10/12/2013

* * * World Cardmaking Day * * *

     I hosted four of the 12 challenges last weekend on the Fiskateer blog for World Cardmaking Day. I want to share my cards with you all here as well.
Cheers to You
 
     For this challenge, I required everyone to make a bright, cheery card to have on hand for the next time someone needs cheering up.
     I love the look of fussy-cutting! I usually save up my cutting projects and cut them out while I watch TV in the evening. That works okay as long as I'm not watching a scary show. I've ruined a few things because I have jumped when the little people who live in the TV try to get out. LOL
     I also love heat-embossing and use it on at least 3/4 of my cards. For this card, I heat-embossed two images of the bird and apple blossoms from Stampabilities. I used boysenberry pigment and clear fine-detail-embossing powder. I matted one copy and then fussy-cut the bird and flowers. Using foam tape, I layered the bird and some of the blossoms. The two blossoms at the bottom were not a part of the original image. I added them at the bottom with flat glue-dots to add balance. And, since I've been so into pearls lately, I added two sizes of tiny white pearls to the flower centers and three larger ones to add balance. The sentiment is from Fiskars' Friends Forever collection.    

Kickin' It Old School
     For this card, the challenge was to use only those older supplies, tools and papers we found in our stash of supplies. I had so much fun digging through my stash! I found some great stuff in there I didn't know I had. Guess I should go through it a little more often. I got to use some old alphabet stickers and diamonds - real of course, or at least that is what I tell people. And, the cardstock panel was one I saved because I couldn't bear to cut it. Well, it's done now and I have some great scraps left over too. This is all too much fun!
Noteworthy
     The challenge here was to make a card with the word 'NOTE' on it, plus use any cardmaking tool in a new way.
     I created the trim on my card using Fiskars' pinwheel punch! I picked two different colors of cardstock (patterned paper works well too). I found it was easier to see the pattern I created by using two different colors of the same pattern. I tried a lot of different papers and most worked great.
     I punched my pinwheels and tucked them into each other making sure I had all the tabs in place to create the pattern I wanted. I ran narrow tape across the back of the pinwheels once they were arranged and adhered them to my card. And, don't you love the white flower with burlap leaves and orange button? I won a set of them from Little Yellow Bicycle on a prior challenge on our great Fiskateer blog!
Closed for Business

Closed for Business - Back Side

     The challenge here was to make a card that did not open (i.e. postcard, oversized gift tag). 
     I'm getting a start with my Christmas post-cards with this one.
     I stamped the banners with olive green and pink sky chalks using a masking technique. If you want to try it too, stamp our image on a piece of copy paper or other very thin paper. Cut it out. When you are ready to stamp, position the mask in the spot where the image that appears to be on top. Then, stamp the back image. Remove the mask and stamp the near image. Easy once you get the hang of it.
     Both sentiments are from Fiskars' Season's Greetings collection. I stamped the snowflakes (from various Fiskars holiday collections) very lightly with Robins' Egg blue.

     Thanks so much for spending time with me today. I'll be back in a day or two with my DCWV Stack-a-holic card challenge. Hope you have a really fun day! And, if you want to join in the fun, check out the details here: www.fiskateers.com 

10/01/2013

* * * World Cardmaking Day * * *

What are you doing this weekend? Come make cards with us on the Fiskateers blog. There will be fun challenges and prizes and a great time. I'll be hosting a couple of the challenges and a game. I think the challenges go up on Saturday morning and we usually get a day or two to finish up the projects we are working on. Check out the blog here: www.fiskateers.com .

8/20/2013

DCWV August Stack-a-holic Template Challenge


UpdateJust found out my card made it to the Top-10 this month at DCWV. Yay! You can see all the other Top-10 here: http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-stack-holic-top-10s.html 

     Thanks so much for popping in today. Always so nice to hear from you all. My card today is for DCWV's August Card Sketch Challenge. I used The Home Spun Cardstock Stack for this card. I'm really excited about how the top purple panel turned out. To begin with, some of the cardstock in this stack has a scored texture. I embossed the pre-scored purple panel using Spellbinders M-bossabilities folder EL-009. Then I ran a pigment pad (ColorBox -boysenberry) across the top of the embossed panel. In person it looks just like hand-tooled leather!
     Then, for the fun part. I gathered up a bunch of my punches and started punching and stacking. I used a Hero Arts stamp (CL342) for the sentiment.
     I made a card last week with an offset top panel and got so many comments about it, I wanted to use that technique again. Don't you think it adds a lot interest to the card? I love the polka-dot buttons too (Studio G ).
     Hope you get to do something fun today. Maybe you want to make a card too. There's still time to join in the fun at DCWV. Here's the link for all the details and below is a copy of the sketch we had to work with: http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-stack-holic-template-challenge.html


 

7/26/2013

DCWV July Stack-a-holic Template Challenge

     Hard to believe that July is almost gone! Time to get another DCWV challenge card submitted before time runs out. There's still enough time if you want to join in on the fun. I'll put the link and the sketch below.
 
     I used DCWV’s Chickadee Mésange Pájaro stack for this card. I say this card would work equally well for a woman or a man. I often need a masculine card - lots of men in my family. I will be sending this card to one of them.
     I used Spellbinders Labels Eighteen dies for my sentiment tags. I brushed the edges with brown ink to make them stand out. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is stamped with the same brown ink.
     Come and join in the fun with us! Check out all the details here:  http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-stack-holic-template-challenge.html
     And, here's a copy of the sketch to get you started:
 
 

Tuesday Trigger - A Painterly Palette Challenge


 
 
        I created this card for the Tuesday Trigger- A Painterly Palette challenge in the Moxie Fab World.
        Using the heat-resist technique to make the circles, I stamped different doily images with Versamark watermark ink and then heat-embossed with white embossing powder onto white cardstock. Then I rubbed pigment ink pads over the top of the heat-resist doilies. I gently rubbed the ink off the embossing leaving behind my white embossing lines. I only used three colors of ink but applied more or less ink to some of the circles to create different shades. Next, I punched 1.25" and 1.50" centers from the doilies. Adhering a few circles with foam tape, I used the darker doilies at the bottom and the smaller circles in the back to give depth and movement to the card.
       I also used heat-resist on the sentiment tag. I stamped on white cardstock here as well. Then, I applied the ink, trimmed and matted the sentiment tag with white cardstock.
       That gorgeous background cardstock comes from the Chickadee Mesange Pajaro stack from DCWV.
       There is still a little time left  if you want to come play with us. Check out the details here: http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2013/07/tuesday-trigger-painterly-palette.html
        And, here's the great inspiration photo we had to work with: