11/02/2013

Christmas Tags

UPDATE:   I'm excited to learn my tags won in their category! You can check out all the other winners here:    http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/2013/11/12/hard-core-crop-winnners-in-here/

  I'm playing along this weekend in Core'dinations ColorCore Cardstock online crop and getting a head start on my Christmas tags.
     The object of this challenge was to create at least two tags and to stamp on the tags. I used an olive green and three shades of rosy red from Core'dinations Nostalgia collection to make my tags. I used embossing folders(the Paper Studio) to create the quatrefoil and dotted textures. I used a combination of dies(Spellbinders)  and punches (Fiskars) to make the embellishments. I heat-embossed the sentiment (Cosmo Cricket) with white pigment and white embossing powder. Added a giant diamond (real, of course) and some ribbons. Two tags down and lots more to go.
     There is lots of time left to get your projects in if you want to play along with us. The Challenge Master List is here:  http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/2013/10/31/master-challenge-list/

11/01/2013

A Great Big Thanks

 
     If you popped in today expecting to see a card, you might get one later today. But first, I owe you all a big thanks! You guys are buying so many e-book copies of my book, A Deliberate Life: A Journey into the Alaskan Wilderness, that you have brought new life to it. And, the price is super - less than $4 at bn.com and amazon.com. I know you have been buying copies since it was first published, but once my publisher made it an e-book, sales have really taken off again. Thank you so much to each one of you.
     I'm currently working on the illustrations for a children's picture book I wrote. It will be out before long. I'll keep you posted about the release date and other info.
     You guys really are the greatest!
 
 
 
 
 

Core'dinations Online Crop

 
There is a fun online crop going on at Core'dinations ColorCore Cardstock this weekend. And, we have until Nov 10th to get our projects in. Yay! I love having extra time. Thanks, Core'!
 
You can check out the Master Challenge list here:
http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/2013/10/31/master-challenge-list/comment-page-1/#comment-64127

Check out all the fun on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/475922629187858/477463629033758/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

10/15/2013

DCWV October Stack-a-holic Card Color Challenge

  Update: So excited! Just found out this card made it into the Top-10 at DCWV! Check out the other winners here: http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-10-october-stack-holic-challenge.html

   Thanks for popping in! I always love your visits. Today, I have a card for DCWV's Card Color Challenge for October.

 
     Green, purple, orange, and brown are the colors-of-the-month. I used DCWV's The Home Spun Stack, one of my favs, to create my card. I love this stack for the ridged texture it brings. The small glittery orange strip of cardstock under the purple is from DCWV's The Halloween Stack. One piece of advice I might offer is if you are using a trimmer to cut the glitter papers, put your paper into the trimmer upside down. It will help keep your blade from getting dull so quickly.
     To make the textured wreath, I used Sizzix's Wreath folder. Then, ran my boysenberry pigment pad from ColorBox over the top to make the wreath stand out more. I added a few leaves, buttons, feathers, gems and autumn leaves. I got the leaves from a sprig of flowers in the floral dept. They peel off nicely and will stick well with glue dots.
     There's still plenty of time to enter your own card. Check out the details here: http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-stack-holic-challenge.html

10/12/2013

* * * World Cardmaking Day * * *

     I hosted four of the 12 challenges last weekend on the Fiskateer blog for World Cardmaking Day. I want to share my cards with you all here as well.
Cheers to You
 
     For this challenge, I required everyone to make a bright, cheery card to have on hand for the next time someone needs cheering up.
     I love the look of fussy-cutting! I usually save up my cutting projects and cut them out while I watch TV in the evening. That works okay as long as I'm not watching a scary show. I've ruined a few things because I have jumped when the little people who live in the TV try to get out. LOL
     I also love heat-embossing and use it on at least 3/4 of my cards. For this card, I heat-embossed two images of the bird and apple blossoms from Stampabilities. I used boysenberry pigment and clear fine-detail-embossing powder. I matted one copy and then fussy-cut the bird and flowers. Using foam tape, I layered the bird and some of the blossoms. The two blossoms at the bottom were not a part of the original image. I added them at the bottom with flat glue-dots to add balance. And, since I've been so into pearls lately, I added two sizes of tiny white pearls to the flower centers and three larger ones to add balance. The sentiment is from Fiskars' Friends Forever collection.    

Kickin' It Old School
     For this card, the challenge was to use only those older supplies, tools and papers we found in our stash of supplies. I had so much fun digging through my stash! I found some great stuff in there I didn't know I had. Guess I should go through it a little more often. I got to use some old alphabet stickers and diamonds - real of course, or at least that is what I tell people. And, the cardstock panel was one I saved because I couldn't bear to cut it. Well, it's done now and I have some great scraps left over too. This is all too much fun!
Noteworthy
     The challenge here was to make a card with the word 'NOTE' on it, plus use any cardmaking tool in a new way.
     I created the trim on my card using Fiskars' pinwheel punch! I picked two different colors of cardstock (patterned paper works well too). I found it was easier to see the pattern I created by using two different colors of the same pattern. I tried a lot of different papers and most worked great.
     I punched my pinwheels and tucked them into each other making sure I had all the tabs in place to create the pattern I wanted. I ran narrow tape across the back of the pinwheels once they were arranged and adhered them to my card. And, don't you love the white flower with burlap leaves and orange button? I won a set of them from Little Yellow Bicycle on a prior challenge on our great Fiskateer blog!
Closed for Business

Closed for Business - Back Side

     The challenge here was to make a card that did not open (i.e. postcard, oversized gift tag). 
     I'm getting a start with my Christmas post-cards with this one.
     I stamped the banners with olive green and pink sky chalks using a masking technique. If you want to try it too, stamp our image on a piece of copy paper or other very thin paper. Cut it out. When you are ready to stamp, position the mask in the spot where the image that appears to be on top. Then, stamp the back image. Remove the mask and stamp the near image. Easy once you get the hang of it.
     Both sentiments are from Fiskars' Season's Greetings collection. I stamped the snowflakes (from various Fiskars holiday collections) very lightly with Robins' Egg blue.

     Thanks so much for spending time with me today. I'll be back in a day or two with my DCWV Stack-a-holic card challenge. Hope you have a really fun day! And, if you want to join in the fun, check out the details here: www.fiskateers.com