Christmas Candles

Inspiration

Here’s another Christmas card design - I love the images from Heartfelt Creations! They are so good for working with the COPIC markers - lots of opportunity for shading and detail work.

Ingredients

Paper

Note: finished card size is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Garden Green (SU!): 4 1/4” x 11, score @ 5 1/2”; Real Red (SU!): 4 3/8” x 3 7/8”; Stamper’s Select White Cardstock (Paper Trey): 4 1/4” x 3 3/4” and 4 1/2” x 2”

Ink

Tuxedo Black (Memento); Garden Green (SU!)

Stamps

Poinsettia And Candles (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

COPIC Markers: Y0000, Y000, Y02, Y38, R20, R22, R27, R89, BG0000, 0, G21, G24, G29; SPICA Markers: Clear, Red; Holly Shapeabilities die (Spellbinders); Cuttlebug (Provo Craft); Sponge; Ribbon (Ellen Hutson); Bow-Easy; Scor-Pal; Glue dots; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blade (Fiskars); Scissors

Instructions

Image

Stamp the image using the black on the larger white square, and color it with COPIC markers: 

• Candles: BG0000, 0
• Flames: Y0000, Y000, Y02, Clear SPICA
• Leaves: G21, G24, G29
• Berries: R89
• Poinsettias: R20, R22, R27, Y38

Trim

Create the holly berry trim using the Spellbinders holly die and the smaller white panel. Run it through the Cuttlebug twice - once to cut, and once to emboss. Before you remove the paper from the die, use a small sponge to sponge the green ink onto the leaves. Color the berries with the red SPICA pen.

Assembly

Mount the stamped image on the red panel, then onto the base card on the left. Add the holly die cut in the area to the right of the image.

Tie a small bow in red ribbon, and mount it above the holly die cut using a glue dot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving – Early!

Inspiration

I’ll be posting cards from my craft weekend for the next few posts – here’s a Thanksgiving card I created.  I wanted to try out my new Heartfelt Creations stamps and Copic markers.  I’m working on new ways to photograph the cards, too.

Ingredients

Paper

Note: finished card size is 8 1/2” x 5 1/2”

Pumpkin Pie (SU!): 8 1/2” x 11, score @ 5 1/2”; Crushed Curry (SU!): 5 1/4” x 5 1/4”; Always Artichoke (SU!): 5 1/8” x 5 1/8”; Stamper’s Select White Cardstock (Paper Trey): 5” x 5”

Ink

Rich Cocoa (Memento); Soft Suede (SU!)

Stamps

Rustic Autumn Wheel (Heartfelt Creations); Sentiment from Bold Falling Leaves (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

COPIC Markers: Y17, Y38, YR15, YR07, YG93, E11, E18, E31, E33, E37, C5, C7; Sponge; Ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Acrylic Block; Stamp-A-Ma-Jig; SU! Marker: Soft Suede; Post-It Note; Sticky Tape (PK Glitz); Scor-Pal; Fiskars trimmer with deckle blade; Scissors; Baby wipes

Instructions

Paper

This is an EASY card – the only cutting to do is to cut the squares of yellow, green, and white using the deckle blade.  The edges are distressed with the suede ink and a sponge.

Image

I stamped the image using the cocoa ink on the white square, and colored it with   COPIC markers:

• Pumpkins: Y17, YR15, YR07, E11, E18
• Grass: Y38, YG93
• Fence: E31, E33, E37
• Wheel: C5, C7

Sentiment

The sentiment is stamped on the base card using the suede ink, and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for positioning.  The trick here is that the stamp is one line, and I wanted it on 2 lines. To split the image:

Stamp the image on the clear position sheet, then thoroughly clean the stamp using a baby wipe
Use the marker to color just the word “Happy”
Using the clear position sheet and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, place the Happy where you want it on the card, and stamp the first word.
Now color the word “Thanksgiving”, position the sheet on the card. Use a Post-It note to cover where the word “Happy” would have stamped – just in case the stamp is not as clean or dry as it needs to be – you don’t want a “ghost” of Happy stamping there!
Stamp the Thanksgiving sentiment, and you have a 2-line sentiment from a 1-line stamp!

