Chubby Chums Make Life Fun

Dang.  I was going to link to the card where I first noticed Chubby Chums but cannot find it now.  It had one of the animals--owl?--with a large star diecut out of the card mounted of a field of stars.  It was very fun.  Poo!  Wait!  Found it.

Well, I had to buy these stamps after seeing that.  Like I don't have enough stamps, even ones I haven't used yet (shhh---don't tell my man).  But still, had to.  This is the first card using the stamps and the first card in a great long while that I've colored with my Spectrum Noirs.  It felt a little weird.  Like riding a bike when you haven't for the longest and it's just a bit wobbling going.

I stamped 3 of the chums atop each other and embossed them.  I then colored them, added a leftover strip of the polka dot DP and stamped the sentiment.  I waffled between card base colors and decided to go with white so the chums would really pop.  I did want more dimension, googly eyes would have been fun but I don't have the right sizes, so I used Glossy Accents instead.  I also added 3 tiny Enamel Accents dots--originally was thinking sequins but they seemed too large compared to the DP dots.  There you have it.

I just realized I didn't color the dogs tongue or the cat's nose!  Pretend they're pale pink.

The Details:  Paper Smooches Chubby Chums stamps, Penny Black Nature's Wishes sentiment, Glossy Accents, Black Enamel Accents, Versafine Onyx Black, Spectrum Noirs, PTI white cardstock base, Crafter's Companion cardstock for coloring, Hampton Art clear embossing powder

I'm entering this in Simon Says Wednesday Anything Goes, Fab 'n' Funky #224 Walk on the Wildside, Crafty Creations #268 Just for Fun, Without Words Cute and Fluffy, and City Crafter #222 Animal Magic

Almost One Layer Get Well

I have a get well card for you today.  I hope it will cheer someone up.  I used Distress Inks on non-watercolor paper for an interesting ink effect.  Reminds me a bit of pointillism which has always fascinated me.

First, I subtly sponged one of the stencils I recently made with my Cameo.  I concentrated on the middle only to give a fade out effect on the edges. Next I inked up the stem with a couple of different greens then stamped again with a different green.  The ink beaded up nicely on the clear stamp for the pointillism effect.  The same goes for the flower--first yellow, then orange and brown center.  I re-stamped in orange.  The sentiment is done in brown.  I originally was going to make this a one-layer card but seemed stark so I mounted on a soothing feel-good blue.

The Details:  Papertrey Ink white cardstock, Bazzill Basics Icy Mint cardstock, Penny Black Petal Power stamps, Stampin' Up Versatile Verses sentiment (NBUS), and Distress Ink in Walnut Stain, Mowed Grass, Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, lattice stencil made with my Cameo and stencil plastic

I'm entering this in Less is More #182 Anything Goes, Little Tangles #41 Stencils  

I'm Late, I'm Late

I couldn't resist making another card with the current CASology "Run" theme.  Remember Alice in Wonderland and that frenetic rabbit?  I'm late, I'm late!  And who doesn't need a late for birthday card?  I know I certainly do on an unfortunately regular basis!

So, stamped the rabbit and hopping lines then sponged the hearts.  I added Wink of Stella (which I can't believe actually photographed).  I next stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it for textural interest.  The designer paper is a fun touch.

The Details:  PTI white cardstock, Paper Studio Uptown Flair designer paper, Stampendous Perfectly Birthday sentiment, Memento Tuxedo Black, LadyBug and Love Letter, Versamark, Hampton Art clear embossing powder, Heidi Swapp stencil, Lawn Fawn Happy Easter (hopping lines), Alice in Wonderland unmounted stamps that I got off eBay ages ago

I'm entering this in CASology #105 Run, Simon Says Wednesday Emboss It, Less is More #182 Anything Goes, Little Tangles #41 Stencils, Seize the Birthday without twine topping

Christmas Sticker Cheer

 The current challenge over at Keep It Simple is stickers.  What a great opportunity to use up some Xmas stickers that were passed on to me.  Let the holidays begin!

