Happy Birthday! (07/30/2012)

It's a birthday!

I made a card, using Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Snow, Critters in the 'Burbs and Critters in the Forest, Hats Off to You, Sophie's Sentiments and stickers and a panel from the Bright Sides Collection Kit for my nephew's birthday. 

I stamped out the critters and the hat and colored them with Copic markers, then fussy cut them.  I layered most of the critters under the panel, but just had to put the cute 'lil penguin on the front of the panel with a festive party hat!  I also layered a strip of washi tape underneath the panel, and stamped sentiments on the panel too.

Before adhering everything down, I also used Sophie's Sentiments and stamped Happy Birthday in versa mark for a background.  Here is a closeup:

Happy Birthday Alex!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Glittery Make & Take Flower (07/27/2012)

I recently attended the Puyallup Scrapbook Expo and did a few make & takes.  They were really fun, and I decided to post what I did here ... so, here is one of them - I colored and glued it together, but the design and everything else is from the great gals at Stamping Fools.  Here is the card from Stamping Fools:

This was a fun card to make.  The gals at Stamping Fools used white cardstock, laid down a sheet of adhesive, then covered it with micro fine glitter.  Then, they cut the glittered cardstock into rectangles.  They designed the make & take and had everything else pre-cut for all of us.  We layered the yellow patterned paper cardstock panel over the white card, and matted the small white panel with black cardstock.  We then used a Dazzle sticker and pulled off the "frame" of the tulip pot sticker, put it on top of the glittery cardstock, then colored in the image.  After that, we fussy cut out the glittery image, and pop-dotted it onto our rectangle.  A few spots of bling later, and the card was done. Here is an image of the glittery, copic colored image close up:

This card was fun, and it taught me that I can color OVER glitter!  I have tried it since I got back from the Expo, and I have some stuff in the works, based on this idea!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Guest Designer "Thanks Friend" Bonus Post! (07/26/2012)

Today's card was not created by me - but I just had to share, so here it is!

My buddy Mary, who is fairly new to paper crafting, attended the Puyallup Scrapbook Expo with me and some of our other paper crafting friends.  Mary made this card for a friend - and I think it is absolutely gorgeous!

She used Lawn Fawn's Critters Ever After for the unicorn, copic colored it in, and even added a little silver sparkly glitter to the horn.  She also stamped out and copic colored flower, leaves and a butterfly from Flutter By.  She also used the Bright Side Collection Kit patterned paper. 

She border punched grass, and used distress ink to add some texture to the grass.  She layered this all up, stamped the sentiment on paper, banner cut it, and she was done!  I love this card - Mary did such a fantastic job!

I just had to share this card to show you how wonderful it is, and the amazing cards that Mary creates ... she is a genius!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Welcome Box (07/25/2012)

Today's post is NOT a card ... it is a BOX!  Let's check it out.

I needed to give a gift to a visiting Chinese lecturer, and decided to make a box to put the welcome gift in.  Red is a traditional color for gift giving, and I didn't have a red box - so I made one!  I purchased a white cubed box from a big box store, and decided to decorate it.  The bad news is, distress ink (all I had in red!) does NOT stick or adhere to glossy white boxes.  But, I am getting ahead of myself.

I decided to decorate with a little bit of scrolly swirls from Lawn Fawn's Grand Greetings, and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  After I got the gold scrolls embossed, I tried to do a resist technique using red distress ink.  But, the ink didn't stay on the box and kept smearing off.  I had nothing else to color it with, so I ended up pulling out my crystal 3d glue and some red tissue paper.  I smeared the glue all over the box, and wrapped it in the tissue paper and smooshed it down.  So, the tissue ended up being laid over the gold embossed decorations.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but I think it ended up working out.

Here is a shot of the goodies inside the gift box:

All in all, I was pleased with how it turned out - but it sure was a process to get to this point!  Hopefully our visitor enjoyed his welcome gift.

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Happy Monday! (07/23/2012)

We all need a Happy Monday card now and again:

A friend who knows I like to make cards, made a joke recently about wanting a "happy monday" card ... and since he wished for it, he got it!

I used a card from a big-box store card & envelope set, and cut a patterned paper panel from Lawn Fawn's Bright Side Collection kit paper to use.  I also stamped out the "may all your dreams come true" sentiment from the Critters Ever After set, in rainbow colors on the card.  Then, I filled in the rest of the space above the patterned paper area with the same sentiment but in a softer ink to create a bit of a patterned paper effect with the sentiment.  Here is a close-up:

And, heck, if we are dreaming, why don't we dream big and wish for a griffin?  So, I stamped out the griffin from Critters Ever After, and colored it in with Copic markers and fussy cut it.  I layered it over the patterned paper.

I also stamped out the "happy monday" sentiment with Quinn's ABCs in rainbow colors with the Petite Paper Pack patterned paper.  I white heat embossed the sentiment letters and adhered them to the patterned paper.  I finished it off with a sweet bow using Lawn Fawn's Lawn Trimmings cord.   Check it out:

I don't like the look of ribbon or stuff wrapped through the "inside" of the card, so I cut the lawn trimming cord long enough to stretch across only the front of the card, and then cut another piece and tied it in a bow onto the first cord piece. This way, the bow could slide along the straight cord and I could place it exactly where I wanted it.  Once I had the placement figured out, I used my crystal 3-d glue stuff and squeezed out a thin line of glue, stretched the straight cord out and placed it on the glue.  I held it tight for a few seconds, then trimmed off the ends.  I ended up with a tied bow, without having the cord wrapped through the inside of the card.

I know Dan enjoyed this card, and hopefully his Monday was even happier because of it! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Happy Birthday with Glitter! (07/20/2012)

Today's card has glitter!

This card was totally scraplifted from Lawn Fawn's 07/09/12 blog post.  When I saw Chari's card, I knew I had to make one ... and Melisa, conveniently, was having a birthday!  So, she got a glittery candle border card.  

I recently purchased a pack of cards & envelopes from a big box store, for super cheap (8 cards & envelopes in the dollar bin!).  So, I decided to use one of those.  I used the one with the scalloped edge. I layered a blue panel over most of the front of the card, and left the scalloped border.  I also ran a thin strip of the same cardstock color on the inside bottom of the card to help accent the scallop.

To decorate the card, I used Lawn Fawn's Chevron Backdrops and versa mark inked the cardstock panel with the thin chevron border.  I stamped "happy" with Quinns ABCs and filled in each letter with blue glitter glue.  I also stamped "birthday" from Sophie's Sentiments.  Then, stamped a string of colored candles from Bake Me a Cake set.

I topped off the card, just like Chari, with a cute little party hat from Hats Off to You collection.

This was a really fun card and I hope Melisa enjoys it and has a wonderful birthday!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris

Twiney Thanks! (07/18/2012)

Today's card is colorful and filled with love!  Let's stroll on over and say howdy okay?

I made this Thanks card to thank a friend for her inspiration and belief in me ... and I wanted to make it as colorful as possible!  I used Lawn Fawn's Quinns ABCs for the sentiment, and Belinda's Borders for the heart border and the chevron and squiggle backgrounds. 

I made a card from cardstock, then cut a white cardstock panel.  I stamped the heart border and then colored the hearts in rainbow colors with Copic markers.  I scraplifted a hint from Lawn Fawn's Kelly Marie and drew around the outer edges of the heart border with a very light gray marker to help make the heart border POP a little bit more.  It is really hard to tell in these photos.

I also stamped both the squiggle and chevron borders in versa mark to create a bit of a patterned paper background.  You can kinda see that in the photo above.

I stamped out my sentiment, using versa mark and white embossing powder on Lawn Fawn's Petite Paper Pack in rainbow colors as well.  I fussy cut them out and adhered them with popup dots.

I wanted even more color :) so I tied on some bakers twine, tied bows, and copic colored some clear rhinestones to get them to match the twine, and popped them on top of the bows.  I also put a teeny dot of Crystal 3-D glue under the bows to keep them in place, and keep them from unraveling.   

A corner punch and a little bit of inked edges later, and the card was done.  I really hope Kerena likes it - she has inspired me in so many ways.  I hope this little card helps tell her how much I appreciate her!

Thanks for stopping by, have a magical day!

Chris