Assembly

Mount the green square on the left of the card, and add the yellow on the green.  Tie the ribbon around the card BEFORE mounting the image panel.  I used the sticky tape to hold the ribbon in place.

Mount the image on the yellow square over the ribbon.

I’d love to get your feedback as I work on improving my blog – leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Bells

One Quick Note: I’ve added the capability to subscribe to my blog posts by email! Simply click the “subscribe” link in the right column.  You’ll be asked to enter your email address, and one of those crazy code words.  Then you’ll receive a verification email that you need to take care of.  That’s it!  I hope you’ll favor me with a subscription!  On to the card…

Inspiration

Every year for the last 3 years, I’ve have the wonderful opportunity to take a 3-day weekend in the fall to escape work and home and craft with friends at a local scrapbook retreat. I usually use this time to make my Christmas cards (150 or so), and play with new toys, etc. Well, this year we didn’t “retreat”, but spent the weekend at my house - still a wonderful escape time! At this point, I’m only in the Christmas card design phase - not the mass production phase, so today you’ll see one of my first designs I will be considering for cards to send this year.

Today’s is the current SCS Sketch Challenge (#303) 

 

 

Here’s my card:

Ingredients

Paper

Note: finished card size is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Garden Green (SU!): 4 1/4” x 11, score @ 5 1/2”; Real Red (SU!): 3” x 4”; Whisper White (SU!): scrap; Merry Moments DSP (SU!): striped pattern - 1 1/2” x 5 1/2”, design pattern - 2 1/2” x 4 1/4”; Paper Trey Stamper’s Select White Cardstock (SU!): 3” x 4”

Ink

Tuxedo Black (Memento); Garden Green (SU!)

Stamps

Holly Bells (Heartfelt Creations); Christmas Punch (SU!)

Accessories

Curvy Label punch (SU!); Classic Oval Nestabilities - small and large sets (Spellbinders; COPIC Markers: R27, R29, R46, G25, G28, B0000, 000; SPICA: Clear; Foam Dots; Scor-Pal; Fiskars trimmer with straight blade, Scissors

Instructions

Image

The bells are stamped twice, both on Paper Trey white using the Tuxedo black ink.  Using COPIC markers, I colored one image completely and then colored only the front bell with ribbon and some holly.  I covered the bells and the ribbon with the clear SPICA pen.  Then I cut out the colored bell and ribbon on the partially colored image.

The fully colored image was cut out using the largest oval of the Small Oval Nestabilities set.  Then I cut a red oval using the largest oval of the Large Oval set.  Mount the bells oval on the red oval.

I stamped the sentiment in green on the scrap of white paper, and punched it out.

Assembly

The wide printed paper panel is first, followed by the long narrow one.  The bells on the oval are mounted on the red oval, then added to the card.

I added the trimmed bell over the full image, using foam dots.  The sentiment is mounted last, also using foam dots.

Hope this kicks off the season for you - Thanks for stopping by!

First Birthday

Inspiration

I had a last-minute invitation to a baby girl’s first birthday, and this is the card I put together. I returned to my stand-by idea mill - the SCS Sketch Challenge. I used the challenge number 302 (click the sketch at the right to go to the challenge page).

I added the ribbon and one more layer to the sketch, since the stamp I wanted to use was long and narrow. 

Here’s the result:

Ingredients

Paper

Note:  The finished card size is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Color	Size
Pink Pirouette – textured (SU!)	a) 4 1/4” x 11,” score at 5 1/2”
Early Espresso (SU!)	a) 1 1/8” x 5 1/2” b) 1 3/8” x 3 1/2” c) 2 1/4” x 3” d) 1 7/8” x 3 3/4” e) 1/2” x 1 3/8”
Pink Pirouette Patterned Paper (SU!)	a) 1” x 5 3/8” b) 2 1/8” x 2 7/8”
Baja Breeze (SU!)	a) 1 1/4” x 3 3/8”
White (Paper Trey)	a) 1 3/4” x 3 5/8” b) 3/8” x 1 1/4”

Ink

Rich Cocoa (Memento), Baja Breeze (SU!)

