Tuesday, February 28, 2017

February Planning

How did it get to be the last day of February already?!? I realized just this morning that I don't believe I showed you any of my February planner stuff here on my blog yet...boy, I am slacking! So, to make up for that, here is a bit of how I planned this month:


First I'll share with you the front and the back of the pocket page Dashboard I created using a Simple Stories SNAP page protector and a few cardstock stickers, retired printed papers from Basic Grey and retired stamps from The Angel Company. I added some glimmer by embossing many of my stamped images with gold embossing powder and made some heart diecuts with my monthly Spellbinder's die club kit. Getting the papers trimmed to just the right size for each pocket was super easy by using the Pocket Cuts die set from Fun Stamper's Journey...it even includes the smaller postage edge squares that I used for the layers you see on both sides. Some of the decorative clips were made with stamped images and then felt backed, and some are several different types of ribbon and/or yarn...super cute!


For my monthly spread, I again used stickers from Simple Stories -this time from the Love and Adore sticker pack.



Too many times this month I'd start writing on my pages before taking the pictures, so I don't have them all to share -but here are 3 out of the 4, lol. These were made using some basic stamping in black archival ink, washi tape from ACMoore, more Love and Adore/Simple Stories stickers and Happy Planner stickers from the large sticker value packs that I bought at Michael's and Hobby Lobby.



I will try to do a better job of remembering to take pics before the actual pen goes to the page for the month of March! I usually remember to post them on Instagram first -so if you'd like to stay up to date on my planning, just follow me @create.365 over on IG! (follow the link at the top right of my blog to get there quick and easy)




Sunday, February 26, 2017

Christmas Stockings: TMS#391 & MM#236

Today's card was made with 2 challenges as my inspiration...I used the sketch from the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog and combined it with the theme from the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge blog.



And here is the cute little guy I came up with in the process:



I used a retired stamp set from The Angel Company(TAC) to stamp the stocking on a diecut circle in black dye ink on ultrasmooth white cardstock and the holly was randomly stamped in the same black onto the red patterned paper on the right. I also outlined the holly with my clear Gelly Roll Stardust pen, used some Glossy Accents on the berries and then sprinkled some clear prisma glitter on top. All 3 patterned papers are from a retired holiday paper pack from Basic Gray that I believe was called "Blitzen".

I colored the puppy and stocking with Prisma watercolor pencils and a blender pen...accenting with glossy accents on the stocking trim, holly, bow and puppy's nose. I also used the clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen on the white fuzzy cuff at the top of the stocking. To help the stocking pop off the lightly watercolored background just a bit, I outlined it with a light gray Spectrum Noir alcohol maker. Then I brushed light blue Palette ink along the edges of the circle and layered it onto a scallop trimmed vellum circle with pop dots onto the card front. The ribbon was neatly adhered with some thin, 1/8" red-liner adhesive tape as the final accent.



Friday, February 24, 2017

SSC146: Crocus Sympathy

Today's card was made for my daughter and son-in-law when someone very dear to them passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness. I wanted to share in their grief, but also help them to remember that spring truly always follows winter- in all the seasons of life.

I used sketch #146 from the Sunday Stamps blog as my inspiration.


The beautiful crocus stamp used here is from the Technique Tuesday Greenhouse Collection- that I absolutely love!!!


To keep my design clean and simple, the focal image was stamped randomly in black archival ink for the background and again on an oval I cut with my Creative Memories shape makers -one of my favorite and most used tools from way back in the scrapbooking day. The main flowers were painted using Prismacolor watercolor pencils by using a water brush and taking color from the pencil tip on to an acrylic block as my palette to achieve the soft look.


Once the watercolors were dry, I coated the flower with glossy accents and let it dry over night.  I then used my paper piercing tool and added the border around the edge -I had no template to use this time...I just eye-balled it, so it is not perfect by any means, lol! I embossed the sentiment from a Close To My Heart sympathy set in gold detail ink on a lilac layer and accented with some polka-dotted vellum attached with mini brads. I popped the oval up with some foam tape pop dots for added dimension and then sent my card off to Philly in the mail.


The inside sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! sympathy set and stamped over a simple watercolored background. I often forget to show the insides of my cards but in the future,  I am going to try to make a better effort to share when there is actually something on the inside.




Tuesday, February 21, 2017

SSS Fantastic Florals Wednesday Challenge

Today's card is a special one that I made for my Grandma who just underwent surgery as part of her treatment plan for breast cancer last Friday. She is doing well and was in good spirits with the last update I heard, but I wanted to wish her a speedy recovery and let her know that we are thinking of her and praying for her.

I just happened  to be able to apply this to the Fantastic Florals Wednesday challenge theme from over @ the Simon Says Stamp blog. I also tried out a sponge -to- paper inking technique that I will probably be teaching to the library card making group in the month of April.



The card base is a basic white side folded card that I randomly stamped the camelia from a Technique Tuesday Greenhouse Society Stamp Set in black ink across the bottom 2/3rds. On 2 large scraps of white cardstock I then used a triangular makeup wedge to sponge ink all over -varying the depth of color in a random way...one was done with red ink and one with green. I then stamped the flower on top of both sponged color pieces using black ink and fussy cut them out...the green one I cut around the complete flower head and leaf image, but on the red one I only trimmed out the actual flower head.


I coated each flower piece with Glossy Accents and lightly sprinkled the red flower part with extra fine,clear glitter for a tiny bit of sparkle. Once the layers were dry (left over night), I popped the red flower up slightly with some Mini Glue Dots on top of the green for dimension. I stamped the TAC sentiment in black ink and die cut 3 sprig branches from another one of my Spellbinder's Monthly Die Club kits in vellum and attached them behind the floral piece with some of my favorite Tombow Mono Multi Liquid craft glue to the card front.



