Butterfly Kisses Digi Kit

A few digi projects I made with the newest set of digi packs

by JMC Designs.

Jodi at Jensen Motley Crew Designs

created this Butterfly Kisses set of 

digital kits for the Happy Hour at

Plain Digital Wrapper this month.

Such bright, happy, spring colors !

I always adore the painted wood papers

Jodi creates, well her kits overall, 

but check out the fun word trails kit :)

Each pack is only $1 through April 17th ! 

https://www.plaindigitalwrapper.com/shoppe/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=198

Kraft Florals Cards

Cards inspired by a Stampin' Up! sample.

I love this dimensional embossing folder,

so detailed. I lightly sponged white craft ink

over the raised areas of the kraft card stock. 

Thanks for looking, have a great day =) 

Laser Cut Paper Card

Card totally inspired by a mini gift bag sample 

in the Stampin' Up! catalog.

Thanks for looking, have a great day =) 

Sympathy Lilies Card

 A card I created with new to me goodies for a contest.

We were challenged to make a card

using items from the SaleABration catalog.

Granted, not everything on my card is current

but it is what I have to use .

I stamped one of the sentiment stamps a few times on the background

with versamark ink then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

The dark green banner is Always Artichoke card stock that I 

ran through a paper crimper numerous times to help break down

the paper fibers/layers. I then carefully pulled the top away from

the bottom, revealing the fibrous center.

A fun way to make a neat sort of handmade looking paper piece.

I used a blender pen to remove ink from the stamen

then colored it in with a marker before stamping.

 I will be quite honest here and say that I personally am not impressed

with the new distinktive line of photopolymer stamps.

I wonder if the newer foam type ink pads would work better

on them ? I have the old fabric topped style and they would

not ink well at all. All of my pads were reinked in December, 

so I thought maybe they were too wet. The ink pooled on the stamp.

I dug out a couple of older ones that had not been inked and were drier,

still a no go. They left the pattern of the fabric pad on them.

I tied rubbing them across the ink pad to remove the pattern

and all I got was swirly patterned images when stamped.

I also tried Colorbox pigment ink petal points 

as well as coloring directly on the stamp with markers.

Neither gave a good stamped image.

Perhaps it is just me and there is a learning curve,

but I made several attempts with different colors

and the purple ones above are the best result.

I may try Versamark with Stampin' Pastels next.

I brayered the green ink onto the leaves

and that seemed to give better coverage. 

I also don't like the dies I bought to go with this stamp set.

 It may not necessarily be the dies, but the nature of photopolymer

stamps in that they are flexible. They are being "distorted", 

flexing when applying them to the block

 that causes the dies not to line up with the stamped image. 

I've not been able to use the stem dies so far.

The paper snips have been getting a work out !

Thanks for looking, have a great day =) 



EDITED 4/7/2019
I've done some searching on the internet and see that indeed there are issues with getting good, crisp images with this distINKtive style stamp set. I've found a tip to smoosh the ink down into the pad before stamping so it isn't so wet. Good idea - if I had the foam type pads. I guess using a brayer will be my best option to ink up the stamps as that seems to be the only way to get a halfway decent image using my linen topped pads. 

Also came across a tip to align the stamps with the dies on the acrylic block before stamping so they will line up to die cut them out. 

Butterfly Beauty Brusho Card

I had fun playing with Brushos for the first time!

It made a neat background for this lovely detailed butterfly diecut.

I need more practice with the Brushos, though. 

I'm entering my card in the 

Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door

My current view out of my window: flooding !

It's not the first time we've seen flooding and

certainly won't be the last. 

I can't complain even though the road's covered with water, closed.

It's out there, somewhere, under 2-3 feet of water in places.

It's nothing compared to what so many have suffered through

already this year, the devastating losses and destruction.

The river crests here late tonight

then we'll hopefully see the water levels keep falling.

We've been in flood for a month now

(not this deep though!). 

                                                 Thanks for looking, have a great day =)

Bunny Treat Bag - fabric

This year is hopping right along, isn't it ?

Today I'm sharing this fun little treat bag

as my design team project for the

April Anything Goes Challenge at

Love To Craft.

We'd love to see what crafty things you 

made this month (so long as it is family friendly).

This sweet little treat bag
was made with a pattern I bought years ago.
I finally got around to sewing one !
More details below.

 Two squares of fabric, casing at the top

for ribbon to run through.

Bunny shape traced then stitched on 

two layers of white fabric. 

Leave the bottom of the arms open for turning out.

That was the most difficult part I believe, 

turning that little rabbit head (ears!) inside out.

Stitch a circle over a piece of clear plastic

then carefully trim away the fabric

to create a window.

After stitching down the sides of the squares

(starting an inch or so below the top edge

to allow room for the rabbits arms)

gather the bottom edges of the squares

to create the base.

I hot glued on a circle of card stock

to make sure the gathers stayed in place.

Pull the ribbon through the casing at the top.

Inside the bag , 

notice the gaps on the sides for the arms.

Rabbit head is lightly stuffed with polyfil

then the bottom is hand stitched closed.

The face made with a permanent marker and blush.

Goodies in the bag.

I'd suggest using wrapped candies

and if not, put unwrapped candies

inside of a clear baggie before 

inserting it into the fabric treat bag.

Arms inserted through the gaps on the side.

Pull the ribbon  and tie.

This isn't a sturdy, toy type of item.

It's really just for the cute factor 

when giving a small gift.

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering my project in the 

Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door

Ladybug Hugs Digi Kit

Oh what fun this huge new kit by 

JMC Designs is ! 

Ladybug Hugs 

is now available exclusively at

Plain Digital Wrapper

and on sale for 50% off

for a limited time. 

Here are a few things I made with this kit :)

computer screen wallpaper calendar

facebook timeline cover

digi scrap page using a template by Promethean Concepts

I love the painted wood papers in this kit !

Ladybug Hugs Digi kit contents:

Upper and lowercase Alphabet

18 Card stocks

24 Patterned Papers

74 Unique elements

Also available:

Thanks for looking have a great day ! 

Geared Up To Celebrate Mustang Card

Another grungy, rusty gears embellished card

for another March birthday of a gearhead friend. 

I have several friends and relatives that enjoy getting their hands dirty

 working on old cars celebrating birthdays this month.

The image on this card is colored with colored pencils. 

Crystal Effects and silver Sharpie marker for details.

 A closeup of the cinnamon and paint grungy gears.

Fun, but messy, process.

Inside

Thanks for looking, have a great day =)

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - anything goes

Crafting By Designs - anything goes

Cardz4Guys - Let's Get Messy

(Take my word for it, creating the rusty gears is

a very messy process; my fingers were too 

coated with cinnamon and paint to take a photo.

The card was also made for a friend that enjoys

getting his hands dirty working on old cars)

The Male Room - DIY

(the card was made for a man the restores old cars

plus I made my own rusty gears and there are tools

on the designer paper strips)