Dare to Dream

Hello!

I made this card back in May to celebrate my daughter’s graduation.  She’ll be a high school freshman next week (eek!)

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I LOVE Mama Elephant and particularly their character stamps.  This card uses an image using the Tiny Heroes stamp and die set on a background using a die from Landscape Trio. The background was created using shades of blue Distress Inks.  I then splattered water and added a little sparkle using a gold glitter pen. The heat and embossed sentiment is from the Hero Arts set, Dare to Dream.

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Awesome

Hello!

Just sharing a birthday tag I created back in April.  I made it for my daughter’s very sweet friend.

SUPPLIES  Stamps:  Tiny Heroes (Mama Elephant); Dare to Dream (Hero Arts) Die:  Die-Namics Pierced Traditional Tag STAX (MFT) Awesome (Lil Inkers) Color:  Copic Markers; Prismacolor Pencils; Dandelion Hybrid (Hero Arts) Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukineko) Other:  Wink of Stella Clear (Kuretake); Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger)

SUPPLIES Stamps: Tiny Heroes (Mama Elephant); Dare to Dream (Hero Arts) Die: Die-Namics Pierced Traditional Tag STAX (MFT) Awesome (Lil Inkers) Color: Copic Markers; Prismacolor Pencils; Dandelion Hybrid (Hero Arts) Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukineko) Other: Wink of Stella Clear (Kuretake); Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger)

I don’t often use my Copic Markers because I’m still not confident in my blending techniques.  But I’m happy I did w/ this little supergal.  Her facial tone was colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I added Wink of Stella Clear to the die which was cut multiple times to add dimension.

Hope you all are enjoying the weekend!

 

It’s a Good Day

Hi!

It’s been raining (too long) where I am.  But I’m not complaining.  It’s the weekend and school is out!  I’m finally catching up with a few cards earlier in the year.

Posting a birthday card I made back in February.

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I’m going to keep this short.  For this card I watercolored this cute little elephant from Mama Elephant Ella and Friends.  The background is colored with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I added Glossy Accents to the bubbles for some dimension and shine.  The hill that Ella is standing on is cut from the Mama Elephant Landscape Trio die set.  I stamped small flowers from a Penny Black set for some interest rather than just plain green.

Until another time!

 

Shine On

Hello!

Hope you all are off to a great weekend!

Every year I make a card for my daughter at the start of school.  It’s her last year of Middle School (yikes!) and I wanted to make her something special and meaningful.  I kinda surprise her with it and hide it in her backpack the night before the first day.  I “try” not to mention it to her hoping it will be a happy surprise for her.

Anyway, here is my card.

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SUPPLIES Stamps: In My Heart (Mama Elephant); Bring on the Sun (Technique Tuesday); KP Come Sail Away (SSS) Dies: In My Heart (Mama Elephant); Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant); Full Card Sunshine (SSS) Color: Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box (Sakura); Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Shaded Lilac, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink; Versafine Black Onyx (Tsukineko) Other: Wink of Stella Clear (Zig); Patterned Paper (Martha Stewart)

SUPPLIES Stamps: In My Heart (Mama Elephant); Bring on the Sun (Technique Tuesday); KP Come Sail Away (SSS) Dies: In My Heart (Mama Elephant); Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant); Full Card Sunshine (SSS) Color: Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box (Sakura); Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Shaded Lilac, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink (Ranger); Versafine Black Onyx (Tsukineko) Other: Wink of Stella Clear (Zig); Patterned Paper (Martha Stewart)

Add on:

I just realized I never finished this post!  Goes to show how scatterbrained I can be when I’m multi-tasking.

I wanted to use some stamps and dies that have been untouched (and believe me there are many).  I love Mama Elephant stamps.  The images just make you smile.

I am participating in the current SSS Wednesday Challenge: Use a Stamp

Enjoy!

Welcome Baby

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Today I am sharing you my second card I created for my new niece.

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SUPPLIES  Stamps: Up and Away (ME), Salutations (PS) Dies: Up and Away (ME); Landscape Trio (ME); Mini Hearts (SSS) Color:  Prismacolor Pencils; Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Black Dye Ink (HA), Copic Markers Other: Vellum Paper; Maggie Holmes Patterned Paper (American Crafts)

SUPPLIES Stamps: Up and Away (ME), Salutations (PS) Dies: Up and Away (ME); Landscape Trio (ME); Mini Hearts (SSS) Color: Prismacolor Pencils; Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT); Black Dye Ink (HA), Copic Markers Other: Vellum Paper; Maggie Holmes Patterned Paper (American Crafts)

Time was ticking when I made this card and I had no inspiration until I saw Nichol’s card.  I’ll be honest, I wanted to use the bunny from Mama Elephant’s Up and Away and her card was exactly what I was looking for.  The layout is pretty much the same but I used the vellum as clouds rather than cardstock.  Thank’s to Nichol’s inspiration I completed the card right on time and was very happy with the outcome.

