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