Be Merry and Bright Card Set

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday. Are you still sleeping off all the turkey and trimmings? I definitely ate way too much! ;)

A friend saw a card I made last year and asked me to duplicate it as a card set. I'm not good with making multiple cards exactly alike, and I have almost completely lost my cardmaking mojo since saying goodbye to my little Silkie, Ozzy, 2 weeks ago, so I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. Ozzy was always underfoot when I worked in my craftroom in the middle of the night, and it's just not the same without him around. Since I haven't been able to find my get-up-and-go to design any cards at all, I thought CASing my own card a few times might help me get back in the groove again. 

Here's the entire set. I basically just chose four different groupings of paper, twine, and beads, then colored the image to match it's card. I like how they turned out. You can't tell in the pics, but all the Christmas lights have clear Wink of Stella sparkling on them, and the little puppies' noses are all dimensional with Glossy Accents. Close ups of each one follow:

I didn't take pics of the insides, but they all have the same sentiment and 3 flags in the corresponding papers either sewn or stapled to the card. If you want to see an example of what I did, I do have a pic of the inside of my original card here.

While I haven't made any cards in a few weeks, I have been busy making books. Now that I don't have to reference a book or video every time I want to make a book, I can make them without having to concentrate a lot, for most of the process. I'll post pics of them soon.

In the meantime, thank you for visiting my blog today, and BIG HUGS to all my Paper Sweeties Design Teammates, Facebook friends, and real life friends who have sent me such wonderful messages of condolence. I know Ozzy was "only" a pet, but, to me he was as much a part of my family as anyone else in it, and if you've ever lost a beloved pet, I know you understand how devastating it can be. :'‑(

Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #28 (the first card fits the challenge)
Sugar Pea Color Challenge #7: CCC7 (the first card fits the challenge)
TCP Tuesday 304: Anything Goes
Tiddly Inks Challenge #171: Anything Goes!
The Paper Shelter Challenge #229: A Christmas Card
DoubleClick Skittles Challenge: Christmas Holiday Challenge
Sweet Stamps November Anything Goes Challenge

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Things of Nature

Hello Friends! A quick post here to share my latest creation. I'm pretty excited about this one because I made it using my brand new Kutrimmer 1071 paper trimmer! I've wanted one ever since I used one at a bookbinding bookcamp in Athens, but the cost was prohibitive. But, I found a brand new one on Ebay last week for a great price and the seller just happened to be within driving distance, so I was able to pick it up and get started using it right away! 

I made all the flowers on this project, and all but the two tiny pink ones are made from the same stamp and die set. The flowers were all stamped onto patterned papers, die cut, inked along the edges, then shaped. There is a close up of the flowers at the bottom of the post.

I've always liked making boxes, but with my new paper cutter, that can cut right through book board, I like it even more. Cutting the parts for the box only takes a few minutes now, and requires very little effort, unlike cutting it by hand with a blade.

Here's a look at the inside. Actually, it has a set of cards inside it now, but they are all cards I've posted before, so nothing new to see there.

The spine of the box is covered in bookcloth with a strip of patterned paper added over that.

Here's a close-up of the larger flowers. You can see the centers much better here. I love how the dark pink one turned out! I used micro beads in the center of that one. The yellow and pink flowers have Stickles centers, and the purple one has a large rhinestone.

These are the smaller flowers. The yellow flower is filled with beads and glitter, and the purple flower has Stickles on the edges of all the petals. The butterfly die cut was covered in Ice Blue Inka Gold, then I heat embossed it with UTEE.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this. You'll probably be seeing a lot more handmade boxes (and books) in the future now! ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Tiddly Inks Challenge #166: Don't Be Square
613 Avenue Create Challenge #143 : Anything Goes
Penny Black and More September Challenge: Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #265: Sparkle & Shine
Craft Your Passion Challenge #281: Always Anything Goes

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Paper Sweeties April Release Rewind!

It's Release Rewind time at Paper Sweeties, when we showcase the new releases paired with previously released stamps. I can't decide if this is a difficult task or an easy one for me, because you could easily pair any of the Paper Sweeties stamp sets and come up with a fab card, so narrowing down which ones to use can be a dilemma!

