Penny Black Frolic Card - A Guest Designer Post for Critter Crazy

 

Hi everyone,

Over at the Critter Crazy Challenge Blog, I was offered a Guest Designer Role for the month of MAY after being Becca's (Owner) Eagle Eyes Pick w/Guest DT invite from the March Challenge - so I was very honoured to be asked.  The theme is always 'Anything Goes with a featured Critter - real or fantasy', so why not play along yourself and have some fun. 

The Challenges always start on the 1st of each month and HERE is a link to May's Challenge #110.

And this is what I made:

As you probably already know, I LOVE featuring critters on my card - they just make me happy - so I pulled out one of my most-favourite Penny Black Cat Stamps called Frolic which dates back to 2009.  You just can't help but smile at that happy cat, can you?!!    

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour Cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black Ink and coloured it using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and a Zig Blender Pen.  I went over some of the black lines using an Anko 0.05 Black Pigment Pen for any that needed darkening up after my colouring.

Here is a close-up:

The sentiment is by Mama Elephant - Mini Messages - which was first released in 2015 but is still available.  This is a fabulous set with a variety of small sentiments and a few small images for lots of different occasions including Christmas so definitely worth picking up.  I don't always want to add a separate sentiment panel to my main image and I thought the sentiment I chose meant I could use the card for a variety of occasions.  I used my Stamp Positioning Tool for perfect placement.

I diecut the main panel using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares Dies.

The designer papers are by Cocoa Vanilla - Happy Day - which were released in 2023.  I love the bright cheery colours in this paper.  The cardstock is by Kaisercraft - Wildberry and Blueberry.

I added a matching American Crafts 9.5mm or 3/8" inch wide Organza Ribbon.

I punched some tiny hearts from Wildberry Cardstock using my EK Success Arrows Border Punch - they are the leftover punchies that look like tiny hearts.  I glued them on using Art Glitter Glue.

Finishing touches were Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush to all the hearts and flowers so it looks very sparkly in real life

Once I had completed my card front, I glued it to a White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.  Finished size is 140mm x 140mm or 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".

Thanks Becca for asking me to be a Guest Designer - I really appreciate it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frolic 3972K Wood Mount, Mama Elephant Mini Messsages

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Cocoa Vanilla Happy Days A5 Stack - Item # CV-HD011

Accessories:  Big Shot, American Crafts Organza Ribbon 9.5mm-3/8" wide, Anko Black .05 Pigment Pen, Stamp Positioning Tool, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, Fabric Glue, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Cardstock - Ranger Watercolour + Kaisercraft Wildberry and Blueberry, White Card Base 140mm x 140mm

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Rounded Squares L-CC-002 (retired)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

Trimcraft Me to You Sweet Shop Card

 

Hi everyone😀

Today I am sharing a birthday card that I made for my sister-in-law.  I seem to have done alot of papertole/3D decoupage cards of late - but they are one of my favourite types of cards.

The main image is from the Trimcraft 'Me to You' Sweet Shop diecut decoupage range which was released about 2016.  When I bought this range, I made up all the decoupage images then promptly lost the snaplock bag with them in and only recently found it.  

The designer papers are from the Sweet Shop 6" x 6" paper pad.  The pale green cardstock is by Bazzill - Dotted Swiss.  The bottom panel was punched using a Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch which I am sure is my most-used edge punch.  The twine is by Darice and came from Riot Art and Craft.  All the layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

The sentiment is by Mama Elephant - Mini Messages - and was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  This is a great little set to have in your stash as it covers so many occasions.  It is designed to match their Creative Cut Tags but I bought it because the sentiments are small and perfect to add to a card when you don't have alot of room and want something small.

The tiny little heart was punched from rose cardstock using my EK Success Arrows border punch as the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the heart.

You can't tell from my photo but the image has lots of glitter on it and came that way.  Looks very sparkly in real life.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant - Mini Messages clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Trimcraft 'Me to You' Sweet Shop 6" x 6" paper pad (retired)

Accessories:  Trimcraft 'Me to You' Sweet Shop 8" x 8" diecut decoupage (retired), Stamping Tool, dimensionals, Darice twine, Perfect Layers Tools, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Cardstock:  Bazzill Dotted Swiss, rose, white card base

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge, EK Success Arrows border

Penny Black - Don't Break It - 30th Wedding Anniversary

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have been married for 30 years and this is the card that I made for my husband.  I can hardly believe it is 30 years as the time has passed so quickly!  We don't usually do anything really fancy nor exchange gifts for our anniversaries and have never followed the traditional types of gifts either.  We just had a quiet celebration with our daughter which was really lovely and had lunch at a local cafe and I cooked a roast for dinner that night.  I am very lucky in that my husband doesn't mind cute and cuddly critters on his cards nor a bit of sparkle or glitter - so that makes it heaps easier to make cards for him.

