Birthday Challenge

Today's card was created for a color challenge on the Paper Wishes Message Board.  I found it really challenging.  I was to use the colors white, black, gray, and gold.  I had some white/grey/black patterned papers I thought to use, but I just didn't like gold with them!  Then I remembered an older HOTP paper.  It was perfect!

The paper was a grey/white pattern rectangle on a striped background.  The grey/white pattern was big enough on the 12 x 12 piece of paper that there wasn't a large enough area of the stripes so that I could cut a mat as big as I wanted.  I also wanted to see the variety of colors all the way around.  So, I cut it up to create the grey/white patterned paper piece matted by the striped. I made sure to ink the edges of the grey patterned paper with black before adding it to the background.

For the focal, I cut a piece of white card stock with a die from Fleur de Lis Rectangles by Spellbinders.  After embossing it with the die, I used post-it notes to cover the outer edge and colored the center with a mixture of alcohol inks (Gold, Silver & Pearl mixatives).  Removing the post-it notes gave me a piece that was colored in the center & white on the outside.

For the focal itself I used black Dazzles, backing the balloons with the gold glimmer paper.  I also added a gold border sticker around the outside edge.  I matted this focal piece on a piece of gold embossed glimmer paper. The glimmer paper mat was added with foam tape and the focal itself was added with more foam tape.

I also added a gold glimmer paper strip for a border down the right side and topped it with a star border Dazzles piece.

Let It Shine

This is a page that already had gesso on it from a previous picture (at the bottom of the page), so I just added watercolor pencil & water to make a sun-shape & then added the lettering with a Zig Millennium pen. The full page now looks like this:

Reconciliation 1st

I love the way this illustration turned out.  After applying clear gesso to protect the page, I used black StazOn ink to stamp the illustration using a stamp I got in a magazine subscription.  Then I colored the illustration with watercolor pencils & a water brush. Lettering was done with a Zig Millennium pen.

Thanks

I've had fun trying out some dies I got recently, and this quick card is the result.  It uses dies from two different companies:

• Snowflake Mini Striplet - Creative Expressions by Sue Wilson
• 9 Little Words - Paper Artist by HOTP

I used the insert of the Snowflake Striplet and cut it from the front of the card twice, one above the other.  I backed this with pink vellum, and ran a strip of pink satin ribbon across the front.

The word "thanks" was cut several times and stacked, then attached with foam tape.  After posting, I decided it needed a little extra so added some silver rhinestones on each side.  It sets things off just right.

Don't worry - SEEK!

I added to this page this morning.   First, here's a close up of what I added this morning:

The girl is a HOTP stamp from the collection called "Janie's Girls".  The words are stickers.  I stamped the girl with StazOn and then colored her with watercolor pencils.  The letters for the word "WORRY" had some red in it - which really didn't fit with the page - so I worked to color it purple.  I tried a purple "Smooch" ink, but as I was working elsewhere, I smeared it!  I tried drying it with a heat tool so it wouldn't smear anymore (I sure didn't want it transferring to the facing page!) but it didn't seem to be working very well.  Sooo - I carefully removed what I could and tried again with a purple permanent marker (BIC).  That seemed to work a bit better.  However, I wasn't able to remove the smear.  As I look at it now, I realize that if I added more "smear" it would look like a dark cloud surrounding the word "WORRY" - which I rather like (fits the "feel" of the word).  So, I think I'll go back and smear some more on purpose! :)

As you can see, I also highlighted the parts of the text that were particularly speaking to me (actually some on the previous page as well).  What you probably can't tell from the picture is that I highlighted the words "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" with clear Wink of Stella so it sparkles (love that stuff!).

Consider . . .

I've really enjoyed learning different Bible Journaling techniques from Rebekah Jones' blog.  Today's artwork is an insert page for my Bible sparked by her post here.  

Here's how I made it.  I started with a pearlescent and translucent sheet of paper.  After cutting the paper to size, I stamped the images with green StazOn ink, combining stamps from several HOTP sets (Wild Flowers, Botanicals, Sweet Blossoms, and Sweet Tweets) and embossing them with clear embossing powder.

