Sizzix

July 15, 2018

Hi again! Hope everyone’s enjoying a beautiful weekend. I’ve got a fun interactive card to share using some new Sizzix stamps and dies that I picked up at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.  I’m a sucker for anything tropical in the summertime and I couldn’t resist these.

I used the Sizzix Tropicool Slider dies for the center portion of the card. It’s got a nice big pull tab and folds the center area up to reveal a sentiment, stamped image, etc. underneath. This can stand alone as a card or you can do what I’ve done here and adhere it to a larger card base. Super easy to put together using the photo instructions on the packaging.

I adhered patterned paper to cardstock before die-cutting to add some extra stability to it. The die set also comes with the tropical leaves dies.  I inked the leaves with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive and Twisted Citron.

 

The stamped images are from the Sizzix Toucan Sentiments set and I colored them with Copics and used the coordinating dies. The sentiment is also from this set and to create the wooden sign I stamped a wood background on a piece of kraft cardstock in Vintage Photo Distress Ink, stamped the sentiment and then hand cut a wavy edge around the sentiment.

I can see using the slider dies for any theme or occasion and you might be able to adapt this to fit a gift card under that folding portion. Might have to play around with that this Holiday season.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Oh, Crab!

July 9, 2018

I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I’ve posted on here! I made a decision at the beginning of the year to take several art classes and focus on improving my coloring skills with Copics and colored pencils. The courses were fantastic, but pretty intense, so I found myself not taking any time to just have fun with card making.

And honestly, after 4 months of doing nothing but classes, I kinda burned out on coloring. Eek. I’m gradually getting my mojo back and I thought I’d share this little card I made over the weekend.

First off, the background is part of a fun little mini course taught by Sandy Allnock and available in her online store www.art-classes.com. The underwater scenes mini class has 5 different scenes and full video tutorials on them.

 

I also had an awesome opportunity to attend Jane Allen’s no-line coloring class last month at the MFT boutique! She’s such an amazing artist and the class was excellent. Highly recommend it, but be quick on the purchase of a seat when they announce the next class. Both days filled up really fast.

I used a few of the techniques I learned from Jane on this little crab from the MFT Just Beclaws stamp set. If you’re familiar with this set, you’ll notice the crab stamp has a smiley face. I changed it up a bit by drawing in the top shell parts and giving him a shocked look on his face. Fun stuff!

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks so much for stopping by!

I’ll try not to be absent so much and I really look forward to sharing more creative adventures!

Pretty Pink Posh

Winter Woodland

January 12, 2018

Happy Friday! Now that the busy holiday season is over, I’m starting to get back into some much needed crafty time. I’m not usually big on New Year’s resolutions, but this year I’m really going to make more of an effort to spend time doing things that I love and make me happy. The moose in this stamp set really makes me happy, so I started off with him:)

I used the Winter Woodland stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh and a whole lot of dies on this card. I started by die-cutting the base of this scene from a rust colored cardstock using the largest die from the MFT Stitched Rectangle A2 Stax die-namics and adhered it to an off-white card base. I knew I was going to color the fox with rust tones, so I wanted to balance that strong color.

Next up was the woodgrain piece. I die-cut a natural/grayish colored cardstock with a smaller MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die and then taped an MFT Inside & Out Stitched Rounded Rectangle STAX die-namic towards the top of the cardstock and centered, cutting edge down. I ran this through my die-cutting machine to create a window in the cardstock piece.

I then embossed the cardstock using a woodgrain Paper Studio embossing folder from Hobby Lobby and adhered this piece centered on the rust cardstock.

For the center background piece, I die-cut a white cardstock using the same MFT Inside & Out Stitched Rounded Rectangle STAX die (try saying that 4 times really fast, haha) from the previous step. I airbrushed the piece using Copic YR20, YR01 and E11 in that order from the top down. I heat embossed a few snowflakes from various Lawn Fawn stamp sets in white embossing powder and stamped the sentiment from this set.

