Easel card for a challenge.

     Hey, long time no see >.< Sorry about that. I have been working on a card for my college students and three have been mailed, but I forgot to take photos of them (hurrying to get those out the door, my son comes home on Friday, Yippeee!) Should have more of them done soon and then I'll post those (only 11 more to go, hee hee.) They are cocoa cards.

     Today's card is for the Progressive Challenge over at Crafter's Digital Art Center (here.) This is the last leg of this group of the Progressive, so you can get in the next round, if you would like to join. We get they greatest images to work with and the next group is free as long as you use one from the current group in a project within the challenge period (usually 2 weeks.) The first group is free and if you missed the first group you can join in for $1 and as I said we will be starting with a new first group on March 1st.

     From the title, you can tell todays' card is also an easel card ;- ) You are a quick group!  I used the image provided by A Day For Daises which is perfect for a card for my best friend from grammar school's daughter. I colored in in PhotoShop Elements. The only thing fancy was a multi-bristle brush you would find in the Assorted Brushes at the bottom left. It kind of looks like half a squiggly doodled spider, LOL. I used that with hair highlights and lowlights and dabbed or stippled with it on a base colored hair to make the hair look more realistic. I just kind of messed around with it until I got something I liked. You have to love that undo button. Only remember with doing this dabbing you can only undo so far (depending on how many levels of undo you have set) and you might dab a lot of times, if you use a small brush which will look better.

     The solid color papers are from Core'dinatiions and the pattern paper is from Paper Studio's Four Seasons paper pack, which is available at Hobby Lobby and has so many great patterns. I cut the scalloped circle with Quick Kutz Nesting Circle Dies, but I cut the circle with the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter, because I didn't want a circle as large as the one that came with the Quick Kutz set. For the oval sentiment I used Nestabilities Large Oval and Large Scalloped Oval. I inked the card edges and the image with Dusty Concord Distress Ink. The image also has some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on it. I wanted to know back some of the starkness of the white. The sentiment is from Hero Arts Sweet Wonderful You and is stamped with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. The ballet slippers with the bow is a free SVG from SVG Cuts, which I used Sure Cuts A Lot 2 and my Expression to cut. They have lots of free images and the ballet slippers are still available here.  You can check out SVG Cuts here. There is a link to the Sure Cuts A Lot software on my sidebar. I inked the edges of the ballet slippers and the bow with a Copic to give it more dimension and popped up the bow.

     Thanks for fluttering by today. I'm really glad that you were here. I do love reading your comments. Please leave one before you go ;- ) Have a wonderfully creative week!

Birthday Wish for a Guy

     This is one of those cards, that looked better in my head, then it did when I was done >.< Probably, because in my head, I haven't chosen the papers, just the idea. Both the card base and the sentiment were cut from Cricut's Birthday Bash cartridge.  I embossed the background with Cuttlebug's Christmas Stars and used My Mind's Eye twine. I popped up the DP, which is from Paper Studio and popped up the sentiment on it. The DP is edged with a gold paint pen. This card is for my son's best friend in middle school, who is at a different college than my son. He has a great (though sometimes quirky) sense of humor and wouldn't be demanding of the looks of the card, fortunately ;- )

     No time for second guessing the front, so moving on.  The font in the multiple choice section and the Happy Birthday is Bevan (all can be found on the internet, try a google search), the one in the parenthesis is Beetle and the one in the salutation is Black Jack. The boxes and the check mark were made in Print Shop. Matt will enjoy the humor.

     I didn't get much done on the next card. First I found out I couldn't get it into the mail tomorrow anyway, because of Veterans' Day (there is no mail.) Then I needed to shop for baking ingredients, because a friend and I are doing MAJOR cookie baking all day Saturday for my Christmas Party and just for the holidays for her. It took longer than I would have thought, as DH and I stopped to eat and I looked for some wire for the next card too. Some of these cookies will probably even find there way into a shipment to the college students. So, I'll need to really move it on that next card and make up some of the doughs that need to chill overnight.

     Thanks for shooting by. Please leave a comment, because they keep me motivated and mean so much to me ;- ) Have a blessed weekend!

Stop and smell the roses.