Using some colored Bic permanent markers, and a Spectrum Noir pen, I colored in the images.  I added a tiny gold sticker for the hummingbird's eye.  Next, I stamped the word "CONSIDER" using alphabet stamps & VersaMark ink - then heat embossed with gold powder.

The next step was to spray the whole with some Glimmer Mist (sea glass color).  After spraying the whole, I dried it with my heat tool and then left it with a book on top of it to start to flatten in (since it kept wanting to curl).

Finally, I inserted it into my Bible using zips adhesive.

Good Gifts

Here's another quick page.  Clear gesso for protection. Simply stamped the image & message, then added some lettering with a pen.  The package was colored with watercolor pencils & wink of stella - as was the highlighting.

Purple Leopard Birthday

Here's another card made quickly with one of my pre-made focals.  In this case, the die used was JustRite's Nested Medallion Labels, and the stamps were from JustRite's Your Special Day Medallion Labels and Friends Antique Labels One sets.   

• Background:  The leopard print is from a DCWV mat stack and that is matted on a purple piece of paper.  Before attaching it to the black card base, I ran a piece of velvet sparkle ribbon across the center.
• Focal: I backed my pre-made focal with a fancy mat cut from black paper using dies from Spellbinders Persian Accents set.

The inside was fairly simple.  

• Borders: I cut scraps of the leopard print, purple paper, and black card stock in successively larger pieces.  Then cut each piece in half with my fancy-edged cutter (each mat piece was slightly longer so it was easy to match up the fancy edges and then trim to the right width).  
• Assembly: I attached a piece of purple paper to the card base (slightly smaller than the base so the card acted as a mat for it.  Then I added the borders top and bottom.

ALL Things!

This is a continuation of my first bible journaling post.  I wanted to add more to the page.  This is what it originally looked like:

I added what you see in the first picture in this post.  The larger letters - even the gold ones - are stickers.  The smaller black lettering was done with a Zig Millennium pen.  The page now looks like this:

Serenity Two

Well, I realized after I started seeing other answers to the challenge card I showed yesterday, that I had misread the challenge, and it needed to be a different card shape!  Soooo, I re-furbished my card into the center step card you see above!  (Pictures of the original card are at the bottom of this post so you can more easily see what I did:

• First, I cut off the top of the card front and used it as the center portion of my step card (and added a couple of scraps to finish out the lower edge of the step card), then added a Dazzle border along the bottom of the card.
• The vertical strip in the inside of the card became one side of the step card, and I scavenged scraps to make a matching one for the other side (adding matching Dazzles).
• I removed the saying and Dazzles from the bottom of the original card front, centered the sentiment from the inside, and added the Dazzles back along top & bottom of the sentiment, rounded the corners, and had the inside sentiment:

 

Here's the original card:

Artistic Bible Journaling

Today, as I started to experiment with Bible journaling. I'm excited about experiencing the creative process more directly with my CREATOR Father.  To know more about how I made this page and products used, read on:

Knowing Bible pages to be very delicate, I wanted to start by learning all I could from those who have been journaling in this way for some time, so I started out with the free classes offered by Rebekah Jones on Scrapbook.com. From there I searched the web and found plenty of other examples and ideas.  

Anyway, to make this particular page, I began by prepping with gesso because I wanted to use watercolors to make a quick and easy page.  After the gesso was dried, I quickly scribbled in some color on the margin using watercolor pencils & blended it a bit with a water brush.  Then I used some letter stickers I had in my stash & a Zig Millennium pen to write the words of a song that relates to the importance of this text in my life.

I wanted to acknowledge the fact that this was my birthday text so I added these balloon stickers (HOTP Dazzles backed with pink paper) and wrote in the words using the same Zig pen I used earlier.  The string for the balloons turns into an arrow pointing to the text itself.

I highlighted Romans 8:28 with a metallic watercolor paint and added gold lines around the word "good" to highlight it (it's not highlighted as well as I could wish, so that's something I'll probably be working on in the future).  

