Friday, April 27, 2018

Fairy Jar Lantern 3


I just realized that I never shared the third fairy lantern/jar
that I made late last year! 

This particular jar was frosted already,
it once held a candle.

All embellishments are oldies from my stash.




Thanks for looking :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

1988 Mustang GT Shaped Birthday Card



What a lot of fun I had creating this card this morning !

It was made to resemble a 1988 Ford Mustang GT
and will be given to my son for his birthday.
He's building one of these cars into a race car.
His last few birthday cards have been Volkswagen inspired cards
since that is what he drives daily.



Sorry, but there isn't really a tutorial that I can give.
I made it like my other car shape inspired projects,
I start with making a simple sketch to use as a sort of pattern.
I then cut it apart and trace around the pieces,
trimming as needed, to make things fit.
I look at a photo of the car at the same time to help. 

A little bit of detail work with ink, pencil and Crystal Effects.
Adding some pieces as raised or recessed layers
to create a bit of dimension helps.

Once the front is complete, I lay it out on folded card stock,
trace around it then cut it out with scissors to make the card.


Here are a few more photos to help show the detail.
I even cut out the tiniest oval and tried to write
Ford in script on it with a white gel pen! 





The bumper is raised up and slightly
and curved around a piece of chipboard

The headlights have stamping and stenciling
details, topped off with Crystal Effects

The fog lights were made with 
white card stock glued under
holes punched into the front end.

The tires are made from textured card stock



 No, I didn't recreate the back of the car ;)
It took HOURS to do the front as it is.
I love my son dearly, but . . . . . 




The inside is blank since I will be 
handwriting a note in it to him. 





 My basic sketch above (I folded it in half to cut it out
so it might be a bit more symmetrical) 
and below the pieces I cut from it to use as patterns


Thanks for looking =) 


I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Cardz 4 Guyz - #192 Travel or Transport
The Male Room #83 - Symmetry
Shopping Our Stash #350 - Yo Dude!
Cards In Envy  - Birthday 
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes April

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Swingin' Cupcake Birthday Card








I was inspired by the colors in the photo 
at Retro Rubber for their current challenge 
to make this fun swing birthday card.




At first thought, I was going to make a 
Mother's Day card with flowers.
Sure, I have a rubber boot stamp
even miniature umbrella stamps
that I could have used , too.
In the end I decided to make a colorful birthday card
and put some old patterned paper to use.
 The cupcake has glittery icing 
and is mounted on a dimensional!





The patterned paper is from an old
Die Cuts With A View stack.

Positively Pink, Island Indigo, Whisper White card stocks
 plus coordinating markers (Stampin' Up!) 

Stickles Diamond glitter for the icing on the cupcake
(shiny, wet, reflective rain soaked look inspired)

Bright green brad-let to attach the sentiment banner

All stamps are quite old and from Stampin' Up!
1990 - Year Round Fun (gift)
1997 - Dots background
2009 - Wagon Full of Fun (cupcake and sentiment)

Thanks for looking =) 



Edited To Add 4/22/2017:
Excited to announce that my card was a top pick ! 

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Have A Rockin' Birthday




My daughter asked if I would make a card for her new boyfriend,
a twenty-something man.
Me:  "Really? I'll give it a go then......."

I knew what stamp set I wanted to use since 
he played guitar in a band at one time.

This is what I came up with.

He hasn't been given it yet,
so I don't know if it'll get a seal of approval 
- by him or my daughter!

The stamp set is an oldie by Inkadinkado, Rock Star. 
( I bought this stamp set years ago to make a card 
for my daughters birthday; she was starting to get into
listening to music at that time. Here I am using it
for her boyfriend now, kind of neat!)

I simply stamped several images onto white card stock
with black ink then die cut them into squares with the guitar 
being on a rectangle. I ran the edges of the piece with the 
guitar on it along the top of the black ink pad.
Each was backed with black card stock.

I used my much neglected mini square paper punch
and Crystal Effects to create faux square brads.
They are glued in the corners of the guitar piece.
It was then mounted above the square pieces
with dimensionals/pop dots. 



There is a music clef background embossed 
on the white layer. That was a bit tricky to make,
it could only make one pass through my Big Shot
then I had to use a stylus to fill in the missing portions.
The portions embossed with the stylus aren't nearly as crisp
as those done with the embossing folder, but it worked well
enough since too much of it doesn't show anyway.
This is a 5x7 card and my embossing folder is only 4x5.
This is actually my second attempt at it ;) 

All of these layers are glued to black textured card stock. 

I printed out 
Wishing You A Rockin' Birthday
to put inside. 

I'm entering my rockin' birthday card in the new challenge 
at Use Your Stuff, squares.
I have die cut squares and faux square brads.


Thanks for looking =) 

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Jar Upcycled Into A Vase


Repurposing items is one of my favorite things
to do and I couldn't wait to make this jar vase
with a new to me die - Floral Dance Edge'ables ! 

