Saturday, August 27, 2011

Tilda Does Yoga

Well, the weekend is half over. For those of you along the eastern seaboard, be safe. Bless your hearts, you've had a week like no other, huh? First, you have a significant earthquake and now a hurricane. If you are reading this, that's good! That means you have power!

Before I discuss the card I'm posting today, I want to share a photo of an orange dragonfly that I was able to get today (the photo, not the dragonfly, LOL). For the past couple of weeks, he's been buzzing through the back yard. I thought it was one of our hummingbirds because of his huge size and because he was flying with two hummers. Now, I realize they were chasing him! He's really big! He was a very good subject. Look at his wings. Aren't they beautiful? You can even see the shadow of his digestive track fro his thorax down through his abdomen. I'm sure I'll lose some of the beautiful colors and contrast since I'm uploading directly from Blogger. He is a very vibrant orange.



Now, for our little Tilda. She's much calmer than I because she does her Yoga each and every day. I wanted to create a card that was calming - reflecting what Yoga gives to its diligent practitioners. I chose aqua, purple, and a very pale sage green for the papers on the card. The cardstock is eggplant, aqua, and white. Tilda was colored with Copics. Even the ribbon has a texture that mimics the flow of the card.



This is the interior of the card. Again, I wanted to keep the theme as serene as I could. On the sides of the sentiment tag, I double stamped the floral spray. You cannot see it, but there is a very pale aqua image under the pale purple flower spray. The paper on the right side appears darker than it really is because of the angle and the way the light was unable to catch the paper properly.



I hope you enjoyed my not so little orange dragonfly and my Yoga Tilda. I so appreciate your visiting and hope that you will return! Thank you so much for visiting!

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Send a Smile 4 Kids(ends 9/2) - punches and die cuts
Just Add Ink #82 (ends 8/31) - Use something from stash (corner shape)
Just Magnolia (ends 9/1) - Bingo - gems (pearls are classified as organic gems) - flowers - Ribbons/Lace
Crop Stop Challenge #34 (ends 8/31) - Aniything Goes
Crafting for All Seasons #8 (ends 9/6 ) - Bingo (ribbons, glitter, flowers)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Hooked on Craft Challenge #6 - Things with Wings

Good Monday morning fellow card makers! I hope your week will be off to a wonderful start!

This week, Hooked on Craft Challenges wants you to take on the challenge of Things with Wings ! This challenge will run from August 22 until September 3. This challenge is so open, that it shouldn't be hard for you to complete. You could incorporate fairies, butterflies, dragonflies, even angels! The winged element may be found anywhere on your card - the stamped image, an embellishment, and even your paper! You know the lovely Karen will have the perfect prize for the winner!

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For my card, I chose to not only use Butterfly Bear With Flower, but I decided to put his little wings to good use by having him float in the air! Because I created an "A" frame card, Mr. Bear can swing in and out with a touch.

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His sweet little flower has dimension as well. I chose to cover the flower petals and center with Flower Soft. I used a bright yellow for the outer areas, a pale yellow for the inner areas, and green for the flower center. I love how it gives the flower a velvety look!

I accented the card by using an assortment of gorgeous flowers from Hooked On Craft. I began by first placing the green Gardenia and building outward.

Next, I added Star Flowers which were white. The thing I so love about the white flowers is that I can make the any color I need! In this case, I needed yellow. So, I colored each one using two different yellow Copic markers. Easy peasy, right? You bet!

I absolutely love Calla Lilies - real and paper! Karen has WONDERFUL Calla Lilies. For this card, I chose the lemon ones.

Next, I accented the flower cluster with green Mulberry Leaves (medium and small) as well has a heart trinket pin. The finishing touches were swirl die cuts and banner by Magnolia, Prima flowers, brads, and a mulberry butterfly with pale green rhinestones.

I hope you will create a wonderful card for Hooked on Craft Challenges. You have until September 3! I cannot wait to see what you create!

XO,
Chris



Friday, August 19, 2011

Tilda Goes Snorkeling!

Summer has decided to really turn on the heat at a time of the year when the temperatures should be gradually decreasing. We are well over 100° F. The temp inside the car yesterday was 147°! So, we're having July temps in late August! With that being said, Tilda needed to go for a swim. It helped me keep cool to do this card, LOL. I used the new Swimming Tilda (which, I think, should be named Snorkeling Tilda. I had so much fun with this card which has turned out to be one of my very favorites of the Tilda cards I have ever done. Let me know what you think!

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Is this cute or what? Does Tilda look like she is under water? That was the effect I was trying to achieve with the microfine glitter. I colored the image with my Copics and then did the covering. I kept the colors to teal, tan, and white with splashes of red, green, and yellow on the stamped image. The papers I chose to use were those, I thought, had a watery feel.


Click on photo above for a larger image, if you wish.

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I don't know if the side shot gives you another view of the image. Maybe you can see how the image is so muted.

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I had gotten this sand dollar stamp and thought I'd put it to good use on this card. I love, love, love sand dollars. Every summer, for 22 years, we'd head to the Oregon Coast for the summer. We were right on the beach. I'd get up every morning and be the first on the beach to gather up the sand dollars that would wash up over night. There were times when I found well over 100 in one morning! We have a garage full of them, LOL. Every year, I'd give each of my students a sand dollar at some point during the year. They loved getting them. I digress. OK, back to the card. I changed the border punch, added some shell embellishments, and a sentiment made with alpha stickers.

