Saturday, October 1, 2016

Baba's Birthday



Today would have been my Dad's 86th birthday so I made this card even though I no longer have a physical address to which I could send it to him.

My Mom put in a request for birthday cards for Christmas (thankfully she has lots of friends who help to fill the void in her life), so this will be one for her gift collection.  She'll understand my inspiration:  Dad, or "Baba" as my kids called him,  kept a special frog on his desk,  ice cream was a staple in his diet -which he proved is as good on cereal as it is in a cone(!), the weather on his birthday was always perfect so there had to be sunshine in the background and the reflection on the pond represents "technicolor" memories of him.

Crafting really is better than therapy, right?!!


Supplies:  Penny Black "Ice On the Pond", Stampin' Up! "Think Happy Thoughts" and Stampin' Around Lily pad wheel, Versamark,  EK Sucess punch, Ranger Glossy Accents, Wink of Stella, Copic markers and chalk, Nestabilities circle dies, Always Artichoke and random brown and white cardstock on a Recollections ombre card base.  


Saturday, July 23, 2016

L'Aventurière






I made this card a month ago for my daughter, "the adventurer," who was leaving to spend a month studying in France.  I didn't pay attention to the note that was sticking out of the card when I took the picture;  Oops!

Since I hadn't gotten around to posting this before now, I thought it would be appropriate to put the card on my blog as she's flying over the Atlantic on her way home.  It also reminded me of a popular French song when I was studying French a couple decades ago:  L'aventurier by Indochine.  I'm envious that her access to French  music is so much better today.   I can't wait to hear all about her adventures, including the music festival she attended!



Supplies:  If I had posted it earlier, I'd remember better how exactly I made it!  It was definitely a Tim Holtz stamp set, Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue cardstock & ink and Heidi Swapp gold color shine.  I think I used colored pencils and am not sure where I got the patterned paper . . . Pardonnez-moi!

Monday, July 18, 2016

Inlaid Made Easy






This was my favorite challenge of Camp Create 2 on My Favorite Things' Blog.  It was fun to die cut, then fit back in the shapes instead of placing them on top of the card front like usual.  I did, however, place the "label" on top of the bottle since I had to hand cut it, not having a small oval the right shape or size for the little sentiment.  Otherwise, it's a flat card and a technique I would not have thought of on my own.  Thanks, MFT, for the inspiration to play with my dies in a new way!



Supplies:  MFT Soda Pop and Stay Tuned stamp sets, Soda Pop Bottles dies,  Anita's bubbles, clear Wink of Stella to give the rootbeer "fizz", Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango, Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Kraft cardstock., Copic Markers & Creamy Caramel ink.

Background Bonanza

I wasn't sure if I'd like the busy background of this card or not, but it was definitely fun to create (although I made a mess sorting through all the possibilities)! My Favorite Things Camp Create 2 challenge for July 15 pushed me out of my comfort zone again!   I would have liked to have laid out the images precisely, but instead just added random stamps as I thought of them (how could I have almost forgotten to include my beloved Jayhawk?)!  I had to make room for some favorite images, if only partially shown and I decided at the last minute to add a stamped  "you" so that my lucky recipient will know they rank right up there with chocolate chip cookies and France!




Supplies:  MFT Notepad, Nestablilites scallop circle die, Stampin' Up! Natural and Basic Black cardstock, white pigment ink & embossing powder plus multiple images from Stampin' Up!, Lawn Fawn, Fiskars, Paper Smooches and a couple manufacturers unknown.

Magnificent Masking


I need to practice color blending with distress inks, so My Favorite Things' July 14 Camp Create 2 challenge gave me the motivation to take that on again.  I was thankful to have some masking paper in my stash which made creating the mask from the die very easy to use!  I picked some colors I like and blended away, on the background using the same shades in "static' on the television set as well.  It could represent someone's crazy wallpaper, I guess . . . I didn't have an occasion or recipient in mind, so this was a challenge, but it's definitely a technique I'd be wiling to try with other background dies in the future. 

Supplies:  MFT Stay Tuned stamp set & dies, Tim Holtz distress inks:  Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers and Mustard Seed, Stampin' Up! Whisper White, plus miscellaneous scraps of black, gray and silver cardstock. 

Fantastic Foiling


I joined My Favorite Thing's Camp Create 2 this week, eager to get back in the crafting and blogging habit after the end of school, spring cleaning and summer vacation activities kept me away from regular card-making.  I loved the foli example on MFT, but not having foil or access to the heat tools for the foil technique, I  made my sample with some shiny silver cardstock, like a foil lining in a box of donuts (as if that's ever done)!

