My first Dylusions creation

This is my first attempt at trying out the "Art Journaling" style that seems so popular right now. However, I really like making cards so I turned it into a card instead. I started out with a 4x6 card base from 3 Birds Design, and then I placed the altered cardstock which was a plain cream one from Recollections, onto the card base. Really simple because I just wanted to try out the stuff I got. I used 4 colours, which is all I have right now, but I'm hooked so that could change really really soon. I used Crushed Grape, London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise, and Lemon Zest. Wow! These colours are so vibrant  I love them!

The sentiment is from Tim Holtz's Urban Chic stamp set from Stamper's Anonymous, and so are the swirls on the corners. The hand stamp is from Dylusions stamp set called Curious Corrin. The main image is also from the same stamp set. All of them are stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

I coloured the main image with Distress inks. I purposely coloured outside the lines. This style is so liberating! LOL. Definitely not what I'm used to, but I love it! The distress inks are not as vibrant, but it works too. It just goes to show that you can use what you have and you don't have to get absolutely every colour of every line that comes out. I then used my white gel pen to put some little dot accents on the swirls. Finally, I distressed the edges using my We R Memory Keepers Heart Attack tool.

Happy Father's Day

I made this card for my dad. I was going to their house right after my night shift so I had to make sure I had the card made the day of my night shift. I didn't get a lot of sleep time in the afternoon but it was worth it because I really liked how the card turned out :)

I made an easel card that's also a criss-cross card. I used a paper from Cosmo Cricket, called Hey Sugar: Honey Honey. Don't you just love that name?! LOL I used Recollections plain cream cardstock as my base. The swirls are made from a Cheery Lynn die called fancy flourish. I also added a champagne couloured satin ribbon around the card. I love that colour! The butterflies are cut out from pink cardstock from my stash using an EK success layered punch. The flowers are from my stash. I heat embossed the sentiment "I love you" and I matted it on red cardstock that I punched the side with a Recollections edge punch. The tag that says "Family" was from a garage sale.

The image is "Tilda with Lace Shoes" and it is one of my new Magnolia stamps. I stamped the image using Staz-On ink on 90gsm Watercolour paper and coloured them using Memento inks and Ranger Distress Inks. The colours I used are:

Hair: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Skin: Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo, Victorian Velvet (blush)
Shirt: Cantaloupe, Dandelion, Tattered Rose
Pants: Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo
Shoes: Milled Lavender, Victorian Velvet

I also inked the white edges with Antique Linen, and stamped a little "dandelion" stamp with Cantaloupe ink from Memento. Here's the "inside" of the card.

I used a plain white cardstock from Recollections, punched the edge with the same Recollections edger punch, and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. I used the same dandelion stamp on the sides of the sentiment. The sentiment is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

My dad really loved his card :)

Why Hello, Sweet Pea!

I only have one Sweet Pea stamp- and I used it on this card, which I made for my dear friend, Ashley. We've been friends since Nursing school and we've always worked together in the same hospitals. I wasn't able to go to her birthday dinner so I will give this to her at the end of the month, when we meet for our other friend's birthday.

I actually didn't list the colours I used to colour the image, because I initially thought I wasn't gonna use it, but after putting it all together, I really liked how it turned out. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink on regular white Recollections card stock, and coloured the image with copic markers. 

I used ranger distress inks a lot on this card. I used Broken China and Shabby Shutters around the image. I used Antique Linen to stamp Inkadinkadoo clear stamps around the image. Again, I'm challenging myself to use up my scrap papers, so the printed papers behind the image are from my stash. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo ink. I also used white faux stitching around the printed papers. 

I added flowers from my stash, and put gems at the center of the flowers. Finally, I used a Memory Box die called "Catalina Wreath," inked it with Vintage Photo again and placed it behind the image. I think it really came together. 

For the inside of the card, I used some more printed paper scraps, inked them with Vintage Photo and Broken China, and another one of the Catalina Wreath die cuts. I used a sentiment from AmyR's stamps and I spelled Ashely with an alphabet set from Studio G.  

I'm entering this card into the following challenges: Deep Ocean Challange - Sewing and Truly Scrumptious Challenge - Flower Power

1st Wedding Anniversary

My sis and her hubby just had their first wedding anniversary last week. They went away for the weekend and now that they're back, I decided to make them a card to celebrate their first year together as husband and wife. The colours of their wedding were red, black and white, so I decided to use the same colours on my card. Here it is.

The stamp I used is from Kraftin' Kimmie called "Ever After". It is stamped on X-press it card stock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I coloured it with copic markers. The colours I used are:

Tuxedo/ Girl's Hair: 100, C9, C7,C5, C3, C1
Skin: E53, E00, R20 (for her cheeks)
His Hair: E27, 15, 13
Roses/tie: R39, R29, R24
Wedding Dress: E41, W3, BG93

The challenge I wanted to take on for myself was to use up my scraps. I used mostly scrap printed papers and card stock so I don't really know what brand they are, sorry. I do know though, that my plain card stock is from Recollections.

