped it with white ink over a piece of vellum and then mounted it over a light purple piece of cardstock so that it was a bit more subtle looking, but yet still had the floral pattern.

I’ve also taken one of the stamps from the Beautiful Days Collection called “Daisies & Butterfly” and stamped it with waterproof ink over a piece of Bristol smooth watercolor cardstock. After coloring it, I fussy cut the image and then die cut a scallop square layer to place behind it and then cut another layer of black cardstock to layer behind that. I thought it really brought out the details of the image. The butterfly was popped up with some foam squares.

Lastly, I’ve stamped a sentiment, did some paper piercing with a tool pick around the corners of the vellum layer and around the image layer. All of these layers were mounted over an A2 sized top folding white card base. I then took some clear “dew drops” and attached them over the front of the card.

Here’s a closer view of the watercolor I’ve done on the image. I’ve used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and occasional help with a water brush to blend or soften up the colors as needed. Hard to see, of course, but I’ve taken a glitter brush pen and went over the wings on the butterfly. You can also see the details of the paper piercing that I’ve done on the vellum.

Vicki-CCT578-flowers-flat

I noticed that after I had stamped the sentiment with black ink, the white ink from the vellum showed through a bit. I was going to layer something over it, but decided that I actually liked it that way, so left it.

I’m always out of sympathy cards when I need one, so this will be a nice one to have on hand for that. Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you again tomorrow!! 🙂

Challenges for this card:

Repeat Impressions – A1019 Tic-Tac-Toe
Just Us Girls – Off the Edge
Allsorts – Blossoms, Butterflies and/or Bugs
The Creative Crafters – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday – Beautiful Blooms

I Believe I Can Fly!

Hello friends! It’s been a while since my last post, but the reason is that I was of course having some computer problems! I had to reset my whole computer back to the factory setting and try to get it back up and going to what I had. Thankfully because of my drive, I didn’t loose any photos or anything! I think it’s back up to “normal” now, but it was scaring me there for a few days!

Speaking of “normal”…I’m not sure pigs can fly, but boy is this image so CUTE!

Vicki-WS-WhenPigsFly-Week3

I’m using this new April digital stamp by Crissy Armstrong for Whimsy Stamps called When Pigs Fly. I love how he’s looking down as if he’s looking at the clouds below him with a huge smile! I thought the sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Bold Statements clear stamp set was the perfect compliment for this image too.

I took a cloud stencil and some Tumbled Glass distress ink with the foam blending tool to sponge on some clouds around the image. I cut off the bottom portion of the image panel with the Whimsy Stamps Envelope Edger die set and cut an additional piece from the suede-colored cardstock for a layer behind it. I also cut out some clouds from an older Whimsy Stamps die that I had and sponged some more of the distress ink on the bottom of each one to layer and stamp the sentiment in suede ink over a pink panel. I added some pretty shimmer ribbon with a bow at the top of these layers and then attached it all over a top folding A2 sized suede card base. Lastly, I’ve added some Studio Katia Crystal Clear Confetti sequins randomly over the card.

Here’s a closer view of the image and how I went about coloring it in using Copic markers. Here’s what I’ve used:

pig: R20, R11, R00, R000 – wings: BG13, BG10, BG000 – hooves: C8, C5, C3
birds: E47, E44, E43 – beaks: E43, E41, Y11 – bellies: E43, R00, Y11
I used white gel pen for cheeks and covered the wings with Wink of Stella

Vicki-WS-WhenPigsFly-Week3-flat

Something to note about my card is that because this was a digital stamp, I was able to size it the way I wanted to accommodate my card design. This is what is great about a digital stamp. You may not like it as small as what I’ve made mine for coloring purposes, but I didn’t mind it at all and enjoyed putting this together. Hoping to give it to someone special soon! 🙂 Hope you like it too!

Thanks so much for dropping in today! Now that computer is back up and running, I will be back again tomorrow with another post! Have a great day!

Challenges for this card:

Krafty Chicks – Chicks/birds
Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1915 Anything goes
A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – Look Up, Way Up (things in the sky)

It’s Easter at Cute Card Thursday!

Yes! Hello friends! Easter IS on the way, isn’t it?! I remember many Easters ago of hiding the eggs for the kids and then forgetting where I hid all of them myself, so I had to join in the Easter egg hunt too! LOL! Do you have any fun Easter memories?

