Panda and the Purple Crayon

 

The Seize the Birthday optional topping is a card for a child which motivated me to finally use this panda stamp from Stampin' Up that I have had for four or five years and never used.  As a matter of fact there is a challenge for that.  The NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge is designed to inspire us use some of those craft supplies we have have been collecting.  This is one of my aspirations for 2023.  I have started putting newly purchased items in a bin next to my inks to remind me to use them and am also trying to make it a point to pull out older supplies that need to be christened.  As I was thinking about the panda and maybe a balloon, I stumbled on the Once Upon a Time challenge featuring one of my favorite books from childhood, Harold and the Purple Crayon which is about a little boy who uses his purple crayon to bring his imagination to life.  If you have never read it, there is read aloud video posted on the challenge page.  Now I had my concept.  My panda would use his crayon to create a balloon to float over to visit the birthday child and wish them a happy birthday.  I used a die from Altenew's Mix and Match Frames set to cut the dotted border for the AAA Birthday challenge to use dots or stripes.  I used an old, often used punch to cut the balloon, sponged on some ink to give it dimension and popped it up with thin foam tape.  The sentiment was cut using an old die from Simon Says Stamp.  To make the crayon I cut a small strip of purple paper, trimmed the end to look like a crayon, used a flat paint brush to apply ink to the ends and cut it to fit his paw.  Up, up and away my little panda!

I also plan to enter this in the Retro Rubber Anything Goes challenge.   Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Using My Green Scraps

 

I love to experiment with different techniques to make backgrounds which means I often have small pieces and trimmings left after cutting them down to card size or to fit behind a die cut window.   My bin was overflowing, so I pulled out the strips and sorted them by color family with the goal of using them on cards.  The Colorful Options Challenge color of the month is green so those are the ones I used to make this card following the current sketch from the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge blog.

I glued the strips at an angle on a piece of printer paper and trimmed off the edges.  I used the last larger piece of the background I used for yesterday's card to back a window cut using Poppy Stamps' Cat Collage die and gilded the edges with gold embossing powder.  Because the strips were mostly watercolor paper which is pretty thick, I glued a bit of watercolor paper behind the upper half of the window panel to bring it up to the same level as the bottom.   The sentiment is from the So Many Sentiments set by Gina K Designs. 

I also plan to enter this in the Cut It Up CAS and Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furry Thing Goes challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Love Always

 

I made this card for the Die Cut Divas "Show Us Some Gold" and Show Us Your Pussy Cats "Love" challenges and waited to post it until after I gave it to my husband who sometimes reads my blog.  Then I forgot, so here it is just under the wire. 

I started by spraying a 9x12 sheet of bristol paper with Dina Wakely Turquoise and Ocean gloss sprays and Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress spray stain and cutting out a square of it, saving rest to be used on other cards.  Eventually...  To add interest I inked the Sacred Spells stamp from Lavinia with Stampin' Up's Tranquil Tide ink and used second generation stamping on the right side and dabbed some of it along the bottom.  To gild the edges I held the panel upright and pushed each edge into Versamart ink and Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder and heated it.  I also heat embossed the sentiment using a stamp from Hero Arts' Smile stamp and cut set.

I stacked 3 die cuts made using Penny Black's Kitty Love die and colored the heart.  When I didn't like the colors I used I added a fourth layer with the heart colored using Spun Sugar, Abandoned Coral, and Festive Berries Distress inks topped with Wink of Stella and liked it much better.  I popped up the square with two more slightly smaller squares of cardstock and finished it off with an acrylic star.

My husband, known as Soft Touch to our cats, loved the card.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi 

Snowflakes Along the Edge

To me, a clean and simple card is more than clean lines and white space, it should be fairly quick to make.  One of my ways of making quick(er) cards that don't look thrown together is to keep a stash of backgrounds.  Whenever I am playing with a new technique, I make lots of backgrounds and keep them all including the ones I am not pleased with.  There is usually a part that can be used to back a cut out window or to die cut a shape or sentiment.  I didn't like the one I used for this card, but the part along one side was pretty which was fortuitous because the AAA Cards challenge is to create a clean and simple card with the design along one edge and an optional twist of snow.  

