Fishy Love ~ Finny Fun!

Hey there!  Yes, I am still around creating and checking on what's happening out in the blogosphere.  I had seen box cards and thought they looked so fun but it always seemed too much trouble to cut out all the parts.  So when I saw instructions and demo video by Deb Valder, I had to try.

I used Fintastic Friends stamp & die set from Lawn Fawn.

I cut out the water portion on one of the stamped fish bowl images and attached it to plastic sheet that was cut with Fintastic Friends Lawn Cuts to make a clear bowl.

It was really fun putting all the elements together! #lawnfawn

Thank you Deb!

OWH Red Friday Blog Hop

Operation Write Home is having a Red Friday Blog Hop to support our nation’s heroes with love from home!  I made a card using a sentiment from one of the fundraiser stamp sets OWH Brave.  This is the first time I tried the mirror image stamping technique.  I had to look thru the backside of the stamp to line up the die to cut it properly.  I think it came out pretty well.

I wanted to make the foxes look like they were in the woods, so I embossed the brown paper and popped up the tree trunks.  Be sure to check out the list of blogs on the hop for some inspiration.  Send in a few cards that meet the guidelines.

Supplies Used:
OWH Brave Limited Stamp Set ~ Simon Says Stamp
Joy to the Woods Stamp & Die Set ~ Lawn Fawn
Tuxedo Black Dye Ink ~ Memento
Versafine Pigment Ink ~ Tsukineko
T0  T2 ~ Copic Markers

I Dig You

I took Sandy Allnock's Copic Background Class.  Here is my first attempt at the technique.  I think I need to get a few lighter colors to make it a little more wispy.

I remembered to stamp the inside with a coordinating stamp for a little extra fun.

I thought this girl looked like me enjoying summer so I entered it in the
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: A Mid-Summer's Challenge

Supplies Used:
May Arts Ribbon  Copic Markers  Hero Arts ink  There She Goes Stamps  DCWV paper

Scarf Challenge

I made these cards for an Operation Write Home challenge.  Fun to have guidelines sometimes. Have been enjoying coloring these Paper Smooches frames lately so this challenge fit in nicely!

We were to make a card with tone on tone yellow and pink.  I embossed patterns that were similar to the stamped image.

If you decide to join in on this challenge, let me know!  I'd love to see what you create!

Supplies Used:
Flirty Frames Stamp Set & Dies ~ Paper Smooches
Musical Flourish Embossing Folder ~ Cuttlebug by Provo Craft
Baby's Breath Embossing Folder ~ Cuttlebug by Provo Craft
Mildred Now and Then Enamel Dots ~ My Mind's Eye
Onyx Black VersaFine Pigment Ink ~ Tsukineko
R24  R43  R46  Y19 ~ Copic Sketch Markers
Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper ~ We R Memory Keepers
Colored Cardstock ~ DCWV
White Cardstock ~ Neenah

4th of July VCMP Challenges

 Here are some cards I made for the Operation Write Home VCMP

#1 His & Hers

Link Love

Diane from CraftyPod and Tammy from daisy yellow art like to share creative ideas and projects.  They have invited others to share 5 posts that Inspired Us to Try Something New.

Diane's article on How to turn a Soda Can into a Spring Brooch inspired me to make a wreath.  

Her mom, Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes has inspired me to try things like felting and challenged me to make garden markers.  She is always working on something fun!

Sandy Allnock, founder of Operation Write Home has inspired me to learn to color with Copic Markers.

Monika from  I Love it All has inspired me to use an old Reader's Digest book to make a "1st Year Journal".

 

Renee from I came, I saw, I created has inspired me to make a "Welcome to the Area" booklet.

Thank You ladies for being such crafty inspirations!

She said YES !!!

Love is friendship set to music ~E. Joseph Crossman

Our son met a girl while in the music program in college. Their friendship grew and we all fell in love with her.  He asked her to marry him today and she said YES!

I made this card to let her know how happy we are that she will be joining our family.

This is the first paper piecing I've done along with coloring.  Can you see that her dress, arm and his sleeve are layered?  Really liked being able to use patterned paper along with coloring.

Supplies Used:
Cutting the Rug by Mo Manning ~Stamping Bella
Patterned Paper from February 2014 Card Kit ~Simon Says Stamp
Polka Dot Page Embossing Folder ~Provo Craft
Kraft Cardstock ~Bazzill
White Cardstock ~Neenah
Tuxedo Black Dye Ink ~Memento
B95 BV25 E11,23,25,29,42,50 R29 RV00 T28 YG61 ~Copic Sketch Markers

Thinking of You

Hey There ~I have been thinking about you and missed posting here.
I have been making cards, just haven't posted them.


 I subscribe to the Simon says Stamp monthly card kits. One of the really neat things about their subscription is that you get to choose which kits to get.

