Ornament Tag

As the weather forecast threatens a cold, arctic blast in Chicago, thoughts go to the Christmas season. Today I am sharing a CAS Christmas tag. The tag was die cut from green cardstock. The ornaments (Our Daily Bread Designs) were stamped on white card stock and heat embossed. Then they were die cut using Spellbinders dies (available at Classy Cards n such). "Peace on Earth" was stamped on the tag and embossed in silver.
I am entering this tag in these challenges:Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- ornaments;
Classy Cards n Such -- ornaments; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy -- red, gold, green; Our Daily Bread Designs -- holiday; Addicted to CAS -- tag; Inspiration Journal -- happy holidays; Artistic Stamper -- Christmas is coming.

Sunflower Garden

For this card I had a chance to pull out some stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I love how the image is colored by the stamped ink and has so much detail. The background behind the sunflower was done using a stencil and distress inks. The Cheery Lynn frame die adds a festive look to the card especially with the pearls added to the two corners. The sentiment is a stamp from Club Scrap.
My card is being entered into these challenges:  Cheery Lynn Designs -- frame it; Classy Cards 'n Such -- sunflower inspired (available at CCnS are Cheery Lynn frame, distress inks, pearl bling); Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Sweet and Sassy -- border stamps or die; MFP Colors -- orange, yellow, and pink; Art With Heart -- anything goes.

Holiday Greenery

Here I have another Christmas card to share. This one uses the current Mojo Monday challenge sketch for the layout. My background panel is dry embossed with lots of holly which I highlighted with iced spruce distress ink. The ribbon is gingham from my stash. For the circle panel I used one of my favorite Christmas dies, the wreath from Tim Holtz. The image (a partial) and sentiment are SweetStamps stamps. The bird and branch are colored using distress markers. Below the image panel is an icicle die cut from Cheery Lynn. This card called for lots of bling. The bling used here is Want2Scrap which you can get from Classy Cards 'n Such, as well as the distress ink and markers.
I am entering my card into these challenges: Mojo Monday -- sketch; SweetStamps-- Christmas greenery; Classy Cards 'n Such -- gingham; Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- Christmas/winter.

12 Tags of 2014 -- July

Tim Holtz's July tag of the month has a theme near and dear to my heart --seahorses in the sea. I have actually had an opportunity to hold one of these adorable creatures; well actually it held my finger with its tail. The background is a combination of distress paint, distress stain, and distress ink (all sold at Classy Cards 'n such).Over the background is an embossed piece of plastic. I actually cut the tag shape from a piece of packing plastic from an embossing folder. Plastic embosses so coolly. The seaweed is cut from kraft core Core'dinations. All of the dies used are from Sizzix. Tim's recipe for sand really worked well. He includes it in his tutorial.
I am also entering this tag into the Classy Cards 'n Such challenge -- a day at the beach.

Life

The current Compendium of Curiosities challenge was more than just an art challenge for me this time. I had to actually go into my stash of treasured Tim Holtz products and use product that I have been "saving for the perfect occasion". The current challenge is to create an altered burlap panel (p. 37 of Tim's book) Of course, I had to get the burlap panels when they came out, but I never had the nerve to use them or it was never the right time. As I went along, I was also inspired to use other precious product.
Although I won't go into detail on the actual technique of altering the panel, that's what Tim's book is for.  There are a few embellishments on my panel I'll talk about. My butterfly girl comes from an Artchix image. Her wings were die cut from Tim's Fanciful Flight die. The upper part of the wings was cut from grunge paper and painted with black soot distress paint. The colorful under wing was cut from Shimmer Sheetz.
The flower was made from scratch. I used Tim's Jumbo Tattered Florals die to cut all but the center (Cheery Lynn die). I have wanted to make a large flower for a long time, so this was a perfect time. I wanted a full flower, so I cut seven of the large layers. The first layer was cut from Suze Weinberg's Wonder Rubber and embossed with UTEE. (I can't begin to remember when I bought the wonder rubber, but this was the first time I used it. I had forgotten I had it.) The next layer is burlap. There are two layers of fabric from Tim's line (another previously uncut product) and one of his tissue paper. I wanted to make the flower quite full, but fabric and tissue paper don't stand up very well. I got the idea to use Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art moldable plastic. I cut out the flower twice and heated the petals so I could form them into dimensional petals. A little alcohol ink added color to these layers.These clear layers helped to lift the fabric layers. The flower center was also made from the Clearly Art.
To make the background, I added some stencil paste for dimension and distress paints for color. The center band was cut using a Cheery Lynn die. The sentiment is a Dyan Reaveley stamp from Ranger. The final touch was to add some bling stars and dots.
I am also entering this panel into these challenges: Vintage Journey -- dies and distress; Take a Word -- butterflies; Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- start from scratch; Classy Cards 'n Such -- pick a posy (use a handmade flower) [CCnC products include distress paints; Cheery Lynn dies, bling]; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- let's be clear (used Clearly Art for the flower layers).
A special recognition goes out to the Funkie Junkie for sponsoring the CC3 challenge.

