My First Easter Card for 2010

I think you will see more on my blog than usual now. After I got over the initial shock of our beloved fur baby, Cotton, passing away, I am pushing myself to start creating again. It is definitely therapeutic, but I couldn't make myself even get off the couch for a while. I hope I will be able to do a layout of him to frame very soon. Right now, at least I have been able to make some cards. This is the first Easter card I have made this year. I actually felt bad that it wasn't about Christ's resurrection, but I am sure these dancing bunnies are rejoicing over His resurrection, don't ya think? This card fit the criteria for two challenges this week. One is from the Copic Challenge Blog. If the link doesn't work, it is in my sidebar. This week they wanted an Easter card, and you were supposed to use your Copics to color your embellishments. I used my Copics to color in the Prima flower that I used. It was originally solid pink. I didn't realize that Copics would do so well on coloring embellishments - I tried it on ribbon, too (not on this card), and it turned out great. There is a video tutorial on the site if you want some more ideas. I also colored my dancing bunnies with my Copics. The stamp is just so cute, I think. It came from Cowtown stamps, and if you haven't seen their stamps, please have a look. There are so many great stamps and the prices are also great! Btw, I stamped the image and then heat embossed it. I can color better with my markers when the image is slightly raised from embossing (a tip from someone who has trouble staying in the lines! lol).

Down below you can see the closeup of the flower I colored and see where I added a few pink Stickles for some bling. I also posted another picture of the card, because the first one is from a scanner, and the edge of my round embellie was cut off. So I wanted you to see it all!

The other challenge that this card is for is from Stamp Something. The link is also in my sidebar if this link doesn't work. Their challenge this week is a recipe challenge. We had to have dp, buttons and ribbons. In case you can't see my white ribbon, it is from the K & Co. Smitten collection. The solid blue dp is from Basic Grey and the blue dotted paper is from Creative Imaginations. Oh yes, the pink dotted paper is from Best Creation. I inked the edges of everything with Tea Rose Distress Ink. The Happy Easter die cut is from Bo Bunny also. I used Pop Dots on both my die cut and stamped image to give them some dimension. The buttons are from my stash and actually match much better than the pic shows! The blue gemstones are also from my stash.

Hope you like my dancing bunnies card. Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a blessed day!

Our Daily Bread Shining Light Challenge 3

Even though I am not at all happy with the pic of this card, and how washed out it all seems to look, I don't have time to take a photo from another angle. In fact, I didn't have time to fix it with my photo editing software either - which would have helped, I think. So here it is, in spite of my whining, because my deadline is upon me! This is my card for Our Daily Bread's 3rd Shining Light Challenge. This challenge is called "Secret Admirer", because we pick an artist or card we admire and case it. I chose to case the extremely talented Chris Olsen's card using the "You are the Potter" set. I hope you can see her card here, but if not I will come back and fix the link. I have had so many computer issues that I will be lucky to get this in on time. We were supposed to change 2 things. I changed the frame's shape, but I got really close. The big changes were the dp and I don't have a machine to do stitching. Oh yes, I used brown ribbon, but I had the exact lacey (is that lace exactly? lol) ribbon that Chris used by Wrights. Will come back later with more info on how I made the card. Right now, I am just trying to get it in! The link to Our Daily Bread is in my sidebar. I love all of their stamps, but unfortunately this is the only set I have! $$$ is tight right now, so I am hoping to win more of their stamps. : ) They are beautiful AND they glorify our Lord. Can't beat that! Go have a look at all their goodies and all the wonderful talent there also.

More later on how I made my card! Have a blessed day.

Altered Creation - 8 x 8 Family Christmas Mini Album

ALL HEARTS COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

This is an 8 x 8 mini album I made to sell on ETSY. I also made it for the Altered Challenge Group at the Challenge Master's site. However, I didn't get it finished in time for the December Challenge. I made this using my Bind-It-All. The front and back cover are the sturdy Bind-It-All covers. There are 8 inner pages, which are made with thick manila folder pages completely covered with patterned paper. This means there are 10 actual pages for journaling and pictures. With a few exceptions, the format is basically that the left page has room for journaling, and the right page has a place for pictures. I used pp from several companies, but a great deal of it, including the covers, are Websters Pages. I used a lot of Bobunny, also. These are 2 companies I always love. There are Christmas embellishments and words throughout the book, all with a slightly shabby chic look. Obviously, I have added LOTS of ribbon to cover the white O wires.

Here are the first 2 pages:

Next is page 3. The journaling card says "My ten greatest joys.....".