This is also my card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for April - Anything Goes...Optional 'Fresh Spring Colours'.  Please see THIS LINK for the details on the challenge.

The image is by Penny Black - Don't Break it - and was stamped onto Ranger watercolour cardstock using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  I coloured the image using a mix of Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils.  I added a white highlight on the heart using a Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen.  I lightly chalked around the image using Kaisercraft blue chalk and the ground using brown and grey chalk.

The sentiment is by Mama Elephant - Mini Messages - and was stamped in the same Vintage Sepia ink.  This is a great stamp set with a wide variety of sentiments for all year 'round and I love that they are really small so you can just add it around an image when you don't have alot of room or you don't want to add a separate sentiment panel.

I diecut the image panel using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies.  The scalloped diecut is a Lifestyle Nesting Scalloped Circle die.  The panel is popped up a little using 0.5mm dimensionals.

I used my Simon Says Stamp Mini Heart dies to diecut some hearts from the burgundy designer paper and added some sparkle using a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush which I also added to the heart that the teddy bear is holding.   Here is a close-up:

I used a Fiskars Postage Stamp border punch to punch the border on the bottom panel.  I have had this border punch forever and love to use it on masculine cards.  The ribbon is from my stash.

The designer papers are by Echo Park - I Love Family - from their 6" x 6" pad.  The layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

Lastly, I added my completed card front to a white card base.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - Don't Break It - 3605F wood-mount, Mama Elephant - Mini Messages clear set

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer Paper:  Echo Park - I Love Family 6" x 6" pad (2016)

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles and Scalloped Circles, Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts S142

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ranger watercolor cardstock, Kaisercraft blue and brown chalk, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, #2 round paintbrush, ribbon (stash), Tombow Mono Multi glue, Kokuyo tape runner, Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, Perfect Layers Tools, 0.5mm dimensionals, Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen, white cardstock base

Punches:  Fiskars Postage Stamp border

Lili of the Valley - Jenny Bear Friendship card

Hi everyone

I think it's lovely idea to surprise someone with a card when it isn't for a specific occasion such as a birthday - and the card I am sharing today was for a very special lady who lives on the other side of Australia just to let her know how loved she is by our family.  Now that C has the card, I can share it here on my blog:

This card is also for the Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge for August.  Please see THIS LINK for the challenge details.

The main image is from a Lili of the Valley (UK) Art Pad called 'James and Jenny Bear' Set 23 - and the designer papers are also by LOTV - Always and Forever - all of which LOTV retired a little while ago :-(  The papers were designed by NitWit Collections for LOTV and you can buy and download them here at NitWit's website - see THIS link.

I diecut the main image using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies.  The sentiment is also by LOTV and was stamped using Ranger Archival Sepia ink.  I coloured in the flowers on the sentiment using a pink pencil then added some tiny pink Molossi rhinestones to the flower centres.  I popped the panel up on dimensionals.

The bottom panel cardstock was punched using a Martha Stewart Lace Doily Edge punch.  The lacey top-left corner is a die by Cuttlebug - Vintage Corner - which I diecut using my Cuttlebug from the designer paper.  I diecut multiple layers of pale pink cardstock and glued them together then glued the designer paper on top so the diecut had some depth then added some Kaisercraft pink rhinestones to the top right and bottom left corners.

The pink seam binding was added in two separate elements and the bow was made using my Bow Easy and attached with Fabric glue.  The heart button was glued on using Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

The layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.  I using an EK Success Arrows border punch to punch some tiny hearts (the leftover punchies look like tiny hearts) from dusky pink cardstock and added one to the sentiment panel and dotted the rest around the teddy bear.  I added plenty of Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue to the tiny hearts, bunch of flowers and the tag and the teddy's bow.  Here is a close-up:

Once I finished the card front, I glued it to a white card base.

