Designer Paper

 I've been using designer paper for my layouts and my cards and this is an example of my results.  My goal was to step outside my box and use as many different techniques and tools on one page to bring it all together.  I even managed to pull out my cricut cartridges and use them as well to finish this page. My favorite papers are Bo Bunny, Webster Pages, Graphic 45, Authentique, Pink Paislee, Prima and My Minds Eye. They have different collections and I think I have purchased every one of them....perhaps thats why I stay broke...he he.

Challenge 1 - Scene It With Nature

Welcome to Challenge 1 - Scene it With Nature

To enter this challenge all you need to do is create a scene on your card.  Use multiple images to create a scene or just one image that is a scene. Tell the story.  You can use any image as long as the image includes elements of nature, such as trees, birds, buildings, etc.).  So create your scene and share it with us.   

You have until midnight October 11th to enter your creation. 

The winner for this challenge will be drawn on October 12th.

 

Please remember to follow the standard rules located in the rules tab above

Additional rules shown below:

1. Please make sure that you link to the URL of your project, not your blog;

2. You may Enter THREE Projects and you can combine your entry with as many other challenges as allowed.

3. Don't forget to add a link back to our challenge on your blog.

4. Remember anyone can enter my challenges but you must be a follower to claim a prize

Click Here To Enter Challenge 2 - Those Bloomin' Flowers
Click Here To Enter Challenge 3 - Animals Gone Wild

Here is a sample card to get you started:

This scene was already created thanks to Robert Jackson of "Fine Arts By Robert Jackson".  Both my DP and CS is DCWV.  I added a little bit of embossing as an element and used a MS border punch at the bottom.

Using Robert's silhoutee made this card a cinch to make.  On the inside I kept the color scheme  carried the border design over making sure I added a space for a personal  message.

 

This card is one of my Christmas designs to add to my usual card kits.  I used the Aspen Snowflake to punch around the mat and then used a Spellbinders Die label 8 to create the frame. Using a "thing-a-magig" I positioned the trees to fall in line with the frame.  The horse and buggy was cut using my Cricut Cartridge called "Heritage" ( I love that cartridge).  I'm not sure that you can see the glistening of the snow and tree limbs, but its there thanks to good ole Stickles.

The trees flow over to the inside and I used the cutout from the front window as the area for a personal message.  Adding the MS border undet the trees finished off my card. (didn't add stickles inside).

Hopefully, I have inspired you to participate in this challenge.  Remember we have three challenges going on so join in all three.  I can't wait to see your creations!

Challenge 2 - Those Bloomin' Flowers

Challenge 2 - Those Bloomin' Flowers.

This is a fun challenge.  Gather your flowers and think of all the colors of nature.  Have fun with this one.  Your flowers may be digital or they may be made from mulberry paper, it's all up to you. You can use any image but don't forget the flowers....and it doesn't have to be a card.

You have until midnight October 18th to enter your creation.

The winner for this challenge will be drawn on October 19th.
 

Please remember to follow the standard rules located in the rules tab above

Additional rules shown below:

1. Please make sure that you link to the URL of your project, not your blog;

2. You may Enter THREE Projects and you can combine your entry with as many other challenges as allowed.

3. Don't forget to add a link back to our challenge on your blog.

4. Remember anyone can enter my challenges but you must be a follower to claim a prize

Click Here To Enter Challenge 1 - Scene It With Nature
Click Here To Enter Challenge 3 - Animals Gone Wild

Here is a sample card to get you started:

I'm sure we all can recognize this darlin' image.  It's another beauty created by Krista of "Saturated Canary."

She was colored using Copics:
Reds: R30
Greys: C3, C1
Blues:  B93, B91, BG70
Browns: E25, E23, E50, E11, E13, E00, E000, E43, E42, E41, E40

I used Kraft Cardstock and Authentique Designer Paper.  The flowers are 25mm Wild Curly Roses from Wild Orchid and I used a Spellbinders die to cut the corners.

I haven't finished the inside because I ran out of scraps so trying to get a flow is a bit harder than usual.  My next card I really like because I am a lover of hats. 

I saw a technique on Youtube on using a standard border punch and making it work as a punch around the page.  It was pretty cool and easy to follow. I have forgotten where I got the image but I ended up with four of them. 

The flowers are once again from Wild Orchid and the pearls are Recollection. My designer paper is Websters and the cardstock is Bazzill.  I used Spellbinders to cut the Lacy Circle and the Teardrop circle.