I'd never seen such a die before
and as soon as I saw it,
I thought of several things I could use it for.
This was one of them.







This jar originally held pasta sauce
(Prego Farmer's Market) .
I kept it because it was a neat looking "mason" type jar
with measurements on the side. 

I decided to make this quick wrap for it 
in hopes of having some more Daffodils to cut. 
Snow and three nights of below freezing
temperatures this week did them in.
I did get the few that were blooming cut on Easter
before the winter weather hit. 

Anyway, moving on to my project details.


I cut a strip of white card stock 12" x 4"

I ran my new Edge'ables Floral Dance die through my Big Shot
along the two long sides several times. 
(yes, they aren't lined up very well)

The flower petals were colored with two shades of yellow
chalk/ Stampin' Pastels then popped up.

Pale green paper was adhered on top of this layer
and was then topped off with yellow and white 
polka dot 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. 

A small sentiment stamped and layered over
a scrap of plaid paper is attached to the center of the bow.








Since I don't have any flowers blooming
now to cut and place in the vase ,
here is an edited photo using a picture 
of the few I did get cut on Easter ;) 


I've had fun crafting again the past several days,
taking a break from my massive photo album project.
It's time to get back at it , though.....

Thanks for looking =)


I'm entering my jar in the following challenges:

Happy to have used my rarely used chalks on this project! 

Friday, April 6, 2018

Flamed 48 Chevy Truck Card



Today I am sharing a classic pickup truck card for a family friend, 
made to resemble his class 1948 Chevy truck.
It would have been much easier and quicker for me to make a card
using an actual photograph we have of the truck ;) 



The truck image was created by altering and combining two different digital images.
It's not perfect by any means.

I water colored the sky with ink from my ink pad and an aquapainter. I usually water color in most of my images this way, but knowing I wanted to add the flames to the truck, I didn't think watercoloring the entire truck would work too well. I colored the truck with colored pencils instead.






Orange and red colored pencils were used to create flames on the truck.
I used a silver glitter pen on the chrome parts.










The happy birthday banner was made with old snap stamps (remember those ?)
 and heat embossed in black.

The screw head was a stamp image heat embossed in black over silver card stock.










The process of creating the flamed background:

You will probably want to practice drawing flames on scrap paper first (I did, that is the practice piece being used as a blending pallette).

Once you are happy with a design, draw them onto your water color paper / card stock. I prefer to use a yellow card stock for the base of my flames.

I carefully hand cut them out with scissors, making sure there are no pencil marks showing before I paint.

I prefer to use acrylic craft paints (because that is what I already own!) , watered down a bit, to paint my flames. I blend red and orange together and will add in some yellow. That is the mess shown in the photo above ;)

You could probably create a mask out of something , apply a removable adhesive, then sponge inks through it to create flames directly on a background piece of paper.

Same technique I've used on a couple of other projects over the years, you can see the 12x12 scrapbook page I made in this way here. The flames on it were painted with two shades of orange plus bright yellow then layered on a red background.




The flamed background was custom made by myself using acrylic craft paints blended 
on to a hand cut piece of yellow card stock to mimic the flames on the actual truck.




The pieces before assembly.


My husband told me that his friend liked it so well, he wants to frame it.
I think that may have been an April Fool's joke ;)


Speaking of April Fool's jokes, Mother Nature sure played one on us Easter Sunday:

Although it was cold, it was a pretty sunrise.
Clouds moved in quickly.
I knew we had a winter weather system on the way,
so I cut some of the flowers to bring indoors.

By early afternoon, sleet was falling followed by
2 1/2" of snow .
The groundhog did predict six more weeks of winter......
but is has now been eight. 
We have more snow forecast for this evening and Sunday!!!




Thanks for looking =)



I'm entering my flamed classic Chevy pickup card in the following challenges:

 Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber
All of the stamps used are oldies
Snap Stamps - 2007 or so
Vintage something or other.... drawing a blank right now, but it was an old hostess set from Stampin' Up! , 10 years or older.  I think I've only ever used the screw head in that set !


I've not played along with the Male Room challenge in a long time !
http://themaleroomchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/challenge-82-watercolours.html
technically I used watered down paints to create the hand made flames, but I did use watered down ink from my blue ink pad to make a water color wash sky

Color It and PDE Linky - another challenge site I've not played along with for some time
https://pdelinkyparty.blogspot.com/2018/04/challenge-14-color-it.html


Anything Goes April 3rd-10th Through The Craft Room Door
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/04/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-3th-10th.html

Anything Goes at Crafting By Designs
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/04/anything-goes-april-edition.html

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Floral Dance Edge'ables Card



 I am not one to shop around for new supplies
or look at new ideas / trends often. 
I like to use what I have on hand already
and if I need inspiration, will usually dig out
an old magazine or book in my "library".