Normally this piece would have fit perfectly inside the frame, but after I embossed with the woodgrain folder the frame piece shrunk up a little. No problem! (Initially, it was a problem). I took this as an opportunity for a little extra color around the center piece by adhering it slightly offset on the top and right sides. It’s right up against the left side of the frame piece, but the tree is covering that.

I used the MFT Birch Tree die-namics (both the solid and the notched sets) and layered 2 of them together. I added some darker gray and brown in the notched areas and a few extra places with Copics and adhered them.

For the snow drifts, I die-cut a piece of textured white cardstock with the same MFT STAX die that I used on the woodgrain piece and then cut a few strips from this. I then die-cut each strip with the MFT Stitched Snow Drifts die-namics and adhered them layered together.

I colored the moose and fox images with Copics and die-cut them with the coordinating dies to this set. The moose was just too fun! I know I’ve got a ways to go with mastering fur, but this was a great exercise in teeny tiny flicks with the marker:) Practice, practice.

I hope you enjoyed my card today and I hope your new year is getting off to a great start!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Peace to you this Christmas

December 22, 2017

Happy Friday! With Christmas a few days away, this will most likely be my last Christmas card to share this season and I’m really glad I pulled out this MFT stamp set from last Christmas! I just love this reindeer.

I started this one by die-cutting a white textured cardstock using the largest die in the MFT A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX Set 2 die-namics. (This die measures 4″ x 5 1/4″). I then taped the third largest die in the MFT Stitched Tag-Corner Square STAX die-namics cutting edge down on the top portion of the rectangular die-cut and ran it through a die-cutting machine.

I wanted just a portion of the tag-corner square shape for my background so I die-cut a second piece of textured white cardstock using the same A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX die and then cut this piece horizontally. I adhered it to the top of the first rectangular piece. I wrapped/adhered a piece of AmericanCrafts ribbon around the piece where the two are adhered to cover the seam.

I cut a piece of MFT patterned paper 3 1/2″ x 4″ and adhered this towards the top of my pink card base. I then applied dimensional foam tape around the outside edges of the rectangular piece and a little in the center and adhered it to the card base.

I colored my little reindeer from the MFT Merry Everything stamp set with Copics and die-cut it using the coordinating dies to this set. I also used dimensional adhesive to adhere the reindeer so he’s popped up in the window.

 

To finish the card, I airbrushed a piece of white cardstock using Copic R00, R21 and R22 and then die-cut this piece with the MFT Peace die-namics. I added portions of a few die-cut snowflakes (MFT Let it Snowflake Too die-namics) to the corners.

I really had fun with this one using a teal/pink color scheme!

I’ll be spending the Christmas holiday next week having fun and relaxing in my craft room, so I hope to have a few new cards to share later on next week. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!

Essentials by Ellen

Christmas Bear Take 2

December 8, 2017

Happy Friday! As usual this time of year, I start out with high hopes of making tons of Christmas cards, tags for presents and gift boxes and then run out of time! I’ve managed to squeak out a few new ones and today’s card is another take on the bear from the “All Inside” Essentials by Ellen stamp set. With the “Bear Ware” and Bear Ware 2″ stamp sets that coordinate with this set, it’s fun to dress him up for any occasion.

First, I die-cut a piece of white cardstock using a stitched rounded rectangle die from the My Favorite Things Blueprints 31 die-namics. I masked off the top half of this piece with eclipse tape and airbrushed the background with Copic R00. I then masked off this area and taped a My Favorite Things diagonal stripes stencil to the piece. I airbrushed a small area through the stencil using Copic G0000.

I stamped the bear, scarf and candy cane, colored them with Copics and die-cut them using the coordinating dies to the “All Inside” and “Bear Ware 2” sets.

After adhering the bear, I matted the cardstock piece on a My Favorite Things patterned paper die-cut with the larger stitched rounded rectangle die from the My Favorite Things Blueprints 31 die-namics and adhered both to the card base.

I finished it off by stamping the “Merry” sentiment from the Lawn Fawn “Snow Day” stamp set and adding the die-cut “Christmas” using the Pretty Pink Posh Merry Christmas Script die.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and hope you find time to get crafty during the holidays!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Pink Posh

Joy!