For the inside I tried the technique again using white cardstock to create a space for a personal messge, and then on the right I printed the verse directly onto the DP.

 

 



As always thanks for stopping by and remember "find beauty in all things and then go create your own."  Then go ahead and enter your creation in this challenge using Mr. Linky shown below (smiles).  Can't wait to see what you guys create:

Creating Clouds

Clouds Tutorial - by: Brenda O'Rear


Supplies:
Card stock
Punch/punches
Ink
Dauber or sponge
Scissors if cutting out template



Step One:
I have shown a few punches you could use to make clouds. I only used one
of them and for the other I used a die cut template. You can make your own template by stamping, punching, or hand drawing a cloud.



Step Two:
I placed the template on my white cardstock and used the dauber to sponge
around just the edges where there are scallops. You can see the clouds forming
where I sponged at the top of the cardstock. I usually only sponge around about half the template.

Here is a card using the above method

Step Three:
For my next card, I punched out a cloud template using a Fiskars cloud punch.
I used blue cardstock and placed my punched piece on the cardstock and
sponged white ink inside. Very simple!


My card for this method:


Step Four:
Another way to create clouds is to make cloud masks and place over your white cardstock. Be sure to tape your clouds to your cardstock so they don’t move around. I’m using a double sided scrapbook tape which can be removed when finished. Sponge or brayer the entire piece of cardstock with blue ink or whichever color you prefer. You can use gray for a cloudy day or I’ve seen very pretty clouds in brown for a little whimsy. Remove your masks and you have some beautiful, white clouds.
For my example below, I used Memento London Fog ink:

Shown With Templates

Remove Templates

I hope you’ll find my tutorial helpful and you have beautiful skies ahead.

Challenge 3 - Animals Gone Wild

Challenge 3 - Animals Gone Wild

If you're here then you're ready to showcase those creatures big and small.  From dogs to cats and everything in-between we want to see those little cuties or those strong wow types.  Any animal is welcomed in this challenge so get your mojo going and let's hear some noise...well we will pretend we can hear the animals calling us.

You have until midnight October 25th to enter your creation.

The winner for this challenge will be drawn on October 26th.
 

Please remember to follow the standard rules located in the rules tab above

Additional rules shown below:

1. Please make sure that you link to the URL of your project, not your blog;

2. You may Enter THREE Projects and you can combine your entry with as many other challenges as allowed.

3. Don't forget to add a link back to our challenge on your blog.

4. Remember anyone can enter my challenges but you must be a follower to claim a prize

Click Here To Enter Challenge 1 - Scene It With Nature
Click Here To Enter Challenge 2 - Those Bloomin' Flowers

Here are a few cards to get you started:

 

This was an inspired card that I created mainly for the words.  The cage and bird was cut using a Tim Holtz die, embossed using UTE and popped up on the card.

I used a Martha Stewart punch to cut out the branches and added a few pearls to finish it off.  The words were printed directly to the cardstock using my printer.

For the inside I used the same paper and found a birdcage stamp to place in the upper right corner.  I created a pocket on the left side with an insert for a personal message.  I thought the paper was much to pretty to hide (lol).

 

 

This was a real fun card with fun colors.  The image is from Bugaboo Stamps, one of our sponsors this month.  I used both prismacolor pencils with gamsol and copics to color this stamp.  The chocolate punch is an EK Success and the red punch is Martha Stewart.  The designer paper is DCWV and the cardstock is Recollections.

 

The inside of the card is nothing special but as usual I did my best with the leftover scraps. Maybe I'll add more later after a good night's sleep.

Well folks, I hope these two cards has given you ideas and encouraged you to participate in our "Animals Gone Wild" challenge.  Enter your creations below.

Timeless Friends

I had a lot of fun working on this page. I had just found this Bo Bunny paper and didn't have a clue what I was going to do with it when I saw a page somewhere that gave me an idea. The roses are from Prima that I picked up at Michaels and the hanging sign is a Tim Holtz. The border is Martha Stewart and the flourishes I got at Hobby Lobby (HL) but I can't remember the brand. I layered two pieces of paper and then distressed and inked the top layer with distress inks. A real fun page.

Coloring Brown Hair

Copic Tutorial - Coloring Brown Hair

Here are the copic colors used for this tutorial.  There are other color combos for brown hair but this works for me:  E21, E25, E29

And for my model I have used the gorgeous Anastasia from Make It Crafty. They have a complete portrait collection that works well to practice coloring hair.