I used both the new release sets, Tree of Life and Tree of Life Add-On: Spring, along with four other sets to make my card: Sophie, I Pick You, Spring is Here, and Feel Better Soon. Sophie's shirt and shoes came from the Feel Better Soon set. I just trimmed off the bottom of the dress to make a shirt. The shorts and frog are from the I Pick You set (that little frog just cracks me up!), where I lopped off the overalls to make a pair of shorts, and the sentiment came from the Spring is Here set. I created the background by tearing a piece of paper to use as a mask and sponging Mowed Lawn Distress Ink on the bottom of the cardstock and Broken China ink on the top. Sophie is colored with Copics. I added more detail to her eyes and I'm trying to learn to color cheeks with a little more dimension. ;)

This is a good card for someone with an April birthday. I created the inside sentiment on Word, printed it in reverse onto a transparency, then rubbed it onto the cardstock.

My Teamies are all so talented! Be sure to check out their Rewind creations, too!

Cheryl Lea - That's Me!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Emily Frasier 
Jill Norwood 

Julie Tucker-Wolek
Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen

Nancy Penir

And, remember, for a chance to win a gift certificate from Paper Sweeties, just enter the April Inspiration Challenge--Hoppy Easter.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Sweet week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make Your Own Background
Sugar Pea Designs SPD14: Celebrate Spring
Corrosive Challenge #222: Floral Fantasy
Fresh Brewed Challenge April 15-21: Birthdays
Tiddly Inks #155: Springs In!
Kit & Clowder April Challenge: Flowers

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Love is a Four-Legged Word

March 24th was a sad day for fans of the Jenny L. Cote book series, The Epic Order of the Seven, which happens to be my daughter's all-time-favorite books. The main character of the books is Maximillian Braveheart the Bruce, a Scottish Terrier, who is based on Mrs. Cote's own beloved pet, Max. Well, sweet little Max passed away last week after battling cancer. Besides loving Max as the character in the books, my daughter is also a dog-lover in general. (March 24 was also our own terrier's 15th birthday, too.) So, when I told her about Max's passing, my daughter was devastated, and fell asleep on a tear-dampened pillow, while holding tight to a plush Scotty that looks just like Max. 

Mrs. Cote does a lot of creative writing workshops for kids, and she just happens to be coming to our town for a workshop for our homeschool group next week, so I made this sympathy card for my daughter to give to Mrs. Cote while she is here. I love this Tiddly Inks image, which I colored with Copics, and I've used it before, for a card that I intend to eventually give to my daughter because it looks so much like her and our dog, Ozzy, but it is also perfect for this occasion, since it resembles Mrs. Cote and Max, too! See...

Jenny Cote, Max, and Liz

I used the Viva la Verve March 2015 Week 4 Sketch for the card design, and all the patterned paper, including the sentiment on the die cut faux leather belt, is from the Raining Cats & Dogs paper pad by Graphic 45. I added the detailed eye to the image, and worked quite a while on the girl's cheek to make it look more dimensional. I still need practice, but I was pleased with how it finally turned out. 

The sentiment inside the card was typed in Word and printed onto cardstock. I added little paw print stamps and a red flourish in the corner. The monogram letters (M-A-X) are from the Paper Sweeties Fancy Monograms stamp set. I stamped them with Versamark onto black chipboard, then heat embossed them in white. I can't get over how much detail is in the monograms, even when embossed! After cutting the letters with a die from the Beautiful Little Wishes Sweet Cuts die set, I mounted each letter onto a square of craft foam, then onto a square of gold mirror foil. It's pretty in real life, but since it truly is mirrored, the gold doesn't show up well in a photo. The sentiment at the bottom is written in Gaelic (I just love Google sometimes!), to go along with Max's Scottish heritage. Again, it doesn't show well in this photo, but the sentiment strip is wavy, rather than glued flat to the card. I used Pearl Pen dots under the center of the strip to keep it from getting smushed.

