I'm a "real" girl!

I finally got back into my craft room after 3 days away for a work meeting and, boy, was I glad to be home! I had so much fun making my Pure Innocence Dig girl card that I decided to make a "real" one for comparison.

Things I learned from this experience: 1) in the digi world, I can make my scalloped oval frame any size I want- not so much with my Nestie dies 2) digital stitching is always straight and 3) I never run out of digi buttons in the shade I want!

I started this card with the same Riding Hood Red 5-3/4" square card base (are you as totally stoked as I am that RHR is coming back as a standard color?!!). I printed my own Brocade Blue paper from my digi stock (OK, so that means this card is technically a hybrid card...") and layered it with some Sweet Pea Chocolate Chip dotted paper over a Whisper White square. I punched a white strip and added some Kiwi satin ribbon I have been hoarding in the middle.

Since I ran out of "real" Kiwi buttons, I had to use Chocolate ones and had to modify my Riding Hood Red die cut background since the scalloped oval wasn't big enough IRL! I did color my image with real alcohol markers- I love the way her boots came out- I want a pair! The greeting was printed on the computer, punched with the Designer Label Punch and mounted with a Hodge Podge hardware piece.

Leave me a comment and vote for the version you like best- digi or real!

Have a great day~

Digi girl...

I have had such a busy week (on call at the hospital, trip to San Diego, meetings, etc) that I haven't been anywhere near my craft room. Since I can't play with paper and ribbon for real, I decided to play with some "digital" card making. I have a bunch of digital stamps and tons of digital paper on my computer which makes access to my "supplies" really easy, especially from the airport lounge!

Stampin' Up's "My Digital Studio" is loaded with tons of digital elements-patterned paper, ribbon, buttons in all of their colors so it makes it really easy to create something all digi or a hybrid project. I use their elements in Photoshop only because I have already invested so much time learning the software for work- My Digitial Studio is great for first time digital creators, though, because of it's user-friendly interface.

I started this card with a Riding Hood Red 5-3/4" base, added a layer of Whisper White, then layers of Brocade Blue striped DP and Brown Dots from the Sweet Pea collection. I added digital stitching around the edge and a "punched" white border under the ribbon and bow. I "colored" the image by selecting areas and filling them with color from the SU color palette I have loaded into Photoshop- this insures that everything is the true to color throughout the card!

I "cut" out the image and the red scalloped oval using digital cropping shapes, then added shadows and edges to make them look embossed and layered- it's amazing what these special effects can do to make a these digital elements look like they have depth! Lastly, I added some buttons and a greeting layered inside a Hodge Podge hardware oval.

I love how this turned out that I will definitely be making a "real" version when I get home to my craft room!

Have a great weekend~

Hey Chick!

It's Tuesday and I am finally getting around to posting my card fro last Friday's Limited Supplies Challenge which was to make a quilt- better late than never! I am not a real quilter, so I needed to stick to a simple squares "quilt" for my card. I had lined up all my squares and was just about to stitch them down when we lost power in a thunderstorm! After that, the weekend flew by with my Girl Scout troop's Bronze Award project and I didn't get back to finish it until last night- isn't that just the way weekends go?!

I dug through my scraps box and found pieces of some favorite old papers with just enough left to make all the squares. I used just a bit of re-positionable adhesive in the middle of each square to line them up, then stitched over the edges. You need to make sure that your adhesive isn't near your stitching lines because BAD things happen to your needle and machine if you do!

I used one of my digital Pure Innocence images from Heather Ellis, colored her with markers, then paper pieced her dress. I used one of my new nested die shapes to cut the Not Quite Navy background piece and tied some pretty white satin ribbon in a bow. I also found this greeting already made in my scraps pile, so it seemed perfect for this card! While I was in that area of my craft table, I found some jars of old Prima flowers and decided to use one of those as well. It's so good to go through your scrap pile and supplies once in awhile- it's amazing what you'll find and be inspired by!

I am on my way to the hospital to be on call- hope we all have a peaceful night!

An oldie but a goodie...

I was finally getting around to try some of this past week's challenges at Splitcoast when we lost power in a thunderstorm this morning. I had just laid out a card for Friday's Limited Supplies challenge which was to make a quilt card, but I had no power for my sewing machine!  I was definitely not caffeinated enough for this to have happened! I had no internet either (serious crisis!),  and the only other challenge I could remember was this week's Wednesday sketch challenge, so here is my attempt.

I was digging through scraps for my quilt card and came across all sorts of neat patterned paper combinations from my scrap box- I should definitely check there for inspiration more often! I came across this paper from a few years back called "Western Sky", then dug through my stamps for a set that would work with it and found my little "Cowboy Kid" set way in the back.

I started with a 5-1/2" Riding Hood Red square, layered on a 5-1/4" Whisper White piece, then adhered the patterned paper strips over the top. I added some twill ribbon and a bow tied with hemp twine and a button as a "not too girly" accent. The greeting was stamped on a contrasting piece of paper from this set and hand cut at the ends.

My little cowboy was stamped in Memento Tuxedo black and colored with Copic markers. There is a bit more brown in this image, but I couldn't find another color for his shirt that wouldn't clash with the patterned paper, so tan it was!

The inside was finished off simply with some of the coordinating papers and a birthday greeting. Now I have a card in my supply for the next boy birthday party and how appropriate for Texas!

Hope you're having a great weekend~ I challenge everyone to dig through their scraps and use a set that is gathering some dust!

Supplies:
Stamps: Cowboy Kids, It's Your Birthday
Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Western Sky
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Sizzix machine, nested dies, twill ribbon, button, hemp twine, dimensionals

Mojo Monday and color challenge...

I completed both the Tuesday color challenge at Splitcoaststampers and the Mojo Monday sketch and it's not even the end of the week- I feel completely ahead of schedule! For those of you looking for inspiration, the weekly challenges at Splitcoast and some others like the Mojo Monday sketch challenge are great ways to jump start your creativity!

Here is a view of this week's sketch challenge from the Mojo Monday blog:

For my card today, I combined this sketch with the Tuesday color challenge: Certainly Celery, Soft Suede and Tempting Turquoise.

I didn't get a chance to finish my card this morning before I had to be off to work, so I created a digital card during lunch in Photoshop Elements using all digi paper and accessories. I had save the Stampin' Up color profiles into a Swatch group last week, so I had all the colors I needed to digitally "color" the image.

When I got home tonight, I finished my "real" card, which I had so much fun coloring with "real" markers! There is certainly more texture in this card than the digi version- the Turquoise background was run through my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, the edges of the white strip were punched with a scalloped edge punch and the button was tied with hemp twine. It's fun to play with all digi cards sometimes, though- I would definitely feel better sending this to a friend on their birthday than a canned website-based card- it may not be animated, but it's hand made!

The inside of the card was finished with a strip of the same Soft Suede Designer Series paper and a greeting from the Hugs and Wishes" set cut out using nested dies on my Sizzix machine.

I encourage you to check out some of the challenges out there- it's a great way to get motivated to move outside your comfort zone!

Have a great night!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I had so much fun making Easter cards this year, especially with these sweet Pure Innocence digital images. This one reminds me of a flowery dress my daughter had for Easter one year- it's so sad that she's grown past that phase. We actually had a great moment in our family history yesterday- Emily wore a beautiful pink dress with an embroidered border that my mom made for me at her age for Easter services last night! It was so great for my mom to see another generation wear her beautiful creation.

I printed the image on Whisper White, then again on a patterned piece from the Pawsitively Prints collection. She was colored with alcohol markers, then her dress was cut out and paper pieced over the top. I gave her shoes and the heart in her hair a little sparkle with a Spica glitter pen, but it's hard to see that in a photo. 

The Barely Banana background was run through a Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder in the Sizzix machine to give it some texture before being layered on white and the Bashful Blue card base. I bought a bunch of pom-pom trim in different colors at the craft store awhile back and this card seemed perfect for a few pink fluff balls! The last piece was an accordion flower made by scoring and folding a 1-1/4" x 12" strip of Sweet Pea Designer paper at 1/8" intervals- I used my small paper cutter with a scoring blade to get this done accurately and quickly. I love how these little accordion flowers perk up a card!

The inside was finished off with a strip of flowered paper punched with a scallop edge punch and a computer generated greeting. I love how this came out- it's so cheerful and happy!

Have a wonderful Easter day! I'm waiting for the sun to appear- an indoor egg hunt is just not the same!

Supplies:

Stamps: Digistampcharacters-Pure Innocence

Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Sweet Pea DP, Pawsitively Prints DP

Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot machine, nested dies, pom-pom trim, buttons, scallop edge punch, alcohol markers

Easter flowers....

Just a quick post today to share an Easter card that I made for my next door neighbor. She is a critical part of my emergency back-up plans, brings us dinners on a regular basis and is the nicest person so she definitely warrants a special Easter card!

I absolutely love these digital stamp images from artist Heather Ellis in the UK- I have amassed quite a collection of them, but because they are digital, the only space they take up is a few hundred MB on my computer! That's a really good thing if you've seen my stamp room closet....

I printed the image out on Whisper White card stock and colored her with alcohol markers. I cut the image out using a nested oval die, then sponged around her with Barely Banana ink while the die was still in place to keep a crisp white border. I printed the image out again on patterned paper from the Sweet Pea collection, cut our her dress and shoes (definitely needed my reading glasses for those!) and paper pieced those over the top. Love having coordinated shoes for her outfits!

The card base was made from Kraft card stock and layered with Whisper White and Barely Banana which had been run through an embossing folder to give it a pretty texture. (I had really intended to use my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for the background, but it was AWOL in my craft room- I won't even mention where I found it!). A strip of the same patterned paper and a punched white edge coordinate with her dress and a Celery twill button-tied ribbon at the top  finish it off.

A simple computer generated greeting and the piece of ribbon I cut too short for the front of the card finish off the inside. I have really become a fan of finishing the insides of my cards- it take just a little bit extra, but makes it look so much nicer!


I'm off to shop for my Easter dinner ingredients- love to cook, but the shopping part- not so much! Scored today, though, when I bought 8 dozen decorated confetti filled eggs for our egg hunt- now I can make a dozen more "boutique" eggs that won't be smashed for myself!

Have a great Friday~

Lattice tree...

Ever since the Sizzix Lattice die came out from Stampin' Up last year, I have envisioned a card using this as a screen for an image stamped underneath- kind of the reverse of a die cut card, if you will. The Pendant Park tree makes a perfect backdrop for this kind of card. This is a very simple card, but it's clean lines are good for a variety of situations: sympathy, birthday, thinking of you...

The card starts with a 5-1/4" Kraft card base, a departure from my usual 5-3/4", but better for the scale of this image. I stamped the tree on a 4" Whisper White square in Old Olive and adhered it to the middle of the card. The frame was made by glueing a 4-1/2" patterned paper square to a 4-3/4" Rich Razzleberry piece and die cutting through both layers with a square die- two layers is about the max you can cut through with the thin brass dies.

The lattice was cut with the Lattice Bigz die from Stampin' Up and layered over the image with dimensionals- I love the look of this cut-out! A few Dew Drops define the corners and tie it all together.

The inside was finished simply with a greeting from the "With All My Heart" set, inked with Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry markers, a Razzleberry die cut background and a strip of the same patterned paper.

All purpose cards like this are great to keep on hand for those "almost forgotten" birthdays, sudden sypathy cards, etc!

It's finally the long weekend and I am ready for a break

Have a great evening~

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Pendant Park, With All My Heart
Paper: Kraft, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine, Lattice Bigz die, Dew Drops, nested dies