Tongue Tied

Just a quickie today! When ever I go to the drugstore, or any store that has a greeting card section, I always stop and take a look for inspiration. I found a cute little card with a frog on it and it was the inspiration for this card. I used a gate fold card base, and the turtle/frog stamp is one of the oldest in my collection, in fact it was the very first stamp I ever bought when I started card making as a hobby. I stamped the image with Versamark, then embossed it in black. I made a second copy so that I could cut the frog and turtle out to apply it to the first image. I coloured the image using water colour paints and highlighted the image with H2O Twinkle paints. I flocked the cattails with brown flock. * When flocking, always colour the area in a similar colour as your flocking if you are not using coloured cardstock, especially if the background is white. If you don't, the cardstock will show through the flocking and it will look sparse and spotty, and nobody wants spotty flock!

 

 

 

Good-bye Butterfly Punch...

Stampin' Up! is about to release their new 2012-13 catalogue and I just found out the Butterfly Punch and matching stamp sets are retiring. Even though I no longer sell Stampin' Up!, I do love and use their products, and am sad to see the butterfly leave. I haven't used my SU! butterfly 'stuff' lately, so today I dug it all out and made a Flight of the Butterfly Punch and stamp set card. I used my new wildflower stamp set from Hero Arts for the background and stamped it in Old Olive on matching paper. Butterflies are Melon Mambo. It is such a beautiful sunny day out that I photographed the card outside in the backyard. My neighbour, who was cutting the grass looked a little bewildered at what I was doing, but they all know I am a little odd!
Now I am anxiously awaiting my new catalogue! When it arrives I am going to make a cup of tea, not peaking,  go sit in my lounge chair, oogle over every page and write a big wish list!

Two Step Owls Living in a Tree

This sliding mechanical card features my favorite punch, the Two Step Owl Punch by Stampin' Up! It's not very often that I see a card design and love it so much that I have to make one, but this is one of those cards.  While surfing Youtube the other night I found a card making video by darlene003, featuring this card design. Her channel is very worth visiting, her card designs are fresh and she has an eye for color! I think what grabbed my eye was the tree, I've never seen a tree design like this one, and I found it intriging. The mechanism on the inside is simple to make and could be used to create endless card possibilities. I will definitely make this style of card again, maybe a fishing theme for Father's Day, stay tuned...

Udderly Amazing!

What a gorgeous day! The snow is melting away and I saw a Robin today! It inspired me to create this 'udderly' awesome card! This penny roller or slider card, both names are correct, and the pencil card below are the two cards I have planned for the upcoming Mother/Daughter Card Classes. They are a challange for sure, but we can do it! I have a nephew who likes to make cards with me and he would definitely be able to make these two cuties, maybe with just a little help. The two cards feature many different card making techniques and it will give the girls a chance to use lots of different tools, inks, adhesives, stamps and punches. We're even going to dig out the Cropodile and set a gromet! See you at card class, and Happy Spring!

It's a Rainbow Day!

The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day! I was just reading the March/April issue of Papercrafts Magazine, and it's full of rainbows. I thought I would join them! The third picture I posted shows the new watercolour paints we are all going to get to play with some time in the very near future. When I pulled them out of the drawer I thought how pretty they are, so I took a picture and decided to share it!  I looked around my very messy craftroom, (I'm a messy crafter!) and found a couple of rainbow related items! The card is based on one that is featured in the magazine article, nothing to fancy but a quick card to make. I've never been so anxious for spring to come as I have been this year. It's been a long, dark and snowy winter and the sunlight is such a relief! Have a great day everyone, and we'll give the paints a test drive very shortly! :)

Moon Glow Card

Hi everyone! The last full moon we had was a couple of weeks ago was beautiful, makes me think spring is finally around the corner. While I was looking at it, I decided to make a 'lumiere' card, and finally sat down today to make it. This is a fairly simple card to make, but the effect is dramitic.  I used a Spellbinder circle die to cut a hole in both the card base and the sky paper on the card front at the same time so the hole would line up perfectly.  I sandwiched a piece of vellum in between the layers to create the moon.  The card front is actually vanilla cardstock that has been heavily inked with Stormy Sky, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Inks by Ranger, using a blending foam and wooden block. I added some tree branches using Tim Holtz Mini Ornates Collection tree branch stamp using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I used a silver gel pen and Diamond Stickles to create the stars, and stamped the sentiment which is by The Stamp Barn (#CHSH 090F) in black Stazon.  I stamped the sentiment on vanilla cardstock and lightly inked it Stormy Sky Distress Ink as it was too bright. Needless to say the tea light is battery operated, or it would have been a 'Burn the House Down Card' instead of 'Moon Glow Card'!! Sorry the pics are a little blurry, my camera didn't like the tea light!

Sweet Treat Cup M &M Card

I was tidying my very messy craftroom this evening and came across this Sweet Treat Cup Card.  I am posting it not because of the outside but because of the inside - not the M & M part!! I made the card front using Stampin' Up!'s 1 3/4" circle punch for the hole required for the Sweet Treat Cup.  I used SU! "Something Sweet" stamp set to create the image and layered the card front with coordinating cardstocks.
After researching the 'mechanism' required for the recipient to retrieve the candy, and not finding an appropriate method, I did what I always do and made my own! Some of the more well known methods involve several layers of cardstock, a ton of Stampin' Dimensional foam dots and a secret sliding 'panel door'.  The recipient is supposed to pull the sliding panel to retrieve the candy, which promptly lands on the floor because the 'secret panel' is on the cardfront not the inside of the card. Tested it and failed miserably!
To make a door that doesn't require copious foam dimensional dots or geomtry, simply attach a scored piece of cardstock over the candy and use a brad to hold the tab shut! The photo is sort of self explanatory, but if clarification is needed just let me know!

Score 1/4" from bottom so door bends when opened

Enchanted Castle Card

Whilst digging through my stamp pile today I came across this gorgeous castle stamp by the Stamp Barn, which I purchased at Heather's Stamping Haven. (Love you Heather!!) The stamp is called The Enchanted Castle and the website is http://www.stampbarn.com/ , an awesome company by the way.  I haven't played with my watercolour paints for a while and thought I would paint myself a castle. I inked the ground with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss and the sky with Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress inks and splashed some water on it which gave it a 'cloudy sky' sort of effect.  I followed up with some Stickle stars and cut it out and layered it a few times although my camera didn't pick it up.  The inside has a trough in which little floating stars are dangling.  I thought it needed a sentiment so I made one up on the computer, Happy Birthday Princess!!

Bra and Panty Card

Hey gang! Just a quick post for now, but I'll be back with lots more later today! I have the day to myself in my craftroom and ya never know what will happen!
I always have lots of cards out on display in my craft room. It's where I hang out and I look at them for inspiration and always decorate my room for each season and special holiday. I leave some cards out on display all the time and this is one of them. This card always gets a comment from people who visit my craft room and I love watching the look on their faces when they open it to find 'the other half' on the inside! Hilarious!!
I saw a card similar to this at a girlfriend's house last year and decided to make my own. I have no idea who the original designer is, but she's a clever girl.  I made my own template for this card based on a more 'generous' body type, sort of like my own! She's a DD for sure but she fits into an A2 envelope perfectly!

Forever Frogs

 Thankfully January is finally over! My two daughters are away at university and came home for a visit this weekend, which I really enjoyed. I miss them terribly, the house is just too quiet and tidy!
My oldest daughter asked me to make a fun birthday card for her to give to her friend when she goes back to school and of course I was happy to do it! After I discovered the friend is a collector of all things 'frog', I decided to use my "Unfrogettable" stamp set by Stampin' Up! It's a retired set but I found it on ebay and scooped it up. It's the perfect set to use to make a forever or never ending card so that's just what I did. For those of you who have never seen one of these cards it's really neat, you open it and just keep opening until you end up where you started!