 

 

bam!

Greetings!

My daughter’s birthday was a few weeks ago.  We’ve got a teenager in the house!

I always try to make a fun card for her to include in her presents.  Shaker cards were all the rage last year, that I decided to try it myself.  Quite honestly, I found it more difficult to center it properly.  But I managed to adhere the acetate correctly with the rest of the card!

Here it is:

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SUPPLIES  Stamps: Super Duo (SSS/ME), It's Your Dies (HA), Kapow (TT) Dies: Crusader Kids (SSS), Stitched Circles (SSS) Color:  Prismacolor Pencils, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink (Ranger), Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukinkeo), Red Royal Midtone (HA), Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT) Other: Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger), Confetti Glitter (Martha Stewart)

SUPPLIES Stamps: Super Duo (SSS/ME), It’s Your Day (HA), Kapow (TT) Dies: Crusader Kids (SSS), Stitched Circles (SSS) Color: Prismacolor Pencils, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink (Ranger), Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukinkeo), Red Royal Midtone (HA), Black Licorice Hybrid (MFT) Other: Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger), Confetti Glitter (Martha Stewart)

It was super fun to make.  I love this collaboration set by Simon Says Stamp and Mama Elephant.  The sentiments were both from Technique Tuesday and Hero Arts.  And I just love the stitched die sets from Simon Says Stamp.  The stitching just adds something to the card and I love it!

Until next time!

…in the magic

Hi there!

Today’s card is featuring another Mimi image from this year’s release.  For this card the very ethereal (and cute) Fairy Dust (4399J).

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SUPPLIES Stamps: Fairy Dust (4399J); Joyful Greetings (Paper Smooches) Dies: Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant): Stencils: Confetti (Heidi Swapp) Colour Medium: Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Tattered Rose; Broken China, Seedless Preserves Distress Ink (Ranger); Pearlescent Watercolor Set (Yasutomo); Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Set (Sakura); Gold Wink of Stella Pen (Zing)

SUPPLIES Stamps: Fairy Dust (4399J); Joyful Greetings (Paper Smooches) Dies: Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant): Stencils: Confetti (Heidi Swapp) Colo : Black Onyx Versafine (Tsukineko);Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Tattered Rose; Broken China, Seedless Preserves Distress Ink (Ranger); Pearlescent Watercolor Set (Yasutomo); Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Set (Sakura); Gold Wink of Stella Pen (Zing); Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger)

I love so many aspects of the image: her long flowing hair, the flowers in her hair and her wings – my favorite.

I wanted to use watercolor on this Mimi.  I stamped and embossed the image on Bristol paper.  Her wings were the first that I wanted to color.  They reminded me of a pattern you would see on a Tiffany lamp.  I pressed Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters and Tattered Rose Distress Ink on a craft sheet and use these colors as my palette.  The outside center was colored with a bronze colored pearlescent watercolor.  Once I finished her wings, I colored the rest of Mimi, fussy cut her and set her aside.

For the background, I decided to add Tumbled Glass to the front of my cardbase and then added random stars using the Heidi Swapp Confetti stencil.  The colors I used for the stars were Broken China and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.  I then created hills using Landscape Trio from Mama Elephant.

The hills were adhered to my cardbase.  I then added Mimi with dimensional foam.  Finally, I stamped a sentiment from Paper Smooches Joyful Greetings and added more shine to Mimi’s want using a gold WInk of Stella Pen.

Hope you’re having a great week!

 

 

 

 

The Best is Yet to Come

Hi!

I wanted to share a card that I made a few months back for my daughter.  When the school year begins, I always like to tuck a card of love and encouragement for her to look at in her backpack.  She keeps in a small pocket the whole year.

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SUPPLIES Stamps Up and Away (Mama Elephant Dies: Up and Away (Mama Elephant; Super 2 Dies (Paper Smooches) Color Mediums Prismacolor Pencils; Black Tuxedo Memento Ink (Tsukineko); Black Dye Ink (Hero Arts); Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Shaded Lila Distress Ink (Ranger) Other Mini Ink Applicator (Ranger); Dimensional Foam (3M); Blackboard Chalk Paper (DCWV)

SUPPLIES Stamps Up and Away (Mama Elephant) Dies: Up and Away (Mama Elephant); Super 2 Dies (Paper Smooches) Color Mediums Prismacolor Pencils; Black Tuxedo Memento Ink (Tsukineko); Black Dye Ink (Hero Arts); Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Shaded Lila Distress Ink (Ranger) Other Mini Ink Applicator (Ranger); Dimensional Foam (3M); Blackboard Chalk Paper (DCWV)

I love all the cutesy characters from Mama Elephant and wanted to use this image for her. The bokeh looking background was created by using the Ranger Mini Ink Applicator and alternately dabbing hues of blue Distress Ink  directly as a circle onto the card panel.