Stamps

Teddies & Balloons (Hero Arts), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)

Accessories

COPIC markers: E27, E31, E33, BG000, BG02, BG72, BG75,Y21, Y24, YG17, RV000, RV02, RV10, RV13, C00, C01 (Too Markers); SPICA At-You Pink, Clear (Too Markers); Pink ribbon (Michaels); Scor-Pal; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blade (Fiskars); Scissors

Instructions

Image

Stamp the teddy bears on the larger white panel using the brown ink; color with COPICs.

Stamp the greeting on the small white piece using the blue ink.

Hint: When you are working with a tiny image like the greeting, there’s always the question: “Do I stamp it and then cut it out or cut it then stamp it?” In general, I cut then stamp - I like all the pieces to look proportionally perfect, and I find that cutting first helps me get there. If I’m worried about getting the stamp straight or can’t “eyeball” the position, I use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. On this one, I just stamped it without using the positioner.

Assembly

This card is simple to assemble - just lots of building layers.  First, mount all the color and image layers on the appropriate brown mat panels.

Then simply attach the layers in the right order: First the base card, then the long pink patterned panel, followed by the blue panel.

Then add your bow.

Hint: I have a couple of ways I use to tie bows.  One of my favorites is the Bow-Easy.  However, on this card, I followed a great tutorial by Becca Freeken I found here.

Follow up with the last layers, and the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heartfelt Fall

Inspiration

I love fall! I’ve always seen fall as a new beginning—maybe even more than January bringing in a new year. It might be a holdover from starting the school year in September as a kid, or the changing of nature’s colors into one of my favorite palettes, or maybe the switching over what we wear, or perhaps the impending switch of the time off of Daylight Savings time. Whatever it is, I love the feeling, and since I live in Texas, October feels much more like fall than September does. So this week, I have a fall-themed card to show you. I used it as a birthday card, but it would work for many different occasions.  I’ve CASEd a card from the Heartfelt Creations website (one of my FAVORITE places for ideas)—click here to see the original card.

Ingredients

Paper

Note:  The finished card size is 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Color	Size
Kraft (SU!)	a)  4 1/4” x 11”, score at 5 1/2" b)  3” x 3 7/8”
Cajun Craze (SU!)	a)  4” x 5 1/2” b)  3” x 5”
Bashful Blue (SU!)	a) 1” x 4 7/8” – 2 pieces
Whisper White (SU!)	a)  3” x 5” b)  scrap – at least 2” x 2”
Autumn Traditions DSP (SU!)	a)  3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
So Saffron DSP (SU!)	a)  2 7/8” x 3 7/8”

Ink

Rich Cocoa (Memento), So Saffron (SU!), Cajun Craze (SU!)

Stamps

Daisy Patch Swirl (Heartfelt Creations)

Accessories

Acrylic block (SU!); Masking Magic (ThermoWeb); Deco Fans Punch Around the Page (Martha Stewart); Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Oval Large, and Scalloped Classic Oval Large; Cuttlebug; Pearls (Crystal Stickers); blue ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Prisma Color pencils; Spica pens in Mint & Sand (Too Markers); Sticky Tape (PK Glitz); Scor-Pal; Foam tape; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blades (Fiskars); Scissors

Instructions

Paper

Cut all your pieces of card stock to the sizes outlines above.

Run the 3” x 5” piece of rust-colored paper through the Cuttlebug twice, using the large scalloped oval Nestabilities die - once to cut and once to emboss.

Using the edge punch, punch one long edge of each of the 2 blue strips.

Image

Stamp the daisy swirl image in brown on the 3” x 5” white panel.  Then stamp the flower in the middle of the image again on the scrap of white.  Cut out the flower from the small image.  Use the largest plain oval Nestability to frame and cut out the full image from the larger stamped image.