     The card I have for today, was made for a dear friend's daughter. I prepare you, for when you read the sentiment on the inside ;- ) I'm sure I will be getting a call from her mother, who was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. The image is a Hero Arts stamp and I painted it with water colors. I added and embellishment from Creative Charms. The pattern paper is from Paper Studio, as is the paper strip I used for the sentiment. I used a glitter pen over the blue Happy Birthday words and it darkened the whole look of the sentiment a bit too much, so I added the white dashes with a white Signo Gel pen to the top and bottom of the sentiment.

     I did struggle with what to write on the inside. It is the hardest part of making cards for me. Everything always seems so trite. Maria still has one of the first digital cards I ever made, going back to the Mac II with the first version of Print Shop, on a very dottie, dot matrix printer (maybe 26 years.) She also is the first recipient, of the first cut and pieced card I ever made, which was for her wedding shower (2 1/2 years ago). That's a lot of written sentiments. This sentiment was done digitally with a combination of Print Shop, using LD Penelope from Lettering Delights for the font and Photoshop Elements, using Inobscuro roses brushes to make the rose background. I "stamped" the rose, used the find edges filter with a darker color and then dragged it into Print Shop. I think it gave a very nice and artistic effect. I went over the rose outlines with a clear glitter pen. You can see the glitter better in the second photo of the inside, which has the colors wrong because of the setting sun, but does show the effect of the glitter. Just noticed, while looking at the photo, the font used for "Maria" is Black Rose. It's a free font that you can get from any number of free sites. I also went over the "29" with a gel pen.

 Click to make larger

Click to make larger - then you can see the glitter better, so I don't sound crazy ;- )

     As long as I'm talking about roses, Here are a few photos I took yesterday, of the roses from my new bush that we planted this year. OK, in the vase there is a ringer as well ;- ) I love the ruffled petals on this yellow rose.

     Thanks for coming by and spending some time here today. Please leave a comment. They really mean a lot to me. Have a blessed day!

Ladybug, little girl card.

     Today's card is from Cricut's Birthday Bash cart. I made this card for the daughter of a friend and ex-colleague of my husband. I cut the ladybug, base and the number 5, (which comes from the next page of the handbook) on 3 1/4 inches. The pink and green cardstock is Bazzill and the pattern paper is Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby. The ladybug is embossed with swiss dots. I used frosted lace stickles on the black spots and diamond glaze on the antenna tips.

     For the inside, I used the sentiment from the same page as the ladybug. I doodled on it with a green glitter gel pen, to give it some interest and added a gem, from Hero Arts, to one of the i's.

     What would I do differently? I might have made the ladybug smaller. I thought about faux stitching the pink layer, but wasn't sure if I could do it neat enough. Should try that before I glue it down. Maybe texture emboss the inside pink layer, but I don't know.

     I don't know why I think I'm further along than I am after I pick the image I'm going to use and maybe the sentiment. Sometimes, I even have a basic layout in mind, but I seem to forget how long it takes to pick the papers for the pieces, if I'm cutting the image out, decide on embellishments, decide the total color scheme, choose how the sentiment will be displayed and all the other "little"decisions like that (embossing, pens, glitter, ribbon.........).  Fortunately, this card isn't needed until the end of the month, but I have others I put aside because I thought I knew what I was doing with this one, it would be quick, ha. It always takes longer than I thought. I need to hunt for supplies for 2 of the others, for the basic idea rattling around in my head, that will of course take 10X longer than I anticipate ;- )

     Thanks for checking out my card and my random thoughts. Please, leave me a comment if you've got a moment. I really appreciate them. Have a blessed day!

Male graduation card.

     Today's card is another graduation card, only this one is for a male. We have a graduation party to attend this weekend. One of the cards in the earlier posts is for his sister and the party this weekend is for both of them. She is graduating High School and he is graduating 8th grade. To see her card (if you missed it and are interested), click here. I know in some areas, 8th grade graduations aren't celebrated. Here, depending on where you go to school, you child may attend the same school from Kindergarten (or pre-school) right through 8th grade, with the same kids, making it a bigger event, then if they changed schools at the middle (or junior high school level).

     The papers are from Paper Studio's Graduation Paper Pack and the stickers are from Stampendous Class a'peal. I cut the name with Cricut's Plantin Schoolbook cart in the standard setting 2 times and popped it up. I embossed the sentiment with silver glitter embossing powder.

