THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO

 https://mycraftaliciousjourney.blogspot.com/

MAKE A WISH BIRTHDAY CARD

I'm having tons of fun with my new Uplift Dies & Let's Eat Cake stamp set from Fun Stamper's Journey Mini Bloom This Way catalog! I've created another cards using these and a few other items.

TIP #1: You can save the negatives from your die cuts to use as a stencil! I stenciled in the blue balloon with Beach Breeze from our Party Pop PanPastels in this card!!

TIP #2: You can color white pearls and many other embellishments with an alcohol ink marker to achieve any color you desire! I created light pink pearls here using this technique!

INGREDIENTS:

Let's Eat Cake stamp set

Uplift Dies

Black Licorice Ink Pad

Whip Cream CS - 1/2 sheet folded to A2 & scraps

Journey ColorSplash Pencils

Party Pop Pan Pastels

Journey Sofft Tools

Journey Blending Brush - medium

Pearls

Journey Twine - Natural

Journey Glaze

Sparkle Dust

White Line Tape

Foam Squares

Light Pink Alcohol Ink Marker

White Artists' Eraser

Paper Towel

DIRECTIONS:

Die cut 2 small balloons & one of the 2nd smallest balloons. Using negative from 2nd smallest balloon die, oval sponge, and Beach Breeze PanPastels, color in  balloon in upper right portion of card front, as shown. Then color in two small balloon die cuts with yellow PanPastels. Burnish with paper towel, then add highlight by erasing a small line on the left of the balloon as shown.

With Black Licorice ink, stamp the 3 layer cake on scrap Whip Cream CS. Color in with ColorSplash Pencils (see photo). Cut out with scissors, then add Journey Glaze & Sparkle dust, as shown in photo. Let dry for a few minutes.

Add foam squares to the two yellow balloons and attach Journey Twine to the back of these with White Liner Tape. Attach small balloons to card, slightly over the blue balloon (see photo). Tape down twine where it will be under the cake, trim ends off.

Attach the cake to the card with foam squares. With Black Licorice ink, stamp "Make a" centered over the top of the cake. Then stamp "i'm just here for the cake" in the lower right corner of the card.

Finally, color white pearls a light shade of pink with alcohol ink marker & attach to card! And, you're done!!!!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today!  Happy Crafting & Smiles, Laura

How to make HOME MADE SHIMMER MIST

plus BACKGROUND & CARD

Scroll to the bottom to see the card!

Hello everyone! I've been having fun making my own "shimmer mist" and thought I'd share this recipe with you today! It's hard to see in the picture, but when you spray this on paper or cardstock, this spray creates a beautiful, shimmering pearl effect after it dries!

YOU WILL NEED:

L.A. Colors Shimmering Loose Eyeshadow (purchased at Dollar Tree)

Warm water

Rubbing Alcohol

Clear Glue

4 ounce spray bottle

Remove sprayer top from bottle. Cut tube so that it will sit 1/8" to 1/4" off the bottom of the bottle (so that the mica powder doesn't clog the tube or sprayer tip).

Add 2 3/4 ounces of warm tap water.

Add 1 ounce of rubbing alcohol.

Add about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp. of clear glue (this helps the mica powder stick to the cardstock).

Add about 1/2 of a bottle of eyeshadow. On a piece of copy paper creased in the middle & opened, tap the upside down eyeshadow container onto the paper.These containers are oddly designed, so you will need to work at this, it will not come out easily. Once you have about 1/2 the bottle on the paper, fold the paper in half at the crease & carefully pour the eyeshadow into your spray bottle.

Put the cap back on and gently swirl the bottle round & round to mix well. DO NOT SHAKE! If you need to, take a swizzle stick to blend the glue at the bottom well.

 

These are the two shimmer mist background pieces I created to use in my card and the 4 shimmer mist sprays I made - purple, gold, pink & blue.

The larger piece is 4.75" x 6.75 inch white text weight paper. I sprayed the pink & gold randomly on this & dried with my heat gun. It is normal for the paper to curl as it dries. You can straighten it with a brayer or a warm iron later, or use as is!

The smaller piece is 4" x 5.25 inch 65# white cardstock. I wanted a distressed look for this piece, so after spraying with pink, gold, purple & blue shimmer mists, I gently crinkled up the CS into a little ball, then straighten out before drying with the heat gun. I thought it was too light the first time, so I repeated the process & I just loved how this one turned out after the second application!

THE CARD!

To make this card, I used a pink 5 x7" card. I attached the light pink shimmer paper, then the smaller multi-color piece on top of that. I added the Anna Griffin Butterfly (Anna's All About Him & Her Die Cuts) with pop dots, then cut the frame from white CS and attached with Zig glue.  Next I added the floral die cuts (All About Him & Her). I cut the "Happy" & "Birthday" from Anna Griffin's Wishful Thinking Dies and attached with Zig Glue. The final step was to add the pearls. This picture just doesn't do the shimmery effect justice!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity! Happy stamping & crafting! Smiles, Laura

QUICK MONOCHROMATIC WEDDING CARD

Hello! Today I'm sharing a quick & easy A2 Wedding Card using the Monochromatic Technique! I've done this card in shades of teal, aqua & white, but you can can select any color range you like!  I used a white A2 card & Co'ordinations 12" cardstock, cut to 5 1/4" x 4" (the teal & white background on the card, so pretty!). Next I cut two white swirlies with Anna Griffin's Fretwork Dies #2 & white scrap cardstock. I attached these to the background with Zig glue, but you could also use spray adhesive.

