Archives for January 2021

“We’re On A Roll” Challenge

January 22, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Cute donut card for the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with a “We’re On a Roll” theme.

Well, hi!

Once again I find myself with only enough time to make one challenge into the latest Simon Says Stamp card challenge. I had seven or eight ideas sketched out, but alas, there are other things that need my attention in life. So, here you go.

The basic idea for this challenge is wheels, circles, roundy things, etc. You get the idea.

My card is based on an idea I had to try to make a large donut using my circle die set. It was an experiment, but I think it went well. In fact, I’m planning on making a video for my YouTube channel on how to do it.

Yes, you could probably find a die set for this and it would likely be faster. But here’s the thing….I don’t have the budget currently to be buying all the dies! And I need to make the most of the ones I do have. I know I’m not alone here.

Ever get frustrated when you see someone making a cute card and think, “Well, yeah, of course….when you have that die set!”

Well, that was kind of the inspiration for this. How to get the look I’m imagining in my brain but without the specialty dies.

Since I’ll be doing a video, I won’t go into too much detail on how to do it here. It’ll be easier to understand in the video. My Copic markers, though, came in clutch here and helped achieve the look for the “We’re On A Roll” Challenge. Simple but fun.

So be on the lookout…mmm…probably next week! Until then, here’s a recent post and video I did.

Until then, y’all take care!

“Shake It Up” Challenge

January 15, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

One shaker card for the Simon Says Stamp “Shake It Up” Challenge

Well, hi! Welcome to a short challenge post ‘cuz I got some other stuff to work on this week….custom client order!

But, I do love a good shaker challenge so I had to make at least one for the “Shake It Up” Challenge. And I LOVE the way this one turned out.

To create the background I used a stencil from Hero Arts and ink blended with yellow, orange, and deep pink. I used a Hero Arts stamp set to create the center sentiment as well as the “you are awesome” on the card border. The stars are also from that set.

The shaker elements? Well, I’ve collected those from Walmart. Yes, Walmart! I like to check their craft supplies every so often to see what generic types of supplies I can find there. Sequins, glitter, and other such elements are usually there and it’s a surprisingly good selection.

I love the vibe that these warm colors creates. It’s no wonder, then, that I often use those colors and do sunrise/sunset scenes. It’s really my favorite color combo. And I think it’s perfect for this “Shake It Up” Challenge.

Have you ever made a shaker card? You can see a video where I put together my first shaker card (on this blog anyway) here.

4 Simple Valentine Card Designs

January 13, 2021 Handcrafted Cards

Watch the video to see four simple Valentine card designs you can do with minimal supplies.

Well, hi! Guess who’s back making YouTube videos? Yay, me!

Really though, after a holiday break I’m having a bit of a hard time getting back into routine. So this week I’m bribing myself with little rewards each day. Hopefully this gets my butt back in full swing. It’s been a while since my last video.

Here’s the end result of one of those bribes: my video showing four simple Valentine card ideas. These designs require minimal supplies and come together fairly quickly too. You’re sure to find a design that appeals to you.

My cousin recently asked me how to get started in card making and I’ve been thinking about that a lot. What kinds of cards could be made if you only had a few supplies? Not everyone will have everything in this video, but hopefully there’s a card design that will accommodate what you do have.

Please watch, and comment to let me know which of these four simple valentine card designs is your favorite! Also, if you have a request for techniques to learn or projects you’d like to see, please let me know.

Also, if you are new to card making and are interested in seeing more videos and ideas for beginners, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m always looking for new video content ideas. And I’m playing around with the idea of making some instructional videos for those just starting out.

Check out my other YouTube videos here.

Y’all take care!

“Something New” Challenge

January 12, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Well, hi! And welcome to the entries for the most recent Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge theme of “Something New.”

Fortunately, I have a good amount of “something new” items to choose from as Christmas and my birthday are pretty close on the calendar. I’ve been able to receive and hand pick a few juicy items!

So without further ado, here are my four entries into this “Something New” Challenge. Let’s go!

Sunshine

While it wasn’t a Christmas or birthday gift, it is nonetheless new. What am I talking about? The December Hero Arts kit items used to make this sunshine card. I just barely blogged about this card, so if you’d like to read up on it, you can check it out here.

I love how this card turned out. Very simple and clean and features one of my very favorite subjects to create……SKIES!!!

Snowflakes

Another recent kit treasure is from Simon Says Stamp. It’s the January card kit of the month and it’s sold out! No wonder, as it’s pretty awesome.

It came with all sorts of juicy stuff, as you can see below.

For this card I used some of the stamps from the stamp set as well as the snowflake die. I stamped some of the snowflakes with Versamark ink and used white sparkle embossing powder (I believe from Hero Arts) to finish them off.

The background is made using ink blending brushes and blue, pink, and purple ink. To give the background a mottled appearance I sprayed it with a fine water mist. But that didn’t give me quite enough texture. So I sprayed it with Distress Resist Spray and let that dry. I then reapplied some of the ink blending to intensify the color and contrast. Love it.

