Father's Day Card

This card is definitely Tim Holtz inspired! I love his products and stamps. This card was inspired by a challenge to use masks by my friend Mel LaFavers for an Everyday Card Challenge. I have had my masks for a while now, but I haven't ventured out to use them.

For this project, I started with a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of kraft cardstock. I placed my masks randomly on my paper. I put my project inside a large paper bag before spraying them with my Tattered Angels spray in Creme de Chocolat. The paper bag was great to catch the over spray, and I had no real mess when I was done.


If you don't have masks, you can make your own using your Cricut cutting machine and cartridges. Use your imagination. Butterflies, flowers, or any image can be cut to be a mask. Attach them using repositionable adhesive. You can save them on spare acetate sheets to re-use. The sky is the limit!

Next I used Tim Holtz stamps and Memento Black ink to stamp random images on my card. Next I used another Tim Holtz stamp with Versamark ink and black embossing powder. I heat set it with my heat tool to allow the wording to stand out on my card. For my sentiment, I used my Inkadinkado Happy Days stamp sent to stamp "Happy Father's Day" on the card using Versamark ink and black embossing powder. Again, I heat set it with my heat tool.

I distressed the edges of my cardstock and mounted the card face black cardstock using my ScorTape. I added ribbon and a buckle for additional interest. I used ScorTape and a 3/8" Glue Dot to secure the ribbon and buckle. I mounted the finished piece on my card using Glue Dots Pop Up dots for dimension and shadow.

I love how this card turned out. It is rare that I make masculine cards, but I always seem to need them. I love how this technique turned out so rustic. I can see so many other uses for it as well. What a great option for some shabby chic feminine cards. I would love to see what you come up with using these techniques.

For products used, please check out the Cutter's Creek Design Team Blog.

Vintage Layout

We had a 24 hour challenge at Scrappin' n Chattin' on Yahoo Groups. We had to choose 3 paper packs we owned, and we were assigned a partner. Our partner chose our paper pack and sketch that we would have to use. This was my sketch from Julie Bonner. My paper pack was K& Company Ancestry.com. The lace accents were handmade by me. The buttons are from Granny's button box. The stick pin is from Creating Keepsakes Heritage line. The title is from Thickers stickers by American Crafts.




Thanks for taking a peek~

Glossy or Crackle Medium Challenge

My project:



For Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog this week, we needed to complete a project using a glossy medium or a crackle medium. I chose to use Glossy Accents because I am becoming addicted to using this product on my Magnolia images!
Here are some close ups of my project:


I started this project with this wonderful Magnolia image that I received in a stamped image swap. I just love her! I colored her using my Copic Sketch Markers.

Face/Skin: E0000, E00, E21, R20
Hair: YR23, Y23, E35
Blue Jeans: B91, B95, B97Rain Boots: Y0000, Yoo, Yo2, Y06Wings: Y0000, G20, G40
Top: Y00, YG03, YG11, YG13Cap: YG01, YG13, YG23

Next I applied Rock Candy Ranger Stickles to the wings to give them that great texture. I also gave her rain boots a thick even coat of Glossy Accents to make them shine like real rain boots.

I cut my patterned cardstock 1/2 inch smaller than my card base. I cut a piece of the patterned paper the size of my card for an accent strip. I stamped my sentiment from the Studio G clear stamps on the lower left hand corner using Versamark ink, and I embossed it using white embossing power mixed with diamond embossing powder.

I cut a piece of pink cardstock and a piece of polka dot cardstock. I used my EK Success Corner Rounder to punch the strips and make the scalloped edges. I tied my ribbon around the plain patterned cardstock strip. I used a glue dot and some ScorTape to adhere the ribbon in place.

Next I turned to my Cricut to cut the scalloped ovals. I used my From the Kitchen cartridge. Using the body for the sheep, I cut the piece from the polka dot cardstock and from the solid pink cardstock. I set the dial to "real size" and then cut one at 3" and one at 2.5".


I adhered all of the layers using my Glue Glider Pro except for my Magnolia image. I used pop dots to adhere her to the oval accents. Lastly I grabbed my flowers, rhinestones, and glue dots for the finishing touches.

The papers for my project are from Cosmo Cricket's paper pack Everafter and Girl Friday. The card base is from DCWV Fall Paper Pack. The ribbon is from Michael's Value Ribbon Packs. The Rhinestones and flowers are from Kaiserkraft.





I love how she turned out.

~*~ Copic Mondays By Laura ~*~

**a little background here - My lovely and wonderful friend Wendy started a great article at Cutter's Creek Design Team Blog regarding Copic Markers. After she left the team, I spoke with her about continuing the articles. She thought it was a great idea, so here is my first installment.**

I cannot even hope to fill Wendy's shoes, but I have been doing my studying on these wonderful Copic Markers. Wendy shared with you the basic coloring techniques in her last installment, and some of her favorite color combinations. At first glance, all of those colors are so intimidating! As Wendy showed us, we can create so much depth with just three markers in the same color family.

