Merry Reindeer Penguin

Another card made using the tutorial from Kristina Werner on Day One in my Holiday Card Workshop. This one has a few differences from the one I posted earlier this month. One being that I've turned my Stampin' Up Owl into a reindeer. And two, I applied textured Snow through my stencil instead of gold paste. I really like this card and would like to make more of them in the future. On to 2015.

More Popsicles

The Stamps of Life stamp/die set I used last week included a large die to make a card-sized Popsicle. They're so darn cute, I had to make two. The one on the left uses another piece of paper colored with Inktense watercolor pencils based upon a technique learned in Day Two of my watercolor class with Jennifer McGuire and  Onlinecardclasses. The one on the right is a sheet of paper from a 6x6 pad from Amy Tangerine called Sketchbook. So cute. These cards are so simple to make it's embarrassing but I just had to play. Hope you find them as delightful as I do. Thanks for stopping in.

Old Skool Easel Card

The Squirrels Nancy, Farley and I have started up our Squirrely Challenges again. We've had a long break but we are back. This time we each challenged the other two to use a technique or make type of card. Nancy challenged us to make an Easel card without utilizing the dies that have come onto the scene. Mine is very simple but I am happy to use some of my stash of supplies. I bought this popsicle set from The Stamps of Life and hadn't even opened it yet. I used several dies from my stash also and whether you can tell or not, the popsicle is watercolored with a technique I learned in my latest Onlinecardclass, Watercolor for Cardmakers. It's a simple card but I'm happy with it. Thanks for looking. Now go take a gander at the wonderful creations from the other Squirrels.

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Here's a little card I made based upon a sample provided by Jennifer McGuire in her recent Onlinecardclass. I copied hers very closely with the exception of the sentiment. This is a birthday card for my bestie Teresa and we are both fans of The Hunger Games. You know I had to use this sentiment on her card. We are eagerly awaiting release of the Catching Fire movie. The feathers and apertures were cut with dies from My Favorite Things. The stamp set is also from MFT. The feathers were colored with Distress Inks. Sequins and bling from my stash. Thanks for looking. 

Summer Camp - Still on Day One

Just browsed back through my blog and it looks like there's a theme going. Bikes everywhere. So I will break that thread and give you a dress. Still working with the same color palette and a different sketch. I think I stayed close enough to the assignment to get credit for it. The dress and hanger were cut on my Silhouette. The patterned papers are all from my stash, some of which is from the past Simon Says Stamp card kits. Which is where I got the stamped sentiment and border. This is a card for Jean, my sister-in-law. Thanks for looking.

Summer Camp 2 - Day One

Yes, I signed up for another Onlinecardclass by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner. This one is called Summer Camp 2. For the first week, we were given three sketches and a color palette to follow. This card is my attempt to follow both. Stamps used are from The Stamps of Life (balloons) and Papertrey Ink (the wonderful bike with interactive parts. Yes, the wheels really turn.) Patterned paper is from American Crafts Shoreline. Thanks for looking.

His & Hers Online Card Class - Days Three, Four and Five...WHEW!!!

On Day Three of our His & Hers Card class, Jennifer Rzasa taught us a method of watercolor. I used a spankin' new stamp from Magenta to try this technique along with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. I am quite happy with the results. For my card, I used my old Derwent Watercolor pencils.

The card we made on Day Four turned out to be my favorite of the ones posted today. It was challenging for me because I don't really own any symmetrical dies to use with this Partial Die-Cutting technique. However, I had a lightbulb moment and recalled that a recent purchase of butterfly dies from Cheery Lynn included a "half die" to use to make a backing for the intricate butterfly. Voila! I had my partial die cut right in my hot little hands. The other butterflies were made with a Stampin Up embosslit, the stamps from Simon Says Stamp as well as the paper and a little bit o'Stickles thrown in because everything is better with Stickles.

On Day Five, Kristina Werner suggested making a masculine and feminine card from the same stamp sets. I used a new set from Stamps of Life along with papers from one of my past Simon Says Stamp card kits. I don't really feel my two cards look all that different but I did use a pink-y color for the feminine one. 

