Sun Kissed - Spring is in the Air

I found this interesting card challenge site called “Fashionable Stamping Challenges”.  One of the main rules is that you must use at least one rubber stamp on the card and no digi stamps. Now I have a place to use the hundreds of rubber stamps in my collection and a reason to buy more.   The theme this challenge number 18 is “spring is in the air’.  You can check this challenge blog out at:

http://fashionablestampingchallenges.cottagecrafts.ie/

I chose to use this rubber stamp by Elizabeth Bell for Whimsy Stamps called Sun Kissed.  I used several different pattern papers, ribbon, border punch and handmade flowers to create the card and give the card some texture and interest.  To complete the card I used some brads, bling, a butterfly and a sentiment. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day. 

Judy

Heated Pearls

For my last day as card captain at Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps I chose to use another old technique called Pearl Ex - Heated Pearls for my background to this cloisonné butterfly card.  You can find the directions for this background technique at:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/pearl_extrade_heated_pearls/
I love the way the unique texture appears when you heat the white glue and Pearl Ex. I coloured the butterfly with glitter pens to add some more sparkle to the card.

This has been a great week for me at Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps.  I just love the challenges.  Come join us at: 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enjoyMichaelStrongstamps/

My favourite quote is by Maya Angelou. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”  Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Technique Day Faux Vellum and Faux Metal Bracket

Today is Technique Day for the Yahoo Group Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps and I chose to use an old simple technique called Faux Vellum and another technique to do a metal faux bracket. .  I found the faux vellum technique in the April/May 2009 edition of the Technique Junkies News letter.  This technique uses copy or printer paper, cotton balls, paper towels and baby oil.  The copy paper is rubbed with the baby oil and then the excess is rubbed off with a paper towel. Once the paper is dry you use the paper as you would use a piece of vellum paper.  This faux vellum takes markers and coloured pencils like a dream.

I stamped with black Stazon Ink Mike’s hummingbird stamp on the vellum and then masked the hummingbird and over stamped with a Hero Arts design block. The flowers and hummingbird were coloured with pencil crayons then I layered the faux vellum over a piece of pattern card stock with a swirls in white, greens and blues.   I think the pattern paper gives a sky affect behind the stamped images.

To create a faux metal bracket I painted the die cut with brown acrylic paint, then added a layer of silver embossing powder, then a layer of UTEE and then added a second layer of silver embossing powder and then another layer of UTEE. Once I had all of the layers of embossing powder on I then rubbed on black dye ink and then rubbed some of the ink off until I got the effect I wanted.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Judy

Butterfly Topper

Hi - It is day 3 of being card captain at Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps and my project today is a topper for a present I was wrapping. The topper was inspired by a tile project I saw at the Art Glitter Institute in Cottonwood Arizona while on vacation this winter.  You can check out their web site at:

http://artglitter.com/index.html

The base of the topper I glued a piece of card stock  to the top of the tin and then added fantasy fibers, Fru Fru and Mike’s Cloisonné butterfly stamped and cut out of fantasy film.  To complete the topper I added a glittered silk flower, some bling for colour and sparkle along with some mauve fibers that I tied around the tin.   

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Judy

Happy Easter – Dixie Bunny

Cute Card Thursday’s challenge (challenge #209) this week is anything goes and I chose to make another child’s Easter card.  Dixie Bunny is from a delightful company called Digital Delights.  They have a lot of cute digi stamps.

I paired up the bunny with an Easter egg rubber stamp I had from Whispers and a digi sentiment stamp by Meljens Designs.  I think they make just the right combo. 
Well I better call it a night. 

Happy stamping and thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Dragonfly Dream Coaster

 

Hi - It is day two of my week of card captain and I chose to show you a coaster that I was made for a friend using Mike’s Cloisonné dragonfly, portions of a Peonies stamp by Inkadinkado stamp and small dominos.

After I stamped the images in Stazon Ink I coloured the dominos and the images with alcohol inks and a Krylon gold pen. Once the colour for the coaster was the way I wanted it I sprayed the dominos with an acrylic protective spray and added a little bit of glitter for some sparkle while the protective spray was hardening.

