Winter Scene with Owl

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday team has another challenge for you this week, and this time the optional twist - or theme - is shades of blue. For me the obvious choice was to go with a winter scene. You can find Kimberly's sweet owl over at Oak Pond, our sponsor for the month of November:
"I've been an artist since the day I was born I just never knew it. As a child I always loved arts and crafts but as an adult I let real life take over and forgot about the important things like scissors, paper and glue. I dabbled in jewelry making for a while then my friend Jeni introduced me to papercrafting in 2011 and later that year I started sketching my own greeting card images. In April of 2012 I opened Oak Pond Creations Digital Illustration Studio on Etsy. I hope my images provide inspiration and smiles. Hugs and happy crafting!"

I paper pieced the owl's hat and shoes, and I added lots of glitter to the fur trimmings of the hat. The eyes and little bells on the shoes got a treatment of Glossy accent. For the background I used a DP with snowflakes from Bo Bunny. To make the snowy trees and ground I used a die from Marianne and white paper. I used a punch to make the snowflakes, and each one's got a pearl in the center. The card base has been made with  Go Kreate dies, and I used the largest die and a smaller one to make the frame around the scene.

 

This card is also for these challenges:
1) Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - Blue & White
2) Digi Sketch Challenge - Sketch and/or Paper Piecing (T)
3) The Crazy Challenge - Snowy winter
4) Whoopsi Daisy - Things with Wings
5) Come and Get It Challenges - Anything Goes with a digi
6) Glitter n Sparkle - #60 Show Us Some Snow
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Male Card with No Images and No DPs

This card has no images and no DPs.
I've stamped the background with a stamp with script from Kort&Godt, using brown ink on kraft paper.
The birthday sentiment, also from Kort&Godt, is heat embossed with black. The banner is handcut.
For decoration I've used a chevron border sticker, corrugated paper sprinkled with Frantage, burlap, twine and a button. I've used Walnut Distress Ink on the edges.

Thanks for visiting and I love to hear your feedback:)

This card is for these challenges:
1) Addicted to Stamps Challenge - #70 Embossing (heat embossed sentiment)
2) Here Come the Boys - #65 Sentiments only
3) Cards For Men - #24 Anything Goes
4) Incy Wincy Designs - For the Men in your Life
5) Love to Scrap - Boyz Rule
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes
7) Delicious Doodles - # 63 No Designer Paper

Vintage Bag, Tag and Card

It's been almost a year since I last decorated a bag, and I very seldom make tags. I had already made the card when I saw the 3 piece gift set theme and I thought I'd make a matching tag and bag too.
What these projects have in common: beige and brown color scheme, kraft paper, DPs from Maja Designs, punched snowflakes and the use of Frantage and Walnut Distress Ink.

The card:
The image is part of a set of stamps from Kort&Godt. I stamped with brown ink and added clear embossing powder. The heart is cut out of corrugated paper and sprinkled with Frantage. I used a stamp to make the sentiment which translates "Christmas mail". I machine stitched with white thread around the edges and distressed the edges.

The bag:
The sentiment is part of the same set as the angel used for the card. It translates "Warm Christmas Wishes". I handcut the banner. The die cut corners are made with a Spellbinders die. The small tags are made with a stamp from LOTV, the words "to" and "from" came with a free stamp set with a magazine. I added twine and seam binding ribbon, as well as a white roses ribbon from Panduro.

The tag:
The angel image is heat embossed and placed on top of a piece of burlap. I attached the smaller tags with a star brad. The rest of the materials as indicated above.

This is for these challenges;
1) Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - #43 Make a 3 piece gift set
2) Crafty Catz - #208 - Tags & Bags
3) Crafty Calendar - All things Christmas
4) A Creative Romance - Vintage Style
5) Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - #151 Glitter and Sparkle
6) Pile It On - #47 Nontraditional Christmas
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Two Cards - Same Design

I'm guest designing over at Inkspirational where the theme for this fortnight is "Anything Goes". I wanted to do something I haven't done before and what I love to see in others blog posts - to use the same design and materials, but creating different looks by changing colors and DPs.
My cards have the same layout, the same stamped image - a bunny from Lily of the Valley - the same oval dies have been used to make the panels for the Christmas sentiment (in Norwegian). The bunnies have been fussy cut and popped on foam.

I started making the card in black and grey, being inspired by the combination of spots and lines and untraditional Christmas colors. The bunny has a paper pieced pyjamas. This DP and the one used for the top panel are from Authentique, the one with spots is from Echo Park. The sentiment is heat embossed in black and is placed onto a piece of die cut silver glitter paper.
For my second card I colored the whole image and chose traditional red and white and a little bit of brown. The DP on top is covered with Christmas sentiments in Norwegian, the bottom one is covered with poinsettias - this DP is from Pion.