My daughter loves the card and can't wait to give it to Mrs. Cote, along with a little gift she made just for her. ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve March 2015 Week 4 Challenge
Tiddly Inks Challenge #154: Anything Goes With a Tiddly Inks Image/Stamp
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #117: True Anything Goes...No Twist!

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I'm Published!!!

My family does highs and lows at dinner each night, and my high yesterday was easy...one of my cards is published in a magazine!!! I can't even remember how long ago I submitted this Tiddly Inks card to Complete Cardmaking Magazine, but I found out it was accepted when I saw it in print for the first time yesterday! (Thanks for the pic, Lou!) 

Here's my photo of the card:

It's my typical card that has a lot going on, with coloring, sewing, fussy cutting, and, of course, my all-time favorite technique, distressing, but I created the entire background for the image on the computer. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. All the images came from Tiddly Inks, including the cool background. There are details in the magazine about how I made it. They are classifying this as an "advanced" card, but if you know your way around a photo editing program, or have worked with images in Word, it is really not that difficult to make.

And, here's the card in print:

The colors in the magazine don't look as vivid, but, see that little teal blue banner in the upper left corner of the picture? That's my name!!! Whoo Hoo! See...it's really my card! 

And, this is the magazine: Complete Cardmaking Issue 54. I have a copy ordered, but it's coming from the U.K., so it may be awhile before I see it for real. Joann's, or maybe Michael's or Hobby Lobby, may carry this magazine in the U.S., but I'm not sure about that. 

I haven't posted on my blog in over two weeks because I've been working on perfecting my bookbinding and boxmaking skills (I'll have pics of my projects soon!), but after today, I think I'm ready to get back to cardmaking, and this year, maybe I'll submit more often to magazines. This has been FUN, and what a fantastic way to kick off the new 2015 year!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Something New
613 Avenue Create Challenge #106: 2nd Annual Block Party--1001 Techniques
Sugar Pea Designs SPD12: Anything Goes
Corrosive Challenge #215: Shiny and New
Fresh Brewed Challenge January: Favorites
Kit and Clowder January Challenge: Anything Goes

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Warm Cocoa Wishes

This past week, my daughter and I have both been feeling puny, and warm cups of hot chocolate were very welcomed by us! So for my Tiddly Inks Fabby Friday post, I decided to use the adorable Cocoa Wishes image and girly colors for a fun seasonal card. 

I colored little Wryn up with copics, fussy cut her, then popped her up with some foam tape. The card design is from this week's Your Next Stamp Sketch & Color Challenge. I cut the text out of heavy glitter paper.

Sadly, my time is up on the Tiddly Inks DT, so this will be my last post for them. There should be another DT call soon, for the next season, so be on the lookout. I highly recommend this DT for anyone interested in DT assignments. Christy, and the entire team, is amazing, and I enjoyed every minute I was there.

Be sure to stop by Tiddly Inks and see what the rest of the DT has for today's post. As usual, their creativity and talent will blow you away!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
YNS Sketch & Color Challenge #4
Simon Says Monday: Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday: Winter Inspiration
613 Avenue Create #102: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs SPD12: Anything Goes
Chocolate, Coffee, & Card Challenge #80: Christmas
Corrosive Challenge #214: Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #242: Winter Cards with Glitter
The Shabby Tea Room Week #242: Shabby Chic Holiday
TSC Challenge #60: Anything Goes

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Winter Blues Tiddly Inks Challenge

Got the winter blues? Well, why not channel that into a fun challenge--Tiddly Inks Happy Winter Blues Challenge!  

The Faythe Gives image I used on this card was so much fun to color with my Copics. I loved adding all the lumps in her sack and the folds and gathers in her dress and hat, and it's always challenging, in a good way, of course, to use non-traditional colors at Christmastime. Can you see the 3-D fur on her hat and dress? I used my Snow Marker there. That stuff is fantastic!

The inside of the card has a simple sentiment and several circular layers. I like to have sparkle somewhere on my cards when I can work it in, so I added Diamond Stickles to the white snowflake layer, and colored the little ornament stamp with silver and gold Wink of Stella markers.

Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's happy work, then grab something blue and link up your own creation to the Winter Blues challenge! This is the last Tiddly Inks challenge of 2014, so if you miss it, you'll have to wait until January for the next one! ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Happy Winter day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Deconstructed Sketch No. 178
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Christmas/Holidays
613 Avenue Create Challenge #101: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs Challenge SPD11: Winter Wishes
Corrosive Challenge #214: Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #241: Christmas Cards
Fresh Brewed December Challenge: Christmas Anything Goes

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Tiddly Inks New Ewe Release Boxed Card Set

I adore making boxed card sets, especially when I have a fabulous set of stamps that coordinate perfectly, and Christy, at Tiddly Inks, has just released seven--YES SEVEN--Tiddly Inks sheep stamps that are adorable individually, but that are also just right for a card set! To top that off, every single one has a sentiment built right in! And, since they are sheep, there was very little coloring required. BAAA-AM! This sweet card set practically made itself!

I made 8 cards for this set, using the Thank Ewe image on two cards, colored differently. For the box, I modified this tutorial, which I used in another card set almost two years ago. I used the curly D'Vine Swirls embossing folder for the side panels, and inside back of the box, to go along with the sheep theme. The cards are all 3.5" x 5.5", and I made white envelopes for them with an envelope punch board. (A card recipe for the set is at the bottom of the post.) For the cards and the box, I used Recollections 110 lb. cardstock, which is the heaviest cardstock I've found, even among other 110 lb. cardstock brands. (If I had needed to do more coloring, I would probably have used X-Press It Blending Card for the images, colored them, then mounted them to the front of 110 lb. card bases, but the extra step wasn't necessary for these cards.)

Here are pics of the individual cards. I have to apologize for the yucky colors. White cards are my Waterloo! I can never get the color right when photographing them, and when I start editing them in my photo program, they turn out all different colors, depending on what other colors are on the cards. So, so frustrating. Trust me when I say that every card is the same beautiful, bright white, and the colors are vivid and crisp. ;)

Happy Baaa-Day to Ewe. Diamond Stickles are on each of the little notes, and Black Wink of Stella gives the little sheep faces a bit of shine.

Ewe Sparkle & Shine. Each star was colored with a yellow Copic marker, then I added yellow Stickles over that.

Ewe and Me. Diamond Stickles on the sweet little star. I think this is my favorite of all these images.

Hope Ewe Get Well Soon. Colored with Copics. The colors here look a bit washed out. :~( This photograph could certainly use some doctoring!

Thank Ewe. I printed this one to cover the entire front of the card. The ombre colored "thank" is a little more intense in real life.

Second Thank Ewe. This is printed slightly smaller than the first one. I used magenta, yellow, and blue-green markers to make the dots, which also gave me orange and green dots when they mixed. Then, because all those dots were making my eyes crazy, I edged parts of the letters with the blue-green marker to add some definition. 

Ewe Rock! Glossy Accents give this rocker's shades some style! Don't you just love his heart tattoo? As a bonus, the Thank Ewe image and the Ewe Rock image are together--2 for 1. Who doesn't love that? ;)

Only Have Eyes For Ewe. I couldn't get it to show up in the photo, but Xmas Red Stickles is sparkling on the little heart.

Here's an inside look at the box. The finished measurements are 6" long x 2" deep x 4" high. The front panel is 2" high. To modify the original tutorial, all I had to do was cut the original piece of cardstock to 8" x 10", then followed the rest of her tutorial. This was a blast to make!

Now, hurry on over to Tiddly Inks to see what the rest of our super talented DT did with these images. You're going to want to add these New Ewes to your digi stash for sure! And, you can even use them to enter the current Gratitude and Joyfulness Challenge, too!

Oh, and, lucky you, today is a two-fer! It's also Tiddly Inks Fabulous Friday! If you'd like to see my Fab Friday post, go here.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Be-ewe-tiful week!