First I used the Hero Arts Snowflake Edge die to cut a border on the front of the card.  Then I attached the background in question that I made had by smooshing ink spritzed with Hero Arts White Iridescent  Shimmer Mist onto watercolor paper behind the front of the card.  I embossed a sentiment from the Ornamental Christmas set by CZ Design for Simon Says Stamp in silver and added a strip of silver foil  cardstock from my scraps to compliment it.  I figured I was pushing the limits of CAS with layers, so I resisted the urge to put clear sparkles in the centers of the snowflakes. I also plan to enter this in the CAS on Friday Christmas Challenge and Addicted to Stamps and More Die Cut or Stencils Challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

It's a Girl Thing

 

February is Turner Syndrome Awareness month.  Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting girls  where all or part of an X chromosome is missing in all or some of her cells.  This causes short stature (average height is 4'8") and ovarian failure.  There are many other effects which vary in each girl/woman including orthopedic anomalies, chronic ear infections, hearing loss, heart defects, kidney abnormalities, learning disabilities and a higher risk for heart disease, hypothyroidism, celiac disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  Some girls are more affected than others.  Estimates are that only 1% of girls conceived with Turner Syndrome survive the pregnancy long enough to be born which makes them little miracles.  I know this because my husband and I have been blessed with a daughter with it.  Let's just say that I have become much more intimately acquainted with our local med school's health system than I ever planned to be!  I am grateful to be three miles from excellent, cutting edge care.  The average age of diagnosis is nine, but within hours of Katherine's birth the doctors told me they had some concerns and wanted to run some tests and bring in a geneticist to see her.  With a diagnosis at birth, her doctors knew what conditions to monitor her for as she grew.  The Turner Syndrome Foundation has adopted the butterfly as it's symbol which, along with cats and baseball, just happens to be one of Katherine's favorite things.

This card is part of the It's a Girl Thing Blog Hop and Challenge to raise awareness of Turner Syndrome and The Paper Players Challenge to use a feline, the purrfect reason to inaugurate my newest cat stamp.  Katherine comes by her love of cats honestly as I have loved them for as long as I can remember.  I started with white cardstock and used Tattered Rose and Speckled Egg Distress inks with the Always and Forever stencil from Echo Park Paper Company to lightly create a hint of a backdrop to ground Mooch by Lavinia, a butterfly from Hampton Art, and a sentiment from Fancy Greetings stamp set by Altenew.  I stamped them in Versafine Onyx Black using a stamp positioning tool, so I could double stamp for deeply black, solid images.  I then ran the ink pad along the edge and attached the card front to a pink card base.  

I am also entering this in the Show Us Your Pussy Cats February challenge.  Thank you for stopping by!  If you check out the It's a Girl Thing Challenge there are links for more information about Turner's Syndrome.  Until next time, Hansi

Freshly Made with ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers

I have been seeing a lot about ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers and had a birthday check to spend so...  Here is my first attempt with them using Altenew's Persian Motifs stamp set and this Freshly Made Sketch:

Yes, the tip really is a brush and they can be used like watercolors.  I made life a little easier by embossing the image which helped me stay within the lines.  The panel is popped up with a sheet of craft foam and the sentiment with foam tape.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  Strathmore watercolor paper, Colonial White, Thistle, and Fern cardstock from Close to My Heart
Stamps:  Persian Motifs and Beautiful Day by Altenew, Holiday Tags by Close to My Heart
Ink:  ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers, Fern from Close to My Heark, Versamark
Embellishments:  Princess Gold by Ranger and PEARLusture Rubellitte by Stampenous embossing powders

Magical Birthday Kitty

Normally I struggle with guy cards except when I need to make a card for my brother who is owned by a black cat.  Then it's Close to My Heart's Artistry Cricut cartridge to the rescue.  I thought the Magical paper pack with its mostly primary colors would complement my black cat die cuts purrfectly and guess what one of this month's themes at Heart 2 Heart Challenges just happens to be?  That's right, Magical!  The clean crisp colors in that pack lend themselves to a CAS card which is the challenge for this week at Addicted to Stamps and More.  For the layout I used this Freshly Made Sketch:

Here is the inside of the card:

Thank you for stopping by!  It has been a while since I posted and I've missed y'all.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Magical (to be retired August 31), Honey, Black and White Daisy cardstock

Stamps:  Holiday Tags (to be retired July 31), Love My Cat (to be retired July 31)

Ink:  Black, LePen marker

Embellishments:  Magical complements (to be retired August 31),  Red Enamel Heart (to be retired July 31)

Other:  Artiste (to be retired July 31) and Artistry Cricut cartridges