3.26.2016

Card Fever

Good Morning!
FUNNY STORY:  Last weekend, I was looking through some of my older cards that I created some time ago. I started to set aside a few cards I wanted to duplicate. I choose a few that had a bunch of distress inks on it, and I just purchased a few new colors and wanted to see if I could duplicate the same look with a few new colors.

Several hours later, I had created close to 15 different card backgrounds and they all looked FABULOUS! I was loving ALL of them! (don't you love it when that happens?) I began to think that I could produce and complete all these cards in one weekend, what an accomplishment that would be to brag on my blog!

Just as I began assembling my cards, I RAN OUT OF ATG tape! Can you believe it? I order tape 12 rolls at a time. I guess I did not realize how low I had gotten. I had to stop my assembling, and go online and order more rolls. GEEZ!

Needless to say, I found a great deal on EBAY, I placed an offer for 4 dollars less than their advertised price, free shipping to boot....and they accepted my offer. It was mailed out of Miami (I'm north of Tampa) and it was here in 4 days.

This weekend, I had Friday off of work, and I assembled all 15 cards beautifully. I am very pleased with the fresh look of these cards. What, you want to see them? Oh good. Here are just a handful. Take a look:



 The twine I used was not matching the color of the distress inks used, so I dyed the twine! that was new to me. It looks great! On the right card, I attempted to use sequins. They were bigger than I wanted, and not quite the right color. I am not that thrilled with the look. I tried to cover a few ink blotches. *he he*
 Many of the other ones look VERY close to these, so I didn't want to post all of them. I had TOO much fun creating these. I even gave a few away as gifts already. Thanks for stopping by. More coming!

3.17.2016

More Inspiration from others...

Good Morning, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to ya!
     I have owned the Cricut Expression Electronic cutter for a long time and I know my machine inside and out. I believe I have maximized its potential in every way I can think of. I hesitated for years after its release to purchase, because I DISLIKE cartridges. I didn't want to be limited like that, and the cartridges were/still are SO expensive and I would only use one or two items from each cartridge. Eventually I purchased my Expression like new on Craig's list only after learning about and purchasing the Sure-Cuts-Alot-2 software. (before the whole mess began with provo-craft) Perfect! A way out of depending on cartridges!
     This week, I stumbled onto the Cricut Explore, and again, it is not new, its been around for a while. I tried out and determined I disliked the Cricut Craftroom software, and thought that this new line of cutters worked with something similar. In my mind, they most likely changed the name to Design Space. (money trap -  so I thought)
     What intrigued me was the Print & Cut feature that came along with it. I thought that would be really handy with my digital stamp collection I have been building slowly over the years. Instead of investing in all the die cuts that match all the stamps, I could use my Cricut to cut them out. How cool would that be? (I DETEST fussy cutting) Bingo! What a great solution! And I don't have to PAY to use the software with my own images! (Thank you cricut for getting on board!)
     So, like before, I searched Craig's list to see what I could find. I found a BRAND NEW Explore being sold for significantly less than the stores. I got so excited, ran to Tampa and scooped it! -it was purple too- (ahhh...heart melting) It was meant to be.
     OK, onto today's creations. I saw these two cards: CARD #1 and CARD #2.
And using my new purchase! Here are my creations from these inspiration.


Card #1 - I used distress inks to SMOOSH and SMOOSH and SMOOSH ink onto the background. I used my heat gun in between to get the look I wanted. The plants I grabbed from my Insightful Meadows from Unity stamps set. and the sentiment was I think from Hero arts. I simply outlined it in black pen.

Card#2 -  I loved the look I got when I attempted the faux mother-of-pearl technique on this card. I created a bigger panel with more distress inks and blended them heavily. Then cut them apart with my Simon Says stitched squares dies. and glued them to a white piece of cardstock and attached the Thanks.

The words "Thanks" were cut using my Explore! I cut THANKS several times, and layered & glued them together. I don't have a Thanks die cut. The Explore is very easy and fast. I think the design space is very limited compared to SCAL2, but is provides beginners with simple tools. I think I will continue to use SCAL2 and then import my SVG's into Cricut Design Space. Maybe with that said, I could/should upgrade to SCAL4?! There is a thought!

3.13.2016

HLS March CAS Challenge


Hello again,

I am not sure how I missed this awesome technique. It is called the Faux Mother of Pearl look. Unfortunately, I don't own any pearl acrylic paint or liquid pearls as the true technique calls for, so I improvised with what I had. I had white embossing paste that I have only used a handful of times. So I thought "why not?" If it doesn't work, it doesn't work"


I have to say, I love the look, although I am not sure it is a true "faux mother of pearl" (if there is such a thing...lol)   This card was very hard for me, I do not do well with lots of white space! I am just so glad to be on spring break, and have enough energy to create Enjoy!