Butterfly Birthday ATC

I will admit that the last few weeks have been filled with many things other than crafting.  My creative mojo was on vacation, and other priorities were higher up the list.  I have recently lost almost 30 pounds, which is a great deal of hard work in self discipline, meal planning, and daily exercise.  Along with that comes the cleaning out of my closet and the shopping for a fun wardrobe that fits the new me!  Now that school has started, school shopping is done, the boys’ rooms are de-cluttered, and the playroom given a thorough cleaning out I feel like I have a little time to play in my craft room.   (We won’t talk about the fact the craft room could use a little cleaning itself!)

This afternoon I sat down to create a Birthday ATC that is a little over due.  I like to use the snips and scraps from projects that were either experiments or didn’t make it for a card or scrapbook page.  This ATC used three leftover bits in its creation.    

I love how the bright sunshine brings out the shimmer!

 

The base Kraft card stock is embossed with Craftwell Teresa Collin’s Woodgrain Cottage and inked with Tsukineko Saddle Brown.  It is from the Advent Calendar I made last November!  The background is from the ABAC Celebration project in July and uses Imagine Crafts Fireworks in Dandelion, Tangelo, and Lady Bug.  More than a year ago I played around with Cheery Lynn’s Exotic Butterflies Small #2 and Angel Wings.  I think the Angel Wings is highlighted with Rexell Derwent Watercolor pencils with a bit of Liquid Pearls in Buttercup.  The new addition to pull the whole project together was the branch is Quickutz Wildflower with a bit of creative trimming.  The sentiment is from Inkadinkado Just Saying.  It is stamped in Tsukineko Saddle Brown.  

Just for fun, the reverse side.

  

The layers are adhered together; the branch is adhered with Zig Two Way Glue, which is perfect for small pieces.  After shaping the butterfly it is adhered with dimensional foam adhesive and glue dots. 

Proud to say that this ATC was a winner of this challenge:

Cheery Lynn Designs #202 Things With Wings

The following challenges provided some inspiration to get me going today! 
Pile It On #86 Birthday

Lacy Sunshine Winds of Change

Quirky Crafts #19 Animal Magic

Hiding In My Craft Room #216 Super Scraps!

Southern Girls Challenge Layer It Up (Five layers on anATC!)

It's a Man's World at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges

Our new challenge for the next fortnight is “It’s a Man’s World” at Ruby’s Rainbow Challenges.  So create a fun card or project that celebrates the men in your life and join us!  Last year the birthday card I created for my dear husband was a rush job.  We were in the midst of school sports and his special day snuck up on me.  But being a card maker, I had to create a card STAT!  So this year I decided I would be ahead of the game (his birthday isn’t for another 2 months!) and use this opportunity to make him a fun card.   For me, steam punk screams masculine, and it was time to dig out my Tim Holtz stash and play a little. 

Front

The base card started as 8” x 12” card stock scored and folded into thirds.  The first diagonal is 1 ½” from the top and the second diagonal is 3” from the top edge.  After cutting the diagonals I decorated the edges, which would show from the front of the card.  I used Stamper’s Anonymous Steampunk set as well as an Inkadinkado Steampunk Collage image.  All the images are stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black then sponged with Ranger Distress Ink in Weathered Wood.  The inside sentiment is from Hero Art’s It’s Your Day set.

Inside

I selected 4 different tags to stamp with the same images and used Idea-ology Remnant Rules: Numbers and Elements to add variety.    To create the greeting I used All Night Media’s Rubber Stamp Poet set (“Time”, “for” and “a”) along with Hero Art’s It’s Your Day “birthday”.  Two Ideo-ology Fragments are decorated with selected rub ons.  Sprocket Gears, Mini Paper Clips, and Film Strip Ribbon add the final touches to the card.  If you look closely the Film Strip Ribbon has a “52” in two frames for dear husband’s birthday.   

 

Details of the tags

I made a pocket from the front section, which is covered with Coredinations Color Core in Weathered Wood that is pressure embossed with Sizzix Pocket Watches.  The inside pocket is created from a second Sizzix Steampunk Gears embossed card stock.  The embossing folders are only 5 ½” x 4 ¼” so the top edge was stamped and inked.  The embossed card stock was adhered to create the pockets.  The card was a bit flimsy with all the decoration so I backed the card with another piece of embossed Weathered Wood but choose to show the reverse side which was inked with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black.

Back

I had a blast creating this card!  Dear Husband has gotten many a hand-made card from me, but this is the most intricate and detailed of the whole lot!  Hope he likes it!

Come and join the fun at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges and play along with #112 "It's a Man's World"!

I would like to enter this very fun card in a few challenges:

Crafty Card Maker #146 No patterned paper

Clear it out Challenge Anything Goes

Incy Wincy Design Anything Goes

Crafting From the Heart #75 Anything Goes

The Cat's Pajamas #298 Anything Goes

Scrap Creations Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes

Anything Goes at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog w/ an Autumn Birthday Card

As I sit down to write this blog post for Retro Rubber Blog Challenge’s next topic Anything Goes, it is definitely feeling like FALL!  If you are in the Pacific Northwest you know that it has been a horrific fire season, and this week the very much-needed rain is coming.  Our temps have dropped by 15 degrees with a high of 65 today, and it is time for a little layering.

With that said it is perfect that my project for Anything Goes is this autumn inspired birthday card.   

I started with the Happy Birthday image that has been in my stash since about 1998 or 1999.  I am not sure of the manufacturer as I bought it unmounted at the Portland Rubber Stamp convention, and did not record that bit of information.  It is stamped in Tsukineko Encore Satin Rose on glossy card stock and heat embossed with copper embossing powder.  Using a brayer and Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves I inked up the panel.  I like the shadow effect of adding the ink AFTER stamping and embossing the image as I think it helps it pop a bit more.  The sentiment layer is trimmed to 3 3/8” x 4 ¼”.

The backing copper metallic card stock was trimmed to 4” x 5 ½ then one end was die cut with Spellbinder’s Classic Ric Rac.   The layer was trimmed to line up the design of the die cut.  Some variegated ribbon from my stash was threaded through the die cut and trimmed just beyond the edges.  A triple loop bow was tied using the Bows-It-All v. 2.

The base card stock in A2 size (4 ¼” x 5 ½”) is brayered with the Fiskars Burlap design and Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves.  The metallic layers is adhered to the base card, with the bow adhered with a glue dot.  The sentiment layer is adhered with dimensional foam adhesive.

This was a fun and quick card to create and is perfect for a fall birthday.  Please join along with us at Retro Rubber Blog Challenge and create your own Anything Goes project!  

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Card Makers #146 No Patterned Paper (the background is stamped!)

Ooh La La Creations Challenges #186 Autumn Inspired 

 613 Avenue Create #139 A2 Card, Birthday, Metallic

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge #95 Create your own background

Brown Sugar Challenge #161 Make the sentiment Big

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #124 Autumn Colors with Ribbon or Trim

Use a Punch or Die Cuts at Ruby's Rainbow Challenge

Our theme for the fortnight is to use one of your fun punches or die cuts in creating your card.  Please come and play along with us at Ruby’s Rainbow Challenge.

I had a need for a birthday card last week and decided to go with the quick and easy Sizzix Card set, Regal Stand-Ups which I added the Regal Labels to the front layers.  I choose a fun paper from the GCD Studio Special Delivery and die cut the card and the layers from both sides A and B.  I added in a blue, yellow, and white card stock from my stash for contrasting layers of the label and the “happy birthday” sentiment.  The stamp sentiment is by Studio G and is stamped in Tsukineko Versa Magic Turquoise Gem.

To finish the front I tied a double-looped bow with my Bow-It-All v.2 along with back ties.  Before adhering the label layers I tied the ribbon in place.  The sentiment and blue layers are adhered with dimensional foam adhesive to help them pop.

The inside of the card is lined with white card stock so there is a place to write a personal greeting and to show off the border die cut and happy birthday sentiment.  I added a little bit of textured ribbon to the border die cut as well before adhering it to the card base. 

Sometimes using the die cut card is perfect and allows me to quickly create a very fun card in a short amount of time. 

Please come share your die cut or punched creations with us over a Ruby’s Rainbow Challenge!

I would like to enter this fun card in the following challenges:

Crafty Sentiments Designs Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge To Die For

Shopping Our Stash #215 Layer It On Me (Still love layers, not so much CAS!)

The Cheerful Stamp Pad Birthday

613 Avenue Create #137 Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations Anything Goes with a Stamp and a Die

Back to School at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog

In the spirit of the fall season our challenge for the next two weeks at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog is Back to School.  

In some parts of the U.S. there are students who have already started back, here in Central Oregon we still have 3 more weeks of summer left.  Join in the fun and create your own project that celebrates school starting and use your Retro Rubber that is more than a year old. 

 This card was quick to put together as the ideas came quickly!  Working with an A2 sized white card I trimmed the corners.  The base layer is a left over scrap of craft card stock trimmed to 4” x 5 ¼” and the corners are rounded.  The card stock was embossed with Craftwell Teresa Collins’ Woodgrain Cottage and inked with Tsukineko StazOn Timber Brown. 

Die Cuts With a View made a Blackboard stack a few years back, and I still have a few sheets in my stash.  The Lawn Cuts Stitched Journaling Card die cut the chalkboard.  I have two sets of school related images that I picked up about 5 or 6 years ago when my boys first came home.  The images from TPSC Studio “ABC, and 1,2,3” and The Paper Company Studio Grade School “apple” are stamped in Tsukineko Versa Magic Cloud White and are heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The images were colored with EK Success Zig Chalk Collection Writers in Yellow, Red, Green, and Blue.  The TPSC  “Back to School” is stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and the smiley face was colored with the Zig Chalk Yellow.  The image is fussy cut to match the rounded corners of the card design.  The card was assembled with the Back to School image mounted with dimensional foam adhesive.   I pondered adding more embellishments but decided I really liked the simple design and let it be!

Please join us and create your own Back to School card or layout or project and link it up over at Retro Rubber.  Just remember to use some unloved images and clue us in to how long they may have languished in your stash!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Lawnscaping Challenge:  Embossing--I used both pressure and heat embossing

Crafty Calendar Challenge Bingo:  Die cut, kraft, and blue (coloring)

Anything But a Card Challenge #50 Celebration

Ah summer time!  A time to celebrate being outdoors in the sunshine!  I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family outdoors this summer and not much time in my craft cave.  This month at Anything But a Card our theme is Celebrate, so I choose to celebrate the summer season with this cheery pillow box gift holder.

To add shimmer and color at the same time I choose to use Imagine Crafts Fireworks mists in Dandelion, Tangelo, and Lady Bug.  To get more of a water color effect I sprayed them on my craft mat and laid the white card stock over the top and used a brayer to evenly distribute the ink.  After a little drying time I cut the card stock to 6” x 6” and used the We R Memory Keepers Pillow Box Punch Board to make the box. 

The cute sun with sunglasses image is one I’ve had forever made by American Art Stamp.  It is stamped in Tsukineko Memento in Tuxedo Black.  It also decorates the back of the pillow box.  The lips were colored with Memento Dual Tip Marker in Lady Bug and the sunglasses are colored with Tangelo.  The sun's rays are colored with Dandelion, Cantaloupe, and Tangelo.  It is great when you use the same product line as all the colors work together nicely.   Memento Luxe Love Letter is used to stamp the sentiments and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  “Celebrate” is by Scrappy Cat in the Birthday Wishes set and “Summer” is by All Night Media in the Rubber Stamp Poet set.

I must say it has been so fun and a great honor to be part of the #Cre8time Challenges as a member of the Anything But a Card Challenges Design Team.  I have stretched my creative boundaries, made new friends, and learned so much.  Thanks so much for the journey.  My favorite challenge was most likely the one I worked on until the wee hours to complete . . . the Advent Calendar for Novemeber's Anthing Goes Challenge.  Please join us in the final challenge for ABAC and enter your project that reflects CELEBRATION!

For a Little Girl at Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #110

Our challenge for this fortnight at Ruby's Rainbow Challenge is to create something for a little girl.  I created this card for a sweet baby and her mother who needed to spend some time at Dornbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.  Sweet baby girl had a birth defect, a vascular ring around her trachea also known as a double aortic arch.  Praising God that she is now home and doing well!

I started with Peddlers Pack images that I have owned forever!  The are marked with 1995, wow 20 years ago!  Since I wanted to use my watercolor pencils I used Bristol 100 pound white card stock.   First the mouse was stamped in Tsukineko StazOn Black and then masked with a fussy cut image of the same.  I figured he could sit on the chair arm as I didn't think his little skinny tail or arms would do well otherwise.  The chair is stamped over the mask with Tsukineko StazOn Timber Brown.  The remaining images were stamped Tsukineko StazOn Black and fussy cut after they were colored.  

My Rexel Derwent Watercolor pencils gave me the wonderful soft watercolor feel I wanted for the images.  I used Ivory Black 67, Golden Brown 59, Brown Ochre 57, Rose Pink 18, Deep Cadmium 6, Lemon Cadmium 2, Water Green 44, Grass Green 47, Smalt Blue 30, and Light Violet 26.  I love using my Niji Water pen to finish the watercolor effect.  The images cheeks and paws are finished with Chameleon PK3 Bubble Gum, and the flower's leaves have a bit of YG3 Spring Green.  

The doll, bunny, and bear are mounted to the card with different thicknesses of foam adhesive.  Card stock from my stash that brings out the colors of the images is used to back the card front image.  Martha Stewart Eyelette Lace border and corner punch give the lacy edge to the background layer.  This was a fun card to make and hopefully was a cheerful message for a sweet baby and her mama as they spent more than 2 weeks at the hospital! 

Please come by and join the Little Girl fun at Ruby's Rainbow Challenge #110!