Sparkling Saturdays: Summer Fun

Welcome to another Sparkling Saturday! I took a bit of break from creating/blogging, but now I'm back and refreshed. The summer solstice was a few days ago, so here is a shaker card celebrating warm sun and water. 

First, I started out with a piece of A2 sized white cardstock. Using a MFT stitched circle die, I cut out a circle from the top half of my panel and adhered a piece of acetate behind it. Next, I used some new inks colors from Lawn Fawn (Ballet Slippers, Moonstone, and Minty Fresh) to stamp some dots with the smallest sketchy circle stamp from Wplus9 Encouraging Words. After stamping on a birthday greeting, I used Lawn Fawn large stitched rectangle frame to finish up my front card panel.

For my summer scene, I used Wplus9 Big Top Background stamp to make sun rays (Ranger Lemon Twist) on the front of my A2 card base. Next, I added some different colored sequins to create my "ocean/water". To seal these sequins in and turn this into a shaker card, I added foam tape behind my whole front card and adhered this to my card front, making sure to line up my sides properly so my sun rays would be in the middle.

To finish off my card, I stamped this cute ninja from Mama Elephant Tiny Ninjas set and fussy cut it out. I adhered it to the middle of my circle to make it look like the ninja is "jumping" into the ocean in celebration.

Hope you enjoyed! I'll be entering this into SSS Wednesday Challenge.

Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: Seal-abrate!

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today's card is one I made to celebrate a friend's graduation - she loves seals, so I thought this pun and image would be perfect together. 

I started out with an white A2 side folding card base. Unlike most of my cards, I decided to stamp directly onto the card front this time, instead of using an additional layer. In order to make the background, I stamped out my greeting first, using my MISTI, to make sure that it was straight and centered. I used the letter set Violet's ABC from Lawn Fawn to create this custom greeting.

Next, I used the diploma stamp from the Lawn Fawn Smart Cookie stamp set, and stamped it in various colors all over the card front to create this background. I used a light grey ink near the greeting and middle of the card, as I did not want it to distract from the sentiment and main image. After the background was finished, I stamped the graduation hat from the same set, and a seal from Lawn Fawn Critter in the Snow. I colored these both in using copics (hat: N4, N6, N8; seal: W1, W3, W5) and then fussy cut them out.

For my finishing touches, I adhered the hat onto the seal, and then foam taped this onto the card front. I added a couple sticker gems, and this card is finished!

Hope you enjoyed. I'll be submitting this to the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #3.

Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: Bun in the Oven

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today I will be sharing with you a baby card I made for a joyous celebration. This card combines similar patterns using different textures for a cohesive and fun look.

I chose a mint colored cardstock cut at 4" by 5.25" and dry embossed it using my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. Next, on a white piece of card stock, I stamped on the cute oven and bun from Lawn Fawn Plus One stamp set. I colored it in using Copic markers in N2, N4, and N6 and some browns and pinks for the little bun. I fussy cut this out with a thin border and used foam tape to adhere it onto the embossed panel.

For my sentiment, I used Ranger Silver embossing powder to heat set a greeting from the same stamp set onto vellum. However, it didn't really pop on the card panel by itself, so I placed a light blue piece of card stock behind it and then adhered both pieces down using a similar colored brad. 

To finish off this card, I added some paper confetti shapes using the confetti die from Mama Elephant, and also used ribbon to tie a bow at the top. I chose a premade yellow polka dot A2 card base to adhere all of this onto, and then added a thin yellow strip of paper underneath the sentiment to tie it all together.

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: CAS Color Challenge

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today I'll be sharing a clean and simple card using minimal supplies. 

I started out with a panel of white cardstock that I cut to 5.5" by 4". Next, using my distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, and Salty Ocean, I blended a soft background onto the panel. Following this, I stamped on a frame from the To & For set from Forever in Time (found at the dollar store!) and the birthday deer from Lawn Fawn party animal stamp set. After coloring both of these with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, I fussy cut these out using my scissors and a X-acto knife. 

To finish off this card, I popped both these images up onto the panel using foam tape and stamped a birthday greeting on. I adhered this onto a coral A2 card base and this card is done!

Hope you enjoyed. I'll be entering this into MFT Color Challenge 66.

Happy Crafting!

Sparkling Saturdays: Lawnfawnatic Birthday

Welcome to another Sparkling Saturday! Today I will be sharing with you a more time-consuming tri-fold card. This card definitely took a lot of time to make, but in the end, I was quite happy with how it turned out. Lots of steps and different mediums used, so please stick with me - I'll do my best to explain all the steps.

