Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Never Have I Ever

 Happy Wednesday!

Never Have I Ever, isn't that the cutest name for a challenge?  That is the current challenge happening over at the Art Impressions Blog.  The challenge is to use a stamp or die that you have never used before.  That was an easy assignment for me because like many of us crafters, I have two hobbies, making crafts and collecting supplies. 

I went through my AI stash and found this very cute stamp set that I haven’t used yet and thought it would be a cute and quick birthday card.  You can never have enough of those!  

The stamp set I used is 5186 - Enjoy The Ride and selected the sweet bike with the bird perched on it  




The coloring was done with Copic markers and I added Nuvo drops as an accent. 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your week and thank you for stopping by for a visit!


 



Sunday, July 28, 2024

Be Scary

 Happy Sunday!

This is the final stretch for the current bi-weekly challenge for Art Impressions - All A-Buzz Challenge.  I am doing a second submission using one of my favorite retired Art Impressions stamp sets #4521 - Be Scary.  She is so cute and so not scary 😁. 


Even though it isn’t Halloween I thought she was a cute addition to everything that buzzes. I also used #5414 - WC Small Rocks Set for the rocks,  #5190 - Fright Night Set for the spider web, and 5601 - Halloween Accessory Set for the spiders on the card front and for the background paper.

Coloring was done with Copic Markers, I also used Karin Decogel Metallic Pen in grey and Decogel MilkyWay pens in white, black, y. orange and yellow.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope you have a great week!


Sunday, July 21, 2024

All A-Buzz

 Happy Sunday!

This weekend I worked on the current Art Impressions Blog Challenge All A-Buzz.  For this project I decided to make a tag with a twist.  

I used #5728 - Mushroom Cubbies Stamp set for the images, #5132 - Tag Stitched Dies for the base tag and smaller tags. The fence cut in the middle of the tag is from #5719 - FB Fence Window Set Die.  Flowers are fussy cut from the Mushroom Cubbies set.  The bee “flying”in the middle is the front and back of bee from the same set with a string glued in-between to have it suspended in the air.  

Front of tag


Back of tag


If you enter the challenge you have the potential of winning a free stamp set of your choice!  The challenges push me to try different things and is a lot of fun. You should give it a try. 

Hope you like my project and I appreciate you stopping by for a visit!











Monday, July 8, 2024

Magical Creatures!

 Happy Monday! 

Magical Creatures is the theme for this Art Impressions Bi-Weekly Challenge.  AI has created some of the cutest little fairy stamp sets and I selected one of the older ones to use.  For this challenge I kept it simple and only used one stamp/die set, which is extremely hard for me to do, but this set has a lot of options to work with.

I started on my magical journey using  #5345 - Fairy Cubbies Set.  I really love the Cubbies Sets because the die cuts out the open areas for you.  On this card I didn’t want the treehouse cut out so I used my craft knife to cut out the windows keeping the treehouse intact.  

Behind the windows I put very pale yellow glitter cardstock and had a fairy flying out of the door, one poking her head out of the top window and one sitting inside int downstairs window.  Using my Copics I did all the coloring  and finished it with some pastel glitter cardstock.  

I am finding I don’t photograph glitter very well.  I guess I must keep practicing and would love anyone’s suggestions if you have some.

Thank you for stopping by and hope you have a very crafty week!

Lisa



Thursday, July 4, 2024

Age Gets Better With Wine

Happy 4th of July!   I hope everyone has been enjoying the day.  I have spent the day being crafty.  

Over at the Art Impressions Blog it is Renee’s 13th Anniversary and she is having an Anniversary Giveway. For this card I created an easy card using one of my favorite Girlfriend stamp sets.


I used Art Impressions -Girlfriends  #4383 - Wine Tasters Set and some Spellbinders retired bits and pieces to accent the wine aspect of the card. I also used Art Impressions #5062 - Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies.  All coloring was done with Copic markers.  

If you have time you should stop by the Art Impressions blog and join Renee’s giveaway.  All of there contests are a lot of fun.   

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!  Hope you have a great rest of your week. 