One of my first questions was, "Well, that is great, but how do I make the skin look like skin or the jeans look like jeans?" Like many of you, I wanted to be able to color basic images I had in my "stash" or ones I had traded with others.Today let's start with the skin tones. I had heard I needed E000, E00, E11, R20 (Blush) for skin, but how do I combine those to really make it look like skin? Could I do it? I was surprised the answer was yes. Let me show you what I learned!

First stamp your image on quality cardstockusing a good ink like Memento Black Ink. I love the Bazzill cardstock at Cutter's Creek, and that is what I used. The stamp in this project is from Pink Cat Studios (Enchanted Lily Collection).

First you want to cover the entire area using your E000 or E0000. You don't have to worry about perfection, here. You are putting down your "base" coat. Work in small circles to get good coverage. Take your time, and get the feel of your pens.

Next we are going to add in E00. Again working in small circles. Choose where your light source will be, and leave those areas of the face lighter in your coloring. For my project, the light was coming straight on to Lily's face. I let her nose and forehead be slightly lighter than the rest of her face.



Next I added my facial shadows using E21. Around the hairline, the lower part of the face and ear area would all be the darker parts of the face. This is a a subtle variation in color. I lightly outlined the areas I wanted darker. Go sparingly. You can always return and add more color if you feel your shadows aren't quite right.

To give her cheeks a cute "glow", I reached for my R20. I made two small circles of blush area on her cheeks. I like this technique for cartoon type images.

Next I returned to my E00 to blend the colors together. Again, I kept the areas of the nose and center forehead lighter.

For her arms I used the E00 and the E21 for some shadow with the same technique.



Next time we are going to do the hair colors. I am going to cover the basic colors you will need for blond, brunette and auburn and black hair colors. I will be making Lily a blond, but you can do any hair color you choose.

Thanks for following along! I can't wait for the next installment!


Cutters Creek Products Used:

White Bazzill Cardstock
Copic Sketch Markers, E000 (or E0000), E00, E21 and R20
Memento Black Ink
Pink Cat Studios Stamps - Enchanted Lily

My Challenge Cards~

For a fun challenge at Scrappin' n' Chattin' we did a card challenge. Each person that signed up sent another member paper and embellishments. It was up to the receiver to use each paper and all of the sent embellishments to make a card.

Abby sent me some great papers! I love them so much. These cards almost made themselves! I say cards, because I couldn't ignore the leftovers from the first card. I ended up using every last bit to make two cards!

Please let me know what you think!

Material Girl Blog Candy!

I am oh so in LOVE with this paper pack! My great friend Abby - BrayTab.blogspot.com - is giving away this amazing collection as blog candy on her blog!! Please go over and leave her some wonderful love and let her know I sent you! Her giveaway is on April 15th - dreaded tax day~ Wouldn't this paper just light up your tax day?? I think it would mine! Be sure to hop on over to her blog~

Blog Candy~

Thanks to my friend, Abby, I found this wonderful blog candy at Katie's Blog, In My Mind's Eye.

The deadline to enter is April 22, so hurry over and check out Katie's awesome blog and this great giveaway! Enjoy!

Miss You Card

Today's card is "Miss You". I used a Magnolia Stamp that I received in an image swap or a RAK. I am not sure which now, but she is so cute. I wish some of the details showed up better in my pictures. Her boots are nice and shiny. I used glossy accents to make them shine like real rain boots do. Her wings and basket have a little sparkle as well from Stickles glue. These papers are all kit left overs, so I am not longer sure who the company's were. Of course, she is colored using my Copics!

I hope you enjoy her as much as I enjoyed making her!

Cutter's Creek Make it Mondays Challenge

I am the new design team leader at Cutter's Creek, and I started a new challenge called Make it Mondays. Each challenge will give all participants a chance to win prizes! The winners will be chosen randomly, and all of the rules are on the Cutter's Creek Design Team Blog . Please come check it out!

To qualify each entrant must upload the Design Team Entry Blinkie & Store Blinkie:







Here is my project for this week's challenge:



I think this is my all time favorite card I have made so far. I am loving the clouds and the clothes. That apron reminds me of something I would find in Granny's kitchen! It was a lot of fun to make, and I can't wait to try some of the techniques on other projects.

Items used that are available at Cutter's Creek Store:

Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge for the Cricut
Copic Markers ~my new love~ LOL
We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Glue Glider Pro
Beacon 3 in 1 adhesive
Glue Dots
Inkadinkado Stamps
Prism (Bazzill) White Cardstock

Cloudy Day Card

This card reminds me of those great fluffy clouds I use to love to watch as a kid. My thanks to Kristina Weaver who gave me the jumping off point for this card.


I love the fluffy clouds. To get the effect, I dry embossed the paper with my Stampin' UP Texturizing plate (polka dot). I then covered them with embossing ink using my embossing pen. I sprinkled a combination of white and diamond embossing powder over my ink marks, and heated the inks up with my heat tool. I cut the clouds out using my Sizzix Clouds 2 Die.