To give it some interest, I cut up the card and mounted it onto metallic silver paper. The sentiment and the die cut snowflake have that same paper. Kind of fun.

Hello Floral I

My daughter gave me some lovely patterned paper for my birthday the other day, along with some other paper crafting goodies! (Thanks, Audrey!) So I thought for my “Something New” Challenge I could use that paper.

The floral pack of paper is just gorgeous and also has a texture to it. I love black and floral, so I paired some black cardstock with this black and pink floral. Wanting to do something a little different, I decided to use some greenery die cuts and use the negative space left behind as the design.

The “hello” is die cut from the center and then filled back in with a white cardstock die cut. To give it some shimmer, I used my Spectrum Noir glitter brush both on the greeting and on the negative space die cuts.

To finish off the card, I used white and black glitter tapes to create a border around the card. Paired with a lovely pink envelope I think it makes a charming card.

Hello Floral II

After all that die cutting, I didn’t want to waste what came off the above card. So I decided to use those “scraps” to make another card. A sister card to the one above.

After playing around with it for a while, I decided to use that white glitter tape to make horizontal stripes on the card. That scalloped circle makes a nice backdrop for the sentiment from the first card. I mounted that with foam tape so it sits above the paper.

The greenery die cuts from the first card are glued and tucked under that circle. Also charming.

And fast. I love using scraps from one card to make another. It’s a great tip!

Okay, there you have it. Four entries this time for the “Something New” Challenge. And now I’m off to work on a custom client order. I don’t do those often. You can see what premade cards I have for sale in my Etsy shop.

Y’all take care!

“New/Unused Product” Challenge

January 8, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Well, hi! Welcome to a perfectly timed challenge entry for the new/unused product theme from this Monday’s Simon Says Stamp challenge.

Why is it perfectly timed? Not only do I get to use a Christmas present for today’s card; I also get to use my Hero Arts kit from December. I took a stamping break but I keep thinking about this awesome kit and am so excited to put it to good use today!

The circle/cloud die from the set is cut from an A2 white side-folding card. I also die cut another out of scrap but added a plain circle die to the outer edge so I could glue it on top. The set comes with a single cloud die that I cut twice from white cardstock and glued to the inner scene.

That inner scene is created using the sun and rays stamps from the set. The sky is created with an ink blending brush to create the gradation of color in the sunrise. I added some sparkle I used my new Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen for the sun and the rays. Hard to see in the pic, but it’s there and adds a really nice touch.

The sentiment is from the stamp set and is stamped on a piece of scrap cardstock and adhered with foam tape to the front of the card.

It’s simple but I think it’s stunning!

Only one for this time. I’m still gearing back up after the holidays. To see some of my other challenge projects, visit this link.

Y’all take care!

“Sparkle & Shine” Challenge

January 5, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Here are a few entries into the Simon Says Stamp “Sparkle & Shine” Challenge.

Well, hi! It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I took a much needed break and now I’m back in the swing of things and ready to start doing challenges again.

Today, I have a few entries into the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Never Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle

How fitting!

This striking card is made by using double stick tape and glitter. I just arranged the tape in vertical lines, starting with the wider tape. Then I poured glitter over the entire card. It sticks to the tape! After that, I just repeated the same steps using the narrower tape and a different glitter color.

The sentiment was made in Canva and printed out onto cardstock. I then trimmed the top and bottom of the cut out sentiment with more tape and glitter and attached it to the card.

Easy! And super sparkly. Looks very New Years-y to me too!

Birthday Girl

Although this card is fairly simple in design, I think the impact is high! I love the combination of two papers that have different patterns but the exact same tone on tone colors. The metallic gold paper and Motherlode embossing powder for the sentiment really make this card sparkle and shine!

Out of This World

For Christmas I received a fun Lawn Fawn stamp and die set from one of my kids. And I’m so excited to be able to use it now!

I stamped some images from the set onto white cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers. Once they were done, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

The background for the images was made using watercolors. It took a while to build up the color, but it was so fun to do! I’d like to keep working on this technique to really get it down. But I’m happy with this first attempt at a watercolor galaxy type background. Once the paint was all dry I splattered the surface with both white goache and a metallic gold paint to get that….sparkle and shine!

Party Animal

This card is for my daughter’s 25th birthday. I’ve been itching to use this cute birthday stamp set from My Favorite Things since I bought it a few weeks ago. I love the simple lines of the images. Clean. Fun.

I stamped three of the scenes from the set onto cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers, keeping the color palette fairly small. I wanted the overall effect to be more subtle since I used a metallic gold accented paper background. But I did trim out each scene in gold metallic tape.

So, there you go. Four entries all with some kind of sparkle, shine, or both! Fun challenge!

Stay tuned for further posts and challenge entries! To see my last challenge post you can go here.

Y’all take care, and have a Happy New Year!