Lisa

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Stars and Stripes

 June kept me busy with my Full of Pockets project and I became a little behind on my bi-weekly challenges.  I am catching up with the Art Impressions Blog - Stars and Stripes Forever Challenge.  This was such a fun challenge and of course the stamp that came to mind was a retired girlfriend’s stamp called Sunny Shades, colored with Copic Markers.


I also used Art Impressions - 5494 Front Porch Patriotic Set for the flag and bucket with fireworks.  The fireworks was done using a stencil from Trinity Stamps City Lights Layering Slimline Stencil Set and Tim Holtz - Oxide Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Lumberjack Plaid, and Prize Ribbon then topped it with Nuvo Glimmer Paste -Moonstone for sparkle.  I also added some grass and a couple stars. 

Thank you for stopping by for a visit!  




Monday, July 1, 2024

Full of Pockets!




I am very excited to have been selected as this month’s guest designer for the June on the Art Impressions Blog.  I started my AI journey at an expo show, many years ago back when they had wound mount stamps.  I have always been drawn to the cute little ladies and ll the girlfriend’s stamps. I would watch with amazement the watercolor demonstrations but never quite mastered them. Work and life caused me to put my crafting obsession to the side for a bit until I moved and now I am closer to AI central!  I have been able to attend some of the amazing in-person warehouse sales, which I do hope they come back. I was also able to attend a crop where the lovely Kendra taught a couple of watercoloring classes, nope still haven’t mastered it but I’m trying 🀣

I do mostly mostly cards and have started doing journals and mixed media type projects as well.  With June’s theme of Pockets, I knew that I must do a journal and because I tend to do things a bit extra, I was afraid of where this project was going to take me. 

When I work on journal, I first create a “sample” journal.  By that I mean a layout of what I have tentatively envisioned, so I don’t waste paper or need to color additional images because I have cut them in the wrong configuration. In a box, I have cut out all of the collection of journal die cutouts on heavy-weight white cardstock. This allows me to create a quick sample using repositionable tape.  I always have the die cuts ready and use them over and over when creating my samples. In this sample, I was going to use the elephant on the front but as I got into the project, I realized the hippo would look better.  All my coloring was done using Copic markers  

I have been so drawn to the Baby Critter Set that I did my journal around it.  The base of the journal is Slim Journal Template.  I used Decorative Journal Page 2 for the second layer on each page.  On the cover, I created a little pocket on the side using Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies and the tab from the Mini Journal Template Die Set.  I originally had just the star from the Baby Critter Set hanging from it but thought it needed a little something more so I added bakers twin in pink/white with the star from the Mini Journal Template Die Set and the heart from the Journal Template Die Set.  

The inside cover has a pocket to hold a little note card.  I used Journal Template Die Set to make the first layer and the pocket. The pocket cut from patterned paper and pink. The pink was cut down so it would just peek out of the pocket as an accent. Two little presents from the Birthday Buggy Set in the mini envelope can be taken out. 

When you open to the center panel there is a cute elephant tag and when you pull him out it shows packages and balloons.  The pocket was created using Journal Cover & Bookmark Dies and cupcake from Mini Journal Birthday Set. 


The pages on either side used Decorative Journal Page Set 1 for layers and Birthday Journal Set to cut out the balloons then colored them with Copics.  For the word Celebrate, I cut one in pink and one in purple then offset the. To make it look a little thicker. 

The sweet little bird pocket has a banner from the Birthday Journal Set and pocket from the Journal Pocket Die Set with a bow from the Journal Template Die Set. The sentiment is from Birthday Sentiments Set.  Nuvo Dream Drops in Fairy Wings accents the side.




The little giraffe pocket holds a gift card and was made using the Journal Cover & Bookmark Dies and Journal Oval Frames.  The last page is the birthday cake from the Birthday Journal Set framed using the Journal Template Die Set.  


Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate it!





Sunday, June 2, 2024

So Many Men ….

 Happy Sunday!

I worked on the latest bi-weekly challenge Art Impressions has going right now All That Glitters Challenge. Who doesn’t love sparkle, I know I do!  For this challenge I continued with my beach theme from last week by using Art Impressions #SC0653 - Beach Babes for the main image and sun (which is popped up) then covered it sparkle!  