I didn't really get to do much else today on National Scrapbooking Day other than these cards. No scrapbooking. Perhaps next year I will plan my time more wisely. It would be nice to make a layout on this Day. (Of course, there was that time spent watching the Derby......)  Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Club Scrap International Scrapbooking Day Blog Hop

Good morning, Blog Hoppers. Happy International Scrapbook Day! If you are joining me from Crzymom's Tidbits, then you are probably on the Club Scrap Blog Hop. Thank you for hopping along. In honor of Scrapbook Day I made cards. No particular reason other than the fact that I ran out of time to make some layouts. Anyway, I've been taking an online card class and busily doing my homework. As always, I am multi-tasking. This first card meets the assignment for Day 2 when Jennifer McGuire showed us how to make a kaleidoscope image with one stamp. It also meets one of the daily challenges currently being posted in the Club Scrap Coffeehouse, this one requiring stitching on a card. Thirdly, it qualifies for the Monthly Sketch challenge. See, I told you I'm a multi-tasker.

The next card was created as the sample for the Club Scrap Monthly Card Sketch challenge. I think that's all for that one.

And this third one fits the requirement for Club Scrap's Daily challenge, this one requiring bling. I also made it to loosely fit the homework assignment for Day 3 of the OnlineCardClass His & Hers which prompted us to use watercolor on the image. This particular image was colored with Gelatos and then spritzed with water to achieve that look. 

Thank you so much for visiting me today. If I can get my act together, there will also be an afternoon post. But don't hold your breath. Sorry. If you want to continue on the Club Scrap Blog Hop, you can skedaddle on over to Shona Scraps to see what she has prepared for you. If you have just wandered in here randomly and would like to start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start, you can click over to Club Scrap Creates.

Happy International Scrapbook Day!!!

Supplies: All supplies are from various Club Scrap kits with the exception of the embossing folder on card two and the bling on card three.

His & Hers Online Card Class - Day One

Today is Day One of, yes, another Online Card Class presented by Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner and others. I love these classes. The videos are great as are the handouts. All stampers provide clear instruction and great samples. This class is called His & Hers. It's designed to help us translate clever ideas into card designs for both guys and gals. This first card was created with an old set of stamps which I love but have rarely used. That's my goal with this class. Use my stash. This particular set is called Mindy's Flowers by Autumn Leaves. In Jennifer's sample, she used Prismacolor Pencils to color the image. I don't have those so I used my Inktense pencils and applied a tiny bit of water to blend the colors. 

For the masculine sample, Jennifer used kraft cardstock and white ink. I used my amazing Club Scrap white received at 2010 Retreat and this time, I did use some old Venus colored pencils that I've been hoarding for 36 years. Yes. You read that right. Anyway, I don't think the stamps I chose were adaptive to this technique but I'm content with the results. I do love the look of colored pencils on kraft cardstock and plan to do more of it in the future. Maybe during this class? My little pearls on both cards were made with either Ranger Enamel Accents, Ranger Liquid Pearls or Tulip Pearl Fabric paint. I used all three on different cards and, honestly, don't recall which one is on each card. Hope to stay on top of this class so please return soon. Thanks for visiting. 

Clean and Simple Card Making - Day Two

On Day Two of our Clean and Simple class, we learned techniques for masking and reverse masking. I chose to use a stencil of a California poppy. The design was actually created on the Silhouette by my sister Chrissie who shared it with me. I had whined to her about the fact that I could never find a great stamp of the beautiful California poppy, our State flower. She graciously created this for me. I used Distress Inks in Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade for the flower, and Mowed Lawn for the stem. The border around the card is a stamp from the February Simon Says Stamp kit. Love it. The sentiment is from my stash. Thanks for looking.

Clean and Simple Card Making - Day One

I'm taking another class over at Onlinecardclasses. This one is called Clean and Simple Card Making 2. I suppose the name is self-explanatory. On the first day of class, we were challenged to make a card with a stamped image inside an aperture as well as masking and spraying the front panel. This is my offering. I used Bristol Smooth cardstock for the card base and panel. My stencil for the pointy circles is from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer for Crafters Workshop. I used Dylusions spray in Pure Sunshine . The stamped stars are from the September Simon Says Stamp card kit. Thanks for looking.