Make a mask for the flower portion of the image, by stamping the flower on the masking sheet, or a post-it.  Then trim your mask closely and cover the flower on the oval panel.  Using a sponge with the yellow ink, sponge around the flower, with outward strokes so that the ink is lighter as it approaches the outer parts of the oval, and darker near the center.  Then with another sponge, lightly stroke some of

Hint: The tricky part about using Post-It notes for detailed mask is that the final mask is sticky only on one edge of the mask.  If your goal is to be able to use the mask cleanly without holding it down with your finger, try out a masking medium that is sticky across the entire image.

Using the colored pencils, color the petals of the both flowers blue, and the centers yellow.  Color the leaves on the full image green.  Using the SPICA markers, cover the green leaves with Mint, and outline the petals and centers with Sand.

Attach the pearl stickers to the dot swirls in the image, and mount the trimmed flower to the flower on the image using a foam dot.  I rotated the flower slightly so that the petals alternate with the base image to make the flower look more full.

Assembly

Score and fold the large Kraft panel for the base card. Mount the rust paper on the base, followed by the green patterned paper.

Now mount the yellow patterned paper on the smaller Kraft piece.  Mount the punched blue strips to the back of the Kraft paper so the fans show along the edge.  Using the sticky tape, mount the ribbon across the front of this stack of paper.  Then mount the whole set onto the base card.

Then mount the rust colored scalloped oval to the left of the card, and the image on the oval.

Tie a blue bow, and mount it to the right of the image, on the blue ribbon stripe.

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Digital Stamping!

Inspiration
Well, I’m very late posting today – mostly because I’ve been making cards!  Another great weekend getting my creativity stoked up for the holiday season.  I had 2 special card orders to fill – both VERY specific as to topic.  When that happens, I often don’t have a stamp to fit the exact need – that’s the best time for me to turn to digi stamps.  They are really fun, and so flexible.  For me, they inspire me to use lots of my accessories and embellishments.  I’ll show you both creations below.


To use a digital stamp, I do a lot of web-surfing to find the image I like, then purchase, or (just download if they’re free!).  After planning the card design, I use Photoshop to open the image and get them sized just right for the card.  In Photoshop, you can enlarge or shrink an image, or flip them to a mirror of the original to make them fit together just the way you want.


Then, just print them with your regular printer (I have an Epson RX620 Ink Jet printer).  If you use COPICs, you may need to let them dry for a while before you color – I actually printed mine Saturday afternoon, and colored them today, so there was no danger of smearing.  If you’re in a hurry, you can always blast the paper with a heat gun, and you should be good to go.
Card 1: Longhorn Girl
The first special request was for a “congrats” card for a high school senior who just found out she’s been accepted at the University Of Texas in Austin.  When I looked on Splitcoast (here), I found a card I liked, and her information sent me to Anne Bodil’s site (here) – a Norwegian scrapper who draws beautifully, and provides a free digi every once in a while.  I loaded it into Photoshop, and added some Longhorn symbols and stars.  Here’s her special card.
Ingredients
Paper

Color	Vendor	Size
Basic Black	Stampin’ Up!	a)  4 1/4” x 11”, score at 5 1/2" b) 4 1/2” x 3 1/2” c) Small scrap
Textured Orange	DCWV	a)  4 1/8” x 5 3/8”
Plaid Orange	Close to My Heart	a)  4” x 3”
Whisper White	Stampin’ Up!	a)  4 1/2” x 3 1/2” b)  Small scrap
Clearly Thanks printed window sheet (white polka dots)	Stampin’ Up!	a)  4” x 4”

