Monday, December 28, 2009

Pooh And Friends Page

I ended up with some spare time in my hands after all the craziness otherwise known as Christmas had passed. Well, the holidays are not over yet, so I decided to make a page to be given to two little boys for the Feast Of Three Kings.



I cut the characters at 2 1/4", with the exception of Piglet, who was cut at 1 3/4". I cut the sun at 2". The tree was cut at 8 1/2". The leaves were embossed with D'vine swirls and the trunk was embossed with Bird Call embossing folders. I just repositioned the paper in the embossing folder so that it would not include the image of the bird. I colored the roof, door and window with red metallic ink and applied chalk on the background. Flower soft was glued on the ground, the roof, and the "window box". For Eeyore and Rabbit's eyes, I applied platinum liquid pearls, and inked the centers for the pupils. The pics of the two boys can be glued to the sun and the door, or cutouts of their photos can be attached to the page so that they can "join" Winnie the Pooh and his friends.




Friday, December 25, 2009

Love Cards


Merry Christmas! The holiday season is almost over, so I decided on making some Valentine's Day cards a little early for this week's card challenge at Cricut.com. I used the Paisley cartridge for the first sketch. The lipstick was cut at 2" and the sentiment at 1/2". The paper is from DCWV. The high heels were hand cut and painted with metallic paint and glossy accents, for a patent leather look. The cherries were covered with glossy accents. The lipstick had both Christmas Red Stickles and glossy accents to emphasize the color. Pink liquid pearls were used as additional accents.




I always wanted to make a tone-on-tone card. This card reminds me of a wedding invitation. I used Bloom Dots embossing folder for the second sketch. The flowers are from Spellbinders. Gold liquid pearls were used for accents.



Heart Blocks embossing folder was used for the third sketch. Papers are from DCWV and The Paper Studio. The heart is from Solutions Home Decor, cut at 1 1/2" and the heart tag is from Fabulous Finds cut at 2". Ribbon is from Offray. I used glass beads as accents.


Thursday, December 17, 2009

This Week's Cards

For the first sketch, I used the colors from the Ad Challenge. They are sorbet colors, so I used my Sweet Treats Cartridge and cut the ice-cream at 2 1/2". I placed glass beads at the bottom layer to depict candy sprinkles. My ice-cream's flavors are: pineapple, strawberry and lime. The paper is from t DCWV Sweet Stack. I scored the cone to create a waffle look, and the second and third ice-cream layers were embossed using Swiss Dots folder. I used pink liquid pearls for the scalloped frame. The square scalloped frame is from Nestabilities. Ribbons used are both from Offray.









I flipped the second sketch to the side. Cinderella was cut at 4". The snowflakes are from When It's Cold Outside, cut at 1". The silver snowflakes are stickers from The Paper Studio. I used metallic paper for both the snowflakes and Cinderella's dress front and headband. Flower soft was used to accent her gown, headband and gloves. The blue crystal is from Martha Stewart. Cinderella was colored using markers and chalks. I drew her features using a 0.25mm technical pen. I used Spellbinders for the sentiment label and Cinderella's background. The light blue background papers were embossed using Snow Dots and Snowflakes Cuttlebug folders.






I used my Pagoda cartridge for the third sketch. Instead of ribbons, I cut three pairs of chopsticks at 1 1/2". The bowl, teapot and Kanji were cut at 1". The Kanji sentiment is "Ichiban", which translates to "friend". I used flower soft for my rice grains. The sentiment is computer generated. The labels are from Spellbinders. I did some faux stitching at the background and accented the chopsticks and sentiment label with red liquid pearls.




Christmas Village


We have an interesting, shallow niche above our fireplace. I decided to decorate it, since we did not put up a tree this year. I bought the snowman wreath from Jo-Ann's, at 60% off! The Santa was cut at 5", and the moon at 2 1/4" using Christmas Solutions cartridge. The Christmas Village is from Winter Woodland. I used the "fit to page" option for all seven structures. The paper used is from DCWV Christmas stack. I chalked the clock tower and applied flower soft to the seams for a snowy effect. The snow was fluffed up Crystalina, bought at Jo-Ann's. The snowflakes are from Spellbinders.