So since it’s Thursday, it’s time for a fun new challenge at Cute Card Thursday! Obviously, the theme this week is “Easter“! We look forward to seeing what Easter makes you’re making this week, so come join us! Here’s my card:

Vicki-CCT577-SSSEgg-stra Sweet Easter

I had a lot of fun creating this card! I couldn’t help myself, I had to snatch up that Simon Says Stamp Limited Edition Egg-Stra Sweet Easter card kit. (Sorry, it’s sold out, but you can still purchase the stamp set, Background stamp, egg dies, and stencil separately from the kit though. I have actually used all of those items on my card today too!

For the background, I took the jellybean background stamp and clear heat embossed it and then while I was cutting it out with a stitched rectangle die, I also took one of the eggs dies and cut out the center of the yellow card panel. I cut a piece of white cardstock the same size as the yellow layer and then used the stencil and the Nuvo mousse that came in the kit and sponged it over the white panel. I layered this piece along with a black heat embossed sentiment over vellum on a strip to wrap around the yellow panel along with a piece of black cord at the top. I took some foam tape and mounted these pieces onto a white A2 sized top folding card base. Lastly, I’ve added some clear sequins filled with some Nuvo glitter drops in the centers.

Here’s a closer look at this sweet little Easter bunny that I’ve colored in with Copics. I fussy cut it out and then decided to line up the bottom of it and cut it out with the same stitched die that I used on the yellow background panel. I kept his ear out of it.

I took the glossy accents that also came in the card kit and covered the jellybeans with it. I also took a couple of metallic gel pens to make some dots on a few of the Easter eggs and center of wheel. Up close, you can see some of the shimmer from the Nuvo mousse in the white background egg that I stenciled on.

Vicki-CCT577-SSSEgg-stra Sweet Easter-flat

Lots of fun little details going on in this card, but that’s what I love about Easter…so many colorful and happy things going on!

Thanks so much for dropping in today! I will see you soon!

challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – No Designer Paper
My time to Craft – Easter or Hedgehogs
Brown Sugar – Spring or Fall
Creative Craft – No Patterned Paper
Crafty Cardmakers – Easter
Crafty Gals Corner – Easter is on its way
Crafting By Designs – Easter Challenge

Whimsy Stamps Cuddly Ride

Hello friends! 🙂

It’s been SO gorgeous outside with this wonderfully warm weather we’re having right now, so I find it hard to stay indoors right now! We have rain coming, so I will be able to get some crafting done then!

Swinging by to share this really sweet digital image by Sylvia Zet for Whimsy Stamps called Cuddly Ride! They have sold the rubber stamp version, but now they’re releasing these older images as digital files now! So weather you like the rubber stamp or the digital images, it’s great to know that you can choose either!

Vicki-WSCuddlyRide-Apr9

I got her colored up in the following Copics:

Snail shell – E29, E27, E25, E23, E21
Snail body – W5, W3, W1, E21, E000, R20
Snail bow/patches, girl outfit – B37, B34, B32, YG13, YG11, C5, C3, C1
Girl’s Hair/Skin – E49, E47, E44, E43, E40, R20, R00, E21, E11, E00, E000
Pointillism under snail – W3, W1, W0
Used a white gel pen for highlights on snail and covered the ground with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

After coloring her up, I also sponged some clouds behind her with a stencil and then cut it out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Square Dies. I’ve also cut an additional larger blue layer for behind the image. For the blue flowers scattered around as well as for the pieces for grass accents on my card, I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps No-See All Seasons Tree Dies.

I’ve taken a sentiment from my stash (retired Whimsy Stamps) and white heat embossed it over a piece of the blue cardstock and then I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps Quick Strips Die Set to cut it out. Lastly, I’ve added some ribbon, a bow with a resin flower glued over the center of it and then I’ve added some rhinestones to the centers of the blue flowers.

From the same sentiment stamp set that I’ve used, I took a tiny heart image and stamped it with green ink around the colored image. Of course, I tried to capture the wonderful shimmer underneath the snail where I’ve colored the Pointillism technique, but it just won’t show up in photos very well, but I just love the shimmer under him! I also used a silver metallic gel pen to color the “buttons” on the girl’s jumper.

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I thought she turned out really cute and I think this would make a wonderful card for that special friend who is always by your side!

That’s all for me now. I think I may need to go back outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine before it’s gone! Have a lovely day!

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Animal Antics
Crafting With an Attitude – Anything Goes
Creative Knockouts – Anything Goes
Crafty Catz – Anything Goes + optional: Use Your Dies
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
Simply Create Too – Anything Goes

Rainbow Shaker Birthday!

