Wish big

Making cards for special people rates high on my crafting things I love and you get to add special touches that are unique to the person that you are giving them to.  And as I make them I am thinking of and praying for the person that I make it for.

The idea for these cards came from this card from Danielle Flanders and this one by Maggie Holmes from a Studio Calico Kit that I had pinned on my pinterest board Cards for Her.  Great to have inspiration at your fingertips, especially when you haven't been creating for a while and are in a bit of a rut.  I used my alpha die from Papertrey Ink to recreate the WISH tag effect.  I had a couple of cards to make and decided to use the cut out letters to create another card rather than throw away or drop them in the bottom of a pile somewhere.  The washi tape made it super simple to do.

Colours: very vanilla, baja breeze, calypso coral, blushing bride
Stamps:  stylish sentiments - birthday and happy trails (PTI), sketchy flourishes (inkadinkadoo)
Finishing touches:  paper and ruffled ribbon (SU), watercolouring, rhinestones, headline alpha die (PTI), stitching, eyelet sticker, flower embellishment (rosies studio), essentials hardward clip (SU), washi tape

NSD - @ Big Picture Classes

NSD at Big Picture Classes

So the challenge was on. 10,000 layouts posted at Instagram.  As a newbie, it was fun checking out the different things that you could do.  By the end I had the posting down pat.  While the challenge was to get to 10K with whatever projects you had done, each of the guest designers had a different inspiration so I went with each one to see what I could come up with.

Stacey Julian - Use a grid over your whole page.  

Her tip - when you find something you like use it over again

 Cathy Zielske - Be you.  What makes your style unique?

Her tip - Comparison is the thief of joy.  Don't always believe everything you see.  Have fun.  Her video certainly was.  This was a great watch.

I am slowly seeing just what I like.  White backgrounds, handwritten journalling, stitching, grid photos, layering, clustered embellishments.

Heidi Swapp - Use your mists to decorate your chipboard.  

Aha moment when she shows how to use the mists.  Starting to get the hang of it.  Note to self they don't always work on all surfaces.

Celine Nevarro - Using your journal/project life cards on a layout. 

She has such a beautiful mixed media style.  I started out with the idea and decided to keep it plain rather than use embossing and misting here as I loved the look of the cards as they were with the photos that I had chosen to work with.

Jennifer Wilson - Start with what you know but don't be afraid to experiment with a creative idea and let go of the rules once in a while.

Her layout had triangles as the background base and I was reminded of a layout I had pinned by Stephanie Bryan.  The triangles and the colour combo inspired this CASE.

Katrina Kennedy - Upload and print your photos

This is something I have definitely been working on.  I went through all my boys birthdays and school starts and printed photos for the layouts.  This one has been waiting a while to be scrapped.  He is now 8!

Maggie Holmes - Layering and memory logging

Her tip - keep a bag of neutrals handy for layering.  She keeps a notebook to jot down events so when you are ready to scrap the notes are all there ready to journal.  I have been doing this for the last three years.  It makes such a difference to my journalling

Natalie Elphinstone - Work with a kit but limit your colour combo.  

I put together my own kits and usually start with the colours from the photos.  Loving the layered look and having a play with how this works for me.

Becky Higgins - Involve  your family in your project life pages

This was fun.  I got my son to pick out the photos and cards and he even got in on the journaling all be it reluctantly.  He did tell the story and get me to write the rest.

Ali Edwards - Use grids for homes for your journaling

Her tip - try and chose just one photo to tell the story and always remember to add the date

I had two layouts of my son's last days at kindy so I hit repeat and got both of their pages done with this challenge.

A whole lot of fun and a whole lot more layouts to add to albums.

Lego card

What was a lego party without a lego card.  I had pinned this card from Yellowbear Stampin and this was my take on it.


Colours:  black, white, real red, pumpkin pie, pacific point, daffodil delight, garden green
Stamps:  stylish sentiments - birthday (PTI)
Finishing touches:  distress tool (TH), dimensionals, headline alpha die (PTI), circle punch (SU)

Cards for boys

With birthday season upon us it was time to make some more cards.  I had pinned this card on my cards for him board on Pinterest and it was an easy option for a quick card. 

  I used the wrapping paper for the colours.  The bright maze puzzle stood out on the black.

Colours: red, black, silver

Stamps: lots of spots (CDS), Birthday bash sentiments (PTI)

Finishing touches: maze puzzle, silver and red embossing powders 

The next cards were inspired by a design on one of my boy's t-shirts 

Stamp the image directly onto the page.  Stamp another image onto white and colour.  Crop pieces of the coloured image and use dimensionals to lift off the page.

Colours:  brocade blue, wild wasabi, pumpkin pie, crumb cake

Stamps: boys will be boys (elzybells), stylish sentiments birthdays and happy trails (PTI)

Finishing touches: dimensionals, black embossing powder, ribbon, headline alpha die number (PTI), spritzer tool

More cards - Inspiration from pinterest

I have lots of great ideas pinned.  Cards for her and cards for him.  Time to actually do something with it.  Sometimes it is just one part of the card, sometimes it is the colours and sometimes it is the whole thing that inspires.  I hadn't scrapped for over a month, so feeling rather rusty there was nothing like some inspiration to get me started.  Once I started I didn't want to stop!

This one is from a fun card that I found at Love My Tapes.  Thinking that it would have worked better using the same colours.  Love the circle stitching. 

