Paper Cuts

I have been in a total funk lately …I don’t know why.  I was hoping this week’s sketch challenge over at SCS would drag me out of it, but I am just “blah.”  I think this card is cute (cuter in real life), but still kind of plain.

I needed a birthday card for one of my daughter’s friends this weekend so I thought I’d use High Hopes by Lizzie Anne Designs.  The cardstock that looks white here is actually vanilla, and the pink ice cream matches the patterned paper more closely than it appears.  (My monitor died over the weekend so I’m using my daughter’s and all the colors look different on this screen. It’s driving me nuts.)  The center stack of ice cream is cut out and raised on dimensionals.  I used Copic markers to color the ice cream, then I covered all the scoops with Crystal Effects.  I wanted the cherries to be shiny, but still look a little different so I covered them with a clear 3-d gel pen.  The texture is just slightly different.

Thanks for stopping by!  Maybe if I go have some lunch and play on the Wii (lol) I’ll feel better.

Hey there!!  Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend. 

I spent quite a bit of time cleaning and organizing my stamp area.  (It needed it badly.)  I bought a Clip-it-Up a while back and I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that one was not enough.  Since I had extra clips, I asked my husband to make a little rack to hang my more commonly used items.  This is what we came up with.  (You can click on the thumbnail to see a bigger picture.)  It’s pretty simple, but it sure made a difference in my mess.  I started organizing my ribbon (finally) too.  I’m using Cropper Hopper 3 x 3 drawers and cards…I ran out of drawers and cards before I ran out of ribbon but at least I got a head start.

SO….I can’t even remember the last time I played along with the Technique Lovers Challenge over at SCS.  Today’s challenge was to make a heart pocket.   I’ve had this little kitty from The Cat’s Pajamas for a while and I’ve been dying to use it.  It’s finally been inked!  After stamping the cat, I cut it out, using a craft knife for the inside area, then I raised him (her?) on pop dots.

I shrunk the heart pattern down a bit (you can find the pattern on this thread) so the cat wouldn’t be too terribly overwhelmed with the space.  Since the paper wasn’t double-sided, I just traced the bottom portion onto the second pattern and adhered that to the pink heart.  The flowers were punched from the second pattern and I used pink glittery brads for the centers.   I adhered a tiny pink jewel to the tag for a little extra sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Monday!

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink white    Patterned Paper:  Fiskars Heidi Grace “Love Blossoms”   Stamps:  The Cat’s Pajamas, SU Holidays & Wishes   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers, Spica pink glitter pen, ribbon, Doodlebug Cupcake Sugar-coated brads, A-Muse twinkle sticker, McGill diagonal tag punch, SU Spring Flower Bouquet punch, pop dots.  Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.

Hello!!  I hope you all had a great week!  I’m certainly ready for a weekend!  Are you?

Here’s a sample using the new mini-set of the month by My Favorite Things,  Be Mine.  I only used one of the four hearts and one word from one of the sentiments, but I like it!  I was trying to be frugal…making the most of that chipboard alpha set I bought from SU way back (you know, one of those things I *had* to have and rarely use).  That’s an upside down n.  I don’t know what I’ll do with most of the letters.  Maybe I’ll make a really big card and spell something out. lol.

Anyway, the paper is Daisy D’s new Maybe Baby Valentine line.  If you look closely at the patterned paper, you can see faint x’s and o’s in the pattern.  So cute!    The brads are also Maybe Baby.  The cardstock is actually Rose Red but it looks way more red here than it actually is. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll be back soon!  Have a great Saturday!

m.

Hi everyone!  I had hoped to post again sooner, but things have been kind of crazy.  I have another sample from Punny Farm by My Favorite Things.  This is such a fun set!  And it’s available tonight (1/9) at 10:30!  Be sure to check out the MFT forum.  There’s a lot going on over there tonight…sneak peeks, challenges, and a chance to become the next My Favorite Things Guest Designer!

This is a pretty simple card (a lot of mine seem to be that way anymore).  I stamped and colored the cow, then stamped the mouse on a piece of scrap paper.  He’s colored and cut out (yes, I cut out that curly tail…I’m not quite sure how I managed that without lopping it off), then I tucked in a little candle and raised him on a pop dot.  The little dots across the scalloped border were made using a 3-d gel pen so they’re raised and shiny.

I still have a sample from each of the other two new MFT sets, Be Mine and Happy Occasions.  I’ll post them soon!  Thanks for stopping by!!  Have a great evening/day! :)  (Don’t forget to check out that forum!)

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Black, Regal Rose (candle)   Patterned Paper:  Imaginisce “Striped Sophistication”   Stamps:  My Favorite Things “Punny Farm”   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers, Sakura black 3-d gel pen, SU yellow, black and orange markers, black eyelets, dimensionals, scallop blade/Fiskars Rotary Trimmer. Card size 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I’m still up to my eyeballs in my big project (which, unfortunately, I cannot share), but I just *had* to take time to play with the latest sets from My Favorite Things.  They are SO cute!!

MFT is releasing three new sets on  Wednesday, January 9th.  This one is called Punny Farm.  I just know it will be a huge hit!!  There are so many cute animal images and some really cute sayings.

I used MFT’s Monday sketch challenge hosted by the amazingly talented Cindy Haffner.  I may have cheated a bit with that sentiment, but I didn’t know where to put it.  (I guess I could have just stamped it on the gold panel.)

Here the entire girl is paper-pieced except for her hat.  (I colored it with Copic markers drawing tiny lines and leaving some space uncovered to give it a ’straw’ look.)  I used different patterns and solids from the We R Memory Keepers Silver Lining line, then added shading to the pieces with my markers.  The chicken was colored with my dying white gel pen.  (Time to get another!)

For more samples by the design team, check out their blogs here or Splitcoast here.

Head on over to the MFT forum for details on the New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday night (January 9th) from 9-11 pm EASTERN time. There will be sneak peeks, lots of fun and a chance to become MFT’s next Guest Designer. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Have a great day!

Time for another Take Two challenge between Lindsey, Trudee, Julia and myself!  It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these!  The challenge this time is to make a pink and brown Valentine card. 

I chose this cute little pig from one of C.C. Designs newest releases, “Love Ya Lots” available now from All That Scraps.  I love the cute images and little sayings in Christine’s two new sets! 

I colored the pig with Copics and doodled in that curly-tail border with a black marker.

Cardstock:  SU Chocolate Chip; Papertrey Ink white   Patterned Paper:  Paper Salon Smitten “Polka Hearts”   Stamps:  C.C. Designs “Love Ya Lots”   Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers (RV02, RV06, C3), black SU marker, Spare Parts heart brads. Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.

Also, today is Lindsey’s birthday!!  Happy Birthday, my friend!! 

Here is the card I made for her.  (I added a subtle bit of personalization. LOL.)

I paper-pieced Cakebella’s  pants, apron and the cake, and I thought I’d share a few things I do when I use this technique. 

Before I begin, I look at the different “layers” of the image.   Here, the cake is in the front and the apron hangs over the pants. 

I started by stamping Bella onto the vanilla cardstock.  I colored in her skin, boots and hair.  Then I stamped the pants onto the rust paper.  When I cut them out, I cut above the apron line, then adhered that piece to the stamped image.  Next I stamped the apron onto the patterned paper.  I cut it out as one piece, cutting along an imaginary waistline, then I adhered that piece to the Bella image.  (The apron overlaps the pants.)  I stamped the cake on the rust paper, adhered it to the Bella image (over the apron), stamped the cake again onto ivory patterned paper, cut out the icing and added that atop the cake. 

In summary, if you layer the pieces when paper-piecing, you don’t have cut lines to match (and it’s just easier).  Plus that gives more of a dimensional look to the assembled pieces.  Sometimes the layering isn’t possible, but most of the time it works! 

