Halloween Zombie Bunny

I've seen a lot of cards using normal images that were turned into something else by adding small details and then coloring in unexpected colors.  They are such fun that I wanted to try one for my Halloween card!  I used one of the cute little bunnies from the MFT stamp set called Somebunny.  It was so much fun to zombify her!  I inked the background with Distress Inks and splattered some water on it.  I cut the moon using MFT circle STAX then stamped the spatters on it with Versamark Ink using MFT's Distress Patterns stamps.  The tree is an edgelit die from Stampin' Up called Halloween Scenes.  I'm not sure who makes the pumpkin and jack-o-lantern stamps.  They were in my halloween stamp box but didn't have a name on them.  

Here is a photo of the inside of the card...

I hope you enjoyed seeing my zombie bunny card!  Thanks for visiting.  Have a nice Halloween!

Janet 

Cheerful Little Cards

I have two simple cards to share with you today.  Both were made to cheer up friends who are going through a rough time.  The first card used a bathing suit stamp by Lizzie Anne Designs.  I looked for a  link but couldn't find one :(  For the background I used a textured stamp by Savvy Stamps called Patterned Tic-Tac Background.  I couldn't find a link to this stamp either.  I used 3 different colors of Distress Ink.  I used the mini pads to make it easier to get the color onto the stamp.  The colors are Spun Sugar, Cracked Pistachio and Brushed Lilac.  I like how using multiple colors on the background stamp gave me something to match when I was coloring the bathing suits! 

I used Copics to color the bathing suits and a retired Stampin' Up card stock for matting called Almost Amethyst.  It was one of my favorites so when I heard they were discontinuing it, I bought a lot!  It goes well with the Brushed Lilac Distress Ink.  I used an MFT die called Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle STAX to get the scalloped edge and the stitching.  Stitching adds so much to a card!

For my second card I used one I saw by Kay Miller for inspiration.  I absolutely love the cards she makes.  You can see Kay's card here.  I have to admit, Kay is one of my favorite designers.  I love everything that she makes!  I used leaves from an old Stampin Up set called Best Blossoms.  It's a leafy branch.  I'm sure if you look in your stash you have something similar.  I used Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink on the tips of the leaves and inked the rest with Mowed Lawn to get the two-tone look.

The rest of the stamps are all from My Favorite Things.  The dog is from a set called Lucky Dog, the cat is from the Cool Cat set and the flower is from a set called Blissful Blooms.  I colored them with Copic markers and cut them out so I could raise them up with a little foam tape.   The sentiment is from the Lucky Dog set, too.  I used the Misti to stamp the words so I could get them nice and dark to show up on top of the leaves!

I hope you enjoyed the cards today and I hope that you are finding some time to stamp!

Janet 

Mermaid Kisses

I couldn't wait to play with the Mermazing stamp set from MFT!  I like mermaids and this set is SOOO adorable!!  When I was thinking about what to do, I thought that a tunnel card would make my mermaid look like she was deep in the ocean!  For the front of the card I used the new Beach Scene Builder Die-namics.  For the sentiment I used the Ocean Wisdom stamp set from Stampendous.

I cut the dies out of appropriate colored card stock but I cut the ocean out of white so I could use Distress Oxide Inks to color it.  The colors I used were Chipped Sapphire, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio.  I used the new MFT Cloud Stencil to make the sky and added a sun that was punched out of yellow card stock.  I added some waves to the ocean using a light blue Prismacolor pencil and a shimmer gel pen.  I tried a couple of things to make the froth at the edge of the water but liked the look of white Liquid Applique the best.  I put it on very thin and squiggled the tip through it to thin it out even more, then I let it dry a bit before hitting it with the heat gun.  This made it look a lot less like popcorn!!

For the inside of the card, I layered on the same Distress Oxide inks that I used for the ocean on the front of the card.  Putting the Chipped Sapphire at the top, Broken China in the middle and Cracked Pistachio at the bottom.  I added some Vintage Photo at the very bottom for the ocean floor.  I inked a 2nd piece of card stock measuring 5.5" x 7.5" the same way and cut an oval in the center using MFT's Oval STAX.  I flicked some water on both pieces to give some added texture.  Next I used the seaweed and coral stamps from MFT's Mermazing stamp set to fill in the ocean floor on the piece with the oval cut out of the center.  The stamps in the set are small but they can be stamped repeatedly to make larger vegetation.  I love how the plants look.  Using 2 colors of green made some fade into the background.  The little schools of fish are from the Mermazing set as well.  The fish are symmetrical so they can be stamped facing either direction and they still look right! The last thing I did was to stamp the sentiment in Versamark and emboss it with white powder.  The Happy Birthday is from MFT's Ocean Pals set

I wanted some seaweed growing from the bottom of the window so I used Taylored Expressions Build a Scene - Underwater to cut some out and glued it to the back side of the oval.  Then I used double stick tape along the left and right edges of the card and the piece with the oval to attach the two together.  Next I stamped the mermaid, 3 fish and 2 turtles and colored them with Copics.  I used foam tape to add the mermaid so she wouldn't be flat against the card.  I hung one of the fish on a string so he would move and I attached the fish at the bottom to the seaweed!  You can see in the picture below how the fish suspended on the string looks like he's moving in the water.

Here's a close up...

I like all of the extra images that were included in this set to help make a scene.  The little turtle is precious!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my card.  It was a fun one to make.  Have a happy day, and keep stamping!!

Janet

Spaceman

Today I have a birthday card to show you.  I made it for a special 4 year old little boy and I thought he might like an interactive card. I used the Space Explorer set from MFT.  I started by making the background on Strathmore watercolor paper.  I smooched some Distress inks onto my craft mat, sprayed a little water on then dropped the watercolor paper on and moved it around, then I dried it.  I wasn't thrilled with the results because it was way too light.  Next I put some Worn Lipstick, Broken China and Faded Jeans Oxide inks on my craft mat, spritzed a little water and dragged the paper around through it.  After I dried it, I still wasn't happy because it was still too light.  Next I took Ranger blending tools and sponged on Blueprint Sketch, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress inks.  I was a lot happier with the darkness but felt it still needed something so I got out my Denim Adirondack Color Wash spray and spritzed it a couple of times...bam...it finally looked like what I had in mind!  I watered down some white acrylic paint and splattered it on to look like stars and my background was done!

Next I took two circle dies that cut two circles about 3/8" apart, taped them together with Post-it Tape and cut a channel out of the background for the interactive part.  I stamped the astronaut, 2 planets, a bunch of stars and the little space ship and colored them with Copics.  

To assemble my card, I attached the space sky background and center circle to a folded Night of Navy card with extra thick foam tape.  I punched out a 1/2" circle of Night of Navy and glued a Spin & Slide Disc (MFT) to it.  I then glued that onto a washer and put it into the channel.  I glued the little space ship onto the disc so it would slide freely around the channel.  The weight of the washer made it move much more easily on it's own. 

I finished the card off by gluing the astronaut onto the center circle, and the planets and stars around the edges.  I loved the sentiment from the Space Explorer set!  It was perfect for the inside of my card.  I added a "Happy Birthday" from the Ocean Pals set from MFT.  I hope little Oliver has fun with my card.  

Thanks for visiting.  Keep stamping!!

Janet

Flying High Graduation Card

It's graduation time again and this year I had to make a card for my friend's brilliant daughter.  She graduated with high honors from Georgia Tech and will be starting a job at Microsoft in Seattle!! She is also an outdoorsy girl who loves adventure!  I don't have a lot of outdoor adventure themed stamps but I do have MFT's Up in the Air set and thought the hot air balloons would work for my card!  I saw a card by Barbara Anders on the MFT blog using the balloons with a skyline and thought it would be perfect.  Here is a link the card on Barbara's blog, she makes beautiful, inspiring cards!!  I wanted to personalize the card so I looked on line for a clip art Seattle skyline, printed it out and then fussy cut it.  Next I used MFT's new cloud stencil and radiating rays stencil to make the sky.  I colored two sets of balloons using the colors of Microsoft's logo for the big ones and Georgia Tech colors for the small ones.

I didn't want the sentiment to block the sky so I stamped it onto acetate with black Staz-on ink.  I used a fine line glue bottle to put tiny dots behind the letters and stuck it on.  You can't see any glue at all!!

I thought I'd make the inside of the card look like the balloons had flown far, far above the city so I did a pop up card with lots and lots of clouds.  I used the card stencil again with my Clarity brushes and Ballet Blue ink from Stampin' Up.  I made a little pocket to hold my gift and stenciled it to match the clouds behind it.

 Next I cut the post to hold the big balloon.  I didn't like how it looked with the paper line showing so I snipped a piece out and replaced it with a strip of acetate, which looked better.  I wanted the smaller balloons to pop out more than they would with foam tape so I took a strip of acetate 1 7/8" x 3/8" and scored it at 3/8", 3/4", 1 1/8" and 1 1/2".  This allowed me to fold the strip into a box which I glued together to keep it's shape.  The acetate box flattens when the card is folded but pops up a lot more than foam tape when the card is open.  I like how the balloons make a shadow on the sky!!