Monday, February 20, 2017

Try Stampin' On Tuesday(Or Not!): Challenge #308 -Hugs and Kisses

Today's card was made for one of my monthly card swap partners and used the sketch from the Try Stampin On Tuesday blog.


I used a lot of paper and dies for this one, but not a lot of stamping...which is relatively out of character for me, but was a fun thing to try. 

Numerous shades of red and pink textured cardstock were used along with some striped patterned paper from my stash of old Die Cuts With A View paper packs. The heart die set came in my Die-of -the-Month club kit from Spellbinders. The heartfelt sentiment stamp came from a retired set from TAC. The little resin flowers were in my stash and added a nice bit of dimension when adhered with mini glue dots. The mini bow die-cut set came from the shop @ Your Next Stamp and this one is actually  the smaller of the two that you can make with this set...so cute and dainty...even if I did feel like I was all thumbs when trying to glue it together, lol!







Saturday, February 18, 2017

HSS Inspiration Challenge #257

Today's project will be one that the library ladies get to make at our March gathering in a few weeks. The bright and cheery floral vibe goes well with the challenge @ Hand Stamped Sentiments.


This card was inspired by a You Tube video that Close To My Heart  posted a few weeks ago...such a simple and sweet idea to turn four circles into a cute, square card and envelope in one. And it's just the perfect size to tuck a gift card into for your birthday recipient.

Using patterned paper for the 4 circles made the process quick and simple. The video lays it out for you step by step on how to adhere the circles together. I then layered the yellow and purple squares with my floral stamped panel (using retired stamps from TAC) and punched the corners with a fancy scalloped corner  punch from back in my Creative Memories scrapbooking days. I stamped the metal rimmed tag with a purple dragonfly, adhered a pearl for it's head and stamped the tiny "For You" sentiment in black. Adding the yellow eyelet with my Crop -A -Dile tool was fast and easy. Tie it all together with yellow organza ribbon, tuck in a gift card and this little birthday "package" is all ready to be delivered.



Thursday, February 16, 2017

YNS Sketch & Color Challenge #57

Today's card was made for my monthly card swap and I used the Challenges over @ Your Next Stamp for my inspiration.



The teddy bear stamp is an oldie but goodie from my days with The Angel Company and I colored it in with prismacolor pencils and then blended with some odor-less mineral spirits -using some of the color challenge colors as my guide for both the coloring and the paper shade selections. I used my piercing tool to make a border along the edges of the white focal point layer to add interest and draw your eye to the bear. The pinkish-red heart layer was made using a white core cardstock, run thru my machine with my I-Heart embossing folder  and then sanded lightly. I used my clear Wink of Stella pen on the heart to give it a subtle sparkle and used some heart washi tape as a small layer, to tie it all together. Hope my swap partner gets a smile from this simple, but super cute card!






Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Fusion Card Challenge


Today's card was created with a sketch from the Fusion Card Challenge blog, but I didn't go with the valentine's theme because hubby's birthday was on Friday.


Since we are counting down the days until warmer weather arrives and we can go for motorcycle rides again, I used a retired motorcycle from Stampin' Up! as my focal stamp...the birthday sentiment stamps are also from SU!. I used an embossing folder on brushed silver cardstock to mimic the texture of the footrests on hubby's Suzuki Boulevard. (His bike is blue, so that is why I chose that color of cardstock for the base of his card.) A layer of vellum softened the transition perfectly under the focal image. After sponging charcoal ink around the edges of the diecut circle, I  heat embossed the black sentiment with clear ink and popped it up with some foam dots for added dimension. 






Saturday, February 11, 2017

CAS Holiday Watercolor & Dies

Today's card was an experiment in using some metallic watercolors that I have had in my stash for about a decade or more, lol! I think it's a fitting submission for 2 challenges...CAS Christmas Challenge #234 over @Merry Monday Christmas Challenge and the February Watercolor with a Twist -Dies over @Happy Little Stampers.




The card base is white cardstock that I brushed gold Brilliance ink (direct to paper from the ink pad) along the edges and the center panel is watercolor paper. The shimmer watercolor paint was washed on with a wide brush and encouraged to bleed together before drying by picking up and tilting the paper a bit. The shimmer is hard to capture on camera, but the last picture shows the shine a good bit. The ornament is diecut from Brushed Gold cardstock and the sentiment is heat embossed with gold. Quick, clean and simply beautiful!






Friday, February 10, 2017

LOVE -Will You Be My Valentine?

Since my hubby doesn't read my blog, I feel safe sharing his Valentine's Day card with you all here. The card was designed with our love of coffee in mind and will be submitted to 2 love themed challenges from The Paper Players and Stamp, Ink, Paper. This is a masculine spin on all the pink, and red lace adorned hearts we tend to see this time of year and I think my hubby will appreciate the lack of all that fancy stuff...although I did add a bit of sparkle with my Stardust Gellyroll Pen to some of the outline details.

I love this Latte stamp set from Fiskars that I picked up on sale at JoAnn Fabrics a few weeks ago...the embossing folder is from Tim Holtz and I found it on Amazon. Using kraft cardstock and espresso colored ink, I used the embossing folder as a letter press plate and inked it up first before running it thru my Amaze die-cutting machine (bottom side facing up) for the background piece. I did some masking and some fussy cutting for the trio of cups and then colored them with water color pencils. I heat embossed the word LOVE in red on the banner flag and then popped up the single cup with foam tape to add dimension after assembling the card front. The inside says" Me mine, Valentine -we're the perfect blend!"