Penny Black: You are the Bestest - birthday card

Hi blogging friends :-)

After having had a very busy week this week, I finally was able to turn one of my watercoloured images into a card.  This card will be going to my SIL for her birthday next week:

In case you missed by last post, I have been learning how to use watercolour pencils and really loving it and found it very relaxing to just sit and colour while I watched TV.  I saw some videos by Bob Davies on You-Tube on how to use watercolour pencils and found his tutorials very helpful.  He has videos of other mediums too eg: acrylics and oil painting etc.  Now that I have finally worked out how to embed a You-Tube video on my Blog, you can find Part 1 of his Watercolour pencil tutorials here:

I used Faber-Castell watercolour pencils which I bought from Riot Art and Craft about 6 months ago, and they weren't expensive, yet their colours are beautiful and vibrant.  They are my new favourite toy LOL!!!

There really isn't a whole lot to explain about my card.  The bottom panel was run through my Cuttlebug using my Budding Vine embossing folder (which is now largely hidden by the ribbon!) - oh well!  I attached the beautiful silk ribbon in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I made a button using my designer paper and Epiphany Button Studio tool and sewed this to the centre of the bow.  And the main image panel is up on mounts.

Here is a close-up photo of the image and the colours look more true-to-life in this close-up - they are little washed-out in the first photo:

Challenges:

The 2nd Challenge is the Splitcoaststampers - Free for All Friday F4A56 Challenge of "How does your Garden grow?" - what makes you think of a garden and happy springtime?  I have lots of daffodils in my garden that start flowering very early in spring and they always seem to chase away my winter blues.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black "You're the Bestest" 40-015, Sentiment by Penny Black from "In the Garden" 30-044 clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer paper:  Fancy Pants Pure Item #823 (from 2007) - retired

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Budding Vine embossing folder - Craft Concepts, Spellbinder Labels 1 Nestabilities, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), Pearls - BR207 Yellow - Basics by Kaisercraft, 14mm Epiphany Button Studio Tool and 14mm button blank, Bow Easy, 1" - 2.5cm wide Burgundy silk ribbon, Faber-Castell Watercolour pencils (set of 48), small round paint-brush, 225gsm Watercolour paper, Cardstock:  light mustard, rusty burgundy

Punches:  Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop

La La Land: Marci Ballerina Easel card

Hello Blogging friends! 

I've been a busy little bee these past few days.  Over the weekend, I tidied up my Craft Room because I was working in a smaller and smaller space on my desk and had lost 2 pairs of 8 inch scissors over the past few weeks and somehow the floor had disappeared and I was tripping over things!  And I was getting grumpy about it.  Can't create anything when you are grumpy, can you LOL?!!

So once that was done, I was ready to have a play with my new La La Land Marci Ballerina stamp, and today I was finally able to photograph my card as it has been raining here where I live over the past few days - very dull indeed for the end of what was supposed to be summer!  The sun was going in and out like a yo-yo today which made photography challenging to say the least! 

Isn't Marci Ballerina sweet?  So perfect for a little girl's birthday!   She looks so graceful - unlike my dancing which is unco-ordinated and clunky (makes Elaine's dancing from Seinfeld look awesome in comparison - if you are a Seinfeld fan like me, you will know just what I mean ROFL!!).   Anyway, I am digressing.......

I coloured sweet Marci with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, then lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina to the rose in her hair, the roses on the top of her tu-tu and around the bottom hem.  I added some pink gemstones to her hair - here is a little close-up:

The pink cardstock/plaid panel was punched using my Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop punch, and I added a Scor-Pal line above the border just to "finish" the edge.  I was finally able to get my hot little hands on some pink seam binding/ribbon (all the way from The Ribbon Girl in the UK) - oh, I love this stuff and it was so beautiful to work with.  I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I glued a rose to the centre using Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.

The sentiment on the card front was popped up on mounts (dimensionals) and I added some tiny pink glitter cardstock hearts which were punched using my trusty EK Success Arrows border punch (they are leftover punchies).    Here is a closer photo of just the card front so you can see a bit more detail:

All the designer papers on the card - the floral plus the plaid - are digital from Bearly Mine Designs in the UK.

