stamping Archives - Cricketleg Creative

Holiday Ice Skates Card

November 5, 2020 Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

Lovely ice skates bordered by snowy greenery for a beautiful holiday card!

My favorite cards to make are holiday cards, specifically Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. But my all-time favorite is Christmas. I’ve loved Christmas since I was a small child! Creating a whole mood with a Christmas card is just so satisfying!

When I thought up the design for this card, I got so excited to make it! I’m not an ice skater, but I love ice skating. In fact, one of my very favorite Christmas movies, The Bishop’s Wife, features an ice skating scene that I just adore! (I just tried to find a link to that scene, but no luck…sorry.)

Anyway, I love the look of ice skates hanging with greenery. So cozy and vintage feeling. So I was very excited to shoot a video featuring that on this card. Other than the tiny laces and berries, everything went together very quickly.

Another beautiful look for this card would be to switch the card base to kraft paper and the ice skates to white cardstock. That would be beautiful and the snowy splatter would show up even more. Hmmm….I think I have something to go do right now.

Enjoy the video, and please leave me a comment and let me know your favorite Christmas movie!

Check out some of my other Christmas cards here and here.

Y’all take care!

“Movie Inspiration” Challenge

October 30, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge that almost didn’t happen. I didn’t think I could make “Movie Inspiration” work….

Well, hi!

Each Monday and Wednesday I eagerly check the Simon Says Stamp blogs to see what our newest challenge will be, and then hunker down to plan. In fact, planning/executing/shooting/blogging for these challenges are automatically built into my planner each week.

This week, however, the “Movie Inspiration” challenge them didn’t, well, inspire me.

I mean, sure, it sounded fun. But I immediately assumed that I wouldn’t have any suitable stamps to create for this challenge. Because I use these challenges as fodder for blog posts, I was naturally disappointed. “Guess I won’t have a blog post for this one,” I lamented.

Then one night, as I was finishing up all my tasks from my planner, I noticed I just had one more: plan SSSMC projects for this week.

I was so tired and wanted to just stop. But I’ve been trying hard lately to really honor commitments to myself! So I figured, hey, I can just look around my stamps and see if anything happens.

Wow!

So many ideas came to me! I quickly wrote them down and went to bed. As I lay there trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep, each card planned itself in detail in my mind and I found myself feeling impatient for morning to come so I could make them!

What I’ve realized is that, while I do enjoy challenges that are more in my wheelhouse, the challenges that are really satisfying are the ones that really challenge my creativity! Coming up with something original and then bringing it to pass? So fulfilling!

So here they are. My Movie Inspiration Challenge entries….I love them all, but I’ll list them in order from least to most favorite.

Movie: Beaches

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, Beaches. But I remember vividly the strong friendship between the main characters. I loved the parts that showed them in their youth.

And this stamp from Delafield Stamp Company (no longer in business) reminded me so much of those two young girls at the beach. I’ve had this stamp for almost 30 years. Wait, what? Sigh. Yes, it’s been that long.

I stamped them first, masked them, and used ink blending tools to create the sand dunes, sea, and sky. A Printworks sand fence stamp and Happy Stamper sea oats stamp complete the scene. (I think both of those companies are also not in business anymore.)

I colored the girls with my Ohuhu markers, which I also used to add some shading to the sand. A white gel pen was used to make the waves.

The quote is just a quote on friendship that I thought fit the mood. This was printed out from my computer using Canva.

Movie: The Water Horse

I admit for this one that I’ve only seen that movie once. But I’ve had this InkaDinkaDoo stamp trio of the Loch Ness Monster for…..okay, can I just say a long time and not say the years? It’s a little depressing. 😉

Anyway, my point is that I don’t know that I have ever used these stamps and I really wanted to. The three stamps are head, hump, and tail. I stamped the hump multiple times to make her longer.

So I figured I’d make a night scene with my monster gliding along peacefully. I used some moon/cloud stamps from an old Stampin’ Up! Halloween set (that I also used in one of the entries here). Everything else is Ohuhu markers.

Unfortunately, you can’t see the glitter on all Nessie’s spikes, but it’s there!

The sentiment was printed off from my computer using Canva.

Movie: Mona Lisa Smile

Interestingly, the stamp that inspired this movie choice only got a cameo role in my next card. From Posh Impressions (also out of business….sheesh!…I’m showing my age here) the blank easel stamp sparked an idea in my head.

“Artwork…what movie was it where they all painted a picture based on the same famous work….Mona Lisa Smile!”

Yes, so I found some children’s coloring pages online of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings. I shrunk them down and printed them off onto cardstock, much like you would for a digital stamp.

I chose four images that were each a unique interpretation of the original. Then I chose four media to use, one on each: markers, watercolor, colored pencil, chalks.

Though the sentiment is not a movie quote, I think it fits nicely. Printed from my computer using Canva.

Movie (star): Lucille Ball

No, I did not pick and actual movie for this one. But I have a couple of Lucy stamps and I never use them! (My other one is from “The Chocolate Factory” episode of I Love Lucy….love that show!)

But hey, Lucille Ball was a MOVIE star, so that counts right?

(correct answer = yes)

I wanted to use one stamp, lots of bright color, and a quote from the lady herself!

I think it turned out fun. AND it’s a quick card to make.

Movie: Dances With Wolves

Yes, my favorite entry, finally!!

It wasn’t my favorite idea. I had a teepee stamp from PSX (guess what? out of business) and really wanted a way to use it.

