Autumn Coffee Card

I just got my August Hero Arts card kit so I was excited to use it. When I make card, I often start out without knowing exactly where I’m going with it. But when I have a sketch to work with, it makes it so much easier!

Today we have a sketch for you at Crazy 4 Challenges. The large center shape made me think shaker! I don’t think I could ever get sick of making and shaking them! I forgot that even Distress glitter sticks to the acetate sheet. I’ve done this before and it does finally settle so I wasn’t too worried but I was bummed that it didn’t make for a better photo! The cups are both stamped on patterned paper and coloured with Copics. The curvy cup reminded me of me and the other of my husband so I added appropriate sentiments. I hate coffee so switching them wouldn’t have worked. The background paper was from the Hero Arts kit, so unique. It’s thin though so I added a background layer of cardstock before die cutting it. The leaves were cut with Spellbinders dies, coloured with either Copics or Distress sponging then splattered them with first brown watercolour then gold watercolour. I did the same with the background.

I hope you can come by the C4C blog and join us this week!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Shabby Hugs Card

ETA: My post got eaten up by Blogger. Sorry!

This week I asked the team at Crazy 4 Challenges to work with a sketch I designed.

Here’s the card I made to go with it! This time I went with an eclectic collage style. I find it so fun to grab random supplies and make them work together.

I hope you get a chance to play along with my challenge! Make sure to link up your creations to our blog!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Orange Kitty Hello

This little kitty is one of my favourite older stamps. This week at Crazy 4 Challenges, we had a colour combo for our inspiration. Use the colours of a tiger, orange, black and white.

I’m not a huge fan of bright colours so I went with softer versions. And I added a few pastels; they are almost neutrals right? Wink, wink!! :)

The kitty is coloured with Copic markers along with a soft airbrushed background. The circle was die cut with dies from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is by Altenew stamped with black Versafine ink. Instead of my usual sequins, I used buttons today. I think they give a really cute homey touch to this adorable card.

If you love orange and black, pop on over to the Crazy 4 Challenges blog!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered In: Match the Sketch 187

Floral Ampersand Thanks

Freestyle collage is fairly new to me but I try! I think some of the journaling cards in the last SSS kit are so fun and lend themselves to this style.

I used more mirrored cardstock in the upper left corner of the journaling card. It looks green because it is reflecting a colour from the background. Try to disregard that will ya? I made the little paper clip flag using self-adhesive ribbon which made it so easy!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in:

RECIPE
Stamps: SSS hearts and sentiment
Ink: angel pink-Memento, black archival-Ranger, soft stone-PTI
Paper: DP, &, card-My Mind’s eye, Card base-blushing bride-SU!
Accessories: cork-WRMK, sequins-Lucy’s Cards, Krylon gold leafing pen, ribbon-unknown

Autumn Bouquet Thanks

I have to admit it is autumn here. The air is crisp and I really need the alpaca scarf/shawl my sister brought  me from Peru.

I used last year’s Simon Says kit for the paper and some new dies for the bouquet. I was playing a clean and simple challenge so I didn’t doll up the card like I might usually. I’ll be sending this to my sister to thank her for the scarf.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in:

RECIPE
Stamps: SSS
Ink: archival brown-Ranger, various Distress inks
Paper: SSS kit, various SU! CS
Accessories: dies-Marianne and Elizabeth Craft, WRMK cork

Butterfly Thanks

I am so in love with last month’s Simon Says Stamp kit, I have to play with it again before the next one shows up.

Now i have to start by saying that the hearts cut from the striped paper are not black. They are backed with gold mirrored paper. You can see it a bit through the vellum just under the bow.  The other gold is gilder’s paste which I used on the edges of the card front and on the raised edges of the embossed butterfly.

The striped panel is raised with fun foam. But then when I went to add the banner and ‘thanks’, I was a bit stuck on how to raise it up to match the striped panel’s height. I ended up using white fun foam cut with the word die and carefully placed behind word die cut. It works quite well!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in:

RECIPE
Paper: mirrored cardstock-scrap, pink CS and DP-My Mind’s Eye, black CS, vellum-PTI
Accessories: doily die-PTI, word die-Mama Elephant, sequins-Sulyn Industries, butterfly die and folder- Sizzix, heart veneers-Studio Calico, Goldfinger gilder’s paste

Make It Work

I HAD to order on the day this free stamp set was offered. I just LOVE it! Isn't it purdy?

I also bought the banner dies I used here. They are so cute! I didn’t use the star and heart banner that accompany the two I used but I love that the two sets play well together!

I used Maggie Holmes papers to make this card with the exception of the typewriter paper under the dress; that is stamped with another new product from PTI.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in:

Retro Sketches 181

RECIPE
Stamps: Fashion Sense-PTI
Ink: Versamark, archival watering can
Paper: Maggie Holmes (crate paper), soft stone. blush CS-PTI, basic grey cs-SU!
Accessories: shabby ribbon-Paper Sweeties, banner dies-PTI, scalloped circle die-Spellbinders, sequins-Lucy’s Cards

Hooray Balloon Card

I just got a new order from PTI so I’m having fun making cards with my new products.

I’ve been wanting to use some awesome sequins I got from Lucy’s Cards (on Etsy) named Frosted Cupcake! SO I had to pull out some pink and brown papers. They are super old but still lovely.

I used two layers of fun foam and old clear packaging to make the shaker. I added a few ivory and brown sequins to the cupcake mixture. The confetti mixture is made using a die that comes with the shaker dies. I just glued them on to the card in what I hoped would be a semi-random pattern.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Entered in:

Sweet Sunday Sketch

 

RECIPE
Paper: doily-local restaurant, DP-Basic grey bittersweet, blush, chocolate CS-PTI
Accessories: balloon shaker dies-PTI, fun foam-Michaels, sequins-Lucy’s, Ellen Hutson and Pretty Pink Posh

SAF Patterns Challenge

This was a fun challenge. I love the inspiration card by Betsy.

I didn’t have most of what she used so I had to improvise.

I hope you like it. Much more to post so see you in a few!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Last but not Least, TSTR DT Application 4!

I went all out on this one. Shabby but bold!

I started with a rather painstaking process of learning how to use foil. My first three attempts failed miserably despite following directions from several different prominent crafter’s blogs! Grrr… But I finally got results I could use even if I didn’t love it. I applied Versamark through a stencil and clear embossed it. Then I added foil and ran my paper through my laminator. It melts the embossing powder so the foil can stick. Unfortunately, it also flattened the melted embossing powder causing it to spread out. So my pattern is a bit more messy than I had hoped for but hopefully that just enhances the shabby chic-ness.

I made the small white flowers, I realized that I hadn’t use the baby’s breath as inspiration at all so I made the closest flowers I could! I think they softened an otherwise quite bold card. I used the yarrow die set from Susan’s Garden. Sizzix used to manufacture them but now I believe you can get them from Elizabeth Crafts. I used the Paper Players sketch 225. and of course The Shabby Tear Room DT call.

Enjoy, Rebecca

The Shabby Tea Room Design Team Application 3

Can I just tell you how much I love My Mind’s Eye? Their shabby chic paper packs are just amazing!

I added some gold to this card which is seen in photo in the macaron and the tea cup; you can just see that it has a gold edge. I’ve always loved to work with gold, it’s the only embossing powder I’ve every used up except white and clear! It’s awesome that it’s finally trendy again! I don’t personally care but it’s nice to see more products being made in gold!

I’m also making this for Retro Sketches 170. And of course The Shabby Tear Room DT call.

Enjoy, Rebecca

The Shabby Tea Room Design Team Application 2

For this card, I was inspired by the colours, flowers and overall look of the photo. For The Shabby Tear Room DT call.

I also used a sketch challenge but it’s over now :(. I coloured the mid-tone flower with Copic markers. It’s a shame I didn’t have time to colour an image for this application but I for sure will do so in the future. That’s if I make the team of course! ;)

Enjoy, Rebecca

Bold Butterflies

One last teacher thank you card. My 14 yo son didn’t want anything too frilly or teacher-ish this year so I went with a bolder approach.

This was inspired by The most recent FUSION challenge.

The sketch really threw me at first! Only one small shape in the corner? Well, I’m not too much of a CAS gal so I had to expand and embellish that one small shape!

I ended up going with some embellies that came with the paper. I was actually lucky enough to win this paper along with some 12x12 paper and two packs of embellies! The tag and clip were in one pack and the other was all die cuts including the butterfly and small banner. I took the reinforcement sticker off, covered the tag in music paper and reapplied the sticker. Then I layered on the butterfly die cut and the messy gold thread. Last I inked the banner (it was tan), stamped the sentiment and added it to the tag along with the tiny strip of black cardstock.

