Clean and Simple Cardmaking 2 - Day 3

I'm on a roll with making Valentine's Day cards - I love making them, even though I have nobody to give them to (*sniff*).  Oh, well, somebody will enjoy them!

I went with Jennifer McGuire's inky technique to produce an ombre effect. I tried stamping the hearts (from a Die-namics set - Umbrella and Stamp set) straight onto the front of the card, but made a few blunders, so cut a piece down to use as a panel.  Then I decided to put a sentiment (from PaperTrey Ink Tremendous Treats - Valentine), but wanted it white embossed on dark pink - but just sticking it on top of the panel seemed too easy and boring, so I cut a window.  However, I had to cut it by hand because I don't have a die to fit that stamp - so out came my craft knife!  I'm usually really bad at using a craft knife, but I've realised that it's because I'm just too impatient, so I took a leaf out of Kristina Werner's book and took it slow and steady - I took my time, swiped the inside edge with a marker to finish off the cut edge, and it turned out well :)  Rounded the top right corner of the card, and I was done!

I thought I'd also submit this card to Addicted to CAS "Heart" challenge.

I hope you're having a lovely day :)

PS thank you for all the lovely comments from fellow Clean and Simple 2 classmates - I really appreciate them! 

Clean and Simple Cardmaking 2 - Day 2

One layer cards!  Eeeep! I don't find these the easiest - I tend to want to add something somewhere (or end up messing something up and having to cover it with a second layer!) But this card came together exactly the way I planned - love it when that happens!  (as Julie Ebersole would say, lots of "monkey clapping" happened!! )
I went with Jennifer McGuire's technique of using water colour pencils - didn't use them on the sentiment, but on a rainbow of hearts :)  The heart and the sentiment are from a PaperTrey Ink set called "Tremendous Treats - Valentine" - a set with cuteness galore!

Not sure what went on with my camera, but the corners of the photo went all dull on me. :(

You can see that I added some Glossy Accents to each of the hearts - just a little touch that makes a big difference, I think.

 Seeing as the challenge at Addicted to CAS this week is "Heart", I thought I might submit this card there, too :)

 I hope you are having a great day :)

Clean and Simple Cardmaking 2 - Day 1

Another Online Card Class begins - hooray!  I've had a busy day with babysitting nieces and trying to get envelopes to match some wedding invitations I am making (found an exact match! Yay! and they were on the discount shelf, so got the last 100 for 50% off! Hooray!!), so I've only had time to make one card today (and assist with making 2 cards with eldest 2 nieces). 

I decided to go with the sketch of Amber Kemp-Gerstel's card - I used the Memory Box Arboscello Tree die, but cut all the leaves off. Added a glittery heart and a Hero Arts sentiment (which originally read "I have you in my heart" but I cut it in half.)

Here are the cards my nieces made using sketches from today's class. Lauren (who is 10) used Amber's sketch, same as I did - we made a reverse mask for the tree, stamped Impression Obsession Cover a Card "Vines" using three different distress inks, then sponged with the orange.  The trunk is a modified die from Stampin Up (extended the trunk and removed the leaves), and added a Hero Arts sentiment and birdie:

Caitlin (almost 8) used Kristina Werner's sketch as a starting point (in the bottom right hand corner), but decided to add some pink butterflies (from Hero Arts) and flowers. Caitlin particularly loves pink ;)

 I hope you are enjoying class as much as I am - If you haven't ever done one of these online classes, what are you waiting for!! You can find them all at www.onlinecardclasses.com ;)

Another reject

Thought I'd post another reject from the recent PaperCrafts call for submissions.  This one was from a sketch.

Thank you to all the lovely crafters out there who have left me encouraging comments about my previous reject card - your lovely comments have cheered me up immensely!  And thank you to Annette Witherspoon for her blog hop "The Contenders" - such gorgous cards being linked up!

Hooray for you!

My cousin's little boy is being baptised today, and also celebrating his 2nd birthday, so I made this card for him.  I don't have any stamps specific to baptisms or christenings, but I thought "hooray for you" fits the bill for a baptism and a birthday too! :)

 The sentiment inside says "for you are 2!" 

I used my Copic markers for this card, so I thought I'd sumbit it to this week's CASual Friday's Markers challenge :)

Publication reject

I made a few cards earlier this month to submit to PaperCrafts Magazine for their call for submissions.  None of them were accepted, so I thougth I'd share them here, anyway.

The inside reads "Always there to cheer you after the storm"

I'll be sumitting this card to Less is More - Friends, as well as to Annette Witherspoon's blog hop for PaperCrafts "Contenders"  and CASual Fridays "Make your Mark" challenge.