I used several additional stamps - Art Impressions #5509 - Beach Accessories for the beach ball, umbrella, and bag. I also used Art Impressions #5120 - WC Palm Tree Set because this beach babe needed some shade to cover that rock on her finger!

The sparkle is glitter on the “sand”, rhinestone for the Diamond ring, glimmer pens for the glasses, ice cubes, bracelet, shoes, and accents on the bag and umbrella.  I also used a Copic Micro Liner .03 in black for the stitching. The dot accents were Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss in Caribbean Ocean.

Everything was colored with Copic markers except the palm tree which was done in Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  

I appreciate you stopping by for a visit!

Lisa



Monday, May 27, 2024

Friends Never Judge…..

 Happy Memorial Day!

This weekend has given me time to work on the Art Impressions blog Anchors Away! Guest Designer Challenge. I went for a beach theme with my favorite Girlfriends group.  


I used my Copics to create the ocean, waves, rocks sky and sand. The birds are from the Art Impressions #5069 - My Fortress Set. I wanted to use only Art impressions dies and stamps and since I didn’t have a sun die I created my own using the pendant die from the Art Impressions #5719 - FB Fence & Window Die and a circle die. Cut out a circle and wrap the pendant shape (I needed to cut out two of the pendants) around the edges of the circle and ta-da…..a quick and easy sun!  

For this card I used Art Impressions #3577 - Girlfriends.  With this set I took the image and cut out one of the girlfriends, sorry girl!!  I also used the “Friends never judge each other…. everyone else, however, is fair game.”  I love the Girlfriends sentiments!!!  

The Girlfriends needed some accessories using Art Impressions #5509 - Beach Accessories.  It is such a cute set.  

Because the inside of the card needs some love too, I included a few of the beach accessories as an accent. 


All coloring was done with Copics and I used Karin Decogel MilkyWay gel pen in white (gel pen ever, I do wish it came in a fine tip too but wishes do come true 🀣). I also used the Sakura Gelly Roll gel pen in stardust. This is great for fine shimmer dots.  




Thank you for stoping by for a visit!


Sunday, May 19, 2024

Another Year Older… No Prob-Llama

 Happy Sunday!

I missed a couple of weeks, this work thing really cuts into my crafty time!  I have a goal of making it a priority to block out time each week, some weeks I do better than others 🀣. 

This week I worked on the Art Impressions blog bi-weekly challenge Just For You Challenge.  What a fun challenge and I choose to make two different items using the Art Impressions #5458 - Llama Set. I love this set. It is super cute and can be so colorful. 


The first one was a tag gift holder.  I started with the Art Impressions #5132 - Tag Stitched Dies as the base of the tag, cutting two in two different shades of turquoise.  One for each side of the tag.  On the front I stamped the package / cake stamp from the Llama set on a white piece of paper then cut it down to fit within the darker shade of turquoise side of the tag.  The llamas were stamped and die cut. The balloons were from the Art Impressions #5491 - Front Porch Party Set.  One the back I used the tag die using purple and cut it in half where the tag started curve. I glued only around the edges so the gift card would fit inside decorating it with cactus from the Llama Set and the celebrate sign from the Front Porch Party Set.  Added some ribbon and sequins and it is ready to go!



The next one is a little gift box that can also hold a gift card.  I love little boxes, they are so much fun to do.  


I started with the La-La Land Crafts #8472 - Suitcase Box Die.  This is one of my favorite gift card box dies.  For the lid I used turquoise with pink on the side. The sides have banners from the Art Impressions #5719 - FB Fence & Window Dies and sequins and the top has an adorable llama from the Llama Set. 



For the base I used purple, and because I tend to be extra, lined in inner walls with turquoise and pink on the bottom.  I also added  the word Celebrate from Art Impressions #5722 - Birthday Journal Set and banners.  


All the coloring was done with Copics and the sequins were Simon Says Stamp - hr0920 Holographic Rainbow Sequins

Thank you for taking the time to stop by for a visit and I hope you have enjoyed my projects!







Sunday, April 28, 2024

If Friends Were Flowers…..