Hello friends! Yay! It’s Friday and I thought I’d share this happy shaker card that I made.

Vicki-MFT Birthday Bear Rainbow

I saw over at My Favorite Things “Birthday Project” Challenge was a “rainbow” theme and I thought this would make for a happy and fun birthday card design! So I pulled out the MFT Transparent Triangles Background stamp (now retired) and heat embossed it with white EP over some Bristol Smooth Watercolor paper. I went to work with my rainbow background and sponged several colors of Distress Oxide ink in rainbow form over the heat embossed background for a “resist technique”. I spritzed some water over it and my sprayer went a tad bit “droopy” and I ended up with a weird large droplet pattern, but I decided I wanted to keep it anyway, I liked it.

So to make sure that my shaker balloon was going to line up with my bear, I needed to stamp, color and fussy cut out this bear from the Beary Special Birthday stamp set. I needed to fussy cut it out because the coordinating die cut would also cut out the balloon from the image, and I didn’t want to include it as I was making my own! I’ve also white heat embossed a sentiment from the same stamp set and cut it out with the Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips. I also took the Mini Balloon Shaker Window & Frame Die-namics to cut out all of the pieces that I needed for the balloon. (I used the fussy cut out bear for placement to see where I needed to die cut a hole in the background for the shaker area.) Before attaching the bear down, I also took some green cardstock and cut out a border with the Grassy Fields Die-namics. I sponged the edges with green ink and took a Copic marker to give a shadow around the bear. So after I placed my “balloon hole” where I needed it on the background, I took the rainbow sequins to place inside the Mini Balloon Shaker Pouches and added a piece of black cardstock for the background, which was placed over an A2 sized white top folding card base.

Here’s a closer look at the bear and how I’ve got him colored in. I forgot that in addition to the rainbow sequins I had, I put some tiny star sequins in there as well. At first, I thought I had gone a bit too dark for coloring the bear, but I like how he blended out and I think he really stands out on the rainbow background and doesn’t get lost with the black accents on the card. I took a white gel pen to his cheeks and added some shimmer to his present with a glitter brush pen.

Vicki-MFT Birthday Bear Rainbow-flat

Here with the card lying flat, you can better see the shaker bits on the inside of the balloon and how they really stand out against the black balloon background.

I think I got a smile and it was passed around for the shaking.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and I thank you so much for stopping in! Wishing you a very happy and rainbow filled weekend too! 🙂

challenges:

MFT Birthday Project – Rainbow
Creative with Stamps – Birthday
Crafting By Designs – Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – “Shake It!”
Always Fun – Birthday

It’s the April Anything Goes for Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! This week has completely flown by me so very fast!! I can’t believe how quickly it went and I’m thinking being outside in the warmer weather will make it go even quicker! Summer will be here soon, right?!

Today is Thursday and also the first Thursday of the month, which means it’s time for our regular “Anything Goes” theme at Cute Card Thursday! We are also sponsored by our regular monthly sponsor Whimsy Stamps! So of course, you know I’m going to be using one of those for my creation today:

Vicki-CCT576-WSElfie

Isn’t she just a cutie?! This newly released digital image is called Elfie from Whimsy Stamps. I’ve been starting to see a few lady bugs here and there around my area, but I actually don’t like it when they are everywhere! Otherwise, I can take them on a card and think they’re so cute!

After coloring her up, I cut her out with a stitched circle die and layered another circle with black cardstock behind her. I also cut out the Whimsy Stamps Friend Word die set with black cardstock and set it aside to work on the rest of my card.

I pulled out this embossing folder with lady bugs (by Darice) and embossed a piece of red cardstock with it. I took some white ink to lightly go over it to highlight the texture a bit. I layered this piece onto a piece of black and then layered these over a white A2 sized top folding card base. The circle image was place towards the right of the card and then I just cut off the excess circle with scissors.

I stamped the “hello” from the Whimsy Stamps Painted Sayings clear stamp set with black ink next to the image. The “friend” die cut piece was glued at the bottom of the card. I also took the WS Quick Strips die set to cut out a couple of stitched banners from some shimmer paper and added them to the side of the circle. Lastly, I’ve put the black gingham ribbon bow over the banner strips and added the lady bugs and sequins to the design. I filled the sequins with some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring of this cutie. I’ve used some Copic markers to color her in and then I’ve used a Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen to add some shimmer over her wings and the wings on the butterfly. Here’s the list of Copics I’ve used:

Hat, skirt, shoes and ladybug – R39, R37, R35, R32, C8, C5, C3
Shirt, leaves – G24, G21, G20
Hair – E49, E47, E44, E43
Skin – E21, E13, E00, E000, R20

Vicki-CCT576-WSElfie-flat

I think there are so many different ways you could color up this image, but I saw her holding this little ladybug and so I just went with that theme when coloring. Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and got inspired!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

Sketch Saturday – #557 Choose a Sketch
QKR Stampede – Anything Goes #341
Just Us Girls – Wild Card Week – embossing folders
Artistic Inspirations – #214 Just for Fun (Anything Goes)
Crafting From the Heart – #240 Anything Goes
A Bit More Time to Craft – #89 Anything Goes

April New Release for Whimsy Stamps with Interactive Card!

I’m excited to be sharing this really fun and unique interactive design that I’ve made with one of the cute images called Stretchy Giraffe digital stamp from the new release!

Vicki-Giraffe Flies extended neck-April 2nd

This giraffe is so sweet and was fun to color up with Copic markers! (See below for the full list of the markers I’ve used.)

I took the extended neck version of the giraffe and made some fold marks in his neck so that when folded, it looks like the “regular neck” version of the image, but when you pull up on the purple balloon at the top, the neck extends up with it! LOL!

Check out this 18 second video below to see how it works:

I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps No-See Kinetic Basics die set along with the Kinetic Straight Basics die set to make the straight track behind the large cloud that is under the flying giraffe. This way there’s no track behind the giraffe to move the neck which I think is pretty cool with these special WS Kinetic No-See dies!

Because this was a giraffe with a long neck, I wanted to make a tall skinny type of card for this design. (It measures 3″ x 6″ when closed.) I’ve used a cloud die cut to hide the interactive track behind the giraffe and then I used a cloud stencil to sponge on some Wilted Violet and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide inks on the cloud die cut as well as the background white panel and the interactive pull behind the balloon so it all matches. I thought it would be fun to add some stars, so I took the star from the Snappy Birthday clear stamp set and stamped them with the Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink. I also took the sentiment from the Dachshund Balloon rubber stamp set and stamped it on the bottom of the white card front panel. (I thought it was the perfect sentiment to go along with this image! LOL!) I’ve rounded the corners of the white panel and cloud panel with a corner chomper.

The giraffe was popped up with the black string wrapped around his left “antler” and then secured on the back. The other end of the black string was tied around the balloon which is attached to the pull tab underneath the cloud area. I covered the stars with a clear glitter brush and added some sequins filled with some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops. I’ve used foam dots to pop up the giraffe over the design.

Here’s a closer view of the extended neck and the coloring I’ve done. Here is the Copic list that I’ve used:

giraffe body – YR24, YR21
spots, muzzle, mail & tail end – E15, E13, E11
Hooves & horns – E49, E47, E44
ears & belly – R20, R11, R00, R000
balloon – V17, V15, V12

I fussy cut the giraffe and the balloon separately from the image so that I could add my own string and make this an interactive card design.

Vicki-GiraffeFliesExtendedNeck-April 2nd-pulled tab

Really enjoyed creating this fun interactive card in a unique way with this adorable new stamp! I hope you’ve been inspired with it too! Would love to see what you come up with if you purchase this image!!

Thanks so much for popping in today!! I’ll see you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

TGIF Challenge – Balloons (TGIFC205)
Alphabet Challenge – ‘A’ is for Animals
Crazy 4 Challenges – C4C477 “Trick Card”
Pammies Inky Pinkies – ATG (PIP1913)
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal
613 Avenue Create – Anything Goes with optional: create a kinetic card

“Purple Day” Epilepsy Blog Hop WINNER!!

Hello friends!

*Please CLICK HERE to see my 2 Crafty Critter Crazies Post for today or scroll down*

I’m back to share who the lucky winner is from my give away during the “Purple Day” Epilepsy Blog Hop!

I’d like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you that participated in the blog hop to help bring awareness of what it’s all about. I enjoyed meeting new friends and finding more out about you along with your experience with Epilepsy. Thank you to Fikreta for bringing us all together.

I have went through all of the comments to find those people that wanted to be entered into the drawing and numbered each one and then ran the numbers through Random.org to find a winner. And the winner picked is…………

karenladd

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

UPDATE:

I have received confirmation from the winner and the prize will be shipped out shortly!

Thanks so much for joining with me on my blog!

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – You are my Happy

Hello friends!! Happy April Fool’s Day! 🙂

Well, there’s “no fooling” here today as I bring you a post to share the creation, I’ve made for a new challenge over at the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge Blog! Since it’s the first of April, we have a new challenge starting with the “Anything Goes + critter” theme in mind! Hope you will join us with your critter creations!