Have a great day :)

***UPDATE - after a few comments asking how I did this, here's how I did this!  The front panel is watercolour paper - I put some swipes of distress ink (I used some ink pads and some markers) just on the left side of the paper.  Then I sprayed with water and let the ink bleed across the rest of the paper (trying not to let them bleed into each other too much).  I then let it dry before adding a few more blotches of water here and there.  

Underwater critters

My sister-in-law's birthday was today, and we're going out for a celebratory lunch tomorrow.  My Mum, Dad and I have bought her a digital camera that can be used underwater, so I thought an underwater-themed card would be appropriate ;)  I used lawn Fawn stamps, on a pale blue Hero Arts Hero Hues notecard.

 I'll be submitting this card to Lawnscaping's Challenge: Let's Party

This is also the first time I've inked up these Lawn Fawn stamps, so I'll be submitting this card to A Blog Named Hero's Challenge - New year, new you!

Another sympathy card

 I made a few sympathy cards the other day - they're the kind of card you don't want to have to make when they're needed, so it's useful to have a stash ready to go. These both use for Hero Arts chalk and shadow inks, a Papertrey Ink stamp set and a sentiment from Stamps Happen that I've had for ages. 

Hello, baby!

I can never have enough baby cards - and these little birdies from a new Stampin' Up patterned paper set are just so cute!

I'll be submitting this card to A Blog Named Hero's "New year, new you!" challenge, and Simon Says Stamp challenge - "New Something" challenge.

Thanks with lots of buttons

Hmm - three challenges - one Clean and Simple (CASual Fridays "thankyou" challenge). One to use 10 different embellishments on the same card (Moxie Fab world).  One to use something new (Simon Says Stamp "New Something" - my new thing was the birdie patterned paper from Stampin' Up - I fussy cut the birdies out).  How to put them together?   Well, this is what I came up with:

 Hope you're having a great day - thanks for visiting :)

Musical happy birthday

This week, Moxie Fab world has a challenge to use a window in a card.  Also, Less is More has a challenge to use black and white with just a dash of colour. I had my treble clef die out on the desk from a card I made on Monday (I wasn't entirely happy with that one), so thought I'd use it again. I also had some Echo Park patterned paper that I thought would add a nice border, and I used my brand new Simon Says Stamp Holiday shapes die for the heart.  All the rest of the notes I handcut, and I hand drew the musical stave and the time signature on the inside of the card ;)

Oh, and for those of you who do not read music, it is actually a musically accurate representation of the first four words of the "happy birthday" song ;)

I'm enjoying wonderfully cool weather here today - 14 degrees C at the moment, and a forecast of 20 - makes a lovely change from 41 the other day - bracing for 37 on Friday! Wishing for a cool change in the bushfire ravaged areas of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Have a great day ;)

Bird silhouette sympathy card

I'm all out of sympathy cards, and I do not like making them when I need them, so I tend to make a stash of them all at once.  Here's one design I made today - I liked it so much,  I actually made 4 copies of this one.

Have a great day :)

Thanks with a hatpin

This week, Moxie Fab world has a challenge to use 10 embellishments!  10!!! Whew!  I went through my stash and found a hatpin with beads from Stampin' Up that Sue Madex gave to me at a party, so decided to use that - I've never used a hatpin on a card before, so very new to me - but I humm-ed and hah-ed about where to put it, and what else to put on the card - I decided to also use my new Hero Arts stamp "looped flower pattern" and a HA butterfly -  this is what I eventually came up with: 

 I'll be submitting this to Moxie Fab's Challenge to use 10 embellishments, as well as to A Blog Named Hero's Challenge to try something new, and to Simon Says Stamp Challenge - New Something.

 

 

A few challenges to kickstart the mojo

I've been busy making wedding invitation samples, I haven't really had any mojo to make anything else! So I decided today that I would check out some challenges out in blogland (I found heaps!), and break open some of the purchases that arrived in the mail from Simon Says Stamp a couple of days ago (Yay!).  Anyway, here's what I came up with.

 The window has some printed vellum that I've had in my stash for years - I originally made the card with an empty window, but I just wanted to add that little something extra - not overpowering, just enough.

The background in stamped with my brand new Hero Arts Looped Flower Pattern Cling stamp, and then clear embossed. The sentiment (from a Stampin' Up set)  is stamped onto my new Small Folded Banners die from Simon Says Stamp.

 I'll be submitting to quite a number of challenges!
The Play Date Cafe colour challenge, 

 Simon Says Stamp "New Something" challenge

 Retro Sketches #45

 A Blog Named Hero - Try Something New

 CASology - New

 And CASual Fridays - Thank you

Have a great day!