Happy 4th of July

  

Hoping everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July today! 

this week's Blogger's Challenge is red, white, and blue. My card is a bit non-traditional for a 4th of July card, but it certainly fits in with the red, white, and blue. I started with a red base card and added the blue panel. I stamped the sentiment (Artistic Outpost) along the fold edge of the card. The face (Prima) was stamped on a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper. I then masked her and stamped (Hero Arts) the background. I used the distress watercolor technique from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities 3 Book, p. 39. This just happens to be the  current CCC3 challenge. (A special thanks to Inspiration Emporium for their generous sponsorship.)
My card is being entered into these challenges: Blogger's Challenge -- red, white, and blue; Classy Cards 'n Such -- red, white, and blue (Tim Holtz's distress markers can be purchased there.); Tuesday Throwdown -- anything goes; Compendium of Curiosities 3 challenge -- distress watercoloring; Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- patriotic; Art With Heart -- red, white, and beautiful; V's Sweet Ideas -- red, white, and blue.

Mother's Day

Front

Open

In addition to the challenges I will be entering, I also challenged myself today. I have had the butterfly pivot design die from Karen Burniston for quite a while. so I decided that I would use it for my challenge card. My entire base card is made from two-sided design paper (Heartfelt Creations). I did adhere two half sheets together for added sturdiness. Once I die cut the pivot butterfly and its layers, I stamped the flower on the front using the distress marker direct to stamp technique. The front and inside sentiments are all from Rogue Redhead Designs.
I am entering my card into several challenges: Tuesday Throwdown -- special lady; Simon Says Wednesday challenge -- spring flowers; Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- Mother's Day; Artistic Stamper -- in the garden; Simon Says Work It Wednesday --patterned paper; and Classy Cards 'n Such -- Mother's Day (CCnS carries the distress pens, Heartfelt Creations stamps, and much more.)

Easter Blessings

It's the season of Easter and this week Bloggers Challenge has the theme Easter. I chose this adorable little girl with her bunny as my focal image. The stamp is from SweetStamps, as is the sentiment stamp. The background panel has been dry embossed using a Cuttlebug floral folder. The basket and vines are diecuts (Spellbinders). The basket was cut from wood paper. The flowers are felt flowers (from my stash) with centers of Viva Decor gold (Classy Cards 'n Such). I used a favorite technique on the girl and bunny. Her clothes and hat are paper pieced using design paper. The bunny was cut from a soft paper towel to give a furry feeling. She was fussy cut to layer over the basket.
This card is also being entered into these challenges: Simon Says Wednesday challenge -- Easter or sweet treats; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Mark's Finest Papers Friends of Speedy -- Easter; Fashionable Stamping -- favorite techniques; Classy Cards 'n Such -- Easter Inspirational Sentiment.