Ink
Pumpkin Pie (SU!)
Stamps
AnneBodil14 (Anne Bodil); Absolutely Fabulous (SU!)
Accessories
Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Oval Large, and Scalloped Classic Oval Large; Cuttlebug; Scalloped oval punch and small oval punch (SU!); COPIC markers (E000, E00, E27, E31, E50, YR02, Black Multi-Liner); SPICA At-You Chocolate; SU! Marker (Pumpkin Pie); Gelly Roll MED – Orange); Ribbon (scraps); Scor-Pal; Glue dots; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight and deckle blades (Fiskars); Scissors
Instructions
Paper and Images
After printing the girl image, cut it out using the Classic Oval.  Cut and emboss a Scalloped oval in black.  Cut the plaid paper with a deckle edge blade, and the printed window sheet with a straight blade.
Stamp the sentiment on the white scrap and punch it out with the plain oval.  Punch a black scalloped oval, and mount the sentiment on the scalloped oval.
Color the girl using COPICs – here’s what I used on each part:  Skin: E000 and E00; Eyes: SPICA Chocolate; Hair: E27, E31, E50; Longhorns/Stars/Hair bows: Gelly Roll MED – Orange; Dress: Pumpkin Pie; Shirt: YR02; Leggings: YR02 and Black Multi-Liner; Shoes: Black Multi-Liner
I finished up by using a sponge and some pumpkin pie ink to slightly color the edges of the white oval.
Assembly
Layer on the textured orange panel, followed by the clear panel, followed by the plaid.  Tie the ribbon around the middle.  Mount the black scalloped oval over the ribbon, and the image of the girl on the black scalloped oval.
Fold the black card base on the scored line.  Mount the artwork on the front.
Inside
For this card, I cut another textured orange panel (4 1/8” x 5 3/8” ), and a white panel (4” x 5 1/8”), and mounted them inside.  I stamped the “congrats on your big news” from the same Absolutely Fabulous stamp set in black.
Card 2: Dairy Farmer
No kidding!  A friend has a son who is turning 30, and wants to start a dairy farm.  I made a card for him a couple years ago (see it here).  Now, 30 is a big one, so she is going to help him buy is first card, so she needed a BIG card to present to him.  Who has 2 original cow stamp sets????  Back to the digital resources!  I found a fun farm on the My Grafico website, and here’s what I created.

Ingredients
Paper

Color	Vendor	Size
Light blue card stock	Strathmore	a)  12” x 18”, score at 9"
Grass paper	Provo Craft	a) 12” x 12”
Cloud paper	Provo Craft	a)  11” x 6”
White	Paper Trey	a)  8 1/2” x 11”
White	Georgia Pacific	a)  8 1/2” x 11”

Ink
None! Everything is printed on the Epson Ink Jet Printer
Stamps
Macdonald’s Farm (My Grafico)
Accessories
COPIC markers (E000, E00, E27, E31, E50, YR02, Black Multi-Liner); Gelly Roll Pink Star; Scor-Pal; Foam Tape; Xyron; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blades (Fiskars); Scissors
Instructions
Images
After printing the farm images on the Paper Trey white paper, color with the COPICs – here’s what I used:
Cows: YR00, YR02, R02; Barn: T003, T005, Y15, Y17, E08, E09, E33, E39, R46; Hair: Y02, YR02, YR03; Skin: E000, E00; Cheeks: R24; Overalls: B91, B93; Man’s Shirt: Y02, Y08; Girl’s Shirt: Gelly Roll Pink Star.
I printed the greeting on the Georgia Pacific white.
Then cut everything out! Yes – this IS the tedious part.  Hint: I ran the cows, the barn, and the girl through the Xyron before cutting them out, so they’d stick really well.  I didn’t do that with the man, because of the layering in the assembly.
Assembly
Fold the base card on the score line, and crease it well.  Mount the cloud paper on the top part of the front.  Free-hand cut 3 hills from the grass paper – mount the top-most hill with regular adhesive, then layer the next two hills on with foam tape.
Peel & stick the cows and barn, and little girl.  Put adhesive on the part of the man that will not stick above the hill, and mount it too.
For the greeting – again, I ran it through the Xyron, trimmed it closely and mounted it “in the clouds”.
Inside
For this card, I cut a piece of olive green textured cardstock (10” x 8” ), and a printed a sentiment (“MILK it for all it’s worth!  Happy Birthday”) in black on another sheet of Georgia Pacific white.
I trimmed the white panel to 9 1/2” x 7 1/2” and mounted it on the green, and then then mounted them inside.
I’m posting with out closely proofing this – it’s getting late!  Leave a comment or send me an email if you have questions – I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for stopping by.
Lisa Lynne

