The Wonder of 2

Today was grand-niece Madelyn's 2nd birthday - and the family gathered at her house to celebrate this grand occasion and I, of course, made her a personalized card!  This is a photo of Madelyn that her parents took during a recent trip to Disney.  I just printed it on a piece of white cardstock and cut it out.

I started with a piece of kraft card and stenciled it using a WV Check Mate stencil with WV Archival Pink Peony Ink.  Then I sponged the edges with Ranger Distress Tea Die ink.  I added Idea-ology  Chit Chat Stickers, Remnant Rubs/Botanical and Label letters.

I outlined the Chit Chat Stickers with a black Stabilo pencil then rubbed over the lines with a wet finger to smudge them.  I added 3 wood veneer stars from Studio Calico.  I cut a 2 using a PTI number die.  The banner was cut with a die from Winnie and Walter.  The Happy Birthday is from Keep It Simple Birthday II from PTI.

I made this just a card front - and adhered a die cut easel to the back so it can stand up on a shelf for display.

My niece loved my card for Madelyn - and we had a wonderful family gathering to celebrate her day.

I'm linking my card to the following challenges:

Cas Mix Up 

The background is stenciled, I stamped on the banner, I added rub-ons, stickers and a banner.

 Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Dimension

the photo, sentiment banner and #2 are popped up on foam dots, I added wooden stars

 Seize the Birthday

 Twofers Challenge - Birthdays

Stamps:  Keep it Simple Birthday II - PTI

Paper:  Kraft, True Black, White - P TI

Ink:  Wendy Vecchi Archival Pink Peony, True Black - PTI, Ranger Distress Tea Dye.

Accessories:  Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico, Dies: By the Numbers and Jar Labels - PTI, The Big, the Bold and Extras - Winnie and Walter,  small easel - Tim Holtz/Alterations, foam dots, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Check Mate Stencil - Wendy Vecchi/Stampers Anonymous, Idea-ology - Chit Chat Stickers, Remnant Rubs Botanical, Label Letters.

Variations on an Ombre Birthday

Goodness - I feel like having a piece of cake with a big glass of milk after looking at the delicious The Cake Blog Audrie has to inspire us for the Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers!

I was attracted to this ombre Pink Grapefruit cake particularly because I recently purchased the Ombre Sentiments Birthday stamp set from Papertrey Ink and wanted to try them out!

For my first inspired card - I inked my sentiment with Orange Zest and Bright Buttercup Inks and stamped it on a white panel. I layered it to a piece of patterned paper with foam dots and added some Lemonade Blend sequins to it.  I stamped another sentiment using the same two colors of ink on the inside.

Then I went in another direction creating  an ombre panel by rubbing Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Scattered Straw Distress Inks on my craft mat, spritzing with water and then dragging a piece of Arches Watercolor paper through it.

 I dried the panel with my heat tool and then black embossed the sentiment on it (stamping doesn't always come out clearly on watercolor paper because of its rough texture - I tried 3 different black inks before deciding to emboss instead!).  I layered the panel over a strip of patterned paper with foam dots and added Lemonade Sequins.

Here's another variation - such a different look just by making the patterned paper a smaller strip!

and a masculine variation using a piece of rust Coredinations Ranger Distress paper instead of a floral.

So now I have several birthday cards to add to my stash - all from one inspiration!
I'm also linking my first card  to:
Seize the Birthday - Floral

 Twofers Challenge - Birthdays

Happy Weekend everyone -  tonight I have the pleasure of babysitting for these two sweeties - my 5 year old grandnephew James and his almost two year old sister Madelyn.   Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Madelyn's 2nd birthday!  Here they are in their Easter outfits.

Ombre Birthday Stamping
Stamps: Ombre Sentiments Birthday - PTI
Paper: white - PTI, DP Fine and Summy Paper Pack - Kaiser Craft
Ink: Bright Buttercup, Orange Zest - PTI
Accessories: foam dots, Lemonade Blend Sequins - Avery Elle

Ombre Panel cards
Stamps: Ombre Sentiments Birthday - PTI
Paper: white - PTI, DP Fine and Sunny Paper Pack - Kaiser Craft, or rust Coredinations Ranger Distress
Paper Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
Ink: Versamark, Ranger Distress Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Strw
Accessories: mini mister, craft mat, black embossing powder, Lemonade Blend Sequins - Avery Elle, or orange enamel dots

Wishing You

Yes, I've made yet another Christmas card for my box - one card closer to done.  A quick post tonight as I really have to get to bed - I just had to get this card out of my brain before going!

I gold embossed the sentiment onto a panel of white card die cut with a Stitched Mat Square from Lil' Inker Designs.  I adhered 3 wood veneer stars on the gold foil strip.

My card design was inspired by the following challenges:

Merry Monday

Addicted to Stamps and More - Holiday

Freshly Made Sketches

Stamps:  Alpine Christmas - WMS
Paper:  White - PTI, Gold Foil Sheets - SU
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  gold embossing powder, heat tool, Stitched Mat Square - Lil'Inker Designs, Wood Veneer Stars - Studio Calico/American Crafts.