Supplies:  MFT LLD Donuts and Sprinkles, Stampin''Up ! border die, Creamy Caramel, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Gumbull Green ink and cardstock, generic grosgrain ribbon, and QuicKutz Geometric Circles embossing folder,

Coloring on Kraft


I'm wondering now if I should have made the circle around the panda & balloons blue instead of red so that it might appear more obvious that he was floating upward due to the helium . . . Oh well.  The point was to color on kraft paper along with My Favorite Things' Camp Create July 12 challenge, and I did just that.  I cut out the panda with one balloon to place down with some foam dimensional tape on top of the other two balloons; and also raised the sentiment.  I attempted to add shadow and some reflection off the red balloon on the panda's head and subtly placed some embossed bamboo in the background, but it doesn't show up real well in this photo.

Supplies:  MFT Happy Pandas, Nestabilities circle dies. Prismacolor pencils, dimensional tape, Stampin' Up! Real Red, Crumb Cake, Basic Black cardstock, and Cuttlebug Oriental Weave embossing folder.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Happy Birthday, Sis!

I need to edit this photo, but our internet was down this morning, then I had yoga & laundry to do, and now it's time to pick up David from school, so details will have to wait!

Happy birthday, Kathy.  I hope your day is as colorful as this card I made especially for you!


Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Black and White with a Pop of Color!


In my quest to create some unique birthday cards this month, I took inspiration from Paper Smooches Black & White Challenge with a Pop of Color to make a card appropriate for the art student in the family.   I took the Paper Smooches easel from I Heart Art, turned it on its side to fit the birthday greeting I wanted, and added some primary pops of color.  I also tentatively used a Copic marker to add some shading so that my easel wasn't just floating there above the ribbon.



Supplies: Paper Smooches I Heart Art, Sentiments from My Favorite Things Celebrate You and Stampin' Up! After Thoughts, All Night Media Splatter, Real Red, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight inks, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic C1, clear embossing powder, Whisper White, Basic Black satin ribbon, cardstock and Cuttlebug Wedding Suite embossing folder.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Happy Birthday, Simon Says Stamp!





This week I'm celebrating Simon Says Stamp's 7th birthday!
 I have a lot of April birthdays among family, friends and co-workers, so this Wednesday challenge was a great opportunity for me to use some new (to me) products which made it all the more fun to play along.  I had recently seen something about partial die cutting, so I challenged myself to add that technique into the mix and this is the result.











 Supplies:  Tim Holtz Alterations Bird Crazy stamp, die & embossing folder (set),  Distress Inks: mustard seed, mowed lawn, spiced marmalade, salty ocean, chipped sapphire, and fired brick, aqua brush, Art -C feather, Hero Arts birthday balloon, silver ribbon, pop dots, Ranger glossy accents, Memento Tuxedo Black, Wink of Stella clear pen, Canson watercolor paper and sentiment by Recollections. 

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Where does the time go?

Sometimes time flies, and other times, like this past week it drags.  We were without internet for six full days due to some trouble AT&T was having in our area and it drove all of us nuts!  Thankfully, we go it restored today.

I actually made this card beforehand, for a colleague who quit work to become a full time mom again with her third child.  I gave it to her before I wrote down the details, but I think I remember what inks & papers I used  . . .

Supplies:  Papertrey Ink's Hands of Time stamp set and dies, Stampin' Up! Apricot Appeal and Brocade Blue (?), grosgrain ribbon, Versamark, and an unidentified brad (Sorry!).

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Comfort food for Adele?


My family and I just got back from a quick Spring Break visit to my Mom's house, the place where I grew up, and it was so nice to enjoy her home-cooked suppers, fresh baked bread and pastries again! Even though she doesn't like cheese, "Nana" even made macaroni & cheese while we were there since she knows her grandson especially likes it!  

My daughter colored this image with colored pencils as she did a number of others while she was home on her spring break earlier this month.  I textured the background and cut out the sentiment for a fairly simple card.

Supplies:  Lil' Inker Designs Perfect Pairs, Technique Tuesday Straight Talk hello die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Nestabliities oval dies, Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White cardstock, Prismacolor pencils, corner rounder.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Chocolate chip cookies


Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies?  Of course there are people who have to avoid those that contain nuts, like my son's friend Kennedy who he shared with one day at school and she ended up going to the ER . . . but most people enjoy them, right?  I'm not sure why I originally bought this 12x12 piece of chocolate chip paper since it's not something I'd typically use in a scrapbook.  I probably just found it at Michaels and got it because I liked it, then it sat in my craft room for a while before I decided to add it to this cookie-themed card.

