Fresh Brewed Guest Designer

Did you notice anything new when you got here today? I spent the past few days revamping my blog for a fresh look. My friend, Deborah, helped me get going, and soon, she's going to help me add a few other new features, too! I can hardly wait!

But, in the meantime, I've been anxiously waiting for today to get here. I'm the Guest Designer over at the Fresh Brewed Designs Challenge Blog today! I found Fresh Brewed a couple of months ago, and I'm so glad I did. Heather, the owner of Fresh Brewed Designs, has both rubber and digital stamps in over 30 categories, as well as digi paper, in a wide variety of cute designs. When she asked me to be a Guest Designer for this month, I had my pick of three images to use for my GD cards, and I have to tell you, it was tough to narrow my choices down! You'll see what I mean! ;)




Heather has a Brew of the Month Challenge every month where you can choose your challenge of either a sketch, a photo inspiration, or both. (There's still time to enter this month--you have until March 31). For my first card, I used the sketch. And, as I seem to do with every sketch I use lately, I turned it on it's side.

For my first card, I used this sweet Watermelon Girl digi image. Is she not the cutest thing? :) I colored her with Copic markers and used a piece of terry cloth and Colorless Blender on the watermelon to give it a little texture. I also added Black Liquid Pearl to the seeds, and Glossy Accents to her little ponytail holders and her shoes. I got out my Gelatos again, and made the watermelon paper. The "seeds" were added with Inktense pencils. After cutting it with a Labels 25 die, I sponged Black Soot ink around the edges. I used the Opulent Ovals die set to cut a black frame for the colored image, and I backed it with the same green paper that I used as the bg. The "Sweet" flag was cut with a Verve flag die, then I spritzed it with Fresh Lime and Vibrant Turquiose Dylusions Ink Spray, and sponged Mowed Lawn Distress Ink around the edges before attaching it to the framed image with a floral brad. The textured strip across the middle was cut with a Simon Says Circle Border die, and I used strips of black cs to border the die cut.

I used the scraps from the watermelon paper on the front to give some color and interest to the inside.

For my second card, I used the photo inspiration from this month's FBD challenge, and did a little computer manipulation to the digital images first...

The minute I saw Bob and Betty in Heather's store, I knew I just had to have them! They are actually completely separate digital images, but by making the "sky" transparent, I was able to merge the images together. Heather did such a great job drawing these images, they went together perfectly! I didn't even have to do any resizing! I paper pieced Bob and Betty's swimsuits, then colored the image with Copics. I have to tell you, this was a blast to color. Can you see their sunburns, and Bob's farmer's tan? And, don't you just LOVE the expression on Bob's face? He's definitely "Living in the Moment," isn't he? ;) I used a cloud stencil for the sky, sponged in the sun, added in some white highlights to the water, and drew in the birds in the background. I used a Wink of Stella pen to add shimmer to the sun, and a little "sweat" to Bob and Betty. The rims of their glasses were colored with gold and silver Spica pens, and I used Glossy Accents on their lens, and also on the chocolate on the ice cream cone. 

For the layout of this card, I used Sugar Pea Design's very first Sugar Sketch. I used a weathered wood dp, distressed the edges with a Distrezz-it-All, cut two flags out of the same dp I used for the paper pieced swimsuits, stamped a tag with a Live in the Moment sentiment, which I traced with a gold Spica pen for sparkle, added a little twine, die cut the image and another circle for a mat and put it all together. And, I have the perfect couple to send this card too! ;~D

I kept the inside a little plain, with just a strip of the weathered wood dp, some sponging around the rectangular panel, and a couple of gold lines drawn with a Spica pen.

Thank you, Heather, for featuring me this month on your blog! It's been a real treat for me! 

Be sure to check out Heather's Freshly Brewed Challenge Blog for her monthly Choose Your Challenge and Blog Candy Giveaway, as well as her Fresh Brewed Designs Shop for her darling images!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a SWEET day!