To hide the pop up mechanisms, I used a cloud die.  I'm sorry but I don't have it labeled so I'm not sure which company makes it.  I found some that would work from Lawn Fawn and Taylored Expressions.  The top line of the inside sentiment is from the Up in the Air stamp set and the Happy Graduation is from a Stampin' Up set called, Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you like my graduation card :)  Keep stamping!
Janet


  

Polished Stone on Yupo Paper

I'll start out by saying that this is going to be a long post.  A friend of mine played with alcohol inks and the polished stone technique on Yupo paper.  Then she gave me 3 pieces and challenged me to come up with some cards using it.  I was not familiar with Yupo paper, I wasn't even aware that she had used it when I accepted her challenge!  The first piece made me think of water so I decided to make a card with the little Fun in the Sun girl from MFT (see my last post).  I covered the polished stone with Versamark ink and then Amazing Glaze embossing powder but when I went to heat it, before the EP melted, the "paper" started to melt and curl, kind of like what happens with shrink plastic!  I was really surprised and disappointed because I'd totally ruined one of the pieces my friend gave me.    

I moved on to the 2nd piece which was beautiful. I stamped some script in black on it because I thought it would look cool. Here is a piece of it. 

I thought it would be really pretty with flowers and the Joseph's coat technique. I used Stampin' Up's Garden in Bloom set and stamped the flowers with Versamark ink and detail clear embossing powder.  This EP is much finer and melts quicker so I thought I could get away with it before the Yupo melted.  I was very happy when it worked!  The next step in this technique is to cover the entire thing with a dark color of ink.  The idea is to cover up the background so the beautiful colors only show up beneath the embossed areas.  I started rubbing a black ink pad over the piece and was pretty surprised that not only did the ink  not stick to the paper but it completely rubbed off the alcohol ink that was on it!!  It looked SOOO bad. I was disappointed again because I'd ruined the 2nd piece of polished stone from my friend.  :(  The flowers were unique and pretty so I cut them out and glued them onto a piece of dark gray card stock and added some leaves that were stamped on green dotted paper.  I used some jewel circles that I got at a stamping convention and I was happy with the result.  

Now I was down to the very last piece of polished stone from my friend!  I was afraid to do anything except cut, die cut or punch it so that's what I did.  I started by cutting out some grass.  This is what the piece looked like...  

This piece had fall colors so I immediately thought trees and leaves would be good.  For the first card I used MFT's Trees in the Forest dies.  I used MFT's Stiched Snow Drifts and dotted paper to make hills for my scene.  I then cut a window in the top layer of my card using MFT's Jumbo Peek-a-Boo Circle Windows die.  To finish the front of the card I added one of the little mice from the Harvest Mouse set by MFT and a little cardinal from the Cooler with You set.  

Here is a close up of the trees.  I wanted a plaid scarf so I added some lines with my Copics.

For the next card I use MFT'S Grassy Edges die and a leaf stamp and die from MFT's Fall Friends set.  The scarecrow and crow are from the Fall Friends set as well.  I used a circle die to cut an off center window in which to build my scene.  I started by using Clarity brushes and Distress inks to color the background.  Next I added the grass.  I colored the scarecrow with Copics and used a brown Prismacolor pencil to add lines to his hat.  I wanted the crow stamp to face left so I used waxed paper to get a reverse image and colored him with Copics, too. 

To tie the window in with the rest of the card I added a branch from the I'm Tweet on You set (MFT).  I wanted to use the polished stone leaves so I only cut out the branch and not the leaves.  I attached the branch and leaves then finished the card by adding two different patterned papers and a sentiment.

For the final card I decided to cut the remaining polished stone piece into strips to use in making a mosaic type background.  I also cut some coordinating patterned paper strips and solid strips. They are 1/4" and 3/8".  Next I covered a piece of A2 card stock with double sided adhesive and stuck a strip diagonally across the sticky surface.  I kept adding strips until the whole surface was covered.  I really enjoy making these backgrounds.  I had enough polished stone to make 2, one with using patterned paper and one using only solids.

Once the background was complete, I cut an oval and colored it using Distress Oxide inks and a sponge dauber.  This ink blends like butter!  Then I added a dark green frame cut with MFT's Stitched Oval Scallop Frames .  The fox, crow, acorn and leaves come from the Fall Friends set (MFT). I stamped and cut 2 leaves from the remaining polished stone paper and colored everything else with Copics.  

The fox looked a little flat so I stamped him again, colored his head and cut it out so I could pop it up. Adding leaves, the crow and the acorn around the frame finished the card off.

I found out one interesting thing when making this card.  I added some Nuvo drops and as they dried, they pulled the color of the Distress Oxide inks into them.  I only used 2 colors, Dandelion Yellow and Ripened Pumpkin, but if you look at the dots, there are more than 2 different colors!  I'm going to see what happens when I put white drops onto the different colors of Oxide inks!  Fun!!

Thank for taking the time to visit.  Did you stamp today?

Janet