Thursday, April 28, 2016

Double Trouble

I spent most of my day doing yard work today. That's not particularly fun, especially since I'm allergic to practically everything that grows in Arizona. So I decided to sit down and do a little quick coloring tonight help me calm down. I'm itchy, but coloring is distracting me enough to live, lol!


I love these sweet little dragons from Clearly Besotted. They're just the best. I decided to create a quick little twins card even though I don't know anyone who's having twins. Sometimes you just have to make what you want, you know?  This was simply stamped onto a card panel and then colored with my copics. Easy-peasy, but enough to help me keep from scratching

I'm entering this little guy into the "Less Is More" Challenge this week. The theme is saints, dragons, or heroes.



Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Gray Skies

Today's card was inspired by two separate challenges. First was Addicted to CAS with the code word Rain and second was the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge with ink blending. I decided to create an ombre gray sky with ink blending and some heat embossed rain. It turned out more beautifully than I had originally thought it would!


I started my card base by inking up the Falling Rain background stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossing it in clear on gray cardstock. I used an ink blending tool along with Black Soot and Hickory Smoke distress inks to blend dark ink down from the top of the card and gradually lightening as it got closer to the bottom. It created this fantastic effect where the raindrops look lighter at the top and darker at the bottom as well. That's the type of effect that I just couldn't predict happening. It's absolutely gorgeous when it catches the light!

On to the rest of the card... I cut a wonky stitched square out of black cardstock and heat embossed my sentiment in white. (I actually cut the stamp because I just wanted the last part of the sentiment. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt the stamp!) I adhered the black piece to a jumbo fishtail banner cut from vellum and then adhered the whole piece to the card base. I thought it looked a little bland, so I cut and colored an umbrella from Abby's Spring Showers to brighten it up a little. I ended up really liking that pop of yellow! I added a few drops of glossy accents to the umbrella to mimic the rain in the background. I just love how this whole piece turned out!




Monday, April 25, 2016

The Challenge 70

Welcome to the final challenge in the month of April for The Challenge! It's the fourth week, which means we have a masculine inspiration photo for you today!


At first, I was stumped. I really don't have any stamps that I felt would fit this image. Then I just relaxed and let my brain go on its weird twisty way. Instead of going with a plane theme or even a vehicle theme, I just focused on the chrome! Chrome...machines. Machines...robots! That's where my brain finally settled!


These little robots from Clearly Besotted just seemed perfect to me. I used my Misti to line them all up and then stamped them all at once! Super easy. I kept to the picture and left everything in shades of gray with no pops of color. I wanted to focus on that machinery feeling. I love these little guys! I think this will make a fantastic birthday card for my nephew's upcoming birthday. I'm sure it'll make him smile! I added tiny hints of clear Wink of Stella on a few of the parts (balloon, antennas, the kitty's ears) to give it a little subtle shine, but left it fairly neutral. I just can't resist a little shimmer though!



Sunday, April 24, 2016

Birthday Shaker

I have a really good friend with a birthday coming up in May and the new set from Clearly Besotted, Once Upon a Time, has the perfect image and sentiment for her. You see, she loves fashion and shopping. She always has something new that she wants to show me. This is such a good fit for her!


She's also a huge Disney fan, so this is simply perfect! I started by stamping my images. I stamped the girl first and then masked her and stamped the carriage behind her. I used my Brother Scan N Cut to cut around them and then moved on to the shaker portion after they were colored. I cut a panel with a Wonky Stitched Rectangle die and then cut an arch in the center using another die. I used Versamark to stamp my sentiment and heat embossed in silver. Now it was time to start assembling. I adhered a striped piece of patterned paper to a card base so it would show through the window and then added some pretty sequins from Lucy's Little Things to the space where my window would show through. I added an acetate sheet to the back of my panel and then plenty of foam adhesive. I carefully stuck the panel to the front of my card base so it would be centered. I added a few shadows to the front of my card using copics and then adhered my stamped images over the top of them. To finish everything off, I added some clear Wink of Stella to her headband, shoe, and parts of her dress.

I also used a set from Altenew to stamp a sentiment inside that reads "sending birthday hugs". I can't wait to send this out!

I'm entering this card into 2 challenges today. First up is a challenge that I have never entered: AAA Cards! The challenge is to create a CAS shaker card. The next challenge is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Make It Girly!