I really enjoyed making these two cards and I'm pleased with my first attempt of making 2 cards with the same design. I think they turned out quite different. I think my favorite one is the black and grey one, but hubby's favorite is the traditional one. Which one's your favorite? I'd love to hear your feedback!


These cards are also for these challenges:
1) Charisma Cardz - Christmas
2) Twisted Tuesday - Pop Dots and Polka Dots
3) Crafty Cardmakers - Paper Piecing (grey pyjamas)
4) Stampin' For The Weekend - Feeling Festive
5) Sparkles Forum Challenges - Animals
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

 

Ssssending you happinessss

It's Thursday and we've got a new challenge for you over at The Outlawz Twisted Thursday. This week's twist - or theme - is to make something with animals or animal prints.  I'm not sure whether snakes are classified as animals or not, but I loved this image from our November sponsor, Oak Pond Creations, and I so wanted to use it. Our twist is always optional, but the use of the twist will earn you an additional chance in the prize draw.

I love these three snakes, they're so cute! I colored them using Promarkers and added the image onto a panel of kraft. I chose papers from Echo Park and Graphic45. I had planned to decorate my card differently and adding a sentiment at the bottom part, but I had a little mishap that resulted in a smear, which I had to cover up with the circle with the sentiment. I've used a stamp from Lily of the Valley - I've got lots of different ones to choose from but decided on "sending you happiness". I've got plenty of ribbons in my stash and don't use them nearly often enough, so I added a bow made of black ribbon for this card. I did try out with pearls and gems in the corners, but decided against it to keep this card "unisex."




This card is also for these challenges:
1) Sweet Stamps - #144 Anything Goes
2) Doodle Pantry - Any Digi Goes
3) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

CAS Hearts and Key

The theme over at LIM is to use DPs for a CAS card. Dream Valley also has a CAS theme, and Dynamic Duos has the color combination of black and light grey. So I thought I'd try and combine these 3 challenges.
I've used 2 DPs from Authentique, hearts dies from X-Cut and a key die from Marianne.
The sentiment is from Dylusions. I cut it up to able to spread out the words the way I wanted.
The hearts are mounted on foam.
Not much more to say really, the card came together quickly. I have no idea for what occasion to use this card (do you have any suggestions?), but I enjoyed making it. Thanks for stopping by:)

This card is for these challenges:
1) Less Is More - #146 Use DP in a CAS Way
2) Dynamic Duos - #79 Color
3) Dream Valley Challenges - #70 CAS
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

A5 Card with Footballer

I'm in the mood for Christmas, but the challenge over at Shopping Our Stash was to use something already out on your desk, and this image has been lying there, all colored up and ready for some weeks now. Also with my younger sister having 2 boys, aged 6 and 4, she's in constant need of birthday cards for little boys. With the oldest one now at school and the youngest in kindergarten they seem to be invited to a birthday party every other weekend! So I felt I had an excuse for getting this sweet little footballer from LOTV not too long back ago.

I used DPs from Graphic45. I heat embossed the birthday sentiment and added a piece of yellow twine and a die cut cloud. I also decorated the inside with leftovers from the front. I always try and stretch my stash by cutting out parts that would be hidden behind panels, and I often use these parts to decorate the inside. It's also a way of keeping the card from being heavier than necessary.


This card is for these challenges:
1) Shopping Our Stash - #127 Use something already out on your desk
2) Send a Smile for Kids - Anything Goes for Kids
3) Wags 'n Whiskers - #117 Cards for Kids
4) Everybody-Art-Challenge - #253 Card For A Boy
5) Make it Monday - #167 Anything Goes

Shaped card with a Frog

For The Outlawz Twisted Thursday I've got a shaped male card to show you as this week's twist - or theme - is to make anything but a square or rectangle shaped card! I chose to play with my set of Go Kreate dies to make the card base.

This fun frog lives over at Oak Pond Creations, our sponsor for the month of November. I made it rather large so it would cover the whole card front. I colored it with green and brown Promarkers and I added quite a large amount of Glossy accent to its eyes. I'm definitely going to use this image for many more cards - I just love this frog's facial expression and body language.
The sentiment is made with Dienamics letter dies and sentiment stickers. I chose DP with colors to match those of my image and sentiment.


This card is also for these challenges:
1) Seize The Birthday - Anything Birthday
2) Digi Sketch Challenge - Animals (Theme)
3) Cards Galore Encore - Animals
4) Natalie and Amy's Challenge - For the Boys
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Birthday Card for a Boy with no Die Cuts or Embellishments

This is one of the rare cards where no tools have been used and no embellishments have been added! No embossing folders, no embossing powder either. The only things I've used are a cutting board, DPs, stamps and Promarkers.