 I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted the February 2014 Thinking of You kit with this stamp set. I really liked the "You Are" "missed" "loved" & "Thinking of You" words included along with the dots and leaf frond; thinking they would be really great for Operation Write Home cards.

Yes, you guessed it... I got it.

 Thought you might like to see a few cards with this set.

Tried an ombre effect with my Copic markers and words as a background.

 

Liked how that looked, so tried another.

Had several black rectangles with holes punched in my stash pile. Thought it would showoff the snake and be a good place to use the little letters that come in the kit!

 

You Are my main squeeze is a fun and unexpected sentiment for a Love card.

Do you subscribe to any monthly kits?
If so, which one(s)?  And what is your favorite part of the kit?

VCMP Cards to Link

Operation Write Home is having a

Virtual Card Making Party
this Labor Day Weekend.

Every few hours, a link will be posted over at the starting place on the Stars & Stamps blog. You can visit each stop and play along by making a card to go along with the challenge on that page.

The first challenge is to make a Winter or Christmas card with Nancy's sketch.

 

I like to make horizontal cards so here is my version. The blue patterned paper is not exactly winter but it could be and a "love you" card can be sent anytime of year.

For the second challenge Diane asked us to make an O W H inspired card.

                                                    O ~ Otter

                                                    W ~ Waving {with banner}

                                                    H ~ Hello

The third challenge Seongsook had for us was a little tricky for me since I don't have the rectangular dies she uses.

I ended up turning the two papers over and penciling in lines to cut 1/2" from each side.  The little blade of my Martha Stewart Paper Trimmer was easy to line up with the lines.


Sybrina's challenge (#6) for us is to make a kid's card using a tic tac toe grid.

I chose stamping ~ punny sentiment ~ something with 4 legs

 

1st Year Together Project

Have you seen these old Readers Digest books?  They are popular right now as decorative accents.  I saw a post by Monika Wright on the My Mind's Eye blog a while ago and fell in love with her re-purposed use of one as a mini album. 

Monika has a tutorial on the MME blog that I followed for my book.  {Book Lovers please forgive me for gutting the pages, I will use some of them later.}  I covered the wounded area with several patterns of washi tape.

The oldest son of some good friends of ours is getting married soon so I thought I would make a "Our 1st Year Together" Journal for them.

Sheets of 12 x 12 patterned cardstock are cut into different formats

Flat Page: 7.25" tall x 4.25" wide

Side Fold Page: 7.25" tall x 8.25" wide

being scored  at 4.25" and then folded forward or back

so inside can be decorated too with room for pictures or memorabilia.

Washi Tape works well to make a Flapper Page, possibly for more privacy.

 

Remember the original book pages?  Adhere three of them together and use them as a Flat Page.  This one has a pocket attached --> Love that wood paper

Another Side Fold Page

with a stamp that can be used to personalize the date.

The details on the paper were used as guidelines for cutting.

One of the special things about a journal like this is you can document everyday sorts of things like going to the grocery store or the first time you had your folks over for dinner.

Any sort of horizontal card can be turned into a pocket.

The first year of marriage is a chance to discover all sorts of things about each other such as what would be on your Top 10 Bucket List?

 

A Flapper Page and Pocket Book page with two inserts.

This page reminds me of a little Dutch door.

Fold Up Page: 12" tall x 4.25" wide

scored at 7.25" and folded up

Pocket Page: 12" tall x  4.25" wide scored at 7.25" and made into a pocket.

I like having a little bit of the tags extending past the normal page edge.

Arrows point the way --> to something more.

I tried to leave plenty of room for whatever pictures, ticket stubs, receipts or memorabilia might need to be attached.

A little sewing to add some texture along with an embellished brad.

 A 12" tall x 4.25" wide can be a Pocket Page or

a Fold Up Page

Really like how the chipboard stickers add some interest, color and texture.

Like being able to personalize the journal with all sorts of stamps, tags, colors, papers and embellishments

as well as page configurations and hidden places.

Here is how the back of the book looks with the rings in place.

Thank you Monika for your inspiration and tutorial.  

Thank you Jeff for your photography skills and help {& for making dinner}.  

Hope the newlyweds have fun filling up this journal as well as looking back at it in years to come.

Supplies Used:

Papers, Brads, Enamel Dots, Tags, Stickers, Washi Tape ~My Mind's Eye

Patterned Paper ~Pink Paislee

Lyrical Letters Cartridge ~Cricut

B99 ~Sketch Copic Marker

Ink ~Hero Arts & Memento

Summer's Best Stamps ~Unity

Smitty's ABCs Stamps ~Lawn Fawn

Journal It-Top Ten Stamps ~My Favorite Things

Readers Digest Condensed Book

1" Book Rings ~Office Depot