Snowy Cards

I recently participated in a 4-day Card Maker Success Summit online.  It was a great experience, and I learned a lot of new techniques.  

I don't often make one-layer cards, but Justine Hovey's tutorials prompted me to do some.  I actually did four of her cards, two of them included a Karen Burniston pop-up die on the inside.  I also made them two-layer cards, popping up the front panels on foam strips.  

Two of them have snow.  Justine's tutorial called for an embossing folder, which I did not have.  I did, however, have a snowfall stencil; so I used that with some glittery embossing paste.  The coloring on the cards was done with blending brushes and distress oxide inks and masking paper.

As I said, two of the cards also included a Karen Burniston pop-up, as well as smaller versions of the front image.

Here are close-up photos of the other two cards.

I did not have two different deer silhouette stamps, but I did have a set of Impression Obsession deer.  I cut those out of black cardstock on which I had placed some 3" Elizabeth Craft two-sided tape -- making them stickers.  I added some tiny gemstones to each of the cards.

I thoroughly enjoyed the four-day experience and will use many of the techniques I learned in the future.

Christmas Castle

Several months ago I made a Halloween castle card, using the Karen Burniston Castle Pop-Up die.  I thought I would give a Christmas castle a try.  I've got tons of Christmas paper, so the hardest part was deciding which patterned paper to use on my card.  I finally decided and put my card together.

The front includes a Santa and sleigh flying across the top.  That's an Impression Obsession die.  In addition to the Karen Burniston Castle Pop-Up set, I also used some wreaths from both the House & Fence die set and the Sleigh die set.

I carried the same theme into the inside of my card, adding the fence from the House & Fence die as well.

I took some close-up photos so that you can see the castle in more detail.

This was such a fun project!

50th Birthday Card -- with Pumpkins

My neighbor asked me to make a 50th Birthday card for a co-worker.  She didn't want an "over-the-hill" card, but one with pumpkins.  Apparently, she gives the woman a pumpkin every year on her birthday.  I pulled out a brand-new CottageCutz pumpkins die, as well as the Karen Burniston Pull Frame Pop-Up and "Celebrate" dies, the Memory Box alphabet/number dies, and some Impression Obsession and Sizzix word dies to create this "not over-the-hill" birthday card.

The larger of the frames from the Karen Burniston Pull Frame Pop-Up is on the front of the card . . .

. . . and, when you pull the little tab, up pops the front of the pop-up, revealing the birthday wishes on the smaller frame.

 I added an additional pumpkin and greeting on the very inside of the card as well.

I hope both my neighbor and her co-worker like the card.

Dogwood Tag Book Card

I'm a big fan of Karen Burniston's pop-up dies.  I saw a very pretty and very clever card on her blog the other day, and I knew I was going to have to try it.  It featured her Tag Book Pop-Up die.  I've made a few cards using this die before, but this one used acetate for the inside pieces.  It gave the illusion of the cherry blossoms she used as floating.  I didn't have the cherry blossoms, but I did have an Impression Obsession branch and Heartfelt Creations dogwoods -- so that's what I used on my card.  The front was pretty easy . . .

. . . the inside took a bit of concentration.

As you can see, I glued the die-cut pieces directly onto the acetate "frame" and they appear to be floating.  Here's a photo which shows the "floating" elements a little better.

This was a very fun card to make.

CCEE1810 Die Cut Words

Vicky's second challenge for March is "Die Cut Words."  We were to use a technique involving die-cut words.  Not one to shy away from a challenge, I tried a technique I had never done before -- 3-D Word Dies.  I'm not completely satisfied with the results of my endeavor, but it is what it is.  I may try again some time to see if I can improve upon my attempt.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team answered Vicky's challenge.

CCEE1710 - National Bubble Week

Lynn continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week.  She told us that it is National Bubble Week.  She gave some ideas for a card -- "This might include making use of a technique like painting with bubbles or bubble wrap on a brayer, or a bubble stamp or image of children blowing bubbles."  At the risk of being in a rut, I have another fish card this week; but I just had to use this cute little Impression Obsession bubble die set.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more bubble fun.

