Birthday Pup

Happy weekend!  I had to make a card for the Tuskawilla Tuesdays Challenge.  Here is the card sketch that we had to use...

After looking at it for a while I decided to make a part that slides.  My friend, Susan, showed me a slider card that gave me the inspiration.  I think it came out pretty cute!  When I was finished, I realized that I wanted to use it for a birthday card and there was no place to put a check or a gift card, so I made a little pocket that is hidden on the sliding panel...the paper pack I was using had little circles with all different of numbers (ages) which was perfect for this card!!   Since I like cards that stand up...I added an easel stand on the back!  I used a Stampin' Up punch to make little tabs at the bottom so the inside doesn't slide right through!  Unfortunately, I went to find the name for this punch and realized it isn't in the new catalog, so it's been discontinued.  I better take good care of mine...I love this punch.  I wonder if anyone else is making one.

Here is  how the card looks when it is open...

I took a picture of the two pieces separated so you can see them better!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Inky Antics - Delightful Dogs

Cardstock: My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist 6 x 6 Designer Paper Pad

                    Stampin' Up - Taken with Teal

Inks:  Momento - Tuxedo Black

Copics:  Fur:  YR20, YR21, YR24 & YR31

                Tongue: R22 & R24

                 Nose: W2 & W4

Dies:  The Cat's Pajamas Cut Ups - Inside Pinking Die

Miscellaneous: Tim Holtz - Easel Die, Stampin' Up rounded notch punch, 

                            Assorted circle punches for pull tab and

                            Close to my Heart- Waxy Flax

Upholstery Background Technique

I made the background for this card using the Upholstery Technique.  It was a lot of fun making the backgrounds but when I tried to incorporate the finished piece into a card I ran into trouble.  I tend to make cutesy cards and they simply did not work on my background.  No matter what I did, I couldn't make it look right.  I finally pulled out my collage stamps and  came up with something I am pleased with!  I ended up using two different background pieces because I couldn't decide between them!! 

If you are looking for something different...this might be something you would enjoy.  Thanks for stopping by!

Love,
Janet

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Paperbag Studios - Miss

               Clearly Impressed - Butterfly Girl

               Verses - Quit Playing

               Just for Fun - Clothespin 

Cardstock:  Bella Blvd. - #215 Sprinkles & Lace / Pickle Juice

                     Watercolor paper

Inks: Ranger Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Aged Mahogany

                                                 and Peeled Paint, Memories - Black 

Markers: Stampin' Up on a palette - Old Olive, More Mustard, Dusty Durango

                                                               and Real Rust 

Miscellaneous: Paint brush, Stamp Positioner, 

Aloha Flip Fold Card!!

After a rainy week, I'm in the mood for summer so I made this cute little card!  I'm addicted to the Pure Innocence stamps from My Favorite Things.  They bring me back to my childhood and all the silly, fun things we used to do back then!!

How can you help but love her!!  This card has a flip fold that's fun to make.  I love any kind of fun fold...don't you?  Here's a link to the tutorial on how to do it!  I'm not sure if this picture shows it well enough for you to get the idea, but here it is...

And here is the inside...

All the tropical paper and the big sun in the corner gives this card that summery feeling I was looking for!  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope it's sunny and warm wherever you are :)

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things - Pure Innocence Hula Girl

Cardstock: K&Company - Citronella

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black

         Versamagic - Sea Breeze & Aegean Blue 

Copics:  Sorry, I didn't remember to mark them down for this card :(

Dies: MFT Die-namics - Prima Donna Petals, Medium Leafy Flourish

          Spellbinder - Labels 17

Miscellaneous: Sponges

Engagement Card

I needed an engagement card for a very special couple.  I know this little sprig is a Christmas stamp from Stampin' Up, but I didn't ink up the "Merry Christmas" part and it worked perfectly!  Isn't it adorable with the sparkly rhinestones?  No where near as sparkly as the gorgeous engagement ring but kind of romantic...right??!!

Here is the inside of the card...