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Watermelon Girl:

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Farm Fresh

613 Avenue Create Challenge #64: Anything Goes

Bob and Betty:

Sugar Pea Designs Sugar Sketch Challenge #1 (SPDSS01)

Verve March 2014 Diva Dare: "Do the Polka"

Simon Says Wednesday: Glitter It

Simon Says Monday: Transparent

~Hugs,

 

Supplies: 
Watermelon Girl:

Bob & Betty:

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Cupcake Josie Birthday

Hi Friends! Last month I won a challenge over at Delightful Challenges with my Peach Cobbler Recipe Card, and was asked to be a Guest Designer for this week on the Digital Delights Blog! Wow! I feel so honored! And, since I needed to make a birthday card for one of my DD's friends, I chose the adorable Cupcake Josie digital stamp for my GD spot.

Isn't she the sweetest thing? Perfect for a little girl's birthday! I colored her with Copics, did some fussy cutting, added Glossy Accents to her eyes, shoes, and the cherry, and added glitter sprinkles to the icing and some super fine Flower Soft cupcake crumbs. :) I ran a dark gray Copic around the edges to give them more definition and to cover up the white. Unfortunately, it bled into the image in a couple of places, but not too bad.

The layout is from the Viva la Verve February 2013 Week 3 sketch. For all the layers, I sponged Distress Ink along the edges, then dry embossed the yellow dp and sewed it to the aqua dp with a long zigzag stitch. The aqua layer behind the pink dp is actually just two small strips adhered to the edge. I used a shorter zigzag stitch on the scallop side and a straight stitch on the opposite side.

When I added the velvet ribbon and braid trim to the upper pink layer, it was very thick on the back, so I layered several pieces of crimped cs to the back of the panel, cutting around the ribbon trim, so that the panel would lie flat. I did the same thing to the horizontal aqua strip, too, leaving an opening where it would sit on the ribbon.

I colored the Little Lady sentiment with Distress Ink then added two layers of UTEE to give it some gloss. It's popped up and there are faux stitches around it, made with a white gel pen.

Since most of Josie was going to be popped up on nothing but that skinny braid, I backed her body and her feet with two layers of crimped cs for stability. I glued her feet to the aqua strip, but I hot glued her body to the braid to make sure it stayed put.

On the inside, I used scraps left over from the front of the card, and also die cut white cs for the sentiment, then I sponged Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink to the edges of that while it was still in the die, and Vintage Photo to the outer edges. Finally, I stamped the sentiment and flowers on it.

I had so much fun making this card. I hope you enjoyed seeing it! And, if you have time, you should drop by the Digital Delights website. The blog is filled with lots to inspire you, and the Tutorial tab takes you to dozens of tutorials, covering everything from card techniques to coloring.

I'll be entering this in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve! February 2013 Sketch Challenge Week 3 (VLVFeb2013)

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Cupcake Josie, Little Lady Sentiment (Digital Delights by Looby Loo); Signature Greetings (Papertrey Inc); Sunny Days (Verve)
Paper: Avalon (Bazzill Basics); Abrianna (K&Co); Forest Friends by Adrienne Looman Designs (Print Candee)
Ink: Copics; Distress; Memento; white gel pen
Dies: Curved Rectangle (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot Edge Punch (Martha Stewart); Daisy Blast embossing folder (Sizzix); velvet ribbon; braided trim; UTEE; Corner Chomper; rhinestones; flowers; Glossy Accents; Flower Soft; Glitter; Sewing Thread; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Our Craft Lounge--April Artist of the Month: And a Little Flower

Hi Friends, and Happy Monday to You!!! I've certainly been loving my Monday's this past month, but sadly, this is Week 5 of the Our Craft Lounge April Artist of the Month series, which means it's my last week there. :( And, here's my final AOM card:

To make this card, I used the May 2012 Week 1 Viva la Verve Sketch, turning it for a vertical cardbase. I sponged the edges of all the pieces with black Distress Ink and matted them on black cs. On the bg layer, I stamped a flourish and dot pattern from the In Flight stamp set.

