Blog? Who blogs? Here's over three months of stuff!

Basically, summer happened, Europe happened, and then I got viral vestibular neuritis. So I haven't blogged in forever  

But that didn't mean I haven't made anything. Here's everything I made (and took cell phone pics of) since the last time I blogged. 

 

Classes and Challenges

I'm supposed to be taking Stretch Your Stamps 2, but I'm having a hard time playing along with everything I've got going on. Too busy to think straight, basically.

Anyway... here's three cards, two for class that are direct copies, solely for technique, and the third for the Always Playing with Paper Challenge #12, because I liked the color combo and thought it would go well with the Simon Says kit that I hadn't played with yet.

A Note: Glossy Accents is the devil. You will get it everywhere. It will bubble. You will put your thumb in it. It will fall on its face before it dries. You will hate yourself. Cards with glossy accents are like the hot buttered toast of the craft world -- you will drop it on the floor and it will be a disgusting wreck.

Another Note: Wink of Stella will re-activate your watercolor. Stella and this technique do not mix. <sigh>

Lastly, for the challenge. Love how I somehow wrecked the sentiment -- it was perfect -- before I got a photo of it. I blame the above watercolor cards. I was spraying a bit of water around. I know it's my fault, but it's still sucky.

ETA: This card was one of three runner-ups for the Challenge! I'm so totally honored!

Check This Out! Two Challenges in One

The current Lawnscaping Challenge is 'Back to School'. Well, I'm never going back to school again. [Grad school -- once is enough!] And since I don't have any human children, I wasn't sure what I would do for the challenge and thought about skipping it. But, thanks to a lot of the inspiration pieces using the Dewey Decimal kit, I decided to bust it out since I have it and take a stab at the challenge. I also decided to combine it with the current Freshly Made Sketch, #148. So, here's my creation.

I love the little library card. Stamped on ivory in brown to give a more worn look. I remember these things from grade school before electronic check outs. I used the Check It Out sentiment along with a few sentiments form a Studio Calico date/time rotary stamp. Really going for the "this is awesome" feel. And I added the month and year too. I love that the stamps are off-kilter, just like a librarian in a rush would do. I think it's a little busy overall, but I still really like it.

 

Sending Lots of Love, Belatedly

I missed someone's birthday, so I am having to play catch-up with this card. I have been hyper-busy with extra work, extra volunteering, and oh yeah I tried to go on a week-long vacation. What ever was I thinking?

Anyway, this card is made from the July Simon Says kit. First time I got to touch it, actually! It's a super-cute kit and I really like it. Rather than put all of the navy paper in the back, I cut two small strips of it for the edges. I used a light patterned paper on for the mail panel. I don't often stamp on patterned so I thought it would be a neat thing to do. I cut out a bunch of envelopes and attached them on different layers. I kinda wish I clear embossed the sentiment for some shine and texture, but alas, I did not.

Shabby Chic Thank You

Shabby chic is always lovely. Soft pinks and greens, a touch of the antique and rustic. I went for the Fusion Challenge and decided to combine both the sketch and the image. I thought the circles in the sketch were just begging to be flowers. I dyed some white ribbon with Distress Ink. I added shimmer to the flowers with a Wink of Stella pen. I distressed the papers with more Distress Ink in Evergreen Bough and Victorian Velvet (the color of which was spot-on). The papers are from Heartfelt Creations Posy Patch Collection and they are perfect for this.

Crappy Day, Great Results

My mom had a FABULOUS day at work the other day. So fabulous in fact that she decided to retire early... by putting in her two weeks notice! The circumstances were crap, but the results are awesome. Hence, the card made from toilets and hearts.

I used the sketch and some of the colors from this month's Unity Challenge. To make the background, I took the Toilet Paper Roll from 'Crappy Day' and stamped it in Tsukineko Brilliance Pearlescent Purple on a diagonal. I drew some very light lines with a guide to help with spacing. I fussy cut the potty from 'AH Crap' very carefully. I stamped the 'Sorry' sentiment from 'Crappy Day' on vellum and embossed it in white. I love running vellum through a Xyron sticker maker because then it doesn't show glue marks when you adhere it to your project. On the inside I stamped 'Congrats on taking the plunge' from 'AH Crap'. 

I'm rather fond of this card! I hope my mom likes it. :) Congratulations, mom. Happy retirement. Sorry it had to come about in such a crappy way.

Hot Outside, Cards Inside

Yesterday, it was 104. Here's to happier things, all done indoors where it's safe and cool!

For the Lawnscaping color challenge I did a blended background with distress inks over a mask I made by chaining the wave stamp from Critters in the Sea. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the whale is on an Action Wobble Spring. He bobs right along the waves to say hello! I had so. much. luck. </sarcasm> making this card, the embellishments are all hiding little... surprises.

For Case This Sketch #84, I finally got to open my Henna Elements from Altenew. I think I would like it more if I had done the smart thing and masked the flowers so I could stamp the leaves on behind them. I wish the set had one smaller leaf in it. It doesn't so I faked it a little with some of the filigree and a marker. Silly me could have just stamped the filigree in green but that would have made too much sense!

Hello Chickadee!

I've been trying to do more one-layer cards lately. I feel like I have been focused on layering and cramming a lot of stuff in. Anyway, here is a card I made for Case This Sketch #83. I wanted to play with a Lawn Fawn set I have but haven't used yet. And sometimes, you just want to color!

I also made a series of 4th of July one-layer cards. They are all variations on this theme. This one was my favorite of them all. 

Boy Birthdays Everywhere

I made some cards for my friends who are twins on their birthday. We are all big fans of sushi and video games, so I thought these were appropriate. I also made a mini-album for another nerdy friend's baby boy birthday shower.

Colors and Sunshine

I've been behind in playing along with some of the kits I've been given. I went back to the Sunshine kit from March, and made a few cards. I hope you enjoy them.

This first one is for Freshly Made Sketches 138.

This is for Deconstructed Sketch 153. I used watercolor pencils on the crayons.

Unity Challenge and Watercolor Pencils

I practiced using my watercolor pencils during watercolor class on these stamps. It's easier to color stamps with a lot of tiny details with watercolor pencils -- that and a tiny brush!

I did both of these for the Unity Challenge, using both the sketch and the color palette. I like them both.

More Fun with Watercolor (and the new SSS kit)

So since watercolor class is over, I can get back to my regular unscheduled card making. (LOL, unscheduled, I need a schedule so bad...)

Anyway, I wanted to test out my watercolor skills on some actual cards, and blammo, here we go!

First up, Cas(e) this Sketch #77. Just begging for watercolor, am I right? Rather that freehand the circles, I put a pencil in my circle cutter instead of the blade and drew out some of the bigger circles. Then I filled them in with wet-on-wet. The smaller circles are 'drops' and for giggles I added some splatter as well. The stamps are from Technique Tuesday and I have had them for awhile but for whatever reason never got them out! Shame! Because they are 'fabulous.' I love this card. If I did it again I'd make the circles a little lighter and be more careful with the splatter.

Next, I played with the kit that just came from Simon Says. This is probably one of my favorite boxes this year. The stamp set is bonkers fun to play with. This was my first test and I flipping love it. It's a little busier than I meant it to be, and I wish the center strip of paper stood out more, but it is still pretty good. This is for Seize The Sketch #20.

The boyfriend's father loves fish almost as much as he does. So here's his birthday card. Water(color) everywhere. I masked off the fish with rubber cement -- I love that tip! Best thing I learned in class because frisket is really stinky and expensive. Rubber cement is so much better. Sketch is from Retro Sketches 116.