Here is a photo of just the card bottom:

I used my Cuttlebug and one of the dies from my Vintage Die set to do the fancy glitter cardstock corners on the card front and bottom.  To hold the top part of the card in place, I used my Epiphany Studio Button Tool to make some buttons with the same pink glitter cardstock (technically the colour name is Canna) then added 2mm mounts underneath the buttons so they would have a bit more height and hold the card front easily.  I did sew the holes in the buttons with pink sewing thread - I just like them to have some thread in them rather than leaving them as is.    The sentiment on this bottom panel was also popped up on mounts (dimensionals).

If you need a tutorial to make an Easel Card, please follow this link to one done by Splitcoaststampers on You Tube. 

Challenges:

I am popping this card into the The ABC Challenge of "P is for pink", as well as the Splitcoaststampers Try a new Technique Challenge TLC242 of "Easel Card".

Thanks for stopping by!  I have links in my Card Recipe below for many of the products used in the making of my card.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  La La Land Marci Ballerina, Sentiment #1 - from Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set, Sentiment #2 - My Memories MMSWHB 141502 (from Riot Art and Craft)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  Best Creations Canna (pink) glitter cardstock GCS002, Bearly Mine Designs digital - BM Flower Delight 027 (roses) and BM Just Plaid 20

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Vintage die set, Spellbinder Oval + Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Scor-Pal, Epiphany button maker tool 20mm + Epiphany blank button, pink sewing thread, pink seam binding - The Ribbon Girl UK, Bow Easy, mounts (dimensionals), Kindyglitz Crystalina, pink gems, blue chalk, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps, pink roses, Cardstock:  KW Doggett Knight white, pale pink

Punches:  Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop edge, EK Success Arrows border

Penny Black: For you - soooo happy it's your birthday!

Hello Blogging friends!  

There are alot of masculine birthdays in my extended family over the next few months, so I thought I would try and get ahead and make a few.  As I still had this little Penny Black dog on my desk from my card the other day, I thought I would ink him up again - he is just so sweet :-)  You must be getting tired of him LOL.......

I stamped him with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and heat-set the image with my heat-gun, then coloured him with my usual pencils and OMS.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the present, then cut little pieces of Best Creations Wine Red glitter cardstock and glued it to this present image and added some fine blue glitter to the bow/ribbon.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk and drew in some little lines around his tail to make him look soooo happy.

For the sentiment panel, I diecut some blue cardstock with a Star Nestie, then to make the white cardstock fit nicely inside the blue star and not have too-big-a-border, I used the same Star Nestie and drew a line inside it (like using a stencil) then hand-cut it.  I wish Spellbinder would make Star Nesties with the in-between sizes like they do for Circle/Square etc. Nesties - {sigh}- it would be so handy!  To hide my slightly uneven hand-cutting, I ran my blue ink pad around the white cardstock.   I used my Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch to punch tiny stars from the same Wine Red glitter cardstock (yes, really!).  When you use this punch, the little leftover punchies are snowflakes AND very cute, tiny little stars.  I often use my border/edge punches for the leftover punchies - is much cheaper than buying embellishments.  I popped this panel up on mounts (dimensionals).

Here is a little close-up of the glitteriness:

The Kraft cardstock was embossed using my Cuttlebug and Crafts Too Stars embossing folder.

The designer paper is digital by NitWit Collections.  I made a matching button using my 14mm Epiphany Button Tool with the same designer paper.  I really love this tool - it is just the handiest little thing!  I tied some brown/white twine through the button, then glued it to the blue ribbon.  Here is a close-up of the button:

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Free for All' F4A52 challenge of "Kinder Birthday" where you are to make a card for a special child in your life - and the other Challenges are:

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C75 Challenge of  'Use dies to create your card'

Before I go, I wanted to express my grief and sadness at the devastating earthquake which struck Christchurch in New Zealand at around 1 pm NZ time yesterday.   It is always hard to find the right words at a time like this - most words seem to sound so hollow or cliched, but to all my friends over the Tasman in New Zealand, please know that my thoughts are with you.