I layered them onto my cardstock. I cut pennants out of scrap of papers I had in bowl on my desk. I added those to my card using foam tape for dimension. I added my accents with my white gel pen.


I couldn't resist make a boarder using my threading water punch. I added a coordinating cardstock under the scallop to mimic grass.



I am very happy with it, but I already have "new idea" for this card. There are so many possibilities! I hope you like it!

Grandpa's Birthday~

Yesterday was my Grandfather's 85th birthday. We gathered at a local buffet that he really likes for dinner with my parents and John and Betty. I don't know how to explain how John and Betty are related ~LOL~ I am always bad at that. They are my aunt's mother and father in law. Whew, that wasn't so hard afterall.

You can tell my grandpa loves when I am always taking pictures!



After I got my grandpa's present I realized I didn't have a box for it, but I did have a few of these Victoria's Secret pillow boxes from Christmas. I went to my Cricut for assistance! I cut these images using my From My Kitchen Cartridge, and then colored them with my Copic Markers. I think it turned out really cute, if I do say so myself.


One more picture from the dinner. I love that they brought him a balloon bouquet!


Happy Birthday, Grandpa! We love you!!

Flower Pot Card

Today's card is a Flower Pot Card. It was made using a single flower punch for the flower and the leaves. I loved that it was fairly simple to make, but it looks more difficult.

The flower centers are twinkle jewels and I used my Copic Markers to color them a little more vibrantly. My flowers were made from scraps from other projects. Next time I think I would also ink the flowers and not just the pot.



I hope you like today's card. Leave me a message if you make one of your very own! I would love, as always, to see your version!

Sweet 16

For Day 11, I made this sweet 16 birthday card. The side flap of this card actually a removable bookmark. I used my perforation blade on my cutter to make it easy to remove. I thought it would be a fun birthday reminder.


The dimension is hard to see on the "16" but I used Sakura Souffle puff pens to make the polka dots. I embossed the papers using my Sizzix plates from Stampin' Up. They have such great patterns. I cut the "top note" for the sentiment using my Cricut Home Decor cartridge. The stamps are becoming a quick favorite of mine from Inkadinkado.



I highlighted the cupcake using the Copic Spica pens. There is a bit of sparkle on the cupcakes.



I hope you enjoyed this card~ Please post if you make one like it. I would love to see your interpretation~

Before and After

Today was a mini-day of beauty. I went and got my hair cut and styled today. I thought it would be fun to do some before and after pictures. So I did!


This is before make-up ~LOL~


At the hair dresser before she started:


After ~wooo hooo~ I love it. I wish you could see the great curls better!


After at home ~yup, I am happy with my "new" hair!

The 7th Peep

Today I went out to feed the chickens and collect eggs. While I had the coop open to get the eggs, little Miss Hailey ran into the chicken coop and down the chicken run! She was my 7th chicken! She loved hanging with her Peeps so much that she didn't want to leave.

I ran into the house to grab my camera. It was a "kodak" moment as they use to say.
Here is my 7th Peep:



I think what she really wanted was the old banana I gave to the chickens. Hailey love bananas. She is our little monkey girl.


Pugsley couldn't figure out how his silly sister got in with the chickens. He kept walking around trying to see where she made it in. He just knew she needed him.



It took a while to convince Hailey to leave the her Peeps, but she finally decided dinner was more important than hanging with the chickens.

Hi Cupcake!

Today's card is an easel card. Great for sending to anyone. I love these cards because they are so easy for the receiver to display. Don't we all love showing off beautiful cards when we get them?

This is my entry for Day 10 in the card challenge. The papers are all from DCWV Garden Party collection. This is one of my favorite collections. I love the vintage feel and all of the beautiful glitter! The solid cardstocks are the coordinating neutrals. The stamp set I used is Hello, Cupcake from Inkadinkado . I found it on clearance -- even better!



This card was really simple to complete, but it does look complicated. I love that in a card!



I hope you enjoyed this card. If you make one yourself, please post a link in the comments field. I would love to see your interpretation.

Day 9 - Altered Art Gift Card Holder

For today's challenge, I went for something a little different. I used an old clam shell package for a gift card holder. I scrap-lifted the idea from an item I saw using containers for gift card holders.

I think this was a holder for eyelets or brads originally.

I used papers from Stampin' Up. I just cut a paper slightly smaller than my clam shell and rounded the corners. I stamped my "Make a Wish" sentiment on cardstock and highlighted it with chalk and cut it out using my scalloped circle punch. Those two pieces are inside the clam shell case.
For the outside I stamped one of my favorite cupcake images on Prism cardstock and colored it with my Copic Markers. To get some texture for the icing I used the Sakura Souffle puff pens in pink and white. I sprinkled them with some pink iridescent glitter before the inks dried.

I punched out the cupcake using my circle punch (approximately 2") and then punched my cardstock out in a slightly larger circle and then scalloped circle. I used alternating sides of the Stampin' Up designer series cardstock.


I hope you enjoyed this card. I would love to see any variations anyone comes up with on this idea. I think it is great for recycling!