A Rose is a Rose

Good afternoon everyone! I had a late night card craftin' and experimented with punched flowers til 2:00 a.m., and made this distressed rose card. I was inspired by valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com, Valita uses Stampin' Up!'s Owl punch to create roses and I've been itching to give it a try! I love using punches in a way they were not designed to be used and you would never suspect the petals of this rose where once little owl punch outs! It's made by punching 8 owl shapes, cutting off the little feet, splitting the head open and gluing it together to form a cup shape. Sounds gruesome! The inner part of the rose is a 2 3/8" scallop circle cut into a spiral and rolled up using tweezers or a quilling tool. I punched the rose out of patterned, off white, light weight card stock and inked with Fired Brick Distress ink. The background was once a box of Special 'K', which has been die cut with SU!'s Top Note die then embossed with an all over flourish pattern. After painting it with Sunflower acrylic paint, sanding and blending with Walnut Stain Distress ink one would never know it was once my fav breakfast cereal!

Happy Lunar New Year!!

It's the year of the Dragon, and I'm  Dragon so this should be great year! I made and posted a card similar to this one a few posts ago with some homemade alcohol ink. This card is made using a large Martha Stewart Butterfly which I thought would make a good lunar moth.  I punched a moon and masked it off then inked the background with Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord Distress inks. The border is stamped with Hero Arts Flourish Tree using Walnut Stain Distress ink and the sky is speckled with a combination of Pewter Perfect Pearls and Diamond Stickles. It really sparkles against the dark background.
Happy Chinese New Year to everyone and may this year bring you health, wealth and happiness!!

Yep there's a cat in there...

Rainy, snowy, miserable, January day here in the Heart of the Ottawa Valley today! I was lacking inspiration so I did some blog hoppin' and was inspired to create this faux leather handbag with a cat inside. It is a homage to Ellen Kemper, who is probably the best punch art artist in the known world and Ali from alicardmaking.blogspot.com.  As a card maker there is no greater pleasure for me than to see one of my card making ideas used as a jump of point for someone else to create their own piece. So thanks Ali and Ellen for your inspiration, a card is born!
I've been wanting to experiment with faux leather finishes for a while now, this is my first attempt. I embossed the handbag with the Diamond pattern embossing plate from Stampin' Up!, then used Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks to create the leather look. The purse top is a large Spellbinder Scallop circle, cut from K & Company, Life's Journey paper.  It started of as a tourquoise floral print, but after embossing a swirl/flourish and inking with Distress inks it looks more like coloured leather than paper in real life. I cut a 1" little perch for the punch art cat (thanks again Ellen!), and added a sentiment I created with viner font on my 'puter'. Meow.

Dolly Mama 'Go Braless!' Card

Nobody says it like Dolly Mamas! I love this stamp so much that I've purchased two more of the collection. She's mounted on a side step card and coloured with Prismacolour pencil crayon. I added lots of Stickles and some Ranger Glossy Accents to her glasses. The picture doesn't show it well but her glasses look almost real, love Glossy Accents! Instructions for making a side step card, and many others, can be found in the resources sections at www.splitcoaststampers.com. If you are new to card making, it's one of the best sites on the internet for inspiration and instructions. I'm off to my craftroom to make another Dolly card, "It's Official I've become my Mother!" Hahaha.....

Thank You Teacher!

I have a few teachers to say, 'thank you' to this year, so I made this little pencil card yesterday as my first attempt. I am planning some youth classes this spring as well and this card would be perfect! It teaches: using a template, bone folding, using several differents types of adhesive, punching, crimping and setting an eyelet. It doesn't look that complicated does it? I'll post some more teacher cards over the next few weeks, stay tuned!

House Mouse Happy Birthday

I love House Mouse stamps, they are so cute! It's so cold out and we have so much snow that I felt the need to make something 'summerish', and after rifling through my considerable stamp collection I settled on this one, and I'm glad now that I did.  I coloured him with Prismacolour pencil crayons and odourless solvent, blending with a cardboard blender, which has become one of my favourite colouring methods of late. The page the little mouse is writing on is actually blank so you can pencil in your own message, I chose 'Happy Birthday', or at least part of it!
Well I'm off to let the dogs out, last time I did it earlier today, I had just washed hands and I touched the door knob and froze myself to the door!!