Thanks again for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - For you 3446E, Sentiment from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' PST-CDL Birthday Cuddles set

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Versacolor Sky Blue pigment

Designer paper:  Best Creations GCS023 Wine red glitter cardstock, NitWit Collections Kit "Bear Boys Too" ©2007 by Mary Fran of www.nitwitcollections.com

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Crafts Too Stars CTFD3002 embossing folder, Spellbinder Square and Star Nestabilities, Epiphany 14mm Button tool and 14mm blank button, blue grosgrain ribbon, brown/white twine, .5mm/1mm mounts, heat-gun, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Designer dries clear adhesive (for blue glitter), fine blue glitter, Derwent Coloursoft + Prismacolor pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps, Cardstock:  Kraft (by American Crafts), KW Doggett "Knight" white, sky blue

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch

Stampendous Star Lilies easel birthday card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I haven't made an Easel card for ages - I guess I kind-of forgot about them - but I really love them and they are fun and easy to make.  If you have never made one before, here is a link to a tutorial on You-Tube by Splitcoaststampers.  There are lots of variations which people have done since the Easel Cards first became popular last year, eg: circle ones, twisted ones - just do a search on You-Tube and you will find lots of them.

The beautiful Star Lilies were stamped onto Watercolour paper with Stazon Jet black ink and watercoloured using Jo-Sonya Acrylic paints.  I love this stamp because you can use it for so many different occasions - very versatile!  

The side border was diecut with my Cuttlebug and one of the border dies from my Nellie Snellen Border-2 MFD023 die set - these are not on Fat Cat's website at the moment but keep an eye out - I'm sure they will be soon.  I added a Scor-Pal line just next to the border on the pink cardstock (which made it easier to line up my embossing folder so I knew it was straight - you butt the folder up against this line), then ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Flowers embossing folder from my Sizzix Dots and Flowers set.  

I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements then attached the side panel to my cardstock base.  The bow itself was tied with my ever-reliable Bow Easy (I did add some Fray stop to the ribbon edges so they wouldn't fray).   I made a 14mm button using my Epiphany Button Studio tool and the designer paper, then sewed it to my bow with pink sewing thread.  Isn't it just so cool that you can match your buttons to your card using this button tool?!  Here is a close-up piccy of the button and here is link to the tutorial on You-Tube for using your Epiphany button tool:

The fancy corner on the RHS of the image was diecut using one of the dies from my Vintage die set.  The sentiment is from Lily of the Valley and I added two tiny pink gemstones to the flower centres on the sentiment, then popped the panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

For the bottom of the card, I again used my Epiphany Button Studio tool - except I used the larger size 20mm, to make the 3 buttons which hold the top panel in place.  I ran some pink sewing thread through the button holes just because I like my buttons to have thread through them (not sure why - I just like them with thread in them!).  I added 2mm mounts underneath the buttons so they would up a little higher to hold the top panel easily.  Here is a close-up view of them:

And here is a photo of the bottom panel without the top panel being held in place so you can see where the buttons go:

I decided to add a ribbon to this bottom panel as well and tied the bow with my Bow Easy.  I punched a heart from Best Creations Glitter cardstock using the largest heart from my Carl CP8 Heart duo punch and glued it to the centre of the bow:

And then just to "balance" the card, I added another fancy corner the same as the one on the top card panel.  I added a tiny pink gemstone to the 'i' on Birthday.  Oh, by the way, the designer paper is digital and is from Bearly Mine Designs - isn't just sooooo pretty!!  The size of the card square is 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" or 137mm.  And lastly, here is a side-view of the card:

Challenges

I'm popping this card into the following Challenge:   

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT309 of  'Happy Birthday'

Thanks again for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Star Lily CRP115 cling rubber, Sentiment (round) Lili of the Valley - For you - Happy Birthday set, Sentiment on bottom panel - Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set

Ink:  Stazon Jet black

Designer paper:  Bearly Mine designs - BM Flower Delight 027, Best Creations Glitter cardstock 'Canna'

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Flower from Dots and Flowers embossing folder set, Cuttlebug Vintage Dies, Spellbinder Nestabilities: Circle, Scalloped Circle, Oval, Scalloped Oval, pink gemstones - Basic Grey, 1mm/2mm mounts (dimensionals), Epiphany Button Studio Tools: 14mm + 20mm + matching buttons, Bow Easy, pink organza ribbon, Fray stop, Scor-Pal, Watercolour paper - 140lb/300gsm, Jo-Sonya acrylic paint, #2 round paint brush, Nellie Snellen MFD023 Border-2 die set, pink sewing thread, Cardstock: white (for card base), plum pink, pale pink

Punches:  Carl CP-8 heart duo

Stampendous Star Lilies + Nellie Snellen Multiframes and border dies!