I hand cut the banners to use some up some of those narrow strips of paper that always seem to be left after making cards. I mounted them onto a red DP with stars and a panel of kraft. I attached this onto a square of white paper. All DPs are from Carta Bella.

I love this image from Lily of the Valley - I'm sure I'm going to use this boy for some Christmas designs too. I stamped a birthday greeting with black ink.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Hiding in my Craft Room - #123 Super Scraps
2) Pattie's Creations - #79 Birthdays
3) Seize The Birthday - Anything Birthday
4) Crafty Sentiment Designs - For The Guys
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

White on White Christmas Window

I've been joining the challenges over at Inkspirational almost from the beginning, and I've only missed joining while being away on holidays. So I was thrilled when Marina asked me to join as a  Guest Designer. I will be joining the team for 3 challenges - this being the first one.

The challenge this fortnight is to make a White on White card.

I made my card using a brick wall embossing folder and 3 different dies. The window is made with a Tim Holtz Sizzix die, the holly leaves die is from Memory Box  and the Christmas tree die came free with a magazine. I added some white pearls to the holly leaves and I popped the window on foam and also used acetate for the window glass.

I would also like to enter this card into these challenges:
1) Make it Monday - Anything Goes
2) Christmas Card Challenges - #49 Dimension

Sunflowers and Colors of Fall

We've got a new challenge for you over at The Outlawz Thursday Twist! This week's optional twist is to make something with fall colors.  I chose to use a sunflower image from Oak Pond Creations, our sponsor for the month of November. I colored the image using Promarkers. The orange DP with spots came free with a magazine. I machine stitched around the edges using brown thread. The banner is hand cut and I embossed it using a Sizzix embossing folder with spots. I added some orange and brown bling to the flowers and to two of the corners.

This card is also for these challenges:
1) Make My Monday - Autumn Flowers
2) Sweet Stamps - #142 Nature
3) Crafty Boots - Autumn
4) Crafty Creations - #247 Autumn colors
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Black, Bird and Bling

I wanted to make a card for Inkspirational where the theme is to take inspiration from a photo of a wreath. I had planned to make a card with white snowflakes against a kraft background, but I changed my mind seeing this week's theme over at LIM.
I've used a snowflake punch on metal tape. I tried out different birds and embellishments but settled with a fussy cut bird, stamped and heat embossed with black powder on a piece of scrap paper, and different sized bling, each attached to the center of a snowflake. To make my card less plain I attached the circle of snowflakes onto a piece of paper with embossed spots.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #42 Photo
2) Less Is More - #144 Color
3) Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - #149 Bling it up
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Christmas Bunny

I thought I had more Christmas cards made than what seems to be the case, so you'll see plenty of Christmas cards on my blog from now on...
This sweet bunny is a stamp from Lily of the Valley. I colored it with Promarkers and attached it to a scalloped die cut circle. The circle and die cut holly leaves have been cut out of kraft, I then covered them with Fran-tage. I added some light blue pearls, tied a bow of light blue seam binding ribbon onto which I attached a stamped tag with a Christmas sentiment (also from LOTV).
The DP with snowflakes came free with a magazine. I slightly distressed the edges and attached it to a background DP from  Carta Bella.  I used Walnut Distress Ink on the edges of the kraft card base and the bottom DP.
The layout is inspired by the sketch over at Crafts 4 Eternity.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - #148 Sketch
2) Christmas Cards All Year 'Round - Winter Theme
3) The Crafting Cafe - Winter Blues
4) The Squirrel & the Fox - #56 Animal Antics
6) 2 Sisters - #168 Christmas with no Red or Green
7) A Gem of a Challenge - #104 Christmas is Coming
8) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Red and Gold Circle Shaped Card

Our challenge over at The Outlawz Twisted Thursday this week is to make a circle shaped card.
We've got TWO great sponsors for the month of October - Anne's Digital Art AND 2 Cute Ink.  

I made a Christmas card with an image from Lily of the Valley. I colored it with Promarkers, added glitter glue to the ground and liquid pearls to the flower. 
The scalloped circles are cut out of gold metal plates, and I decorated the upper one with gold bling. I used Fran-tage on the cream circle and gold embossing powder on the kraft card base. 
The die cut hollies are made with my new MB dies. I used kraft paper, added Fran-tage to make it look like they've got snow on them.



This card is also for these challenges:
1) Creative Card Crew - #48 Teddy Bears
2) Jingle Belles - not a CREATURE was Stirring..
3) My Heart Pieces Digital Stamps Challenge - Anything Christmas
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes