Christmas in July in August!

I've been a little behind in some swaps lately so last night I was determined to get my Christmas in July done - in August hee hee!

OUT FOR PUBLICATION

I had bought these glittery felt snowflakes at Michaels eons ago with plans to use them on a school craft project (maybe for teachers x-mas grifts - can't remember). Anywhoo they are just peel and stick and super easy to work with. I paired that with a die cut birdie from SU and a branch from Quick Kutz. The Silvery sentiment is a sticker too! No stamping and easy peasy!!

Thanks for looking, have a simple easy peasy day today!.

Monthly Card Swap Challenge - Finally!

I finally got a chance to make my cards for the June monthly swap with my friends at work. The theme this month was an older 2S4U sketch challenge. When I was looking through my latest issue of Scrapbooks Etc. magazine the other night I saw this cute, whimsical, kitty. They are offering it as a FREE download on their website to use as an iron-on transfer. I just couldn't resist his cuteness, so I saved it to my computer, sized it down and printed it on cardstock. I cut it out and added the mismatched button eyes for extra added cuteness!! It's my own version of a digi stamp, only this one is already colored in for you!! The rest of the card was simple easy-peasy! Thanks for looking!! Have a Great Day!

Vellum/Acetate Monthly Card Challenge

This months card challenge with my friends at work was to create a card using acetate or vellum. I decided to use a technique I saw first posted by Linda Bullard on SCS where she embossed on vellum to give a 3-D effect.

I first stamped the turtle from SU! Nature Prints on cardstock weight vellum with Brown Staz -on ink. Then I flipped the image over onto a foam mouse pad and embossed the turtle with a stylus tool. I went around the whole shell and then just emobossed the little spots. It is hard to see the effect in the photos, but it turned out really cool. Great texture and feels really neat! I colored the turtle itself on the front side of the vellum with SU! markers and the background (blue and brown) was colored on the backside of the vellum. Coloring on the backside gives a softer muted color. However, the turtle wasn't green enough for me when I tried coloring him on the backside. The brown paper is actually mulberry. I was trying to give a more natural feel to the card. The inside of the card is stamped with a sentiment that read "Take time to enjoy the simple things in life". I don't usually make masculine cards, but I think this fits that category. Thanks for stopping by!!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU! Nature Prints, Northwoods Stamp Co.

Ink: Staz On Brown, Su! Markers

Paper: The Paper Company, SU!, Watercolor paper from WM

Accessoreis: Brads, Ribbon - SU!

April Monthly Swap

This card was created for the April monthly swap with my girlfriends at work. This months theme was to create a card using the SU! Pocket Silhouette stamp set. I tried to keep it simple because I had 15 of them to make!! I didn't have the ticket punch so I just used a small circle punch to shape the corners - worked like a charm :0).

It's hard to tell but I used both a bashful blue SU! marker and a Sakura stardust pen to go over the stems of the flower and give it some sparkle. I left the sentiment pretty generic so that the person giving the card could stamp a specific sentiment on the inside. It would make a very lovely Mother's Day, Birthday, or Thinking of You card. Thanks for looking!!

Notice that cute little banner flag/tag?! I picked up a package of 60 of these from the Martha Stewart craft section at Walmart. 60 tags in 3 assorted colors for only $1.97. I thought this was lots easier than trying to cut my little angles just perfect (which I can never do). This is going to be a Moms Day card for me. Have a GREAT Day! TFL (thanks for looking).

Recipe:
Stamp: SU! Pocket Silhouettes, Sentiment - Joanns $1 bin
Ink: Staz On black, SU! marker
Paper: SU!
Accessories: Martha Stewart banner tags, Sakura Stardust pen, Scalloped circle punch, circle punch

Friends Bloom in Color

This is my card for the monthly card swap with my fellow stampers here at work. This months theme was get well/sympathy. However, I think my card falls more into the "Thinking of You" category. The sentiment inspired the design of this card. I wanted the flower to be the focal point and the only thing in color. So who better to hold the flower than this cute little Panda! No coloring there - I think he's perfect. He looked like he had his hand (paw) behind his back so I stamped him first and then masked him and added the flower to look like he was holding it. I decided to add a bit more color with the ribbon and button in coordinating colors of the flower. The layout of the card was loosely taken from this weeks SFYTT. TFL.

Recipe:
Stamps: Panda - Inkadinkado, Flower and sentiment - Anna Wight/Whipper Snapper
Paper: Cardstock SU!
Ink: Staz On - Black, SU! Markers
Accessories: Cuttlebug embossing foloder, buttons - PaperStudio, ribbon/hemp - Michaels

February Swap: Color Challenge

It's time again for another monthly card swap. This month's theme was to use colors chosen by a random color selector.

Here's what was generated.

Other than using all the colors somehow, we were free to create at will. And this is what I came up with.

The lady bug head was a punched circle cut in half. The body of the ladybug was created by punching three scallop circles out of the patterned paper, folding them in half and then adhering 1/2 of each to each other to give the 3D effect. I thought about using brads for the antennae, but I decide to just draw them on instead. I managed to squeeze in the green color by just adhering a small strip of cardstock to the bottom of the inside of the card so that it would show underneath the scalloped punched edge. I think it turned out pretty cute. It was quick and easy peasy. FYI: The stamp set by Kathy Davis (very cute images and words) is on sale at Hobby Lobby. In fact ALL stamps are on sale this week at Hobby Lobby for 50% off! So is the patterned paper :0)