Alcohol Ink Butterfly Card

I made this card today out of, you'll never belive this, dollarstore fake Sharpie markers!

Step 1. Pour about 1 oz of good old rubbing alcohol into a glass container

Step 2. Wearing gloves, take apart a 'Sharpie-like' marker, remove the ink tube and nib, cut tube into 2 or 3 pieces

Step 3. Soak the ink tube and nib in the alcohol for about 10 mins, remove them, and give them a squeeze so you get all the inky goodness out!

Step 4. Transfer ink into an air tight storage container and it's ready to use!
I used my Distress Ink blending tool and a felt blending pad, both of which are homemade, I'm getting cheap in my old age, to apply ink by dabbing and swirling onto background. I stamped the border with Hero Arts Tree Flourish background stamp in Vintage Photo Distress ink, then blended the same ink around the edges. I stamped a Martha Stewart butterfly in Vintage Photo and inked it with Peeled Paint, Broken Dishes and Concord Grape Distress inks.
I cut the butterfly out, flocked the body in Reflections brown flock and mounted it on card after stamping image on card in Vintage Photo. Whew, that was a mouthful, now, I'll be up all night taking dollarstore markers apart!!

Funky Flower Card

I just can't get enough of my new Distress inks, the possibilities are endless! In fact, I just ordered a few more so stay tuned. Our mail carrier is going to think I'm a nut because I run to greet her everytime she comes to our house!
I made this card using Hero Art's Flower text stamp, it' the most huge wood mounted stamp I own. It measures 5 3/4" x 4 1/2", told you is was a giant! I love it because you can use it as a background stamp or feature the art work like I did on this card.
I used Stampin' Up! watercolour crayons to create the background by mixing several shades of blue for the sky and several shades of green for the grass, then used my homemade "shimmer smoochlike spray" to add speckles. The image is stamped in black Stazon, then inked like crazy with Peeled Paint, Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Concord Grape Distress inks by Ranger. I felt it was a bit dark, so I used a white gel pen to add some highlights and dots. I can't wait for tomorrow's mail to come!

Coffee Filter Flower Card!!

Well, it's January and like most people this time of the year budget is key! I happened to go to our local Dollarama and when I walked past the coffee filters an idea struck me...flowers of course! I made this flower using Stampin' Up!'s Daisies 2 XL die, and coffee filters. I saw some white paper flowers at the craft store last week and ended up using my will power and didn't buy them, but the idea just wouldn't go away! So, I did the next best thing and made them my way! I have to say I really like it and will definitely try this again! I used Distress Spiced Marmalade to sponge the edges of the center panel and flower center, finished with a Peeled Paint flourish, and viola a card for all of $0.25! Got to love that!

Distress Ink 4 Flower Card

You will never believe this, but I only used 2 colours of cardstock to make this card, black and vanilla! The beautiful colours are thanks to Tim Holtz and the folks at Ranger! I am lovin' my new collection of Distress inks and I challenged myself to see how many colours I could use on one card, grand total, 7!!
The card base is a 5 1/2" sq black card. The first layer is a 5 1/4" sq piece of vanilla cardstock that has been sponged with Spiced Marmalade and edged with Vintage Photo. The next layer of believe it or not, vanilla cardstock, has been stamped with a swirly flourish, embossed with clear embossing powder then blended with both Peeled Paint and Broken China. The squares under the flowers are black 2" and vanilla 1 3/4". The vanilla is edged with Tea Dye. The flowers are stamped in Broken China, Fired Brick, Concord Grape and Spiced Marmalade and edged with Vintage Photo. The leaves punched using Stampin' Up!'s Two Step Bird punch are from,you guessed it, vanilla cardstock, then sponged with Peeled Paint.  I topped off the flowers with some buttons, and voila, a colourful card make from black and vanilla  card stock!