 Happy Sunday,

What a hectic week, work really gets in the way of my crafting passion. I finally finished my card for the Art Impressions Say It With Sentiments Guest Designer Challenge. I love these challenges, they are forcing me to think outside of the box, so to speak. 😁

For this challenge I decided to do a Z-Fold card design, and well, it took on a life of its own. I started pulling out my Art Impressions grouping of supplies and started. I love flowers and I may have gone a bit overboard, but I have been accused of being a bit extra at times πŸ˜‚.   

This is the card a bit stretched out to see at a better angle. This card folds flat for mailing, but because of my extraness, it will require a few extra stamps for mailing.   

The “flower garden” are flower pots holding different floral stems and the bunnies are too cute.  


Since the front of the card is packed with fun, I made a space on the back for a personalized note from the sender with a little flower pot of its own added. All coloring was done with Copic markers.


Products Used:

AI - #5019 WC Wall Texture Set

AI - #5737 Bunny & Chicks Set

AI - #5794 Whimsical Flowers Set

AI - #5831 Rose Set

AI - #5543 Harvest Wheelbarrow Set

AI - #4869 WC Small Container Set

AI - #5561 Birds and Bugs Set

AI - #5785 Gnomes Set

AI - #5511 Floral Truck Set

AI - #5405 Mrs. Set (sentiment)

AI - #5363 WC Arbor Set

AI - #5062 Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies

(I didn’t realize how many sets I used, I guess I was over enthusiastic about my project!)


I appreciate you stopping by for a visit and hope you enjoyed what I created. 


Lisa ❤️

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Wanda and Friends

 Happy Sunday!

This was a great crafty weekend. I was able to participate in a local “Crop for a Cure” event, but on by an amazing group of ladies.  I look forward to this event every year.  My mission for this crop was to work on the latest Art Impressions bi-weekly challenge It’s Raining Cats and Dogs.  







I pulled out some Halloween stamps, I am going to turn Halloween in April a thing, similar to Christmas in July 😁. I used Art Impressions stamp sets #5190 - Fright Night and a retired stamp set, I believe the name it Wanda Witch. I love Wanda, she is very sassy!  I also used 5378 - WC Stone Creek Scene,  and #4967 - WC Fence Die. From La-La Land Crafts I used #8462 - Grass Patch die.

For this card I did a combination of Copic coloring and watercoloring.  I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a palette to do the background and sky scene. The rest was done with Copics.  

There is also sparkle pen and it didn’t photograph well, I’ve learned for the next time.  I really need to figure out this photography thing, I guess that will come with time, at least I hope it will.

I appreciate you stopping by and seeing what I have done.  Hope you have a great week!




Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Spring Color & Create Workshop Weekend

I had an amazing time last weekend participating in La-La Land Craft’s Spring Color & Create Workshop.  It is a fast paced virtual workshop, that is recorded so I can go back and rewatch anytime I want to, which is amazing for me.  


I am a bit on the slow side 😁, unlike many of the other crafty ladies who participated in the event, and I only finished two of the nine cards.  My others are still a “work in progress”, but I wanted to share the two that I did get done. 




The three teachers during the event are amazing artists, Irina Blount (owner of La-La Land Crafts), Martha Tucker (makes amazing mini albums and cards) and  Tamara Potocnik (all her coloring is watercoloring and is stunning).  I have taken several of these virtual workshops and have not been disappointed. 

Sorry for the fuzzy photos, not sure why that keeps happening ☹️. If anyone has suggestions on how to fix it would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you for stopping by ❤️. 

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Girlfriends - Giant Cake Birthday

Hello everyone, I am back with another bi-weekly challenge from Art Impressions.  This is for their Pop It Up! Challenge.  


With Pop It Up in mind, I decided to make an easel card that would fit in a 5x7 envelope with a lot of dimensional elements to it.  The stamp set I chose were Girlfriends stamp 4382 - Giant Cake Set for the main event, 5722 - Birthday Journal Set5793 - Mini Journal Birthday Set and 5455 - Birthday Buggy Set for the embellishment pieces.  



