October SJ Card Kit Blog Post-"Claudia's Stash"

Okay, I am a day late and a dollar short for this post. I SHOULD have posted this on October 31st when the SJ Card Kit Club blog post went live but with Halloween and then me having book club the next day, I just never got around to it. Shame since I created SIX cards out of the kit that Claudia sent using things from her stash. Please go browse if you have time because many of the people made some terrific cards.

As you can see from the photo above, Claudia sent us stuff to create both fall cards and Halloween cards. I chose to make three of each, though I could have created many more. It was definitely out of my comfort zone because there were NO stamps to color and all die cuts to use. However, it forced me to look at things in a new way and I LOVED it.

For this card, I chose to cut up a bunch of pieces of the patterned papers into strips as my starting off point. The only element that DID NOT come from the kit on this card are the ink that I used to distress the card and the sequins.

I LOVE how this card came out. When I saw the little wagon wheel, I knew I wanted to do a grouping with a pumpkin. I added the sequins as a finishing touch.

This was the simplest card I created. I rarely do simple these days but I LOVE how it came out. I even already sent this card out too!!

My last three were Halloween cards. Claudia sent the cutest ghosts and I just had to use them. I apologize because I know Halloween is over but I wanted to post them anyway.

One of the things I noticed right off the bat is I only own ONE Halloween stamp set. Claudia did not send any sentiments so what is a girl to do? I created one using stickers!! I added yellow Stickles to the eyes and mouth of the ghost for a bit more oomph.

For this card, I used the ribbon, patterned paper and ghost that were in the kit. I die cut the polka paper into a banner and tied the ribbon around it. I then added a foam panel to make it POP off the card. The sentiment is from the only stamp set I own that is a Halloween set. Instead of yellow Stickles, I added some Diamond colored Stickles to the ghost eyes.

My last card is simple. I die cut the polka paper and the black and white block to house the ghost. I added some vellum behind the ghost to give the eyes and mouth a "smokey" look. The sentiment I stamped and embossed.

I thank you for stopping by and viewing all my creations. This "kit club" had been so fun for me and I LOVE all the fun things I created with it.

Have a fabulous day!!

Lawnscaping Challenge #116 and Getting my Ghoul on with Lawn Fawn's "Happy Harvest" set

One of the things about being laid up is that I have been able to view a lot of videos. One of the videos that I thought was SO COOL was from "Just One More Card" and it was on "How to Zombie-fy Your Stamps." Julia did a video taking an ordinary, cute stamp from My Favorite Things and making it into a stamp fit for Halloween. Her shattered glass background she did BY HAND!! It looks so cool!!

Anyway, she inspired me to look at my stamps and see what I could do. I had the Lawn Fawn set "Happy Harvest" on my desk and I thought it would be fun to Zombie-fy the scarecrow and the crows!

I stamped the scarecrow and the two crows using a bit of masking. I then went on the internet for some zombie images and made some strategic marks on the images with a pencil. I then used a Copic Liner pen to outline where I placed the pencil marks. I then colored the images in with Copic markers and die cut the images out with the matching dies. I added details using a white gel pen and a red Spica marker.

Next I stamped a bunch of corn stalks all over a white piece of paper and masked off a circle using a piece of masking paper. I then blended Distress Inks in Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violet and Smoked Hickory to create the blue background. I then sprayed some water into my hand and I flicked it onto the background to make "stars." It made the corn stalks look like they were in shadow, which I thought was so cool!!

(Supplies)

I then created a bit of a scene with all my images under the moon. I LOVE how this came out and it was the most fun I have had making a card in ages. It took a bit of time to figure out where I wanted to place all my hand drawn pieces into the image but I think it was worth the time.

I am entering this into the Lawnscaping Challenge: Too Cute to Spook at the Lawnscaping Challenge blog.

I want to thank you for stopping by today. Have a great day!!

Freshly Made Sketches #204, The Paper Players Challenge PP263, Zig Clean Markers and Lawn Fawn's "Happy Harvest" Set

What a beautiful day this Sunday is. The sky is so blue and the weather has just a touch of coolness to it. A perfect day to apple pick!! (I caution you-this post is a little heavy on the photos. I apologize but I just had to do it!!)

Chris, Charlotte and I took a drive to Lyman Orchards and picked Macoun apples, which are my favorite. We have numerous orchards in our town but I had heard good things about the shop Lyman has on their property and the rumors were true. We bought some pot pies for dinner tomorrow and some FRESH cider donuts. 

Here are a few photos that Charlotte and I took at the orchards. I took the first and the last, Charlotte took the middle three.

Charlotte is taking a photography class in school and her subject this week was either to photograph a toy or leaves. She is not happy about either assignment but has chosen leaves. However, the leaves have not turned here yet. I suggested this photo because of the red and green against the blue.

Charlotte was trying to get the birds in flight in this photo!!