I used Anna's new Sentiment Stamps & Dies set to create the 3D sentiment. I stamped the swirly design on light teal pearlized cardstock with black pigment ink. Next, I stamped "On Your Wedding Day" with teal dye ink on white CS. Then I used the coordinating dies to cut the gorgeous shapes out with my Big Shot. I used foam tape to attach the two pieces together, then attached to the card. The final step was to attach a sheer white bow in the upper left corner!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

BABY CARD using SPONGED BACKGROUND Technique

Hello again everyone! Sorry this post is late, was out of town longer than I planned, and yesterday was HSN Craft day, so I was glued to the television all day! But I did create this Baby card yesterday! It's using a technique called SPONGED BACKGROUND & it's a great technique when you can't find or don't have just the right cardstock on hand. There's nothing more satisfying than turning a plain white piece of cardstock into a colorful masterpiece!

SPONGED BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE:

You'll need white cardstock (I sponged the front of a 5x7 white card here) & a craft sponge (I cut mine into 6 or 8 triangular shaped pieces, like a pie) &  2 or more dye ink pads (I used a light blue and a light mint green). Gently blot up ink from the blue ink pad with a sponge, then dab & tap  the inked sponge randomly onto the white CS, leaving some white space for the 2nd color of ink. Then, with a clean sponge, do the same with the mint green ink, covering the white areas & dabbing into the blue in random areas. If you need to, go back over this again with the blue sponge, until you achieve the desired look. Finally, sponge the edges with the blue ink.

NOTE: You'll get different inked effects, depending on whether you gently tap or if you apply more pressure or if you rub the ink on a circular motion - have fun playing and experimenting with this!

THIS FRONT OF THIS CARD:

Next I used my Cricut to draw "Hello Baby" with Anna Griffin's Gracious Giftables Digi cartridge bonus content on white CS. I cut it down to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" with the drawn sentiment centered, then sponged this & a 1 1/2" x 2 1/4" scrap of white CS the same way as the main background. I used Unity Stamp Company's "Just Stinkin Cute Add-on" to stamp the "Congrats on the cute new poop machine" sentiment with blue ink. Finally I hand drew the double stitching on both of these pieces and the card front.

I then randomly stamped the baby bottles on the card front with blue ink. Then I used an edging punch on both sides of a 1 1/2" x 7" strip of navy CS, before stamping stars on it with white pigment ink and attached to left side of card.

I attached buttons on the "Hello Baby" sentiment as shown, then attached to the card front. I used pop dots to attach the "Congrats" sentiment, along with a onsie die cut.

THE INSIDE:

I used Unity's "Just Stinkin Cute" stamp set for the inside phrase & image! The sentiment says "Sh*t just got real! Congratulations!"

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

SYMPATHY CARD IDEA

Today's share is a sympathy card I made using Anna Griffin products. The card base is white A7. I cut a piece of pink textured white core cardstock, embossed with Anna's Jolie Lace folder, then sanded to reveal the white core. I trimmed the bottom with scissors before attaching to the card front.

I made the sentiment with Anna's Chalkboard Sentiment stamps. I used Anna's Pink Pigment Ink Pad to stamp "With Sympathy" & "For the Graduate".  Then I trimmed a 1/8th inch border around the "With Sympathy" and matted on light pink CS, again trimming a 1/8" border around this and attached to the "For the Graduate" sentiment with pop dots. Next I trimmed a 1/8th" border around the graduate sentiment, and matted with light pink, white & light pink again, trimming each layer to 1/8th". I attached the sentiment to the card front about 3/8th" from the left side and 1 5/8th" from the top.

I printed & cut the roses with my Cricut & Anna's Fantastic Flipcards Digital Cartridge (bonus content), then attached to the card front with popdots. The final touch was to add the sheer white ribbon bow at the top of the card!

I won't be able to post again until next week Monday, as I'm out of town this weekend - I'm heading to the Spring Stampede in Sayner WI!!! As always, I hope I've been able to inspire your creativity! Happy Crafting, Smiles, Laura

VINTAGE FLAPPER GIRL CARD

Today's share is a vintage A2 card that I taught in my class last night. It's a really quick & easy card to make. The image & sentiments are retired (TAC image, sentiment??), but you can use any vintage image you have on hand. I stamped both with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on a soft watercolor floral paper (4.75"x3.5") I got at Joann's. I matted this on light mint green CS (5"x3.75") & then pink CS (5.25"x4") before attaching to the cream A2 card front.

I cut the wine bottle & flutes from a leftover piece of watercolor cardstock I made using the Acetate Smack technique (see my post from April 23, 2017 for this technique) & then lightly sponged the die cuts with the Cocoa ink to give added dimension. I glued the flutes onto the card with Zig glue, and attached the wine bottle with pop dots.

The last step was to add the 1" white ribbon bow in the upper left corner to complete the card front. If you wanted to, you could also stamp a small "Happy Birthday" sentiment just under the image between the wine bottle & champagne flute. The inside of the card was stamped with a sentiment that says "IT'S WINE O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE!"

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy crafting, smiles, Laura!

MASCULIINE GOOD LUCK CARD

Hello everyone! Today I'm sharing a masculine card that could be used for a graduation, or for a college-bound student. This card looks complicated, but it's really very easy to make.

CARD BASE:

The A7 card base is black (5x7" when folded in half). With white pigment ink, stamp a background pattern around the edges, then heat set the ink with heat gun. I've used Anna Griffin's Border Stamps diagonally in the picture above.

SHIRT & COLLAR:

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" x 6". Now, at 5/8" from the top of the card, cut in 1" at each side. Gently bend, but do not crisply crease or fold, the two partial strips inward & down to form the collar, as in the picture above.

TIE & COLLAR BUTTONS:

Using Anna Griffin's Embossing Folders for Him, I embossed the tie on red cardstock scrap, cut out with scissors, then used direct-to-paper technique to apply black dye ink to color the stripes on the tie. (Direct-to-paper technique involves gently dragging & tapping your inkpad on the cardstock/paper.) Attach to the center of the card about 3/8" from the top of white shirt with pop dots. Then gently bend 1 side of the collar over, poke hole through corner of collar, tie & back of shirt (I used my Spellbinders Tool-in-One to do this) & fasten with a gold mini-brad. Repeat this process on the other side of the collar.

POCKET:

Emboss the pocket from Anna Griffins "Dad" Folder (same set as above), cut out & attach to shirt with pop dots. Now attach the shirt to the card front, about 1/4" from the top.

EMBELLISHMENTS:

This is the easiest part! I attached die cuts with pop dots from Anna Griffin's "All About Him" set. All you need to do is finish the inside of the card as you see fit! And, Thanks Anna, for making such amazing die cuts, I love them!

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

DYE INK MARKER WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

Happy Friday! Today's share uses a technique I call Dye Ink Marker Watercolor Technique - as far as I know, I invented the technique, have never seen anything about this posted anywhere (let me know if I am wrong, please)! It's a variation of Acetate Smack Technique that I discussed here last week.

I used plain old 65# smooth white cardstock (GP - purchased at Walmart in office supplies dept.). I also used my Cricut with a fine point black Cricut marker (notice the marker did not bleed or run when water was added, love these markers!)

After drawing the image (from Anna Griffin's Lace Cards & Embellishment Cricut Cartridge), I colored the image in with Tombow (#533) & Memento ( Grape Jelly, Rosebud, Cantaloupe & Summer Sky) DYE INK MARKERS (not alcohol or pigment).

Now for the cool part! Lay a piece of acetate on top of heat resistant craft mat. Spray/mist the acetate with a good amount of water. Lay your colored image on the misted acetate & wiggle around a little. Blot up excess moisture with paper towel, remove acetate & dry with heat gun! Be careful drying, it will tear easily after being soaked with water!

If the colors turn out too light, add more color to CS where needed & repeat this process until you're happy with it! I had to apply more ink 3 times, but just love the effect! After image is thoroughly dried, apply Stickles glitter glue for that little extra something, then mat & attach to card!

This card is not completely finished yet, I'm waiting on some new dies to arrive, will repost the finished card sometime next week. I'm thinking this will make a FANTABULOUS Mother's Day Card!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

ENCOURAGEMENT CARD

Hello everyone! Today's share is an encouragement card that my students made in class this week! The dark teal & aqua pieces were embossed with Anna Griffin's Summer & Fall Folders (Feathers), and then I sanded the aqua piece (textured CS) to reveal the white core. The feather and sentiment are from a free download from the cardstock pack Fancy Feathers available at http://www.paperwishes.com.

The Clematis Flower was created from an SVGCuts cut file 3D Flowers SVG Kit Part II. I used lavender & green cardstock to cut them with. To learn how to assemble these flowers, watch the video on their site, its a great tutorial!

I attached everything to 5x7" lavender card base and added turquoise bling rhinestones to the upper right corner of the card & the center of the Clematis.

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MASCULINE CARD IDEA

Hello everyone! Today's share is a masculine card I created. I know it's a little out of season, as it looks fall-ish, but what father doesn't like beer and football on Father's Day? I actually made this for my hubby's birthday in October, and yes, I'm way ahead, but I am known to play Christmas music in July while making Christmas cards!!!

This card was really quick and easy to make. The 5x7  card base is dark brown. I embossed a 4.75" x 6.75" piece of barn red textured WHITE CORE cardstock with Anna Griffin's Summer & Fall embossing folders (Chrysanthemum), then gently sanded to reveal the white core before attaching to the card base.

Next, on a 4"x6" piece of plain white cardstock, I stamped blocks with 6 different fall colors of dye ink ( olive, clay, dark brown, light brown, cantaloupe & tangelo), then embossed with Anna's Leaves folder. After embossing, I applied Brilliance Copper ink direct-to paper (the raised areas will pick up this ink beautifully), then sponged in a little plum ink before attaching to card!

The sentiment, beer stein & football were super-easy! Thanks Anna for creating such wonderful die cuts - For The Boys! Just pop dot & attach & the card is done!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura

ACETATE SMACK TECHNIQUE

using water based dye markers

Today I'm sharing a card made with a technique that I just love. Acetate smack technique produces a stunning watercolor effect on plain white cardstock and is fairly easy to accomplish using a few simple tools:

SUPPLIES

Acetate (you can use a piece that comes with your clear stamps)

White cardstock (3.75 x 5" for an A2 card)

Water based dye ink markers (the brighter/darker, the better)

Water spritzer/mister bottle

Heat resistant mat

Heat gun

Paper towel

TECHNIQUE

Lay the piece of acetate on the heat resistant mat. Choose 3 - 6 marker colors. Scribble the markers on your piece of acetate, then spray with water from your mister bottle, just until the colors start to blend a little. Gently lay your piece of cardstock on the colored, misted acetate, wiggling just a little to the left & right to blend the colors a little more. Blot up excess water with paper towel. Lift cardstock away from acetate, blotting up the excess water & ink. Place cardstock on the heat resistant mat & dry with heat gun This will take a few minutes; it is normal for the cardstock to curl a little!

THE CARD IN THE PHOTO

The marker colors I used to make the background were bright pink, bright yellow, turquoise & medium brown. After drying, I embossed the CS with Anna Griffin's Seashell Cluster Folder (Anna's Summer & Fall Embosssing Folders from HSN). 

Next I used direct to paper technique to apply Brilliance Moonlight White ink to the embossed CS, and dried with the heat gun again. Then I matted this with pink CS & attached to a white A2 card base. The final touches were adding the stamped sentiment & the flowers, which I printed with Anna's Fantastic Flip Digital Cricut Cartridge!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura 

GIRAFFE NOTE CARD

Happy Friday! Today's share is a Giraffe notecard, in honor of April having her baby! The card base is A2 size in black. I created the background (4"x5 1/4") from tan CS with the Crocodile embossing folder from Anna Griffin's Folders For Him (HSN). After embossing, I sponged it with yellow, terra cotta, medium brown & dark brown inks to create a mottled leather look. I then stamped the giraffe phrase on a small scrap of tan CS, embossed, sponged and matted on black CS, as seen in picture.

The giraffe was first stamped with Terra Cotta ink on tan CS, then with light brown ink. Next, I fussy cut it out and matted on black CS & fussy cut again. With black ink, I stamped the fern image onto green CS & fussy cut these out as well.

Now for the assembly! I attached the background to the base with tape runner, then attached the ferns with tape also. I attached the giraffe with 1 small pop dot behind the head and tape on the bottom, just to give it a dimensional look. Finally, I attached the phrase with pop dots, for added dimension. I attached a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of medium terra cotta CS on the inside to create a lighter surface to write my note on, as the card is black. Of course, you could also use white or gold gel pens to write the note with on the inside, if you choose!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy stamping & crafting, smiles, Laura

FOR MY FRIEND CARD

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card I made largely from scraps of cardstock! I had some 1/2" strips of Anna Griffin orange & teal CS leftover from another project, so I cut them to 5 1/2 inch lengths and attached them to a pink 5x7" card base. Then I fastened a teal ribbon bow to the top of this. Next I took some 3/4" left over strips & die cut them into the little scroll borders at the top & bottom, followed by attaching a white 4" doily atop this.

Then I cut a leftover piece of metallic gold cardstock with my Cricut ( 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" - Anna's Lace Cards & Embellishments - butterfly background) and attached with pop dots on the doily, followed by the banner sentiment "For My Friend'.

I hope you've enjoyed today's share! As always, Happy Crafting! Smiles, Laura

SPRING THINKING OF YOU CARD

Welcome everyone. Today I'm sharing a "Thinking of You" card I made using products from Anna Griffin. This a 5 x7" card when folded & I used a medium spring green color for the base. I then used a piece of DCWV coral colored white core textured CS (5"x7") and embossed it with Anna's Trellis Folders, which I purchased at HSN.com. After embossing, I trimmed with scissors around the scalloped edges, and punched holes in the little circles with a 1/4" hole punch. Then I used a sanding block on the coral embossed piece to reveal the white core. I love this sanding technique, it's a quick and easy way to create a beautiful background.

After attaching the coral background to the green card base, I added white ribbon & die cuts from Anna's "All About Her" die cut package (also from HSN.com). I left the inside blank, as I am using it as a notecard, but you could stamp a phrase & add die cuts to the inside, if you choose to.

I hope to begin posting once a week again, so check back regularly for new card ideas & tips! As always, HAPPY CRAFTING everyone! Smiles, Laura

RACING BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello Everyone! Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for my father-in-law. It's a 3-step card, for a great template to make a 3-step card, visit Norma's blog at frommycraftroom.blogspot.ca - not only can you find great templates there, but adorable card designs as well!

I used two 6" x 12" pieces of medium royal blue 80# cardstock to make the card base (inside & out).

CARD FRONT: The tree & deer were cut from dies by Cottage Cutz and the road was freehand cut from gray glitter cardstock using scissors. The car & phrase "VROOOOM" were stamped from a set called "Vrooom" by TAC (The Angel Company), then colored in with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers. The "Go Soupy Go" phrase was stamped with "Mini-bet" also by TAC. I attached all the piece with my tape gun, except the car, which was attached with pop-dots.

INSIDE: The "Happy Birthday" phrase on the left was stamped with a TAC set called Vintage Greetings, then colored with alcohol markers. The road was again freehand cut from the same gray glitter cardstock. The flags were stamped from an FSJ set called "Checkered Flags". The above pieces were attached with my tape gun. The car (same as car on front) was attached with pop dots.  "Soupy" was stamped with the TAC mini-bet set, "IS" was stamped with a retired TAC alphabet set.

The hashtag was cut with a die, as was the number "1" over it.  On the right side, I used a new die set by Anna Griffin called "Wishful Thinking" (available on HSN) to cut out all the beautiful pieces of the phrase "Happy 70th Birthday Dad" (cut from silver metallic cardstock).

As always, I hope this card will inspire your creativity! Happy stamping, Laura Kovala Neumann!

PS: Since my last posting I got married! Hence the name change! Happy stamping!

PRINCESS BIRTHDAY CARD!

Hello! Today's share is a Princess birthday card I made as inspiration for the Tuesday Color Challenge at The Outlawz! Head on over and check this week's challenge out - Bugaboo is our sponsor!

The image is from Bugaoo - I stamped the Princess phrase with black ink, then cut with decorative edge scissors, then matted on purple CS & again cut with decorative edge scissors. I colored in the image with Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers, then accented with Stickles Icicles Glitter Glue - the pearls are completely Stickled, no coloring at all - then set aside to dry. 

I attached designer paper to the A2 card front and stamped the sentiments with black ink. After the Stickles dried, I matted again with gold die cuts and a white doily and attached this to the card front. Finally, I added pearls to the top right and bottom left corners and added a birthday poem to the inside.

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

PIGWIT IN THE PLANTER

Hello. I just created this card this morning using "Pigwit In The Planter" by From The Heart Stamps.  I colored the image in with alcohol inks markers & punched with a scallop circle punch. I then layered this on designer cardstock, & pink cardstock, punched 2 small holes to attach pink ribbon to, added paper flowers and then attached to the card front! I plan to enter this card into the From The Heart May Challenge.

From The Heart Shop:  http://fromtheheartstamps.com/shop/
From The Heart Stamp of the Month Challenge:   http://fromtheheartstamps.com/community/category/challenges/stamp-of-the-month-challenge/

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

EMBOSSED WEDDING CARD

Hello! We're getting some much needed rain today & rainy days are perfect for indoor activities - like rubber stamping & card making! Today I'm sharing a dry embossed wedding card I made for The Outlaws Twisted Thursday Challenge. The sentiments & images used to create this card are from a digital set called "With This Ring" by MHK Designs, who is sponsoring Twisted Thursday this month! Be sure to check out MHK Designs & share your creation with us at Twisted Thursday for a chance to win a prize from MHK Designs!

T

To create the outside, I cut a piece of 12" white glitter cardstock to 5 1/2" x 12, then embossed it with Anna Griffin's "Ribbon Flower Card" 12" embossing folder using my Big Shot & a special silicone embossing mat. After embossing, I trimmed the edges as needed with my paper trimmer & scissors. Then I folded at the score lines - yes, this folder creates the score lines, love it! I fussy cut the sentiment & attached it to blue & white CS punched with an oval scallop punch, tied sheer light blue ribbon onto it and attached to the card front with sticky-back small Velcro circles, so the card can easily be opened.

To decorate the inside of the card, I cut the blue & white CS - 1 piece at 5 1/4" square and 2 pieces at 1 3/8" x 5 1/4", and attached as seen in photo. Then I punched six 5/8" circles with a punch and attached these as shown. The oval filigree frame in the center is a Cricut cut - Fancy Frames, I believe.

And last, but not least, I printed the MHK images with my monochrome laser printer, fussy cut them and then applied holographic foil with a Minc machine! Here's a close-up of these in the frame:

The holographic foil is difficult to photograph, but do you see those thin lines of refracted color? The entire images do this when the card is tilted back & forth in the light! A stunning effect!

As always, I hope I have inspired your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MINC FOILED BUTTERFLY CARD

Hello! I hope everyone had a fabulous & relaxing Mother's Day! Today I'm sharing a card I made for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge. I used "Silhouette Butterfly,"  a digital  image from Bugaboo, who is sponsoring our color challenge this month!

Okay, there's a lot going on in this card, but it was so fun to make! The background is handstamped, the butterflies have been foiled in purple with a Minc machine, then colored in with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers......

FOILING WITH A MINC

I printed the butterflies on blending cardstock, using A LASER PRINTER! The heat transfer foil for the Minc only bonds to BLACK laser toner (not inkjet ink). If you're thinking about getting a Minc, I strongly suggest investing in the laser printer as well - you can foil any digis you print with it. FYI: You can also stamp images onto a full sheet of cardstock with black ink and make laser copies of the sheet and then foil the copies - so if you have an extensive rubber stamp collection, you can open up a whole new range of foiled possibilities!

THE BACKGROUND

The background started as a 4" x 5 1/2" piece of white cardstock. I used a rubber stamp set called "Tea Stained" (TAC) with multiple colors of Brilliance Pearlescent Ink to create the background. Once stamped, I cut a 1/4" strip off the bottom and attached it to a purple scrap, then tore the edges of this, as seen in the photo (under the flower & small butterfly). Then I tore the bottom edge of the background piece and attached it to a purple A2 card. Next, I affixed the small strip about 1" above the torn edge. Finally, I stamped "Happy Birthday" in the upper left corner.

EVERYTHING ELSE

After foiling the laser butterfly images, I colored then with the alcohol markers and attached them to the card, leaving the wings up a bit to add dimension. Then I attched the flower and the pearls, and added a sentiment to the inside of the card.  NOTE: I was low on colored pearls, so I colored white ones with my alcohol ink markers to match the colors in this card!

Let me know what you think of this card in the comments section below - I'd love to hear from you! As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MASCULINE MILITARY CARD

Hello! Today's share is a card I made for my son, using a digi from Free Vintage Digital Stamps!

I printed and cut the image, then used alcohol ink markers to create the red stripes. I attached ribbon the star background paper with brads, then attachd the colored image and attached to a red card. Then I used stickles glitter glue to color the stars in the image and the white stars on the background paper. I set it aside to dry for about 1/2 hour & tada - the card is done!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

VINTAGE SAVE THE DATE CARD

Hello! Today's share is a vintage save the date card I designed using MHK Designs digital set "With This Ring." Mynn from MHK Designs has a shop on Etsy with fabulous digis - here's the link:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/MHKDesigns?page=1 . (If the link doesn't work, please copy and paste into your browser)

The floral background is designer paper, cut to 3 3/4" x 5". I attached a piece of white lace to this and matted on peach CS, then attached to the pink card. Next, I "fussy cut" the digital image with sentiment, colored in with alcohol ink markers and attached to card, as shown. Then I attached the mauve paper flowers. Finally, I stamped the date with individual alphabet stamps, and the "save the date" sentiment (both with burnt umber dye ink). the final touch was adding the small pearls to the flower and the engagement ring! By the way, I colored white pearls with a lavender alcohol marker to get them to coordinate with colors in the background paper!

I created this card for The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenges, as I'm also on this design team! This week's challenge is "Add A Sentiment," so head on over and share your creation with us!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

BIRTHDAY CARD IDEA

Hello! Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week - the twist is "Choose Your Own Twist!" I chose dry embossing with color added to the embossing folder as my twist! The beautiful silhouette fairy image is a digi called "Day After Forever" from Bugaboo, who is sponsoring our challenge this month!

To create the background, I applied Brilliance Ink directly to the embossing folder (the side with the words), then placed a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white CS inside & embossed - the ink is applied to the CS in the process! I then attached this to a blue A2 card front.

Next, I colored in the digi with alcohol ink markers and attached to the card. I stamped the sentiment on pink CS and fussy cut, then attached to card. I then added the leaf die cut and the pink flower, and added a rhinestone to the center of the flower!

Head on over the The Outlaws Tuesday Color Challenge and join the fun! I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MOTHER'S DAY CARD IDEA

May is here, and Mother's Day is fast approaching. Today I'm sharing a card that I created for The Outlawz Progressive Challenge. The image was created by Andrea Norris from SheepSki Designs - http://www.sheepskidesigns.blogspot.com/. Thank you Andrea for the beautiful image!

I colored the image with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers as follows:

Flowers: PL1, 2, 3

Mom: TB 1, 3, 5

Sky: TB 2

Grass: LG 1,2, 4

I punched the corners of the image, then sponged the edges with a medium blue ink, then matted on medium purple CS, punched corners and sponged edges with dark purple ink. Next, I attached the image to the matt, and centered on a square doily, as shown above. Finally I attached this to a 5 1/4" square card, add the bow, flowers and rhinestones!

Check back again soon for new posts. I will be posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays regularly each week, with random posts on other days - my goal is to post here at least 3 times weekly!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MISS YOU NOTECARD

Welcome everyone! Today's share uses a digi from PpinkydollsArt - I just love their digis, they are so easy to color and shadow! I made this card for The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge inspiration - head on over and check out all the great projects by the design team!

To make this card, I colored in the image with alcohol markers, then fussy cut the image and framed with blue CS. Then I stamped the sentiment "I feel so miserable..." with black ink. I attached the yellow paper flower to the cut image, then centered on the pink CS. Next, I attached the yellow flower in the upper left corner and stamped the other two sentiments. The last step was to add the rhinestones and attach to a blue A2 card!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

LITTLE BOY'S MONKEY BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello! I had so much fun designing today's share! It's a birthday card for my grandson, who is about to turn 2! The inside verse, not shown, says" "Happy Birthday, little monkey! Grami & Grampa are BANANAS 'bout you!" Being almost 2, Grayson is a very energetic, acrobatic monkey himself, climbing and swinging on everything, LOL, so I thought this card would be perfect for him!

The monkey image is by +Gerda Steiner , and I think it's soooo adorable! (Check out Gerda's site, you can get this image if you participate in the challenge!) I created the sentiment on the card front with a mini alphabet stamp set, and the green vines are a die cut. I cut the bananas by hand from yellow CS.

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

CUTE BIRTHDAY CARD IDEA

Hello everyone! I'm so excited! I've just joined the The Outlaws Twisted Thursday Design Team (in addition to being on the Tuesday Color Design Team)! Today's share is the first card I've designed for TT, using images by PpinkydollsArt! Check out their images at Etsy, if the link isn't working, please copy & paste into your browser:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ppinkydollsart .

To make this card, I stamped a lace swirl pattern onto pink CS (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" folded). Then I printed the adorable digi onto white blending CS & cut with a Spellbinders oval die. I colored in the image with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers and added Stickles Glitter Glue to the wing of the butterfly. After the glitter glue dried, I attached the brads, then attached the oval die cut to the card front. Finally, I colored the white polyester flowers with the alcohol ink markers, then attached them to the card with wonder tape. The final touch was to add the self adhesive pearls to the centers of the flower!

This weeks challenge at Twisted Thursday is Tic Tac Toe! Be sure to head on over to The Outlawz Challenges to check it out! I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

3 MONOCHROMATIC CARD IDEAS

Hello and welcome! Today's share is 3 monochromatic cards I've designed! If you've never made a monochrome card before, don't let the technique scare you - monochrome cards are easy and fun to make. All you need to do is pick 1 color as your main color. You can add small amounts of a few other colors, if you choose, OR you can use different shades of just the one color! I'll discuss each of today's cards below to help you get started with yours!

My main color for this Princess Birthday Card is BLUE. As you can see, there's also some white in the sentiment and the bow, browns, red and flesh tones on the princess, and a silvery tone in the rhinestone flowers. But the predominant color is BLUE! So it's perfectly okay to add small amounts of other colors, as long as they don't overpower the MAIN COLOR.

The main color for the second card is PURPLE! In fact it's the ONLY color you see in this card! I've just used many different shades of purples to create this. When working with only one color, I find it helps to layer the different shades of CS to create an interesting card, as well as to add embellishments like the flowers and rhinestones. By the way, I didn't have any purple rhinestones, so I colored clear ones with purple alcohol markers! I've also stamped the background & the sentiment in a Violette ink.

Here is yet another take on a monochromatic card! This card uses close to equal amounts of white and light blue! So is it monochrome or not? It is monochrome, because the blue overpowers the white so you notice the blue more!  Therefore, BLUE is the predominant color! 

Okay, so now it's time for you to make your monochromatic card. Gather up your supplies and your favorite image(s)! Remember, if you have alcohol markers, you can color practically any embellishment to match your main color - I've colored rhinestones, ribbon, polyester and paper flowers, etc..... to make them match what I'm creating!

Have fun! And be sure to upload your monochrome creation to The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week, as the challenge is, of course, MONOCHROME! I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello! What a beautiful spring Saturday morning it is! The birds chirping so happily this morning inspired me to create this scenic birthday card for my son-in-law's birthday! The background stamp by TAC was stamped with black Memento ink and colored in with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers. Then I stamped the motorcycle image (by Fun Stamper's Journey) with black Memento ink and colored in with the alcohol markers. I attached the motorcycle with pop dots for a 3-D effect, and stamped "Happy Birthday" on the top with black ink.

Next, I stamped the foliage image in teal blue on green CS, added the blue ribbon, attached to the card, and finally attached the main image to this! Although not shown, the inside verse says "Happy 32nd Birthday JJ! The only difference between men and boys, is the prices of their toys!" Of course, my SIL is into dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, and the like ......... so thought the phrase was perfect! LOL!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

RED VINTAGE COLLAGE CARD IDEA

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card I created for the Twisted Thursday Challenge at The Outlawz Challenges - "Anything with Wings" twist! I know, most vintage style cards use much softer colors than scarlet red, but I was feeling adventurous and broke all the rules with this one - I love this '20s flapper girl fairy image and decided to use the red anyway with her! After much ado trying to make this card work, I decided to combine 2 styles - and my final result is a VINTAGE/COLLAGE card!

The fairy and the sentiments on red are from a set called "Fly Fairy" from +Red Rubber Designs and its still available through the website! I decided to add the sentiment in the upper right corner "she drew recklessly that day" to fill in blank space, but its a bit of humor as well, as I "created recklessly today" - LOL! This sentiment is from a set called "Art Gave Her Wings", also still available at +Red Rubber Designs . This card will be a birthday card for a good friend of mine - she loves red and fairies!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Don't be afraid to bend/break the "rules" once in a while! Smiles, Laura

NON-TRADITIONAL GRADUATION CARD

Welcome! Today's share is a non-traditional graduation card that I made for my niece's upcoming graduation in May. Her school colors are orange & black, which I incorporated into the card, but she also loves butterflies and spring! I thought the sentiment on the inside was fitting advice for a "changeling" such as a high school graduate! Being on the design team for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge, this card is my inspiration for this week's challenge - head and over to The Outlaws and join us in the fun!

I made the background on the card front by cutting 3 different color of CS and piecing them together. The pink and yellow are 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" and the blue is 1 3/8" x 5 1/4". After these were attached, I stamped the floral background with black ink and added the ribbon to the top. Then I attached this to the purple A2 card.

Next I colored the Cricut die cut with alcohol ink markers so it would match the ribbon and stamped "fly" on it with black ink. Finally, I stamped the butterflies, colored with alcohol ink markers and hand cut each one and attached them to the card.

The inside of the card uses the same colors as the front, layered as shown in photo. The stamp sets used here are from +Red Rubber Designs , I'm not sure if they're still available, you'd have to check and see.

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles Laura

3-STEP BIRTHDAY CAR

D

Happy Friday everyone! I designed this 3 step card for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week - it's for my granddaughter's birthday this summer, she'll be turning 4 and she loves flowers and butterflies. I wanted to mention that I found the template for this card at From My Craft Room, a blog by one very talented Norma! If this link doesn't work, please copy & paste into your browser:  http://frommycraftroom.blogspot.com/

If you're interested in creating 3-step cards and more, Norma has all kinds of templates for different types of cards - be sure to stop by her blog!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MOTHER'S DAY 3-STEP CARD

Welcome everyone! I had a lot of fun creating this 3-step card for Mother's Day. It took some time, as this is only the second step card I have ever made and was on a huge learning curve, but I just love this type of card! I'm looking forward to making side-step cards and more in the near future! I cut the lattice with my Cricut and also used Cuttlebug & Spellbinders dies, as well as adding some flowers. Here's the inside:

The mother/child image is from a Stampin' Up set. I honestly don't remember who made the pretty paper, I've had it in my collection for over 10 years and decided it was time to use it! I hope my MIL appreciates this one in May!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

JUNIOR ARTIST CARD

Hello! I spent some much needed time with some of my grandchildren over Easter break last week. My eldest granddaughter, Lexi & I had fun in this grandma's craft room! Lexi, age 10, is a very talented up & coming artist, and she created this card for her 5th grade teacher! She made the die cut with Cricut's Elegant Edges cartridge and colored the flower with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers, hand wrote her teacher's name, then topped the card off with Stickles Glitter Glue. What a beautiful card, her teacher is lucky to get it!

MASCULINE DREAM CATCHER NOTE CARD

Welcome everyone! Today I'm sharing "Dream Catcher," a note card done in masculine colors.

It's an A2 card, and I've used a tan parchment CS for the card base. The images are from TAC and are retired now, I believe - not sure if any other companies have similar images. I stamped the dream catcher  image with black ink on cream CS and colored in with several shades of brown watercolor pencils,then "fussy cut" the image out.

