Saturday, December 27, 2008

Triangle Box

I played with an idea of creating a triangle gift box for a while and my husband's upcoming birthday provided just the perfect opportunity.



I really liked the polka dot green paper and my scrap pile hold just enough for the inner triangles. Since this box is meant for my husband I tried to keep the design simple and somewhat masculine by adding only the lace border, Edwin image and some ribbons.

Stamp: Magnolia
Colors: Copic Sketch markers - E00, E02, E57, N0, N2, B000, B01
Pattern Paper: Bo Bunny

To create the box itself was relatively an easy task. It's very symetrical and all that needs to be done is to draw lines evenly on 12x12 cardstock and cut it out. The ribbon holds the box closed. I punched holes with a small circle punch on the top of each triangle and reinforced them with an eyelet.

Here are dimensions I used for my box. It's a great size to hold bag of candies, gift card or any other smaller gift.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Whiff of Joy Challenge #12

I had so much fun with this design. I started with plain cardstock. When I placed all the layers together, the card seemed too bland so I decided to spice it with some stamped flourishes. I really liked how it turned out but there was still something missing. I distressed the edges with Faded Jeans distress ink and added silver stickles (they do not show well in the pic but the border is all sparkly) and finally I was happy with the result.



Stamps: Whiff of Joy, Autumn Leaves
Colors:
Ranger Distress ink - Faded Jeans
Copic sketch markers - N0, N2, C3, E000, E00, B91, B92
Twinkling H2O's - Sandollar, Rich Cocoa

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Santa #3

I decided to make cards for my co-workers using a similar design. Little differences here and there but same colors and very similar elements. Here is one I just completed. I used Magnolia's Santa again (I will try to use him for all 6 cards even though that might be a challenge).

Santa #2

I totally love the Santa stamp from Magnolia Winter collection. So much fun to work with and the cards just look awesome. Here is one more I made.



Stamp: Magnolia
Colors: Copic Sketch markers - 0, E000, R46, C5, E00, E39

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Holiday Tilda

I really enjoyed working on this card for a very good friend of mine. We do lots of hiking and snowshoeing together and I wanted for the card to have a little bit of outdoorsy feel. Tilda in her cute winter outfit was great fit.



Stamps: Magnolia
Colors:
Copic Sketch markers - E00, E02, E25, E43, G07, G82, GY07, R46
Twinkling H2O's - Golden Sand, Rich Cocoa
Pattern Paper: Reminisce

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Santa #1

I was in a mood for more traditional colors this time but just simple red and white seemed too dull so I spiced it with hints of gray and was very pleased with how the color combination worked. I'm sure I'll try it again on different designs.

I cut the little tabs below the buttons with my Quickutz Revolution. The die is called nameplate.



Stamp: Magnolia
Colors: Copic Sketch markers 0, N1, N2, N3, E000, E02, R46
Patter Paper: Wild Asparagus

Friday, November 28, 2008

Friday Sketchers Challenge #30

I bought the pattern paper sometime last year. I loved it but could not find the perfect project for it until now. This card was created using a wonderful sketch I found on Friday Sketchers challenge. It was very nice to work with - simple yet with great possibilities.




Stamp: Whiff of Joy
Colors:
Copic Sketch markers - G20, G82, 0, B91, B93, E43
Twinkling H2O's - Sandollar, Golden Sand
Pattern paper: AdornIt - Scarf Stripe

Here is the sketch I was working with:

Thursday, November 27, 2008

House Mouse Challenge #15

Here is my card for the Polka Dot challenge at House Mouse Monday. I recently bought the polka dot paper for Christmas cards but I didn't feel too Christmasey today and chose to create card for friend's upcoming birthday instead.



Stamp: House Mouse - Morning Kick Start
Colors:
Twinkling H2O's - Rose Petal
Copic Sketch markers - E000, N1
Pattern Paper: October Afternoon

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Friday Sketchers #29

I usually work with square cards and this sketch gave me opportunity to play with different format. I felt little uneasy at first but soon overcame the feeling and found working with the sketch very enjoyable.





Stamps:
Whiff of Joy
Colors:
Copic Sketch markers - E43, E59, G20, G99, E00, E02
Distress Ink - Antique Linen
Pattern Paper: BoBunny

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #36

This weeks theme was RED + GREEN. I considered Christmas card but I usually do poorly trying for traditional colors when it comes to Christmas card making so I decided to create thinking of you card instead for a friend I haven't seen for a while.