We are being sponsored by Digi Doodle Studios and this is the card I made for the challenge this month:

Vicki-2CCC-DigiDoodle-Mia

Our sponsor was kind enough to share this very sweet image called Mia which I’ve used for my card today. This is my first experience with these images, and I must say they have some really cute ones in their store, so hop on over and check them out!

I’ve colored her up with Copic markers including drawing extended lines for the grass and coloring it up all the way across and down. I cut it out with a cross stitched rectangle die and then used a sun ray stencil to ink some yellow behind her by taping off the grass edge, so I didn’t get any on that part. I then stamped the sentiment in black ink over top of that.

To continue on with the yellow color theme I’ve got going on, I cut out a piece of yellow glitter cardstock that was cut out with a scallop rectangle die (retired from Lawn Fawn) and attached it to the back of the image panel. I took some plaid papers for the bottom portion of the A2 white top folding card base and then attached some yellow grosgrain ribbon across the top and then attached the image panel and then added a yellow ribbon bow along the edge. Lastly, I finished it out with some yellow rhinestone crystals.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on the image. I took a black gel pen to color in the eyeball’s circles. I wasn’t sure how to go about coloring the eyes, but this is the way that made the most sense to me. I also went around the edges of the butterfly with the black gel pen. I took a glitter brush pen and went over the liquid in her cup.

Vicki-2CCC-DigiDoodle-Mia-flat

I have to add that this image really got me thinking about past memories with my sweet little Mocca and how we would go out on nice Spring days like this. She certainly was always “my happy” for sure and I still miss her like crazy. I’m sure any of you that have lost pets understand what I’m saying. It’s great to have the memories we’ve shared after all this time!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate it so much!

challenges:

Crafty Friends – Spring
Crafty Gals Corner – Spring is Here!
Krafty Chicks – Coffee, tea or hot cocoa
As You Like It – Favorite Coloring medium – Copic Why? It’s my favorite “go to” coloring method and I love the way the markers blend together for shading and highlight effects.
Creative Knockouts – Outside Fun
Allsorts – Use Yellow
Digi Doodle Studios Challenge – #15 Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday is Feminine

First, I just want to say THANK YOU so much to everyone that has joined along with the “Purple Day” blog hop! I’m really thrilled that you have taken an interest in it and I can see from your comments that it’s working and bringing new awareness to some…really love that and appreciate your kind thoughts as well!

So today brings us to Thursday and that means it’s time for a new Cute Card Thursday challenge!! Yay! The theme for this week is “feminine”! This is a great opportunity to make a card for that special gal in your life, so I hope you will join along with us!

Here’s the card I made for the challenge:

Vicki-CCT575-Feminine-SSS

Well, I don’t know about you, but I have “collected” several card kits because…well…they ALL look amazing when they show them off!! ha! I have grown a wee little tired of all of the boxes/envelopes full of card kit product that I’m not doing anything with, and I tend to leave EVERYTHING in the box together and then forget about some of the products that are in there! {sigh} So I was thrilled to pull this one out to make a card!

Anyway, I have used the Simon Says Stamp April 2018 “Mother’s Day special edition” card kit for this. It came with a pretty floral background stamp called “Flower Explosion” that I’ve stamped with the same ink as cardstock in the background and then sponged around the edges. I stamped the “mom” from the stamp set in black and then made a banner by white heat embossing the other sentiment underneath.

A close up of the flowers here that I’ve stamped out from the SSS “Mom’s Clematis” stamp set over some Bristol watercolor paper. I’ve used the Zig Clean Color Brush markers and a water brush to color them in with and then fussy cut them out to arrange over the stamped card panel. As you can see in the photo, I have covered the flowers with a Spectrum Noir Glitter Brush Pen. (You have to get that just right in photo to show up!) I used some foam dots to pop up the bud and largest flower.

Vicki-CCT575-Feminine-SSS-flat

And then to embellish it up a bit, there were some pretty gold puffy stickers in that kit, so I took a heart and placed it next to the sentiment and then added some sequins from the kit and filled them with some gold Stickles. Everything was mounted over a piece of black cardstock which was then mounted over a top folding A2 sized card base the same color as the image panel.

Please do hop on over to the Cute Card Thursday Blog and check out the rest of the inspiration from the design team and play along with us!

Thanks so much for dropping by and I’ll see you soon!

challenges: