GCOC - August

 

Hello Crafty Friends! Thanks so much for joining me. You should be arriving here from Jenn; a full list of participants is linked over on Jenn's Blog! Jenn is hosting a YouTube LIVE August 25th at 8p ET sharing how she made this months card; that would be the perfect time to grab some of those supplies and craft along with us! 

My card this month features the absolutely fantastic Nutcracker set from Avery Elle Jenn featured last month! I just couldn't resist them. Watching the Nutcracker ballet as a kid was one of my favorite winter activities.

The background I did starting with a light blue cardstock base and inking the edges first with Tumbled Glass distress oxide and then darkened it with some Broken China creating a highlighted area in the middle to draw the eye in. I then splattered the background using yellow gold starry water color. 

I finished up the card by white heat embossing the sentiment on a black cardstock strip and some diamond stickles.

Copic Markers used: E40, 43; Y35; YR31, YR31, 30; R29, 27, 24, 20; N10, 8, 6,4, 2; C0; B02, 00, 0000.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

GCOC - April

 

 

Hello Crafty Friends! Thanks so much for joining me. You should be arriving here from Jenn; a full list of participants is linked over on Jenn's Blog! Jenn is hosting a YouTube live on April 22nd at 8pm Est. sharing how she made this months card; that would be the perfect time to grab some of those supplies and craft along with us. 

This months card features some Doodlebug! Are you doodle collector or a doodle crafter? Ha! I am on a mission to actually use my much hoarded Doodlebug supplies. 

For this card I used some deep red cardstock and hit the edges with some distress ink in black soot (the regular distress ink, not the oxide) and then splattered that with some Gansai Tambi starry colors in White Gold & Yellow Gold for added texture and interest. After that I just added my doodle pops & a Chit Chat banner and finished with a bit of glitter to the brims of the hats on the two elves.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time for Hot Cocoa - Mama Elephant

 Hello my crafty friends! I have this fun Mama Elephant card to share with you today. How many Christmas cards have you done so far this year? Im working on my last batch but its been so much easier now that I do at least one a month all year long! But its crunch time even for me so I am working in batches on easy cards with relaxing coloring (check out my Instagram to see my coloring reel for this card!)

For the background I took a piece of dark teal 110# cardstock and ink blended all around the edges with a blender brush using distress ink in Black Soot. This really is a simple technique and draws your eye into the focal image. Once that was done and dry I went ahead and splattered it with my Gansai Tambi Starry Colors in white gold for a snowy look and extra interest with a hit of shimmer. 

The images are copic colored as shown on Insta. 

Marker colors:
C7, C5, C3, C1, C0, R10 for cheeks, YR14, YR00 for beaks/feet (penguins)
R49, R29, R24 (Hat & Candy canes)
BG15, BG13, BG11, BG10 (Mug)
E49, E47, E44 (Chocolate)
E41 (marshmallows)

Supplies:
Hot Cocoa - ME
Little Penguin Agenda - ME
Holiday Messages - ME

 

November - Get Cracking On Christmas

  Hello Crafty Friends! It’s time for another installment of Get Cracking on Christmas hosted by Jenn Shurkus. Every month on the 3rd Thursday we are here with fresh inspiration for you! Please check out Jenn's blog for a full list of each months participants. Don't miss Jenn's LIVE on YouTube November 19th at 8pm ET.  www.youtube.com/jennshurkus where she will have a demo on how she put together her card for this month!   

For me this month I have a set of three cards (well actually it was a lot of cards but I'm specifically sharing these three here today) made using the new Lawn Fawn Snowflake Background Stencil! These are super easy to put together, great for those last minute makes or if you have a whole bunch you need to make at once like I did!

First I used distress ink in several of the new colors; Villainous Potion, Salvaged Patina & Kitsch Flamingo. I did a light watercolor wash on the background. To do this I first used a brush to lay down clean clear water in the area I wanted, leaving a boarder of plain paper. Next I dropped in the color and smushed it around with my brush until I was happy. I was careful not to go outside the original edge I had made with the clear water. 

Next I used the stencil and I selectively inked the center portion to make it look as though the snowflakes were falling down the center of each card. I used a bit of stickles in Diamond to coat some of the snowflakes for extra bling. 

For the sentiments I used the Winter Big Scripty Words which has been a long time favorite of mine since it came out back in 2016. Its just so versatile. I stamped these in the same ink to match the background. The purple one I just adhered flat since its great for mailing and I felt it stood out the best from the background. The pink is popped up on foam squares. And lastly the teal one I added some sparkle pen and a layer of Nuvo Crtsyal drops in Morning Dew for that extra dimension. 

Thanks for stopping by!