Stamp: Sugar Nellie
Colors:
Copic Sketch markers - G20, G99, E00, E02
Twinkling H2O's - Cedar wood, dandollar
Ranger Distress Ink - Fired brick

House Mouse Challenge #14

I just got my new stamp of the month for December which turned out to be perfect for this week's challenge called "All about Christmas"



Stamp: House Mouse candle Light Vigil
Colors:
Copic Sketch markers
Gray - N0, N2
Twinkling H2O's
- Rose petal, Pear Blossom

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Gift Exchange

Alota and Sarah Kay stamps worked wonderfully well for this Christmas card.



Stamps: Alota - Background
Sarah Kay - Christmas magic
Colors: Twinkling H2O's
Tahitian Blue
Sunset Glow
Mocha Rose
Sandollar
Rich Cocoa
Sapphire on Ice
Copic Sketc Markers
Snow - B000, N2, 0
Pattern Paper: Reminisce

Wintry Scene

I was looking for the perfect wintry background stamp for a while and found it pretty much behing my door from a local company Alota. It works very nicely with variety of my other winter stamps.



Stamps: Alota - Background
Magnolia - Chilly Tilda
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Snow - B000, C2, 0
Blue - B91, B93
Brown (Tilda) - E43
Gray - N2
Twinkling H2O's
Rich Cocoa
Mocha Rose
Golden Garden
Scarab Beetle
Pattern paper: Reminisce - Blizzard blue

Friday Sketchers #27

The Alota background and Rowdy Tilda stamps make such a wondeful combination. It's like the two stamps were meant to be used together. I chose my favorite black/brown/white colors for this card and was so happy with the result.



Stamps: Alota - background
Magnolia - Rowdy Tilda
Colos: Copic Sketch Markers
Brown - E35, E43
Blue - B91, B93
Hair - E27, E59
Face - E00, E02
Snow - BG000, N0, 0
Pattern Paper: s.e.i. - sleighbell blinging

Stair Step Fold Card

I found this very cool technique on splitcoaststampers and totally fell in love with it. It is so unique and brings the well needed break from traditional flat cards. Imagine all the possibilities of decorating all the steps.



It looks pretty intrique but as a matter of fact it is so easy to make. Here is how you can make stair step fold card:

1. Cut your cardstock to the size of 10.5 X 5.0
2. Score the cardstock at 1.25", 2.5", 4.25", 6", and 8.25"
3. Fold making sure that the smallest 1.25" fold is folded down. This will be the front of your card.
4. Decorate as much as you want. I stamped the background image on separate piece of paper, cut it out after coloring, and attached to the tallest fold. Then I did the same with the Sarah kay stamp and attached it to the middle fold.

NOTE: I used regular cardstock for the stairs and I found it to be too soft to hold the decorations so I run a ribbon around for support (it's under the first green rectangle and goes around all the way to the back of the card. If you use some heavy duty cardstock, you might not need to do that.

If you'd like to see the post I found the idea on, look here:
Splitcoaststampers

Stamps: Alota - background
Sarah Kay - painting girl
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Green - G000, G20, G82, G99, YG00, YG01, YG03, YG05
Brown - E35, E43, E59
Blue - B000, B02
Skin - E000, E02
Patter Paper: Cloud9Design - Leaf your troubles behind
Flowers: Petaloo

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Honey with Gifts

Another adorable line of stamps come from Sugar Nellie. Their stamps are the cutest and as soon as they started to take international orders I knew I had to have some in my collection.

Here is the very first image I made into a card.



Stamp: Sugar Nellie - Honey with Gifts
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Face - E00, E02
Green - G000, G02, G07
Brown - E43, E55, E57
Red - R46
Patter Paper: The paper company - Green diagonal weave
Dream Street Papers - Wonderland/Magic Moments

Naughty Ladies

It's always hard for me to come up with birthday card ideas for my male friends. With girlfriends, it's easy - the cuter, the better but with guys it is a completely different story.

I was fortunate to still have some scraps of BG Archaic papers in my pile. They have wonderful masculine feel. The next thing was to search in my stamp collection to find appropriate stamp. I was sure cute Charlotte, Tildas, or Willow won't cut it this time so I had to dig deeper... and I found this naughty ladies stamp that I got for a project a while ago and completely forgot about it. Seemed pretty suitable.



Stamp: Abracadabra
Pattern Papers: Basic Grey

Magnolia vs Stampavie Challenge #1

Seems like my new Sarah Kay stamps arrived just in time. I had a great time working with the image and the sketch was such a perfect match for it.



Stamp: Sarah Kay
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Faces - E00, E02
Blue - B000, B00, B02
Green - G20, G99
Twinkling H2Os
Rich Cocoa
Scarab Beetle
Sandollar
Mocha Rose
Fuzzy Peach
Patter Paper:
Fiskars - Frost Blvd.
Buttons: Basic Grey

Charlotte with Kitty

Just a quick card I created with my new Whiff of Joy stamp. I tried to place the picture straight but the slight tilt seemed to work better.