This is the card popped up.  I used double layer mounting foam on the sentiment for a solid base to support the card.  




This is the top of the card, how it looks when you take it out of the envelope. 

I added a layer of shimmer on the layer behind the image.  I used Celebration Layering Stencil from La-La Land Crafts and Nuvo Glimmer Paste in Moonstone, shimmer is always a must!  I also used the glimmer paste as accents on the candles, confetti, and packages to give it a little dimensional sparkle.  I also used my Karin DecoGel MilkyWay pen in white, I really love this pen.  

Copic colors used:
Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y21, Y23, Y30, Y31, Y38
Brown:  E11, E15, E18, E50, E51, E93
Pink:  RV17, RV52, RV55, RV66
Purple:  V91, V93, V95, V99
Blue:  B91, B93, B95, B97
Gray:  C1, C2, C3, C4, W1, W3, W5

I appreciate you stopping by!






Sunday, March 24, 2024

Llama’s Fresh Flowers

 





Since I had so much fun with last weeks Art Impressions challenge card  Color Challenge #373, I decided to do a second card for the same challenge.    The colors for this challenge were navy, light blue, garden green, sunny yellow and a neutral.  I chose shades of gray as my neutral color choice. 

For this card I used #5511 - Floral Truck set as the primary stamp set.  I thought this set was cute until I started using it, then I fell in love, there are so many different ways to use it.  The second set I thought would be perfect to use for my vision was #5458 - Llama set.  These llamas are very fun and I used the small llama as the driver of the truck, isn’t she a cutie! From this stamp set I took the sentiment “Drama Llama Mama” and masked the Drama and Mama words, leaving only Llama to create the “Llama’s” Fresh Flowers sign.  I wrote in the ‘s.   

I used dimensional foam tape to pop up the flowers, side of the truck, butterfly, and llama sign to give it texture. It really added something to the look of it.

Karin Deco Gel pens in milky way white, and metallic silver, gold and red were used to add designs to the flower pots.  I used  Crystal Drops Gloss in Bubblegum Blush, Dandelion Yellow, Berry Blue, Apple Green and Sweet Lilac as a little drop flower filler (say that 10 times fast 😁).  Crystal Drops Metallic in Dirty Bronze was used for the “Llama’s” sign nail.  The coloring was done with Copic markers and since everyone loves a little sparkle, I added some Wink of Stella on the flowers and gray areas of the truck. 

As usual, I used every crayon color in the box, I tend to get a bit carried away🀣… Here is the list of the Copic colors I used:

Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y19

Green: YG01, YG03, YG05, YG09, G40, G43, G46

Blue:  B21, B23, B24, B26, B28, B29, B0000, B000, B01, B02, B04, B06

Pink: R81, R83, R85, RV52, RV55, RV66

Purple:  BV000, BV01, BV02, BV04

Gray:  C0, C1, C3, C5, C7, C9, C10, W0, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9, W10

Llama:  E40, E42, E43, E44, E70, E71, E74, 


I appreciate you stopping by to take a look!




Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Let the Party Begin!


After a long haitus, I have been back creating again as a well needed stress reliever.  
It works in miraculous ways. I was recently on the Art Impressions Blog and have decided to 
rejoin their fun challenges.  When I first started doing them I believe they were monthly, now 
they are bi-monthly to really keep me busy.


The week’s challenge is Color Challenge #373 utilizing navy, light blue, sunny yellow, a soft
 neutral and garden greens.  I choose to use stamp set 5280 - Practically Perfect Girlfriends set and 
5722 - Birthday Journal set for the balloons and banners. My mom loves the Girlfriends stamps 
and is always a request when she sends cards to her friends. 


I used Copics for the coloring and went a bit overboard on the amount of colors, oops πŸ˜‚

  • Greens: G40, G43, G46, G20, G21, G24
  • Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y18
  • Pink:  R81, R83, R85
  • Blue:  B21, B23, B24, B26, B28, B0000, B000
  • Gray:  C0, C2, C4, C6, W4, W6
  • I also used Karin Gel Pen - White.  These are the best white gel pens I have used to date, they also have refills.  

If you enjoy challenges you should check out Art Impressions for some fun ones!