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

A photograph for you and a sneaky-peak of what I've been doing!

Hello and thanks for stopping by :-)

I haven't made any cards over the past few days as I have been very busy learning how to use watercolour pencils which I have never used before.  Sometimes we need to take time out to learn something new - keeps our mojo going.   We had a planned power outage here at home on Wednesday (some maintenance on the electricity lines) = no computer and too dark in my Craft room to do any cardmaking, so I sat outside on our decking enjoying the beautiful autumn weather and played with my watercolour pencils which I enjoyed immensely.  Hopefully this week I should be able to turn the images into some cards!  Here is a sneaky peak of 2 of the images (hope you noticed they are Penny Black stamps - what else LOL!):-

So, today I thought would show you a photo of a flower in my garden instead.  The pink hydrangea below has special meaning to me because about 18 months ago, my sister-in-law gave me a bunch of hydrangeas from her garden for my birthday.  After having enjoyed them in the vase for a few weeks, I popped them into a pot to see if I could strike some cuttings.  And they did!  So now I have this beautiful pot of flowers!  Isn't the colour beautiful?!!  I have not enhanced the image with photographic software - this is exactly how it looked surrounded by the gorgeous bright green leaves.

Thanks again for popping in.

Jocelyn

Penny Black: In a nutshell baby boy card and NEW Kingdom embossing folders

Hello blogging friends!  Thanks for stopping by :-) 

My blogging friend Sam from Ryemilan's Stamping and Scrapbooking had a little baby boy recently and this is the card that I made to welcome his arrival.  Sam has been a fantastic supporter since I started blogging and makes beautiful jewellery, takes spectacular photos and makes gorgeous cards.  I especially love Sam's punch art cards - I hope that you have a chance to have a peek at them!   

The hedgie is a Penny Black stamp (no surprise there LOL!) which I have had forever but is still as cute as a button.  I coloured the image with pencils and OMS,then added some glitter to the flower petals and lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk including some lemon and blue pearlescent chalks here and there (but you can't see it that much in the photo) - very pretty and shimmery IRL.

The embossing on the white cardstock was done with a new embossing folder by K Kingdom called "Flowers and Dots" which I had never heard of until recently, but the 2 that I have emboss beautifully and use the same sandwich as other embossing folders in my Cuttlebug.  

The lacey blue circle was diecut with my Cuttlebug using a Nellie Snellen Lacey Circle multiframe which I then ran through my Cuttlebug using my Textile embossing folder.  The lemon circle was diecut using a Spellbinder Circle Nestie.  The blue fancy edge was diecut using another Nellie Snellen die:  border-2 MFD023.

The tag was diecut using one of my Cuttlebug Tiny Tags dies then I ran my Sky Blue ink pad around it so it would stand out a little from the white background.  The yellow button on this tag is actually a brad which I bought some time ago from Target.  This sentiment is also by Penny Black and is up on .5mm mounts (dimensionals).

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

The butterflies were punched and I added a pearl to each of them - but the pearl on the blue butterfly started life as a white pearl which I coloured with a blue Bic Mark-It texta as I didn't have any blue pearls in my stash. 

Here is a pic of the card inside (I'm still keeping up my New Year's Resolutions of doing the insides of my cards before I move onto the next card - yay!!):-

To do the embossing on the card inside, I took a separate white square card and simply embossed both sides, then attached them to the inside with double-sided tape - I did have to trim the LHS a little so that the cardstock didn't cover the fancy blue edge.  I mimicked the front of the card to do the sentiment panel, then added another punched butterfly.  BTW, this sentiment is a retired stamp by Elzybells Art Stamps.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge of "Anything goes" - nice and easy.

Well, that's about it for now.  

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - In a nutshell 1754E, Sentiment from Penny Black - Bundle of Joy PB-30-043 clear stamp set, Sentiment #2 card inside - Elzybells (ret)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Versacolor sky blue pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set, K Kingdom Flowers and Dots embossing folder, Nellie Snellen border-2 MFD023 die, Nellie Snellen Multiframes Lacey circle, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Kaisercolour blue chalk, I-Kan-dee pearlescent chalks, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Derwent Coloursoft + Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, Kaisercraft BR207 pearl (yellow), Kaiser Snow white pearl, Bic Mark-it blue texta, Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A, blue sewing thread, Bow Easy, gingham ribbon, yellow button brad (Target Australia), .5mm mounts (dimensionals), Cardstock:  sky blue, lemon, KW Doggett "Knight" white

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

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge

******************************

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

Penny Black: It's your day - Kitty cat birthday wishes for my BIL

Hello blogging friends!  

It's my brother-in-law's birthday this week and this is the card that I made for him because he is a cat-lover.  It was a very quick and simple card to make which is more in my comfort-zone than lots of layers - plus I am a really s-l-o-w cardmaker - so lots of layers for me = lots of time!

The cute puss is from a Penny Black clear set called "It's your day" which contains lots of cat images {happy sigh.....}.  I coloured him with pencils and OMS, lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk, then added a teeny-weeny bit of lemon glitter to the flames on the candles  I used a pin to dot the glue where I needed it.  Here is a little close-up:-

The blue star brads under the sentiment are sparkly which is a little hard to see in the photo.  I added the ribbon in 2 separate elements, and that's about it.  Not much to explain - but if you have any questions, please feel free to email me - my address is near the top LHS of my Blog - or leave a comment below if you prefer.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the following Challenges -

Charisma Cardz Challenge #9 of 'Four legged friends'

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' WT312 of "Seeing Spots"

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'It's your day' 30-046 clear set, Sentiment - The Paper Company Studio 'Cupcakes' ST93449 clear set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, embossing folder from Sizzix Textured Impressions Birthday Set #3 #656504, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps, blue grosgrain ribbon, Art Institute lemon glitter (from Shabby Chic set), Designer dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Making Memories 'Stars in Bloom' shimmer star brads, Cardstock:  American Crafts Kraft, sky blue, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

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