Humming Bird & Flower Label Birthday (04/29/2015)

I really like hummingbirds . . . I am kinda on a huge hummingbird kick right now . . . So, for my friend's birthday, what could be more fun than a birthday card with a hummingbird on it????

So, I made her this:

I used Lawn Fawn's Gleeful Gardens and Flirty Frames stamp sets. I stamped the circular frame on Neenah Solar White cardstock, die cut it out with the matching die, and masked it off. I then stamped the hummingbird and the flower inside the frame. I colored them with Copic markers. I also added some FUN and AMAZING Sparkle N Sprinkle Aqua Water Flocking (FL112) and Imperial Blue Flocking (FL106) to the hummingbird. I also added in some Mustard Flocking (FL117) to the flower. I did all this using Sparkle N Sprinkle's Brushable Glue (540). I used Sparkle N Sprinkle's Dimensional Glue (539) inside the frame, and then covered it with Jasper Blue Velvet Glitter Microfine (GM2012). Check out a close up of the fun details:

This was a fun, springy & happy card for my dear friend's birthday. I hope she enjoyed it :)

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day! 

Chris

Another Earth Day Anniversary (04/24/2015)

Yep, another Earth Day card ... to celebrate an anniversary. Let's look, shall we?

I stamped Lawn Fawn's Wish You Were Here globe on white cardstock, and then die cut it out and other cardstock with Lawn Fawn's Small and Large Stitched Square Stackables.

I colored the globe with Copic markers, and then used Sparkle N Sprinkle's Dimensional Glue (539) and added Sparkle N Sprinkle's Luau Green Velvet Glitter (microfine) (GM2004) over the land. I also brushed some Sparkle N Sprinkle's Brushable Glue (540) on the water, and covered it with Sparkle N Sprinkle's Aqua Water Flocking FL112. This added some dimension to the earth which made it all snap, sparkle, and pop electric:

I die cut a few more squares. On the next size up from the globe panel, I Copic colored the edges and stamped the edges with versamark ink and heat embossed two layers of Sparkle N Sprinkle's Super Thick Clear Semi-transparent Embossing Powder (EP230). I scraplifted an idea from a recent Sparkle N Sprinkle blog post (There Is Beauty In Simple Things), and covered the edges with Sparkle N Sprinkle's 1/2" Double Sided "Tear-ific" Tape (SAT04), and covered the adhesive with Sparkle N Sprinkle's Sparkling Sands Sparkle N Soft (SS118), which is a combination of flocking and glitter. Then, I ran this through my Cuttlebug in an embossing folder to give it texture. I layered this all up and placed it onto a square card base.

Here is a closeup of the super thick embossing powder and Sparkling Sands Sparkle N Soft layers:

I also decorated the inside. I cut more squares from white cardstock, and then colored them with some distress ink. I stamped Sparkle N Sprinkle's Flourish's 1 - Stamp Set 516 (OO-516P5). I also used Lawn Fawn's You've Got Mail stamp set to add some fun postmarks and sentiments. I also stamped and white heat embossed the Happy Anniversary sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments set. Here is the inside:

And, closeups of the inside:

And, certainly had to make a matching envelope too, right?!? Here it is:

After I finished the card, I brought it over to my window sill to photograph it. While I was photographing it in natural light, a hummingbird landed on the window feeder on the other side of the glass! Without moving, I slowly angled my camera toward the feeder and started snapping photos, hoping that one of them would work - I wasn't able to look through the view finder and had to estimate where I was shooting. Here is the little fella who was feasting while I photographed it :)


 
Perfect for earth day, don't cha think?



Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day! 
 
Chris

Happy bEARTHday Card (04/22/2015)

Happy Earth Day! 

One of my dear friend's birthday is on Earth Day. so, I had to make her a bEARTHday card to help her celebrate :) Thus, I made this:

I used Lawn Fawn's Quinn's ABCs stamps to stamp out the letters on patterned paper. I sponged some blue and green distress ink on paper, then heat embossed the "earth" letters with white embossing powder to make it look like our wonderful planet from afar. 

I layered the sentiment over patterned paper cut with a spellbinders die. I matted it with black paper, and also cut some rectangles and matted those too for the background.

I also stamped a few of the same flower from Lawn Fawn's Judy''s Blooms and fussy cut those and layered them up, and gave the dimensional flower with a sweet little pearl.

Overall, a fun and bright card to help celebrate a bEARTHday!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!
 
Chris

Earth Day Anniversary (04/20/2015)

I love Earth Day! I have several friends with birthdays (or, as I say: bEARTHdays) and anniversaries on Earth Day. Here is a card I made for my cousin's Earth Day wedding anniversary:

 
To make the Earth, I die cut a circle out of blue velvet paper for the earth. I hand cut the continents in green velvet paper and laid it over the blue circle. Layered the earth over some solar / cosmic style paper.

She loves animals and has such a kind and generous heart. So, I envisioned the earth circled by animals. I stamped and colored all sorts of critters from Lawn Fawn's Critters line (Critters in the Snow, Critters in the 'Burbs, Critters on the Farm, Critters Down Under, Critters on the Savanna, Critters Ever After, and Critters in the Forest). I also stamped and die cut a banner with Lawn Fawn's Bannerific, and stamped the sentiment using Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments. 

Here are some close ups of a couple of the critters:

Ya can't go wrong with an earth covered by happy animals :)

Happy Anniversary Vicki & Dick - Hope you have a wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

You Inspire Me with Butterfly (04/15/2015)

I made this card to send a hello to a friend. I had a vision to highlight a butterfly, and came up with this design ... a glittery butterfly over a fairly simple but kinda detailed background.

I laid double-sided tape over cardstock, and die cut out the butterfly. I removed a portion of the release paper and added glitter, then removed a bit more, and added in another color of glitter ... I kept repeating this until all the butterfly was covered in the colors I had chosen. I also colored the body of the butterfly with glitter too.

I used my finger tool to burnish in the glitter, and set it aside. I used Simon Says Stamp's Frames Craft Dies to cut out the black cardstock, and the patterned paper. This set cut outs a thin frame around the outside of the card panel, and a scalloped oval. I love it! So versatile :)

I also used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder to add some texture to the solid black cardstock inside the thin colored frame.

I also created an inside for the card. I used the same frame die cut as above, with the scalloped frame shape. I cut out a white frame for the inside, and a pink cardstock piece for the inside.

I stamped the sentiment and some flowers at the base to give it some fun!

I also had to make a matching envelope using Lawn Fawn's Flutter By, and some masking.... 

Hopefully this card made my friend happy!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

How Tweet Of You! (04/13/2015)

The other day, at Triathlon Training, I was without socks and a towel. One of my awesome teammates had an extra pair of socks and a towel, and loaned them to me! After our training day, I washed them, and returned them to her tied up in a ribbon, with a little tag:

I used Lawn Fawn's A Birdie Told Me stamp set, and Harold's ABCs alphabet stamps. I also used Lawn Fawn's Small Stitched Circle dies to cut out the circle. I also used a scallop die cut to cut out a patterned paper background.

A quick simple tag to return a much appreciated loan of items.

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Hello & Thinking Of You Card (04/10/2015)

A friend of mine had surgery recently, and we went to visit after he got home. I made this Hello card to let him know we were thinking of him:

This card was made with LOTS of layers! I used a ton of stencils, and distress inks. I cut a card panel, and covered it with a really light coat of tumbled cloud distress ink, and then layered the gear stencil over my panel. I then added another layer of the tumbled glass distress ink and removed the stencil. The background showed the gears and then I kept going. I used darker distress inks in the blue shades, including broken china and salty ocean. I also layered on a radio wave stencil and added in some mowed lawn ink. I used all sorts of circle-type stencils, and then finished it off with the last layer of circle swirls and colored with picked raspberry. LOTS of colors!

Here is another angle:

I used Lawn Fawn's Scripty Hello die cut to cut out the sentiment. I cut it in black cardstock, and also a few more in white. I layered them up so that the hello die was popped up, with the white underneath.  I also added in some glossy accents to the black cardstock to give the sentiment a little dimension:

I also did the inside. I cut out two panels and colored them with distress inks and adhered them inside the card. I stamped a sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Chit Chat stamp set in a Memento Luxe pigment ink, covered it with Sparkle N Sprinkle's Sparkle Semi-Transparent embossing powder and heat set it.

Here is a close up of the sentiment:

Our friend is recovering well, and it was fun to show him that we were thinking of him.

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Bunny Extravaganza! (04/08/2015)

Another Easter Bunny card! 'Tis the season of chocolate bunnies ... Here is a circle card and tag I made for a friend who loves dark chocolate:

I used Lawn Fawn's Eggstra Special Easter stamp set and coordinating dies. I stamped the bunnies with versa mark ink on dark chocolate cardstock and used white embossing powder and heat embossed them. I die cut them out. Then, I stamped, white heat embossed, and fussy cut out the bows in blue patterned paper.

I also stamped out the tulip from the stamp set, and colored them in with Copic markers, then cut them out with the coordinating die. I painted on some Sparkle N Sprinkle's Brushable Glue to the flower part of the tulips, and covered each tulip with Twinkling Clouds Sparkle N Soft, which is flocking with a hint of glitter. I also covered the blue bows with Blissful Blue Sparkle N Soft as well. Here is a closeup of the flockings and glitters:

The Sparkle N Soft flocking/glitter mutes the colored images and patterned paper just enough, and gives it a bit of a sparkle. Here is another angle of them:

And more tulips:

I also added in some jelly beans to the card. I stamped the solid jelly bean stamp in versa mark ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock, and then covered them with colored embossing powders. I used Sparkle N Sprinkle's Pink Lady, Daffodil, and Red Apple embossing powders, then heat set them. Here is a close up of the jelly beans:

I love how the jelly beans look real! Just like the ones you can buy in the store :)

I also stamped out the big striped egg. I colored it with a distress ink marker, and then filled in the thin strips with Daffodil embossing powder and heat embossed it too.

After the circle part was done, I didn't have enough space to add a sentiment, so I pulled out a pre-made tag, stamped it with versa mark and covered it with Red Apple embossing powder, and heat set it. Then, I used a distress ink and blender tool to color the tag to make it match. I adhered two of the tulips to it, and added it to the circle portion to complete the card & sentiment. I made this card & tag combo to go with a large dark chocolate bar. Here is another view of the overall project:

I think she is going to like this - it is so cute!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Easter Bunny Ears! (04/06/2013)

Easter Bunnies make me happy! Lawn Fawn came out with a new stamp set, called Eggstra Special Easter and it even has coordinating dies, and I just had to get it! I have a friend who loves bunnies, and this was the perfect set to make her a bunny card. Here is the card I made for her:

I stamped the bunny with versa mark ink on dark brown cardstock and added white embossing powder and heat embossed it. This made the bunny look like solid chocolate! I also stamped the bunny on a yellow patterned paper, and also heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I fussy cut the bow and added it onto the bunny. 

I did the same process with the basket of eggs too - I used a lot of Lawn Fawn's patterned paper and fussy cut out each egg, the bow, and the basket. I layered everything up. I also used Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Borders and Lawn Fawn patterned paper to die cut out the ground and hill in the background. I layered the card panel onto a dark brown cardstock top folding card.  

I also decorated the inside:

I stamped the sentiment in a brown ink, and used a lot of bright Memento Luxe pigment inks to add a row of jelly beans along the bottom.

I know my friend will love this card - she loves bunnies and Easter so much :)

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Konnichiwa Card (04/03/2015)

I made this fun sweet card, using Hero Arts Japanese Garden stamp set, and a cherry blossom background stamp.

I stamped the background stamp with white ink on kraft cardstock. I cleaned it off, and inked up the stamp again with pink Memento Luxe pigment ink. I shifted the stamp, and stamped it again, in pink, over the white, to create my own patterned background. 

I stamped the little girl on white cardstock, and colored her in with Copics. I die cut out the cardstock and the pink card stock using Lawn Fawn's Small and Large Stitched Rectangle dies. I layered some sparkly black glitter glue over her hair, and covered the flower in her hair with clear sparkly glitter glue.

I also did the inside of the card:

 After cutting out a panel in pink, with Lawn Fawn's stitched rectangles, I stamped the cherry tree and the Konnichiwa sentiment circle from the Hero Arts Japanese Garden set in versa mark ink and heat embossed with Sparkle N Sprinke's Pink Lady embossing powder. Here is a close up of the cherry tree:

And, the Konnichiwa stamp:

And, I had to make a matching envelope as well. I die cut a label from masking paper, and covered up the center of the envelope with the mask. I stamped the cherry blossom background image with versa mark ink and covered it with white embossing powder. I then daubbed pink ink over both the masked area and blossoms. The embossed image resisted the ink, and allowed the blossoms to appear! After sponging on the pink ink, I removed the mask and the envelope was ready to go!

Such a fun card! Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!


Chris

Running Birthday Card (04/01/2015)

My friend, who is a runner (and a VERY STRONG one at that!) had a birthday, and I wanted to make just the right card for her. That is one of the many things I love about this hobby, we can make exactly the right card for each person. I love that we can personalize cards, colors, shapes, etc. for our loved ones. 

For my friend's birthday, I used my very first digital stamp: Sparkle N Sprinkle's Running Digital Stamp Set [Digi522]. This was the PERFECT stamp for her card! I purchased it through Sparkle N Sprinkle's website, and after my payment was processed, I got the digital files emailed to me. I was able to size the digital stamp to exactly the size I needed for my card, and printed out the stamp with my color printer. The stamp set has both the colored in stamp image (which I used) and an uncolored stamp image, which is awesome! 

Here is the card:

In this case, the colored-in image was perfect! It looks just like my friend :)

I printed out the colored image on Neenah Solar White paper, and sized it a little smaller than my card base. It needed a frame, so I laid Sparkle N Sprinkle's 1/8" Tear-ific Tape on the edges, and used it to adhere Sparkle N Sprinkle's Purple Rain microfine glitter, which gave it the perfect pop! 

The runner was floating and needed to be grounded, so I grabbed a couple green Copics and added in some grass under the runner.
 

I also did up the inside of the card ... which makes me happy! Here it is:

I used Lawn Fawn's So Much to Say and Claire's ABCs for the sentiment. I also added in some balloons from the So Much to Say set, and colored them in.

This was a really fun card to make. Digital stamps are really easy, and I might have a new obsession! I hope my friend enjoys this card, and had a fabulous birthday!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris