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

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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

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

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

Vintage Christmas Greetings from the Debbi Moore Vintage Christmas CD

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)  

I have scheduled this post because I have a very busy week ahead.  Plus I need to make a few cards over the next few days - including a 90th male birthday card - and I haven't a clue what to do - I shall need to put on my thinking-cap for that one!!   

 
Today's post is another Fat Cat's Design Team Vintage Christmas card made using an image from the NEW Vintage Christmas Debbi Moore Image CD. 

I enlarged my image a little, then printed it onto white cardstock using the easy-to-follow directions on the CD and selected the "best" quality print for my Canon printer. So quick and easy when you don't need to colour anything in!! :-)

Not sure if you can see in the photo, but I added some very fine red glitter to the holly berries on the image.

All the Designer papers are free digital August downloads from Bearly Mine Designs.  I ran the red dp thru my Cuttlebug using the Textile embossing folder just to add a bit of interest, but you could use any CB folder eg: script, Deb Devine, etc to get the same effect.

Each card layer has Tim Holtz Linen Distress ink sponged around the edges to darken them.

The fancy corners are from the Cuttlebug Vintage Die set and the tag is from the Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set.

Thanks again for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Hot off the Press 'Christmas Art' HOTP 1006 clear stamp set

Ink:  Colorbox Chalk Deep Green, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress

Designer paper:  Bearly Mine Designs - free digital download August

Accessories:  Debbi Moore Vintage Christmas CD, Cuttlebug, Vintage Die set, Tiny Tags Die set, Textile embossing folder, seasponge, red satin ribbon, pale gold ribbon, 3 x Kaiserscrapbook pearls, .008 fine red glitter, Designer Dries Clear adhesive (for glitter), Cardstock: green, white, cream

Lili of the Valley Challenge #55 - Thomas big bunch of flowers

Hello and welcome to my Blog :-)

My DD will be turning 7 very soon and this is the card I made for her birthday.  Her favourite colour is pink and she loves cats, flowers, butterflies and glitter, so this is what I came up with:

The Lili of the Valley image of 'Thomas - big bunch of Flowers' was the perfect choice.  And of course, I had to colour Thomas in the same colours as our own cat Ruby.  There is a little pic of  Ruby on the LHS of my Blog - scroll down to find it if you want to see her. 

Over at the Lili of the Valley Challenge Blog, the Fortnightly Challenge #55 is a Sketch Challenge plus flowers.  Here is the Sketch:

I really love this layout and I'm sure I will use it again.

The image was coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol.  I added Art Institute very fine transparent pale lemon/pale pink glitter to all the flowers plus the punched butterfly, as well as the cat's ears and cheeks.  This is the first time I have used my Octagonal Nesties - aren't they cool?!  The lacey corners are a Cuttlebug diecut from the Vintage Die set; it's actually a square die but I just tucked them under the octagon - it's like they were made for each other :-)

Here is a little close-up pic of the transparent glitter.  I love how it still lets your shading/colouring be seen and just adds sparkliness.

All the panels are up on mounts (dimensionals).  I added some wide pink lacey ribbon across the bottom panel (can you see it?) and added the darker pink cotton lace over the top.  The hole for threading thru the darker pink lace on the main panel was made with a Stampin' Up horizontal punch and the lace bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I did add some Fray Stop to the cut edges of the bow to stop them from fraying.

All the designer papers are digital.  The panel underneath the cat was put thru my Cuttlebug using the Roses embossing folder - I really love the bit of texture it adds.

Lastly, I added the pink gems to the top LHS and bottom RHS of the card.  I decided not to add a sentiment like the sketch - I didn't think it really needed it.

I am also popping this card into the latest Splitcoaststampers Ways to use it Challenge WT275 Raving on Ribbon.  Check out the Gallery for all the cool ways you can use ribbons.

Thanks again for stopping by!  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley S124 Thomas - big bunch of flowers

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer papers:  NitWit Collections Fat Quarter Bundle Series "Perfect Pair" ©2010 by Mary Fran of  Nitwit Collections (plaid - non-embossed panel), Bearly Mine - Floral Dreams 31 (bottom panel), Bearly Mine - Just Plaid (roses embossed panel)

Accessories:  Prismas, Gamsol, paper stumps, Cuttlebug, Roses embossing folder, Cuttlebug Vintage Dies set, Spellbinder Large Octagon and Scalloped Octagon Nestabilities, paper rose, 1mm/2mm mounts (dimensionals), Fray stop, Kaiser Rhinestones SB701, pale pink lace 36mm - 1-7/16" wide, dark pink lace 10mm - 5/8" wide, Bow Easy, Stampin' Up horizontal punch, pink and lemon Art Institute Glitter - Shabby Chic set (Peewee kit), Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive, 15mm mulberry paper rose - Enthaily Wholesale, Carl CP-1 Butterfly-A punch, Cardstock: pink, lemon, white