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Most Adorable Easter Bunny

The Come and Get it Challenges this week is a technique challenge using a ribbon frame.  You can find the directions to make the frame at:

http://waltzingmouse.blogspot.ca/2009/02/ribbon-border-how-to.html

To make this simple card  I chose to use this adorable Easter bunny from Paper Shelter Digi Stamps.  Paper Shelter has a great collection of Easter stamps this year. You can check them out at

http://www.thepapershelter.com/index.php?main_page=index&zenid=m8rk6d8gkr5uma7aase1r4dtq6

 To complete the card I added an Easter sentiment from my collection of unmounted rubber stamps.

I think ribbon and bunnies go together very well.

 Judy

Mexican Fiesta

This is day one of my week as card captain for the Yahoo Group Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps.  Come join in the fun.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enjoymichaelstrongstamps/

For my first project this week I made a card using Mike’s small Cloisonné Gecko stamp for the background and layered stamped images from my collection of unmounted rubber stamps for this fiesta theme card.  The card was inspired by the great holiday I had in Arizona this winter and all of the Mexican inspired art at the markets.

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day. 

Judy

Kiss Kiss

One of my yahoo groups this month has a card swap with the theme “K is for”.    My first reaction was K is for kiss.  Actually it was kangaroo but I did not have a kangaroo stamp in my stash. 

This cute kissing fish are from a digi stamp company called Paper Shelter.  They have a great selection of images to choose from. I used a combination of Copic markers and chalks to colour the fish and added Diamond Glass to give the bubbles some depth.  I used an EK punch to punch out the circles o the background paper to give the effect of more bubbles.  The kiss sentiment is from a set of romance magnetic word stamps.  I purchased the box of stamps years ago but this is the first time I had any of the stamps out of the box. Do you have any stamps that fit into that category? 

Well I am heading off to bed right now.  I can clean up the mess in the morning.

Judy

Buttons and Bows - Shopping Our Stash Challenge #44

I made this card for Shopping Our Stash's "buttons and bows" challenge this week. I found this pretty lamb on Meljens Designs’ site that I used for the card.  I hauled out my papers and looked for a combination that I liked for the card.  I layered the papers, added part of a doily and a sentiment and then of course I added my buttons and bows.  I like the yellow, gray and blue colour comination.  I think the card will make a cute Easter card for one of my niece’s little girls.

Do something creative today for yourself.    Now back to my stamp room to clean up the mess. 
 

Judy

Delight in Life

I made this card for Party Time Tuesday’s colour challenge (PTT#60) this week.   The colours for this challenge are seafoam, brown, cream and buttercup.  Isn’t that a pretty colour combination?  I chose to use a digi stamp by Pollycraft Digi Stamps for the easel card.  I coloured the image with my Copics, added a flower made with Tim Holtz’s flora die cutter and a sentiment stamp by Stampin Up. Of course I had to add bling and ribbon to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my cards. Have a wonderful creative day. 

Judy

It Is Card Sketch Time At Come And Get It Challenges

I just love card sketches!  This one I made for this week’s Come and Get it Challenges. The background is alcohol inks and silver Krylon pen on glossy card stock.  The butterflies are die cut out of some left over shaving cream paper I had in my stash.  I also found these bows in my stash that were the perfect colour for this card.  I love the Just-Rite stamp “Follow Your Dream” and that is what my butterflies seem to be doing. 

Thank you for stopping  and taking a look.  Remember to follow your dreams.

Judy

Easter is Coming, Easter is Coming

My first Easter card for 2012 is for a card swap with a fun group of stampers called “Inky Fun Stampers”.  They have the greatest swaps.  I had fun creating this card with all the layers of spring colours.  This adorable “bunny love”  digi stamp was a freebie from Meljen Designs.  The sentiment stamp is also from their collection.  Check them out at:

 http://www.meljensdesigns.com/  

If you are interested in great card swaps check out Inky Fun Stampers at: 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inkyfunstampers/ 

I have spent all day in my craft room.  I guess tomorrow will have to be a housework day.

Judy

“For the Boy” Paper Shelter Challenge #55

For this challenge I created a card using Paper Shelter’s little cowboy digi stamp. I coloured the image with my Copics and added from my  stash some “all boy” scrapbook elements. To complete the card I added layers of coordinating papers and stars. 

 I just love this fun image and what little boy would not like a card made with it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my card.  Have a creative day.

