Friendship Vase Card -- for Dies R Us Inspiration Blog

I'm posting today on the Dies R Us Inspiration Blog.  I love shopping in the Dies R Us Store, where there are over 55 brands of dies and lots of supplies. 

I tend to like my cards simple, but bold, and today's card follows that theme.

Dies, distress oxide inks, some pearl accents, and it's a wrap.  Sounds like a great card, right?  You be the judge:

Bright and bold, right?  Here's how I did it, and the products I used (linked at the end of this post).

I used a vase and flower die for Die-Namites, and 6 shades of Distress Oxide ink, plus a word die.

I started by blending the background.  I have found that a very smooth card stock works best for me.  I started with the lightest colors first.  In this case, it was the middle of the card, so it was the Squeezed Lemonade, then the Mustard Seed, the the Twisted Citron, then the Salty Ocean.  After that, I switched back to the lower part of the card, blending the Barn Door, and lastly, the Seedless Preserves.

The background was so colorful, that I decided to leave the Wide Vase die cut in white.  I liked the contrast of it against all the colors of the background.  I wanted a simple sentiment that wouldn't overpower the Wide Vase, so used this "Friends" from Elizabeth Craft, cutting it with a card stock that matched a color from the background.  Then, all I had to do was construct the card and add some pearl accents with my Ice White Viva Decor Pearl Pen.

I've had a large collection of Viva Decor Pearl Pens for years and I love them!  There are newer products on the market, but Viva Decor Pearl Pens work great.  It is very easy to control how large the dot of color is, the colors are rich and pure, and there is a lot of product in one pen.  The Dies R Us Store has a limited supply right now, but I hope they re-stock soon because they are one of my favorite supplies in the whole store!  If you haven't tried them, I hope you do.  Dies R Us also offers one of the lowest prices on these Pearl Pens that I've seen. 

Products used from the Dies R Us Store:

Die-Namites Wide Vase Die

Elizabeth Craft "Friends" Die

Barn Door

 Mustard Seed

 Peacock Feathers

Seedless Preserves

 Twisted Citron

That's it for my Flower Vase Friendship Card.  I hope you visit the Dies R Us Inspiration blog each day to see the wonderful designs my fellow teammates create.  There is so much inspiration here!  Then, make your own creation and enter the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.  There are great prizes you can win! 

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Daisy Chain Challenge -- Flowers

Happy Craft Challenge -- ATG

Happy Little Stampers -- ATG with Dies

The flower Challenge -- pretty pastels

Howdy! for Dies R Us Inspiration Blog

Howdy, fellow crafters!  I'm on the Dies R Us Inspiration Blog today, which means I've been playing with awesome dies! 

When Dies R Us ran a special a while back on some Cheery Lynn dies, I grabbed a Clarabell the Cow die.  I live in Wisconsin, the dairy state, so it was a must have!  The die is no longer in stock, but Dies R Us carries many other wonderful Cheery Lynn dies.
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Here are the supplies I used:

I cut out Clarabell the Cow (here's a link to a similar Cheery Lynn die, Thomas the Turtle).  Next, I cut out a Memory Box Wrapped Stitch Rectangle.

 Here's everything cut out, needing to be assembled:

The cow needed some eyes, so I used a Viva Decor Turquoise Pearl Pen.

Everything got glued down with the Best Glue Ever.

The fun cow print paper is from Imagine That Digistamp, and the checked ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

When you drink some milk or eat some ice cream, think of me here in the Dairy State, and say, Howdy!

Don't forget to come join in the fun at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.  There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st and 15th of each month and one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive a gift voucher prize to the Dies R Us Store.  For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below.

click below for:

STORE 

 CHALLENGE BLOG

  FACEBOOK

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

D.L. Art -- June Linky Party

Lemon Shortbread Challenge -- ATG

AUD Sentiment -- ATG plus a Sentiment
Moo-mania -- animals

What a Catch! for Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez

June -- the month of Father's Day, graduations, and here in WI, free fishing day!  I have a card today that celebrates the love of fishing.  I live in a very small city that is surrounded by 6 lakes.  We fish.  We fish year round, and we celebrate all things fishing.  That's why I fell in love with this wonderful Seagull Fishing digital image from Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez.

