September Card Chain Challenge: Pirates!!

Hello and welcome!  I am so so so very behind with posts lately, so please excuse my absence...we're so terribly busy as a family right now!  Nevertheless, its time for another CCC reveal!  The September Card Chain Challenge was so fun for me...I just love Pirates!  

If you're new to The Card Chain Challenge, let me tell you, its wonderful!  Card makers from all over the globe get to exchange their beautiful creations and its quite inspiring!  What a fun way to make new friends! 

So, as with any challenge, there are a few rules.  You must stick with any one (or more if you are so inclined) of four different options.  For September, our options were:

1. Color Palette option: 

2. Sketch option:

3. Theme option: Pirates / In the Jungle / Friendship

4. Product/Technique option: Graphic 45 / Metal Charms / Tri-Fold Cards


I wanted to do something a little different this month and decided to use a card kit that I'd gotten not too long ago.  Have you checked out the card kits from Scrapping for Less??  They're such a great value and oh so cute!!  The products I used in my card come from the June kit and feature Scrapberry's papers and stickers by Express Yourself.  So, let's get to it shall we?! ;D

Aside from being super cute, the SFL card kits come with a sketch sheet that make it incredibly simple to pull together a card...or four ;)  I used one of the sketches included with my kit to pull this cutie off...isn't that little guy adorable?!

Since anything associated with pirates and buried treasure usually looks worn and aged, I was sure to ink most of my edges with Distress Ink.  It also helps them to stand out against one another since there were so many elements to this sketch.  I heat embossed my little sentiment strip and die cut the "Thanks" out of glittered cardstock.

Lastly, I added some dimensional tape to the backs of a few of the pieces and adhered everything into place!  This photo shows the layering and dimension a little better.  I did forget to photograph the inside of the card but the sentiment continues with "for showing me the way!", which I thought was absolutely perfect for the map background on the red patterned paper, the ships steering wheel and the telescope sticker...they all tied together so nicely!  Hopefully Dawn in New Zealand will think so too...she was my recipient this month!  Hi Dawn! :D

So that's it for this month...Big THANKS for dropping by today and here's to a wonderful October!

Hugs, 

August Card Chain Challenge Featuring MFT Up in the Air

Hi there!  Its time for the August Card Chain Challenge reveal!  If you're new to The Card Chain Challenge, let me tell you, its wonderful!  Card makers from all over the globe get to exchange their beautiful creations and its quite inspiring!  What a fun way to make new friends! 

So, as with any challenge, there are a few rules.  You must stick with any one (or more if you are so inclined) of four different options.  For August, our options were:

1. Color Palette option:

2. Sketch option:

3. Theme option: Ships / Dogs / Friendship

4. Product/Technique option: Memory Box / Stencils / Tea Bag Folding

With this month's card, I thought that the sketch would be absolutely perfect with hot air balloons!  And I just happened to have the Birdie Brown Up in the Air stamp set from My Favorite Things... ;D 

These images look so sweet in the August color scheme too, don't they?!  And that little doggie (another of the challenge options) peeping over the basket??  Oh my goodness, I just fell in love with him!

I began by stenciling the background using a cloud stencil and distress ink.  After that, I stamped and colored my images before running them through the Big Shot, along with the background panel.  The banner on the large balloon is paper pieced and coated in glossy accents to give it some shine.  I wanted to layer the background panel onto a piece of patterned paper in a subtle print so they wouldn't compete with one another, but also to make my clouds really pop!

Next, I die cut the "hugs" from glitter cardstock and layered it up a few times to give good dimension.  I heat embossed the sentiment in white onto Doll Pink cardstock, which is the closest I could come to magenta.  Lastly, I adhered all of my pieces to the background panel and added a few sequins to give some sparkle!

I had so much fun with this month's challenge...I hope you'll decide to join in sometime!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,

Love From Lizi July 2017 Kit

Hey y'all!  Happy Monday!  Today I'm sharing the cards I've created with the Love From Lizi July 2017 card kit...and it's already August 14th!  Can you believe it?!  Me neither... ;D  If you're curious as to what's included in the kit, please feel free to click here.  The kit sold out long ago, but this will give you a great idea of just how versatile and packed with goodies these kits are.

Jumping right on in, here is card number 1!

 

The border stamp from the stamp set in the kit looked like it would be so fun to make a pattern with...so I repeat stamped it onto water color cardstock and then heat embossed using silver embossing powder.  I made sure to leave enough space to stamp the sentiment because I wanted a one layer card, and this is about as one layer as I get! :D

I colored the insides of the half-medallions using Zig markers and a water brush.  For finishing touches I used the Nuvo drops and twine from the kit, and a small pearlescent button from my button jar!

Onto card 2...

Using some of the flowers in the stamp set, I created a background directly on my card base using a light gray ink to get a tone on tone effect.  The rest is just some die cutting with the patterned papers and a vellum panel using rectangle and frame dies, and then layering it all together...

The tag is raised with foam tape and I added a twine bow and some sequins to finish the card off.

For card number 3, I knew I wanted to use the medallion vellum panel, but I didn't want to cut it down.  Instead I die cut a frame for the panel, backed it with some patterned paper and added a panel underneath that I'd inked with Work Lipstick Distress Oxide ink and splashed with water for interest.  Next, I added some of the gems from the kit to the vellum panel in a pattern that I thought would mimic a dahlia...and I love it! 

  

Here is a closer look at the bottom panel.  I added one of the tags for my sentiment and tied it onto the card with the yellow twine from the kit.  Doesn't the Worn Lipstick color just go perfectly with this kit!?!  

I normally like to use one of the MFT Blueprints dies to create at least one of my cards, but since I had my Sizzix dies out, I decided to use one of the Flip-Its Card dies instead!  This one is the Scallop Oval. 

These dies make pulling a card together so quick, easy, and rather brainless...perfect for me!

 

With these dies, the inside of the card matters just as much as the outside since you can see them both!  I used the bicycle die from the kit and added it to heart doily and coated it with Glossy Accents to give it some more dimension.  Another sticker from the kit serves as my sentiment and card number 4 is done!

Card number 5 is a shaker!  Lol...I just couldn't bear to cut into this vellum panel, so it made the most sense to frame it up and make a shaker...and I don't know about you, but the perfect day for a bike ride in my mind is always with fluffy white clouds in the sky!

I inked my clouds, added a few sequins and gems and this one is done in a matter of minutes!

For card 6, I wanted to cut out the medallions from the vellum strip and use them to border my card.  I also wanted them to stand out so I backed them with glitter washi tape.  The sentiment is stamped repeatedly onto a white panel that I used edge dies to give a scalloped border to.

If I had this one to do over again, I would have added a plain vellum strip, vertically, over the sentiment panel.  You can see in this image how the Distress Oxide ink made little squiggly lines inside the stamped Hellos.  I'm not sure I'm liking that, but oh well!  

Card 7 came together just from my playing with the supplies out on my table...I love a good collage!  The word die and sentiment are the only thing on this card that did not come in the kit, but they went perfectly with the tab sticker that said "magic" so I had to use them!

These black and gold gems that Lizi put in this kit are just so much fun to use...they add the smallest detail but make a great impact!  I hope she continues to put more of these in the kits. Wink, wink! :D

So by this time I've got loads of scraps on my table, right??  I'm sure you know what I mean!  For card 8, to use up these scraps, I made a strip panel from them...so fun!  I adhered strips of the patterned paper scraps to a scrap piece of cardstock and die cut a rectangle to make my base panel.

All that's needed next is a vellum panel to frame my sentiment, which is a Simon Says Stamp word die set that I coated with Glossy Accents.  I added a few sequins and Nuvo drops to give a little more sparkle and voila!  

Card number 9 uses one of my favorite techniques...masking!  I knew the bicycle and stamp set were not scaled for each other, but using them together was a must for me.  So, I stamped out a basket full of cartoonish flowers in various ink colors and added a little accent to the basket with a gold gel pen, then die cut my bouquet with a Pretty Pink Posh tag die.  

 

I die cut the bicycle from silver glitter washi over white cardstock and added it onto the basket making sure my placement was normally where a basket would sit on top of a bicycle!  I wanted a really whimsy feel to this card since the scale was so far off and it seemed to work wonderfully.  I think this one is my favorite!

And here she is, last but not least, a sweet little Pure Innocence girl at the beach!  She and the other images are colored with Copics and sparkled up with a shimmer pen.  This stamp set was perfect for this piece of patterned paper from the kit...I love how it looks chalk-board-ish!

I layered up a few other elements from the kit, used some die cut clouds and she's done!  That's all ten people...I hope you had as much fun with your kit as I did!

Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs, 

July Card Chain Challenge Featuring MFT Mermazing

Hi there!  Its time for the July Card Chain Challenge reveal!  If you're new to The Card Chain Challenge, let me tell you, its wonderful!  Card makers from all over the globe get to exchange their beautiful creations and its quite inspiring!  What a fun way to make new friends! 

So, as with any challenge, there are a few rules.  You must stick with any one (or more if you are so inclined) of four different options.  For July, our options were:

1. Color Palette option:

2. Sketch option:

3. Theme option: Cacti / Mythical Creatures / Friendship

4. Product/Technique option: Hemptique Cord / Lace / Spray Inking

This month I had the pleasure of sending my card to Jutta M in Canada!  I've only visited Canada on two occasions, both of which were so long ago that I can barely recall anything of significance ...another visit is on my bucket list though!  For Jutta's card, I ended up using two of the options: the color palette and the theme...I wanted to use the sketch also, and did use it for a starting point, but the end result doesn't resemble the sketch very much at all.  Lol :D  So, here is what I came up with...

Of all the mythical creatures out there, mermaids have to be one of my all time favorites!!  They just make me smile!  So, the recently released My Favorite Things "Mermazing" stamp set, illustrated by Birdie Brown, is absolutely adorable!!  I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, so it fit in perfectly!  The color palette is very dreamy too...I immediately thought of a mermaid at sunset!