Here is where her camera broke so she had to borrow mine for the rest of the visit. She has my old DSLR and it really needs to be replaced. She does not like my lens, though!!

So today I am going to show you two cards I created using Lawn Fawn's "Happy Harvest" set.

I received a HUGE order from Scrapbook.com this week and this stamp/die set was just one of my many purchases. Shhh-do not tell Chris!!

I did something that I have not done before when making a card. I stamped the SAME image on two pieces of card stock and used my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers to color them in. However, I did two different techniques using these markers.

For my first card, I am playing along with the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and using Sketch #204. I am kind of obsessed with sketches as of late. I can use my own supplies but the layout often jump starts my creative juices. 

Here is the fun sketch I played with:

I am also entering my card into The Paper Players Clean and Simple Challenge-Create a Fall Scene. I think my card is perfect for this!!

 Here is my card that I created:

For this card, I stamped the the pumpkins and the wagon using a lot of masking. I then colored them in with my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I have been watching different ways to use the and one way is to color with them like a Copic. This is what I decided to do on this image. 

After coloring, I masked off the stamped images and created a background with distress inks. I then stamped the corn stalks and the sentiment. Next I die cut the stamped scene and adhered it over a card base and a piece of patterned paper.

My last step was to stamp, die cut and adhere some leaves from the same stamp set. 

On my second card, the scene is pretty similar. I did not use the sketch, though, but decided to layer my scene over some patterned paper rectangles.

I did all the same things with the masking and distress ink background BUT I used my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers with water. I would color a bit of two colors on whatever I was painting and then blend it together. I think this gives the image a bit more dimension but painting takes longer then coloring!!!

I added a banner rather then stamping the sentiment directly on the scene and added a few more stamped leaves. I am not sure if you can see it or not but I also added some clear Wink of Stella onto the wagon to make it "shiny" like metal. Okay, it really IS NOT shiny like metal but that is what I was going for.

What I learned:

• I like coloring better then using water with these markers. HOWEVER, I think that I would use them up really fast if I colored in images with them and you cannot refill these.
• I think using the markers with water gives the image a bit more dimension then blending the colors without water. 
• It is VERY EASY to reactivate the colors when using water with the distress ink background!!! I did figure this but was not careful and had to "fix" some mistakes with more painting.

Okay-I am at the end!! If you made it to this point, thank you!! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!!

Have a wonderful night!!

Supplies:

Card #1

Card #2

Zig colors I used:

Pumpkins-052, 070

Wagon-020, 022

Wheels and Handle-091, 094

Stems-041, 044

Time Out Challenge, Marker Pop!, NBUS Challenge and I want to be a Superstar!!

Happy Monday!! I hope you are all enjoying your day. Char and I have the day off for the Jewish holiday. I have had time to do things like go to the gym, have breakfast with Char and my father, and do some chores around the house. I could go for Mondays off all year!!

Today I am posting a card that I finished last night. I received my new My Favorite Things "Harvest Mouse" set this week and I had a chance to play with it yesterday. I am entering it into My Favorite Things "You Could be a Card Design Superstar"contest.

I made a "peek a boo" card with it. First I die cut a space on the card front. I then stamped the leaves, the second mouse and all the leaves. As I was doing this, I decided to leave the elements in the front just black and white. I wanted to use Copic markers to color and as this was basically a one layer card, I did not want the coloring to show through. My happy medium was to color the mouse that would be peeking from the inside of the card.

I stamped the mouse onto the die cut that I had cut from the front and used Copic markers to color him in. Isn't he cute? I did some "dot" coloring on him after I was finished. I used both Copic and gel markers for that. I have done it on my monsters that I have colored before but doing it here was an experiment. I am not sure how I feel about it.

When I finished coloring in the mouse, I adhered him to the inside of the card.

I then stamped a simple sentiment from the same set inside. I wasn't sure if I wanted to decorate the inside or not but decided I liked it simple and clean. I know that this kind of card I would write things on the inside and by leaving it clean, there is more room to do so.

Again, I am entering this into the My Favorite Things "You Could be a Card Superstar!" contest.

I am also entering this into Marker Pop!'s #77 Fall/Autumn Challenge. This is the first time I have ever entered a challenge here and it makes me nervous!!

Another challenge I am entering it into is Darnell's NBUS #5 Challenge. Since these stamps and dies are brand new, this counts!! (I think!) And am entering the Time Out Challenge #39-"Make Your Mark."

I don't usually enter so many challenges at once but this card just happens to fit the bill!! I thank you for stopping by today. Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:

InLinkz.com
Copic Colors: C0, C1, C2, C3, C4 (mouse), E71, E77 (shoes), B21, B23, B26 (vest), YR15, YR18, YR24 (pumpkin) Y21, YR21, YR23, YR24 (sweater) R01 (ear and cheek) G21, G24 (stem)