Friday, March 11, 2011

La La Land: Marci Ballerina girl's birthday card + some photos of my cat


Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)  Before I forget to mention it, if you have emailed me in the past 2 weeks and I haven't got back to you, it's because I have been having some email issues - hopefully, I can figure out what the problem is and get back to you soon.  In the meantime, if you have any queries, you could always just leave a comment on my Blog and I will get back to you that way.  Uggh - I have had my fill of computer issues this year - great time-wasters!! :-(

I made another girl's birthday card using my sweet La La Land - Marci Ballerina stamp and used one of my favourite "go to" layouts.  I have a little folder of my favorite layouts which is great when I am really busy and can't think of what to do.  And it's amazing how different a card can look just by changing the border punching or adding an oval sentiment panel instead of a circle.   I'd love to know what your favourite "go to" layouts are - drop me a comment below with a link so I can have a peek :-)

Anyway, onto the card deets....... I coloured Marci with pencils and OMS, lightly chalked around her with blue chalk.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina to the hem and roses on the dress plus the rose in Marci's hair, then added some Bliss pearls to the hair as well.

The roses designer paper is digital by Bearly Mine Designs (UK) from the set BM Floral Fantasy.  And the plaid is my own design which I made on Gimp (free photo editing program) as I didn't have any other dp's that matched the roses dp, so had a good old play in Gimp and tried adding different effects/styles till I was happy.  It was such a buzz to make something myself and gradually, I am getting to know how to use Gimp - it is a very steep learning curve though!!  Most of my photo editing is done with Google Picasa which is very simple and user-friendly.

I chose the satin ribbon specifically to match the ribbons on Marci's ballet shoes and added it in 2 separate elements.  Did you notice that the ribbon has been tied in a double-bow?  I made the double-bow with my Bow Easy which I have never done before, but I saw it on someone's blog and thought it looked really cool!  Super-easy!  I glued a paper rose to the bow centre with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.

The sentiment circle was diecut using my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder Lacey Circle Nestabilities which is the first time I have used these Nesties - I love how lacey they are.  Both the image and sentiment panel are up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

The tiny gems on the two flower centres on the sentiment panel started life as pale pink gems - but I coloured them with a Bic Mark-It Peach Parfait marker to match the peach cardstock.  I have been following a thread on a Splitcoaststampers Forum about "Ways to make do instead of buying new" and someone posted that you can colour gems/pearls with Bic Mark-Its to change their colour (some people use Copics but I don't have any) so I tried it and was really pleased with the results.  On another card which I will post next week, I changed the white pearls that I had to blue - so I didn't need to go out and buy blue pearls!   The best thing was that I bought the Bic Mark-Its at my local supermarket (Woolworths/Safeway) and they weren't expensive!  Yay!  Here is a little close-up of them:



The bottom borders were punched with a Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch and I added a Scor-Pal line just about the medium teal cardstock just to "finish" the edge.

Challenges:

I am popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC274 of Cath Kidston.  I am a big fan of Cath Kidston as I LOVE her designs and love all the fabrics that she uses.  I chose this bag as the inspiration behind my colour combo.

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  La La Land 'Marci Ballerina', Sentiment from Lili of the Valley 'For you' circular sentiments set S213

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  Bearly Mine Designs - Digital - BM Floral Fantasy 18, plaid - my own digital design

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Lacey Circle Nestabilities, Scor-Pal, satin ribbon, Bow Easy, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps, 15mm paper rose - Enthaily Wholesale - scroll down for the 15mm roses, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, pink gems, Peach Parfait Bic Mark-It texta, 1mm mounts, Kaiser pearls SB718 Bliss, Cardstock:  peach, medium teal, KW Doggett "Knight" white


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Before I go, I thought I would share some photos of our cat Ruby playing with a new toy/plaything that I bought her.  It was nice to see her actually play with something I bought specifically for her instead of batting my DD's hair scrunchies around the house.  Ruby is a very affectionate and extremely playful cat - more like a dog I think - and fetches and retrieves just like a dog - and she loves to chew things - especially pom-poms and pipe cleaners!!  If she wants you to play with her, she will pick up something with her mouth and jump on your knee, drop the object, then hop down onto the floor and miaow at you to get you to throw it.  So, without further, adieu, here are the photos:




And, of course, once you are finished playing, there is only one thing to do.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!


Thanks again for stopping by!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Jocelyn


9 comments:

ShazInOzCardsCalligraphy said...

ah now I spy some watermarks in action there Jobear as well as Ruby the cat!! well done! you followed your clever instructions!!
I have had mine on every post since you sorted me out!! ta dear sis!
and me? still not grand getting there..dad's day went well though and I was okay just for that part so your prayers were answered! thank YOU! I still pinch myself that he was actually there never thought it would happen!
Now to the card.. looking at this gorgeous card I thought how bad you have made me cos
1. - Donna's Bearly mine papers? have- tick.
2.border punch? have - tick!
3.LOTV greeting? - have tick!
and why are these all 2011 buys? cos of YOU!
thanks and in return will say one of my fav. places for layouts is verves blog. I save some of their into word doc files to pull out when hair pulling.. that and pray but think you would know that..
Here a link which has some good ones on it but they are all through the blog one day may get some things keep promising..:
http://vervestamps.blogspot.com/2011/02/verve-prizes-up-for-grabs.html
love Shaz in Oz.x (who should be in bed!)

Merry said...

Great photos of your cat having fun. Thanks for the wonderful tip on the colouring of the pearls and gems...I shall give that a try. Terrific card

Anonymous said...

this is so pretty, jocelyn! love the layout; i don't have a favourite one - i'm still testing them out. :)

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Me back again Jobear.. thanks so much or all your tips etc..and also the beautiful comments that came with it.. they do lift up my hear.
I have linked that post of Dina's to my sidebar as dont want to lose it again! a really good guide on pencils and told her so..
Secondly I wondered if you ever thought of having a hotmail or like account for your blog so that you wont have issues like you have been having you could just change it on your blog now and then always have online access irrespective of the dramas of Outlook etc..you make me glad I did not go down that path. i use hotmail for my blogger.
take care and God bless,
Shaz.x

Lyn S said...

This stamp is so cute and you've coloured her beautifully Jocelyn! A really pretty card!

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Me again Jobear.. wow when your email is back up again can email you again.. met up with Trish today at my place!! she came over and I found out she is with Fat cats DT and Scrapmatts she said she knows of you so hi... small world isn't it??
Pray email up soon,
love Shaz.x

Trish said...

Gorgeous card Jocelyn(as always),your cat looks so cute.I met Chaz today...what a lovly lady she is,
Cheers Trish

hoptownracer1 said...

Thank you for sharing the tip you learned about coloring the gems and pearls! That will really come in handy. Love your card!
And your kitty is so adorable! Please give her an extra pet for letting you share her pics with us!!! :)

UPrinting Coupon Code said...

The stamp is really awesome. Especially the card. Thanks for sharing some tips. Yah I agree with hop the kitty is so cute.

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