December 1, 2017

Hi there! I’ve been playing with some new Pretty Pink Posh goodies! For this card, I used the “Winter Woodland” stamp set and the Joy shaker die.

First, I die-cut a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock using a die from the Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables and inked the cardstock with Distress Oxide ink in Iced Spruce. I taped a Hero Arts Swirl stencil over the cardstock and added a little shine and pattern to the background by painting through the stencil with Daniel Smith Pearlescent Shimmer watercolor paint.

Once this was dry, I matted it on a red cardstock die-cut from a Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables die and adhered both to the card base.

For the snow drifts, I die-cut a piece of textured white cardstock from the same Lawn Fawn Rectangle Stackable die that I used on the background piece and then die-cut it twice using the My Favorite Things Snow Drifts die-namics and layered the 2 pieces.

I die-cut a piece of silver/teal glitter paper two times using the Pretty Pink Posh Joy Shaker die and adhered the 2 together for extra dimension.

I colored the images from the Winter Woodland stamp set with Copics and die-cut them using the coordinating dies to this set.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

My Favorite Things

Beary Christmas!

November 22, 2017

Hi there! Super excited to share my latest Christmas card! I don’t know if it’s the color combo on this one or that polar bear, but this is one of my favorites so far.

To start, I die-cut a piece of white cardstock with the largest rectangle die from the Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies and I airbrushed a purple gradient starting from the top using Copic BV31, BV01 and BV02. I then taped a Hero Arts Abstract Waves stencil over the piece and airbrushed another gradient from the top down using BV01, BV02 and BV13. I really like how this pattern worked with the MFT Stitched Mod Square Stax die-namics that I used next for the polar bear scene.

I die-cut the smaller mod square from white cardstock and airbrushed the water with BG000 and the sky with W0. I matted this piece on the next larger mod square stax cut from a dark purple cardstock. I die-cut the iceberg from a white textured cardstock using the MFT Icebergs die-namics and pressed it on a Versamark ink pad. Then, I heat embossed the iceberg with clear UTEE. It gave it that perfect icy look and texture.

For the ice that the bear is skating on, I die-cut an oval from white cardstock using the MFT Oval Shadows die-namics and added just a hint of Copic BG11 on each end and then covered those areas with Glossy Accents for a little shine. I colored the polar bear from the MFT Polar Bear Pals stamps with Copics and used the coordinating dies to this set.

To finish the card, I die-cut various snowflakes from white glitter cardstock and a teal shimmery specialty paper using the MFT Layered Snowflakes die-namics. I stamped a sentiment from the MFT Polar Pals stamp set in Versamark on a piece of teal paper and heat embossed with detail white embossing powder. I die-cut this piece using the MFT Stitched Sentiment Strips die-namics. I then matted it on a darker teal cardstock and cut a thin border around the edges to help it stand out a bit more.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow to all here in the US!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

May Your Days be Furry and Bright!

November 17, 2017

Happy Friday! This little pup has been naughty! My card today features the adorable new “Happy Pawlidays” stamp set from My Favorite Things.

I kept the design of this fairly simple to really let the “story” I was trying to tell stand out. To begin, I die-cut a piece of white cardstock using the smaller rectangle die in the MFT Blueprints 31 die-namics and then die-cut the edge about 2/3 down using a die from the MFT Stitched Basic Edges 2 die-namics.

I lightly airbrushed a background using Copic B000 and E30.

I die-cut an MFT patterned paper using the same smaller rectangle die from the Blueprints 31 die-namics, stamped a sentiment from this set and then adhered the white cardstock to the top of the paper. I matted this combined piece on another MFT patterned paper that I die-cut using the larger rectangle die in the Blueprints 31 die-namics.

I colored all of the images with Copics and die-cut them using the coordinating die-namics to this set.I really had a lot of fun adding spots and extra character to my little dog.

I could SO see my dog tearing apart our Christmas tree! Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this year…

Hope you enjoyed my card today and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Pink Posh

Jingle All the Way

November 15, 2017

Hi there! My card today is my first attempt at no line coloring, so go easy on me. It’s a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I love the soft effect it gave to this card. I chose a fun non-traditional pastel color scheme for something a little different.