For my card base, I used a 5.5" by 12" piece of Strathmore watercolor paper. I scored this into three parts (at 4" and 8") to make it a tri-fold card, and really put pressure on the score lines as it is a thicker paper and I wanted it to open well. Next, I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to paint on a water and sky background, making sure to paint on both sides of the paper as it is needed for a tri-fold card. I finished painting on one side, before flipping it over and painting on the other. 

While the base was drying, I stamped out lots of images from Lawn Fawn Mermaid for You set and colored them in using my Copic markers. This process of coloring different mermaids with various hair colors was fun and allowed me to practice my "flicking" hair coloring. After they were all colored in, I fussy cut them out and went over the edges with a black marker.   

Once the card panel was dry, I used Lawn Fawn Ocean Wave Border to cut the two side panels at different heights and angles to give the card more dimension and interest. I began playing around with where I would place the images I had cut out on the card as I needed enough images for both the inside and outside of the card, and had to arrange it so the images that I put on the inside of the card would not be seen when the card was closed. After I was happy with the placement, I adhered all of them onto the card using strong adhesive. 

For my sentiment, I stamped a birthday greeting onto a cloud piece that I die cut and adhered to the top of my card. To finish up my card, I added some images from the same stamp set to fill out the scene of each panel. For all the seaweed, I also added some Wow glitter embossing powder to each, for additional sparkle. After coloring in some of the small images with markers, this card was finished!

I hope you enjoyed! I will be submitting this to the first Lawnfawnatic Challenge. Check it out here!

Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: MFT Sketch 324

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today's card is inspired by the newest MFT Sketch Challenge. I find that sketches help me play around with different layouts of my cards, that I would not normally do, and helps my creative juices flow. Click here to play along and get inspired!

For the base of my A2 card, I used a premade pink patterned card base from Michael's. Next, I used my largest Little B Label dies to partially die cut out the bottom of a white cardstock piece for the "v shaped" part of the sketch design. I thought leaving it white was a bit plain, so I decided to used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder for some added dimension. Using a pink patterned paper, a large circle was cut with the MFT stitched circles dies. For the banner up on the top left corner, I took out my washi tape (which I hoard and hardly use!) and snipped it to the size and shape I wanted. After all this was done, I adhered all the pieces onto the card base. 

For my focal image, I used this cute bear from MFT Beary Special Birthday set and colored them in using Copics. The colors I used are E50, E00, and E21 for the bear, my new favorite combo brown combo for animals. I added some sparkle using my Wink of Stella for some extra celebratory shine. For my sentiment, I used Lawn Fawn Sugar Plum ink to stamp on a greeting from Mama Elephant Labeled Messages set. After trimming out my sentiment, I adhered this down onto the card and used foam squares to stick on my bear and this card is done!

Hope you enjoyed!
Happy Crafting.

Sparkling Saturdays: Heart Filled Love

Welcome to another Sparkling Saturday! Today I will be sharing with you a wedding shaker card that I made for close friends. Their wedding colors were navy, peach, mint, and gold, so I tried to incorporate them into this card.

I started out with a piece of white cardstock that I die cut out of the largest rectangle from Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle set. Next I used a heart die cut (not sure where I got these), to die cut out 3 hearts. Next, I used the Hero Arts Best Wishes (CL360) stamp set to stamp on some images and a sentiment and colored the images in using some Copic markers. 

I wanted each heart to have a separate shaker compartment, so I used my WRMK fuse tool to make 3 separate squares to fit behind each heart. I sealed up 3 sides of the squares, added some sequin and sea beads in, and then sealed up the opening. The shaker squares were adhered behind the hearts with strong adhesive.

To finish up the card, I matted this onto a piece of gold cardstock, and then adhered it down onto a peach/coral colored A2 side folding card base. For added sparkle and dimension, I added some pearl stickers and some silver Nuvo drops (still figuring the best way to make them more round and 3D looking).

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Crafting!  

Sparkling Saturdays: Shake Shake Shake!

Welcome to another Sparkling Saturday! It's been awhile since I've been able to post on a Saturday, so I'm glad I get to share with you a super sparkly and fun birthday shaker card today.

I started out with a piece of kraft colored cardstock and used these Little B Label dies to cut out my shaker window. These dies come in a set of 10, 5 dies that cut out the label shape, and 5 dies that cut out the little dot details around the shape. These are at a pretty good price point as well, and come in a magnetic storage binder, which is awesome!

After I die cut out the window, I stamped on a greeting from Mama Elephant Sunday Sentiments near the bottom of the panel. Next, I used my WRMK fuse tool (my favorite way to make a shaker!) to seal up 3 sides of a photo sleeve, that I cut out to be slightly larger than my window. I added in an assortment of sequins and beads, and sealed up the last side. I adhered it to the back of my window using some strong adhesive.

Using the Mama Elephant Pandamonium stamp set, I stamped and fussy cut out a panda. From the Lawn Fawn Party Animal stamp set, I colored (using Copics) and die cut out the balloon and the party hat to add to the panda. I put all the pieces together using my Ranger multi medium matte and then used strong adhesive to attach the images on top of the shaker window.

For my finishing touches, I used my Wink of Stella brush pen to add some subtle shimmer onto the panda, and some polka dots onto the balloon with my white gel pen. Finally, I

adhered the whole panel down onto a premade pink patterned A2 side folding card.

Hope you enjoyed! This will be Day 4 in the Daily Marker 30 day coloring challenge by Kathy R. If you haven't checked it out, click here! You can join anytime.

Happy Crafting.

Messy Mondays: Hooray! (Sketch inspired)

Welcome to another Messy Monday (please excuse some of the lighting in my pictures recently, it should be back to normal by next post)! Today I will be sharing with you a card inspired by a MFT Sketch challenge. I turned the sketch sideways so I could make a horizontal birthday card, so let's get started!

First, I made a top folding A2 card base out of some white card stock and then scored two lines on the inside of the front panel for added dimension. It's hard to see in the picture, but the strip of color is encased inside the two "popped" up lines. I like how something so simple can add such an interesting but subtle detail to the card.

Next, I used post it notes to mask off the top and bottom portions of the card, leaving only the middle portion (the part between the scored lines!) open. I used various blue inks (Tim Holtz, Simon Says Stamp, Lawn Fawn) to make a gradation of colored stripes. I used 2 additional post-its to mask off each stripe as I blended in different colors. After this was done, I colored in a cute astronaut bear from Mama Elephant Space Bears set using my copics (W1, W3, W5), and die cut it out. The sentiments were stamped from Mama Elephant Labeled messages and fussy cut out. I adhered all of these onto the card using some foam squares, so it would add extra dimension. For my finishing touches, I used my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Brush pen to add some shimmer to my background and the balloon the bear is holding.

Hope you enjoyed!
Happy Crafting.  

Messy Mondays: Love to Hear from You

Welcome to another Messy Monday! I will be sharing with you today a watercolored Valentine's Day card with emboss resist technique. Hopefully this will help with any last minute cards you may be making, or give you ideas for future projects.  

For this card, I started off with a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper die cut with the second largest rectangle from Lawn Fawn Small Rectangle set. Using the largest vintage telephone from Hero Arts Just Saying Hi (CL502) set, I stamped the image on the top centre of the panel (SSS Audrey blue). Next, I used Versamark to stamp exactly on top of the image (MISTI can help with this if you have one!), so I could heat emboss it in clear (dye inks dry quicker -- so I couldn't directly apply embossing powder on after I stamped it the first time).

After the image was heat embossed, I took out my watercolors and loosely watercolored around the image. I could paint directly on top of my stamped image, since it was heat embossed so it would resist, and did not have to worry about my image being smudged. After I painted on a couple of layers, I chose a mint color that matched my telephone to flick on some splatters for added interest. After this panel dried, I stamped a greeting using Versafine Onyx Black from the same set (love how detailed this ink is!). This panel was matted onto a light mint piece of cardstock and then adhered it to a light pink A2 side folding card base.

For the finishing touches, I used the same light mint color cardstock to die cut out some hearts using my Mama Elephant die, and adhered 2 of them on. I added some glossy accents for raised dimension onto the hearts, and this card was complete! 

Hope you enjoyed. I will be entering this into MFT Color Challenge 63.

Happy Crafting.

Messy Mondays: Snow inspired greeting card

Welcome to another Messy Monday! There has been SO much snow this year in my city, it's unreal. I absolutely love how pretty snow is and was happy to be able to go sledding. Driving in snow on the other hand, is a whole different matter... Today's card is inspired by all the white snowy and textured landscapes I've been surrounded by lately. It's pretty simple, so it's easy to make if you're in a hurry, and also a good idea for a Valentine's Day card as well!

I started out with a piece of A2 white cardstock and dry embossed it using the Geometric set of Next Level Embossing Folders by We R Memory Keepers. I am still in awe of the 3D texture these give, and love the results every time. Next, I stamped out the cute bunny holding a heart from Mama Elephant Pix's Favorite stamp set and colored it in using Copic markers. I used my white Signo white gel pen to add some polka dots to the dress, and highlights on the heart. 

For my sentiment, I stamped on a birthday greeting onto a strip of red cardstock and layered it onto a thin strip of silver glitter card stock. I adhered this onto the right side of my card, and then fussy cut out my bunny and used foam squares to stick this on top of my greeting. I stuck this panel down onto an A2 side folding card stock, spritz it with a shimmer spray (DIY!), and this card is finished!

Hope you enjoyed! I will be entering this into the MFT Sketch Challenge.

Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: Circle Penny Slider

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today I will be sharing with you a fun interactive slider card. Many companies are coming out with new shaped sliders dies this year to make it easier for us to make these cards, but I will be sharing with you how I made this card using the circle dies that I already have. Let's get started!

I started out with a piece of white cardstock cut to A2 size, and then used different shades of blue/green and cut some waves on each colored piece and glued them down. Next, I stamped on some bubbles onto the background using my Versamark ink, so it would take on the color of the cardstock it was stamped on. Using two different size circle dies from MFT stitched circle set, I layered them and die cut the circle out, leaving a nice circular "rail" for my slider portion.

Using the Lawn Fawn Year 5 set, I stamped on a greeting on my circle piece using Versafine ink. Then, I adhered my panel and the centre circle portion onto my card using white FunFoam, making sure I left ample room for my penny to move around the circle. I stamped the rest of the images from the same stamp set, and a couple others from Lawn Fawn Fintastic Friends set as well onto white cardstock so I could color them in with my Copics. After they were all colored, I fussy cut them out and adhered them on using foam squares, with the exception of the otter. For the otter, I stuck on a birthday hat, and then attached it using foam squares onto a penny that I had tucked into the "rail" that I had made. After making sure I liked the placement of the otter, I pressed it down for a couple of second to ensure it would not fall off. 

I hope you liked this card! Let me know if you have any questions :) I will be entering this into the current MFT Color Challenge.

Happy Crafting.

Messy Mondays: Food Inspired

Welcome to another Messy Monday! Today I will be sharing with you a food inspired card. If you know me, you know that I love eating all the delicious foods, especially sushi.

For this card, I used Mama Elephant Little Edibles set to make my own background (similarly seen in this post) onto a white piece of cardstock. Next, I used the largest rectangle from Lawn Fawn small stitched rectangle set to die cut my piece out, and also die cut a kraft colored scallop circle (also from Lawn Fawn) at the same time.

Using the Let's Roll set from Lawn Fawn, I stamped on the maki roll and colored it in using Copic markers (Nori: G94, G99, N4; rice: N0, N2) and die cut it using the matching die. I stamped on a sentiment from the same set onto the scallop circle, and then used foam tape to adhere the sushi on.

To finish off the card, I adhered the background onto a light green A2 premade card base, and then used foam tape to adhere the scallop circle on for more dimension.

I hope you enjoyed.
Happy Crafting!

Messy Mondays: Clear Window Shaker

Welcome to the first Messy Monday blog post of 2017! I took the last 2 weeks off because I was recovering from a bad case of the flu, but I'm back now (mostly recovered) with a clean and simple card to start off the new year.

For this card, I started with a white A2 side folding card base. First, I used my Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die to cut out a window near the top half of my card. Next, I cut a similar sized rectangle from photo sleeves to make my shaker window. I used my WRMK fuse tool to close off 3 of the sides, and then filled this shaker window with different purple colored sequins before sealing off the last side. I adhered this shaker window with strong double sided adhesive onto my card.

For a cute and simple image to add on top of my shaker window, I chose the cute bear holding a birthday cake from MFT Beary Special Birthday set. I stamped it and colored it in using my Copic markers (G94, G99 for the matcha flavored cake, and various browns for the bear) and added some sparkly Stickles for the icing. I cut the bottom half of the image off so it would fit nicely in my window, and then adhered it on. To finish off this card, I chose a greeting from the same stamp set and stamped it onto the bottom right corner of the window.

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Crafting.