Hello Blogging friends!  

I made a Mother's Day card using a fabulous sketch from Taylor Von Bruggen of Taylored Expressions (USA) from way back on June 11, 2010:  Sketch Challenge #117.  I am a big fan of Taylor's Sketches and a few days ago, downloaded her 2 x Sketch Books which are on the RHS of her Blog listed under the Baker's Dozen Design Team members.  It is a PDF file so you will need Acrobat Reader (free download from the Web) to open it.  I have a folder with Sketches which I love to look through when my mojo has gone missing or I just need some inspiration.  THANKS Taylor!!

Anyway, onto the card.  The stamp is a beautiful NEW stamp by Stampendous called "Star Lily" and was coloured with Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils + OMS.  It was really easy to colour as I just coloured the centres of each petal and left the white as highlight.  I added a tiny bit of pink here and there on the leaves and stems which was something I learnt from my Decorative Painting teacher many years ago.  If you add some of your flower colour to leaves, it really "lifts" the whole picture.  I didn't draw on the colour with my pencils: I just used my paper stump that already had the pink colour on it + OMS, and just "smudged" it on.  I lightly coloured around the image with blue chalk.

I decided to add some fun flock to the pollen on the stamens.  At first, I added some glitter, but it didn't look right, so I scraped it off and went with the flock instead.   Here is a close-up piccy:

The rosepink punched border was made with one of my NEW Nellie Snellen border dies - you get 2 in a pack.  Isn't it pretty?!!  You use the same sandwich in your Cuttlebug as for Spellbinder Nesties: A plate, C plate, die, cardstock, B plate.  I added a Scor-Pal line just above the punched border (bit hard to see in the photo).

I ran the designer paper through my Cuttlebug using my Jamara embossing folder just because I LOVE texture - but really any folder of a similar nature would work equally as well.  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

I added the tiny punched hearts which are the leftover punchies from using Arrows border punch (you know how much I love these little hearts LOL!!)

And here is the card inside:

I used the largest of my Nellen Snellen Doily Flower Multiframes to diecut the rosepink cardstock, and the matching plain circle (from the same dieset) to diecut the sentiment circle.  The sentiment is a retired Elzybells stamp.  And those tiny hearts just had to added!

Check out the button!  I used a new product called the Epiphany Button Studio which is for making your own buttons, ie: you buy the matching clear see-through buttons (in my case, I used 20mm buttons) and peel off the film to reveal a sticky side.  You slide your cardstock or designer paper into the Button maker, put the button on top (sticky-side down), then press the top of  the Button maker and it punches your cardstock/dp to the same size as the button, sticks the button to it and punches the centre holes.  Confused?  Well, here is a video from You Tube - I am a visual learner, so found this easier......  I tried to "embed" the video, but couldn't work it out, so I'll just have a link here for now and try to work it out later.  It really is a very easy product to use and great if you need a matching button, but don't have one in your stash.  

And there is even a flower button maker - this is next on my list of "must-haves".  The size is 20mm.

You-Tube video of how to use the Epiphany Button Studio button-maker

Here is a close-up of my button.  I used the same rosepink cardstock to make my button and threaded some pink and white twine through then popped it up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals):

Phew - that was a long post!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Star Lilies CRP115 foam-mounted cling rubber

              Happy Mother's Day sentiment - from Kaisercraft CS916 Occasions clear set of 3

              Beautiful Day - Elzybells 03-252 (retired)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  Daisy d's Sweet Baby Jane Collection - Sleepy time

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Nellie Snellen dies: Doily Flower MFD020 and Border 2 MFD023, Cuttlebug Jamara embossing folder, Scor-Pal, Bow Easy, grosgrain ribbon, pink/white twine, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, 2mm mounts, Kaisercolour chalk, Stampendous Fun Flock - Lemonade yellow, Designer Dries clear adhesive (for the flock), Epiphany Button Studio 20mm, Button Studio clear round buttons 20mm, cardstock: rosepink, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch, EK Success Arrows border punch