September - Get Cracking On Christmas

  Hello Crafty Friends! It’s time for another installment of Get Cracking on Christmas hosted by Jenn Shurkus. Every month on the 3rd Thursday we are here with fresh inspiration for you! Please check out Jenn's blog for a full list of each months participants. Don't miss Jenn's LIVE on YouTube September 17th at 8pm ET. www.youtube.com/jennshurkus where she will have a demo on how she put together her card for this month!   

This months card features some fun Lawn Fawn products! I hadn't gotten to these mug dies last year so I absolutely had to use them before I get distracted by tomorrows new release!! 

For this card I started with Lawn Fawns mermaid cardstock which I then blended on with Peacock distress oxide ink around the edges leaving a little cardstock showing in the middle. Then I added Mermaid lagoon on top of that. Once I this ink dried I added some white gold Starry Watercolor splatter for a snowy look. I die cut the mug frame out of some red cardstock scrap I had and the background mug from Lawn Fawn Snow Day remix. I used some white sequin mix for my shaker. I die cut the marshmallows out of plain white carsdtock and added stickles in diamond as an accent. (Gotta have some glitter somewhere, right Jenn??) Lastly I die cut my letters using Cole's ABCs and stamped the smaller Holiday sentiment in Peacock distress ink. 

Supplies:

Lawn Fawn Stitched Mug Frame

Lawn Fawn Stitched Mug

Cole's ABC

Lawn Fawn Snow Day Remix

May - Get Cracking on Christmas

 Hello Crafty Friends! It’s time for another installment of Get Cracking on Christmas hosted by Jenn Shurkus. Every month on the 3rd Thursday we are here with fresh inspiration for you! Don't miss Jenn's LIVE on youtube today at 8pm ET. www.youtube.com/jennshurkus!   

Todays card features the Fuzzy Hugs stamp set, and Puffy Holiday Greetings from Mama Elephant. The background was done during a Cardmaking Class Mermaizing with Jenn. It was such a fun class! Also in honor of Jenn I added some Lawn Fawn prisma glitter.

Distress Ink in: Salvaged Patina & Wilted Violet

Distress Oxide: Kitsch Flamingo

Copics:
BG13, 10, 0000
RV11, RV10, RV000
N0
YR00

Thanks for Stopping By!

March - Get Cracking on Christmas

 Hello Crafty Friends! It’s time for another installment of Get Cracking on Christmas hosted by Jenn Shurkus. Every month on the 3rd Thursday we are here with fresh inspiration for you! Don't miss Jenn's LIVE on youtube today at 8pm ET. www.youtube.com/jennshurkus!   

Today’s card features a bunch of sets from Hello Bluebird. Coffee Friends for the rabbit and the squirrel, Snow Play for the birds and a sentiment from Typed Christmas. The card itself is a non standard size of 3.5x5. I’ve been just loving this size lately. 

The background is inked using Shaded Lilac and Blueprint Sketch distress oxide inks. I also used the Blueprint sketch to stamp the sentiment. The images are colored with copics. 

E53, 51, 50

W3, 1, 0

R29, 27, 24

N4, 0

E29, 27, 25, 23

E74, 70

G00, 000

B69, 67, 63

Thanks for stopping by! 

Get Cracking on Christmas - January

 

So Happy to be joining Jenn Shurkus from Shurkus.com for another year of Get Cracking on Christmas! Instead of packing away all our new holiday goodies we keep them out. Its never to early to get a head start on all those holiday cards. And if you are like me all of your hoard of Christmas cards is gone and needing to be replenished asap!

Also if you are like me, you still have tons of holiday stamp sets you purchased or got as gifts that you just cant wait to use! I actually stamped out a bunch of images from this Flora & Fauna Driving To The Holidays (its on sale, snatch it up!!) set as soon as I got it so they'd be ready to pop on cards when I had time to craft. I easily have enough left over images for another 10 cards. But here are two examples for you!

I stamped these out using Distress Oxide inks because I love the colors and how well they stamp solid images. No coloring today! 

Thanks for stopping by, see you next month. Don't forget to stop by Jenn's blog for a list of all the hoppers & tune in for her facebook LIVE event. I cannot wait! See you there!

Choo Choo - Avery Elle

 Hello Crafty Friends, Merry Christmas to those celebrating today! Christmas has taken on a whole extra bit of magic for me since having my Son and its so much fun to watch his eyes light up. He's six and its the perfect age for Christmas. I missed seeing Santa this year but he doesn't seem to mind. Spending so much time with him this year since I am home has been amazing though. 

This card features the Peek A Boo Christmas Train from Avery Elle. I couldn't resist, its so cute. This card is copic heavy and I am not going to list them all out but if you want to know a certain color combo, just ask! The background though was done with the new Speckled Egg distress oxide. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Get Cracking on Christmas DEC - Jenn Shurkus

   Hello Crafty Friends! Thanks for joining me on another edition of Get Cracking on Christmas!

My good friend Jenn Shurkus (Shurkus.com) has been doing the Get Cracking series for several years. Each month on the third Thursday we will be posting new inspiration and hopefully encourage you to get Cracking on Christmas!

If you want to participate (and there is a prize!) head over here to the link up! Or use the hashtag #getcrackingonchristmas on Instagram to participate.

We are getting down to the wire for those Christmas makes! I am now working on those more quick and simple but still impactful designs. Today's card features Lawn Fawn stamps and dies. The background is a simple tone on tone stamped with a light grey ink and colored with one grey copic marker that matched!

I feel like these kinds of cards give a big impact even though its relatively a simple design. The pop of color from the car and sentiment really stand out against the monochrome background. The car is from Car Critters & the Deer and accessories are from Car Critters Christmas add on. 

I hope I've inspired you for some last minute Christmas card makes. Its not to late to get a few cards out in the mail to friends and family even if it just sends a simple Wish you a Happy Holiday inside and your name it can mean a lot to the person on the other end. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Get Cracking on Christmas - With Jenn Shurkus

Hello Crafty Friends! Thanks for joining me on another SPECIAL edition of Get Cracking on Christmas!

My good friend Jenn Shurkus (Shurkus.com) has been doing the Get Cracking series for several years. Each month on the third Thursday we will be posting new inspiration and hopefully encourage you to get Cracking on Christmas!

If you want to participate (and there is a prize!) head over here to the link up! Or use the hashtag #getcrackingonchristmas on Instagram to participate.

And SPECIAL for this month since its Christmas in July I will have my own giveaway here. Simply leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas stamp set (any company) to enter. You will have 2 weeks (July 31st) to enter for these cute Lawn Fawn stamp and die combos.

 

And now for my card! 

Supplies:

Lawn Fawn Ocean Shell-fie

Lawn Fawn Christmas Fishes

Lawn Fawn Ocean Waves Stencil

Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle frames

Dress My Craft Clear Hearts (found locally at Craft Fancy)

Distress Oxides in:

Tumbled Glass

Broken China

Peacock Feathers

Salty Ocean

Mermaid Lagoon

A Waddle Song - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! We are getting down to the wire! I have a last minute card you can whip up in a jiffy using Lawn Fawn's Here We Go a Waddling stamp set, Snow Day Remix paper & Simple Wavy Banners.



Copics Used: N10, N8 & N6 with a little W1 for shading their white tummies, faces & hats with a little R20 for the cheeks. Beaks are all done in YR04. Reds are R29, R27 & R35 while the greens are G02, G00 & G000.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Magical Day - Mama Elephant

Hello Crafty Friends! My card today features some adorable little penguins from Mama Elephant's Little Penguin Agenda. There are so many fun poses to choose from it was hard to narrow down so I grabbed a bunch of my favorites. I really love smaller images sometimes because you can fit so many on a card! 

I cut the frame for the background using Framed Tags - Hug it Out Creative Cuts. Once I die cut it I used washi tape on the back to keep the frame and the inside together while I ink blended the sky. I wanted a seamless look and this seemed easiest to me.  I used distress oxide ink in Spun Sugar for the sky. I used my largest blender brush to make fading it out into white a little easier. I have found the larger the brush the easier it is for me to get this kind of fade. I  splattered the card using distress ink in the same color and a bit of water. Once the blending was done I cut some little hills from another center panel I die cut using the same Hug it Out frame using the Landscape Trio dies. I popped the frame and the front hill up on some foam tape for a little dimension. 

Lastly I colored my little penguins using some various copic markers. N10, N8, N6 & N1for the bodies with R20 for their rosy cheeks and YR02 for the beaks and feet. Accesories: RV10, YR02, Y11, G00, B00, BV01, E44, E43 & B0000. A simple black ink sentiment finished off the design.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Santa Bear is coming to town! - Avery Elle

Hello Crafty Friends! I am back with a stamp set designed by my friend Elena for Avery Elle. I was so excited to see Bear all dressed up as Santa!  This set has a special place in my heart because I just absolutely treasure the time my son has spent with out local "Santa". I know someday the magic will end but I am so glad to see his wonder and excitement. Our kindhearted resident travels around our local area and my son has not met any other Santa (so far). Every year he stops for lunch at our little coffee shop and all the kids come and see him. Its such a fun personal magical meet and greet. I cant imagine it any other way now.

Dino Christmas! - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! Today I have another Christmas card. It was inspired by some Dinosaur gift wrapping I got at Target for my son. I just loved all the little Dino's dressed up for the holidays!




The background of the card was made using distress oxide inks in Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch which is a bit of a different combo for me but I love how it turned out!

The Dino's are from Rawsome and the tree is from Critters from the Past. The accessories are from several sets; the hat, scarf and bow are from Baaah Humbug, & the bone and lights are from Happy Howlidays (which sadly is not available, it was a Stamptember exclusive).

This is a copic heavy card so I wont be listing all the colors today but if there is a particular combo you are interested in, please ask in the comments and I will respond.

Thanks for stopping by!

A little Koala Xmas - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Craft Friends, thanks for joining me today for some Pretty Pink Posh inspiration. Who says Koala can't be for Christmas? I was actually inspired to make this card after following the fires in Australia and learning that the Koala habitat has been  hit hard. I have always loved Koalas, even got to hold one as a baby at a zoo program. (Those claws are no joke!) You can read a bit about Koala and the fires here.

So for my card I used Cracked Pistachio distress oxide to blend from dark to light. I splatted that with Gansai Tambi Starry Colors water color in white gold & light gold. I also splatted some of the same color distress ink. I then layered the Storybook 3 Die over top of the background. I heat embossed the Peace and Joy sentiment from Holiday Greetings in gold. 

Lastly I colored my Koala and Leaves with copic markers. The Koala are done in N4, N2 & N0 with a little R11 for the cheeks and inside of the ears. The hat is R29, R27 & R35. Lastly the leaves are G02, G00, G000 with a light all over coating of YG00 to make it more closely match the background color.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

It's a Tweet Day - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! Im here with card # 3 in my Snow Day Remix patterned paper mini series. I kept the layout pretty similar to the first card, just because I'm really loving all the layers. I got out an older favorite set of mine; It's a mini set, Winter Sparrows. I kept the coloring pretty sparrow like with the browns.

For the main focal panel I did a light bit of distress oxide ink blending in Pine Needles. I brought the blending about halfway up and let it fade off into white. I find it easier to ink up my blending brush and then dab a bit off onto my craft sheet to get the lighter edge. I then stamped the sentiment in black ink and the music notes in Festive Berries oxide ink.

For the copics I used R29, R27, & R24 for the hat and ear muffs, G02, G00 for the scarf and for the birds I used E44, E43 & E41 & their tummies I left white. A little Y35 for the beaks. Lastly I added a bit of Prisma Glitter to the edge of the branch. Because as Jenn says, glitter all the things (especially for Christmas).

Thanks for stopping by!

Warm Hearts - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! For card number two in my Lawn Fawn patterned paper mini series I have done an all paper card with no stamping! I had originally made this one for the Lawn Fawnattics die challenge but with the craziness of the holidays I didn't get it finished in time.

I just could not resist this bunny paper and was trying different things with it but really wanted it to shine. I had cut the second paper with the sentiment already printed on it to use as the next layer. So I dug through my stash of dies and found the Outside In Stitch Christmas Tree stackables and the second largest tree was perfect and simple. It really lets the papers take center stage. I decided to make a small shaker and used some Sparkling Clear Sequin mix inside. All of the paper on this card can found in the Snow Day Remix collection.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Santa & Mrs. Claus - Lawn Fawn

Hello Crafty Friends! I have started a bit of a mini series with some Lawn Fawn cards for Christmas featuring a bunch of pattern paper from the Snow Day paper collection. I actually had some of the 6x6 original pads of paper and since they just released the remix I decided to get them out to play! So onto my first card featuring these papers.

The two papers in this card can be found in the Snow Day remix pack as well as the original. I cut the bottom layer at a full A2 size with a paper trimmer. The Green "Earmuffs" paper I die cut using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle as well as a piece of plain white cardstock in the next size down. I love how these dies make layering so easy! 

The plain cardstock layer I ink blended using distress oxide ink in Festive Berries about 2/3rds of the way up. The top edge I used some snowflakes from various Lawn Fawn sets and stamped them in distress oxide in the color Pumice Stone. I white heat embossed  the sentiment which is from the Holiday Helpers stamp set. The main images are from the new Ho Ho Holidays set. I used copic markers to color them in. The faces are E11, E00, E000;  the reds are R29, R27, R24; And last the greys are N8, N6, N4 & W3, W1 and a bit of Y35 for the belt buckle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bring Joy - Pretty Pink Posh

Hello Craft Friends! Im here with some more holiday goodness featuring the new Pretty Pink Posh winter release. I just adore these large sentiment dies Paulina has been coming out with. I wanted to do something simple but striking here with the new Joy Coordinating Dies set over an inked background using the Christmas Background stencil. The die cut is also covered in Nuvo shimmer pen in Glitter Gloss.

Don’t forget the sale starts today too!

I inked the whole background with distress ink in Cracked pistachio and then I laid the stencil over top and ink blended on some Pine Needles, then Evergreen Bough and finished the bottom 1/3rd with the same Cracked Pistachio to create an ombre look. 

Thanks for Stopping By!