First, I die-cut a piece of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock using the largest die in the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies. It measures 3 3/4″ x 5″. I then stamped the reindeer images from the Pretty Pink Posh “Reindeer Friends” stamp set using Memento Desert Sand ink. I masked the reindeers using Eclipse tape and then stamped the present image from this set in Memento Angel Pink ink and masked this image also.

I airbrushed a soft background with Copic R01 and YR61 and then stamped and heat embossed small snowflakes in white embossing powder.

I stamped the sentiment from this set before I colored the images just in case the heat embossing didn’t turn out right. I used a light blue Recollections embossing powder. You’ll want to use anti-static powder for sure before you stamp the sentiment if you’ve airbrushed the background as it can remain a bit sticky for several hours. I actually set it aside overnight before I heat embossed the sentiment.

I colored all of the images with Copics and added a few highlights on the presents with a white gel pen. No line coloring is fun, but time consuming the first go round.

To finish the card, I matted this piece on a Lawn Fawn Watercolors paper cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″.

Hope you enjoyed today’s card and thanks for stopping by!

Essentials by Ellen

Christmas Card #4 and a Beary Cute Extra

November 13, 2017

Hi there and happy Monday! (Is there such a thing?) Well, I hope my post helps with that.Today I’m sharing a Christmas card I made over the weekend and this adorable matching felt bear ornament. You’re going want to make these stuffed bears!!

I’ll start with details about the card first. I’ve used the Essentials by Ellen All Inside, Bear Ware and Bear Ware 2 stamp sets by Julie Ebersole for EllenHutsonLLC. I really love this stamp set and how versatile it is! I’ve shared this bear recently on a Halloween card and now he’s ready for Christmas.

First, I cut a 3/4″ x 5 1/4″ strip of patterned paper (this is My Favorite Things) and adhered it to my card base. I then cut a piece of white textured cardstock 3 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ and embossed it using a Sizzix Stampin’ Up! snowflake embossing folder. I’m not sure if this is still available, but any snowflake embossing folder would look nice.

Next I die-cut 3 snowflakes from silver glitter paper (this is from a DCWV paper pad) using the My Favorite Things Let it Snowflake Two Die-namics and adhered a couple towards the bottom and one above where I planned on placing the bear.

I die-cut the Merry Christmas sentiment using the My Favorite Things Merry Christmas Circle Frame Die-namics in both the silver glitter paper and black cardstock for a shadow effect. I cut the sentiment in half so I’d just have a half circle surrounding the bear.

Then, I stamped and colored the bear, present and Santa hat with Copics and die-cut them using the coordinating dies. I used Copic W00, W0 and W1 for just a hint of color to the bear to make him match the ornament bear a bit more. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the bear for a little extra interest.

Now for the details on that adorable ornament!

I used the new Essentials by Ellen Bear Hugs dies designed by Julie Ebersole and these are just genius! They’re designed perfectly for making these stitched and stuffed bears with little holes die-cut around the edge for quick and easy sewing.

I die-cut the bear body 3 times and the arms once from Taylored Expressions Marshmallow felt. The dies cut beautifully through this quality felt with one pass. For the present, I used a silver metallic needlework thread to stitch a ribbon and bow and added the eyes and nose from black felt. You’ll notice I didn’t exactly match the stamped bear’s face. I just really liked the eyes and nose set closer together on the ornament.

To make this an ornament, I cut a piece of white cording and tied a knot with the 2 ends before placing this between the felt layers and sewing.

The talented Karolyn Loncon shared her version of this bear on her blog several weeks ago and added a little pocket in the back to make it a gift card holder. I loved this idea, so I added one also. You’ll need to cut one extra bear body from the felt and then I die-cut the piece in half using a rickrack edge die. A gift card fits inside, but you could also tuck a little cash in there instead.

 

I’ve got a red and white themed Christmas tree this year, so I’ll have to make another one of these for myself! He just makes me smile:)

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!