Well, a few day ago I was in need of some extra long
posts for a scrapbook, so I was looking at
an online store (we don't have a brick and mortar one nearby).
I found the posts, but also saw this new to me type of die !
It is called a Die'sire by Crafter's Companion Floral Dance Edge'able die.
I decided to order it and knew what I was going to make
with it first thing. Today I brought the card to reality.
(I have another idea play around with, too)


I used the die on textured black card stock
then painted the flowers with white acrylic craft paint.

I added yellow rhinestones to the centers
then popped up the petals.

A piece of yellow card stock was adhered to the inside
of the card to show through the openings of the other die cut flowers.

This was all matted on white card stock
and finished off with 5/8" polka dot grosgrain ribbon. 

I left the front and inside blank for now.




It can be a horizontal or vertical card!


Thanks for looking =) 



I'm entering my card in the current challenge at
Everything used on this card I've had 
in my craft stash for years,
other than the new to me die.
The craft paints are leftovers from the days that
I liked to make painted crafts.
The rhinestones were originally sold as
Halloween "tattoos" at a dollar store
years ago, but I saw their potential for crafts.
About 15 years ago my sister and I put in a large order
for ribbon at an online store, I'm still chipping away at using it.
The card stocks have been collected over the years.



TTCRD April 3rd-10th Anything Goes
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/04/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-3th-10th.html

Crafting By Designs April Anything Goes Challenge
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/04/anything-goes-april-edition.html

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Mother's Day Card - pink flowers and gingham








Although it's a month away, I wanted to get started on Mother's Day cards.

I used a gingham embossing folder for the background layer.

The flowers are made with the Morning Meadow stamp set (Stampin' Up!) and
coordinating punch. I added a rhinestone (from a Jack O' Lantern decorating kit of all things!)
to the centers.

The edges of the stamped sentiment (from All Holidays , Stampin' Up!) section
are finished with a polka dot ribbon paper punch (I need to use that punch more often....)
and thin strip of pink card stock.


I'm submitting my card to the current challenge at Shopping Our Stash:
black, white and one other color.  This one is mostly white. I have an idea for another card
to make that will have more black on it.
https://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com/2018/04/sos348-black-white-1-other-color.html


Thanks for looking =)

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Easter Eggs Punch Art Card





Today I am sharing my final Easter card -
and wishing you the blessings of Spring on this Easter morn !



This was a fun card, although a bit time consuming.

Each easter egg was punched from different colored card stock , 
heat embossed white with a letter, lightly water colored along one edge, 
had a small detail made with a white Signo gel pen along the top,
carefully curved for dimension then adhered over a pop dot.

Happy is die cut from silver metallic card stock.

The top panel was paper pierced around the edge.

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up!


Thanks for looking 
and wishing you a beautiful day !
(cold, cloudy, rain turning to accumulating snow this afternoon here)

50th Birthday Easel Shaker Card



Welcome to the newest challenge at Love To Craft !
As always, it is an anything crafty goes challenge so long a it is family friendly.

This month I'm sharing a shaker easel card.




I don't have an extra large square scallop die or versatile cutting machine. The border punch I have makes too tiny of scallops for the size of card I wanted to make. So I improvised: I used numerous 1" circle punches of card stock ! It isn't perfect, but the overall look is just fine I think.

Before covering the back with white card stock



As far as making the "50" window for the shaker,
once again I had to improvise.
I printed out the number "50" sized to the
piece of card stock I knew I needed after
making the circle scallop border back piece. 

I stamped the piece with a shimmery ink
and a birthday greetings wheel.

I then hand cut it out with a hobby knife.
(The portion that I cut out was used on
another card that can be seen here)





Numerous pieces of hand cut heavy duty
double stick tape were stuck to the acetate.
This creates the see through window for the confetti.






More thin strips were cut to hide under the white card stock,
this time made from fun foam. Yes, yet another
"what do I have on hand that will work" way to make this card, 
this time to create the "corral" that holds the confetti 
in place behind the window.






Because the card front was so heavy,
I needed a thick and sturdy strip to help hold
it in place when it was in the easel position.
I adhered several layers of card stock over a strip of
chipboard cut to fit. It is attached with heavy duty adhesive. 

A little bit more rubber stamping
and a couple of balloon shaped brads finish it off.

This card was 6 1/4" square.

Thanks for looking =)



I'm entering this card in the current Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber
All of the stamps used are oldies from Stampin' Up!
All About Birthdays wheel - 2007 
Heard From The Heart - not marked, but I know it is at least 6 years old
It's Your Birthday - 2005


and in the current Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/03/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-march-27th.html

lastly the

Anything Goes/optional twist of vellum at 613 Avenue Create
http://avenue613.blogspot.com/2018/04/challenge-208-anything-goes-optional.html









Be sure to check out the rest of the design team members' blogs
to see the fun crafty things they shared this month.