The Details:  Fiskars All That Glitters ("Christmas") and Sentiments ("Cheer"), Colorbox Cranberry and Moss Green pigment inks, Hampton Art clear embossing powder, everything else was gifted to me and are of unknown origin

I'm entering this in Keep It Simple! #45 Only Stickers, Holly Jolly Christmas Deck the Halls, Weekly Christmas Card Challenge #34 Inspiration Photo, Simon Says Wednesday Emboss It

Run With It

The current theme at CASology is Run so I ran with it.  Yes, I just wrote that.  LOL.

Rather self-explanatory card. I diecut the rainbow  and watercolored the ends.  Then dripped the same colors beneath.  Those Peerless colors are vibrant, aren't they? 

The Details:  Tim Holtz watercolor paper, My Favorite Things rainbow die, Peerless watercolors, Darice cloud embossing folder, Stampendous white Detail Fine embossing powder, foam tape

I'm entering this in CASology #105 Run, Simon Says Wednesday Emboss It, Less is More #182 Anything Goes  

Orchid Sympathy Card

I attempted this card a few times these last few days, inspired by the previous Muse but I just wasn't feeling it until I just let the ink do what it wanted to do.  Unruly stuff!  ;-)   I'm feeling this might read "happy" although on my monitor the Seedless Preserves reads pinker than it is.  Thoughts?  In any case, I love the simplicity and balance with the curved flowers and curved corner.

I decided to try to take another pic; this time outside.  The color reads more accurately purple now but the texture of the watercolor paper is lost.

Exciting news:  my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors have arrived!

The Details:  Clearly Besotted Thinking of You stamps, Distress Inks in Seedless Preserves, Mustard Seed, and Peeled Paint, Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz watercolor paper, mystery card base cardstock

I'm entering this in CAS on Sunday #38 Sympathy,  Addicted to Stamps & More #105   

Yeah, baby!

I was very excited to receive my first CAS-ual Fridays stamps so I combined them with the  current CASE Study and Card Concept colors.  I thought it would be fun to cut out the flower with a circle and inset it.  I then mounted the panel with foam tape on the card base.  I then stamped & embossed the banner sentiment in gold.  You can just tell in the photo that I cut out the banner in vellum and layered it.  I tried a few different colors then went with classic black for the bottom sentiment which I embossed in white.  I added white Enamel Accents around the flower--I love the dimension and shine there.  A few holographic gold sequins finish it off.

The Details:  Pop Tone Sno Cone cover stock, CAS-ual Fridays Woot Woot stamps, The Good Life 12x12 designer paper, Darice holographic gold sequins, gold embossing powder, Versamark, Stampendous detail white embossing powder, white Enamel Accents

I'm entering this in CASE Study #200, Simon Says Spots & Dots, The Card Concept #14 Colors (clean and layered), Addicted to CAS #43 Celebrate

Watercolor Hydrangea

I have a guest designing spot at Paper Crafting Challenges this week where the challenge is to use blue, purple and green.

For this card I cut a circle out of scrap card and positioned the resulting mask over my watercolor paper where I wanted my hydrangea.  I then spattered highly diluted Distress Ink to get the basic shape identifiable.  I did want some spatters outside the image so took off the mask and spattered a bit before putting the mask back on and spattering in the circle more.

Removing the mask, I used a combination of the two colors and water to create the illusion of blossoms.  I really like how there is still white space among the blossoms.  I tend to overwork my watercolor so yay me!  I painted a couple of leaves and stem to finish off the flower.  I've been in a glitter mood so decided to add that to the butterfly.  I tried my rarely used Xyron but the adhesive was uneven and spanned the open areas.  I tried stick glue--umm, not so much (OMG, it just occurred to me I could use stick glue for dimension in a stencil and then cover it in glitter ala the Split Coast Stampers a couple of weeks ago--swoon).  I finally settled on Scor Tape where I applied the tape to cardstock then diecut the butterfly and poked all the little bits out.  Exactly what I was looking for.  Ain't no way that glitter is coming off again!