I decorated the card inside to match the card front:

The sentiment is by Mama Elephant from their Woodland Gifts set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  LOTV Circular Sentiments Set 7, Mama Elephant Woodland Gifts clear set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Sepia

Designer Paper:  LOTV 'Always and Forever' 8" x 8" pad © NitWit Collections

Accessories:  Main image - LOTV James and Jenny Bear Set 23 Art pad, Big Shot, Cuttlebug, Perfect Layers Tools, pink heart buttons - Dress It Up, pink sewing thread, SU Dazzling Details glitter glue, SU Fuse Fast adhesive, Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue, fabric glue, Molossi and Kaisercraft pink rhinestones, pink pencil, dimensionals, pink seam binding, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, cardstock - dark dusky pink, pale pink, white, brown, white card base

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Cuttlebug Vintage corner (retired)

Punches:  Martha Stewart Lace Doily edge, EK Success Arrows border

More Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins

Hi blogging friends

I am still playing with my Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin stamp and die set and thought I would make another Christmas card - this time for my husband.  I am so lucky that my husband doesn't mind cute images - he is such a great encourager for my cardmaking and I feel so blessed :-)  This card is also my entry for the Crafty Catz Challenge #256 of Winter.

If you missed my last post using this stamp/die set, you can see it HERE.  I decided to go with the same layout, twine, papers and dies to make the whole process quicker and will probably make a few more cards in similar fashion - although I always make a few little changes to make the cards a bit different.  You know, I hadn't even thought about the fact that there are no penguins in the Arctic until my blogging friend Jackie pointed it out!  Maybe the set should be renamed "Antarctic Penguins" instead!

I love how this stamp set has lots of little images (as well as lots of penguins in different poses) and the matching dies saves alot of time fussy-cutting.

To do the background, I used a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die to diecut the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland snowflake designer paper and Ranger watercolour cardstock - then used one of my WPlus9 Landscape border dies (which comes in a set of 3) to cut the designer paper where I wanted the edge of the horizon to be then adhered the designer paper to the watercolour cardstock circle.  I scribbled Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Markers on an acrylic block, added some water and painted the watercolour paper to look like the sea.

I stamped all the images using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto watercolour cardstock and coloured them with various Distress Markers and Tombow Pens, then diecut each piece.  

I used a Red Wink of Stella glitter pen on the red Santa hat, skates and berries on the mistletoe and Clear Wink of Stella on the floating pieces of ice, leaves on the mistletoe and the green hat.  I added Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the pompom and cuff of both hats.  I also added white dots to the green hat with a white gel pen and Glossy Accents to the nose on each penguin.  I lightly chalked in the cheeks using pink I-Kandee Pearlescent chalk.  Here is a little close-up so you can see the detail:

The floating pieces of ice were glued on using Tombow Mono Multi glue and the penguins and mistletoe were popped up on dimensionals.

The scalloped circle main image panel is a gorgeous die by Spellbinders from their Majestic Circles die set.  

The snowflakes are dies from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set.  I glued down the centres then bent the arms up a little and added red and teal Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel dots to the centres.  You probably can't tell from the photo but these enamel dots are very glittery and are absolutely gorgeous!  

I was so annoyed with myself because I had coloured the hats and added the Fun Flock and put them aside to dry.  I had already attached the penguins and decided to glue on the diecut snowflakes totally forgetting about the hats.  When I went to glue on the Santa hat, I realised that it was covering part of the snowflake so tried to remove the snowflake but of course, it was stuck fast.  If I had my time over, I would have moved the snowflake down a little so it wasn't partly hidden - oh well - just one of those little irritating things...... Here is an even closer view of the main image:

A few months ago, I decided to upgrade my Digital Camera and it takes fantastic close-up photos.  It's a Nikon Coolpix L320 and takes 16.1 megapixel photos.  My husband had bought a second-hand Nikon Coolpix L310 which was the previous model to this one so I tried it out and was really impressed with how easy it was to use and the quality of the photographs was much better compared to my old camera.  So I bought the latest model and really love it and it didn't cost an arm and a leg which was great.  I have found that I don't have to fiddle as much with my photo editing programs to get the colours true to real life compared to my old camera - and most of the time, I don't need to do very much at all.  With my old camera, I would often spend quite a bit of time editing and but sometimes, no matter how much I fiddled, I couldn't get my photo to look like my card did in real-life which would frustrate me no end!  By the way, I use a mix of Google Picasa and GIMP for photo editing - both free programs.  I am no expert on cameras and I am sure there are more amazing ones around but thought I would share my experience in case it is helpful to someone.  Anyway, I am digressing.......back to my card......

The twine and designer paper on the card base are by My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland which was released in 2012.  The sentiment was also trimmed from one of the designer paper sheets; I layered it onto teal cardstock and trimmed it to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools then popped it up on dimensionals.  

The teal cardstock base and burgundy cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.

As always, I added Fray stop to the cut ends of the twine to stop them from fraying and unravelling.