I used a die from Cheery Lynn Designs called "Fanciful Flourish." The flowers, which are my favourite embellishments, are from my stash and i put lots of blingy gems in the center of the flowers. Also, the picture doesn't show it but I put Studio G glitter glue all over the wedding dress and the die cut. It looks really lovely in the light. So sparkly!! :) I hope they like my little present :)

I'm entering this into Whoopsiedaisy Challenge - Bling,  Let's Ink It Up - Favourite Embellishments, and Hooked on Crafts - All That Glitters

Love is patient, Love is kind

Hello again everyone! It has been a while.. and it feels great to be crafting again. A lot of things happened since Christmas. I was ill and then my sleep-wake cycle was messed up because of working too much over the holidays. Needless to say I was not my usual bubbly, happy, chirpy self.. and if it were not for my hubby's support and patience, I don't think I'd be back to doing the things I love like crafting, baking and yoga yet. Anyway... I made this card for him to show how much I appreciate his efforts :)

I made my first "window" card. I don't know the proper term for it, sorry guys. But I really love how it turned out. I used my Cricut and Elegant Edges cartridge for cutting out the frame and the oblong out of the card base. The image is suspended by dental floss that I just taped to the inside of the frame. The plain card stock and card base is Recollections, and the patterened paper is from My Mind's Eye Totally Girl paper pad. The image I used is one of my favourite ones- she is Bessie Lulu from Stamping Bella. I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils and odorless paint thinner. I really love the soft effect of the pencils with the detail of the image. The colours I used are as follows:

Skin: Beige, Peach
Hair: Burnt Ochre, Sienna Brown
Dress/ Shoes: Sand, Light Aqua
Flowers/ Stems: Imperial Violet, Lilac, Burnt Ochre
Shadow: French Grey 50%

I used glitter glue from Studio G all over the frame, the flowers and her shoes. For the inside of the card I used the same patterned paper, and plain purple cardstock. The sentiments are stamped with Memento ink onto plain white cardstock. They are from AmyR's Lovely sentiments. I thought it was very fitting for what I wanted to tell my hubby. I hope you guys like it!

 

Let it Snow

The house is all decorated, the fireplace is going, and Christmas music is playing. It feels good to be home :) ...and making Christmas cards hehehe :) Who wouldn't be inspired?! This card is inspired by the song Let It Snow. No stamping this time. I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try to use something else as my center image.

I used my Cricut Expression and the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge to make the snowman. The card base is from Studio G. I used papers from the Recollections Pet Pad, and K.&Co. Seasonal Paper Pad. I also inked the edges using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and it wouldn't be complete without winter sparkle so I used some Studio G glitter glue on the outline of the snowman.

The sentiment is actually a rub-on from my stash. I found it so fitting with the "snow" theme. I finished the card off with a white satin ribbon. For the inside of the card, I used another rub-on and just the same patterned paper I used in front.

I'm joining the following challenges:
Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge
The Paper Variety FALALALALA challenge
Whimsical Designs Wednesdays challenge
Deep Ocean Challenge Let it Snow

A Minimalist Approach

I wanted to colour another image using Prismacolor pencils and odorless paint thinner, and after colouring, I thought I would challenge myself with whipping up something simple~ maybe a card that showcases only very few elements. I am really happy with the way it turned out. I usually spend so much time on my cards and I sometimes get carried away hehe.. When I finshed this card, I feel I've created something simple, but still quite nice. :)

I used a printed cardbase from the 3Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking kit. My image is from The Greeting Farm Miss Anya "Rain, Snow, Shine." I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on plain white Recollections cardstock and used the following Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils to colour "Miss Anya Snow."

Hair: Terra Cotta

Skin: Light Peach, Peach, Pink

Ear Muffs: Sand, Yellow Ochre

Scarf: Sand, Yellow Ochre, Light Cerulean Blue, True Blue

Fur linings: Cloud Blue

Coat/ socks: Lilac, Imperial Violet

Boots: 70% Warm Grey

The sentiment I used is from the AmyR Get Well Sentiments, and as usual I stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I used Ranger Stickles on the fur to give it a bit of sparkle and I used Recollections yellow half pearls as embellishments. 

That's pretty much it. I have to say, I'm really liking this new technique using coloured pencils and blending the colours with odorless paint thinner. I like that I can show dimension and play with light. I'm off to do another project now. I'm taking advantage of a few days off before I start my set again!