I colored up Seagull Fishing with Copic markers.   I cut out the fish border at the bottom of the card with my Silhouette Cameo 3 with a file I found in the Silhouette Design Store.  I added eyes to the fish with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Anthracite. 

The fish paper on the left of the card was found at Pixel Scrapper.  It is digital.  I computer generated the sentiment, and cut it out with a Diamond Press die. 

You can find many wonderful digital and acrylic stamps in the Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez Store. She also has a Zazzle store, some personal items for sale, and her beautiful cards.  If you haven't already, join the Kinda Cute by Patricia Alvarez Facebook Group for a monthly challenge, friendship, and inspiration. 

I've found the following challenges to enter this card in:
D.L. Art -- June Linky Party
Crafty Animals -- Anything animal goes
Daring Cardmakers -- come fly with me
QKR Stampede -- ATG
Outlawz Saturday Paper ala Mode -- Fish or Owls

Give Thanks! for The Cutting Cafe

It's getting close to Thanksgiving, so this week's post for The Cutting Cafe is a Thanksgiving themed post. 

I chose to work with the delightful Turkey shaped card cutting file, from, of course, The Cutting Cafe.

Didn't I say he was delightful?  This turkey shaped card cutting file comes complete with his own envelope, which is great, as he's quite a large turkey, strutting those wonderful, colorful feathers of his!

All papers on this card are from Close To My Heart.  The designer papers are from the Path Finder paper pack. 

I stamped the "Give Thanks" sentiment, using the It's All Fall Puns stamp set from Joy's Life. A Viva Decor pearl pen added the finishing touches.

This holiday, and all year, I'm giving thanks for my many blessings. 

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion -- Pumpkins or Turkeys

Sister Act Card Challenge -- ATC
Word Art Wednesday -- ATG
D.L Art -- Nov Linky Party
PDE Linky Party - Pilgrims, Indians, Turkeys, or scarecrows
Die Cuttin' Divas -- Thanksgiving
Loves Rubber Stamps -- Things With Wings

It's Raining Happy -- for My Scrap Chick

I'm posting today for My Scrap Chick.  When deciding on my project, I was affected by the weather.  We've been having an unusually rainy spring, so this darling Tiddly Inks cutting file from My Scrap Chick really spoke to me.

She's called "Rainy Day Donna".  Isn't she the sweetest?  I used designer papers from My Mind's Eye to make this card. The striped background paper is from Echo Park. 

Here's a close up of Donna and her frogs.  Do you see them both?

I just love those stylin' boots.  I want a pair for myself!

And, here's a close up of the sentiment and darling umbrella:

The sentiment is a stamp from Unity Stamp Company. The triangle embellishments are from Close To My Heart, as is the colored card stock.  I used some Viva Decor pearl pens on the frogs.

It MUST be Friday ('cause it's Friends With FLAIR!)

Yea, yea, yea! It's definitely Friday! And, my last day of work for a week.  I'm looking forward to a few days of R & R and some girl time with my BFF's and our 4-legged friends.

I know I've been showing a lot of sympathy cards lately, but I have another to share today.  This one went to a good friend who recently lost her brother:

I used the Unity Stamp Company set, "Moments In Bloom". The set has great flowers and sentiments.  The sentiment I used on this card is from Close To My Heart.  I used a Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Sunny Yellow on this card, and Marvy Uchida Brush Art Markers.

Happy crafting, everyone!  

Winter Snow -- for Get Inky! Stamps

Hello, crafty friends! Here we are, two days before Christmas.  And today is the start of a new challenge at Get Inky! Challenge.  The theme for the next two weeks is, "Winter Snow".  With that in mind, I used this adorable snowman to create a card...

 

 

I used the Holiday 2013 stamp set from Get Inky! Stamps to make this card.  I absolutely love this stamp set!  It is so easy to be creative with the wide variety of images and sentiments in this set.  I paper pieced the hat and bow tie on this adorable snowman.  I used Viva Décor pearl pens on the tassel, brim, eyes, nose, and buttons.  There's some Timeless Twine wrapped around the Kraft cardstock. Designer papers are from My Mind's Eye.

