Love You Valentine's Card

A little mixed media gem for a special Valentine.

Supplies: cardstock (The Paper Company), gesso (Golden), heart background stencil (Silhouette), gelato and glass bead glitter gel (Faber-Castell), sentiment stamp (Winnie and Walter), archival ink (Ranger), chipboard letters and small heart punch (Recollections), med heart punch (Marvy- Uchida), pen (Sharpie)

I created the background with gesso and a Silhouette cut heart background stencil.  The hearts are made from a mix of Bubblegum gelato and glass bead glitter gel which was mixed and left to dry on my craft mat. Then I peeled up the blop and used different sizes of heart punches to create the hearts. Cute floral chipboard letters, a little stamping, doodling, and it was done.

TTFN,

By Request ATCs

It was super neat to have two ladies (Lorena and Katja) ask me to do mystery ATC swaps after I posted my ATC cards made for Magenta's Spring Swap 2014 on my Instagram.

I tried to use some of the elements from the ATCs they originally inquired about and made these little lovelies.

Supplies: photo paper(Staples), hello, bonjour and hola stamps (Magenta), friend stamp (Winnie and Walter), distress ink and blk ink (Ranger), pink StazOn ink (Tsukineko), pen (Creative Memories), flower sequin (Dollarama), glitter (Recollections)

Supplies: photo paper (Staples), sentiment stamp (Magenta), heart background cut file (Silhouette), distress inks and blk ink (Ranger), vellum (misc.)

Both are made on photo paper using Magenta Stamps and Distress inks / StazOn.

I made this one as the partner to the above one. The first one focused on the love-heart part of the sentiment. Here the grow-flower part of the sentiment was the focus.

Supplies: stamps (Magenta), watercolour cardstock, distress ink, and blk ink (Ranger), wht Stamper's Big Brush (Faber-Castell)

The last one was just because I was on a roll and had little pieces of leftover watercolour scraps from this card still on my desk. I had punched a vellum version of the bird and branch which I decided to colour with distress inks and paired it this fabulous Magenta sentiment stamp. I mix media gelled it all to a scrap distress inked and glimmer misted piece of watercolour paper, and then added black glitter glue as a final touch.

Supplies: watercolour paper (Canson), sentiment stamp (Magenta), distress inks, blk ink and gel medium (Ranger), glimmer mist (Tattered Angels), punch (Stampin' Up), glitter glue (Hampton Arts)

I had fun making these ATCs.  I especially like when I can use up scrap bits. Yeah for upcycling! Thanks to Lorena and Katja for the push.

TTFN,

You are Awesome - Hers and His Cards of Appreciation

Sometimes people just need a reminder that their efforts do not go unnoticed and they need a little boost of support and encouragement to keep doing what they do.  Teaching is becoming a more and more challenging profession and many a times those involved in the profession find themselves more often in no-win-situations.

I made these cards for two colleagues as thank yous and encouragement for this past year as well as encouragement for the one to come. 

Trying out some more techniques from the Watercolor for Card Makers class, I created this cheery card.

Supplies: watercolour paper (Canson), floral stamp (Magenta), sentiment stamps (Winnie and Walter), fence die cut (Sizzix), markers (Fibracolor), Tim Holtz Distress ink and blk ink (Ranger), watercolour paints (Artist's Loft), burlap (DCWV), wood veneer butterfly (CTMH)

I diecut embossed the fence, masked it off and then multi stamped the cute new little Lily of the Valley Magenta stamp.  Then I quickly used a water brush to fill in the image colour. I watercoloured the background and then stamped the sentiment using the lovely Winnie & Walter The Big, the Bold and You stamps. A little CTMH wood veneer butterfly and We R memory Keepers coloured burlap were just the right finishing touches.


Next, if you saw my Magenta Father's Day Card, you will recognize my background design on this next card.

Supplies: stencil, stamp, metal embossed sticker (Magenta), gelatos and whipped spackle (Faber-Castell), Tim Holtz Distress paint and blk ink (Ranger), liquid glass and pen (CTMH)

Often when I am trying out techniques for the first time, I double up as to be able to choose the best one to take to the end of a project.  This design fits a masculine card so well.  I changed it up by turning it sideways which incidentally fit the Magenta Gentleman Metal Sticker's rectangular size better and as to not cover up my tile like grid background.  I like the way this one turned out even more than the Dad card.

I really made this one look even more like tiles by darkening up the colours with metallic gelatos and adding in the pop of blue.  I gave them a glazed finish with liquid glass and increased their definition and dimension by adding black shadowing on two sides.

I masked off the second part of the Magenta stamp sentiment to fit my design, distress painted the embossed metal sticker and used pop squares to add another layer.

Very pleased with the way both of these cards turned out.  I find I tend to love the results when I craft cards specifically with people in mind. They hold that special little something that comes from my heart.

TTFN,

Card Catch Up

Today, I am sharing a few cards that I made in the spring but just had not gotten to posting.  Hope you enjoy them.