She loved it.  Always great to see her smile.

Haven’t played along in a challenge for so long.  I am including this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Thinking of You.

Take care!

 

You Are Loved

Hello!

My daughter went on a sleepaway camp for the very first time.  She was very nervous since she went on her own.  I made her a card to surprise her and to make her smile.

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SUPPLIES Stamps Love From Above (Mama Elephant) Dies Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant) Color Medium Prismacolor Pencils; Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac Distress Ink (Ranger) Other Clear EP (Ranger); Glossy Accents (Ranger); Mini Ink Blending Tool (Ranger)

I’ve been wanting to use Mama Elephant’s  Love From Above clear set.  Those little angels are the cutest!

On white CS, I stamped the angel holding the heart 3x.  I colored each with Prismacolor Pencils and then fussy cut.   I also added Glossy Accents to the heart for a little shine.  I set them aside.

I then worked on the sky background on my card base.  I wanted to add a little more visual interest than just a blue background.  Using the new round Mini Ink Blending Tool, I added circles of Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac.  I just added ink to the tool and pressed directly on the card base twisting the tool to create a perfect circle.  I did this repeatedly creating 2nd and 3rd generation circles.  I overlapped the circles as well so I ended up creating a bokeh look.  I love it!

I die cut the cloud die from Landscape Trio and trimmed it to fit my A2 card base.  I rubbed Pumice Stone and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to the edge of the die cut.  The die cut was adhered to the bottom of the card base.  To finish, I added my sentiment and heat embossed with clear EP.  The angels were added vertically up the card and adhered with foam tape.

It’s been a while since I participated in a challenge.

I am adding this to CASE Study Challenge #196.  I interpreted Pamela’s beautiful card loosely takng the aspect of flying over an image.  In this case, angels flying over a cloud.

I am also adding this to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge You Gotta Have Friends.  Although I made this card for my daughter, it can also be used for a very dear friend.

Enjoy your week!

 

Thank You Notes

Hi!

I have a few thank you notes to share with you today.

The last few weeks of school are always hectic.  This year was no exception.  I actually thought I planned well ahead to purchase/create gifts for kids’ teachers and then to create teacher themed cards for them.  That, unfortunately, never came to frution.

I usually like to make a baked item for the teachers.  This year, I made sour cream pound cake and cream cheese pound cake for them.  I also baked 2 batches of honey buttermilk biscuits.  With the biscuits, I also gave the teachers either a jar of honey or a jar of jam in the gift bag.  Yes, a lot of baking.  But I wanted to ensure that all my children’s teachers (all 8) had a special treat.

I needed to make quick and simple cards for the teachers since there were only 3 days left of school.   Since I had to make them “quick”, I knew I couldn’t spend any time doing any detailed coloring or adding many layers.  I recently purchased a few stamp sets from the new company Altenew.  I thought I’d use the very cute Ori Kami set.  I drew inspiration from this card and this card.

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Here’s how I made these cards.  I used patterned paper similar to designs found on origami paper.  The designs should be tight – with not a lot of empty space.  I stamped the elephant (becuase it’s just too adorable) and the crane on the selected paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I then added clear EP and then heat set.  I stamped, in total, 16 images – 2 images for each card.

The next step was the most time consuming as I had to fussy cut each image.  To save some time, I cut them when I was on the school carpool line.  And my dear daughter (who LOVES origami) cut the rest for me.  Once that was done, I cut the second image for each card into several pieces.  I wanted to create a 3D effect of the image. For the crane, I cut the entire middle portion.  For the elephant, I cut the tail, the head and the front leg.  I then added these pieces to each respective whole image using foam tape.

I cut 8 CS panels (about 3.75 x 5.25″).  I then added color to each panel using various ink sprays.  I used inks that would complement each image.  Once the panels were dry, I added a “thank-you” sentiment.  In these cards, I used Mama Elephant’s Many Thanks  and Paper Smooches Word Up.  I then mounted my panel onto the card and then added my origami image onto the card panel.

Here’s one of my elephant cards.

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The following are my crane cards.

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I was very pleased on how quick it was to assemble (well, after all that fussy cutting).  Just so simple and so elegant.

Until next time!