The brown piece of distressed CS you see under the dream catcher started out as a scrap of the tan parchment CS used for the card base! First, I tore the edges to give them a rough look, then crumpled it up several times to wrinkle it. Then I dragged a terra cotta ink pad over it for the first base of color (direct-to-paper technique). After letting this air dry for a few minutes, I used a brayer to lightly apply burnt umber (dark brown) ink for the second coat of color (I did this step several times, until I liked the color.)

After this dried for 1/2 hour, I crumpled it one more time for good measure, then attached the dream catcher image to this. Then I layered this onto the green & terra cotta CS, attached the beaded leather strips with a brad and attached this to the card. Next I stamped the sentiment "DREAM" with black ink and stamped three arrowheads down the right side of the card. I colored the arrowheads brown watercolor pencils, and added shadows to them with a Tombow gray marker.

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy card-making to all & Smile, Laura

FEMININE SPRING BIRTHDAY CARD IDEA

Welcome everyone! I enjoyed spending time with my grandchildren for a few days over the past week, then was hit hard with influenza..... I am now feeling close to normal again, I'm happy to report, and I'm wishing all of my readers good health while this bug is running rampant (at least in my neck of the woods).

I managed to make this card over the weekend, which was inspired by the current challenge at The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge. The main image is "Cosmos," by Digistamps4joy, which I've colored pink/purple with Spectrum Noir markers. The butterfly & oval die cuts are from Spellbinders, and the little flowers are Cricut cuts (Mother's Day Bouquet). The yellow cardstock was embossed with a Darice embossing folder. I chose to add a few pearls & some wide sheer yellow ribbon just to fill in the bare spaces.

I hope this card helps to inspire your creativity today! Head on over to the The Outlawz Challenges and check out all the fun challenges this week for more inspiration! Smiles, Laura

TAIL FEATHERS BIRTHDAY CARD IDEA

Welcome everyone! I will be taking a short break from blogging to spend time with my grandchildren over the Easter Holiday. I'll be posting again on March 30th. But before I go on break, I thought I'd share a birthday card I made for a friend!

This cute image and sentiment are from a digi set called "Tail Feathers" from +Pickled Potpourri . I colored the chick in with alcohol ink markers, then fussy cut & matted on black CS. I also fussy cut and matted the sentiment on black CS. I stamped "Happy Birthday" with black ink, then used a Darice chicken wire embossing folder on the pink background, and layered this on black CS. The flower brads were attached using my Crop a Dile Big Bite. After attaching the chick and sentiment, I attached to the yellow card. The last step was to apply Yellow Stickles glitter glue to the "Happy Birthday" sentiment and set aside to dry for a half hour!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy Easter to all, and I'll be back nest Wednesday! Smiles, Laura

EASTER CARD IDEA

Welcome! Today's share is an Easter card I made for The Outlawz Challenges Tuesday Color Challenge, using a bunny image from Digistamps4joy. If you're not a member of The Outlawz Challenges, check it out - it's a fun community of stampers who are not only nice, but very talented & creative! http://outlawzchallenges.ning.com/   If the link isn't working, please copy & paste into your browser.

The colors for the challenge are pink, blue & yellow! I'd love to see your Easter creations, so head on over to The Outlawz Color Challenge & upload your work - it's free to join & participate in the fun!
Smiles, Laura

CARROT BUNNY GARDEN CARD

Welcome everyone! Today I'm sharing a garden note card I made for the +Gerda Steiner March Monthly Challenge, using Gerda's "Carrot Bunny Digital Stamp." If you haven't been to this site, check it out, there are lots of cute digis & ideas there, in addition to the challenge!

I colored the bunny image with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers, layered in on light marbled brown CS and hand wrote "in my garden". Next, I stamped the carrot background on white CS, colored it in and layered that on light marbled brown CS, after attaching the green gingham ribbon at the bottom. Then I attached this to a light green card.

I printed the "NO BUNNIES ALLOWED!" sentiment on the computer, punched it with a circle punch, then stamped & colored in the carrot. Finally I made the orange gingham bow, taped the green gingham ribbon around the center and attached to the card! I'm using this as a note card, but it could also easily be used as an Easter card - just change the sentiment!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

HAPPY EASTER BUNNY FAMILY!

Welcome! With Easter only 1 week away, I have been fervently working away in my craft room trying to finish making all my Easter cards for family. And today's share is hot off my table! Okay, let's get started on this card, inspired by the fact that RABBITS DO MULTIPLY quickly!

The bunny image is called "Nerdy but Nice" from +Gerda Steiner ! Each of the bunnies was cut out with scissors by hand, then colored in with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers. I used Icicle Stickles glitter glue on the glasses to give them that shiny, reflective look (and let them dry for 1/2 hour).  After they dried, I used glue & tape to position & attach all 10 of them to the turquoise CS, then trimmed that by hand to mat my not-so-little bunny family!

I cut the pink strip of CS with scalloped scissors, then punched 1/16" holes with a hand punch, then attached this to a strip of turquoise CS, trimmed again with scallop scissors and tied a big puffy bow from white sheer ribbon before adhering to the tan background, which was embossed with a wicker embossing folder. I then layered this onto turquoise & pink CS, and finally to a 6" x 6" card.

Finally, I attached the "Happy Easter!" sentiment to the card with pop dots, and added the little self-adhesive pearls & flowers.  I have to admit, it was a bit more work than I normally do when I have a lot of cards to make, but one down and three more to go - there's still time before Easter to get them done!

If you have any questions about how I made this card, please ask in the comment section below! I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

OH MY! MY HAPPY EASTER BUNNY FAMILY CARD HAS BEEN FEATURED

IN THE OUTLAWS MAIN GALLERY THIS WEEK! WOOHOO!