 I began by stamping and coloring my images using Copics, Bristol smooth cardstock and a Copic friendly ink.  Next, I stamped some underwater vegetation onto a Bristol panel using another stamp set by MFT, Exquisite Ocean, using VersaMark ink.  I then heat embossed them using clear embossing powder.  Lastly, using spongs dobbers, I blended three colors of ink onto the plant images using Simon Says Stamp dye inks in Hollyhock, Duckling, and Apricot...my color palette!

To finish up my panel, I used a landscape die from MFT's Scenic Safari set to create a sandy bottom for my little scene.  To keep things interesting (and a little whimsy) I used the On-Point Patterns paper pack for this...its an extremely versatile pack also by MFT. :)

The sentiment strip is blended with the same ink colors as the panel and die cut with a sentiment strip banner, then heat embossed in white.  Although it doesn't show up very well in the photos, I also used clear Wink of Stella to add some shimmer to the mermaid's tail, the sea shells, and her starfish barrette!

So that's it for July's CCC card!  Be sure to check out the full reveal post to see what everyone created this month!  Join me next month for the August reveal, and if you're feeling frisky, head on over to the CCC blog and sign up yourself!  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,

Love From Lizi June Kit

Hey ya'll!  I hope you're having a fantastic summer so far...I know we are!  The kiddos have really kept me on my toes, which is why I'm so incredibly late with this post!  I always have such a great time when creating with the Love From Lizi kits...she puts so much thought and detail into her kits!  If you haven't checked them out, then I strongly encourage you to do so...you'll be glad you did!

So, to keep the rambling at bay, let's jump into the first card!

There were so many fun, colorful patterned papers included in this kit, so I figured why not start with a card centered around the papers!  To do so, I used one of the Blueprints sets from My Favorite Things.  Blueprints always give me a great base.. the elements are scaled perfectly so I know that I can coordinate and fit them with ease. 

I also chose to make my pinwheel (this was an add-on to the kit) interactive by adding a brad to the center and not removing the adhesive backing paper! 

For card number two, I really wanted to use some of the vellum pieces from the kit.  This firecracker strip is so darn cute!  To make it really stand out, I backed it with a strip of plain white cardstock that I'd die cut with a border die. 

I did the same thing for the circle element after cutting it out, then added a button and some twine...and done!

Onto number three...Probably my favorite elements in this kit were the canvas stars!  I wanted to really highlight how fantastic they are, so I decided to keep the star embellishment the focus of this card and not use a sentiment. 

I stitched a basic star shape onto the canvas using some red embroidery thread and then added a kraft die cut heart and a vintage button tied with some twine...so cute!

 For number four, I wanted to use the frame from the heart in the last card...I hate to waste anything! :D  The banner stamp and a paper piecing technique were perfect here...and of course I wanted to try out that Chameleon pen!

In this view, you can see the dimension in the banner...by popping up the cut outs with some foam squares, you get a whole new look!

Card number five is so simple...I wanted to use different colored embossing powders with the fireworks stamp because that's one of my favorite things about fireworks...they come in so many colors!  The blue gems were from last month's kit...

Lastly, I bordered my embossed piece with the peel-offs...so glad there were two colors with this kit!

With each of the kits, I usually try to create at least one card that incorporates a custom background using stamps.  For card six, I went with the rocket stamps!  Using colored pencils and gamsol, this one really turned out to be quite colorful. :D

And this sentiment just seemed perfect...YOU ROCK...rocket stamps...a match made in heaven!

So card number seven is really quite different from the other cards...you could use it for any occasion where congratulations are in order!  Baby, wedding, graduation, promotion...you name it!

The gold foiled elements in these vellum panels are so pretty!

Another thing that I love about the vellum panels is that you can add details to them and they show up so well!  For card eight, I added an embossed firework and some freckles to my little boy using a white gel pen...

The ripped corrugate strip is inked along the edge to add a bit of distress, and the back panel is embossed in the same gold as the sentiment to tie it all together.  I also used my favorite glitter washi tape technique with the die cut "hello"...so much sparkle with no mess!

Onto number nine...What Independence Day themed kit would be complete without a thank you card?!  So many sacrifices have been made by so many men and women so that we can live freely...I don't think I'll ever be able to find words that adequately convey the depth of my gratitude to them.

They don't show up very well in the photos, but I found the perfect little iridescent confetti stars in my stash to add to the star patterned paper.  They look so pretty in person!

And lastly, here is number ten!  This one was by far the most time consuming!  I used my Distress Mosaic kit for this one...The small patterns in the papers were just right to create the tiles.  If you haven't seen this technique done before, here are links two videos that show you how:  Tim Holtz demonstrates Distress Paper Mosaic Kit and Vicky Papaioannou creates a Paper Mosaic Canvas.  I've got a canvas project on my to-do list! :D

Here you can see the difference in texture between the glazed paper tiles and the grout...so cool!

That's it for my June kit!  I really hope to get caught up soon with the July kit...hopefully before my August kit arrives!  LOL! :D

Thanks so much for stopping by today...all supplies used to create my ten cards are listed below.  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,