The Details:  Tim Holtz watercolor paper and Distress Inks in Walnut Stain, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint, Pine Needle and Mown Lawn, Heartfelt Creations Hydrangea/Posy sentiment, Memory Box butterfly, Sugar Coating Lily White Glitter, PTI kraft cardstock

I'm entering this in Fantasy Stampers #14 CAS, Shopping Our Stash #160 Can't Put it Down (watercolors in my case),  Simon Says Spots & Dots  

Fishy Hello

 The latest CASology cue word is pet and I couldn't help but think of my 2 giant goldfish (not koi but palm-sized goldfish; my fav was white with just 2 little orange spots on its head) that died a couple of weekends ago after we changed the water in our pond.  I think I misjudged the pH and am now a fish mur-diddly-er-ler.  Thus, my homage to our dearly departed fishies.

I made my own stencils over the weekend using stencil plastic I found at Hobby Lobby and my Cameo.  (Note:  with this particular plastic I found a depth of 6 to work well.) I took the swirls stencil and taped it down over my cardstock.  I then took a VersaMagic chalk teardrop to add the white.  I totally could have used a sponge but because I was only pressing down and not swirling, I used the inkpad itself.  Loving how this turned out.

I then stamped the sentiments and bubbles.  The fish I fussy cut from a notecard set that someone was going to throw away at the office.  The horror, I know.  Gosh, almost forgot to mention I used Wink of Stella to add some sparkle to the fish for that hint of scale.


The Details:  Pop Tone cover stock in Sno Cone, WPlus9 Strictly Sentiments, Inkadinkado Cute Fish Cling, VersaMark Onyx Black, VersaMagic Cloud White, Pretty Pink Posh 4mm clear sequins, homemade stencil using Show-Offs stencil plastic, Wink of Stella Gl. Clear

I'm entering this in CASology #104 Pet, CAS on Sunday #37 One Layer Wonder, Addicted to Stamps & More #104 CAS    

Birthday Minion + Instructions

My stepson's girlfriend's nephew's birthday's coming up (say that 5 times fast!) and she mentioned the party was going to be minion-themed.  Could. Not. Resist.

Body

1. Cut a 4 x 5.25" piece of yellow card.
2. Round the top corners.
3. Attach to an A2  (4.25 x 5.5") black card base.

Goggles

1. Cut a .5 x 4" strip of black cardstock.  This is the goggles strap.
2. Adhere the black strip about 1.5" down the card.
3. Cut two 1.25" circles in gray (shiny silver if you've got it would be ideal).
4. Attach the two gray circles over the strip, centered vertically and horizontally.

Eyes

1. Cut two 1" circles in white.
2. Cut two .5" circles in brown.
3. If you're going to use tiny black brads for the pupils, do so now.  Otherwise, draw in or use black Enamel Accents like I did at the end.
4. Attach the brown circles to the white.
5. Attach the eyes to the gray circles, centering vertically and horizontally.

Hair

1. Cut narrow strips of 1.5" black cardstock.
2. Glue down in your preferred style.

Mouth

1. I used my largest circle die to cut a circle segment from black cardstock then cut it down to size.
2. You could also just draw it in.

Overalls

1. Cut a 1.5 x 2.5" piece of cardstock for the bib.  I used a dark blue here.
2. Attach the bib to the bottom center of the yellow layer. 
3. Cut two .5 x 3" strips of the same cardstock for the straps.  
4. If you're using brads instead of buttons for the snaps, do so now.  Otherwise, wait until the end.
5. Attach the straps to the bib at your preferred angle.
6. Carefully cut away the excess strap.  I used an Exacto blade.
7. Using a white pigment pen, draw in stitching lines as shown.

Now isn't that easy?

The Details:  Lifestyle Crafts circle dies, Enamel Accents, Sakura white pigment pen, Martha Stewart corner rounder, PopTone black licorice cardstock, PTI yellow cardstock, various scraps of other cardstock, Glossy Accents

I'm entering this in Seize the Birthday without Stars or Stripes topping, Cardz 4 Guyz DIY (the Minions from Despicable Me do everything from dusting to building spaceships--so cute!), Pal Paper Arts #211 Color challenge, The Sisterhood of Crafters Birthday