Sunday, June 25, 2017

The Challenge continues...

So far I am still caught up on the Index Card a Day challenge. I will admit that a couple times I missed a day and had to do 2 cards the next day but life happens and right now I am on track.

I only share a few of my cards on the blog (because I am not thrilled with every card I make). If you want to see them all...the good, the bad and the meh you can see them on my ICAD 2017 Pinterest board. 


Day 20: YinYang



This was drawn with Sharpie fine line pen and colored with Inktense pencils. I then rubbed Distress Ink Peacock Feathers around the edges.


Day 22: Vanishing Point



This is outlined with Sharpie fine line pen and colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Day 23: Alice in Wonderland



This was done with Inktense pencils.


Day 24: Caravan or RV



I am NOT a camping person. I love indoor plumbing and hate bugs! But I think the 'glamper' campers are super cute.
This was outlined with Copic liner pen and colored with Spectrum Noir alchohol markers.


Day 25: Portrait


A pencil sketch of my favorite baby giraffe, Tajiri. 

Here is the photo I used for reference. 




I did more than just index cards this week.
I received my order from Create and Craft. I ordered some hot foil stamps for my GoPress and Foil machine.
I think my biggest complaint about the machine is how difficult it is to find stamps in the USA.

I ordered TODO hot foil stamps which are the exact same thing just from a different maker/machine.

But even the selection from Create and Craft is dwindling down to nothing very quickly.

If you have the GoPress and Foil machine and would like to read my tips for perfect foiling every time go here



This is the TODO Seahorse stamp. Isn't he cute? That is the main reason I bought him lol

He is about 4 inches tall and as you can see, he foiled perfectly. I am thinking I will cut him out and create an underwater scene card for him.



I was super excited for this stamp. TODO's All Over Dot background. It is about 4.25" x 4.25". 
Again, perfect foiling, no missed dots or splotchy application.

Image the possibilities. A background on a card (ok that is kind of a given)
But what about foiling dots on your die cuts?
Or foiling the full square and then cutting die cuts from that?
Or cutting the square into stripes or smaller squares to use in mosaic patterns?

I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this one.

I also purchased the Butterfly & Flowers background. It is about an 1/8 inch bigger than the dots but I haven't had time to try it out yet. I will show it to you once I do.

And last week I promised to show you the birthday card I made for my sister.



This is the Adirondack Chair box card from SVG Cuts. It is part of the Garden Party box card set.

Isn't it cute?

That covers my past week. The temperatures have been in the triple digits the past few days. Ugh!!!
I hope you are all finding ways to stay cool.

Until next time...Happy Crafting!



Saturday, June 17, 2017

Five and a half weeks to go

Working a full time job really cuts into my art time! Then again it allows me to buy all the wonderful supplies and gadgets that catch my eye. Such a dilemma.

Thankfully my index cards don't take much time (usually) and this is a slow card making time of year.

I am in the middle of week 3 and, for the most part, not disliking any of the prompts.

I have five cards to share with you today.

Day 11: Tetrahedron (I had to google that one....it is a 3 sided pyramid)


Ok, so technically this isn't a tetrahedron because I am pretty sure the Egyptian pyramids have 4 sides but I don't care.
The pyramid and camel were colored with alcohol inks, the sand is Inktense pencils and the sky is Pan Pastels.


Day 12: Wings



The dragonfly body was painted with Inktense pencils, the wings were drawn with fine line Sharpie and then painted with Iridescent Blue Twinkling H2Os.


Day 14: Leaves


So I picked up a new embossing folder a few days ago and then get this prompt of 'leaves'. Seemed like fate to me. :-)

I created the background by rubbing Distress Inks (scattered straw, bundled sage and pine needles) on foil then spritzing heavily with water. I then laid my card into the puddles to create the light yellow/green mottling. Once dry I debossed the card using Darice's Trop Leaf Background folder. I then rubbed Distress Black Soot over top. 

I stamped the leaf (EK Success Nostalgiques Botanicals set) with Distress Black Soot and colored it with alcohol markers.


Day 16: Rainbow


I read rainbow and immediately Rainbow Brite jumped into my head. I'm not sure why. I have never watched Rainbow Brite. I remember seeing her all over the place in the 80s but being an adult at that time and not having kids I'm not sure why she popped up this week. But here she is.  Gotta love those moon boots! lol

Her skin was colored with alcohol markers. Everything else was Inktense pencils.


Day 17: Sprout



And sticking with the animated character theme (lol) we have Green Giant's lil Sprout.
He was colored entirely with Prismacolor pencils. 

I am current with my Index Card a Day challenge (today is day 17) and had a few minutes here and there so I got a jump on birthday cards.


Here is this years card for my nephew. I love it, I think he will too.


This is from SVG Cuts and is the Side of Fries box card from the Pit Stop box card set. 

This was the easiest box card I have ever made. I think from start to finish was less than 30 minutes!

Don't they look real? They do in person too!

