"favorite technique" challenge

these two cards are for southernbreezes "fav technique" challenge.

iris folding began across the pond using tea bag wrappers i think. the term iris refers to the center of the project that looks like the iris in your eye or the lens of a camera. it looks complicated but actually is quite simple. lots of bang for the effort !

in these two cards, i used wrapping paper and of course, the baby embossing folder from Cuttlebug.....love that little bug !

if you want great info, instructions and free patterns for iris folding....visit www.circleofcrafters.com....look for iris folding.

pet loss

a sad card for sure.....it is hard to lose a loved pet....

hard to see but the saying is
"Faithful friends always leave paw prints on your heart" .... so true

vellum + faux silk

this tiny bit of vellum (the top wings on the butterfly) enhances the faux silk technique of the background. faux silk is made by stamping on tissue paper, scrunching the tissue paper up, flattening it out (somewhat)and adhering to the card front. i inked over it to bring out the crease details.....

the vellum in the flutterby makes it a vellum challenge card (southernbreezes.com)

springy iris

dark purple paper is from papertrey ink....love those mini dots. the stamped iris is popped up on one of the flowers and colored with copic markers. i used crystal effects on both flowers for some dimension and shine. the backing CS is cut with scalloped rectangle nestabilites and run through the CB embossing folder....swiss dots.

i hope the dark color is still springy ! i am so ready for spring !!

hedgehog birthday

this is a penny black stamp.....ooooh, those little guys are cute as can be. stamped image with memento dark gray ink and colored with copics and added a bit of bling to the balloons with diamond dust. next time i will pop-dot the balloons to give it more zing.

zing and bling....a good thing

vellum challenge

it seems i must run vellum thru the CB, for this one i used the spots and dots folder......

this was a fun challenge (from www.southernbreezes.com)....made myself not do a feminine card....and that's another challenge for me

butterflies in flight

for this background i ran the DP through the stylized flowers CB embossing folder. the butterflies are made using gold peel off butterflies, stuck on velum and then colored with gel pens and cut out. i used a pop dot to give dimension and make them seem a bit more like they are in flight . gold embossed flouishes gave the flutterbys direction !!

upcoming cruise

we are celebrating 41 years of marriage....and will do that in style by cruising from Seattle to Alaska on the Holland America ship.....Zaandam....we arrive in Seattle on May 14th and set sail for Alaska on May 15, 2009.

hence the countdown clock .....pretty cool

simple gold embossing

this card is so easy to make....grasses stamped with versa mark and embossed with gold. the dots on each stem are made using gold squiggle paint. the glitzy background paper jazzes it up some i think.

easter container...challenge from southernbreezes.com

this week's challenge: make an easter container.
with a "safe cut" can opener i cut the bottom off a small can that has a pop top lid. emptied the contents and after washing and drying it and saving the bottom i ran pink CS through the CB with the stylized flower embossing folder. inked the raised parts in pink. the darker pink oval was made using my oval nestability die and sets off the bunny....she is made various two different sized ovals..... to finish it off.... all you have to do is fill the decorated can with candy, jelly beans....whatever....being sure to place something with your name on it inside the can. then use a strong adhesive....i use crystal effects... to put the bottom back on. the pink bow on top is looped through the pop top. this makes a unique gift for any occasion....a nifty surprise for the recipient. most are amazed..."how did you get that inside?" my DD put hockey tix inside one for a christmas gift for her honey.....

you can use any sized can that has a pop top lid. just be sure to use the safe opener so there are NO sharp edges.

paper piecing challenge

i made another paper pieced, faux quilt card. for this one i cut 1.5 in squares and placed them on a 4x5 piece of card stock. adhered the squares and then used my label #1 nestability die and cut.....a bit of ribbon, some diamond dust on the sentiment and quilt edges.....easy as pie.

papers were scraps....the solid lavender was run thru my CB with the swiss dot embossing folder for added dimension.....background on outside and inside run thru the stylized flower CB folder.... this time i included the inside of the card....i usually try to make the inside interesting as well. makes for a thick piece of mail though !!

paper piecing challenge

this weeks challenge on southernbreezes.com is paper piecing. this card technique is "faux quilting". i used scraps of paper, slicing the pieces into 3/8 inch wide strips. i cut a 1 inch square and then started placing the strips around the center square .... working from the inside to the outside. i trimmed the edges that were uneven and mounted it to a card front. i tried to choose coordinating colors from my scrap box....added some sheer ribbon and a bit of bling to the center.

i think the pinks would make a perfect baby card.....no sentiment yet, as i wait to put those on until i know exactly where and why the card is going. and since i had so much fun with the pinks, i moved on to the greens...i used my CB embossing folders on the card fronts to add some texture as well

another criss cross card.

this one is not sealed on the bottom, so it doesnt become an envelope card. the belly band slips on and off so the card can stand on it's own.

criss cross card

this is an easy card to create even though it looks complicated.....i found the instructions online by googling criss-cross cards. try one !

spotlight technique

the "spotlight" is made by stamping the image in black on a card front and leaving it uncolored. next step is to stamp the image again on cardstock and choose a small area of the stamp to "spotlight". this is done with a 1 inch circle punched out of a part of the image, and matting that on a black cardstock 1 1/4 inch circle .....coloring only that small piece and placing it on the larger image with a pop-dot (over the same area). for extra dimension i added a jelly circle....but you could also use crystal accents to give it a shine.

this, and many of the techniques i use, can be found on splitcoaststampers.com in the resource section.

a hoppy frog !!

image: penny black
colored with copics and sprinkled with diamond dust....

easter bunny

Pat Thorpe (southernbreezes.com) was the inspiration for this cute bunny. he is made of 1 1/4 and 1 inch circles, an oval nestie for his feet and a leaf nestie for his ears. his little tail is a small flower punch sprinkled with diamond dust. the green grass is made with the CB sticks embossing folder inked with color box grass green ink. CS from Nana's nursery stack....girls. sentiment stamp from PTI mailboxes set

Z fold card

I used the "crafty individuals" stamp by Magenta and selected one portion of the stamp for this card. image was colored with copics and highlighted with a bit of diamond dust and 2 jelly circles. Cardstock from "Once Upon a Time" mat stack....the message flower on the inside was made with a flower nestability die

challenge card for southernbreezes

the challenge: make a window card.....
i used my oval nestability die to cut the oval window, then cut a size larger for the frame (inked and sprinkled with clear glitter). placed a scrap of printed acetate on the inside of the window and then stamped the roses with dark gray memento ink and colored with copics. i stamped and cut out additional roses....added pop-dots to give them more dimension ...finally added a bit of bling to the centers with stickles and diamond dust to parts of the roses. the rose stamped on the inside can be seen through the printing....

sentiment from PTI green thumb set

inked cuttlebug textile embossing folder

for this project, i used the CB textile embossing folder, inked the side that has the black printing with warm red chalk in and ran it through my cuttlebug. this put a bit of red on the background that you see under the stamped image.

the image was stamped with memento black ink and colored with copics. i then added some shine to the tulips with crystal lacquer. the leaves have an added layer of green twinkling water applied with an aqua brush.

you can also put ink on the other side of the folder for yet another effect. give the inked CB folders a try, experimentation will show you what folders and inks work best for the type of effects you want.