Colours:  crumb cake, pumpkin pie, early espresso, wild wasabi, real red

Stamps:  stylish sentiments - birthday (PTI), simply serif alpha (SU)

Finishing touches:  pinwheel (kaiser), brads, stitching, toothpicks, washi tape, circle punches

This one was a simple card by Debby at Lime Doodle Designs.  I liked the clean lines and colours for a guy.

Colours: white, wild wasabi, black

Stamps: splatter background (IO), game on (PTI)

Finishing touches:  circle cutter and corner rounder (SU) tiny tags die (PTI), black pen and ruler

This card was from this card by Dawn McVey.  I love the colour combinations that she uses.  I CASED this one using things from my stash.

Colours:  sahara sand, baja breeze, daffodil delight, black

Stamps: headline alphabet (PTI)

Finishing touches:  for the record papers(ep), washi tape, vanilla flower trim and antique brad (SU), baja breeze seam binding ribbon (SU)

I discovered A Bit East-coast blog and love the colours and shapes that she uses.  These cards are inspired by this card and this one

 Colours:  basic grey, white, cherry cobbler

Stamps:  newsprint background (impression obsession), background basics - text style and retro (PTI), punctuation (KP), everyday (LYB), 

Finishing touches: corner rounder,, circle cutter (CM), maraschino bakers twine (the twinery), beautiful wings embosslits (SU), bling embellishment (recollections), paper (studio calico)

Colours: basic grey, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie 

Stamps: craquelure (IO),  stylish sentiments - birthday (PTI)

Finishing touches:  beautiful blooms die, (PTI), corner rounder, stone bakers twine (the twinery), ribbon, button, chipboard arrow (unknown), papers (studio calico), circle cutter (CM)

Stamp Club June

With the new catalogue out next month the retiring list is out. The challenge for this month was to create a card using something from the retiring list.

I picked itty bitty stamps, punches and buttons.  I have made a card recently using them but haven't done much with them.  I found this card when I googled the stamp set and started to play with similar papers and elements using the set.  I used certainly celery and chocolate chip as the colours as they are retiring as well.  I love it when you find ways to combine different sets.  I recently bought the ciao baby stamp set and punches.  I used a stampin write to ink the edge and use for some of the layers.

Colours: certainly celery, chocolate chip, very vanilla
Stamps:  itty bitty bits, ciao baby and best yet (SU), a little argyle (PTI)
Finishing touches;  circle punches, striped ribbon, jewels basic pearls, petite scallop punch, itty bitty punches, linen thread, dimensionals, beautiful wings embosslits, itty bitty buttons and DSP newsprint (SU), button, brad, tiny tags die (PTI)

A Card

With all my layouts of late I decided to pop in a card for a change of pace.  I have started a collection of ideas for cards for guys on Pinterest.  The colours from this one caught my eye.  I realised I hadn't used my stars border from Papertrey so started with that.  Must do more.  Everyone sees male cards as a bit of a challenge.  Definitely a need out there for more ideas.

Colours: crumb cake, riding hood red, baja breeze, not quite navy
Stamps:background basics - inspiration (PTI), sentiments circles (autumn leaves), punctuation (kelly pannachi), notebook paper (verve)
Finishing touches: super stars border die (PTI),  rounded rectangel die (verve), corner rounder (fiskars), linen thread, papers (October Afternoon)

A series of cards

We headed away for some of the holidays. I had only a bit of time to put together something to take away with me. I am so glad that I did. It is so much easier now that I have a bag set to go.  It was a chance to catch up with some cards to fill the gaps that I had.

This one was an extra I did from the bits and pieces I had from the baby cards for sale

Colours: wild wasabi, chocolate chip, baja breeze

Stamps:  parateddy (EB), circle of friendship (SU)

Finishing touches:  cappuchino bakers twine (the twinery), chipboard (unknown), buttons, ribbon


I had a few girls to make cards for so I used one of my Stampin Up pics from my ideas folder as inspiration. 

Colours:  pink pirouette, old olive, rose red, sahara sand
Stamps: hey cupcake (EB), stylish sentiments - birthday (PTI)
Finishing touches: eyelet sticker, pink glitter, red tag sale alpha die (cuttlebug), stitching, apron lace border punch (fiskars)


 The new washi tapes that I had purchased were screaming to be put togther in a card.  I found a stamp that I have been wanting for some time (dandelion) so I put them together for this card.

Colours: rose red, going grey, white
Stamps: dandelion (rosie's studio), a wish for you (unknown), lucky charm roller date stamp (dear lizzy), favourite memories (AE)
Finishing touches:  washi tape, distressing tool, stitching, bakers twine (the twinery), buttons


Washi tape is a new thing for me so I am trying it out in all sorts of ways.  A similar card was on display at Craft Haven so I thought I would give it a go.  Works well for a male card. 

Colours: basic grey, white, not quite navy
Stamps: hey cupcake (EB), stylish sentiments - birthday (PTI)
Finishing touches: wahsi tape, distressing tool, stitching


And last but not least.  I had been sorting all my supplies away when we got home and wanted to make something.  Another inpsiration from Stampin Up from my ideas folder.  Surprising what you can come up with even when you don't have the exact elements.

 

Colours:  not quite nave, old olive, pumpkin pie

Stamps:  all about me (kaiser)

Finishing touches:  circle punch (SU), bakers twine denim (the twinery),  stapler, large corner rounder (fiskars), brad (SU), red tag sale alpha die (cuttlebug)