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!  Have a good weekend :)

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Stampin' Up - Easy Events 

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede &

                     Red Glitter Cardstock, Cougar Opaque- white

                     Heidi Grace - Tweet Memories 12 x 12 paper pad

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black

Copics: YG05 & YG 09

Miscellaneous: Stampin' Up heart punch & Real Red Taffeta Ribbon, 

                            Marvy heart punch, rhinestones

Twine Flower

My friend, Mary, found the directions for making a twine flower embellishment and I wanted to try it.  It was fun and much easier than I thought it would be!  Isn't it adorable??!!  I can't find the specific link right now, but I Googled "twine flower" and found some instructions, so it's not too hard to find if you want to try it.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things - Vertical Greetings, Essential Sentiments

                    & DC Notched Tag Sentiments 

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Ruby Red, Cougar Opaque - White

                    K & Company - Que Sera Sera 12 x 12 pad

Inks:  Ranger Distress Ink pads - Shabby Shutters, Tattered Rose

                    Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold & Fired Brick

Dies: My Favorite Things - Die-namics Button Border

Miscellaneous: Red Twine 

Matchbook Treat/Gift Card Holders

Hi, sorry I haven't been posting.  Life got a little crazy last week, but I'm back to normal and stamping again so I have a couple of things to show you today!  The first are some little matchbook treat holders.  They were designed to hold one Giradelli chocolate treat, but I will be needing a gift card holder soon so I decided to alter the pocket inside to hold a gift card instead!  The matchbook on the left is for the Giradelli treat.  It has expanding sides to hold the candy.  For the one on the right, I cut the cardstock for the inside pocket 4 3/4 x 2 3/8 and scored it at 2 1/4 and 4 1/2.  Here's a link to a YouTube video tutorial by Theresa Momber.

Here's an inside view...

They are really cute and could be made for any season or occasion.  They would be perfect for wedding favors, too.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Lockhart Stamps: Violet Cupcake, Rose Bud Cupcake & Enjoy

Cardstock: Stampin' Up- Pretty in Pink, Cougar Opaque white

Inks: Momento - Tuxedo Black, Versafine - Black

Dies: Spellbinder - Lacy Circles & Standard Circles SM,

                                  My Favorite Things - Die-namics Decorative Doily Duo
                                  & Mini Doily Circles

Copics:  Roses: R81, R85, B21, YG01, YG13, YG17, E42 & E43

                Violets: RV14, RV21, RV 23, Y35, YG05, YG09, E42 & E43

Miscellaneous: Brads & Martha Stewart Scoring Board

Bleaching and Watercoloring Tutorial

I know I've been posting a lot of cards with this technique, and I promise this is the last one.  It's just that I took sequential pictures of this one so I could post a tutorial for those of you who would like to see it.  I'm still learning about this blogging thing and keeping notes and taking pictures as I make cards is new for me.  If you like this kind of tutorial, please comment and let me know if I should post more like this.

First you have to find a cardstock that can be bleached out.  I used Stampin' Up Baja Breeze which bleached out almost to white!!  Next you stamp the image with Versamark and emboss it with white embossing powder.

I used a blending pen and a little bowl of fresh bleach and painted in each area of the image.

 I continued in this way until the entire image was bleached out.

Next I made a palette for the colors I would use to paint with.  I put a sheet of white paper inside a sheet protector (to make the color more visible) and then colored on the sheet protector with Stampin' Up markers to complete my palette. 

I used a round pointed paint brush, a little bowl of water and a paper towel folded into fourths.  I wet my brush, took off a little of the water by pressing it on the paper towel and then picked up some of the light gray ink.  I used light gray to paint the entire birdbath.  After cleaning my brush, I picked up some of the the darker gray and added it to the left side of the birdbath to make a shadow.

I cleaned my brush with water and picked up some Green Galore ink and painted in all of the leaves  and some blades of grass at the base of the birdbath.  I cleaned my brush again and used some Garden Green ink to add a little shadow at the base of each leaf.  I also added some darker Garden Green blades of grass to add some depth to the grass.

I continued in the same way painting in the flowers with Summer Sun.

I like more than one color on everything so I added a little bit of Only Orange to the left side of each flower.

Finally I colored in the little bird using Real Red and Only Orange.  I added some Summer Sun to the beak and tail feathers.