I made a card for my sister too but forgot to photograph it so I will try to remember to do that for next week.

Until then, Happy Crafting!



Saturday, June 10, 2017

Index Cards :Love Em or Hate Em

I am halfway into week 2 of the Index Card a Day challenge (ICAD). 
I never had an issue with the actual index cards before but this year they are driving me nuts. (and it is still the same batch of card from last year so ...)

The fact that I can't get color to lay down smoothly is bothering me (it never laid down smooth before so why that bothers me now I have no idea lol)

And my alcohol markers are bleeding uncontrollably....which is also bugging me.

Maybe I am just in a grumbling mood this year lol

So let me share a few cards from this week.

Day 5: Kawaii/Cute


I know this isn't Kawaii but she is cute. :-)
She is colored with alcohol markers. Gotta love those pink toe nails and spikes!


Day 7: Alliteration


She Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore
Again, colored with alcohol markers.


Day 9: Ombre


The girl was colored with alcohol markers.
The mod wallpaper and checked flooring were colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Day 10: Sunshine Yellow


We have a routine at our house. Each morning, after we are up and dressed, we open the blinds so that when the sun comes up it will slowly spread it's beams across the bed.
Minnie loves to snuggle in and follow the beams until they disappear.

If we forget to open the blinds she comes and lets me know lol

She isn't on the bed in the picture but I gave her a pillow to lounge on.

The cat is stamped. I have no idea who makes this stamp. It is part of a set of 16 clear cat stamps that I found on ebay for $2 from China. I took a chance that they were decent quality and they are but there are no markings and no label.

The window, baseboard and pillow were drawn with a Sharpie fine line and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The sunbeam is Inktense pencil.

I hope you all have sunbeams you can follow this weekend.

Happy Crafting!




Sunday, June 04, 2017

Holy Cow! It's June!!!

How did an entire month slip by since my last post? Ugh!!!

Maybe because I didn't do much in May? lol
I have a hard time getting motivated in May. I really only have a couple projects I need to do....my Dad's birthday card (for the end of the month) and Father's Day cards for mid June. That leaves a lot of time where I have no ideas of what to create. (because I procrastinate and don't make those cards until the last minute lol)

Here is my Dad's birthday card.



It is the Hamburger Box card from SVG Cuts, the Sunday with Dad set. I think it is such a cute card and really easy to make.
Dad liked it too.

And I have his Father's Day card ready to mail (but not the cards for hubby or my father in law lol)



This is the Tackle Box box card. Isn't this just the coolest card! It is also from the Sunday with Dad set from SVG Cuts. 

I have to say, although it is easy to assemble, it took me all afternoon! (all those tiny pieces for all that tackle) I hope he likes it.



In case you missed it, there was an all day craft day on HSN in May.
I really need to stop recording those to watch after work. I know the couple things I want and order them at the beginning of craft day but then I watch all the recordings and see other things.....very bad (and expensive lol)



This is from a Crafter's Companion die cutting set. It is a flip card. Yeah, I have flip card dies already from Anna Griffin and I have a flip card cartridge. But they all have differences. And when you make as many cards as I do you enjoy having lots of options.

This is the front of my card. The hello in a circle was created in Cricut Design Space (see, my toys play nicely together)  The decorative panels are cutting dies from the Crafter's Companion set. I ran them through the Cuttlebug using a wood grain folder.

This set actually comes with lots of extras to make really intricate cuts in your cards. Sarah calls them 'kinetic' cards because they have movement.

You can see the entire set here.




The center circle 'flips' to reveal this little guy. I picked him up at Treasure box designs a couple weeks ago. He is part of their Stuffy Pals line and currently on sale. I changed up the colors a bit from what they show but he is the raccoon file.



Here is close up. Isn't he a cutie? His circle background was embossed with Darice's Flower Frenzy embossing folder.

And lastly...



It's ICAD season!!!!!

Yep the Index Card a Day challenge began on June 1st! This is my third year participating.
I will be showing some of my cards throughout the next couple months but not all of them.
If you want to see them all they will be posted on my Pinterest board.



Each year I make a matchbox style box to hold my cards. Here is my 2017 box. I cut the box pieces and the letters ICAD with my Cricut Explore. The numbers are from Anna Griffin's  Wishful Thinking die set. The page frame and pointing hand are from her Perfect Planner die set. 



Prompt #1: Sunrise

I used Gellatos to create my sunrise. 



Prompt #3: Vintage

The frame was cut using a cut & emboss die from Darice. I then rubbed Tea Dye and Walnut Distress Inks around the edges. The happy couple is from Tim Holtz new Paper Dolls set of die cuts. There are so many great images in that set. I had a hard time deciding who to use. The background was embossed using Anna Griffin's Cuttlebug folder Empire Arches. I then rubbed Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick all over to bring out the texture.


It looks like summer has finally arrived. I hope you all find lots of time to enjoy the sun and find lots of inspiration.

Happy Crafting!!!