As I type this, I am at the hospital in the City with my loved one waiting for an appointment - just routine.  We have just been to one appointment but there is a 3 hour gap between appointments so we are hanging around.  We are coming back in again tomorrow for another 2 appointments - again just routine - and then another one early next week - but fingers-crossed, that will be the last of the hospital appointments in the City for the year.  I am using the hospital computer and the colours look super-bright compared to my home laptop - in fact, my card colours look too bright and the sea looks like there are brown patches in amongst the teal!  Gee, I hope it doesn't look like that for all of my blog readers and that it is just this computer (?!). Thanks for visiting my blog today - hope to see you again very soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye (MME) Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinders Majestic Circles, Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles (snowflakes), WPlus9 Landscape Borders die set

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ranger Watercolour cardstock, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape, Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel Dots (by Helz Cuppleditch), Twine from MME Winter Wonderland twine set WW1068, Perfect Layers Tools, Glossy Accents, Distress Markers - Evergreen Bough + Peacock Feathers + Festive Berries, Tombow Pens, #2 round paintbrush, Cardstock - burgundy and teal, Wink of Stella glitter pens - red and clear, I-Kandee Pearlescent chalk, Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen

Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin Christmas card

Hi blogging friends  

When Mama Elephant released their Arctic Penguin stamp set recently, I couldn't help myself and just HAD to get the set - those little penguins had captured my heart!  I love how the set has alot of penguins in different poses PLUS it has tons of little extras like the Santa hat, winter hat, present, cup, mistletoe, 2 sizes of floating ice and a few other little images.  Cute, cute, CUTE LOL!  I also bought the matching die set which makes putting together a little scene nice and quick.  And here is my card:

To do the background, I used a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die to diecut the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland snowflake designer paper and Ranger watercolour cardstock - then used one of my WPlus9 Landscape border dies (which comes in a set of 3) to cut the designer paper where I wanted the edge of the horizon to be then adhered the designer paper to the watercolour cardstock circle (I hope that makes sense!).  I scribbled Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Markers on an acrylic block, added some water and painted the watercolour paper to look like the sea.

I stamped all the images using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto watercolour cardstock and coloured them with various Distress Markers and Tombow Pens, then diecut each piece.  

I used a Red Wink of Stella glitter pen on the Santa hat, skates and top of the present and Clear Wink of Stella on the floating ice and green part of the present.  I added Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the pompom and cuff of the hat.  I added Glossy Accents to the penguin's nose.  Here is a little close-up so you can see the detail a bit better - the photo is a little dull as it is very stormy here today and I had try and take photos inbetween squalls:

The floating ice was glued on using Tombow Mono Multi glue and the penguin and present were popped up on dimensionals.

The scalloped circle main image panel is a gorgeous die by Spellbinders from their Majestic Circles die set.  

The snowflakes are dies from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set.  I glued down the centres then bent the arms up a little and added red and teal Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel dots to the centres which I bought 2 weeks ago at Scrappy Hollow in Croydon, Victoria.  You probably can't tell from the photo but these enamel dots are very glittery and are absolutely gorgeous!  There are quite a few colours and sizes in the set which makes it good value for money.

The twine, chipboard sentiment and large brad plus the designer paper on the card base are all by My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland which was released in 2012.  Here is a close-up of that gorgeous brad:

Gosh, I love the colours in the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland set - right up my alley and so perfect for cool, winter/Christmas scenes.  Yes, I know it is summer at Christmas where I live but I am just crazy for snowmen, snowflakes and snowy scenes.  I have never felt very attracted to images of Santa on a surfboard or Santa wearing shorts for Christmas cards - they just don't appeal to me - and I am blissfully singing "Winter Wonderland" or "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" no matter how hot it is!  I just bought some more of this MME range online from Scrap Therapy in Queensland, Australia as I was getting a bit low - they have great customer service - prompt and the goods are really well-packaged for the postal service (I have no connection to the company other than being a regular customer).  

The teal card base and burgundy cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.

As always, I added Fray stop to the cut ends of the twine to stop them from fraying and unravelling.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following Challenges:

Splitcoaststampers - Free for All Friday F4A248 - Grab and Go - grab the most recent thing you have purchased and haven't used and use it.

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - November - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye (MME) Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinders Majestic Circles, Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles (snowflakes), WPlus9 Landscape Borders die set

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ranger Watercolour cardstock, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape, Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel Dots (by Helz Cuppleditch), Brad from MME Winter Wonderland Decorative Brads set WW1063, Chipboard sentiment from MME Winter Wonderland Decorative Buttons set WW1064, Twine from MME Winter Wonderland twine set WW1068, Perfect Layers Tools, Glossy Accents, Distress Markers - Evergreen Bough + Peacock Feathers + Festive Berries, Tombow Pens, #2 round paintbrush, Cardstock - burgundy and teal, Wink of Stella glitter pens - red and clear