Have A Rockin' Birthday

My daughter asked if I would make a card for her new boyfriend,

a twenty-something man.

Me:  "Really? I'll give it a go then......."

I knew what stamp set I wanted to use since 

he played guitar in a band at one time.

This is what I came up with.

He hasn't been given it yet,

so I don't know if it'll get a seal of approval 

- by him or my daughter!

The stamp set is an oldie by Inkadinkado, Rock Star. 

( I bought this stamp set years ago to make a card 

for my daughters birthday; she was starting to get into

listening to music at that time. Here I am using it

for her boyfriend now, kind of neat!)

I simply stamped several images onto white card stock

with black ink then die cut them into squares with the guitar 

being on a rectangle. I ran the edges of the piece with the 

guitar on it along the top of the black ink pad.

Each was backed with black card stock.

I used my much neglected mini square paper punch

and Crystal Effects to create faux square brads.

They are glued in the corners of the guitar piece.

It was then mounted above the square pieces

with dimensionals/pop dots. 

There is a music clef background embossed 

on the white layer. That was a bit tricky to make,

it could only make one pass through my Big Shot

then I had to use a stylus to fill in the missing portions.

The portions embossed with the stylus aren't nearly as crisp

as those done with the embossing folder, but it worked well

enough since too much of it doesn't show anyway.

This is a 5x7 card and my embossing folder is only 4x5.

This is actually my second attempt at it ;) 

All of these layers are glued to black textured card stock. 

I printed out 

Wishing You A Rockin' Birthday

to put inside. 

I'm entering my rockin' birthday card in the new challenge 

at Use Your Stuff, squares.

I have die cut squares and faux square brads.

Thanks for looking =) 

Jar Upcycled Into A Vase

Repurposing items is one of my favorite things

to do and I couldn't wait to make this jar vase

with a new to me die - Floral Dance Edge'ables ! 

I'd never seen such a die before

and as soon as I saw it,

I thought of several things I could use it for.

This was one of them.

This jar originally held pasta sauce

(Prego Farmer's Market) .

I kept it because it was a neat looking "mason" type jar

with measurements on the side. 

I decided to make this quick wrap for it 

in hopes of having some more Daffodils to cut. 

Snow and three nights of below freezing

temperatures this week did them in.

I did get the few that were blooming cut on Easter

before the winter weather hit. 

Anyway, moving on to my project details.

I cut a strip of white card stock 12" x 4"

I ran my new Edge'ables Floral Dance die through my Big Shot

along the two long sides several times. 

(yes, they aren't lined up very well)

The flower petals were colored with two shades of yellow

chalk/ Stampin' Pastels then popped up.

Pale green paper was adhered on top of this layer

and was then topped off with yellow and white 

polka dot 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. 

A small sentiment stamped and layered over

a scrap of plaid paper is attached to the center of the bow.

Since I don't have any flowers blooming

now to cut and place in the vase ,

here is an edited photo using a picture 

of the few I did get cut on Easter ;) 

I've had fun crafting again the past several days,

taking a break from my massive photo album project.

It's time to get back at it , though.....

Thanks for looking =)

I'm entering my jar in the following challenges:

Love To Scrap - April Showers Bring May Flowers

Use Your Stuff - Easter /Spring

Happy to have used my rarely used chalks on this project! 

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Crafting By Designs - April Anything Goes 

Flamed 48 Chevy Truck Card

Today I am sharing a classic pickup truck card for a family friend, 

made to resemble his class 1948 Chevy truck.

It would have been much easier and quicker for me to make a card

using an actual photograph we have of the truck ;) 

The truck image was created by altering and combining two different digital images.
It's not perfect by any means.

I water colored the sky with ink from my ink pad and an aquapainter. I usually water color in most of my images this way, but knowing I wanted to add the flames to the truck, I didn't think watercoloring the entire truck would work too well. I colored the truck with colored pencils instead.

Orange and red colored pencils were used to create flames on the truck.

I used a silver glitter pen on the chrome parts.

The happy birthday banner was made with old snap stamps (remember those ?)

 and heat embossed in black.

The screw head was a stamp image heat embossed in black over silver card stock.

The process of creating the flamed background:

You will probably want to practice drawing flames on scrap paper first (I did, that is the practice piece being used as a blending pallette).

Once you are happy with a design, draw them onto your water color paper / card stock. I prefer to use a yellow card stock for the base of my flames.

I carefully hand cut them out with scissors, making sure there are no pencil marks showing before I paint.

I prefer to use acrylic craft paints (because that is what I already own!) , watered down a bit, to paint my flames. I blend red and orange together and will add in some yellow. That is the mess shown in the photo above ;)

You could probably create a mask out of something , apply a removable adhesive, then sponge inks through it to create flames directly on a background piece of paper.

