More Birthday Fishes

I just can't help myself. I love a good pun for birthday cards. It takes me away from the usual embellishments like balloons, presents, and cake. For this "Birthday Fishes" card, I decided to learn how to create a watercolor background. Want to learn how, check out this FREE VIDEO by Kristina Werner. 

I used Tim Holtz distress inks for the background: peacock feathers, salty ocean, and faded jeans. 

The fish come from The Alley Ways Stamps - the Castaway set. I love The Alley Way Stamps because they have matching SVG files that coordinate with their stamp sets. 

I wanted these goofy fish to pop off of the watercolor background, so I colored them very simply with my Copics: Y13, YR07.

Challenges Entered:
Addicted to Stamps: Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination: Anything Goes
Simon Says: All creatures great and small. 
Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes

Birthday Hogs & Kisses

Isn't Facebook great for tracking birthdays! 
Today, I was reminded that my friend Jennifer was celebrating a birthday, so off to the craft room I went to make a birthday card. 

I have said before that I love to create birthday cards that use non-traditional sentiments, so I went with two stamp sets for this one. I started with the "Happy Cake Day" stamp from The Alley Way Stamps, Cake Day set. I knew I wanted a cute little critter on the card, so I used the Simon Says Stamp set Animal Celebrations. I love this little piggy and the sentiment that goes with him. 

To color the balloon and party hat, I used the Chameleon pen Aqua. If you haven't tried these pens yet, you are really missing out. One pen creates multiple shades for great blending. Yes, one pen colored the balloon.

For the piggy, I went to my Spectrum Noir markers. I used PP4, PP5, and PP6.

Count Your Turkeys

Once more for Turkey Day. 

I love this stamp set, Give Thanks, from The Alley Way Stamps, especially because they have coordinating SVG files. So, I decided to count my turkeys here, and pop up one of them using the SVG file. The sentiment and leaves are all from the same stamp set. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. 

Challenges Entered
Stempelgarten Challenge: All Kinds of Animals
A A A Cards: Thankful
Cards in Envy: Thankful for You
My Craft Spot: Thanksgiving and Fall
Scrap-Creations: Give Thanks

Merry & Bright

For my card today, I was inspired by The Alley Way Stamps Challenge blog: BE Inspired. The challenge this time is a a collection of photos. I found my inspiration from the first photo with leaves hanging from all levels. The leaves metallic and full of glitter. Instead of using glitter on my leaves, I decided to use red glittered poinsettias with green leaves and sentiment from the All Wrapped Up set. 

To balance the card, I placed a metal photo corner on the upper left corner. 

Challenges Entered

Be Inspired: Photo Inspiration

Creative Moments: Make it Sparkle

Craftin' Desert Divas: Christmas

Crafting When We Can: CAS

My Perfect Life: Christmas

Less is More: Jingle All the Way

Twinkle TAWS

For my card today, I was inspired by The Alley Way Stamps Challenge blog: BE Inspired. The challenge this time is a a collection of photos. I found my inspiration from the photo of the turkey, and the photo of the all the colors. The turkey made me think of the bird stamps on the All Wrapped Up set. I decided to create a winter or Christmas card using the bird in the sweater because I could use several colors. The bird is stamped on two tags cut from Cricut's Birthday Bash cartridge. I added twine and gems to add texture to this card. 

Challenges Entered

Be Inspired: Photo Inspiration
Bitten By the Bug2: AG with Cricut cut
CAS on Sunday: Ribbon or Twine.
Crafting When we Can: Use Your Markers
Animal Friends Challenge: Animals + Cold
Open Minded Crafting: Fowl of Any Kind

Thanks for Everything

For my card today, I was inspired by The Alley Way Stamps Challenge blog: BE Inspired. The challenge this time is a a collection of photos. I found my inspiration from the first photo with leaves hanging from all levels and the green leaves behind the photo of the turkey. 

I used the Tickle Me Happy stamp set colored with Spectrum Noir DG3. I added a touch of sparkle with the flower (from my stash). 

Challenges Entered
Be Inspired: Photo Inspiration
Catered Crop: Gratitude
Crafting When we Can: Use your markers
Stamps & Fun: CAS
Frosted Designs: White Space
Simply Create Too: Thank You
Crafting By Designs: Give Thanks


                                                                                                                                                   

Birthday Punnies...

I find that creating birthday cards are a bit more difficult for me than other cards unless I have the right sentiment. It is amazing what you can do with a great sentiment, like this one from The Alley Way Stamps, Lava You set. I partnered it with the volcano from the The Boyhood set. I love that The Alley Was Stamps have SVG files. It allowed my little volcano to pop. 

I had the idea for this card to go with a tag I made last week using the the Lava You stamp set, and the Stomper set -  both by The Alley Way Stamps:

Challenges Entered
Love to Create: AG
My Craft Creations: AG
Scrapbook Stamp Society: AG
Stamps & Fun: CAS
The Pink Elephant: CAS
Crafting When We Can: Use your markers.
A Crafty Mess: AG
Craft for the Craic: Birthday

Christmas Air

Looking over the popular themes for crafting challenges this week, I noticed something interesting. We have jumped from Halloween to Christmas, in a matter of days. I hadn't even been thinking about the myriad Christmas cards I will need to create, so I have very few new Christmas supplies. It was then I decided I wanted to do something a little different, change up my Christmas color scheme.

