As I was putting away some dies I found the one I’ve used above among the others. It is an unbranded die and was actually a disappointment, as it wasn’t what I expected when purchasing. As well it doesn’t cut perfectly but I decided to use it anyway. I guess you get what you pay for. Using a pink scrap piece I die cut the panel and as you can see some of the dots didn’t cut properly. Instead of trying to cut them out by hand I decided to use the panel with them there and added it to another scrap piece of darker pink. Using Hero Arts infinity heart dies I cut the frame of one heart along with another smaller full heart and then a smaller one still using a left over piece of dry embossed CS. I added them to the card front and added the sentiment which is from a Divinity Designs set. I stacked the stamp and curved the corners. I finished the card using some Pops of Color in a different pink. The embossed folder used on the small white scrap is a Gemini folder called Celebrate.

My back pain was not so bad this afternoon giving me the chance to create for a short time. I managed to finish a card for my hubby’s upcoming birthday as well as this one so not a complete waste of the day. Thanks for all the wishes and for stopping by.

This is my last post today, although I have several other cards on the go I think its time to take a mini break.

For this card I used a Crafters Companion cut and emboss folder that I haven’t used for a long time. Once it was cut and embossed I trimmed it smaller to allow a border when attached to the card front. The small fallout hearts were attached in the center space and I added some glossy accents to them. The main panel was popped up with foam tape and the sentiment strip was done using a stamp from Divinity Designs. I kept this simple as the embossing is busy. It was made with the Word Week challenge at JUG’s in mind but as it also works for the Anything goes challenge at CYHTP without the twist of dots I thought I’d add it as 2nd entry there.

My dog is sitting looking forlorn so I guess it is time to take her for another walk. We both can use the fresh air even though it is very gray and misty outside. Thanks for stopping by.

The challenge at CYHTP is an Anything Goes With A Twist of Dots and this is what I came up with. The die is from Spellbinders called Floral Hi and the EB folder is by Lifestyle crafts called Lace and dots. I started with the folder but the edges got cut in a few places so I decided to cut them all off to leave a border. I added this to the Ocean Mist card base and using a glitter Sakura pen went over all the dots. I cut several layers of the die and glued them together but only in the center not at the edges. The Hi is separate piece of the die and was cut using the same colour as card base as were the additional flowers and leaves. Attached everything and was about to add it to card front when I realized it needed a background. My original intention was to cut the sparkly background and offset it behind the rest, but I simply couldn’t get a clean cut and I tried 4 times. In frustration I decided to trace around the die and hand cut the shape. It worked but I would have preferred the original idea. That said I’m not unhappy with this card and it works for the challenge.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Although this challenge at Crazy is our Fame – Stencils are our Game has an optional twist of winter, I wanted to try a particular technique and the stencil I tried is a heart. The stencil was a gift from someone who makes their own using a Silhouette and it seemed the best one to use for this technique. I followed a tutorial found HERE and went to work. I discovered that running the stencil and card stock through my Platinum machine, as suggested in the tutorial, helped to hold the whole thing in place making it easier to add the inks. Note: running it through added some lines I didn’t want as the heart was not covering the entire piece of CS and to hide the lines I did some debossed scoring top and bottom. I used Distress Oxides in Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Candied Apple. Then I added a pink powder over the top and set it with a bit of sprayed water. I overdid the water slightly and ended up with a couple of drops that spoiled the look so added some Pops of Color drops to cover it and then a few more so it would look balanced. The sentiment comes from a small die set from Divinity Designs which I’ve had for several years and never used until now. I die cut the words and cut off the last letter from Valentines as I didn’t want the S. This was cut twice in two colours and I offset them just a little before adding to the card front. The scored lines helped a lot with placement of the top words.

I enjoyed playing with this technique and already plan to do a few more in a similar fashion. I quite like the look and how this card turned out. I appreciate you stopping by.

With stars on my old pajamas it was a foregone conclusion that the card would have stars as well. I used my Hero Arts infinity dies to cut the various stars from scraps of CS and then I added them to various lengths of gold strips. With a small piece of PP I cut the box shape and popped it up on the card front making sure I could add the strips behind it. It took a while to get placement right but I managed it. The little bow was something already made from before Christmas and I used the Itty Bitty Basics MFT stamp set for the sentiment. I added the layer to a small piece of the Burgundy CS to give a border. It isn’t quite how I envisioned it but its close enough. Next time I will cut the strips so they are thinner.

Thanks for spending some of your valuable time with me today.

As a brand new DT for Cardz4galz, and the challenge being for a CAS card I came up with a needed New Home Congrats card. Our neighbor finally finished building his house and moved in just prior to Christmas after living in his mother’s basement suite for quite some time.