Next is p. 4 on the right hand side. The wreath on the Websters Pages pp makes a natural picture frame:

Here is a closeup view of that page with a fabric sticker saying "sweet" adhered. I love the 2 birdies kissing:

On page 5, I have made 3 circular spots, all with an acrylic overlay. One has lines for journaling. I love the glittery, embossed Bobunny pp:

The next page is p. 6 on the right side. It has a large area with cream colored cs where photos can be placed:

Here is a closeup of the top of the page with a lovely Prima rose:

Next is p. 7. The journaling area is from Teresa Collins:

Page 8 has a large tag which can be used as a photo mat. Some fancy gold tinsel ribbon is tied through the hole punched at the top of the page. Notice lots of the pages have the little snowmen or penquins, just as a little cute embellishment to provide some continuity throughout the book:

Next, we flip to p. 9. This page has a photo mat with a journaling tag tucked down behind it. I punched a hole at the top of the tag and put more tinsel ribbon. I also added white and green pearls. You can write whatever you like on the tag and place it back behind your photo. Santa and his reindeer are part of the Websters Pages pp. The sentiments are fabric stickers:

The last inner page is page 10, which has a large area for photos. At the bottom is a small circle with lines for journaling. Next to this is a little white Christmas flower and the words blessings, believe, and magic. The top of the page (next to the penguin) is a 3D embellishment that says "memories". Their are bells on transparency type paper at the top of this page and this type of embellishment is also found throughout the whole book:

Finally, we come to the back cover. It is covered with Websters Pages pp., a diecut from Bobunny and a circle definition from Making Memories. Also a border element from Websters also:

Hope you enjoyed looking at my mini album. It is for sale! I just have to get it on ETSY, and I thought I would try selling on some of the other Handmade sites this time. I figure lots of us will be getting our holiday photos about now, so lots of people will be in the market for a Christmas mini album. If anyone is interested in seeing any other close ups of any of the pages, please let me know! Thanks, and have a blessed week!

Cocoa Mouse with Some of My Fav Doily Hearts

With Valentine's Day drawing near (Yes, it is drawing near!), I made a card using one of Sweet n' Sassy Stamps' digi stamps - Cocoa, Be Mine. I love Sweet n' Sassy Stamps, and now I have tried some of their digis. I love them, too. This weekend was their Digi Day Challenge at SNR Card Universe (link in my sidebar). Our creation was supposed to use pink and red, and this is what I came up with. Since the challenge at A Spoonful of Sugar (link also in my sidebar) was to use hearts, even though Cocoa already had a heart in his cute little envelope, I added a couple of more lace doily hearts. I always loved those when I was a little girl, and I still do. The pp I used was from Creative Imaginations, and I colored my cute little image with Copics.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

My Christmas Tissue Box Cover with Tutorial

This week I made something I have been

planning on making for a MONTH, but I keep

putting it off. I made a cover for a box of tissue.

I know you can buy the ceramic kind in all the

home stores, but I wanted to make one out

of paper.

What I actually did was take the original box and

cover it with pp and embellishments. However, I

wanted to make something I could use over and

over. I was actually thinking about making

something that I could sell on ETSY or at some

of the local shops that sell homemade items.

So, I knew I had to make it so that it could be

opened when it ran out. Then when you buy a

new box of tissue, you simply open it, pull out the

tissue and put it in the lovely decorated box!

So, to begin, I took my first box of tissues, and

I carefully slid my thumb under one side to lift up

without ripping it, as in the first pic. The 2nd and

3rd pics simply show how the tissue looks as you

carefully (I keep saying that for a reason! If you

rip it, you will have to start all over!) open the side

all the way.

I then adhered pp from Reminisce on each

side of the box. Two of the sides are the same,

with the candy cane pp and a pre-tied bow on

opposite sides of the box. The two other

opposing sides have the Christmas tree pp.

One of these sides has the ornament that was cut out of pp which was in my stash. (This is the photo at the top of this post.) I have it adhered with pop dots, and it is adhered to the very Christmasy red ribbon with pearls that also runs along the top. (I just think it is so pretty!) Obviously I also added a snowflake (by K & Co.), and a little snowman embellishment with a circle punched piece of white glittered pp under it to help it stand out. I measured a square of the glittery pp to fit the top and used my circle cutter to cut out a hole in the middle to pull out the tissue. I added several red jewels of various sizes for some extra bling! My favorite side is the one with JOY on it. I adhered the red glittered chipboard letters to punched out circles of the white glittered pp, and then adhered them to the side that I had made into a flap to open and close. I added another bit of the ribbon across the top of this side also.

That's it! These are going to two blog challenges this week. Allsorts Challenge (Week 32)

wants to see anything but a card, and Practical Scrappers wants to see anything Christmas

one more time. (The links to both of these are in my sidebar.) I think this fits the bill for both!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Have a Beary Merry Christmas!

Wanted to show you a card I made using the adorable image given to us by Digital Delights by Louby Lou. The image is called "Christmas Bells Charlie", and we were lucky enough to get him as a freebie to use in their digi challenge at SNR's Card Universe. I didn't do the challenge, which was to make a tag or ornament, but I wanted to use this cute bear, so I made a card for the challenge this week at Practical Scrappers (the links to both of these sites are in my sidebar - you should definitely have a look!). Anyway, Practical Scrappers wants us to make anything to do with Christmas, so here is my card. Btw, I colored Charlie with copics, intentionally making the brown not smooth, so it would look more like fur. The green pp is from Creative Imaginations, and the pretty Christmas tree pp is from Reminisce. So here is my card:

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!