Time for Fiesta!

Last month Hero Arts sent a really fun Mexican-themed card kit. When I first saw it, I was hesitant as it really isn’t my style. But I get card kits for a reason, to challenge myself, and the images looked fun to colour. Also, the large ornate die was amazing!

My kids had been begging me to make a Chibitronics card so I combined the kit with some fun lights. The concept was that in the day, the sun in the desert is so hot, it’s practically white hot. But later in the day, it glows orange as it sets. The mouse is coloured with Rather than colour the cacti, I used Distress inks, some Oxide, some regular, to sponge on some colour. After, because the Oxide somewhat covered the stamped lines, I re-stamped using my MISTI.

In this photo, you can see that pulling out the tab both completes the sentiment and actives the lights with a switch. I’m not thrilled with the obvious three lights rather than an overall diffused light so I may try to add some vellum over the two layers of tissue I used to see if I can get it to diffuse more. Once you get the switch set up properly, it works really well.

I’m not into scrapbooking much anymore though I always intend to go back to it some time. I kind of stalled out after my second son turned about 18 months. I never got a decent photo of him because he was obsessed with my camera; so every photo has his face next to the lens, massively blurred out, his arm in front of his face as he reached for the camera or was crying from being told he couldn't have the camera! But it is International Scrapbook Day so I thought I’d wish you a good one!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Snow in April?

And not just on my card! We recently had a massive ice storm so I guess it is perfect that our Crazy 4 Challenges theme this week is to be inspired by the phrase, ‘skating on thin ice".’

The large snowflake striped die is by Memory Box which I cut from white cardstock and some fancy specialty paper layered to create a 3-D embellishment. The edge of the patterned paper was scalloped using a Simon Says Stamp die which reveals some fun striped patterned paper underneath. From Honey Bee stamps I used the stamps and dies for the sentiment. Overall, this is a pretty simple card with not too much technical or intense going on. But sometimes simple is all you need right? :)

Do you have a take on the phrase ‘skating on thin ice’? Join us over at the C4C blog.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Seaside Happy Retirement Card

Do you love the sea? The beach is my favourite place! It’s where I would go if I was to retire so I often make retirement cards with this theme. This week at Crazy 4 Challenges we were asked to use a sketch so I managed to combine the two.

The paper is from a pack by Prima. It’s an unusual collection of florals, vintage ephemera and masculine papers. These papers were ones with a definite masculine feel so they were perfect for a guy card. Only problem is that most of the wording on the ephemera images was love based. Not exactly perfect for a card for hubby to give to a colleague! ha! I’ve recently been redoing and reorganizing my craft room; in the process I found this awesome tag I saved from a pair of Nevada Jeans. I had to cut off the top of the tag as it was too big but this part of it was perfect and just the right size to fill the spot that had a very obvious lovey sentiment!

Do you  love sketch challenges? Be sure to pop on over to our blog to see the main sketch (my version is a bit of a take on the sketch, not exact) and link up your own version!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Mom, Love You More Than Coffee

I love the smell of coffee even though I don’t drink it. My mom never drank it when I was a kid and my dad only drank it when he was at work. So I’d only wake up to the smell of coffee when my grandparents were visiting. It’s one of the best smell memories of my childhood!

So when I saw our challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges was to be inspired by, you guessed it, coffee!!! I made the coffee cup with paper piecing and layered die cuts to make it more like a chipboard embellishment. I even carefully trimmed out the cup itself, the small rim and handle is all you can see, and layered it up a bit more so it’s higher than the saucer and the coffee is a couple of layers lower. It’s a small thing but adds some fun texture while keeping the card fairly flat. Even with the small flowers, the card will still mail with standard postage. That’s always a bonus!

The stamps are by Neat & Tangled, don’t you love the sentiment? So cute right? I added the Mom die cut and some tiny stamped hearts just to add a little something extra. The gorgeous paper is by Prima, it’s one of my faves. I kind of wish I’d added some messy thread under the cup but oh well!

I hope you love coffee-themed crafting as much as I do! So join us over at C4C and link up your project!

Enjoy, Rebecca

An Apple a Day…

Our challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges this week was to make a medical themed card. A thank you for a medical professional who has helped you out or a get well card!

I stamped the nurse and patient from a set by Art Impressions, then penciled in the rest of the scene. When I was happy with the design, I went over it with a Copic multiliner. I kept the lines slightly sketchy so they would work with the rest of the images. In retrospect, I do wish I had placed the pie chart in a different place! The images were coloured with Polychromos pencils. Finally, I added the glitter paper die cut sentiment by Hero Arts and stamped the smaller sentiment.

This card is for my family doctor. She is an interesting character with short spikey purple hair and a love of big, bold earrings! She is so kind and caring, not rushing you out like so many doctors now. You are probably picturing someone quite young but she isn’t and I’m so worried she will retire!

Have someone special in your life who would love a medical themed card? Hop on over to the C4C blog to play along with us this week!

Enjoy, Rebecca