I used a die set from MFT called Fox and Friends cutting out 4 houses out of scrap CS. I cut one in a silver mirror CS to denote his house and the rest plain white. After gluing them I added the following to the silver house, some gold sparkle in the windows and a blue door. The sentiment both on the front and inside (on your new home) came from an older Kitchen Sink set that I won. The striped border came from dollar store paper that I got just before Christmas. I heat embossed the sentiment and for once didn’t make a mess of the embossing.

Some other friends are also in the process of purchasing a home so I guess I’ll be making another of this type of card in the coming weeks.

I’m excited to be a DT and hope that I’ll do a good job of it. Thanks for stopping by everyone.

It has taken me a few days to get around to making a card for the challenge at Double D, but finally I have one ready. The background is on Yupo paper and was done with alcohol inks some time ago. The dies used are a set from Spellbinders called Layered Happy Birthday. I used a scrap piece of pink marbled PP from StampinUp for the 1st layer, popping it up on the background and then a scrap piece of Lavender CS for the next one, which I also carefully added foam tape to. The additional balloons are also part of the set and I die cut them from other scrap pieces, added a bit of Nuvo Crystal drops before popping them up on top. The card was inspired by the balloons and colours in the mood board. I just realized that there are 7 balloons so its very appropriate for a 7th birthday celebration.

Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated more than you know.

Having seen a card on Pinterest that used black on black I was intrigued enough to try my own version. In my case I used a new stamp from Nellies Choice, called Lake with Rowing Boat, whereas the one I saw used florals. Using Versamark ink I stamped it several times before heat embossing in clear. It needed more, so I inked it again with Black Soot and added black powder for heat embossing. This was better but I repeated it several more times before I was satisfied. And getting a good photo of a card like this needs more expertise than I have but hubby is too tired to help. The sentiment is from MFT I think – I’ve lost the label that I usually keep with my sets so I’m not sure. I stamped this with Versamark on a scrap piece of vellum and heat embossed in black. I used a corner punch to give it some shape and added the glue to the back where the words are in the hope that it doesn’t show. My hands are very shaky today, not sure why, but probably due to some neck issues I’ve had recently, so in spite of being careful a small amount of glue does show. If I try to pull it off I’ll spoil the whole card so decided to leave it alone. I wish the photo did it justice as it’s quite nice in reality.

This card is for the challenge at Colorful Options and I may make another if I have time. Thanks for looking.

When I first saw this stamp from The Rabbit Hole Designs, I knew I absolutely had to have it. It arrived just prior to Christmas and my design today is the first time using it. To me it is a perfect image for the Caffeinated challenge so I am uploading it there.

Intially I stamped the image onto a scrap piece of white CS using Hickory smoke as I wanted a softer outline. Then using pencils I coloured the image using a combination of water colour and some Prisma. I wanted the pencil lines to show on the bird body as it looks more like feathers so although I blended it out I used a very light touch to do so. I added a bit of silver sparkle in the feathers and eye although it doesn’t show in the photo. For the background I used a stencil from Warm Wishes and Iced spruce ink and then I added some sparkle in places using a Sakura glitter pen in silver. I also hand drew some curved lines to denote a snowy base. Once the focal image was coloured I carefully fussy cut it so it could be popped up onto the background. I’m not sure, but now wonder, if I should have used some Tumbled glass ink for the background, as the iced spruce came out darker than I thought it would. That said I still like the end result and it makes me smile as that ostrich is clearly still exhausted.

Thanks for stopping by and a Happy New Year to all.

Color Hues #55 Light Pink and Gold and New DT Members & #191 Something New

I’m supposed to be working on some year end paperwork, but as I hate doing it, instead, I created this card. It wasn’t my plan to begin creating just yet, but this idea popped into my mind because, as so often happens, a few scrap pieces got stuck on my desk and kind of created themselves into a pattern. So the diamond shape is left over from a long ago challenge and in my tidying up the other day, appeared on my desk and the matte gold strips were also on my desk from an earlier project. They looked interesting going across the shaped piece so I glued them on. Then I had a flash of adding the pink and as I already had the tiny masking strips I added them and then added the pink using Distress ink spun sugar. The little bird and foliage is a new set I’ve just acquired and only partially used once. Its from MFT and is called Winter Songbirds. This helped me to decide to add the card to two challenges. I stamped some foliage in the back using Delicata Golden Glitz ink and then popped up the diamond on top. I had stamped the die cut images and coloured them with the same pink ink and a gold sparkle Sakura pen. I also used a small amount of Pumice Stone on the bird. The photo makes the gold sparkle look more yellow/green but it is gold in reality. The sentiment is from the same set and I popped it up at the bottom of the diamond. I thought about adding a few embellishments but decided against it for now and I can always change my mind before sending this to anyone. Pale pink isn’t a go to colour for me, but I’m happy with how this looks.

So its back to what I should be doing now. Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for stopping by.