Wanderlust Class - Inspiration Art Journal

Week 10 of the year long Wanderlust classes I have signed up for (see side bar) was a class by Karen Michel called "Inspiration- Art Journal". And here is the journal I created from the class.

The pages inside - all different sizes and some have tags stapled onto them

 

Wrinkled seam tape knotted on the binding cord.

I can't tell you exactly how I made it - as it is from a class - but it involves taking apart an old book, using Mod Podge and cloth material to cover - and creating pages to re-bind inside your book.  Here are photos I took along my creative way:

I'm not sure what I'm going to use my Inspiration Journal for yet -  but it's ready for me when I figure it out!

I absolutely love the colors and patterns on this beautiful cloth that I purchased at Joann Fabric.  I really didn't need to add anything to it - but wanted some kind of title on my journal - and so adhered these Tim Holtz Alpha Parts Phrases that I highlighted with some Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint.

I am learning so many creative things from the Wanderlust Classes -  things I wouldn't be doing if left to my own devices - things I thought I wouldn't be interested in are making me stretch!

You can still join in on the classes - enrollment goes through July - all the classes are on video so you can view them and create from them at your own pace.  Check it all out here:

I'm also linking my journal to:
Anything But Cute: Challenge Earth Day
Recycled book, beautiful floral material

 

Every Moment Matters

I was excited for April to come so I could play along with the next challenge from The CAS Mix Up Challenge run by Loll and Bonnie.  This month they want us to play with stamps and stencils along with other mixed media of our choice from the list on their sidebar.

And here's the card I created.  I used the beautiful Eve, a Modern Woman stencil from Stencil Girl with WV Archival Pink Peony Ink on a white card stock panel, placed slightly off center.  Then I randomly stamped the WV Script Background in WV Archival Fern Green Ink along 2 edges.  I stapled a piece of Idea-ology Film Strip on the side.

I stamped the sentiment from WV Artful Life set on a square of patterned paper using Archival Jet Black Ink and heat dried it.  I put Glossy Accents over an Idea-ology Fragment tile and laid it over the sentiment/patterned paper.  I adhered it with ScorTape over the film strip.

To finish off my design - I added a few Sugar Blend sequins from Avery Elle.

I'm also linking my card to:

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge -  Dimension

The Fragment tile, loosely stapled film strip ribbon and sequins add dimension to my card.

 AAA Cards - Stenciling

Stamps:  Script Background and Artful Life - Wendy Vecchi/Stampers Anonymous
Paper:  White, Limeaide Ice - PTI, DP - This and That Paperpad/Echo Park Paper.
Ink:  Archival Jet Black, Wendy Vecchi Archival  Pink Peony and Fern Green.
Accessories:  Fragments and Film Strip Ribbon - Idea-ology, ScorTape, mini attacher - Ranger, Sugar Blend Sequins - Avery Elle, Eve, A Modern Woman Stencil - Stencil Girl, Glossy Accents - Ranger.

April Mixed Media Card Challenge - Sunshine

Happy April Fools Day!  Do people still play tricks on each other today??!!  Well, it's no trick that we've got a brand new Mixed Media Card Challenge for you today!  The theme?  Sunshine with the optional element of bricks!  Perfect for spring and all the sunshine we hope we will be having!

 I incorporated both into my design this month.

I started by dabbing Adirondack Alcohol inks in Shell Pink, Citrus and Aqua along with some Alcohol Blending Solution and Gold Mixative onto a 5" x 7" panel of Yupo Paper (see Tim Holtz YouTube tutorial here).  I placed the Ray Stencil over the panel and dabbed Alcohol Blending solution through the stencil to remove most of the Alcohol ink in the stencil area.  Then I dabbed some Butterscotch Alcohol ink at the base of the rays to create the sun.

I used  Basically Bricks stencil with White embossing paste along the bottom half of the panel - just putting paste on partial areas so as not to cover the sun.  I had actually colored the white embossing paste with Shell Pink Alcohol Ink -  but as the paste dried - it absorbed the colors from the panel so looks mostly greenish!  I added a Small Talk Sticker that I outlined with a black Stabilo pencil then went over it with a wet finger to smudge it.

 I just noticed that it looks like blue clouds at the top of the sun rays - not planned but kind of cool!

 I hope you'll join us in this month's Mixed Media Card Challenge -  you will find lots of Design Team inspiration as well as the link for your creations here.

Paper:  Yupo Paper, White, True Black - PTI
Ink:  Adirondack Alcohol Inks - Shell Pink, Butterscotch, Citrus, Aqua, Alcohol Blending Solution, Gold Mixative.
Accessories:  Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste, Wendy Vecchi Basically Bricks, Rays Stencil - Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, Small Talk Idea-ology, Black Stabilo Pencil.