I started with a kraft card base and used a star embossing folder for my first layer. I inked this layer with a denim blue. Next I stamped the "trees" in versa mark and then used my Perfect Pearls to dust on the gold color. The stamps are from The Alley Way stamps Making Holidays Bright set. 

Next, I wanted to add something like starlight, and instead of a moon or star, I used this photo corner cut from a pearlescent paper. Next, I added the sentiment and inked the edges. Finally, I used up some of my stash accents to add the glitter flowers.

Challenges Entered

Come and Get it Challenges: Winter
Craft a Scene: Trees
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenges: Sparkle
Winter Wonderland: 3 Embellishments (three glitter flowers (the fourth is a gem)
Aud Sentiments: 2 - 3 Word Sentiment
CCEE Stampers: Create a Scene
Dream Valley Challenges: Getting ready for Christmas

A Cup of Tea

Welcome friends, I am so excited to share this card with you. All of my inspiration for this card came from memories of my grandmother. She had a unique appreciation of art that was very much rooted in the Asian style of art; she loved delicate branches with small flower petals in peachy-orange colors accompanied by shades of gray. Can you see the inspiration...  

With all that in mind, I actually started with this fantastic tea pot by The Alley Way Stamps, the Tea-Par-Tea set. It is a new release set. I colored in the pot with two shades of gray by Spectrum Noir, IG1, IG2.  Next, I used coral colors to the small details on the pot. 

I cut the tea pot out on a circle using my Sizzix die cuts, and then mat is a decorative circle from my Spellbinders die cut. 

Next, I embossed the background (embossing folder is unnamed), and inked the edges with Close To My Heart inks: Goldrush and Hollyhock. 

Finally, the embellishments, the coral colored flowers, are from Petaloo.  
I just love the Tea-Par-Tea stamp set, and I plan on making a few tags to go along with this card. 

Challenges Entered:
Aud Sentiments Challenge: 2 Word Sentiment
Color My Heart: Choose Your Own Orange
We Do Doobadoo: Enhance your Die Cuts
Fairytale Stampers: Something New
Card Mania: Use your Dies
Cards and More: Get Well

Tag You're It

I'm announcing it here and now; I'm going to apply to earn Spectrum Noir Accreditation. Yes, I'm committed to it now that I said it out loud. It's definitely going to be a fantastic challenge. But I am so determined. I hope to help you along the way with my own tips and tricks.

To start my journey, I created this dinosaur tag using The Alley Way Stamps, Lava You set and Stomper set. I just love dinosaurs.

To choose the colors for the dinosaur, I looked at the "red" set of Spectrum Noir. When you look at the set, the numbers are in groups of three, and each set of three is meant to work together. I wanted this guy to be a darker red, so I chose the three colors dark red set: DR1, DR5, DR7. I wanted to shade his backside to be darkest.

I like to work with the lightest color first, then go to the darkest and down for blending. I love this little guy.

I decided to use ribbon as a divider here between the pattern and the image. I will attach string or ribbon to the tag to adhere to the birthday gift.

Challenges Entered

Crafty Ribbons Challenge: Tags with Ribbon

Crafts 4 Eternity: Tags

The Crafting Cafe: Not a Card

Anything But a Card: Anything Goes

Craft My Life: Ribbon

Robotastic

It's all about robots, dinosaurs, and superheroes with my nephews. Since they love to get mail, I often send them cards that speak to their interests. This time, I am going with Robots using The Alley Way Stamp set Bot Time. I wanted to create something that looked mechanical. My color scheme came from The Alley Way Stamps challenge blog. I was inspired by the black, white, and orange colors in one photo. At first, I stamped everything in black. Then in the border, I added blocks of orange. I then added different elements from the stamp set, and kept with the orange. 

The pop of blue is a nod to another of The Alley Way Stamps photos for inspiration. Finally, I inked the edges in an orange shade to give the card some depth - I almost felt like a it was a workshop with dust and dirt and grease.  

Challenges Entered

The Alley Way, Be Inspired Challenge: Photo inspiration
Simply Create Too: New (all items makers, ink and stamps are from my stash)
Addicted to Stamps: CAS
Deep Ocean Challenge: One layer

Tickle Me Thankful

I don't know about you, but when I find a new stamp company, I feel giddy. So many new possibilities. That's how I am feeling right now because I finally found The Alley Way, an amazing stamp store with SVG files to match the stamps! Oh, I just love the idea of no more fussy cuts. Right now, The Alley Way is hosting a challenge with inspiration from different photos. I fell in love with the color combination of teal and orange, and I knew just the right stamp set to use. 

This set is called Tickle Me Happy. But, which feather to use? Then, Just Add Ink (challenge blog) posted an inspirational photo with peacock feathers. All of a sudden, I knew which stamp to use. Look at this gorgeous feather. It reminded me of that peacock feather.

This is a standard A4 card with a teal mat underneath the white. 

I stamped the feathers and the dots using Mememto Luxe Teal Zeal ink. 

I colored the feathers with Spectrum Noir colors OR1 and OR3. 

I stamped the sentiment with CTMH Goldrush (Z2123). You can purchase that HERE. 

For the stem of the feather, I used a teal glitter pen, and then I used a glossy accent over the center of the feather. 

Challenges Entered:

The Alley Way, BIC: color

Just Add Ink: photo inspiration

Fairytale Stampers: something new

Glitter n Sparkle: orange

Anything Goes with a Twist: glitter and sparkle

The ABC Challenge: V is for Vibrant

Addicted to Stamps and More: make your mark