This is my last post for Get Inky! Stamps.  I've enjoyed my time on the design team very much, and thank Thia for the opportunity to use her stamps!



Happy Turkey Day! for 3 Girl JAM

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I'm posting today on the 3 Girl JAM blog.  Since I'm lucky enough to post on Thanksgiving, I knew I had to have some Thanksgiving inspiration for the holiday.  I went searching through the Silhouette online store and found this fun cutting file, perfect for the occasion.

 

 

I used lots of different ribbons on this colorful turkey -- as you can tell!  Working from right to left, I used Harvest Orange (Harvest Bundle)Witches Brew purple (Spooky Bundle), Baby Blue (Baby Bundle), Hot Chocolate (Hot & Cold Bundle), Merlot (Wine & Jewels Bundle), Aqua Splash (Caribbean Splash Bundle), Coral Crush (Caribbean Splash Bundle), Ice Blue (Hot and cold Bundle), Iris (Spring Flowers Bundle), Cherry Lipstick (Pink & White Bundle) and London Blue (Wine & Jewels bundle).

I cut this turkey shaped card out on my Silhouette, used Close To My Heart Kraft cardstock for the base, more CTMH cardstock for the rest of the paper, and a Viva Décor Anthracite Pearl pen for the eyes. 

This turkey, and myself, are sending you the best of Thanksgiving wishes!



I'm Talking Turkey!

Oh my, Thanksgiving is one week from today! Are you ready? The Cutting Cafe design team is in full Thanksgiving mode today, posting projects with a thankful theme.  Well, nothing says Thanksgiving like turkey!

 

 

This super fun cutting file can be found here in the Cutting Café store.  This turkey shaped card is BIG.  His wing span is about 6 1/2 inches.  But don't worry -- he also comes with a matching envelope cutting file!

I used Kraft card stock for the base of this card, then a layer of Close To My Heart Chocolate card stock, then layered on Little Yellow Bicycle Acorn Hollow 6x6 papers.  The "give Thanks" sentiment is a Joy's Life stamp -- from the "It's All Fall Puns" set.  You can find it in the Joy's Life Store here.  I used two Viva Décor pearl pens for the finishing touches on this turkey -- an anthracite pearl pen on the eyes, and a white pearl pen on the body and feathers.
I'm getting very close to 300 followers.  If I get that number this week, I'll have a drawing using this post. I've been buying goodies and saving them for quite awhile, hoping to hit the 300 follower mark. If you don't already follow my blog, I'd love it if you do.  Then, leave a comment on this post.  To increase your chances to win, comment on the other posts this week.

Check out The Cutting Café blog in the next day or two to see the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team. Leave a comment on the blog and you could win 3 free sets of your choice. How fun is THAT? 

A New Challenge at Cameo Creations -- Thanksgiving!

Happy Thursday, everyone.  Today starts a new challenge on the Cameo Creations Challenge blog.  The theme for the next 2 weeks is "Thanksgiving".  One can not help but think of turkey with a theme like that, so guess what I made?

 

 

You guessed it! It's a turkey shaped card.  I found this cutting file at The Cutting Café.  You'll find it here. Adorable, isn't it?  The sentiment on his belly is a Joy's Life stamp from the "It's All Fall Puns" stamp set.  All plain card stock is from Close To My Heart.  The designer papers are My Mind's Eye. Viva Décor pearl pens were used on the eyes and body.

Make your own Thanksgiving-themed project, and come link up with us at Cameo Creations Challenge blog.  We've got great sponsors!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

 

Sweet Stamps -- Give Thanks challenge

Sister Act Card Challenge -- Anything Goes

 



Give Thanks 4 Fall!

H-U-M-P Day! We can see the weekend from here! Greetings, my blog friends. I'm posting for 3 Girl JAM, filling in on an empty day.

If you are a regular to my blog, you've seen this banner before.  But, it's filled with 3 Girl JAM goodness, so it bears repeating.

I have a Fall-themed banner to share with you today.  It has quite a few pictures, so sit back and relax...

