Cold Twigs, Warm Heart Card

I made this card for an Ellen Hutson WCMD challenge but I failed to blog it and enter it in time. Fortunately, I’ve found someone who can use it and I can be entered for other prizes!

Vera Yates is running a card drive for the holiday season for the elderly in nursing homes. Make a winter or holiday card, send it in and it will be entered into a draw for lots of awesome prizes.

Check out the details by clicking on the icon above.

I used a die to cut out the snowflakes from the blue paper. Then I filled in the holes with glue and glitter. So pretty! I was in a rush when I made it so the trees aren’t Copic coloured as well as I’d like. Oh well.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: SU!
Ink: Memento black
Paper: night of navy, red CS-SU!, white CS-X-Press It
Accessories: glitter-SU!, Copics, die-Memory box, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Pet Sympathy Cards

My best girlfriend’s neighbour lost her dog this last week. I knew she would buy a sympathy card so I offered to make one for her to give.

First, I decided to try out my new hex cover plate die from PTI. I had to die cut it three times before I finally got the right combo of number of passes through the machine and shim. I think my plates are old and that is part of it but it is a tricky thing to cut even with a new plate. Don’t start using it the first time on your last sheet of paper! Test it out first!

I used Nichole Heady’s PDF cutting diagram for 4 patterned papers but I substituted paw stamps for one of the papers. I love how it looks. I decided it was just too much work to give to someone I don’t even know so I’m going to save it. Then I made another one for my girlfriend to give away using this week’s Unscripted Sketch.

I made the button with the same paw stamp I used on the other card. It’s clear with glossy accents as adhesive. I was going to use a grey button from the pack that matches the paper but another button from another Basic Grey pack in this gorgeous teal colour really popped.

Click on the sketch to visit the challenge post.

I hope these cards bring some comfort. It’s so awful to lose a special pet.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: heartfelt, paw-PTI, hugs, sorry-WMS
Ink: chocolate, kraft-PTI, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress, pumpkin-SU!
Paper: kraft, chocolate, cream-PTI, DP-Basic Grey Max and Whiskers, confetti ivory-SU!,
Accessories: twine, hex cover plate die, labels-PTI, clear button-SU!, teal button-Basic Grey, wood button-stash, circle Nesties, 1/16” circle punch-Fiskars, foam dots-Jody Morrow,

Altered Mousetrap–Vintage Beach

Apparently, one of the newest cool things to alter is a mousetrap! They make a great note holder when magnets are attached to the back. I guess if you work in a cubicle, you could also add Velcro to the back.

I decided to take apart the trap mechanism to make it easier to add the background paper and ink it. Wow, it is very stiff and very spring loaded. Poor little mousies… Anyway, it took a bit of yanking to get the clips out from the wood but I kept prying until I got them out. I was glad I did; I decorated it and let everything dry when I realized that I didn’t remember how to put it back together. Yikes! Fortunately, I had another  still intact and figured it out. Whew! All sides were inked with Vintage Photo ink.

I used liquid glue to adhere the background papers and then made some embellishments. The lady under the orange umbrella was adhered to coaster chipboard, sanded and inked front and back; at least the portion that will show so it looks finished from the back. The flower was painted with acrylic paint then sanded when dry to distress it. The watch hand was inserted then the brad distressed with the claw end of my hammer.

The sand dollar was punched out twice from ivory and kraft cardstock. Then I layered them and added Glossy Accents to the surface. Before it dried, I added the sand and shell inclusions. I couldn’t get all the bubbles out, they kept moving away from my pin tip (GRRR!) so I finally left them since they added to the rustic nature of the embellishment, or at least, that’s what I told myself! {{{Grin}}} Add magnets and all done!

Have you ever embellished a mousetrap? This was my first. If you decide to try it, send me a picture! It was really quite fun!

No Mouse was Harmed in the Making of this Project! New Unused Traps. A better use for sure!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: DP-Graphic 45 Boardwalk, Vanilla, kraft CS-SU!
Ink: Vintage photo, antique linen Distress
Accessories: acrylic paint, flower, watch hand, brad- Tim Holtz, mousetrap-Dollarama, sand dollar punch-MS, sand and shell-Mudd Puddles, coaster board-Ellen Hutson,

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop–Love Has Wings

I loved the colour combos PTI provided as inspiration for this month’s blog hop. I don’t have quite a few of them though as I’m still working with a 2009 paper pack so I went with the combo shown below.

The little house is a layered die cut which resembles chipboard. It is made of three layers with an additional roof layer and the patterned paper layer. The heart section is only one layer thick so it is recessed into the house.

I used a new technique I developed for the leaves. I turned the leaves upside down and scored the veins. Then I flipped it back over and folded each score line upwards, away from the scoring. This cracked the score lines giving a vintage. distressed look. Then I sponged ink over the cracked score lines to accentuate them.

I also entered this in Retro Sketches #34. Click to visit challenge post.

I hope you enjoyed my card. Thanks for taking the time to visit and I hope you will leave a comment. If you liked this project, feel free to sign up for email updates or my RSS feed, thingies on the sidebar.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: all cardstock-PTI, DP-SU!
Ink: vintage photo, antique linen Distress, artichoke-SU!
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, house, edge, scallop die-PTI, leaf die-Spellbinders, floral die-Heartfelt Creations (I think), ribbon-Offray, embossing tool-stash

Horse Frame Gift

Another horse themed blog post. Seems to be a theme huh? And there is one more to come! The cards I made for the fundraiser.

I made this for my son’s riding teacher. She is also my friend’s daughter so it will be perfect for their home. This started out as a basic frame from IKEA. Less than $10 for sure, maybe less than $5! I wouldn’t buy it for my stash unless it was pretty cheap. I cut some clouds with a PTI die out of Eclipse tape and used them as masks. Then I airbrushed the sky and grass.

In case you didn’t know, you can totally air brush with Ciao markers. I keep a small elastic wound around my airbrush several times which holds them in place and keeps them from moving as I work, easy solution for sure. Because the Ciao marker slides in too far, I just align the amount of the marker tip that protrudes until it is the same as a Sketch marker and let the elastic snap tight.  I stamped and coloured the horses with Copics of course.

This would totally work with a thrift store frame and a fresh new mat too. I can think of so many fun ideas for images that would work with the same sky and grass. A child holding flowers or balloons, a pet, a bird in the sky with a picket fence below or a baby carriage. Or you could add glitter to the lower part for a snowy scene.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: SU!
Ink: Memento
Paper: Xpress It
Accessories: Copics and airbrush system, Eclipse tape, cloud die-PTI