I absolutely love all the stamps in the In Flight stamp set, but this is my favorite one. All those curlicues and ruffly wings feel so feminine. I stamped the butterfly on the Labels One panel, and again on another piece of white cs. I colored both butterflies, then fussy cut the extra one and glued the body of it to the other butterfly on the Labels One panel. I used black rhinestones for the head and antennae.

Here's the inside:

I used more of the black and white ribbon on the inside of the card and stamped another pretty flourish from the In Flight stamp set at the bottom.

Thanks, again, Kendra, Cami, and the entire Our Craft Lounge DT, for letting me join you this month. It was truly a fantastic experience!

And, thanks, to you, for stopping by. Have a fab week!

I'll be entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve May 2012 Week 1

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #166: Bingo (pink, ribbon, die cut)

Little Darlings Challenge #22: Flowers

Moving Along With the Times: Garden or Flowers

Emergency Crafters: Bold and Bright

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: In Flight (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Out of Print (Basic Grey)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; Copics
Dies: Labels One (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Rhinestones; ribbon (Taylored Expressions); flower (Recollections)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Our Craft Lounge--April Artist of the Month: Proud as a Peacock

Hi Friends! It's that time again...Week 4 as the Our Craft Lounge April Artist of the Month, and I had a blast making today's card.

My DD's 2nd grade year is coming to a close soon, and for the second year in a row she will be setting her school's record for Accelerated Reader points (she had 500 points at the end of 1st grade, and is on track to beat that by over 100 more points this year!), so I wanted to make her a card to tell her how proud we are of her, and nothing says "proud" like a beautiful peacock!

I used the April 2012 Viva la Verve Week 1 sketch for this card, and followed it almost exactly, except for adding some gold corner stickers and a bird flourish die cut layer.

I dry embossed the green rectangle layer, then used several colors of distress ink over the raised areas and finished it off by adding a little gold embossing powder here and there to give it an aged look, finally inserting turquoise eyelets in the corners.

I colored the beautiful peacock with my Copic markers, then used Stickles on the tail, a Pearl Pen on the beak, Enamel Accents for the eye, and Sparkly Fluff on the body and neck. I didn't "fluff" the head because I didn't want to lose the detail on the eye and beak. To get all the different colors of fluff, I applied it similarly to glitter, gluing down one color at a time, then tapping off the excess and letting it dry between each color. I'm telling you, I just LOVE Sparkly Fluff. So far, I've used it as "dirt," as part of flowers, and now as feathers. That's some really versatile "fluff stuff." :) I used a Pearl Pen to make the copper pearls around the edge of the circle die cut.

Scraps, from the front of the card, dress up the inside, and the sentiments and tail feather stamps came from the same Proud as a Peacock stamp set.

I'll be entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve April 2012 Week 1 Sketch Challenge

Whimsy Stamp Challenge 35: Punches or Die Cuts

Crafty Friends Challenge 2: Use 2 die cuts 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with a new sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches, and next Monday will be my final week as Artist of the Month at Our Craft Lounge. Wow, this month has just flown by. Have a great day!

~Hugs!

 

Stamps: Proud as a Peacock (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Reflections (Prima); Lost & Found (My Mind's Eye); Shimmer Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Memento; Copics; Distress Ink
Dies: Standard Circles Sm, Bird Flourishes, Classic Scalloped Circles Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Love is in the Air embossing folder (Cuttlebug); gold embossing powder; Morocco Lace Edge Punch (EK Success); Starform stickers; Sparkly Fluff; eyelets; Stickles; Pearl Pen; Enamel Accents; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Our Craft Lounge--April Artist of the Month: Your Kindness

Hello Friends! It's Week 3 of my Our Craft Lounge April Artist of the Month gig, and I have a thank you card to share with you today. I made this for my very thoughtful, long-time writer friend, Linda, who recently surprised me with a lovely gift book: Charles Dickens: The Dickens Bicentenary 1812-2012. It's not my birthday, and this wasn't for a special occasion. Linda just knows that Charles Dickens is probably my favorite writer of all time, and he led a fascinating, albeit not always admirable life, that makes for very interesting biography material for me.  :)

So, here's the card:

I embossed the lavender cs with a Polka Dot embossing folder, then sewed all but the upper brown dp and sentiment with my sewing machine. The bronze "pearls" were made using a Pearl Pen. I used Our Craft Lounge's Thankful Flourishes stamp set for the flowers and sentiment. 