  

 

There's a lot to see on this banner, so I have pictures of the individual panels.  I'll tell you more of how I made it as I go along, too.

First, a close up of the top square of the banner.  Each of these 4x4 decorative squares is from a mini album that I took apart.  Close To My Heart used to make them.  They were called a Mix & Mingle album.  I love them for banners because some of the panels are acrylic and some are chipboard -- perfect for something like this!

 

 

I used a stamp from the Joy's Life stamp set "It's All Fall Puns" on the first panel, the "Give Thanks" sentiment.  The #4 and all the letters were cut out on my Cricut, using the Cricut Classic font cartridge.  The designer papers are from the Jillibean Soup Apple Cheddar Soup 6x6 paper pad. The white and cocoa cardstock are from Close To My Heart.

 

 

 

I used various Spellbinder dies to cut the shapes throughout the banner.  Here, you can see an acorn cut from a Tim Holtz die, painted with Creative Inspirations paint.  The leaves are from a cutting file from The Cutting Café using American Crafts Autumn cardstock.  The twine is from Trendy Twine, and can you see that jute string on all 4 corners?  That's the new jute string found in the 3 Girl JAM store.  It worked perfectly on this banner because of the wonderful Fall colors.  I used the Jute ribbon found in the 3 Girl JAM store at the top of the banner.

 

 

the "a" is decorated with more leaves from the Tim Holtz die. They've all been painted with various Creative Inspirations paints. You can see more of the gorgeous 3 Girl JAM jute string that I used on each corner of the panels in these photos, also.

 

 

On this first "l", you can see another of the acrylic pieces that I used. There's some more Trendy Twine here, too, along with leaves cut from The Cutting Cafe's file and the Tim Holtz die.

 

 

This final "l" gives you a good look at the pretty jute string from 3 Girl JAM.

At the bottom of my banner, I used another Joy's Life stamp, from the same stamp set -- It's All Fall Puns.

 

 

That cute squirrel is cut from a die. The Spellbinder ones were perfect for this project, as was this squirrel die from Cottage Cutz. I cut the squirrel out on white cardstock, but used TH distress inks to ink him up.  The eye was made with a Viva Décor Pearl pen.

I have one more view of the whole banner for you, since it was a few pictures back when you saw the whole thing.

 

 

Phew! That was a lot of pictures and description! Thanks for sticking with me!  I hope you enjoyed my banner.  Now, go do some shopping of your own for that new jute ribbon and string.  It's on sale, and it's PERFECT for Fall!  While you're there, pick up some other goodies, too -- you deserve it!

Get Inky! 3D Holiday

Happy Day-Before Halloween, everyone!  The current challenge on the Get Inky! Challenge blog is 3D Holiday. Being so close to Halloween, I just HAD to create a "spooky" 3D character for some inspiration! 

 

 

This treat bag is cut out on my Silhouette and stamped with the Get Inky! Stamps 2013 Halloween set.  Isn't it adorable?  Perfect for a little treat for the ghosts and goblins in your life!

The treat bag is an SVG file from My Scrap Chick. I inked the cheeks with a little Tim Holtz distress ink in Spun Sugar, because every ghost looks better with rosy cheeks.  The crinkle ribbon bow is from 3 Girl JAM.  It is, of course, from the Spooky Bundle -- how appropriate is THAT? The eyes were made with an anthracite Viva Décor pen. 

That's it for today! Have a safe, fun, candy filled Halloween!



Boo! for Joy's Life

Happy Monday, my friends.  The theme this week for the Joy's Life design team is Halloween bags.  I found an adorable one at My Scrap Chick that I decided worked wonderfully with the adorable Joy's Life Halloween Puns stamp set.

 

 

Scary, isn't it, LOL? I thought this was the sweetest ghost I'd ever seen with those rosy cheeks and top knot.

The Halloween Puns stamp set and all of the Joy's Life sets can be found in the Joy's Life store.

 

Don't forget to check out the Joy's Life design team  projects all week to see more Halloween bag inspiration.

 I'm entering this bag in the:

My Scrap Chick Harvest Linky party

D.L. Art September Linky Party -- ATG

Just be Creative Crazy -- September linky party