Paper craft project no. 452: Seriously amazing

Someone seriously amazing recently turned 30 and she's throwing a party! I may not be a party animal, but I made sure I joined in on the celebrations because she's never going to let me hear the end of it a darn special girl :o) So here's my little contribution to your birthday bash, dear Becca! 

With that mood board, how could I not take out my acrylic paints, brayer, Gelli plate, and go crazy? After I scared myself for about 15 minutes when I couldn't find my Gelli plate, I pulled these two prints:

I brayered acrylic paints then stamped with the Artsy Tribal Doodles stamps. The one on the right is the first print. The one on the left is the second (obviously!) print I pulled. When monoprinting, I usually like the second print mainly because it often looks more artsy/grungy/distressed than the first print that it hardly needs anything else done to it. So as soon as I saw the super cool second print, I die-cut the A2 panel with the CUTplorations rectangle die with the crazy stitching. Then I die-cut "seriously" and "amazing" twice each: on plain card stock and on the first print. Because I'm not one to really fiddle-diddle with layering die-cuts (and I don't have the patience for it), I simply dipped my fingers into my jar of matte gel medium (I couldn't find the paint brush I use for this) and slathered it all over the panel before layering the words on it. That takes care of keeping the words stuck onto the panel and to each other as well as sealing the card front.

That's pretty much it -- phew! And this card's now on its way to a seriously amazing woman. I already sent her a birthday card, but since I made this one for her party, it would be pretty silly if I kept it in my stash or sent it to someone else on their birthday ;o)

Linking this up to:

• Seize the Birthday (I skipped the toppings of Pink and Brown)
• Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
• Time Out Challenges #62 - Home Sweet Home inspiration photo (I took my cue from the colorful painting on the wall)

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 451: Grateful

We have a brand new challenge at Time Out. For the next couple of weeks, it's the Home Sweet Home challenge. Here's the inspiration photo, and a really cool one at that!

I took my cue from the frames on the wall and the flowers that are on the red pillow on the sofa and combined them in my card.  I die-cut the stitched rectangle panel (CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles) and then die-cut the postage stamp in the middle (CUTplorations Bloom Happy coordinating dies). Then I stamped the daffodils (The Birds and the Blooms) onto the panel and "colored" the centers with a splatter stamp (Art Marks), colored the postage frame with a marker (tan, Aqua Marker), stamped the helenium (Bloom Happy) in the diecut rectangle and then adhered everything onto my card base. I finished by stamping the sentiment (Grateful Beyond Words).

Check out the cards the team + guest designer Stephanie made and then link up your own project inspired by the photo. We can't wait to see your creations!

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Paper craft project no. 450: Sunny days ahead

Popping by with a card I made for the current challenge at Time Out. There is still a week left to join in the Inspired by Words challenge. The team took inspiration from this quote: Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

I was in the mood for some watercoloring and I wanted a large image to color so I enlarged one of the framed floral images I have originally illustrated. It's an actual stamp, Framed Zinnia, that measures 2" by 3" but I enlarged it to 3" by 4.5" then printed it on 110 lb cardstock. I colored it with a combination of Zig Clean Color markers, Akashiya Sai Japanese watercolor brush markers, and Inktense pencils. I layered it over a stitched rectangle panel (CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles). I stamped the banner and sentiment (from Bloom Happy, a soon-to-be-released set) and then die-cut it using the coordinating CUTplorations die. I'd like to report that this card did not give me a headache ;o) I think I am starting to warm up to creating cards that have real layers, although one layers are still my first love.

Linking up to these fun challenges:

• CAS Mix Up July Challenge -- Stamping + Markers + my choice (die-cutting, watercoloring); (my second entry)
• Addicted to Stamps and More #202 - Make Your Mark
• Crafty Creations #319 - Clean and Simple
• The Crafty Addicts #19 - Anything Goes/Say it with Flowers
• CASology #206 - Cue word: ART (I'm hoping the technique I used [watercoloring] to color the framed zinnias qualifies)

  

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Card ingredients

Inks: VersaFine, Zig Clean Color, Akashiya Sai Japanese watercolor brush markers, Inktense pencils

STAMPlorations Stamps and CUTplorations Dies:

       

Framed Zinnia | Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles | Bloom Happy stamp set & coordinating dies

Paper craft project no. 449: The sun will rise

We have a brand new challenge at Time Out. For the next couple of weeks, it's the Inspired by Words challenge. Here's the inspiration: Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

I took my cue from "sunshine" and created a CAS card with real layers! I die-cut the panel (CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle die) then stamped the image and sentiment (New Beginning) on it. I love the stylized scene and I colored it with Zig Clean Color brushes and Aqua Markers. I felt something was missing so I decided to stamp the birds (Trendy Birds 2) at a slant across the panel. Then I simply stuck the panel on my card base with foam tape. Not a card in my usual style -- I actually got a headache while making this card haha! -- but I'm quite happy with how it turned out :o)

Check out the cards the team + guest designer Sue made and then link up your own project inspired by the quote. We can't wait to see your creations!

Linking up to these fun challenges:

• CAS Mix Up July Challenge -- Stamping + Markers + my choice (die-cutting)
• CAS(E) This Sketch #179
• Addicted to CAS #91 - Fly
• Addicted to Stamps and More #201 - Anything Goes

  

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to smile :o)

Card ingredients

Inks: VersaFine, Zig Clean Color, Crafter's Companion Aqua Markers

STAMPlorations Stamps and CUTplorations Dies:

    

 New Beginning | Trendy Birds 2 | Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles