It's Hip to be Square

Hey there!  SSS Wednesday Challenge's topic this week was "It's hip to be square."  At first glance, I didn't really want to make a square card base because they are hard to send in the mail.  I decided to implement several squares in my design, and I absolutely love how it turned out!  I love the colors I used also.

I got these stamps from my husband's parents for valentines day.  They are simple square rubber stamps, but such a fun design.  I finally got my rubber stamps in the same box as my clear ones so I will use them more often.  I'm learning that if I SEE it, I will USE it. ;) 

I am also loving my AC textured cardstock.  The colors coordinate very well with most of my patterned 6X6 paper stacks, and I love how well they die cut with my cameo.  It's fabulous when your supplies work for you!

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Interactive Doorway Birthday Card

Hi there!  This week's MFT card sketch challenge got me thinking outside of the box....or door. :)  I took one look at the sketch, and realized that one of the shapes resembled a door.  So I made a folding doorway card!  I haven't seen anything like this, but I'm sure it's not a new concept. 

I love it because it's interactive, and will still lie flat so I can send it in the mail without any problems!  Hooray!  I also learned a new coloring trick with colored pencils.  If I rub on a little baby oil after my coloring is complete, it smooths out the color a bit.

Whoops, I forgot to color in the present.  Sometimes I do that.  I'm sure I'll get to it before I send it out--or not! :)

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Onesie Baby Card

Hello there!  I have been making several cards for challenges, and just now getting them posted.  I have 19 minutes til one closes so this is speedy!

This is for my favorite things sketch challenge # 294.  It also works with the Cute Card Thursday

theme this week, which is kids and babies.

I love how this card worked out.  I had a lot of fun stamping the background on the scalloped piece.  I love how everything is solids with stamping to create patterns. I mass produced this one and made several at a time, mixing and matching colors.  

I also remembered to use brads this time, and love what they add to the card.

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette

Let's Go Wild!

I'm making this a quick post today, but here's my "Let's Go Wild," card for the Simon Wednesday Challenge.  I was so excited to get my latest stamp orer in the mail Saturday full of fun wild animals from Paper Smooches.  Animals an "Hippo Hooray," are from Zoo Crew, and the rest of the sentiment is from Party Posse.  

I made some quick wrapping paper yesterday for my niece's birthday present, and they loved all the fun animals! :)

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Stunning Shadow Stamping

Hi there!  For Friday's challenge over at Camp Create, we were asked to do shadow stamping.  This challenge threw me for a few loops, but I finally figure it all out.  I didn't have a solid image stamp yet, or any dye inks to work with.  I had my eye on some, and just decided to pick them up since I knew I would definitely use them in the future.  I still need to practice and get the feel for dye inks, but it was a fun project.  One other obstacle was that I don't yet have a white pigment ink.  I decided to improvise since I couldn't find a white pigment ink locally.  I used a light pistachio green from Colorbox, and it worked well with a darker colored card stock.  Really close to what the white would do.

I really love how this card turned out.  I am still learning the technique of shadow stamping, but I think it will be a fun one to keep trying.  I am so glad I got to attend the last week of camp this summer and learn some awesome tricks!  Thanks MFT for hosting a wonderful week!

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Single Layer Savvy

Hello!  I sure had fun learning the single layer savvy tricks at the bonfire the other night.  I had a blast creating this card.  I learned a couple tricks also.  This week has been wonderful for teaching me new skills---and really forcing (challenging) me to use them!

I used hand cut masks for parts I needed to add "dimension" with.  I loved learning this trick.  In this card, some of the placement wasn't quite on, but I still love the card in general.  I simply colored the animals with my crayola twistable colored pencils and called it good.  I love the vibrant colors.  The dirt/puddles didn't turn out quite the best, but it's ok.  I think if I did it again, I would just use ink for the ground. :)

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Divine Dry Embossing & how to emboss without a fancy machine!

Hello there!  For Thursday's Camp Create project, we were asked to dry emboss using one of our border dies.  I am a silhouette cameo user, so I don't use dies for my projects.  I figured out how to dry emboss, using a cut from my cameo.  I set up everything the same as the video for stamping, etc.  I just had to improvise since I'm not a die owner. :)

In case someone else has my same dilemma, this is how I did it!

1-I picked out my shape and cut it out of two pieces of silhouette chipboard.

2-I stacked them on top of each other, and taped them to the inside of the front panel of my card (I had tried it with a single layer and it didn't give the dimension I wanted).

3-I grabbed my scoring tool and ran it along the edge of the chipboard shapes until I got the embossed look I wanted.  

4-I removed the chipboard from the opposite side and admired the results! 

I am loving this spring short stack set from Stampendous.  I love how I can make several animals from one set, and pair it with other sets (like the balloon) for different occasions!

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Remarkable Resist

Hey there!  I'm here to share my Remarkable Resist cards for today.  I tried a couple different methods, and I'll tell you what worked the best for me.  I was super excited to try this method.  I had heard the word "resist," but I honestly didn't know exactly how it worked or what to do.  The method is simple, and the video made it easy to follow.  I am a newbie at heat embossing, so it's always a bit of remembering what to do when, but I had a lot of fun playing around with this!

I had a lot of fun embossing with these fun colors of ink+clear embossing powder.  I loved how it looked...until I added ink over it for the resist.  I don't have distress inks like the video showed, so I just used my pigments and really don't love it.  It's not awful, but not my favorite.  If the ink was lighter and less smudgy it would be better.  Different ink types on my wish list now. :)

This time I used a cheap craZy art set of watercolors instead of inks.  I really like how it blended well, and am excited to try this method again.  I think for a Christmas card green paint would work better because it won't fade into pink.  This also created an awesome ombre look from yesterday's camp activity!

After looking at the other submission, I really wanted to give it one more try.  I love the third card I made.  I love how happy and artsy it turned out.  I'm not a huge fan how the watercolor stuck to the top of the embossing and made it look a little splotchy.  I wiped it off gently with a wipe after the picture, and it looks slightly better.  Still love this look.  Once again I used the inks and stamps from the first card, and the watercolors of the third card.  Great combo!

Alright...so later in the evening I decided to try one more method.  And I LOVE how it turned out.  Here is my successful try!

Here's today's badge:

After all that crafting, I'm famished! Off to the mess hall for an afternoon snack!

Thanks for reading,
~Lynette~

Awesome Ombre

Hey there.  Back to post my Camp Create assignment from Tuesday.  Today I finished up my awesome ombre card.  I love what Laurie created, and had fun playing around with ombre with stencils for the first time.  I used pigment inks because this is what I have, but I will definitely have to try this with different types of inks once I get some!

I think it turned out well for a first try.  I did heat emboss the sentiment, but it's hard to tell in that picture.

Here's my badge:

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Monochromatic Magic

I just found out about Camp Create over at My Favorite Things Blog.  I wish I would have learned about it earlier, but I am diving in.  Here's yesterday's challenge for Monochromatic Magic.  This one took about five minutes, but I do like how it turned out.  

I've never tried a monochromatic card before, and I was nervous about getting my inks to match because I have limited choices, but I feel like it worked out nicely!

Here's my badge for the day:

 

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Heat Embossed Sunshine Card

I am loving how many techniques I can learn while card making.  My newest (and probably going to be a favorite) is heat embossing.  It is simple, takes mere seconds, and leaves my cards looking so professional!  I love it.  I still am learning the technique, but thanks to high quality powder, I am well on my way to figuring it all out.

I have two kids 4 and 1.5, so I have to make quick cards.  I don't have the time (or brainpower) to spend an hour on a card.  I usually make 4 at once, except I am making card at such a rate that I will not have room to store them!  So for challenges, I make one at a time. :)

I quickly stamped the suns on the yellow, didn't love the spacing, so I flipped it over and used the smooth side.  In the end, I wanted vairety in the stamping, so I added a few stars.  Love them.  I am finally learning what to do with the tiny stamps that come in all the sets.  Backgrounds people!  

Before I glued the strips down, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment.  Love this "Say it-thanks" set from Technique Tuesday. It includes one big "Thanks," along with 11 add on statements and some cute doo-dads. 

I made this card twice, with different colors for the paper strips, and I have to say I like the yellow best!  I think it would be cute with an aqua paper under the yellow also...hmm...Another card on a another day!

Thanks so much for reading!

~Lynette~

You Rock! Card

I am submitting this card to Cute Card Thursday challenge blog.  I didn't know what I would do for this week's theme of "stars, sun, moon."  I don't have anything space related, so I came up with this card.  This card was a fun one, but unique from what I usually do.  The sentiment had been sitting unused for over a month, but I really like it.  I think some coloring inside the letters would be a fun touch another time.  I love the different prints I ended up choosing, and the buttons cover up ink smudges add a fun touch. ;)

Thanks for reading!
~Lynette~


Thanks for reading!
~Lynette~

Fabulous Florals

Hey there!  I'm here today to share a fun card using the theme from Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, while using the sketch from My Favorite Things Challenge Blog.  I missed the deadline for the MFT blog (bummer), but I will be linking up to SSS.

I pulled out a stamp I haven't used in a long time to make the Polaroid frame.  I used the polka dot stamp, and then layered the black outline on top.  I love how it looks with the simple flower I created using a scallop layering punch and paper scraps for the stem.  I added a button, made a royal mess of the glue, then layered another orange layer on top in order to fix it.  Then I re-added my button, and actually love the added dimension the double orange gave the flower.  I'm learning in card making that a lot of times, the finished product is driven by "How can I cover that mess up?" :) 

I love this sentiment.  It can be used for so many occasions, which is what I think about a lot when purchasing stamps!  It is from the Technique Tuesday Choose Happiness set.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading!
~Lynette~