Using Simple Stories Daily Grind Collection from a My Creative Scrapbook kit, I made this masculine birthday card.

Supplies: patterned papers, die cuts, stickers (Simple Stories), celebrate stamp (American Crafts), today stamp (CTMH), inks (Tsukineko), wood veneer stars (Studio Calico)

I had a good time giving it some dimension and playing with the stickers for reading flow.

I was so stoked that Simple Stories reposted it when I put it up on my Instagram account.


I dug into it my stash and made a card for a friend's birthday.  I used an old Kate collection from Making Memories to create this card.

Supplies: patterned paper (Making Memories), cardstock (Paper Reflections), digi stamp bird (Bugaboo Digi Stamps), sentiment stamp (Imaginisce), border punch (Fiskars), gelatos (Faber-Castell), ink and multi medium (Ranger Ink), funky purple trim (Dollarama), stardust glitter pen (Gelly Roll by Sakura), pen (CTMH), silver packaging ribbon (Misc.)

I used Bugaboo Digi Stamps' bird that I coloured with gelatos and tucked it into a neat nest made from some funky dollar store ribbon. I also used their Stella Says Sketch #208 for inspiration.

Yeah for using my stash!

Lastly, a quick and simple card that I made for my Magenta ATC swap partner to tuck them in on their travels when I sent them off to the Netherlands. Love the big script font in the Winnie & Walter Hello stamp.

Supplies: pre-printed floral card base(Laura Ashley), ribbon and wood veneer flowers(CTMH), "Hello" stamp(Winnie & Walter), ink(Tsukineko), glitter glue (Studio G-Hampton Arts), jewels and fabric flower(Dollarama)

Until next time.


TTFN,

Winnie and Walter Share the Love Day 2 - Ombre

Day 2's Winnie & Walter Share the Love with Tim Holtz Distress inks challenge sees participants using an ombre technique and distress inks.  Again, I learned this distress ink stamping technique during Watercolour for Card Makers Class.  My first try during the class in May had some bleeding drips of colour as I had added too much water.  This time I got it working better and am quite pleased with the results.

Supplies: happy word cut file (Winnie and Walter), watercolour cardstock (Canson), Tim Holtz distress inks (Ranger), cardstock (Bazzill), pen (CTMH), sequins (Winnie and Walter purchase thanks pack)

I played with the W&W cut files that I got received when I purchased The Big, the Bold, and the Happy set.  I created a three tier happy with the one happy word.

On this one, I cropped the end tail to better fit the card.

Supplies: happy word cut file (Winnie and Walter), watercolour cardstock (Canson), Tim Holtz distress inks (Ranger), cardstock (Bazzill), pen (CTMH)

These are such bright and cheery backgrounds for the wonderful Happy sentiment. Thanks W&W for providing the impetus to try the technique again.

TTFN,

Winnie & Walter Share the Love Day #1 - Watercolour

This past week, over on the Winnie & Walter blog, they are featuring a week of Share the Love for Tim Holtz Distress Inks by Rangers.  The first day's challenge was to create a project using watercolour. 

Supplies: stamps (Winnie and Walter), Tim Holtz watercolour cardstock and distress inks, and Archival ink (Ranger), glitter glue (Hampton Arts)

For my card, I used a watercolour stamp technique that I learned during the Watercolour for Card Makers Class and gave it a go with the W&W's Scenery Big Bang Confetti stamp. Love the outline and colour that it gets on the watercolour cardstock.

TTFN,

Watercolouring... who knew?

I have been a bit quiet of late.  I have been taking a university course on top of working and it is eating any of the few extra minutes that I had previously to craft. Sometimes when I go for chunks not creating, I just get an overwhelming urge to just pause on everything else and just do it.  Last night was one of those nights where I was sinking in other work items and just had to stop and do something different.  I do have some crafty things to share and will catch up on that in future posts but today I am sharing an unexpected card that I made as a result of my break time last night.  

When I saw the Watercolour for Card Makers Online Class advertised a while back, I was interested but knew it would not fit with my other course.  Then I saw something in regards to it again yesterday and decided what the heck, the classes are available for me to look at in the future so why not.  I signed up on Day 9 of 10. LOL! Watched that day's first video on Simple Freehand Painting using a splatter painting technique and just went for it.

Supplies: Watercolour paper (Carsons), watercolour paint pucks (Artist Loft), sentiment stamp (Winnie and Walter), ink (Archival-Ranger), cardstock (Bazzill)

My card is a slightly different take on the tree technique as shown in the video for I went for a spring cherry/apple blossom look.  I think it is not bad for a first try especially because I have not had the benefit of having taken the other days' classes.  LOL! Nothing like jumpin' in feet first!

I paired my tree with a Winnie & Walter sentiment stamp.  I shortened the tail end of the font script to make it fit my card space by using a post-it. 

Looking forward to going through the other lessons with a school break coming up and sharing my learning creations in the future.

TTFN,