Just a Reminder for Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #563

Hello Friends!!

I am just popping in today with a reminder that there is still time to play over at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge Blog. It is a COLOR CHALLENGE this time around. Create a project with the colors sky blue, pink and red.

I created another birthday card for this challenge. 

I used the Spellbinders *"Color Block Balloons" dies to die cut the my balloons. I am trying so hard to use supplies this year that have sat unused in my stash and I thought these were perfect!!

Below is the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge Badge for this weeks challenge.

Source

Please hop on over to the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge Blog to join us this week. I cannot wait to see what you create!!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS day!!

Nora

Time for a New Challenge at Cupcake Inspirations!!!

 Hi everyone!! Today I am popping in with a card I created for the new Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #524-Balloons. 

I used a digital stamp from Laurie Furnill Ink on Etsy. She generously donated to "The Sweeties" her Animal Digital Stamps to play with this round. 

To be honest, I had NEVER used a digital stamp before. It was a learning curve for me because you can resize them so you can add more than one a card. Since I wanted to do some detail coloring, I chose to only use one of the images on my card.

I used Copic markers in the warm grays (W00-W04) to color in my mouse. I did a dot technique to give her fur some texture. Below is the inspiration photo. I did not choose to use the colors as my inspiration but the theme.

The sky was created using a stencil and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. 

The sentiment is from my stash. I altered it because I wanted something smaller for my card. Again, if I had more experience with using the digital stamp, I could have moved the adorable mouse over to use a more dynamic sentiment.

I layered the mouse over some colored cardstock that matched some of the colors I used for her outfit. I also chose to use some Glossy Accents over the pink balloon to give it some shine. 

This card was a lot of fun to make and I will definatly be playing around with digital stamps in the future. Be sure to check out the Cupcake Inspirations Blog to find out how to be eligible to win some images from Laurie Furnell Ink as well as to see some fabulous projects designed by the other design team members.

That is all from me today. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by!!! Have a FABULOUS day!!!

#Time Out Challenges and the Mess on my Desk

Happy Hump Day!! I cannot believe it is JULY already. My vacation is flying by and I don't want it to. I like the summer. I actually have the time to get things done!!

This week has been very busy. Yesterday I was a cleaning machine. I took everything off my counters and cleaned them, as well as washed most of the outside of the cupboards. Then I straightened out one of the closets. My goal for the summer is to go through all of the closets in this house. I also washed, folded and put away a ton of laundry.

Another goal is to kick it up at the gym. I went Sunday and Monday but pooped out yesterday. Part of it is because I have bruises all over my legs from a mishap I had at the gym on Sunday. I dropped my I pod shuffle when I was on the elliptical. As I was bending down to look for it under the machine, I fell forward over my elliptical onto another. My left ankle is now swollen as well as the bruise that covers the entire knee cap of my left knee, bruises on my shins and on my right thigh. If I was a person on the treadmill in back of me, I would have laughed my butt off. To make matters worse, I went to the front desk to have them help me because I thought the shuffle was inside the feet part but it was stuck UNDER it in a place I could not see at first. Yes, I am a dork. So today I took it easy.

My Zig Clean Color markers came today. Yeah!! I had to go to the post office to pick them up and of course I had to rip the package open to look at them.

Did I use them? No. My desk was covered in an unfinished scrap book page that had a ton of pieces. I did not want to mess the page up so I will use my markers tomorrow.

When I got home, this is what I found on my kitchen table.

My dog likes to get on the kitchen table while we are gone so he can look out the mudroom window. We have tried everything to get him to stop it minus taking the chairs out from the table completely. If there is any type of paper on it when he finds his way up, he will shred it with his paws and his teeth. This is the work that Charlotte did at Chinese Camp yesterday. So yes, sometimes dogs do eat kids homework!!! Little stinker.

Finally my card!! I used the inspiration photo from Time Out Challenges to get my creative juices going. Here is my card:

This is the inspiration photo that I had to use.

I primarily used the colors for my card. I originally tried to use pieced chevrons but wound up throwing everything out and starting over. I knew what ever shape I used, I was going to attempt to utilize some of the mess on my desk as card elements.

