Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Kitty Snuggles

     This is the birthday card I made for my sister's birthday. Her cards usually contain the same elements: cats and/or purple. I left out the purple this year. 


     I have to apologize for the way I interpreted this amazing sketch by Lisa Hidy at Sketch N Scrap. I promise that I started out with this sketch, but now that I look back, I am wondering how I deviated so far from it. At the time I was working on it, I felt that I was right on target, but now I'm having a bit of trouble finding my point of reasoning. I can see how I used the sketch, but now I'm hoping my followers can see it too.

Sketch #142 by Lisa Hidy
     You can see the kitty peeking through the window, but when you open the card the kitty pops up and rocks inward. This die by Karen Burniston is called "The Rockin' Rectangle". It was hard to get pics of the sentiments: "If all else fails . . . snuggle with your kitty".  
     My favorite feature of this die set is the die to make your own sequins. How many times have you wanted to add sequins, but didn't find just the right color? Have you ever placed sequins on a project only to have it fall off? Well those days are over for me!!! I now make my own sequins. The foiled papers I use to make it have paper backing, which when glued to a card STAY WHERE YOU PUT THEM.


     I stamped this image from High Hopes called "Cat and Mouse Party". I have ordered stamps from High Hopes several times. I just love her artwork -- so cute! I colored the image with my Copics. You might notice the stripes on the kitty. I probably should have made them darker, but it was something new I was trying. I didn't want the stripes to overtake the picture. 
     This paper is Echo Park's "Meow". I rarely use the sticker sheets, but I particularly liked this sentiment -- also the black cat is a sticker.
     Lastly I want to mention the cat balloon. This is from an old Burniston die from her Elizabeth Craft days. It is actually a teddy bear balloon, but I trimmed the ears to be pointy and added the face from Burniston's newest cat die set.


Materials List:      
     
     Patterned Paper: Echo Park - Meow
                              (Kitty Paws, Kitty Plaid, Border Strips, Sticker Sheet)
     Card Stock: Bazzil: Sugar Wafer
                       Echo Park - Orange
                       Recollections - Foiled Turquoise
     Dies: Burniston - Rockin' Rectangle Pop Up
                               Explosion Pop Up (streamers)
                               Cat and Dog (cat face)
                               Props #2 - (Balloon & Bow) (Elizabeth Craft)
     Stamp: High Hopes - Cat and Mouse Party
     Copics: Cat Y21, 23, 26
                 Face Y00,R20
                 Icing RV91, 93, 95
                 Candles BG11, 13
                 Hat BG11, 13, G21, R24
                 Cake BG11, R24, G21, R24
                 Flames YR18, 12, Y32
                 Mouse W2, 4, 6, R20
   

Challenges

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Sandshrew Birthday Card

     My grandson has me googling Pokemon again. Every year I ask what is your favorite Pokemon; and every year I get a different answer. This year the answer is "Sandshrew". Ok I did the research; I made the card.


     I started off by going to etsy to check out the Pokemon digital papers. I love doing this. I found this paper by Valentay. I chose it, because I can't stop admiring this green and black weave pattern. I immediately gave in to my desire and cut a 4 x 5.25 piece and slapped it on the front. Let's face it - if you like it that much, you might as well be drowning in it. I have been on a Burniston pop-up card kick lately so I grabbed her Snowman Twist Circle die set. 
     The little Pikachu on the front is cut from the digital paper. The Sandshrew on the pop up is a blackline color book image I found online. I printed it on Copic friendly paper. 


     I don't remember how I decided on the exact color for the Sandshrew, but I can tell you that this is also my current FAVE hair color a the moment. 



     Yes, I did make the card to match the gift I got him. This was his first reply when I asked, "What would you like for your birthday?" 