Supplies:   Stampendous Changito Baker, Versamark, Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory, Creamy Caramel, Early Espresso cardstock & ink, clear embossing powder and Whisper White flock (on the chef's hat). 

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Make Your Own Background





Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge was to make your own background, so I got out my fiber paste, some inks and a new stencil that caught my eye in the acrylic paint aisle, added a little glitter and made this birthday card for my kids' former piano teacher who has kept in touch with us even after both kids quit taking lessons.  Since she shares a St. Patrick's Day birthday with my son, I went with a green color scheme, cut out the flourished piano keys with my Cricut machine, embossed the keys and treble clef, then stamped a simple sentiment over a textured card that I hope expresses our appreciation of this special lady. 

Supplies:  Golden Fiber Paste, Plaid Folk Art Swirl Background stencil, Stampin' Up Basic Black, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Certainly Celery and Garden Green ink/card stocks, Think Happy Thoughts sentiment,  Cricut Quarter Note cartridge, Versamark, clear embossing powder, and glitter. 

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day!




I wonder how many people send St. Patrick's Day greetings . . . At least four of my family & friends will receive cards this year since I decided to play with the The Card Concept #50 {Shamrocks, Patterns & Greens} challenge.   I also wanted to practice masking and blending, hoping to make a Clean & Simple card, but out of four attempts, I wasn't satisfied with the inky smudges I got on the cards, (I need to wash my hands more frequently!)  so I die cut the focal image and went for a Clean & Layered style.   I was inspired by the shamrocks and the patterns, so I accented this card with a honeycomb backdrop and sanded the white core from my unknown yellow scrap.  The supplies I can identify are listed below.

I hope your St. Patrick's Day will be as happy as the one these bees appear to be celebrating!

Supplies:  Stampendous Lucky Bee Friends. Stampin' Up Whisper White & Garden Green cardstock, Sizzix Honeycomb embossing folder, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Copic markers, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Hero Arts sentiment, Ranger Glossy Accents, Nestabilities Circle die, Winsor & Newton Art Masking Liquid, Scotch foam tape and Wink of Stella clear brush.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Adventure Awaits!



When I started playing with Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge this week: Ombre Stenciled Backgrounds, I had no idea how happy I'd be with the results.  I may have just found a good option for my (hard to design for) son's birthday card.  Obviously, turning fifteen, the age at which you can get a learner's permit here is going to be an adventure, right?!!  Driving, starting to look at colleges and signing up for AP classes means plenty of adventures are in his future, not to mention plans for a fun summer vacation!  The Road Trip compass already included some splatter, so I just added a bit more from the other colors in the background to coordinate & add a little birthday confetti!

Supplies:  PI Road Trip, Stampin' Up Whisper White and Night of Navy cardstock, Tim Holtz Distress inks: mustard seed,pine needles, peacock feathers and chipped sapphire, My Favorite Things Petal Circles stencil, clear embossing powder, All Night Media Splatter pattern and Scotch foam tape. 



Thursday, February 25, 2016

Spring Time?

February 2016 Blog Hop Challenge

I used Papertrey Ink's inspiration photo as a starting point for creating this "Spring Time" card.  Having just stamped pears on a previous project, I opted for my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp set of all time (pun intended!) and used clocks instead of fruit, decorative vines instead of ferns & roses,  and splatter in place of little petals.  I kept ribbon, circles and the beautiful spring colors from the original design.

Supplies:  Papertrey Ink Hands of Time, All Night Media Splatter Pattern, Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs, Pear Pizzazz & Pretty in Pink ink and card stock, Soft Suede ribbon, Spare Parts embellishment, MFT die-namics paint brushes, foam tape, and clear embossing powder.

 Blog-hop-logo

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Watercolor Pears


I have seen so many great posts and videos about watercolor on cards lately (many of my favorites on K Werner Designs) that I spent some time this past weekend trying the technique.  Watercoloring definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed the challenge and am mostly happy with this project overall.

I initially chose pears as the focal image since my son's birthday is coming up and pears are his favorite fruit.  He often encourages me to work on my "mom blog" so I thought he'd appreciate something out of the ordinary technique-wise.  I got a little carried away flicking my toothbrush to add some fun splatter to what I felt was a very serious looking card, yet I think it's still too adult in style for a teenager.  So back to the drawing board on his 15th b-day greeting!  C'est la vie!

Supplies used:  MFT Celebrate You greeting (one "happy" for each of the pears!), Stampin' Up Infinite Goodness, Strathmore watercolor paper,  black cardstock, Versamark, white & black embossing powders, Reeves watercolor set, paintbrushes and an old toothbrush. 