CCEE1704 Let It Snow

Vicky winds up the month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a challenge to make an all occasion card  -- any card you could send on a normal day, no birthdays or holidays.  BUT . . . it should have snow on it in one way or another.  This was an opportunity for me to use some masking fluid, which I don't think I've used all season.   I added some Stickles for sparkle on the snow banks.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more snow.

CCEE1616 Scenic Cards

Anne challenged us to make scenic cards for the CCEE Stampers challenge this week.  There was one proviso -- include some red.  This was a fun card to make.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more paper scenery.

MFP Stamp Shop Wild Animals Blog Hop - Day 4

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP

Wild Animals
 BLOG HOP

Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!!

JOIN US EACH DAY, March  22-25 FOR SOME A ROARING GOOD TIME. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the March 25th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop Wild Animal-related STAMP SETS.  Just comment on the participating blogs (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win!  (You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the March 25 post on the MFP Stamp Shop blog. The winners will be announced on April 9, 2016, on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day.  (HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP Stamp Shop blog count twice.)  The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday, April 8, 2016, at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
March 23-- DIY Kids Coloring Book by Sandy
March 25-- Long Easel Card by Gail

Let's get started !!

Using an Impression Obsession die set and several MFP Stamp Shop sets today, I've created a little sylvan scene for my final card of the Blog Hop.  I stamped three deer (a buck, a doe, and a fawn) and cut them out (removing the antlers on the doe and fawn).  To make the doe, I first stamped the image onto waxed paper and then laid the waxed paper onto the cardstock and carefully pressed down.  This resulted in a reverse of the original image.

The sets I used to create my card were MFP Stamp Shop Animal Birthdays, Oh Deer, and Bow Hunting.

Here's the Design Team

Bonnie

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois   (that's me)
Marilynn  (next)

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

We hope that you have enjoyed this month's blog hop and that we have inspired you to start your own Wild Animal projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you have made by April 8th and check back on April 9, 2016, to see if you are a winner. 

CCEE1542 - Acetate

Maryann continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers again this week.  She asked us to use some acetate on our cards this week.   Back in August, I had seen a card that Sabrina had made using an acetate spiral.  I stuck it in my Favorites on Splitcoaststampers because I knew I wanted to CASE it.  You can't see the acetate on the front of my card (because it isn't there!).

It's on the inside.  You make a spiral out an acetate circle and add cut-out or punched out embellishments on the spiral.

It looks like the bats of floating in mid-air!  How cool is that!!!

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled this challenge.

Santa and Sleigh

I attended StampFest this past weekend and had a great time.  One of the booths in which I plunked down quite a bit of cash was the Impression Obsession booth.  I had five die/die sets on my list, three of which I purchased.  However, I also bought about six or seven dies NOT on my list.  Two of them are on this card:

One of the cards on their sample board was actually a tag using this Santa and Sleigh die -- and that sold me.  I learned a little trick for making snow drifts using a crimper from that tag.  I embellished a bit from the tag by making a second drift and tucking in the stand of evergreen trees behind it.  Some white gel added some snow to the branches of the trees.  I used that same white gel pen for the stars.

I'm entering this card in the Impression Obsession Christmas in July challenge.

Cardstock:  Recollections 110 lb. White, The Paper Studio Black; MFP Stamp Shop Snow Storm Smooth and Deep Olive
Ink:  Ranger Distress Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire
Accessories:  IO Santa die, IO Fir Tree Border die, Ranger sponge applicators, Sakura white gelly roll pen, Crimper

Stampin'B's Challenge #42 - Nautical

Joanne (our lover of lighthouses) was the hostess this week for the Stampin'B's DT Challenge Blog. She wanted us to do a nautical card – anything with boats, shells, lighthouses, etc., etc., etc.

I had bought an economy set of stamps from A.C. Moore before they closed their Orlando store – with shells and lighthouses. I especially liked this image, which I stamped with Palette Burnt Umber and colored with Copic and Prismcolor markers. The sentiment is from a set of nautical stamps from Impression Obsession, and I thought it would work well with the shells. After searching through my drawer full of blue paper, I found this Cloud 9 paper with all sorts of nautical sayings on it – it provided me with my color combo.
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Stamps - A.C. Moore, Impression Obsession
Paper - GP White, Close to Cocoa, Cloud 9
Ink - Palette Burnt Umber
Accessories - Nestabilities ovals, Copic and Prismacolor markers, Ribbon