New Challenge over at a2z Scrapbooking

Aloha friends!  Hope your weekend is going well and you're finding lots of time to craft.

We are starting a new challenge up over at a2z Scrapbooking: CAS (Clean and Simple).

CAS can be a challenge for me, but this sweet Hero Arts Pinata needed to be the star of my card!  I used colored embossing powders (Zing! Embossing Powder in Rouge, Apricot, Butter, Leaf and Wave) to create a rainbow and then cut out coordinating cardstock to matte the image.

 I love the Hero Arts Pinata wood mount because you can use it for so many types of celebrations like birthday, congrats and even just encouragement!  Today I paired it with a birthday sentiment from Hero Arts Balloon Animal Birthday..

I hope you'll join the fun over at a2z Scrapbooking for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the store!!  Mahalo for stopping by.

Meet Biscuit!

Hi friends and Happy Monday!  It's been whirlwind of events in my household celebrating 3 generations of birthdays within a week, having family in town and the addition of this new little fella...

Meet Biscuit!  He's a 2 month old Pomchi (Pomeranian/Chihuahua) from a coworker's litter.  All of his siblings (all girls) were sold and my coworker kept asking if anyone wanted him.  It just so happened my 10 year old has been asking for a puppy since her 5th birthday, but I just didn't feel it was the right time and totally unsure about taking care of a pet!  We fostered him for a weekend to see how he would do with the kiddos and everyone fell in love!!

So with a new puppy means I had to make a puppy card!

I combined Hero Arts Balloon Animal Birthday and die with Hero Arts Playful Animal.  I created the panel by diecutting a stitched rectangle.  I used distress inks to create a subtle blue background.  I then die cut the balloons using the coordinating dies.  I stamped up some solid balloons using Hero Arts ombre inks and die cut them as well to create more dimension to the shaker card.  I used the WRMK fuse tool to make the shaker (filled with Martha Stewart mini sterling stars) to keep the card from being too bulky.

I used Hero Arts Intense Black ink for the dog and sentiment and colored with copics.  I love that Hero Arts now has a copic friendly ink!!

That's my card for today!  I really liked adding the die cut balloons with the shaker balloons for dimension and fun.  Definitely a perk to have coordinating die cuts with your stamps!!
Mahalo for stopping by!!

Using those scraps!

Source

YAY for Friday!  I'm super excited for the next Lawn Fawn release and while I'm eagerly awaiting my goodies to arrive, I decided to give some older Lawn Fawn sets some lovin'.

It all started with some scrap pieces I kept.  You know the ones from your 6x6 pad that only have 1/2 an inch left?!  I really can't stand to throw them away, but they've been accumulating so I decided to use it as a background.

Here's what I mean...

I glued a bunch of scrap pieces onto some printer paper and then die cut a scalloped rectangle stackable from Lawn Fawn.  Then I cut down some white cardstock to create the scene and used the scalloped rectangle as a mat.

I used Lawn Fawn sets Love n' Breakfast, Year Four (for the balloon), Year Two (for the party hat) and Scripty Sayings to kinda match the font of the first line of the sentiment.  Each image was colored with copics and cut with the matching dies!  I LOVE matching dies!!  I used foam tape to adhere the pieces for dimension.

This card was inspired by the latest Lawnscaping Challenge

Mahalo for stopping by!

A Sketchy Card for A Blog Named Hero

Aloha friends!

Today starts a new challenge over at 

A Blog Named Hero

using this 

Fun right!?

A big MAHALO to Chari Moss for the sketch!!

 

Here's my take on it...

I used the fun Simon Says Stamp Baby Party Animals set

by stamping them on watercolor paper and white heat embossing

my little scene.  I wanted the animals to look like they were holding hands.

(they represented the 3 boxes in the sketch)

The scene was watercolored with the very vibrant Gansai Tambi watercolor set.

For grounding I die cut some grass and brushed on shades of greens

to follow the blades of grass. (the scallops portion of the sketch)

I had a lot of fun coloring the banner on top 

to represent the squiggle lines in the sketch.

Tip: to make the images pop I took a light shade of blue

(from the watercolor palette) and went around all the edges to create more depth.

Here's a closeup...

So now it's your turn to show us your take on the sketch!

You may even win 

our super generous sponsor...

big MAHALO to Simon Says Stamp!

Can't wait to see what you create!  Don't forget you can even flip

the sketch vertically for a whole new design!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

InLinkz.com

Brewing Up Wishes for the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

ALOHA!

This is my 3rd time being a part of this 

AWESOME

Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

and each time I get more and more excited by

the amazing inspiration and my ridiculous

cravings for COFFEE!!

Make it to the end of this post for a fun GIVEAWAY!

For today's card I used Avery Elle's Tea Time set
and actually got out a Halloween set as well.
Yup...Halloween!
I had an Inky Antics Halloween Frog set that had the
perfect sentiment I needed.