Using Prismacolor Pencils

This is my first attempt at colouring with coloured pencils. It definitely has a different feel from using Copics. I love the "softer" effect, but I know I need more practice. Anyway, I made a gatefold card this time. I used another of my Stamping Bella stamps. She is Bessie Lulu. I just love the scallop detail on her dress! She is so pretty! :)

I used a plain green gatefold card base from Studio G that I just got from the dollar bins at Michaels. I also used some printed textured cardstock from the My Mind's Eye Playful Posies stack. I thought the orange paper with glittery flowers went well with the image. The image as well as the sentiment are stamped on plain white Recollections cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I inked the edges with Ranger Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters. As I mentioned, I used Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils to colour my image, and here are the colours I used.

Skin: Light Peach, Peach

Hair: Light Umber, Sepia

Flowers/ parts of dress: Cream, Canary Yellow, Yellowed Orange, Orange

Dress/ stems: Chartreuse, Apple Green

Shadow: 20% Warm Grey

I also used buttons that I got from a garage sale as embellishments. Now, onto the inside of the card.

I used another textured and glittery cardstock for the sides of the card and I stamped the image again on plain white Recollections cardstock using Memento Pear Tart ink. I find it really hard to get the image to "transfer" when the stamp has no cling mounted to it, and since the stamping bella stamps are unmounted, I think I'll just get some EZ foam cling and attach them. I also used a flower stamp from Inkadinkadoo for the flowers on the top right corner. I used Shabby Shutters to ink the edges of the writing area. I think my first Prismacolor card turned out okay :)

I'm entering this card to the Simon Says Stamp Buttons Challenge 

Happy Birthday Bubby!

My hubby's birthday is coming up on Sunday and I made him a special birthday card. He loves it when I bake him cupcakes so I used this image from Stamping Bella. She is "Harriet" from the lulu collection. I know that the card is so girly but I think he'll still like it. I really enjoyed making this card because it has two of my favourite things- cupcakes and stamping :)

The plain orange card base I used is from the 3 Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking kit. I then used some printed cardstock from DCWV Sweet Stack. I love the glittery little cupcakes! I also used Recollections border punch, and inked the edges with Studio G ink pad (it doesn't say what colour, but I used one of the blue ones). I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic Xpress it cardstock and coloured it in with Copic markers. Here are the colours I used:

Skin: E02, E00, E000
Apron/ headband/ flowers: BG13, BG11, BG10
Small hair flowers: B02, B000
Polkadots/ roses: R85, R81
Cupcakes: E17, E13, E53
Dress ruffles/ stockings: W3

I also used a white satin ribbon and some flowers and "gems" from a garage sale as embellishments. The sentiment is from AmyR Birthday Sentiments. AmyR sentiments are my favourite! I'm building my collection, and next on my list are the Baby Sentiments and the Thankful Sentiments. Anyway, on to the inside of the card...

I used the same patterned cardstock from DCWV Sweet stack on the inside of the card. I also cut out the middle "writing area" using the Cricut Expression and Storybook cartridge. The sentiment is stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on just plain white Recollections cardstock. The sentiment is from AmyR Lovely sentiments. I did stamp it a bit slanted :( but oh, well.... I'll be more careful next time.
I hope you all had a good Halloween! I wish you a lovely rest of the week!

I am entering this to the Tiddlyinks Tuesday Challenge #71 Anything Goes and Birthday Sundaes Guest Designer Birthday Card Challenge

Just Because Card

Today is my last day off.. back to work tomorrow for a 12-hr dayshift. I feel like I really had a good set of days off since I was able to do a lot of crafting. It's such a zen-like experience for me when I colour and make cards- kind of like when I do hot yoga- I just get into "the zone" hehe. Anyway, this card is an "any-occassion" or "just because" card. My starting off point was the colour pink- my favourite :)

I'm so glad I got to use one of my Gorjuss stamps. I love these images! It's difficult to find here in Canada, but I just ordered some from the US from Susana's Custom Arts and Card Design and it came in 2 weeks. This one is called "Ruby." I stamped it on Copic Xpress cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink (as usual). I coloured it in with Copic markers. Here are the colours I used:

Skin: E000, E00, E21
Hair: E19, E15, YR31and R81 (for the bows)
Dress: R39, R85, R83, R8, for the lining: R22, R20
Stockings (pink stripes): R83, R81, R20
Stockings (grey stripes): W3, W1
Shoes: C9, C7, C5
Cat: C9, C7, C5, C3
Swing: E29, E25
Shadow: W1

The card base I used is a plain dark brown cardstock from 3 Bird Designs Overstuffed Cardmaking Kit. The pink cardstock in the background is from DCWV Sweet Stack. The printed papers I used as panels are from K&Co. Best of Brenda Walton pad. I then used KaiserCraft Rhinestones, as well as flowers and adhesive"gems" from a garage sale as embellishments. Lastly, I put StudioG glitter glue in yellow around my image to give it more sparkle, and tie in with the rest of the card.

For the inside of the card, I just used the same paper from the Brenda Walton pad, and stamped the image on an oval white cardstock from Recollections with Memento Angel Pink ink. I love the softness of the colours. It turned out to be such a girly card! I love it.

My First Halloween Card

Halloween is my favourite holiday... I'm not sure why I don't have any halloween stamps! That has got to change LOL. Anyway, I had to make do with what I have, so I used Lolli Anya from The Greeting Farm, since one of the best things about halloween is candy right?! I coloured her hair pink to give a more of a costume-y feel :)

It looks pretty busy but it was fairly simple to make. I used a printed orange card base from 3 Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking Kit, and printed papers from K&Co. Seasonal Paper stack. I stamped my image on Copic Xpress paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I also used the same ink and sponged the edges of all the papers. I coloured my image using Copic markers. Here are the colours I used:

Skin: E02, E00, E000
Cheeks: R20
Hair: RV06, RV04, RV21
Hair bows, shoes, and parts of lollipop: YG63, YG03, YG00
Skirt and parts of lollipop: BV04, BV02, BV00
Hair baubles and bodice: YR16, YR07, YR00

For the sentiment I used a sticker, again from the 3 Birds Design Cardmaking kit. I also used my Cricut Expression and the Happy Hauntings Cartridge to cut out the black bats and the orange skulls I used as embellishments. That's pretty much it.

I'm entering this card to the CMC Copic Challenge Group's #29 October Challenge, The Paper Variety No Tricks Just Treats Challenge, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge, My Mum's Craft Shop Spooktacular Challenge, and The Pixie Cottage Go For Gold Challenge

Girly Birthday Card

I am on a roll tonight LOL. Another card I wanna share with you is a card I made for a co-worker whose birthday falls on Halloween. I used some halloween colours (green, purple, black) for the card. I find her look very Rockabilly or Vintage-y 1940s (which I love!), so I chose an image that depicts that. I really hope she likes it.

I didn't do any colouring this time, since I initially planned to enter into a no-colouring challenge but when I read the instructions more carefully, it said to use only images from a certain company :( Oh well, I still think it turned out nicely, even without colouring. It's a nice change. I amped up the embellishments so the card won't look too plain.

I used a plain green card base from the 3 Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking Kit, purple patterned cardstock from K&Co. Seasonal Paper stack, and plain white and black cardstock from Recollections. I used the Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page in Framed Dots on the black cardstock. I then inked the edges of all the white cardstock with Ranger Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters. The image I used is by The Greeting Farm, and it's called "Cheeky Rockabilly." TGF images are one of my most favourite images for stamps. I just think they are so cute!

For the sentiments, I used the AmyR's Best Birthday Wishes and Sassy Sentiments. As always, I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the images and the sentiments. The flower embellishments and the sparkly "gems" are from a garage sale.

That's it, simple but I really like it! I'd like to enter the Birthday Sundaes Color Challenge and the Paper Pretties Embellish Challenge as well as the Paper Shelter's Anything Goes Challenge

Sparkly Cheers!

Browsing all the blogs I follow got me into the Christmas-y mood already! I just had to share this card I made. I am going to make a few more of these to give to the other nurses in my ward. I hope they'll like it. I sure had fun making this card.

I still can't get the lighting right when I take pictures of my cards. I'm trying out different things, but it seems that I just have to use natural daylight so the colours show up right. Anyway, I used plain red cardstock from Recollections as my card base. For the green background, I just used a glittery, textured green cardstock from the My Mind's Eye Playful Posies stack. I used the image from The Greeting Farm, "Cheeky Christmas" set, stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic Xpress paper and coloured it in with copics. Here are the colours that I used.

Skin: E50, E51, E53
Cheeks: R20 (for blush)
Hair: C9, C7, C5
Hat, Dress and Shoes: R29

I then used Studio G glitter glue in Red over the red hat, dress and shoes, and for the white areas I just used Stickles in Frosted Lace. I used Ranger Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters to ink the edges of the image. I also punched out a red butterfly using the EK Success Butterfly Layering punch using the same red cardstock I used for the card base. That's it. It's very simple but the texture and glitter of the green cardstock and the glitter and stickles on the image really make a statement I think.

The inside of the card is just simple. I stamped the sentiment "Sparkly Cheers" that came from the Cheeky Christmas set using Versamark ink and then I used Black Tsusenko embossing powder and heat embossed it on white plain cardstock also from Recollections. I find the sentiment is very fitting for the "glittery goodness" of the image on the card front LOL :)

I would like to enter this to the Fab's Big Christmas Cards Challenge Blog's October Challenge and Crafting When We Can Christmas Come Early Challenge