Stamp: Whiff of Joy
Colos: Copic Sketch markers
Face - E00, E02
Green - G20, G99
Blue - B91, B93
Brown - E02, E39, E57

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Charlotte with her kitty

This was the first stamp I colored when I received my Whiff of Joy shipment. Isn't she adorable? I didn't have particular papers in mind for the card. I was really excited about my new stamps and wanted to play with them right away. I was really surprised when I found perfectly matching papers in my scrap pile.



Stamp: Whiff of Joy - Charlotte with Kitty
Colors: Copic Sketch Markers
Face - E00, E02
Hair - E55, E00
Green - G20, G99
Blue - B91 B93
Gray - C3, C5
Pink - E000, RV11

One Stop Craft Challenge #2

I saw a tuitorial on how to make the cutest gift bag on You Tube and gave it a try. It was easy and fun and I love how it turned out. I will for sure be making more of these in the future.





Stamp: Whiff of Joy
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Gray - N0, N2
Green - G000, N1
Brown - E59
Orange - E95
Face - E00, E02
Hair - Y00, YR01
Patter Paper: October Afternoon - Chilly Mornings

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

House Mouse Challenge #11 & Cute Card Thursday Challenge #34

This week challenged us to use something natural on a card. After a while of hesitating and playing with variety of elements I decided to go with wood and used tooth pick to decorate my card. It was fun and using this very unusual embellishement made me think of all the other cool things I might give a try in the future.



Stamp: House Mouse - Feeling Rosy
Colors: Copic Sketch Markers
Pink - E000, RV11
Light brown - E51, E57
Dark Brown - E59
Green - G20, G99

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 33

This weeks challenge The Stars at night could not be more perfect since I just got this beautiful starry paper and was so excited to use it. I had a great time completing the challenge and I'm so very happy with how my card turned out.



Stamp: Magnolia - Chilly Tilda
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Gray - N0,N2
Blue - N91, N93
Brown - E25, E55, E57, E59 (hair)
Patern Paper: Paper Pizzaz - Blue Stars

Joy of Giving

This stamps is just too cute. I knew I had to have it the first moment I saw it. It's wonderful image to work with and I can't wait to use it again.



Stamp: Sarah Kay - The Joy of Giving
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Green - G20, G99
Red - YR01, R46
Brown - E51, E55, E57
Skin - E00
Patter Paper: The paper company - Green diagonal Weave
Reminisce - Santa's Suit

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Friday Sketchers #25 and Cute Card Thursday #33

Here is a card I created for two challenges. I followed wonderful sketch by Claudia Rosa at Friday Sketchers and also used beautiful starry paper I had in my stash for Cute Card Thursday challenge - The stars at night.



Stamp: House Mouse - Christmas Tale
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Yellow - E02, Y02
Blue - B21, B23
Gray - N0, N2
Patter Paper: Paper Pizazz - Blue Stars

House Mouse Challenge #10

This weeks challenge was to create anything but a card. I bought this cute little wood bags a while ago with intention to use them as little Christmas candy gifts.

I was just thinking I should start working on them soon. The chalenge came in perfect time.



I used acrylic paint called Chocolate made by making memories to color the outside of the boxes before attaching all the embellies.

Stamps: House Mouse - Close Knit Friendship
Sentiment - A Muse Artstamps
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Gray - N0, N2
Blue - B00, B02
Faces - E00, E02

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sarah Kay Challenge #16

This is exactly what I had in mind for my sister in law's birthday. I had all the supplies sitting by my desk for about a week as I procrastinated to start this project.

This challenge helped by giving me the final push I needed and I have to say I haven't had so much fun creating a gift for a very very long time.







Stamp: Sarah Kay
Colors: Copic sketch markers
Face - E00, E02
Hair - E09, 0
Browns - E51, E55
Pink - RV04, RV11, 0
Patter paper: s.e.i. - cherie
Rusty Pickle - Pirate Princess

Christmas Story

I realy enjoy working with House Mouse stamps. They are just too cute! This card was made of scraps that I had left from some other cards. I started with Just the green and red layers but it seemed like something was mising. Dots and small circles worked for me in past and so I cut out few to see if they would give the card the final touch I was looking for and I was very pleased with how it turned out.



Stamp: Stampabilities House Mouse - Christmas Tale
Colors: Tombow markers
Brown - 912
Green - 173
Yeloow - ZIG marker #MS6600
Pattern paper: Imaginisce - Snowy Jo

Simple Love

Here I wanted to create a card that is simple and can be completed fast yet is cute. I considered adding few brads to the corners but then decided to go with as simple as possible look.