Same technique I've used on a couple of other projects over the years, you can see the 12x12 scrapbook page I made in this way here. The flames on it were painted with two shades of orange plus bright yellow then layered on a red background.

The flamed background was custom made by myself using acrylic craft paints blended 

on to a hand cut piece of yellow card stock to mimic the flames on the actual truck.

The pieces before assembly.

My husband told me that his friend liked it so well, he wants to frame it.

I think that may have been an April Fool's joke ;)

Speaking of April Fool's jokes, Mother Nature sure played one on us Easter Sunday:

Although it was cold, it was a pretty sunrise.

Clouds moved in quickly.

I knew we had a winter weather system on the way,

so I cut some of the flowers to bring indoors.

By early afternoon, sleet was falling followed by

2 1/2" of snow .

The groundhog did predict six more weeks of winter......

but is has now been eight. 

We have more snow forecast for this evening and Sunday!!!

Thanks for looking =)

I'm entering my flamed classic Chevy pickup card in the following challenges:

 Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber
All of the stamps used are oldies
Snap Stamps - 2007 or so
Vintage something or other.... drawing a blank right now, but it was an old hostess set from Stampin' Up! , 10 years or older.  I think I've only ever used the screw head in that set !


I've not played along with the Male Room challenge in a long time !
http://themaleroomchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/challenge-82-watercolours.html
technically I used watered down paints to create the hand made flames, but I did use watered down ink from my blue ink pad to make a water color wash sky

Color It and PDE Linky - another challenge site I've not played along with for some time
https://pdelinkyparty.blogspot.com/2018/04/challenge-14-color-it.html


Anything Goes April 3rd-10th Through The Craft Room Door
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/04/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-3th-10th.html

Anything Goes at Crafting By Designs
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/04/anything-goes-april-edition.html

Floral Dance Edge'ables Card

 I am not one to shop around for new supplies

or look at new ideas / trends often. 

I like to use what I have on hand already

and if I need inspiration, will usually dig out

an old magazine or book in my "library".

Well, a few day ago I was in need of some extra long

posts for a scrapbook, so I was looking at

an online store (we don't have a brick and mortar one nearby).

I found the posts, but also saw this new to me type of die !

It is called a Die'sire by Crafter's Companion Floral Dance Edge'able die.

I decided to order it and knew what I was going to make

with it first thing. Today I brought the card to reality.

(I have another idea play around with, too)

I used the die on textured black card stock

then painted the flowers with white acrylic craft paint.

I added yellow rhinestones to the centers

then popped up the petals.

A piece of yellow card stock was adhered to the inside

of the card to show through the openings of the other die cut flowers.

This was all matted on white card stock

and finished off with 5/8" polka dot grosgrain ribbon. 

I left the front and inside blank for now.

It can be a horizontal or vertical card!

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering my card in the current challenge at

Shopping Our Stash

Black White and one other Color

Everything used on this card I've had 

in my craft stash for years,

other than the new to me die.

The craft paints are leftovers from the days that

I liked to make painted crafts.

The rhinestones were originally sold as

Halloween "tattoos" at a dollar store

years ago, but I saw their potential for crafts.

About 15 years ago my sister and I put in a large order

for ribbon at an online store, I'm still chipping away at using it.

The card stocks have been collected over the years.

TTCRD April 3rd-10th Anything Goes
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/04/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-3th-10th.html

Crafting By Designs April Anything Goes Challenge
https://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2018/04/anything-goes-april-edition.html

Mother's Day Card - pink flowers and gingham

Although it's a month away, I wanted to get started on Mother's Day cards.

I used a gingham embossing folder for the background layer.

The flowers are made with the Morning Meadow stamp set (Stampin' Up!) and
coordinating punch. I added a rhinestone (from a Jack O' Lantern decorating kit of all things!)
to the centers.

The edges of the stamped sentiment (from All Holidays , Stampin' Up!) section
are finished with a polka dot ribbon paper punch (I need to use that punch more often....)
and thin strip of pink card stock.


I'm submitting my card to the current challenge at Shopping Our Stash:
black, white and one other color.  This one is mostly white. I have an idea for another card
to make that will have more black on it.
https://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com/2018/04/sos348-black-white-1-other-color.html


Thanks for looking =)

Easter Eggs Punch Art Card

Today I am sharing my final Easter card -

and wishing you the blessings of Spring on this Easter morn !

This was a fun card, although a bit time consuming.

Each easter egg was punched from different colored card stock , 

heat embossed white with a letter, lightly water colored along one edge, 

had a small detail made with a white Signo gel pen along the top,

carefully curved for dimension then adhered over a pop dot.

Happy is die cut from silver metallic card stock.