Saturday, December 12, 2009

Another Flying Critter Card


I used the second sketch at RAQ's for my layout. There is no owl character in the Pagoda cart, so I used the owl from Happily Ever After and cut it at 2". To make her more chibi/manga-looking, I had to emphasize her eyes and round form. I used platinum liquid pearls, Crystal stickles and glossy accents for her eyes, and chalks to color her. The branch is from Pagoda, cut at 1". The flowers are accented with red and pink liquid pearls. The butterfly paper is from DCWV. I embossed the sky blue paper with D'vine swirls to depict the sky. The Kanji cut at 1" is the character "shisou", translated as "thought". What could be more contemplative than an owl?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ad Challenge Card

This week's color scheme was a bit of a challenge-- gold, gray and black.I am pretty much caught up with my Christmas cards, but I decided to make one more. I used the ornament from the Christmas Solutions cartridge, cut at 2". The background paper is from DCWV Glitter Stack. The other cuts are from Spellbinders. I used pewter and gold liquid pearls to accentuate the lines of the cuts.


Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Flying Critters

We were given three sketches this week at RAQ's Challenge. I decided to go with a "Flying Critters" theme.



For the first card, I cut the bee from the Paisley cart at 2". The wings are vellum paper. The background paper is from DCWV. The gingham ribbon is from Dashes, Dots and Checks. The wider ribbon is from the dollar bin. The frames, the corner flowers and the sentiment labels are all from Spellbinder. The letter beads were bought from Hobby Lobby. I used pink liquid pearls for the bee's flight pattern.




The dragonfly from Home Decor Solutions was cut at 1 1/2" for the second sketch. I used jeweled cardstock and MAMBI paper. I used Nestabilities labels for the frame and the Shapeabilities pendants for the corner flowers.



I used the Pagoda cartridge for the 2" dragon, the 1" Kanji and the yin/yang symbol. I doodled on the dragon's features. I wanted to make it look benevolent and not as fierce. The background is handmade paper and the frame is from Spellbinders. I used glossy accents to mimic the look of lacquer and attached pearls to the corner. The background paper was handmade in India. I used dragon charms to finish off the look.


Friday, December 4, 2009

Cards for RAQ's Challenge

We were given four sketches at RAQ's, and the extra credits were: Christmas and a stamped image. I made the card for the first sketch last. I wanted to use traditional Christmas colors for an all-occasion card.




The color of the background paper is "Jupiter Glimmer", embossed using the Stylized Flowers embossing folder. The ribbon is from Offray. The diecuts are from Spellbinders Shapeabilities. The stamped image was colored using the magic pencil technique, layered with Twinkling H2Os and metallic inks for accent. I used wide brush strokes for the moonlight ink applied on some of the flower petals. It is actually more silver than white in real life. Liquid pearls was used for the frame and the flower centers. The stamp is from Just For Fun.




For the second sketch, I used the snowflakes from When It's Cold Outside. The reindeer snowflake was cut at 2", and the smaller snowflakes at 1". The ribbon is from Holiday Inspirations. Stickers are from Paper Studio. The center crystals are from Martha Stewart.






I had a more whimsical version of the reindeer for my third card. The reindeer is from Doodlecharms, cut at 2 1/2". I colored his nose with metallic ink, and the rest of his features with pencils and chalk. The papers are from Paper Studio and MAMBI. The Santa hat brad was bought at a stamp expo, and the red brads are from Making Memories. Ribbon is from Offray.





For the last sketch, I eliminated the rectangles and used freeform shapes instead.


The snowman is a stamp from Inkadinkado, embossed using a sky blue embossing powder from Hampton Art. The image was colored using chalks and more dimension was added using blue liquid pearls. The larger snowflake is from When It's Cold Outside, cut at 1". The background paper is Vintage Snowflakes from Paper Studio. The silver ribbon is from Offray, and the tag is from Spellbinders. Stickers are from Paper Studio, and I placed silver metallic brads in the centers of the snowflakes.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Japanese Themed Christmas Card


They don't really celebrate Christmas in Japan, but it is a recognized holiday. New Year is more important to the Japanese.

I made these cuts using the Pagoda cartridge. The dolls were cut at 2", and the flowers and the fan at 1". The striped paper is from MAMBI and the floral printed paper is from an old stash. I doodled on the dolls' hair using Galaxy marker and accented their outfits with liquid pearls. I placed white pearls on the center of the flowers for a "Mikimoto" look. The dragonfly is a sticker from Jolee's. I did the calligraphy on the right side of the card. Merry Christmas or "Merii Kurisumasu", was written in Katakana, which is used for foreign names. The background paper is Seersucker Stripe on Fern.