Stamp: Rachelle Anne Miller
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Pinks: E00, E02
Gray: N0, N2, C3
Pattern paper: Sassafras - Buttercream Bliss

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Friday Sketchers #24

I created this card for Friday Sketchers chellenge #24. I tried to make the card stand out by using non-traditional color and added yellow to this otherwise wintry theme card. Thank you for taking a peek.





Stamp: Magnolia - Rowdy Tilda
Colors: Copic sketch markers
Light brown - E55
dark Brown - E27
Blue - B21
Yellow - Y06
Face - E00
Patten paper:
Bo Bunny - Believe Noel
Deja Views - Frosty December
Sassafrass - Buttercream Bliss

Chilly Tilda

I really liked the sketch I found on House Mouse challenge and decided to change it a bit and use it for this card also. I totally love the result.



Stamp: Magnolia - Chilly Tilda
Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Gray - N0,N2
Blue - B91, B93, 0
hair - E57
Face E00, E02
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye - Ice crystals

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

House Mouse Challenge #9

I fell in love with the sketch the moment I saw it. I knew immediately which stamp I wanted to use and I started to think of all the cute papers I could combine on the card. I had lots of fun creating this one.






Colors: Copic Sketch markers
Mouse faces - E00, E95
Mouse Bodies - E55, Y00, N1
Inside the box - No, Y00
Lights - Y06
Cord - G02, N1
Pattern paper: Sonburn Designs - Beguiled #16524

Rowdy Tilda

Stitching seems to be the big thing now... and it is for a good reason. It gives a project special touch of completeness. I always wanted to try incorporating few stitches onto a card. I do not have sewing machine so I had to go with handstitches. I used Technique Tuesday stamps as an outline, poked the holes for the stitches, and then spent over 2 hours finishing the stitched parts. I really like the result.



Stamps: Magnolia - Rowdy Tilda
Technique Tuesday - Frayed Ends (Outline for stithes)
Colors: Copic Sketch Markers
Blue - B91, B93 and Colorless blender #0
Light Brown - E55
Dark Brown - E27
Patten papers: Blue - Sandyllion Designs - One of a Kind RMKSCB46
Brown - My Mind's Eye - Falling Frost - SGC113

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Ornamental Frame Technique

I used my corner punch to create an ornamental frame on one of my Christmas cards. I had several friends asking how I did it so I decided to post this tuitorial. I appologize for quality of the pictures. My camera does poorly in low light. I will retake the pics during the weekend in daylight but for the following ones will have to do.

What you will need is EZ Success Corner Punch called Wrought Iron and a piece of paper.



Lets start with a rectangle. Detach the corner clip and punch your first shape. I made edge of the paper even with edge of the punch.



Now you have to punch the same shape next to it and repeat as many times as you need to achieve your desired lenght. Make sure the edged touch each other. I flipped the punch and punched the rest of the shapes up side down which let me see where exactly I am placing the next one.



The little tricky part is when you need to make a corner. Remember you started with paper edge even with the punch edge and to have your frame evenly punched you have to do the same on the other side.

To achieve that I took a pencil and when punching my last shape on the bottom I made a short line along the punch edge. That showed me where to trim the paper.

Once you have the paper trimmed, start punching the vertical side. Again make sure the two corner punches touch. Continue in the same matter all around your paper. As soon as you make your last punch, you will be able to pop the middle out and you will be left with a nice ornamental frame.



You can also make beautiful circles using the exactly same technique. The difference is that when making a rectangle frame you can decide the lenght and width of your frame as you go. If you want a longer one you simply punch one more shape before trimming the end of the paper. The circles seem little trickier in that respect. You have to cut it first and of course once it is done, you can't expand or shring it.

You might fing a better technique or some of you just might have it in their eye but this is what i did to make my circle even.

I punched my first shape. Then I placed ruler so that it came through the middle of the punched shape and marked the opposite side. This was a nice guideline for punching my second shape.



You will need to do the same for the two following shapes, placing them also in the middle of the existing ones.



You're nearly done. All you need to do is to punch the remining shapes in between the ones you already have a pop the middle out. You will then have an elegant frame to use on your cards or layouts.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Ho Ho Ho

I personally prefer blue and white combination with perhaps a hint od brown for my Christmas cards but several of our relatives and friends are more traditional so I always try to make few cards using the classical reds and greens.

Pattern papers:
Polka Dot green - Imaginisce - Snowy Jo
Red (embellies) - Teresa Collins - Christmas Circle
Stamp: Heidi Grace
Flowers: Petaloo



For the second card I made, I wanted design that is simple and easy to make, yet somewhat different and interesting.

Patter paper:
Red edged paper - Cosmo Cricket - Hello Sunshine
Circle (for embellishement) - Teresa Collins - Christmas Circle
Green Snowflakes - Imaginisce - Snowy Jo