When I was finished, I went back between the words to the song and the birthday balloons, and stamped the word "Faith" (Grateful Heart Vintage Labels Two stamps from JustRite) with VersaMark and heat embossed with Rangers Sticky Embossing powder.  I covered the "sticky" with silver gilding flakes and brushed off the excess with a soft-bristled toothbrush.  I outlined the word so it could be seen better and that caused some of the  gilding to come off and reveal a bit of the sticky.  To prevent the pages from sticking together I took just a tiny amount of baby powder and rubbed the area to get rid of any sticky residue.  (Next time I will use my embossing buddy to wipe the area before stamping.  I had some trouble with the embossing powder - and therefore some "sticky" - staying where it wasn't supposed to be.)

Serenity

This card was inspired by another PWMB challenge.  We were supposed to cut strips of paper, glue them side by side, and then cut them crosswise.  Then we were to glue those strips side by side, staggering them to create an interesting pattern. 

Since I would be cutting up different papers into strips, I decided to make use of an old HOTP Collage book I have called Nature Collage Kit. All the papers, focal saying & butterfly come from that. (I'm trying to use up more of my old stuff so I can feel justified in buying more paper!)

It's always challenging for me to cut stuff up, but I DO like the look. I used a double sided adhesive from Elizabeth Crafts for attaching my strips (it comes in a 6" wide roll). It's spendy, but much less expensive per square inch than double-sided adhesive sheets, and it sure makes a project like this easier!

When I added my cross-cut strips, I left a little line of space in-between each and then rubbed some very fine glitter into the "sticky" between the strips.

I used a die from Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles to cut my focal and one from their Radiant Rectangles to cut the "woven" mat. I inked the edges & stamped the message at the bottom and on the inside with ColorBox Espresso ink.  The stamps were from a TPC Greetings stamp set called "Faith Greetings".

I rounded the corners of the card, the tan strip at the bottom, and the strips used inside the card.  I added some gold Jewel Border Dazzles (HOTP) - though you have to look pretty closely to see where I've used the Dazzles & where it's straight glitter!

Ashley Bears Four

This is the last of my Ashley Bears papier tole from Readdy Creative Crafts.  I simply layered the pieces with foam tape, colored the red heart on the envelope & red tie around the neck with a dark pink Smooch ink to blend better with my card, and attached it to a pink glitter card base.  Fast & easy!

Ashley Bears Three

 

Here's another quick & easy card thanks to papier tole from Reddy Creative Cards (Ashley Bears).  I simply put the papier tole together with foam tape and attached it to the front of a light green card!

Ashley Bears Two

Here's another of the Ashley Bears Paper Tole designs from Reddy Creative Cards.  It makes such a quick and easy card!  All I did for this one was pop the extra pieces with foam tape and add to a purple card!  Because the card was a dark purple, I did put a piece of white paper on the inside - with a bit of embossing in the corners.

Ashley Bears One

I decided to use up a fun teddy bear set of paper tole called "Ashley Bears" (Reddy Creative Cards).  There are four designs in the set.  This card uses one.

I started with the paper tole - layering the pieces with foam tape.  After rounding the corners I matted it on a piece of dark pink card stock and rounded those corners.  I attached this with foam tape to the lavender card base (with it's corners rounded too).  I took another strip of the pink card stock, rounded the corners, & then stamped "Happy Birthday" (stamp from HOTP Greetings and Labels stamp set) and embossed with fine pink powder.  I added this with foam tape & my card was done!

Aqua Stripe Birthday

Today's card was really quick and easy because it made use of a pre-made focal and a DCWV mat-stack patterned paper piece.

Background: I simply centered the patterned paper on the card & then added border Dazzles from a Scrapbooking Dazzles set (HOTP).  

Focal: See Pre-Made Focals for general information on how these were made.  This particular one used JustRite stamps and dies (Vintage Labels Four die, and stamps from Celebrate Today Vintage Labels Four).  I cut a piece of black paper using a die from Spellbinders Labels Twenty, and embossed it with a Darice Wood Grain Background embossing folder.  I attached the black paper to the card directly, and added the focal with foam tape.