Spring is Here

Today is the first full day of spring and for one day we are scheduled to actually have spring temperatures in Chicago. Today's Bloggers Challenge -- celebrates the coming of spring by wanting us to think spring.
My card starts with a spring green background on which I stenciled alphabet letters for interest. I then added the French Lattice Cheery Lynn die cut. the flower packet, stamped flowers, and sentiment are all stamps from Artistic Outpost. The die cut butterfly and flower are from Cheery Lynn.
My card is also being entered into these challenges:Cheery Lynn Designs -- think spring; Classy Cards 'n Such --flutterbys (Classy Cards 'n Such is a great place to order Cheery Lynn Design dies); City Crafter -- spring in the garden; Three Muses -- spring; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- things with wings; Artistic Outpost monthly referral challenge -- anything goes with Artistic Outpost stamps; and The Artistic Stamper --letters, words, numbers (background alphabet letters, sentiment and seed packet words, and 15 cents).

How Hot It Is!

Hot Time in the summer is the challenge theme at Cheery Lynn this week. It wasn't too hard to get inspired for this card.  This summer has been a hot one indeed. To begin my card I found a wonderful piece of orangy glitter paper. (much brighter IRL). Over that I used the French lattice die cut. Along the side I used the flourish leaf strip to cut the vine. A diecut of the spring flower burst doily in yellow over a red angel wing creates the center focus. A fan die cut (Tim Holtz) and the word hot (grungeboard letters colored with black soot distress stain) help to emphasize the heat while a dragonfly (Cheery Lynn miniature dragonfly and angel wing) looks on.
I'm also entering this card in the Classy Cards 'n Such challenge die cuts. Classy Cards 'n Such carries a lot of the Cheery Lynn dies.

Birthday Celebration

This week Cheery Lynn had the challenge theme celebration and working hand-in-hand, Classy Cards 'n Such challenged us to use die cuts. (Classy Cards 'n Such has lots of dies available.)
To begin my card, I created the background using the Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace pattern die. The balloons are stamped using the Kitchen Sink Multi-Step balloons stamps and then fussy cut. In the corner I die cut the roses using the Cheery Lynn large rose and miniature rose dies. I die cut them from white cardstock and splashed some red distress stain on the petals. The sentiment is a holographic sticker.
I went with birthday celebration on my card this week because someone special is celebrating a birthday this coming week. Happy birthday, Sandy.

Swan Lake

When I first received The Emperor Swan die from Cheery Lynn, I wanted to do a white-on-white card with it. This week the challenge at Cheery Lynn is white-on-white. Please note that the entire card is made using white paper and cardstock even if the camera shot adds some other tints and hues. The Bloggers Challenge this week is die cuts. My card actually has no stamping this week. Now that's a shock even to me. The swan in the oval border (Emperor Swan), the flourish (tropical flourish), and the two smaller flowers (miniature rose) were all made with Cheery Lynn dies. The larger flower is made using the Spellbinders carnation dies. The challenge at Classy Cards 'n Such is handmade flowers. (Classy Cards 'n Such carries both Cheery Lynn and Spellbinders dies.) Sometimes challenges are made for each other.

Kimono

Classy Cards 'n Such challenged us to use outline stickers and Fashionable Stamping had oriental as its theme. This is the card I came up with.

I had some beautiful Kodomo paper in my stash. I embossed it using the bamboo embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I highlighted the embossing with bundled sage distress ink and edged the background paper with victorian velvet distress ink.  I used the splash and stick technique from Technique Junkies on my outline sticker images. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and the other images are Kodomo stamps. (Unfortunately, I don't think that Kodomo is in business any more).

The Classy Cards 'n Such Shop has distress inks, reinkers, and markers, as well as a huge selection of outline stickers and embossing folders. There are lots of products to choose from and Beverly Bohannon is great to do business with.

Beauty and the Butterflies

The current challenge at Classy Cards 'n Such had me stumped at first. I have problems with color challenges especially unusual color combinations. I really thought that it would be difficult to combine yellow, orange, and aqua in a card. However, once I got started, it was a great combination. I stamped my image (Great Impressions) on white cardstock and painted it with Creative Inspiration Paints. I do love the shimmer of these paints.
My background was made by using the Cheery Lynn French Lattice large die to cut a sheet of two sided adhesive. I adhered the adhesive die cut to the aqua panel and then added Creative Inspirations Paints glitter to the adhesive. I now had a sparkly aqua background for my card. I added a framing panel to the image in orange. Two yellow and orange butterflies (Cheery Lynn butterflies and angel wing) and a crepe paper flower highlighted with yellow paint (Cheery Lynn miniature rose die) were added to embellish the card. Now here's a card that is bright and cheery.
You can get both Cheery Lynn dies and Spellbinders dies at the Classy Cards 'n Such web site.

