Crafty Day

A few months ago I posted about a "stamp camp" I hosted for my mother in law, aunt in law, and their lovely friends. We all had such a good time that we decided to make it a quarterly occurrence.

We had an afternoon filled with yummy food, laughter, and stamping! We talked about marriage, jobs, and life in general. I am amazed at the outlook these ladies have on life. They help remind me that even when my circumstances are not the greatest, that I can still choose to look for God's blessings. These ladies are always so thankful when we get together, but the truth is it does me a world of good as well.

Alright on to the crafting!

Something I wanted to show these lovely ladies this time around was that they could use a card layout with just about any stamp set they own. I used the layout from a previous post and used it to come up with two cards.

Here is the original card I made using the layout in question:

{See original post HERE}

Unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice, but I love that pop of color behind the stamped image!

Here is my first card using the same layout:

First off, like some of my other cards, I feel like the picture doesn't do it justice. Anyone have any good tips for taking pictures of your cards, because I can't seem to get it right. I love this card, it makes me think of my niece who love all things super girly. The last time I took her to the movie she was adamant that she had to bring her purse with her; she's 6. 

Supplies

Stamp Set: My Favorite Things Magical Unicorn set by Birdie Brown
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers (various), White Gel Pen, Distress Oxide Ink in Abandoned Coral
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest, and scraps of patterned paper from my stash

Accessories: 3M Foam Mounting Tape

The second card using the same layout:

I love how the layout worked with this card. It just feels like this little guy is exploring space. It makes me think of the movie The Martian with Matt Damon. 

Supplies

Stamp Set: My Favorite Things Space Explorer set by Birdie Brown

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers (various), White Gel Pen, White Pigment Ink, Distress Oxide Ink in Peacock Feathers, White Gouache

Paper: Black Card Stock , and scraps of patterned paper from my stash

Accessories: 3M Foam Mounting Tape

I wanted my last couple of cards to be simple.

When I first saw this set by Avery Elle, I knew I HAD TO HAVE IT! I love puns so I know that this Lava You set was going to be a part of my collection. Anyone else picked this one up?

Supplies
Stamp Set: Avery Elle Lava You
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxide Ink in Vintage Photo, Distress Oxide Ink in Candied Apple
Paper: Neenah Desert Storm Card Stockand a piece of patterned paper by Doodlebug

Last but not least....

I knew I wanted to do a purple card because a few of the wonderful ladies I was crafting with love this color. This was a pretty easy card to do. The hardest thing by far was the embossing. The front panel is a piece of watercolor resist scrapbook paper I picked up at Michael's a couple of months ago, but you could easily recreate with any of your favorite background stamps and some clear or white embossing powder!

Supplies
Stamp Set: Impression Obsession Thoughts
Inks: Distress Ink in Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves, and Dusty Concord
Paper: Stampin' Up! Perfect Plum Card Stock and Patterned Resist Watercolor Paper from Michael's
Accessories: 3M Foam Mounting Tape, Copper Embossing Powder


Thank you all for stopping by. Until next time, keep on crafting!

Card Design Contest

I'm back y'all. I have been working on Halloween and Fall cards for the blog, but decided to put that on hold to enter My Favorite Things Stamps 2017 Card Design contest. I have to say after viewing all the entries I am definitely intimidated by the talent pool. That being said, I had such a blast working on these cards. I'm hoping y'all like them too.

So first up is my entry for the Clean & Simple Genius

For this card I used MFT's Polynesian Paradise by Birdie Brown

My card base is made out of Canson Watercolor Paper. I started by stamping that adorable chameleon, then masking off the area where my sentiment was going to go with Post-It note tape. I next stamped the flowers from the same set and pulled the Post-It note tape off and used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to color both the flowers and the chameleon. Next I used natural hemp twine to line the top and bottom of the sentiment area and finished it all off with sequins in two shades of green. I know it's hard to tell as my lighting was off..

My next entry is for the Coloring Virtuoso

I do not by any means consider myself a "Coloring Virtuoso", but challenges and contests like these help me to push myself and continue to work on my coloring abilities!

For this card I used three of MFT's stamp sets: The Whole Herd, Ewe are the Best, and Beary Special Birthday all by Birdie Brown.

 I did A LOT of masking for this card. I started by using my Die-namics Circle STAX Set 1 to die cut a circle out of a piece of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 masking paper. I saved the interior circle mask for later use and lined up the exterior portion of the mask with my Canson Watercolor card base. I first stamped the party hat from the Beary Special Birthday set and masked it. I next stamped that cute cow from The Whole Herd set and masked it off. I used the Beary Special Birthday set again to stamp the balloons onto the cow's tail. I then used the grassy hill from the Ewe are the Best set to complete my stamped scene. I left everything masked and used MFT's Stencil Cloud with my Distress Oxide Ink in Broken China. The clouds were darker than I wanted, but overall I like the way it came out. At this point I pulled all the masks off my project and started coloring with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I finished the card off by using stickles on the balloons, my white gel pen on the cow's cheeks and hat, and embossing my sentiment onto black card stock. BOOM!

And last but not least is my entry for the Innovation Master

Can I start by saying I underestimated how complex other people's card would be. I toyed with not entering this card at all, but at the end of the day you just have to go for it.

For this entry I used MFT's Magical Unicorns set by Birdie Brown

I stamped several of the smaller images using my Memento Drops in London Fog all over two 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 pieces of white cardstock. I left one as is then colored the second piece using Copic markers.
I took the uncolored panel and die cut a stitched square out of it using my Slider Channel Companion Windows. I also die cut out the Channel Slider and stamped it to match my background. I then stamped the galloping unicorn using the same Memento ink in London Fog and colored it in with my Copics and added some shine to the mane with my Spectrum Noir glitter marker. I die cut the unicorn out and used foam tape to adhere it's leg onto the slider panel I had set up on the card front. Next I took my colored panel and covered it in VersaMark ink and used some old Stampin' Up! iridescent ice embossing powder. I mounted this panel behind my card front. I finished it all off by embossing my sentiment onto pink cardstock and cutting the ends at different angles and adding some Doodlebug twine.

I hope you enjoy these cards as much as I enjoyed making them. Keep on crafting!!