I started with stamping the leaves of Avery Elle's Thanks A Bunch,
then masked it and stamped the cup.
The cup was colored with copics and the birthday sentiment
is from Avery Elle's Party Animal.
(I LOVE that it fit perfectly)
I stamped out the flowers using Hero Arts Pink to Red Ombre Ink
and added some darker areas with
Distress Markers for a bit more shading and texture.
This was then all fussy cut and adhered with foam tape.
My Kraft card base info can be found HERE.
I die cut that yellow panel with Avery Elle's Finished Frames dies.

I hope you'll continue along the hop for your chance
at some amazing prizes from these super generous sponsors!

I've got a GIVEAWAY myself to give to one random commenter!
(US residents only....sorry)

I have this Lawn Fawn Scripty Love die perfect for any project!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

Finally...a video!

Aloha friends and family!

I FINALLY did it!!

You guys left such awesome comments about this 

fun foiled card and I knew my photography skills

was not doing any justice.

Lawn Fawn Party Balloon Dies, Lawn Fawn So Much to Say,

Therm o Web Deco Foil and Peel n Stick sheet, Pentel Metallic Silver Gel Pen,

Versamark, Silver embossing powder

Please be gentle with me...lol

I'm not normally a shy person until 

the camera is on!

Who knew editing would take FOREVER,

but I hope you all enjoy!

I have another video in the works 

(needs to be edited)

using the same foil but with a word die instead!

ENJOY!

Lawn Fawn and Deco Foil

The challenge junky in me will be linking up to
Scribble and Scrap Challenge Blog

All questions and comments welcome!!

MAHALO for stopping by!!

I WHEELIE need more birthday cards!

I am having a blast crafting today!

It's amazing the things you can do when both kids are away!!

Any of you going to be a part of True Stamp 2015 on Saturday?

My entire family knows it's my personal day off to craft to my hearts content.

Today was a bonus!

In my efforts to make more birthday cards, 

I've opted for this Lawn Fawn mini set.

They have a bunch of them perfect for any occasion

and to make quick cards with sweet sentiments!

Let me show and tell one of the cards I made...

Lawn Fawn I Wheelie Like You, Lawn Fawn Sophie's Sentiment, Lawn Fawn year Two,

Lawn Fawn Clark's ABCs, Lawn Fawn Happily Ever After, Hero Arts Ombre ink 

in Pool to Navy, copics, Chickeniddy enamel hearts

I quickly stamped a background in Hero Arts Soft Sand ink

and used Simon Says Stamp Stitched Square for a panel.

The rest was colored, die cut and assembled.

For inspiration I used the latest

CAS(E) this Sketch

and since this also fits the 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge 

of  Anything Goes...I'll link there too!

Again in an effort to make more cards I've decided
to make tags with the same stamp set.
That way I can either quickly pop it on a card
or add it to a gift bag!

I'll be back with more so stay tuned...

MAHALO for stopping by!!

Lawn Fawn and Simon Says Stamp Flikr Collab

Thanks to the lovely

Vanessa at

Butterfly Reflections Ink

I quickly received my order of the

newest Lawn Fawn release!

I've been dying to play and wanted to enter the latest collab using kraft!

On to my card....

Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday Border die, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles,
Lawn Fawn Party Balloons die, Simon Says Stamp Only Have Eyes for You,
copic markers, Doodlebug Design Color in Kraft paper, googly eyes, vellum


I was super happy with Lawn Fawn's birthday border die!
Such a fun look... especially die cut in a rainbow of colors!!
That sweet Simon Says Stamp alien just needed googly eyes
and some balloons to complete this card.

MAHALO for stopping by!!

For a Chiefs Fan

I've got a quick card to share today 

in honor of Super Bowl Sunday

My coworker asked for a card

for her brother who is a Kansas City Chiefs fan.

If you only could've seen the look on my face?!

I'm not big into football and even less into making

football fan cards...lol

I couldn't say no, so here's what I came up with...

Hero Arts CL754 Dude, Lawn Fawn Star Stackable die, Lawn Fawn Cole's ABC,

Doodlebug Design Washi Tape and Bumblebee sequins, 

Hero Arts Shadow inks in Pale Tomato and India Ink Black

I started with the Kansas City Chiefs' colors

and created a tone on tone football stamped background.

(In hindsight I wish I had used a darker red ink color).

I die cut stars out of vellum and washi taped the edges together

(because I don't sew ;o)

leaving one point of the star open to fill with sequins, 

then taped it up.

To personalize I added the recipients name from die cut letters

and stamped the sentiment.

I'm thinking this is going to be my go-to design for football fans 

since the color theme can easily be changed!

All right back to prepping for the Super Bowl...

hope you all have a fabulous Sunday and a great week ahead!!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

Copic Play Round 2

Oh it's one of those weeks that work seems like it will never end...

Thank goodness for crafting stress relief!!
Just got through Day 2 of the 

Online Card Class: Copic Coloring for Card Makers

and I've been learning lots!

I decided to use some 

Kitty Bee Design images to practice coloring...

I used the tip to tip blending trick and I think it works like a charm!

