Friday, January 4, 2013

Chalkboard Birthday Card

This is a card I made for my friend Saige's birthday. It is the first time I tried the "chalkboard" look. I used a piece of specially coated black card stock from the Chalkboard Stack by DCWV. It acts like a chalkboard so I could have written and drawn designs with chalk. I may do this in the future but for this card I wanted to use some small clear stamps from my collection. To make the chalkboard grungy, I first tried smearing around some white ink with my finger but it was coming out too strong so I used actual chalk. I initially tried to line up the stamps inside the shape (Tim Holtz Styled Labels by Sizzix) but ended up stamping them one at a time since the stamps had too much extra around the designs to make them stamp closely on the acrylic block. I used StayzOn ink in white.


To line the edge of the shape and to draw the balloon string, I used a white marker pen. I am still looking for a good gel pen (I have some on order); most of the ones I have tried skip or make a line down the center where the ball is located. If anyone has a suggestion for a good white gel pen, please leave me a comment!

The candles were both stamped and cut with a combo cupcake set from Spellbinders and Hampton Art that I bought at Michaels. I stamped them with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored them with Copic Sketch markers. The two shades of blue card stock are from Bazzill Basics. I'm not sure from which pack I got the background design paper (sorry!).

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Elegant B&W Christmas Card

I made this Christmas card for my friends Michelle and Earl. I wanted to use my recycled clear plastic packaging (I have far too much of it collected since they don't recycle this in my area yet). I inked the edges of the plastic and stamped the flourishes with white StayzOn ink. This was done on the back side. I wanted it to look like wind blowing around the snowflakes. The snowflakes were all done using Martha Stewart punches. I added Stickles to some of them to make them sparkle. I also added Swarovski crystals (from the jewelry department of my local craft store) both under the plastic and over (next to sentiment). The crystals under the plastic help to hold it up. I also hid 3-dimensional tape beneath the sentiment and under the snowflakes.


I cut the paper ribbons by hand. The patterned papers are from a 6x6 pad of Christmas paper by Teresa Collins, used for the black paper ribbon with white snowflakes and the rose, also with snowflakes but in reverse. To cut the rose, I used the Gardenia die from Quilled Creations. The bottom two ribbons are under the plastic, while the one with the stamped sentiment is on top.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Cricut Magazine Sept. 2012 Card

I made this card for my friend Michelle's birthday (she likes cats). I liked it so much that I made a second duplicate card and submitted it to Cricut Magazine. It was printed in the September 2012 issue!

I used Cricut cartridges Create a Critter for the kitty, Paper Lace for the birthday sentiment, and Mother's Day Bouquet for the flowers. The leaves were cut with the Sizzix die: Flowers, Branches, & Leaves. The butterfly punches are from Martha Stewart. I used K & Company patterned paper for the kitten and background, and Bazzill Basics Fundamentals card stock for the rest.


To color the butterflies, I used my water brush with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Refills (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Barn Door), mixed with some Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium to give them some shimmer. The bodies are made of Liquid Pearls (Buttercup and Rouge). I inked the edges of the kitten and the background paper with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Linen and the flowers with Walnut Stain. The bow tie and flowers have Stickles on them for extra sparkle (Diamond, Yellow, Golden Rod, Walnut Stain). Creatology Wiggle Eyes give the cat a whimsical look (I deleted the original eyes using my Gypsy before cutting).