Side Note: why do I have so many stamps I’ve never used that are kind of random? Whenever we’d go to visit my husband’s family in California I would always head to the rubber stamp stores in the area. It was option overwhelm and I would just pick stamps I thought looked cool. I got home, though, and could never figure out how to make them work!

I do love the movie, Dances With Wolves, though. My husband and I saw it as newlyweds. Great times!

I stamped the teepee, masked it, and stamped again. The rest of the card is all marker, except for some grass texture stamps.

My favorite part of the card is the sky. I googled different sunset pictures to find the one I wanted. And then I did my best to pick the right colors. The blend is so much prettier in person.

As soon as I picked this movie for one of my entries, I knew exactly what the sentiment would be. That line, spoken by the character Wind in His Hair, always gives me chills and makes my eyes get all prickly with tears. Printed off from my computer using Canva!

Okay, folks. That’s another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge in the books! So curious to me that it went from being my least favorite theme to my absolute favorite so far. It really sparked my creativity!

See you next time. Y’all take care!

Winter Camper Slimline Card

October 26, 2020 Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

This Winter Camper Slimline Card will make you a happy camper!

Well, hi!

I’ve only recently begun experimenting with slimline cards. If you don’t know what slimline cards are, they are simply cards that will fit into a legal size envelope. That’s the basic shape.

You can make them horizontal/landscape orientation, like the one above. Or you can make a really tall card by orienting it vertically/portrait.

One of the things I love about slimline cards is the freedom it can give you! I have alphabet dies, for example, that I love but I can only fit four letters across a landscape A2 sized card. With a slimline card, I have a lot more word options.

With my Winter Camper Slimline Card, I had the space to make a nice, wide scene. No crowding the images! Had I done an A2 sized card, I likely would have left out the snowman entirely. I really wanted space in this snow scene.

My experiment with making glowing Christmas lights worked out pretty well, I think. They look glow-y to me anyway!

Although I could stand to do more in the way of shadow and light, I’m learning! And the practicing has been really fun. You can see some earlier examples of me working on night skies here and here.

So check out the whole video below! I hope you enjoy it!

Y’all take care!

Matching Card & Envelope Challenge

October 21, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

My examples for the Simon Says Stamp Matching Card & Envelope Challenge

Well, hi!

Simon Says Stamp runs two weekly challenges. One is on Monday. The other on Wednesday. I’m going to try to make examples for those and post them here on the blog. You can link up to five entries for each challenge, and I think that’s a great way to get creative and have some fun! Plus, winning a $25 gift card is a pretty sweet incentive.

Last Wednesday’s challenge was to make cards with matching envelopes! Since I needed to add some inventory to my Etsy shop anyway, I figured this fit my needs pretty well!

My recent post on the We Go Together Wheel Card qualifies for the challenge as well. You can go read about it here. Shoot, I guess that makes six cards! Someone is gonna get left out! Oh well.

All these cards, minus the We Go Together card and the Bunny Love card, are currently in my Etsy shop!

Bunny Love

The first card to show you is a simple one that uses some…well…some cheap stamps I found on Amazon (see note below). The bunnies are a cute little grouping and I love doing simple shading above and below just to give a hint of a scene. A coordinating bunny stamped on the envelope flap completes the challenge! The inside sentiment says, “Somebunny loves you.”

(Side note: I don’t recommend the off-brand photopolymer stamps and dies on Amazon because they are not great quality. It was an experiment purchasing a few sets…an experiment I won’t repeat. I can use these stamps, but they have ZERO stick, so they won’t stick on their own to a block or stamp tool. The dies are not super accurate either.)

Typewriter Hi

The second card to share with you is this simple but very clean Typewriter “Hi” card. I worried when coloring this image that it would be boring, but I have to say that I love the open white space around the typewriter. And the way the black cardstock behind it sets it off against the patterned letter paper. The stamps are from Stampin’ Up!…all from the same set.

It makes a nice, clean lines card.

Floral Quote

Next I’ll share this more inspirational card. One of my sisters recently requested that I stock my Etsy shop with some cards she could send people at church. So I thought I’d take a spin in that direction.

To make this encouragement quote card, I used a very intricate die from Tim Holtz. It was a bit time-consuming to punch out all the negative space, and a challenge to glue down. But I really like the effect of the white on blue cardstock. I die cut some leaves and used sponge daubers to add some shading with a dark green ink pad. The quote is just printed onto cardstock from my computer.

I used the green cardstock that I die cut the leaves from as a stencil for making the coordinating envelope back. I used the sponge dauber and that same dark green ink pad to lightly swirl over the stencil.

I’m looking forward to making more of these, incorporating quotes from spiritual leaders as well as scriptures.

Santa and Reindeer

I saved my favorite two for last. I love the bright sky behind this Santa and reindeer card. I’ve really been enjoying using my alcohol markers to work with blending color. While I’m still learning, I find that each time I work with the markers, I’m willing to be a little more daring and use more and more contrast. I just signed up to take the Copic Jumpstart class from Sandy Allnock’s Art Classes site, and can’t wait to level up my skills with all her amazing classes!

The stamps for this card are from Stampin’ Up!.

Polar Night

Night scenes seem to have become a favorite for me with my markers. This night time polar bear scene was fun to create. When I look at it, I totally get the cold, snowy mood going! Simple masking for the bear helped created some depth in the scene. And using a white gel pen for snow in the air and on the trees really makes the whole thing pop!

The Matching Card and Envelope Challenge was fun to do and helped me get some inventory into my shop!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you got some card inspiration. I’d love to hear your comments on your own favorite ways to coordinate your envelopes with your cards! Or maybe you can do your own Matching Card & Envelope Challenge.

Y’all take care!