The sketch came from Verve's Viva la Verve April 2012 Week 2 Sketch Challenge, which I rotated for a horizontal layout, and the gorgeous color palette was this week's Color Throwdown Challenge 187.

I colored both flowers with Copic markers, then on the small flower used Lemon Drop Yellow Sparkly Fluff in the center. For the larger flower, I first added yellow Liquid Pearls around the perimeter of the center, then, after it dried, I used Sparkly Fluff inside that. I love that you can still see the detail of the stamps through the Sparkly Fluff. After fussy cutting both flowers, I popped the small one up on a tag, and the larger one over the edge of the sentiment.

Here's a look at the inside. I really liked the design on the dp, so I stamped the Thankful sentiment directly on the dp, then added a small piece of white cs for a personal message. The corners of the white cs were punched with an EK Success punch. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. If you have a minute, could you visit the Our Craft Lounge blog and leave a little love on my post there, too? ;)

I hope you all have a super wonderful week! 

I will be entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve April 2012 Week 2 Sketch Challenge

Color Throwdown #187

Simon Says Stamp: April Showers Bring Spring Flowers

Big Hugs! 

 

Stamps: Thankful Flourishes (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Best of K&Co; Watercolor Bouquet (K&Co); Once Upon a Time (DCWV)
Ink: Memento; Distress Ink; Copics
Dies: Curved Rectangle, Classic Ovals Lg (Spellbinders); Classic Tags Template (Flourishes)
Accessories: Polka Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Morocco Lace Edger Punch (EK Success); ribbon; rhinestones; button; sewing thread; twine (The Twinery); foam dots; Sparkly Fluff (Our Craft Lounge); Liquid Pearls; Pearl Pen
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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DYSU Challenge #66: Friendly Critters

Hi there, Friends! A few weeks ago I was a Top 3 pick for the Do You Stack Up Challenge #62 with my Pear notecard set, and Joan invited to be a Guest Designer. Well, it's finally my week, and the challenge this week (DYSU#66) is Friendly Critters!

Joan sent me the cutest little critter for my card--a Mousey Seamstress from Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps. I had so much fun coloring her up with my Copics. I added some black Enamel Accents to her eyes and nose and Glossy Accents to her shoes and needle. For the spool, I printed the image a second time, colored the spool, cut it out, wrapped it in pink and white twine, and glued it over the main image. I didn't have to use foam dots--the twine was thick enough to pop it up just fine. I paper pierced the perimeter of the image rectangle and used a green Sharpie marker to "sew" between the holes.

On the inside, I used border punches on red and brown cs and topped them off with a piece of the same dp I used on the front, then I sponged Tea Dye Distress Ink around the edges.

I'll also be entering this in the following challenges:

Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge #33: Use Ribbon on Your Card

Simon Says Stamp: Use Your Favourite Tool - My favorite tool is my Sizzix Big Shot

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you'll join us at the DYSU Challenge Blog this week for a fun challenge!  

~Hugs!

 

Stamps: Mousey Seamstress (Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps)
Paper: This & That (Echo Park)
Ink: Copic markers; Distress Ink; Sharpie marker
Dies: Classic Rectangles Sm, Classic Scalloped Rectangles Sm, Fancy Tags Three (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Postage Stamp border punch (EKSuccess); Daisy border punch (Martha Stewart); Polka Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ruler twill ribbon (Taylored Expressions); Glossy Accents; Enamel Accents; Pearl Pen; Twine (The Twinery); paper piercer
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Our Craft Lounge--April Artist of the Month: Keepsake Box

Good Morning Friends! Today is a special day for me because it's my first day as the Our Craft Lounge Artist of the Month! I was so excited when I received Kendra's email inviting me to be their April AOM! I'll admit that I was a tad intimidated when I saw that I would be following Sankari Wegman, their March AOM, but I sure loved seeing all her fantastic creations every Monday. If you didn't see them, be sure to visit the OCL Blog and check out her posts from last month. I promise you'll be WOWED!