I mainly used 4 out of the Seven Japanese principles of art: Kansu or simplicity, Fukinsei or asymmetry, Seijaku or calmness, and Datsuzoku or a breaking free from the conventional as my inspirations for this card.

Here's "Merii Kurisumasu" in horizontal format:



The vertical format for "Merii Kurisumasu":

Saturday, November 28, 2009

More cards


I finally managed to finish the cards for the remaining sketches. For sketch 2, I used the star cut at 3" from Christmas solutions and embossed the background with the Snowflakes embossing folder by Cuttlebug. The sentiment is computer generated. The ribbon used is from Offray and the corners are stickers.



I made two cards for sketch three, using the colors from the Ad Challenge.




I used the dog cut at 2 1/2 " from the Paisley Cartridge. The labels are from Nestabilities. The sentiment is computer generated. I thought of those words when I was making the card. I doodled on the dog's face using a 0.25 mm technical pen. I accented the cuts using liquid pearls. The cuts were colored using chalks. I love the dog's "Look at me, I'm amazing" expression.


The scraps challenge had a snowflake theme. The card for sketch 2 also fits into this challenge. For this card, I used my Winter Woodland cartridge for the houses and the snowflake. The center snowflake is from Shapeabilities. I used Icicle stickles and liquid pearls as accents and colored the cuts with chalk. The background was cut using a Nestabilities label.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Sassy Tinkerbell Christmas Card

I made just one card for this week's challenge at RAQ's. The rest is to follow, hopefully. This has been a busy week, to top off all busy weeks. I'm glad I was able to have time to craft. God is good!

I used sketch 1 for my Tinkerbell Christmas card.


The Tinkerbell that I made is only 4" high. I used my favorite medium-- a 0.25 mm technical pen, as well as chalks and colored markers for her features. I wanted her dress to look like silk, so I painted over it using metallic ink. I used flower soft for the white portion of her dress and the pompom in her shoes. Stickles were also used in her shoes, dress and ponytail holder. The snowflakes beside her are from Christmas solutions cartridge, and the red snowflake at the right corner is from Spellbinders. The "Santa Baby" stamp is from the dollar bin at Joann's . Nestabilities were used for the base and the frame of the stamped sentiment. Liquid pearls were used for the scalloped frame and the center of the snowflake on the right. The brads were bought at the stamping convention for an awesome 15 cents apiece! The crystals at the side of the brads are from The Paper Studio.







Thursday, November 19, 2009

This Week At RAQ's

We had four sketches for this week at RAQ's. I was excited when I saw the first sketch, since I had some polka-dotted paper, as well as a heart flourish stamp which would be perfect for the first sketch.



Paper used was from DCWV. Ribbon is from Offray. Stamp used was Filigree Heart by The Artful Stamper. The word "love" is from the cart Jasmine, cut at 1 1/2". I also used the "Sweetheart" embossing powder from Creations Unlimited.



Inside the card is a poem that I wrote, inspired by the color scheme.



The second sketch reminded me of an awning and a window under it.



So that's what I made, but with a Christmas theme. For the awning, I used Plantin' Schoolbook, cut at 1 1/2", the window is from Christmas Solutions. For the wreath, I used Nestabilities, MS branch punch and flower soft. The bird is from A Child's Year. The sentiment label is from Nestabilities. Ribbon is from the dollar bin at Michael's. The tree was cut freehand.



I made a Thanksgiving card for the third sketch. Cartridges used were: A Child's Year and Wild Card for the sentiment. I drew the children's features and additional details using a 0.25mm technical pen, pencils and chalk. Paper used is from MAMBI and Core'dinations. I also used the pumpkin embossing folder from Cuttlebug. Frame for the sentiment is from Nestabilities.





For the third sketch, I made a special cut for the card base.




Instructions: Cut a 12x12 paper at 4"x12", and score at 4" three times. Second step is to score the first and third boxes diagonally, at a 45 degree angle. Trim off the upper triangle of the first square, and the lower triangle for the third square, leaving the middle square as is.



Cut two 4"x4" papers and trim them for the two triangle halves. Cut two pieces of 3/8" ribbon at 9" and insert them under the triangle halves. For the center design, I cut the candy snowflake from When It's Cold Outside at 3". I used Nestabilities labels for the base.

Attach your center design (in this card, the label with the snowflake) to the triangle on the right, making sure the ribbon is under the center design. Tie a bow to close the card. Trim off excess ribbon.