I started this card by die cutting the Horizontal Stripes Cover Plate die by Paper Trey Ink from five different pieces of card stock, as well as my sentiment.

I then sat down and placed different colored strips into one of the die cuts. Next I die cut two circle frames, one from a scrap piece of patterned paper and one from some white glitter paper.

I was not sure which frame I was going to use so I played around with the design a little bit to see which one I was going to use.

I decided for this card that the pattern paper looked the best. Besides, it was also the same color and had some of the shapes from the inspiration photo. The bear still looked kind of blah so I decided to go back to the Pandamonium set by Mama Elephant to see what decorative element I could use to spruce it up.

I decided to use the stick and the large lantern image. I stamped both of them and colored the large lantern in with Copic Markers.

I then used the matching dies to cut the images out with my Big Shot.

Now it was time to assemble the card. First I adhered the cover plate pieces to a white A-2 card base. Next I glued down the circle frame and then the sentiment.

I then covered the back of the Panda the stick and the lantern with foam adhesive. Since these images were the focal point, I thought it was important to give them some dimension.

My last step was to cover the lantern in clear Wink of Stella, glue on the tiny google eyes and adhere the pink enamel heart.

This card is a bit bright but I LOVE how it came out. I have enough to make a few more of these cards, which I will do at a later date. None of my "extras" can go to waste!!

That is all for today. I hope you all enjoy this first day of July. Thank you for stopping by!!

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Paper Smooches Window Card

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you are having a good start to your week.

This week I am going to try to get some of my projects done that I have been putting off. I have had three weeks off to relax and now it is time to get some things crossed off my summer list things I need to do to clean my house. I think tomorrow I might start with putting away my china that I have had in the basement since our kitchen remodel a year ago. I have the empty cabinet just not the wherewithal to unpack and put it all away!

Today I am sharing a card I created using the adorable Paper Smooches hamster from the "Party Posse" stamp set. I have no one to send it to but I wanted to give making a window card a try. Like yesterdays post, I am going to share my creative process.

To start off with, I decided that I wanted to make a window card. I had picked out the hamster image to work with right off. I think he is so cute!! I also had this Simon Says Stamp die that I have yet to use so I decided that I would put it to work. Here is the finished card:

I started the card by stamping and coloring the hamsters from the Paper Smooches "Party Posse" stamp set. I have to admit that the coloring was not fabulous but I knew that two of the hamsters would be just peeking out of the circles so it didn't have to be perfect.

Here are the Copic Colors I used to color this cute little guy.

I then fussy cut them out of the paper and used glossy accents to adhere google eyes onto the hamsters.

While the eyes were drying, I took out all the supplies I wanted to use and die cut the window circles out of yellow polka dot paper.

Now it was time for assembly. I started by adhering the red flower border to the left hand side of the lemon yellow card base.

Next I took the polka dot paper and adhered the two hamsters in the first two windows. I played around with the placement until I found the one I wanted.

I turned the panel over and loaded it up with adhesive foam. I have a confession to make here. It killed me to use as much foam as I did. I am cheap and try to conserve my supplies. However, I wanted to make sure that the panel was not only secure but would not sag in any place. I am not sure I would be in a hurry to make another card like this just for this reason.

I then took all those little green papers off and adhered the panel to the front of the card. I then placed the word balloon that I stamped with these new stamps my friend. Before I adhered the last hamster, I used a craft knife to cut around his little hands. I then placed a small heart in between the paws.

My last step was to use a clear Wink of Stella glitter pen on the sentiment and glossy accents on the heart.  Didn't this come out so cute?

Some things I learned while making this card. First, I need to see if their is a die cut for this little guy. It would have made it so much easier!!

Second, I think if I try this again I might make it a shaker card. I am using enough foam tape so why not go all the way!!

Third, I used a Spica glitter pen on the "Birthday" part of the sentiment. I think I will use a different type of marker to color it in. It might have looked a bit better.

That is all for today. I hope you have a happy and productive Monday!!

I am submitting this to Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.

Nora

Supplies:

InLinkz.com