The top panel was paper pierced around the edge.

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking 

and wishing you a beautiful day !
(cold, cloudy, rain turning to accumulating snow this afternoon here)

50th Birthday Easel Shaker Card

Welcome to the newest challenge at Love To Craft !

As always, it is an anything crafty goes challenge so long a it is family friendly.

This month I'm sharing a shaker easel card.

I don't have an extra large square scallop die or versatile cutting machine. The border punch I have makes too tiny of scallops for the size of card I wanted to make. So I improvised: I used numerous 1" circle punches of card stock ! It isn't perfect, but the overall look is just fine I think.

Before covering the back with white card stock

As far as making the "50" window for the shaker,

once again I had to improvise.

I printed out the number "50" sized to the

piece of card stock I knew I needed after

making the circle scallop border back piece. 

I stamped the piece with a shimmery ink

and a birthday greetings wheel.

I then hand cut it out with a hobby knife.

(The portion that I cut out was used on

another card that can be seen here)

Numerous pieces of hand cut heavy duty

double stick tape were stuck to the acetate.

This creates the see through window for the confetti.

More thin strips were cut to hide under the white card stock,

this time made from fun foam. Yes, yet another

"what do I have on hand that will work" way to make this card, 

this time to create the "corral" that holds the confetti 

in place behind the window.

Because the card front was so heavy,

I needed a thick and sturdy strip to help hold

it in place when it was in the easel position.

I adhered several layers of card stock over a strip of

chipboard cut to fit. It is attached with heavy duty adhesive. 

A little bit more rubber stamping

and a couple of balloon shaped brads finish it off.

This card was 6 1/4" square.

Thanks for looking =)

I'm entering this card in the current Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber
All of the stamps used are oldies from Stampin' Up!

All About Birthdays wheel - 2007 

Heard From The Heart - not marked, but I know it is at least 6 years old

It's Your Birthday - 2005

and in the current Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door
http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2018/03/ttcrd-anything-goes-challenge-march-27th.html

lastly the

Anything Goes/optional twist of vellum at 613 Avenue Create
http://avenue613.blogspot.com/2018/04/challenge-208-anything-goes-optional.html

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team members' blogs

to see the fun crafty things they shared this month.

https://aocreations.blogspot.com/ https://crafty-stamper.blogspot.co.uk/ https://craftyhazelnut.blogspot.co.uk/ https://craftysahmiam.blogspot.com/ https://irena-s-design.blogspot.com/ https://lovetoscrap2.com/ https://loriannie670.blogspot.com/ https://groovyquail.blogspot.co.uk/ https://pippapblog.wordpress.com/ http://loosestitchesandunraveledthreads.blogspot.com/ https://feistycrafter.blogspot.com/

Floral Easter Egg Card

The "egg" for this card was the oval cut out portion

from another card I made years ago and have held onto

(yes, I have a bit of a problem with saving things for "one day").

I slightly curved the oval, put pop dots underneath the center portion

then glued along the edges to try to give it a bit of dimension.

The card front was embossed with a frame folder.

I then added paper punched leaves, Prima flowers,

yellow rhinestones and an organdy ribbon bow.

A tiny word window punched and stamped tag was tucked underneath.

Thanks for looking =) 

Cottontail Rabbit Easter Cards

Simple enough Easter cards created by stamping the rabbit images on 

patterned paper then cutting them out.

I added mini pom pom tails for an extra dose of cuteness! 

Stamp images, patterened paper and ribbon 

are oldies from Stampin' Up! 

Thanks for looking = )

Rustic Easter Card

Today I'm sharing yet another card with the chocolate bunny image !

I think I mentioned that I was inspired by that image in the sale ad

and spent most of the day Sunday stamping ;) 

I have a few more cards to share this week,

no chocolate bunnies on them, though.

I went a littel wild creating the background on this card

using several stamp sets, colors and even smearing ink 

pads directly across the card stock.

It is inspired by the watercolor florals over wood panel

look on digital scrapbook papers and home decor

items I am seeing a lot of right now.

The bunny was heat embossed on the kraft tag.

Easter egg eyelet, small stamped sentiment tag and twine finish it off. 

I'm entering my card in the current Anything Goes Challenge at Retro Rubber
All of the stamps used are oldies from Stampin' Up!
Chocolate Bunny - 2010
Easter Egg - 2000
Woodgrain - 2009
Itty Bitty Backgrounds - 1997
Teeny Tiny Wishes - 2009

I recently visited another bloggers page after she left a kind comment on one of my cards.
She designs for the Cards In Envy a challenge I've not played along with in quite some time.
I'm entering my card in their current challenge, Cards In Envy - no patterened paper .
I measured, my eyelet and twine are not a 1/4" thick ;)


Thanks for looking =)