 

Judy

Shopping Our Stash Challenge 43: Food/Beverage

I had not posted a Shopping Our Your Stash challenge for awhile and i thought it was time to join in again. I create this card for the food/beverage challenge this week.  I purchased this Margarita digi stamp set from Whimsie Doddles  awhile ago and I had the PSX party stamp in my stash for many many years.  I thought the two sets of images went well together.  To complete the card I added a ribbon that I dyed to go with the card and added Diamond Glaze to give the Margarita glass some depth and shine. 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  I am now heading back to my craft room to stamp some more.

 

Judy

We Have Twin Boys

This month was exciting for us as a family because first one of my nieces had a baby girl and another niece had twin boys.  I am busy right now making the decorations for the twin’s baby shower and these are the cards that I made for Edwin and Alex.  I used this card pattern I have for the little boys’ outfits and tried to make the cards similar but not the same.  Hope they like them.  Not shown is that I added a pocket to the back of the card with each of the boys name.  

Now back to the craft room to complete my shower decorations and plans some games for the party.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a creative day.

Judy

Baby Girl

“Baby girl” was the theme of a card swap I signed up for this month.  I decided to do this cute little girl’s dress card.  I kept the card fairly simple since the paper had a lot of texture and sparkle. I particularly like this card pattern because it is a nice way of using your scraps of paper up and embellishments.  I have always liked the colour scheme of yellow and blue. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Party Time Tuesday Challenge #59-Monochromatic

The challenge this week at Party Time Tuesday was to create a monochromatic card.  Since it is nearly the first day of spring and St. Patrick ’s Day is in a few days I decided to use shades of green as my main colour.   I used several layers of green embossed papers and coloured my pretty Michael Strong’s Cloisonné tulip with my different green Copics then added radiant pearls in an oyster shell colour on top of the butterfly and tulip flower to give the card some shine and texture.

This was a fun challenge like always.   I am off to my stamp room to clean up my mess.  Happy stamping everyone.  Have a creative day.

 Judy

White on White

Come and Get it Challenge this week is a white on white colour theme and I chose to use a layering effect with 5 different textures of white paper. The card base is a ribbed textured card stock and the bottom layer is a smooth white paper that I embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

The second layer is a glossy paper cut with a Spellbinder Nestabilities die cutter and the next layer is  a piece of white vellum also cut with a Spellbinder Nestabilities die cutter.

The last layer of white paper was cut and embossed using my new Cuttlebug embossing folder, Carly and then inked and and stamped with the "dream" stamp by Inkadinkado. To complete the card I used some white pearl bling and Organza ribbon.

I think the white on white effect is very pretty and would make a nice card for a wedding or maybe a baby showers. I wonder what interesting challenge will be next week at Come and Get Challenges. Come join in

http://comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com/

Have a creative day.

Judy

Life is Good in Leather

I created this card tonight for an upcoming technique swap for a Yahoo group I participate in called The Rubber Inkers.  The faux leather technique is an old technique using making tape to create the effect of leather.  The directions on Split Coast Stampers’ web site uses distressed inks to colour the masking tape but I used the original method I had been taught many years ago and rubbed shoe polish on the masking tape then rubbed the masking tape with a soft cloth to get the desired look.  

The Dirt Bike digi stamp I used for the card is by Kenny K downloads.  I have purchased several of their digi stamps because of their uniqueness and sense of humour.  They have such a great selection of stamps for male themed cards. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Do something creative for yourself today.  There are endless possibilities.

Judy

Party Time Tuesday Challenge PTT# 58

This week at Party Time Tuesday the challenge is to create a card with the theme of “riches at the end of the rainbow.”  Since I believe that it is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (how original) I chose this cute digi from Meljen Designs called Leprechaun Gold for my card. I used a variation of the easel card for the base.  The pattern for the easel card can be found on the Split Coast Stampers web site:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/easelcard/

I added colour to the image with my Copics and colour to the gold pieces with a gold glitter pen. Next I added some decorative gold pieces, a ribbon and some shamrocks to complete the card.  I think this card is ready to be sent to one of my grandson for St. Patrick’s Day. 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my creation.  Have a creative day.