I did a little feathering as well and that created my lighter

centers for a bit more dimension.

Off to play some more!

By the way if you're wondering about the background that was made using

Faber Castell Gelatos!  So fun to play with!!

I just swiped some on the card to create ground (using gold and a bit of black for shadowing)

 and smoothed and blended colors

with my finger!

MAHALO for stopping by.

More Practice with Copics

I cannot tell you how excited I am about the 

Online Card Class: Copic Markers for Card Makers!

Until this point I've just watched a ton of YouTube videos

picking up little tips here and there.

Here is another attempt at playing with copics...

Bugaboo digi Bubbles Birthday Balloons, Hero Arts Hey Day sentiment, copics

Fancy Pants Be Different pattern paper, Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banners

I love using digis to practice coloring!

This digi is called Bubbles Birthday Balloons from 

Bugaboo 

Isn't this image just thee cutest?

I don't have many masculine cards so I decided to go with 

boyish colors.

 There's still time to enter the Kitty Bee Design Aloha Friday Challenge

Midinspiration Week with the theme of "in the sky."

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Play Time!

With the kids back to school, I'm hoping to get more play time for myself!  I've been seeing a lot of fun challenges and will be able to play with three of them today.  Did you see the latest Moxie Fab Challenge: Clicking Cameras?  I had the perfect stamp set from Lawn Fawn...y'all know how addicted I am.  Did you hear about the new release?!  To die for...but I digress.  On to my card....

There's A LOT of Lawn Fawn on this card from the background heart stamping to the pattern paper and right on down to the Lawn Trimming twine in coral!  The sweet enamel hearts are from Chickaniddy...sooo fun!  Just needed to prove to the hubby I USE my Lawn Fawn stuff so that I can get more...hehehe.

The design was inspired by the latest CASE(E) this Sketch that joined with the Tag You're It Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!  And one more thing...asking for prayers for our Hawaiian Islands as we are having two hurricanes making a visit.  We're hoping it downgrades, but you know how unpredictable weather can be!

Much mahalo...and hope to be back real soon!

Playing with Pink and Orange

 Hi everyone!  I wanted to share this sweet image from Kitty Bee Designs...

This week's Aloha Friday Challenge is to use two of your favorite color combinations.  I loooove pink and orange together and since that's also my favorite ice cream flavors (orange sherbet and strawberry) I decided to play around with some distress inks.  I was going for a tone on tone look using a stencil, but quickly realized the ripe persimmon ink blended a little too well with the picked raspberry ink.  The white circle behind the bear was just a masked area of the white card panel.  There's still time to join us and share you favorite color combinations!

If you like this Kitty Bee Designs image you must check out more of these cute images HERE!

Word is, there are more images in the works and I can't wait to see and play with them!!

I'll be entering this in the City Crafter Challenge.

Mahalo for stopping by...I'll be back with more soon!

Birthday Balloons...a gender neutral card

I always seem to need a birthday card that's either reeeeally general or at least gender neutral.  You can't go wrong with balloons right?  I recently purchased this awesome Echo Park paper pad "For the Record 2" (on sale over at Butterfly Reflections Ink) and it had some awesome blues, teals and yellows...talk about fabulous color combo!

Here it is...

Aveyr Elle Simply Said Happy Die, Avery Elle Storybook, Avery Elle Handwritten Notes,

Echo Park For the Record 2 paper pad, copics, glossy accents, Memento ink in Tuxedo Black

I'm loving that Avery Elle word die!  I was a little worried about how thin and tall it was, but it really is just a fun font! I die cut the word again in black to give a bit of shadow because the blue pattern paper didn't pop as much as I wanted it too against the yellow background.  I added glossy accents for fun to the balloons to enter in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let's Be Clear

I was inspired by the recent CAS(E) this Sketch following this...

and since I used a word die will also enter the Moxie Fab World Challenge : Wonderful Words Challenge

Until next time...mahalo for stopping by!

Storybook Birthday

Hi there!  I made some time to make another card using the latest Avery Elle release!  This time I used the Storybook set with matching dies (I'm a sucker for stamps and matching dies!) and can I just say there are soooo many sweet possibilities.

Here's what I came up with...

using the latest AEIHeartUChallenge as inspiration

So a few techniques on this card...I first die cut the circle and white heat embossed the grass and duck.  I colored in the little beak and feet with a copic and then used a Versamark pen to color it in to add clear embossing powder and then heat set.  I did this in order to keep my duck white and be able to color my background with distress inks.  I wanted my balloons to stick out and white heat embossed, die cut and added glossy accents to them.  They were foam taped on.  I wanted them to appear more raised which is why I ended up making the duck more a part of the background scene and allowing the balloons to shine...literally...hehe

The sentiment was cut using the die from the Custom Panels die set and stamping the sentiment from Handwritten Notes (it has a cool font).  Added some twine and there ya have it!

I'm gonna slip this one into the next Simon Says Wednesday Challenge as well.

Mahalo for stopping by!