Teal Birthday

This was a really quick card since I had already pre-made the focal.

Focal: This particular pre-made focal (click link to see how it was made) used stamps and die from JustRite (Nested Oval Medallion die, and stamps from Always and Forever Medallion Labels, Botanical Swirls Labels).  I matted it with foam tape on a black piece that was cut using a JustRite Vintage Labels Two die. A little piece of knotted ribbon finishes it off.

Background: I started with a rectangle cut with a fancy edge on my paper cutter.  Then I took a patterned piece from a DCWV stack.  I cut off about an inch and a half and cut down the center with my paper cutter, saving this for the inside (see below - obviously matted in black).  I cut the rest into four pieces with my paper cutter and arranged them on the background - then I decided to cover the horizontal spaces with a ribbon so it looks like there are only two pieces. 

Garden of Roses Three

The final Garden of Roses (HOTP) Papier Tole element is a window.  I decided to make it like a center step card - which I made out of green card stock by using a decorative cutting edge for a little more interest.

The paper that is backing the sentiment and the borders is a patterned paper that came in a HOTP personal shopper kit.  As you can see, I added some lace and ribbon to the borders as well.  The sentiment was an outline sticker from which I used the "innies".  I backed the papier tole with green patterned paper & saved a couple of the layers for the previous card.  

This is what the inside looks like.

Garden of Roses Two

Today's card features another of the Garden of Roses Papier Tole focals from HOTP.   This one is a border treatment. and the only thing I did other than layer with foam tape was to add another tag with "Happy Birthday" stamped in green (JustRite Shabby Chic Labels Four).  The blank tag was included as an extra art piece in the papier tole set.  This was set against a background of a pink lightly marbled paper that had been glued to the front and then embossed with Anna Griffen's Rosa embossing folder (Cuttlebug). 

Here's the inside.  Other than the pink paper (which I wish I had embossed but thought about too late - I DID use a Spellbinders Edgeability die from Classic Petals), the decorative elements were scavenged from the papier tole elements (I just didn't add those layers to the other elements). 

Garden of Roses One

Papier Tole can make such a quick and elegant focal!  This particular set comes from HOTP and is called "Garden of Roses."  Sometimes I choose to use the component pieces separately rather than as papier tole as designed.  But today I decided to just make some quick and easy cards with these as focals.  They come with 3 different designs.  This is the first one.

Focal: The only thing I did to the focal other than layer it with foam tape, was to add a sentiment - stamped in green.  The sentiment stamp was from a JustRite set called Circle of Love.

Background:  As you can see, I left most of the background white - though it would have been nice to emboss it (thought of that too late).  I DID cut and emboss the lower edge using Edgeability Dies from Spellbinders (Classic Petal, Postage Stamp).  

The rest of what you see is actually the INSIDE of the card:

Once again, it would have looked nice to have embossed the pink, but I didn't think of it in time.  The butterfly was an extra piece of artwork that came with the papier tole.  The green is a ribbon from my stash.

A Couple of "Artful Affirmations"

Today I have two quick cards that showcase some paper tole from HOTP called "Artful Affirmations".  They come 3 to a sheet, but I had already used some of what was on the sheet so just had two left.  I combined them with coordinating papers from a HOTP paper pack called "Artful Watercolor".  

For this first one, this is what I did:

• Background: I simply used two paper scraps from the pack.  Because of the collage look on these papers, you really can't even tell where the join line is between the two pieces (unless you know the paper well).  The join line is the vertical line that runs just to the right of center.  I attached them to the card front and then inked the edges with black ink.
• Focal: The focal started with the paper collage piece - put together as indicated with foam tape between layers.  For the mat, I used a die from Spellbinders Grand Ovals to cut and emboss the purple patterned paper (from the pack).  Then I colored around the edges with a gray Spectrum Noir alcohol pen, using the die to try to help me get straight curves.  Even using the die, I still wasn't happy with the look, so I used some black Fine Line Border Dazzles (HOTP) to border between the grey & the pink - and then again half-way between the two where the embossing line was.