Sketches As Inspiration

Inspiration
Happy Belated World Card Making Day!  Yes, yesterday was World Card Making Day, and I spent the day making cards!  What a great way to spend a Saturday.
If you are a card maker, you know there are those days where you know you need to make a card, but have no idea what to make.  One of my favorite ways to kick start card making is to use a sketch.  A sketch is simply a layout for a card – the placement and proportions used to create the card, but everything else (the color, paper, techniques, theme, stamps, etc.) are all yours. 
If you haven’t used a sketch before, a great place to start is with the weekly Sketch Challenge at Splitcoast – every Wednesday a new sketch is posted, and everyone who plays uploads their take on the sketch to a gallery.  It is always impressive how many beautiful and unique creations you will see, and they all start with the same layout.  You can find all of the sketch challenges here.
Here is the current sketch challenge. The sketch ID is SC300 (i.e. SplitCoast 300 – YES it is the 300th challenge!!!). The colors and numbers have no special meaning – they are just there to help you identify the pieces.  You can flip the layout, change the sizes of the pieces, or other tweaks, but the goal of the challenge is to see the main elements of the layout used.  This one consists of 4 main pieces: the base card, and 3 overlapping rectangles.
When I start with a sketch, I think about where the focal point of the card would be, then I to spend some time looking through stamps I haven’t used in a while. I concentrate on the stamps that fit the theme I want to create (if I have one), or colors I’m interested in, etc.  Coordinated papers really help in the process, especially for layers.
Here’s my interpretation of SC300.  Since I picked a long tree image, I flipped the sketch to a portrait layout instead of landscape, and the middle/top panel is longer and more narrow.

Hint: If you like to make multiple cards, this is a great sketch for that.  Just cut all your rectangles first, then as you’ll see below, it’s an easy production line assembly process!
Ingredients
Paper (all SU!)

Color	Size
Crushed Curry(SU!)	a)  4 1/4” x 11”, score at 5 1/2"
Taken with Teal(SU!)	a)  4 1/8” x 5 3/8”
Really Rust (SU!)	a)  3 3/4” x 1 5/8” b)  3 1/4” x 1 3/8” c)   4 1/8” x 2”
Autumn Meadows DSP (SU!) (teal leaf pattern)	a)  4” x 5 1/4” b)  4” x 1 7/8”
Autumn Meadows DSP (SU!) (teal wavy line pattern)	a)  3 5/8” x 1 1/2” b)  3 1/8” x 1 1/4”
Very Vanilla (SU!)	a)  4 1/4” x 5 1/2”

Ink
Really Rust (SU!), More Mustard (SU!), Taken with Teal (SU!), Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Stamps
Season of Friendship (SU!)
Accessories
Scor-Pal; Glue dots; Adhesive Transfer Gun 714 (Scotch); Rotary trimmer with straight blade (Fiskars); Scissors
Instructions
Image
Use the Very Vanilla panel, and stamp the tree in brown.  Cut it out, trimming closely around the edges.
Then stamp the leaves in yellow, rust, and teal on the remaining vanilla cardstock.  Use the 3/4” circle punch to cut out the leaves.
Assembly
Fold the yellow card base on the scored line.  Then layer on the solid teal panel, followed by the teal leaf paper.
Mount the teal wavy patterned paper onto the rust paper; these are mounted to the lower half of the card.  Mount the remaining teal leaf patterned paper on rust, and mount it on vertically on the card.
Mount the tree trunk in the center, then add the leaves using glue dots.
Inside
For this card, I cut another teal panel (4 1/8” x 5 3/8” ), and a vanilla panel (4” x 5 1/8”), and mounted them inside.  I stamped a birthday sentiment in rust.
Try out a sketch challenge next time you’re feeling stuck for card ideas – it’s a great boost!.
Thanks for stopping by.
Lisa Lynne