For my first project this month, I was going to make a card, but I noticed that my DD was amassing a collection of cards from family and friends, and she didn't have a place to keep the special ones. So, I decided to make her a little keepsake box, and I chose to use the beautiful Our Craft Lounge stamp set, You Make Me Happy. Coneflowers are one of my favorite wildflowers--especially the purple and orange variety.

This box started life as a sneaker shoe box.

I couldn't get the entire label off the inside of the hinged lid, but with all the tabs inside this box, holding it together, I decided to forego lining the inside. I covered the outside with a solid yellow paper and distressed all the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

Then I used a sheet of dp from the Abrianna K&Co collection to cover the top and three sides of the lid. Aged Mahogany Distress Ink is sponged on all the edges of each piece of the dp.

After gluing the dp to the lid, I added a beautiful metallic braid to the edges with Scor-Tape. Using 1/8" Scor-Tape, I also attached yellow mini puff ball trim all around the top edges.

Here's a close up of the braid and puff ball trim:

I stamped the coneflower image three times to create a larger image, using Eclipse tape as a mask where necessary. I then colored it with Copic markers and added 24K Gold Sparkly Fluff to each flower center. 

If you haven't tried Sparkly Fluff yet, you should. It's a real treat to use. It adheres easily with glue, has a very soft texture, and is beautiful on an image. You can see it in the photo above on the flower centers.

My DD loves receiving cards for any occasion, and they always make her happy, so the sentiment in this stamp set was perfect for this project, as it will be used to store a bunch of happy memories. :) I stamped it in black in the upper left corner of the image panel.

After distressing the edges of the image panel with my Distrezz-It-All and sponging Tea Dye Distress Ink, I cut a Fancy Tags Two diecut in half lengthwise, sprayed each half with Perfect Pearls Mist, and sponged the edges with Distress Ink to give them a metallic look, then adhered them to each end of the image panel. I added a few black rhinestones for interest. Before adhering this panel to the box, I glued a paper baker's doily in the upper right corner of the box. Then, I tilted the image panel slightly and adhered it over that.

The blue corner flourishes deserve a post all on their own, but for now, I'll just briefly tell you that I made a mold of this from a Recollections embellishment, then made four corners out of white clay, painted them with blue acrylic paint, then wiped the excess off and colored the gold accents on with a caligraphy marker. I sprayed a light coat of clear acrylic on them to help keep the gold from getting scratched off.

I added a couple of glitter chipboard flourishes to the left side of the box and made a large six-loop bow to attach over them. I made the flower from two artificial flowers that resembled burgundy daisies. I didn't really like how they looked, and didn't care if I ruined them, so I tried a little experiment with my heat gun. I heated one of the flowers from the underside until the petals crinkled and it resembled a closed flower bud. Then, I glued that to the top of the other flower and heated that from underneath, too, until those petals encased the first flower. I added the leaves to the bottom, heating them just a little bit, to give them some texture. Then I used hot glue and attached the flower to the middle of the bow. I love how it turned out. It's way too big for a card, but for something like this, it's perfect!

Thanks for staying with me to the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed all the details on the box, and if you have any questions about how I made any of it, just shoot me an email and I'll be glad to answer them. 

And, thanks again, to Kendra and the girls at OCL for inviting me to join them for a few weeks. I'm looking forward to spending Monday's with Our Craft Lounge all this month, and I hope you'll plan to join us, too!

I'll also be entering this project in the following challenges:

Little Darlings Challenge 20: Outside

Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

~Hugs, 

 

Stamps: You Make Me Happy (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Abrianna (K&Co)
Ink: Copic markers; Memento; Distress Ink
Dies: Fancy Tags Two (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Ribbon (Michaels); Metallic Braid, Mini Puff Ball Trim (Simplicity); artificial flowers & leaves; paper doily; shimmer chipboard flourishes (Making Memories); clay corner embellishment (original from Recollections); Sparkly Fluff; Perfect Pearls Mist; rhinestones; shoebox

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