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Housewarming wishes

Make It Monday #239: Customizing Patterned Paper

I used this week's Papertrey Ink challenge to create a card for my friend, Sarah, who recently moved into a new house in the country.  Neither of us are likely to sew much more than a loose button these days, but the Stitched with Love stamp set seems "homey"and the faux needle and thread evoke some sentimentality in me . . .  thinking of my best friend from high school!


I customized the patterned paper by adding vertical orange stripes to the horizontal ones and used a subtle background pattern to create some visual texture on the Melon Berry card stock base.    I also went for a bit of a rustic look by liberally smudging around the edges of the card and sentiment piece.



Supplies:  Papertrey Ink Stitched with Love & Road Trip stamp sets, Melon Berry  & Road Trip card stock, Fine Linen ink, My Favorite Things Stitched with Love Die-namics &  Candy Stripes, Stampin' Up Sincere Salutations, Sage Shadow card stock, ink, and marker, Pumpkin Pie ink, Versamark, clear embossing powder,  kitchen twine, Scotch foam mounting tape and silver card stock from my scraps.

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/make-it-monday/ 

 

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Do Opposites Attract?


I'm quiet, my husband's talkative.  I like the house neat, he tends to be messy.  I like my  tea lightly steeped while he prefers a dark roast coffee, so this sentiment seemed appropriate for us!  Somehow we've stayed together 25 years, so I guess those differences largely balance out.  On this Valentine, I used vellum, stamping one cup on the back and one on the front to get the two opposites side by side, then colored them in with Copic markers.

Supplies:  Fiskars Latte Love, Nestablities Oval & Circle dies , Copics, red dotted paper from Michaels, SU! Early Espresso, Natural cardstock, grosgrain ribbon, Gelly Roll star gel pen (steam) and pop dots.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Fabulous Flamingos



Here's another card I'll probably send my daughter who never ceases to amaze me with how successful she's doing in college.  I like this set because it came with a flamingo die, sparing me from any meticulous fussy cutting!  It came as a Valentine's Day stamp set and I did subtly stamp and emboss "love" in the background, but I don't see why it couldn't be used year round.  The pink flamingo has become an iconic pop culture symbol, one I don't care to display on my lawn, but don't mind having in my craft collection.  Should I look for garden gnome stamps next?  Hmmm, that's an idea!

Supplies:  Recollections Valentine's Day stamp set, Versamark, Stampin' Up! Oval and Scalloped Oval punches, Melon Mambo and Whisper White.

Sunday, January 31, 2016

What's your super power?






I can make donuts disappear, 
what's your super power?!

I was looking for funny t-shirts for my son and saw one with that saying.  He wouldn't wear it, but I thought it was cute. 

Personally, I don't indulge in donuts often,  but I made these from a stamp set so they're zero calories!

I used color inspiration from Dunkin' Donuts and sent the card to my daughter who's away at school.

Supplies:  MFT LLD Donuts & Sprinkles, Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge background, SU! Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White and Early Espresso cardstock, inks and ribbon. 

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Friends Are Forgiving


Friends are forgiving, but challenge deadlines not so much.  I made this for the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: Best Friends, but realized when I went to post it today that I'm a week late! Ooops, they've already moved on to love over friendship . . .  I guess I should have read the fine print, but this set seemed so perfect for the theme I saw online that I got busy coloring and didn't worry about the details until now.  C'est la vie!

Supplies:  Lil Inker Perfect Pairs stamp set, Michaels' ribbon, Stampendous Crystal Snow (to "salt" the French fries), and assorted Copic markers.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Exercise? I thought you said extra fries!


I saw that funny quote and thought it went well with this card as well as the new year diet resolutions so many people make!

My mom asked for birthday cards for Christmas, so this is actually one I made for one of her gifts. She and her friends often get Steak and Shake takeout for their domino/cards nights, so the burger and fries seemed like a good theme.  My daughter helped me color the image with colored pencils and I think she did an excellent job!  I found some beige scraps that I cut in strips to accentuate the fries and added some shimmer spray so they look kind of salty!

Supplies:  Lil' Inker stamp set Perfect Pairs, SU! Afterthoughts sentiment, Whisper White, Early Espresso & Creamy Caramel cardstock, Fantastix Champagne mist and Prismacolor pencils.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Happy MLK day!



How do you celebrate this holiday?  Why not with a classic Coke?  I actually made this birthday card for my Mom, not MLK, but their special days are close enough to post it today.  This is a new die cut and coordinating stamp set I got from My Favorite Things called Soda Pop.  I colored with a variety of Copic markers, used Stampin' Up Real Red and Early Espresso cardstock and spritzed it a bit for fun (even though my lid is technically still on the bottle, so the carbonation shouldn't be escaping)!  Enjoy the holiday!