 The second paper tole was a tag and I found it a bit harder to work with.  This is what I came up with:

• Background: I cut a piece of the striped paper 1/2 inch smaller than the card and inked the edges with black ink.  Then I centered it on the card.
• Focal:  The tag by itself didn't do much for me.  I started by matting it with black.  Then saw that it would fit fairly well on a piece of die-cut black paper (Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight).  But I didn't like it with just the black mat, so added a piece of tan paper that I had cut in a rectangle & rounded the corners.  I added a pink ribbon across the mat near the top before attaching the matted tag with foam tape.  A bow at the top of the tag finished things off.

Clued In

This card was created in response to a challenge on the PWMB that required us to search the board for clues of things we needed to include in making our project.  This is what I made and it came together pretty quickly.  I have an old HOTP booklet called "Vellum Envelopes & Pockets", and used an envelope and flower from that to create this pocket focal with little tag to tuck in it.  The background paper was a Shine Design - also from HOTP.   I used some Spellbinders Edgeabilities dies to cut and emboss the border (Classic Petal, Classic Postage Stamp, Classic Triple Scallop).  The tag has a die cut at the top that I created using Spellbinders Lace Doily Accents.  The "Happy Birthday" was a silver sticker that I colored with alcohol ink.

Happy Birthday in Purple and Lime

Clearly I've been working on a bunch of birthday cards!  I want to make sure I have what I need in case I get hit with a time crunch.  I REALLY need to get more cards made for MEN - obviously this isn't one!  :)  Here's how I made it:

• Background: The patterned paper came in a paper crafting magazine and I had a real challenge figuring out how to use it. I finally decided to pair it with this purple paper.  The mat was cut using a Spellbinders die from 5 x 7 Enchanted Labels 28.  To shape the patterned paper, I drew around the inside of the die with a pencil & then cut it out with scissors. 
• Focal: The focal was another one I pre-made. This one used stamps and dies from HOTP (die from 6 Layered Labels and 2 Swirls, stamps from Greetings and Labels).  I matted this on a double mat.  The white was cut with a Spellbinder's die (Fair Isle Pendent). For the purple mat I drew around the die and cut it out with scissors.

  

For the inside, I simply cut another shape from the 5 x 7 Enchanted Labels 28 set out of the purple.

Life is Good Birthday

Pictures seldom look as good as the cards do in real life, but this picture REALLY doesn't do this card justice.  There's a lot of metallic silver on the card that just isn't picked up well.  Here's how I made it:

• Background: The background started with a lovely piece of pink, grey and black card stock from a DCWV mat stack and some black Jewel Border Dazzles (with metallic silver edges - very pretty in person!).  I first matted the card stock piece with black and attached it to my card front. In the center of the card, I wanted a "ribbon" look, so I cut a strip of white paper, glued it to the center of the card stock and then added a Jewel Border Dazzle down the center of it.  I then used border dazzles between each "color change" on the background and around the edge.  This really dressed up the background!
• Focal: This started with another one of my pre-made focals.  Those are such time savers!  This one was cut using the oval die from JustRite's Vintage Labels Four, and a stamps from Enjoy the Day Vintage Labels Four (JustRite) and Greetings and Labels set (HOTP).  This was matted using foam tape onto a metallic silver piece cut with a die from Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles. I wanted a black mat behind that, so cut one using a die from Decorative Labels Eight (Spellbinders).  I liked the way it looked in the corners, but it wasn't wide enough to properly mat the silver piece.  Soooo, I cut it in 4 pieces.  I started by cutting out the center part, carefully following the decorative curves and then cutting across to the other side.  This gave me 3 pieces.  I then cut the center section in half so I could move the edges closer in the middle section by overlapping them in the back.  I was really happy with the way this turned out!

For the inside, I simply cut two die cuts from cardstock - one black and one white - using dies from Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles.

Organizing Dazzles and other stickers

Mostly I've been happy with the way I've got my papercrafting supplies organized.  But my Dazzles and other stickers have been an exception.  I've stored them all by color and that doesn't work really well when I want to uses butterflies on a card for someone - for example.  If I DO remember I have them, I'm not likely to remember what color they are so that I can find them - that is, until NOW! :)

Today I decided to go through my stickers and organize them in a way that works better for me.  Borders and "Jewel Dazzles" still make sense to be organized by color, so I've left them where they are, but the rest of my dazzles are now in the notebook you see above.  I used regular sheet protectors for storage.  I left them as is for storing larger sheets of stickers - like the Scrapbooking Dazzles, but the rest fit nicely side by side - except they kept wanting to fall over into each other.  SOOOO, I carefully marked the page protectors down the center with a Sharpie, and then stitched along that line with my sewing machine!  Works fabulous.  Now I have sticker-sized pockets and everything is well organized and easily seen.  YAY!

Special Day in Blue & Black

Since I had the focal pre-made, this was a pretty quick card to make.  The focal was made as described here. The die was from Spellbinders Labels One, and the stamps from JustRite's Celebrations Labels One and Bracket Borders One and Enjoy the Day stamp sets.

I started with a 7" x 11" piece of blue card stock.  I cut a slit using a decorative-edged cutter.  The slit was one inch from the edge on both sides and ran from 1/2" above the bottom edge to 6" above the bottom edge.  I scored the card between the edge and the slit at the 1/2" line the 1" line and the 6"line, and between the two slits at the 5 1/2" line.   I folded on the score lines - mountain folds at 1/2", 6" and 5 1/2" - valley folds at 1".

The black mat for my focal was cut with a Fleur De Lis Rectangles die (Spellbinders).  The bottom edge was square-cut faux crystals scavenged from off an old belt and the sides and inside were decorated with borders from a Scrapbooking Dazzles set.

Masculine Birthday

This is another card I made for a challenge on the PWMB.  The background paper and many of the die-cut pieces came from a HOTP Artful Card Kit called "Confetti Cake".  Here's how I made it:

Background:

• The background paper was from the kit, but had pink in it - which I didn't want for a man's card.  So, I took a fine line dark blue marker and colored over the pink!
• I had planned to mat the background paper with plain blue card stock from my stash, but hated to waste all the lovely paper by just covering it up with the patterned paper.  So I did as I often do, and cut a piece out of the center with one of my cutting dies (Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles).  When I had done so, I realized I liked the outer edge as a frame instead of just using it as a mat!  I added white outline stickers to finish off the frame.

Car Focal:

• I wanted a car focal and realized that I didn't have any car stamps!!!!  So, I found a card I liked on the 5000 Ephemera CD from HOTP.  However, its background was brown and I wanted blue - so I changed it with my photo editing software (should have gone with a bit lighter color) and enlarged the background before printing it to create my basic focal!  I rounded the corners and attached it to the card with foam tape.
• The car seemed rather plain, so I found the gear-shaped edges in with the die cuts, cut them off of the label they were attached to, and added them behind the car.  Then I added a star-shaped die cut in the upper right corner of the car (popped up with foam tape) and put a border around it using the same white outline stickers I used on the outer edge of the card.  It still wasn't enough to set the car off as nicely as I wanted (because the blue was too dark!), so I added some Gold Thin Line Dazzles (HOTP) in a sort of "sun ray" pattern around the car.  You can't see them as well as I'd like in the picture, but in person they're metallic and nice.

Sunburst in corner:

• The sunburst in the corner was a full circle that I cut in half (used other half inside the card).  It was pink and yellow so I colored over the pink with a yellow marker to make it more orange.  
• I attached the sunburst to a lable-shaped piece of blue card stock that I cut with a JustRite die (Vintage Labels Four).
• I added a gold "Happy Birthday" sticker from my stash and attached the whole thing to the card with dimensional foam squares.

The inside is pretty self-explanatory - same materials as on the front of the card with similar alterations.