I'm entering this card set in the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create Challenge #100: Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #240: Anything Goes
Corrosive Challenge #213: Happy Everything!
TSC Challenge #58: Anything Goes

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Wryn Goes Caroling for Fabby Friday!

It's a Tiddly Inks Fabby Friday, and today is extra special, because Christy is also releasing some of the cutest critter images ever! But, I'm not going to spoil it for you here--you'll have to see them for yourself! In the meantime, here's a Christmas card made with the Wryn Goes Caroling image.

I colored Wryn with Copics on X-Press Blending Card. There is some Glossy Accents on the berries on her hat, and bronze Pearl Pen on the music notes. This was fun to color, but I almost threw it out when my E79 marker--an extremely dark brown--leaked onto her hair!!! Colorless Blender and Prismacolor pencils to the rescue! You can still see a dark spot, but it's very faint, and I'm pretending it's a shadow from the holly leaf!!! Copics have given me such an appreciation of non-perfection. ;~) 

I used the Mojo 373 sketch for the layout, some Christmas papers, a few rhinestones and sequins, and added red Pearl Pen spots on the holly paper. I was visiting friends in Savannah when I colored this, so it was one of the rare times when I colored, having no idea at all what kind of paper I would use. I was stumped on this until I used the teal cardstock as my base and matting. This might be my new fav Christmas color palette!

The sentiment on the inside of the card is from Our Daily Bread, and it is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. 

Go here to see the Fabulous Friday offerings from the rest of the Tiddly Inks Design Team. Then, be sure to go to Christy's blog to see her newly released images, as well as more Design Team cards using them! I couldn't resist a single new image, and made a Be-ewe-tiful 8-card boxed set using every single one of them! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Fabulous Day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Holiday Cards
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Christmas/Holidays
Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #3
613 Avenue Create Challenge #100: Anything Goes
Sugar Pea Designs Challenge SPD11: Winter Wishes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Clearly Christmas
Fresh Brewed December Challenge: Christmas Anything Goes
Kit & Clowder November Challenge: Christmas
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #240: Anything Goes
Corrosive Challenge #213: Happy Everything!
TSC Challenge #58: Anything Goes

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Be Merry and Bright Pupmas!

Tomorrow, at Tiddly Inks, Christy is releasing an adorable new group of cute critter digi stamps, that I know you are going to love, and in preparing for the release, it reminded me of another critter image that I hadn't had a chance to use yet, which was released a few weeks ago. Actually, it's a set of two, and you can't beat the price--they are only $1.00!

 I used the Be Merry and Bright Pupmas image for this Christmas card:

Isn't he sweet? He reminds me of a time, many years ago, when I came home after a couple of hours and my brand new little puppy had grabbed hold of a sweater I was knitting and then ran through the den, dining room, and kitchen at least a dozen times with it, wrapping the yarn around a big wall that separated the rooms, and tangling himself in the process. It was frustrating to have to start the sweater all over, but he looked so cute, I couldn't be mad at him. Looks like this little guy had a similar experience! 

I colored the image with Copics, then added Transparent Pearl Pen to each of the lights, as well as his nose. I went over the text with a Black Spica pen to give it some shine. The green layer is popped up a little bit with 2 layers of crimped cardstock, which I prefer over foam dots or tape on a larger layer. I threaded three red beads, that look a bit like holly berries, to red twine and wrapped it around the layer 3 times for a little embellishment.

The sentiment inside of the card is from an old Flourishes stamp set, and I zigzagged two fishtail banners to the top edge.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my Tiddly Inks Fabby Friday post, as well as the New Release Digi Stamps! The DT cards for the new release are spectacular!!! You aren't going to want to miss this one!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Merry and Bright week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Mojo Monday #374
613 Avenue Create #100: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Holiday Cards
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Christmas/Holidays
Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #3
Sugar Pea Designs Challenge SPD11: Winter Wishes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Clearly Christmas
Fresh Brewed Designs December Challenge: Christmas Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish Challenge #240: Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge #213: Happy Everything!
TSC Challenge #58: Anything Goes
Kit and Clowder November Challenge: Christmas

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