     On the inside, I just matted the sentiment, I wrote digitally with Print Shop using the LD Dabble font from Lettering Delights and I stamped the stars (Northwoods) and embossed them using silver glitter embossing powder.

     I think it turned out nice, though the star on the right should be over to the right a bit more, but I have a tendency to just eyeball things.

I still have a wedding card to do and a few birthdays coming up. I can't believe the CHA Supershow is the week after next, though it's not the same this year. I was looking forward to taking a few workshops, but there aren't any. I guess it will just be make-and-takes and shopping. What I've really wanted to see were the booths in the real  CHA. Maybe some day.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment. I love to know what you think and that you stopped by. Hearing from you is a real pick me up ;- ) Have a joyous week!

Hats off to the graduates!

    Well despite the rain, I did get my last window box potted today and made 2 cards. The puppy and I decided to plant between the raindrops, but of course as soon as we got out, it started drizzling again. It was a good thing that I got that new window box, because as I was scooping the stones out of it, I suddenly saw the top of my table through what should have been the bottom of the old window box, Yikes!

 The first card is the same as the graduation card that I posted earlier. I did like how it turned out and I know the mother of the graduate I was making the 2nd one for liked it too, so I made the same one for her daughter.

     For the directions for this easel card, click here. The second card is for another girl from the same school, so I've used the same school colors. The pennants were made with the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cart. I used a lime green Sharpie marker to draw the green line down the center of the yellow middles of the banner to add more interest and the green backgrounds were embossed with Swiss Dots. The 2011 was done on the Gypsy with Plantin Schoolbook. The brads are Painted Brads from Recollections and the ribbon is Class Act (2010) from TPC Studio (I believe the have the same style this year too). The grad cap is an embellishment from Jolee. The background paper is from Paper Studio's Graduation Paper Pack (the same as I used for the other cards).
 

     I haven't done the inside of this card as I usually do, because I haven't decided how I'm going to finish it yet, so I wasn't sure which paper to use on the inside.

     I think the rose card is still my fav, though this is a nice change of pace. I tried a number of different things on the yellow part of the banners, but didn't have stamps small enough to fit on them. Looking at it now, I'm thinking that cap might need some perfect pearls on the edges to give it some bling and more dimension (though it is 3d in person ;- ). 

     Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment so that I know you were here. Your 2 cents means very much to me. Have a great and blessed rest of the week.

Graduation season, too!

     Aaarragh! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.  It's been crazy. We've picked up my son from college. He survived his freshman year! Yahooo! I've been lunching and visiting with friends with whom I've needed to catch up. Had to work on photos for the bulletin board honoring the confirmands at our Church (after doing the board totally for Good Friday and then totally over again for Easter, it needed to be re-done with the items I made to honor them). I am responsible for the board with the help of my tall, long-armed husband.

     At the confirmation, (it was split into 2 ceremonies this year- long story) my husband takes the photos and then I am responsible for editing them. I then,  put them onto a disk and each family receives one. So, this has all kept me very busy.
     I started this graduation card and kept working on it in small bits. It's not very detailed, but I would decide what I would do and then get to that one thing the next day. It was so disjointed, but I really like this easel card. There is no sentiment yet, because I haven't decided which graduate is getting this one. I have 6 total to do and I think only 2 may look like this one.  The rose is from the Walk In My Garden cart, done in her school colors. The oval and scalloped oval were done with nesties and I can't remember which cart the graduation cap was from. It was left over from some favor boxes, I made for my son's graduation last year. If you are interested, just leave a note and I will check the file in Design Studio and see which cart it's from.  The paper is from Paper Studio's Graduation Paper pack.

     I used a Perfect medium pen and Perfect Pearls in, (I believe) Sunflower, to accent the rose. I did the same with green Perfect Pearls on the leaves and stem. (Click the photo to see a larger image.) I used a white opaque pen on the word "grad".
     What would I do differently? I've thought about it a lot, since this card was done so helter skelter. I considered outlining the word "grad" with black gel pen, but my hand is not that steady. You could use a different outline method on the flower, such as stickles. I like the clean and uncluttered look of this card though. What do you think?
     Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your precious time on my blog. Please leave a comment. It is very rewarding to me, to know that you were here. Have a Blessed week.