Judy

Seaside Collage

Come and Get It Challenge this week is a vacation theme.  Right away I head to my stash of rubber stamps because a vacation to me means the beach.  I have a large collection of unmounted rubber stamps with a beach type theme.  I am not sure where I purchased them all but a couple of the companies are Old Island Stamp Company and Lasting Impression by Panache.  I stamped some of the images directly on to the base water themed paper then started to layer the other images on top to create the seaside collage.  I love the sentiment on the larger image “Seaside – lazy days, playful days, sandy beaches, picking up pebbles and collecting shells.  Does that remind you of vacations when you were little?

 I was lucky to live close to the ocean while growing.  There is nothing like the seaside. Come and join the fun at Come and Get it Challenge.  

http://comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com/

Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a great day.

Judy

Another Card Sketch For Tonight

I really do like card sketches and love the layering of the papers, ribbons and images.  I also like the fact that I can use up some of those smaller pieces of card stock that I have been hording.   I hate to throw anything away.

To create this card I layered pieces of plain, patterned and embossed papers and then added the flower and sentiment stamp by Just Rite stamps and bling to finish the sketch. 
  
Thank you for taking a look.

Judy

Time For A Card Sketch

I really like card sketches and every month at the yahoo group Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps we have a new sketch challenge.  Come join in the fun. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enjoyMichaelStrongstamps/

I decided to use an old technique called faux leather to create the background.  You use masking tape in torn into pieces and then a couple of different dye based inks to colour the tape. The instructions can be found on the Split Coast Stampers web site.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/faux_leather_with_masking_tape/

 I think the first time I did this technique we used shoe polish to colour the tape. 

The Cloisonné Fish stamp is by Michael Strong.  This stamp is made in two sizes and this is the smaller version.  The sentiment is from a set made by Just Rite stamps.   

Thank you for taking a look.

Judy

March Is Music Month

I have made this card in honour of music month for an upcoming swap.  The background music rubber stamp is by a friend’s rubber stamp company called Local Rubber King. Lisa`s company is based out of Vancouver but you can regularly see her at rubber stamp shows across the US and Canada.   Check out her designs at:

http://www.localkingrubberstamp.com/

The bird, flower and cage are all die cuts and I added some distress walnut ink, a sentiment and bling to complete the card.  I liked the way the wing turned out in the music paper along with the flower patterned paper for the birds body. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great creative day.

Judy

Masking Technique

The Inky Fun Stampers have some great themed card swaps. One of the ones that I joined in on this month is a masking technique. I used the part of the die cut frame that you usually throw out and a blue distressed ink for part of the mask along with three rubber stamps.  I thought of colouring the butterfly and flowers but decided to let the card colouring be simple.  I think this made an elegant card just in simple blue and while. 

Well I am back to my craft room, I have quite a bit to catch up on after holidays and my hubby is busy doing some wiring for me so I have a spot for my new Cricut Expression 2 and laptop.

My quote for today is by Barbara Bach “Time is clay. Go make something.”

Be creative.  Have a great day.

 Judy

My Hockey Super Star

One of the swaps I joined this month was with the Rubber Inkers.  The challenge was to create a card with a sports theme and I made this card thinking about my 12 year old grandson.  I had the hockey player and sentiment rubber stamps in my stash along with a Cuttlebug star embossing folder.  I made a few extra stars and added some Diamond Glaze to give the feeling of skating on ice to complete the card.  I think this would make a great card for his birthday.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day.

 Judy

Party Time Tuesday – PTT# 57 – Anything Goes

This week at Party Time Tuesday the theme is Anything Goes.    I chose to use this Terry Medaris Art Stamps called Attitude, Attitude, Attitude from his Girls with Attitude collection.  I just love his rubber stamp designs.  I had a chance to meet Terry in Tuscon on vacation this winter was amazed at his artistic talent.    Check out his art work and rubber stamps at:

http://www.terrymedarisartstamps.net/

Since the rubber stamp image is so colourful I decided to use just blocks of colour to complete the card. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Judy

Come and Get It Challenges – Technique Challenge - Split Image

This week’s challenge at Come and Get Challenges is a technique challenge called Split Image. You can find the tutorial on how to do this technique on Split Coast Stampers’ web site.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/split negative/

The swallowtail butterfly by Stamp Oasis was used for the split image technique. I also used three different die cutters for the circle. Two die cutters were used for the outer circle and one to cut the center. The sentiment stamp is a discontinued Stampin Up rubber stamp. I added Japanese paper cord and bling to complete the card. 

Come and join the fun at Come and Get It Challenges.

http://comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by. Have a creative day.

Judy