Lastly, I added some sparkle and a bit more interest to the cake by coloring in the candle and the dots along the bottom with a copper glitter pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Be sure to check out Lindsey, Trudee and Julia’s cards!  (I can’t wait to see what they’ve done!)  And don’t forget to wish Lindsey a happy, happy birthday!!!

Cardstock:  SU Really Rust, Very Vanilla   Patterned Paper:  Flair Designs “Autumn Harvest” and “Fall Traditions”   Stamps:  Stamping Bella “Cakeabella;” Inkadinkado sentiment and bat   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black, SU Creamy Caramel   Accessories:  Copic markers, Wild Asparagus ribbon, copper Sakura glitter pen. Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.

Hello, hello!  Here’s that sample for C.C. Designs other new set to be released January 4th through All That Scraps, “Love Ya Lots.”  So many cute images!!  Look for yet one more tomorrow!  (It’s a Take Two with Lindsey, Trudee and Julia.  It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those!) 

For this card, I stamped the lion three times, once for the main image, then a second time for his mane and a third time for his tail.   I got the idea to pop up the mane from my friend, Teri.  She made a lion card a while back that was adorable!  (She’ll say the popped up mane wasn’t her idea, but I’m giving her the credit since that’s where I saw it! )  I used a craft knife to cut out the face.  I popped up the tail as well, gluing the other end to his body/hands so it wouldn’t look like it was floating.

I stitched the linen thread X’s and added the Primas before adhering the assembled card front to the card base.  I don’t like ‘things’ showing on the inside of the card if I can help it.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  SU Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla    Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants “True Blue”  Stamps:  C.C. Designs “Love Ya Lots”   Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers (E31, E57, W1), 1 3/8” and 1 ¼” square punches, linen thread, mat pack/needle, Primas, Making Memories copper brads.  Card size 4 ¼” x 5 ½”.

Good morning! 

Here’s another sneak peek at the new C.C. Designs set, “Love Ya Much” to be released January 4th ( from All That Scraps).

I used Copics to color the birds.  (I’m still working on my shading but I’m having fun trying!)

Not really much to say about how I did anything…it’s pretty simple.  Tomorrow I hope to have a sample for you from C.C. Designs other new release, “Love Ya Lots.”

Have a great day!  Thanks so much for looking!  And stay warm (it is *freezing* here…and so windy…brrrr)!

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink white   Patterned Paper:  Pebbles, Inc. My Baby Girl “Flower,” “Stripe” and “Dot”   Stamps:  C.C. Designs “Love Ya Much”   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic markers (E93, RV21, YR04, E57, C1), mat pack/needle, Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write marker, white organdy, dimensionals.  Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.

Hi!!  I don’t know about you all, but I’m looking forward to getting back into a “normal” routine.  I had a great holiday break (did you?), but it’s time to get back to business, so to speak. 

On Friday, January 4th, C.C. Designs will release two more Little Bit Kits (available from All That Scraps).  For this card I used the “Love Ya Much” set.  And you all know how much I *love* Lucky! 

Here I used a square from Basic Grey’s “Chipboard Elements,” covering it with a coordinating solid-colored “patterned paper” and filing the edges with Basic Grey’s Precision File Set.  If you don’t have one of those sets and you like chipboard, it’s a must have.

I stamped Lucky twice, coloring and cutting off his head (that sounds bad) then popping it up on dimensionals.

I’ll have more new release samples over the next few days…more C.C. Designs…more My Favorite Things…and soon new Lizzie Anne Designs as well.  (It’s a busy month!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink white   Patterned Paper:  We R Memory Keepers Boho Chic “Sweetened Spice,” “Luscious Lace” and “Fancy Free”   Stamps:  C.C. Designs “Love Ya Much”   Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black   Accessories:  Copic Markers (E31, E57), Karen Foster thumbtack brads, Making Memories eyelets, Basic Grey Chipboard Elements.  Finished card size:  5” x 5”.

Happy New Year, everyone!!!  I hope your New Year’s Eve was safe and fun and that your new year is happy and healthy!! 

 I’ll have something for you to see very soon!  (I just took a tiny little break.)