Materials List:      
     
     Patterned Paper: Digital Paper - Pokemon by Valentay
     Card Stock - Gina K - Grass Green
                                     Black and White
     Dies - Burniston - Snowman Twist Circle 
                               Word Set 2 (Birthday)
                               Word Set 6
              Elizabeth Craft Designs - It's a Boy/Girl
     Copics: Body - Y21, 23, 26, 28
                Stomach - W2,3,4
                Ears and Toes - C 0,1,2
                Eye - BG05
   

Challenges

Saturday, March 2, 2019

TN: Follow My Heart

     Here are my February pages for my Traveler's Notebook. I used the TN Time challenges of Lori and Lisa to drive my pages. 


     Lisa has a brand new sketch to help with the page planning. Lori asked that we scrap that which we love and include a heart. I found this piece of ephemera (tennis shoes with shoelaces entwined in a heart shape.) This is perfect for documenting that which I love - my husband. 
TN Sketch #2 by Lisa Hidy


     I found this paper with strips of rainbow hearts. It worked ok for the journaling strips.



     In this pic Huey is making our first meal in the RV. It is Cajun étouffée. We had my daughter and 2 year old granddaughter over to share the meal. Of course, Papa Huey made mac and cheese for Brooklyn.
     I found another subtitle "When I follow my heart, it always leads to you." How better to follow my heart, but in CUBS high tops? I made these shoes using my silhouette. I used my Big Bite to place eyelets in the shoe. The CUBS logo is from an advertisement in my husband's Vine Line Magazine


     For the shoelaces, I wanted ribbon that was 1/8 inch wide and flat. I found this organza ribbon with 1/8 inch satin ribbon edges on each side. I cut one side of the ribbon off and used it for the laces in the shoe.


Materials List:      
     
     Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny - Calendar Girl (February & December)
                              Authentique - Cheerful
     Card Stock: Gina K - Jellybean Greeen
                                    Ocean Mist
                       Echo Park - Pink
                       Hot Off the Press - Silver Sparkles
     American Crafts: Graph Paper
     Silhouette Files: High Top Shoe Invitation by Jennifer Rush
                             Clipboard by Jillibean Soup
     Embellies: White mini eyelets
                     White Ribbon

Challenges

TN Time with Lori - Use a Heart - #3 - March 10
TN Time with Lisa - Sketch #2 - #3 - March 10

Friday, March 1, 2019

Happy Spring Seasons

     I just completed a year-long series of classes, in which we made 16 cards and 4 calendars using the Graphic 45 Seasons collection. The good news is that my students seem very content with their seasonal cards. The bad news is that I have a 3-inch stack of leftover paper. I decided to make layouts with the scraps. Here is my layout using the Spring Collection. 


     I used this Sketch N Scrap sketch. I made it into a two-page layout  by making a 90 degree clockwise turn.

Sketch #172 by Lisa Hidy
     These professional photos, taken in a field of bluebonnets, are just what this spring layout needed. 


     For the title I used a Karen Burniston die "Happy Spring" I made a collage by adding a Elizabeth Craft bee die cut, a metal key, and a piece of ephemera.


     I love these strawberries. These are also from Elizabeth Craft dies. I cut them from all white card stock. I used Distress inks to ink them. They were then shaped with my flower shaping tools.


     I remember the day these pictures were taken. It was last year the day after Easter. My husband's nephews family came to Houston from New Orleans with their three boys. They took them, as well as two of my grandchildren to a bluebonnet field near Brenham, Texas to take these pictures. After the photo shoot, they went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory for a tour and samples.


     On the second page, I made another similar college. This one frames a piece of ephemera - perfect for journaling - with a bee, a strawberry, and a postal stamp. Looks like I forgot to write something on the journaling card.




Materials List:
     Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 - Seasons
                                                     Spring & Spring Collective
                                                - Patterns & Solids
                                                     Blue Solid & Ivory Solid
     Card Stock: My Colors - Brown Eyes
                                        Desert Cactus
                      Paper Cuts - Metallic Gold
     Die: Burniston - Happy Spring
            Elizabeth Craft - Bees
                                    Strawberries
     Ink: Inking - Vintage Photo
                        Shabby Shutters
                        Forest Moss
                        Hickory Smoke
                        Fired Brick
     Embellies: Elizabeth Craft - Solar Gold Ultra Fine Glitter
                     Metal Key



Challenges