STEP 1

I always like to color the skin first as it gives a good idea of how the hair color and style is going to suit the character. When starting the hair, I always use my lightest color, in this case the E21, to lay down the first highlights. Use the feathering technique and just flick the brush out. The heavier the pressure you apply the more texture you will get.  When laying down the first layer, leave some white space where the lightest part of the hair would be.  If  there is alot of hair, color the hair in sections starting with the front near her face. This is so that you don't have to hurry too much in case the ink dries.

STEP 2

Then go to the next color, E25, and do the same thing but not quite to the same length as the color before. Use the lighter color as a guide for the direction of the strokes. It is important to pay attention to the direction of the light source when determining what parts of the hair need to be the darkest and the lightest. I like to do the part quite dark, with the light source coming from the side. This would mean that all of the outward curves are the lightest as they are closest to the light source, and all of the inverted curves would be the darkest.

STEP 3

Then go in with your darkest color, E29, and again do a layer of color not quite as long as the previous. In this first set of layering don't worry too much about the shape of the strands as you can go back in after and lay more color down. These first three steps are more about just getting the color on the page.

STEP 4

Go back in with the middle colour, E25, and repeat the same feathering process, but this time when you feather over the darker color, it pulls the color down creating some blending.

STEP 5

Repeat with the lightest color and repeat the feathering process.

STEP 6

Now that you have gone from lightest to darkest and back again, focus on the texture and size of the strands using E25, and E29, and now the front section of her hair is complete.

STEP 7

Now we move on to the next part of her hair.  Below is an image of her hair finished. As she has quite a different hair style the shading can be a little tough. As she has large curls, I have made the inside of the curl the lightest and the two edges the darkest to make them look more rounded. There are many different ways you can do this, so just practice with what looks the nicest for you.

For this section of her hair repeat the same steps as above, lightest to darkest and back again. Then go back in with the middle and darkest colors to create more texture and definition.

Lastly color all of the flowers, and made her up into a card.

Hope that helped you just a little bit! Thanks for stopping by!

Copic colors used:

Skin: E000, E00, E11, R11 | Hair: E21, E25, E29 | Roses: R81, R85, R59 | Flowers: V000, V01, V04, V09

Below is this same image with blonde hair. If you like her better as a blonde, check back often for that tutorial is coming soon!

Magic Card Tutorial –courtesy of Marianne
( to see the video scroll to the bottom of this tutorial)

1.  This card consists of three pieces that are glued together in the end.

CS: 6 x 7 Scored 1 ½ inch in from the edge of each sideCS: 6 x 6 Scored 1 inch in from the edge of each sideThis gives you a center measuring 4 inches on each piece of cardstock.Use a border punch on the sides and distress with walnut stain if desired

2.  Your 3^rd piece of cardstock that will be the front of your card should be cut at 4 x 7 ½ and scored at 6 and 6 ^1/8     Fold the score lines to ensure that the flap hangs down smoothly

3.  It's time to decorate with pattern paper.  I have prepared four thin strips, and four wide strips to decorate the sides of the wings on the card.  The width of your strip will depend on the punch you used to decorate the edges.

4.  I have decorated the wings and the middle of the fields that will be visible on the card.

5.  The reverse side of the wings are also decorated as shown here.  The white areas are glued together later

6.  Here you can see how I decorated what will be the front of the card

7.  And then I decorated the inside as shown here.  Innsiden er her ferdig med tekst. Inside is the text I want to use. This could be a picture or anything, just Pass på at teksten kommer rett vei:) make sure that the text/image is the right way :) Jeg har festet dobbeltsidig teip til den lille klaffen. I have attached double-sided tape to the small flap.

8.  Turn the smallest piece of cardstock with the white or back side facing up.  Then position the flap at the top making sure it can fold down easily.  This would be a good time to make sure your image/text is positioned correctly.  When you are satisfied that it is correct adhere your flap to the card.

 9.  Now add more double-side tape to the flap and the white side of the smallest piece.  We are preparing to glue it to the larger piece of cardstock.

10. Here I have glued all the parts together, the two white areas against each other, and the front card hangs nicely down the middle.   Jeg har laget et skrivefelt, som blir skjult av fronten. I have created a writing space, which is hidden by the front.

Here you can see the card open, showing the text/image and the space for a personal message

And here's the card completely finished.  If you fold the rear wings backward, and the main wing forward, so the card can stand