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This is the completed inside. I added an area for a personal sentiment which I chose because it resembled a shell.

There you have it! You likey?

Thank you so much for stopping by! You are just the sweetest gals for taking the time! Come back again!

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

All That Scraps Blog #13 (ends 9/16) - Stretch Your Imagination
Colour Create Challenge Blog #77 (ends 8/24) - Color Challenge
Crafts and Me Challenges - #48 (ends 8/24) - Blues and Blue Greens
My Mum's Craft Shop #19 (ends 8/23) - Summertime
Scrapbook Sisters #48 (ends 8/23 ) - Blue
Clear It Out Challenge Blog (ends 8/29) - Glitter
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog #6 (ends 8/28 ) - Light Blue
My Time to Craft Challenges #153 - "G" is for...
Papertake Weekly - Bingo (I chose center, vertical column)
Shopping Our Stash #13 (ends 8/22) - Weakest Link (for me, It's Magnolia Stamps)
Tuesday Throwdown #62 (ends 8/22) - Non-stamped Sentiment




Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sweet Treats!

I have a delightful card to share with you today! The Hooked on Craft Challenges Blog is sponsoring a Sweet Treats Challenge! It's easy peasy! Just include in your creation the image(s) of something sweet. It could be ice cream, cupcakes, candy, etc., and may be found on your paper, ribbons, or other embellishments. Oh, I think this challenge would be one that most of you would love to join! I had a "sweet time" working on my project! LOL

Here are photos of the project I created. The first shot is of both components, the card and the treat basket that is filled with little Mounds bars (because the wrappers matched the papers I used in my project, LOL).


I love that little treat basket. I created the handle with two 12" paper scraps and a Martha Stewart border punch. The frosting on the cupcake, as well as the cherry, have been colored with Prismacolors and then covered with Kindy Glitz. Kindy Glitz was around long before Stickles glitter glue! When I first saw Kindy Glitz, I ordered every color they had and then some! I was a trend setter here in the US (not) by using glitter glue! The darling stamped images have been colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol. You can find the stamped images at Hooked on Craft!

Here are the photos of my card:

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I chose to cover the cake in Kindy Glitz so that the card front would look more festive. Because of reflection, it doesn't show the depth of the cake's colors. The yellow is very pronounced. I found the chipboard heart in my stash and thought it would nicely showcase the ribbon bow. The addition of the roses and yellow rosebuds finished the upper left corner. I kept the flowers in the color scheme of the card.

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For the interior, top, of the card, I chose to use an assortment of flowers and leaves. Do you know you can color the petals with your Copic markers or Colorbox Ink Pads? Just gently remove the petals, color them, let them dry, and return them under the stamens. Glue into place. I also colored the tips of the white chrysanthemum aster with one of my yellow Copic Markers. I love, love, love calla lilies, so the light lemon colored one was a perfect addition. I've also added a length of Tim Holtz filmstrip as well as an embossed postage stamp to add more textures. That stamp is part of a very hard to find set of four celebration themed mini embossing folders that also come with the stamp shaped cutting die. You can find the Provo Craft Embossed Postage Stamp Set HERE. The owner does ship abroad. I chose to color the raised sections of the embossed stamp with Pebbles iridescent chalks. That stamp just makes the cutest embellishments! Inside the sentiment circle, I did add three stamp dots. One is yellow, one is greenish yellow, and the other is red. I couldn't pull up the brightness of the ink colors or chalk colors well at all. Sorry about that!

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Here you can see the complete interior. I prefer to leave one sentiment area blank for a personal note. The white leaves that I used for the card are just wonderful! I keep going to them to enhance the flowers. I wish I had ordered a ton more. They match everything and come in four different sizes! Yes, they are also from Hooked on Craft. You should see the new metallic leaves that Karen is carrying. They'll be wonderful for Christmas/winter themed cards!

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I used the following products from Hooked on Craft's wonderful selection of products:

Bear Stamps

White Rose
Red Rose
Black Rose

White Leaf - large
White Leaf - medium
White Leaf - small

Red Rhinestones

Doily

Cherry Blossoms
Calla Lily
Chrysanthemum Aster

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you like what I've shared with you today and find that it has prompted you to join in the Something Sweet Hooked on Craft Challenge! The is a really nice prize up for grabs! Come back soon!

XO,
Chris

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Birthday Sundaes (ends 8/13) - Birthday Card
2. Here Come the Boys - Challenge #8 (ends 8/18) - Critters
3. Allsorts Challenge Week #115 - Red
4. Craft Your Days Away #26 - Birthday
5. Mark's Finest Papers #67 (ends 8/12) - Card Size Challenge
6. Send a Smile 4 Kids (ends 8/18) - Anything Goes
7. Card Makin' Mamas #26 (ends 8/18) - Birthday
8. Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps #60 (ends 8/18) - Sparkly
9. Little Miss Muffet Challenges #15 (ends 8/16) - Outside the Diecut
10. Amber's Crafts & Stuff #21 (ends 8/9) - Sparkle and Shine