Homage to Oz

Always multi-tasking. I created this card for the February Card Sketch Challenge over at Club Scrap. I used the Faux Artist technique learned from Jennifer McGuire in Day Two of the Clean and Simple Card Making 2 class going on right now at Onlinecardclasses.com. Card, panels and graphics are all from Club Scrap. I wanted to make this card a sort of vague homage to Oz, thus the green for the palace and yellow for the brick road. My Faux Artist technique isn't spectacular so I will keep working on it. But I had this idea floating in my head since Tuesday and just had to try it. First time ever using my new Inktense pencils. I think I'm going to like them.

Holiday Card Class - Sentiment Backgrounds

One more card from Day Nine of the Holiday Card Class. Same information as the card I posted on December 11. Still not crazy about the technique. Washi tape border and edge punch from Martha Stewart.

Holiday Card Class - Day Nine

Back to my Holiday Card Class. On Day Nine, Jennifer McGuire showed us how to create cards using Sentiment stamps. I wasn't overly fond of this technique and had very few sentiment stamps at the time the class was being held. However, thanks to a recent buying spree, I suddenly found myself the lucky owner of quite a few new Christmas sentiments. Still not crazy about the technique, but determined to try each of the techniques taught to us. This one uses materials from my Simon Says Stamp class as well as my scrap stash. The sentiment stamps are mostly from Simon Says Stamp with a few others thrown in for good measure. I don't think I will try this technique again. I used my Martha Stewart Cardinal punch on this one. Love that little guy.

Day Five - Christmas Tree and Baubles

Still working on my Holiday Card Workshop even though the formal class is over. This card was one of my favorites during the class but it was just too labor-intensive to work on during class. So I attacked it once the frenzy of daily assignments was over. All supplies are from Club Scrap, various kits. The tree shape and ornaments were cut on my Silhouette. The tree and ornaments were colored with Distress Inks. There are Stickles on some of the balls. And a little bling, just because. Thanks for looking.

Day Eight - Simple Die Cutting

On Day Eight, guest teacher Amber Kemp-Gerstel gave us a simple die cut card using an inking technique. I cut a few corners and used embossed cardstock behind my opening rather than an ink technique. It's a simple card but very nice. The Holiday Card Workshop ends tomorrow and I have mixed feelings. The pressure of creating every day is stressful but also, a little bit exciting. I look forward to repeating some of these techniques in a more leisurely fashion, using stamps for other holidays or themes. I have learned a lot of new techniques and look forward to taking more of these great classes from Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner.

Base, panel, and sentiment stamp: Club Scrap

Day Nine - Stamp Layering

On Day Nine Julie Ebersole showed us how to make a card using stamp layering. Not sure I got this technique knocked but here's a card showing my meagre attempt. Washi tape and star brads complete the look. 

Card base and sentiment stamp: Club Scrap

Sentiment stamp: Club Scrap

Alpha Stamps and brads from my stash

Washi tape

Day Eight - Cards Using Dies

I really loved the sample Jennifer McGuire gave us today. It used a metallic paper from Tim Holtz. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the product in my stash but I did have a silver metallic cardstock in my metallic stash. Fantastic! I don't own an ornament die but, really, isn't everything better with a bird on it???

Card base and panel: Club Scrap

Bird die: Spellbinders nestie

Branch with Leaves die: Sizzix

Embossing folder: Spellbinders Holiday Magic

Bling from my stash

Panel inked with Distress Ink

Day Six - Gradient Inking

Another card shown to us in the Holiday Card Workshop was one using gradient inking. I was successful in that portion of the card, but suffered an Epic Fail for part two of the card. No matter, it still creates a lovely card. I copied the sample as well as I could using items from my stash. 

Card base and patterned paper: DCWV

Card panel: Bristol Smooth

Embossing folder: Spellbinders Holiday Magic

Distress Inks by Ranger

Day Six - Stained Glass Watercolor

On Day Six, Shari Carroll presented a sample using a watercolor effect on a heat-embossed image. I was at a loss as to which stamp I had in my possession to use for this card. Suddenly as I drifted off to sleep the other night, I remember a stamp I bought (and loved) years ago. Dug it out of the depths of my stash and went to work. For this card, I used Tim Holtz Distress Markers to color the star. I made quite a few of these images using other coloring media. You will see them in the coming weeks, I am sure. Thanks for looking.

Card base, banner and panel: Club Scrap

Star stamp: Great Impressions

Embossing folder: Spellbinders Holiday Magic

Sentiment Stamp: Club Scrap