I’m also entering this in the SSS Wednesday Anything Goes challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Simple Labels-Avery Elle
Ink: archival black-Ranger, Lipstick red-SSS
Paper: harvest gold-PTI, butterflies-SEI Field Notes
Accessories: die cut butterfly, banner, tag and clip-SEI

Thanks Card Set

Sadly my great-uncle is in the hospital dying. My poor great-aunt has been there as many hours as is humanly possible. Lots of people have been helping out, bring food etc. So I figured she will need some thank you cards shortly.

This first card is for the Sweet Sunday Sketch. I liked the wonky panel. I like my banners to point to the right though so I flipped the sketch. The banner is actually made from white CS swiped with Tattered Rose ink. It took ages because my pad is a bit dry. But the colour was perfect with this Theresa Collins paper.

This next one is one of my favourite CAS sketches. I die cut the Thanks and coloured it with Copic markers. I only used two so the ombre isn’t that pronounced but it looks nice. W5 and 7. Very simple but interesting.

The last card layout was one I stumbled upon. I started by trying out the colours I was thinking of using on a scrap in the bottom. I didn’t like the colours so I stamped another bunch of hexagons higher up. This colour combo was much better but when I looked at my scratch paper, I had a much more interesting layout than the single cluster I had planned. I added two more clusters, to balance everything out, and ta da!

I had one more happy accident. I had planned for a totally flat card. Very mailable but boring. But I couldn’t think of what to add. Then I goofed and inked the stamp I always stamped in yellow in the aqua ink and stamped. Not a pretty colour, NUTS! So I stamped it on scrap paper, cut it out and added it with foam dots.

The top left and bottom right most hexagons are up on foam dots. I hope my aunt likes these. I kept her in mind when I made them as she loves soft colours and quilting. I think the hexagons look like quit squares, don’t you?

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE

Thanks for Your Support and Ombre Thanks
Stamps: Thanks all ways-PTI
Ink: cup o joe-HA, tattered rose, frayed burlap-Distress
Paper: Theresa Collins DP, kraft, white CS-PTI
Accessories: die-Mama Elephant, W5, 7

Hex Thanks Cards
Stamps: Hexagons, Thanks all Ways-PTI
Ink: harvest gold, sweet blush, melon berry, aqua mist-PTI
Paper: white, harvest gold, sweet blush, melon berry, aqua mist CS
Accessories: foam dots-Sticky Stuff Store

Howdy Neighbour

I made this card for a family I know who is into horses. I haven’t seen them in a while so I thought they might appreciate this card.

I think this was also for a a sketch challenge because this isn’t exactly a card layout I’d think up myself. But as happens about 50% of the time, I forgot to link it up in time. sigh…

Dontcha love those wooden embellies? I love using wood veneers, but especially on more rugged themed cards. The twine was supposed to look like a lasso. Did it work?

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: MFT
Ink: cup o joe-HA, (don’t recall the other colours)
Paper: DP-MME, kraft CS-PTI
Accessories: twine-May Arts, wood veneer stars-Studio Calico, Copic marker (circle around horse head and colouring veneers), circle dies-Spellbinders, lace-vintage, wooden dots-MME

Sketch n Colour Challenge for PTI 8th Anniversary

Combining more than one challenge can be tricky but I think I did a pretty good job on this one.

The clock was stamped on vellum and embossed with some very, very old SU! embossing powder. A lot of the PTI gals have been using Zing! EP lately but this one is finer so I really like the way it turned out.

As you can see, I stretched the sketch so it would work better since my clock doesn’t have a 5.5” diameter like the card above.

I didn’t use the Fine Linen but instead used ivory. I much prefer it. The colours aren’t quite right above and I had a hard time editing them. The leaves are aqua mist stamped first with a second generation inking, then with a first generation inking for the veins. I did the same for the second and third layers of the rose. That ‘bow’ is what Melissa Philips calls a junk bow. I think i like them but next time I’ll add a few more soft ribbons and maybe add a few ribbons loops rather than have all of them single layered.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Paper: vellum, kraft, ivory CS-PTI
Ink: kraft, soft blush, melon berry-PTI
Accessories: misc ribbons plus PTI blush grosgrain, sand sequins-Pretty Pink Posh, pick sequins-Ellen Hutson, pink EP-SU!

Rugged Sympathy Cards

My FIL passed away recently and while we weren’t close, it was hard to see my teenaged son and my husband so sad. So I made them both sympathy cards.

Of course, as with many of us, I struggle to make masculine cards that aren’t super boring. Sure it’s easy to layer a few papers but that’s so blah. I used some ephemera I’d been saving and a cool technique to jazz it up some.

The background is crumpled cardstock which I then smoothed and DTP added some light brown ink. I spritzed it with water to soften the look, let it dry then applied a slightly darker shade orange  ink with my fingers to really work it into the paper. It if was closer to the same shade, I might have been able to use a sponge applicator but this seemed to really bring out the texture in the paper. A sponge might have applied ink too evenly. My fingers were only orange for one day :).  I wish more of it showed.

I’m entering this in the Simon Monday challenge to make new friends but keep the old. I used an old technique to make the paper look like leather and an old stamp. I used ephemera I’ve been saving for ages and new veneers. I also used Mojo Monday 379 for the sketch. for Mojo Monday Judges: I’m entering both cards. But I can only link up one card for each URL. So I entered the other card by clicking on it then using the URL for hte photo. Sorry but no way to link back to the challenge for that card. HOpe that’s OK.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Justrite Stamps
Ink: Ranger Archival brown
Paper: cardstock-PTI, DP-Authentique, ephemera envelope
Accessories: Veneers-Studio Calico, grommet-WRMK, twine-repurposed, Copic markers YR 68, BG75, E59

Shabby Vespa Card

I have always loved this older paper pad , Neopolitan, from American Crafts. I go back to it every so often and fall in love again every time.

I’m afraid this picture doesn’t do this card justice. All the colours are muted and when I tried bumping up the saturation, it just looked weird. This was made for Tuesday Morning Sketches 279. I used the vertical center line of the Bingo card, ribbon, embossing and flowers. It was sure tricky making something with the Bingo card AND the sketch!

The Vespa is a sticker; to prevent it from sticking to the card base in between the foam dots, I used my powder tool to deactivate the adhesive. I usually, if I remember, add the foam dots BEFORE deactivating the adhesive or the powder can prevent the foam dots from sticking.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Hero Arts Messages with Flourish
Ink: Versamark, Versacolour Cloud white, Archival potting soil
Paper: American crafts, card base-MFT (? colour name)
Accessories: gold ep, cord-SU!, lace-Fabricland, ribbon-stash, sequins-Sulyn Ind. stickers-American Crafts,

All Neutrals for Mojo Monday and Shabby Tea Room

Wow, it seems like ages since I created for any online card challenges! I’ve been really not doing so great since the weather has gotten colder here in Canada. We’ve even had snow though it never stays this early.

I dyed the lace for this card. It was white before I added berry tea. It ended up being much darker than I wanted but it was perfect for the tones in this card. The flower is two layers I put together from a package of Recollections flowers. I stamped some ivory cardstock messily with a script stamp for some texture. It’s hard to see but I inked the edges of the card base with gold paint pen which is why the top of the brown lace looks different. The paint is shiny and reflects on the lace.

Click on the photos below to visit the challenge blogs.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Saying Goodbye to Unscripted Sketches

I’m sad to say this this is my last Unscripted Sketches post as the owners of the blog have decided to move on to other things. I certainly wish them well. So here is my last project.

I love this muted aqua, tan, ivory and chocolate combination. I was stuck for an idea so I started looking at my dies and my eyes settled on my ice cream die. Ah, perfect. When I pulled out this paper pack for obvious reasons, there was already a die cut heart! Even more perfect! I don’t remember cutting it but why not use it?

I added glitter to the ice cream cone with a glue pen and to the card with red line tape. I used the glue pen for the stripes on the heart too.

I really hope you will play with Unscripted Sketches one more time this week. I hope we have record numbers of participation for our last hurrah! I’m really sad to see it go. I haven’t been a member long and I so wish this was a long term assignment. I was on design teams before my baby was born but quit quite a long time ago. I didn’t want to work while he was little but I was so ready to start over again. oh well, the search starts again. Have fun!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: MME, cardstock base-baja breeze-SU!
Ink: Frayed burlap distres
Accessories: foam dots-The Sticky Stuff Store, chocolate glitter –MS, light glitter-Art Institute, heart, ice cream die-PTI, sequins-Ellen Hutson