Blossoms

Card open

The current challenge at Sweet Stamps is to create a card using the Double Dutch Fold. Classy Cards 'n Such challenged us to make 3-D Art. Inspiration Journal has water coloring as its monthly challenge.
My card uses the double dutch fold. Above is the closed card. At the left is the open view. For the CCnS challenge, I layered and popped up flowers from 3-D Art. I used a Cheery Lynn doily and two Cheery Lynn corners. I also added some Want2Scrap bling. (all available at Classy Cards'n Such).
Inspiration Journal wanted to see watercoloring. The flowers on the bottom doors were stamped on watercolor paper and watercolored using distress markers and a waterbrush. By the way, the stamps are part of a larger new release stamp from SweetStamps that I recently won. The new release flowers there are gorgeous.

Moments

This card is for the weekly challenge at Cheery Lynn which is things with wings and the bi-weekly challenge at Classy Cards 'n Such which is embossing folders.
On my card I used the Dutch doily rectangular frame from Cheery Lynn. This is fast becoming my favorite frame in my collection. I use it a lot. My background is a stamp from Hero arts stamped with peeled paint distress ink and dry embossed with a matching Sizzix embossing folder. Isn't that a cool idea. The birds are die cut from a Tim Holtz die. I added pearls and bling from Want2Scrap. (The distress ink, bling, and Cheery Lynn dies can be purchased at Classy Cards 'n such.) I found the acrylic sticker sentiment in my stash while I was looking for something else. I thought it worked well on this card.

Delight

The current challenge at Classy Cards 'n Such is a sketch challenge. I started with a beautiful piece of designer paper from Prima and die cut it using a Spellbinders die. For the center I added a label die cut from wood paper and a rectangular die cut for the sentiment.The flourish die cut is from Cheery Lynn. The flower is also a Spellbinder die. In the corners I added a little bling. All of the dies and the bling are available at CCNS.
The current challenge at Cheery Lynn designs is to add a flourish. I used the fanciful flourish on my card. It adds the perfect touch, I think.

I really like how this card turned out, so I will also enter it into the Simon Says Stamp and Show anything goes challenge

Elegantly Framed

Front

Inside

This week the challenge at Cheery Lynn is frame it. I used the Stand-Alone technique from the February/March 2009 Online Bonus Technique of Technique Junkies to make the card base. I did increase the card size for this project. The card is actually dimensional  as can be seen in this next picture.

 The frame die I used for my card is the Dutch Doily Rectangle Frame. I think it is such an elegant look. I actually cut it a second time to use a part of it as embellishment on the side triangular flaps. Note that I used the inner piece from the cutting of the frame for the inside sentiment on my card. The image and sentiment are from Our Daily Bread Designs. For added embellishment for the frame and image I made roses using the miniature rose die. I cut them from yellow paper and edged them with rusty hinge distress ink. All of the paper used is from Club Scrap.
I am also entering this card in the Our Daily Bread Design challenge which is other than a square or rectangle and the Classy Cards 'n Such challenge which is flowers. (Cheery Lynn dies qualify for the CCnS challenge).

In the Mood for Love

The Stampsmith Challenge this month is love and lace. Cheery Lynn has pretty in pink as its challenge this week. And finally, Classy Cards 'n Such has started biweekly challenges. The first challenge is anything goes, as long as at least one Classy Cards 'n such product is used. (Both the Cheery Lynn dies and Tim Holtz's distress inks qualify)
My image  and sentiment are from Stampsmith's In the Mood for Love stamp sheet. The Cheery Lynn dies used are the French Pastry doily and French Lattice Large.