Now the image is ready to make into a card.

And here is how the card came out!

If you found this tutorial helpful and would like me to post others, please leave a comment letting me know.  Thanks for visiting!

Love,

Janet

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Penny Black  - Nature's Wishes

Cardstock, Stampin' Up - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip & Real Red, 

                    Prima - Signs of Spring, 

                   Jillibean - Apple Cheddar Soup & Homemade 6 Bean Soup

Inks: Versamark

Markers: Stampin' Up - Going Gray, Basic Gray, Green Galore,

                 Garden Green, Summer Sun, Only Orange, Real Red

Dies: Spellbinder Petite Ovals SM & Petite Scalloped Ovals LG

          My Favorite Things - Button Border

Miscellaneous: Flower Punch, Martha Stewart Leaf Punch, Twine, rhinestone.

Whippersnapper - Birdie Bath

Here is the second in the series of bleach and watercolor cards.  This time I used a stamp called Birdie Bath from Whippersnapper.  I decided to paper piece the image to give it a 3D look so I colored and cut the bird bath a 2nd time and layered it over the base image with foam tape. I also wanted to make his splashing more fun so I added streaks coming out from the little bird with watered down Bashful Blue ink and dash lines with a Sakura sparkly jelly roll pen.  Subtle but super cute!

 





































Here is a close-up of the splashing.  Such a happy little bird!

Thanks for visiting, come back tomorrow for a Bleaching and watercoloring tutorial!

Love,
Janet

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Whippersnapper - Birdie Bath
Cardstock: Stampin Up Baja Blue, white & American Crafts - City Park
Inks:  Momento - Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up - Bashful Blue 
Dies:  My Favorite Things - Picket Fence & Happy Hellos, Spellbinder - Petite Ovals 
           SM, The Cat's Pajamas - Cloud Border
Markers:  Stampin' Up Going Gray, Basic Gray, Real Red, Only Orange, Green Galore,
                  Garden Green, Summer Sun, Bashful Blue
Miscellaneous: Sakura Jelly Roll Sparkle Pen, tiny gold rhinestones, small flower punch

Penny Black - Nature's Wishes

I saw a video on-line that showed how to bleach and watercolor a stamped image and I was inspired to try it out!  I started with Baja Breeze cardstock by Stampin' Up.  It's one of the colors that retired this year, but it bleached out really well, almost to white!  I used cute little bird images from the Penny Black set called Nature's Wishes and a Whippersnapper stamp called Birdie Bath.  I stamped and embossed them with white EP then I used bleach to lighten the inside areas of the image.  When the bleach was dry I used Stampin' Up markers to watercolor them.  It was so much fun that I kept stamping and bleaching and stamping and bleaching and ended up making a bunch of cards!  Here is the first of the 3 card designs.  I'll post the 2nd one tomorrow and the 3rd on Thursday.  I even have a step by step tutorial for you so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,
Janet

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze, I have to go and check on the other papers.  It was 2  
                    different 6 x 6 pads.  I'll list them here tomorrow.
Ink Pads: Versamark
Stamp: Penny Black - Nature's Wishes
Markers: Stampin' Up Real Red, Going Gray, Basic Gray, Summer Sun, Only Orange, 
                Green Galore, & Garden Green
Dies:  My Favorite Things Dienamics - Decorative Doily Duo, Spellbinders - Circles
Miscellaneous : White embossing powder, heat gun, bleach, Daffodil taffeta ribbon, birthday 
                           greeting on little tag was done on the computer.

Bella Solves a Puzzle 1

My blog is about cards and papercrafts and sharing what I love.  I hope you don't mind indulging me if I share something else that I love...our labradoodle, Bella.  She is a sweet little girl and makes us laugh all the time.  Bella loves her ball more than anything in the world and if I give her a puzzle involving it, she is up to the task of figuring out how to get that ball back in her possession!  It's so funny that I can't help cooking up new challenges for her whenever I can.  I took a video this time and thought you might enjoy watching.  It's very short!  I love the way she uses her paws like hands!!  



I hope she made you laugh...or at least smile!  Thanks for visiting :)

Janet