Simple Silhouette Images

This month's Friday Try-Day cards featured several varied techniques, as usual, and I'll start with this trendy look of using a detailed stamp, and blocking it out to make it a silhouette.

We started by punching a sticky note "sun" and deciding where we wanted our horizon to be.  

Sketch in a very light line with a permanent pen.

Using a stencil brush and yellow ink, brush back and forth to add the yellow layer all the way across the card.  Place the sun mask along the horizon in desired position.

Now begin brushing in layers of orange, pink, and purple for the sky.

Add blues and greens for for the water.

Stamp the bird, tree and grasses.  

Color in all open areas with a marker, creating the silhouettes, extending any areas to edges as necessary..

Use a fine line pen to add water movement lines. 

Add your sentiment of choice to the water area.  

This technique works best as a card front layer, as the marker will bleed through the cardstock. 

Mat and add to folded card for finished card ready for presentation. 

This works very well with all sorts of stamped images, including ones that didn't give a good impression the first time, and can be saved this way!  

I hope you enjoyed one of our Friday Try-Day projects, and will give it a TRY yourself!

See you again soon with more ..........

Happy crafting ~

Yudu Cardmaker Projects

Who can resist a great sale?  I found a super sale on the Yudu silk screen CardMaker, and have been having a lot of fun working on some cool projects.

With silk screen you get crisp, clean images with extraordinary detail.

The Cardmaker offers pre-burned screens with images and sentiments.  

You squeegee ink over the screen, making as many copies of the image as you want. 

This image was screened with a mask, allowing use of both pink and chocolate inks.

It can be used on lots of different surfaces, like this soft pink cotton.

This baby onesie needs a bit of heat setting with an iron,

 and the image is permanent!

Check out Provo Craft for the Yudu Cardmaker for lots of versatile printing fun.

More later ...............

Happy crafting !

Friday Try-Day Cards and Projects

Last month our Friday Try-Day project was a Card Box ensemble to hold cards for all occasions.

It is nice to have an organized place for all of the cards we create as we are learning all of the new techniques we try out, and those great designs we CASE from Pinterest!  LOL

Today I am sharing one of our Friday Try-Day cards from April, which was waiting in the box for a time, sadly, when it would be needed to cheer someone in need.

"Just a Little Prayer"

The inside sentiment says "That God will keep you in His care".

That seems appropriate for the 

I FEEL THE LOVE PROJECT for this month.

This blog, and the work they do is very precious to me. 

Madison, the teenage founder of this Non-profit organization is a talented

young woman with a giant heart.  Since she was 16 years old she has chosen a different family

 each month that could benefit

 from receiving handmade cards. 

This month's story is of a 6 month old angel named 

Baby Mason

who was born with special needs,

and then tragically died at the hands of a drunk driver. 

My card will be delivered to his grieving parents.

I hope you will take a moment to check out this website, and 

perhaps join in sending a card...

There is a new mission every month.  

The lace stamp set as well as the sentiments are available from Close To My Heart.

The lace was heat embossed in white onto pale gray cardstock,

then distressed with Sapphire Blue ink over the top.  Use a paper towel

to buff the image and bring the white back to brilliance.

The butterfly was cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, also from CTMH. 

The pearl brads are from Making Memories.

Mat with black, and mount on a blue card.

Line with another gray insert with the sentiment stamped in blue.

I hope you are inspired to do something creative today.

Happy crafting ~

Mighty Mini Album - New Edition

Occasionally we come across a design that is so much fun that we want to make it over and over, and this album seems to be it for me!  Last year I introduced this Mighty Mega Mini Album to you in three other designs, A Beautiful Baby (Graphic 45's Little Darling paper), a Spooky Halloween, here... and  in an elegant Black and White Romantic version.  This handy 5.5 x 6.5 size is perfect for seasonal or special occasion events, and is ideal for working with one pack of paper, such as this one from Stampin' Up. 

A friend asked me to make one for a graduation gift in purples and blues.

Add some butterflies from K and Co., Texture from a Darice embossing Folder...

Lots of interest and space for photos and journaling in easy to assemble stacked pockets...

Movement and form create lots of fun!

Totally tags! 

More pockets, pearls and plenty of picture places!

Six easy to assemble pages in a very versatile book....

That give you the opportunity to make it to suit any desired look...

What is your next event?  

Wedding?

Tropical Vacation?

Graduation?

Baby?

I'm sure you will see me showing it again one of these days soon :)

The 13 page, photo laden tutorial for this album is available on the right side of this blog, and there is an archived class on my UStream channel showing how I made one!  Download it, and you can refer to it as desired.

I know you haven't seen much of me lately, but I have been a busy bee!  There are a couple of new tutorials coming along very soon, and I've been having some great classes locally.  I will try to get more of the goodies on here to share with you!

Happy crafting!

Springtime in Paris

Ah, is there anything more romantic than thinking of Springtime in Paris?  I hope the flowers are blooming, and the fountains are flowing ..... well, at least they are here!

I started with an Inner Stair Step Card (4.25 x 5.5) ,

paper by Authentique, Seasons: Spring

and Hero Arts stamps

Two different Martha Stewart Punches added the layers in front.

The Deco Fan punch created the shimmery fountain

and the Tulip Garden punch added another layer of flowers 

The Boujour plates are cut from  Art Philosophy Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge 

Add two flying butterflies on tiny strips of acetate

fly around the beautiful image of the Eiffel Tower

which has been accented with soft green and blue chalks.

Martha's branch punch is the perfect base for tiny star and circle punch flowers

along the front of the fountain and at the edges of the sentiment.

Add tiny spots of liquid pearls for flower centers.

Au revoir, mes amis!  Until we craft together again!

Happy Spring!

Are you ready to chase "Old Man Winter" out?  How about sending some cheerful, springy tulip cards with gingham or polka dot bunnies to usher in the warmth?  "Cards By The Yard" are ones that are such fun to make in multiples, and I bring you these today that will be perfect for welcoming Spring!

 I am using standard A2 size bases, Art Philosophy cartridge by Close to My Heart for the frame and tag, and Martha Stewart punches for the flowers and butterflies.  The bunny is my design from last year's Decor Bunny Project shrunk down to 1 1/2 inches.

Enjoy the video on making them!

Happy crafting, and I'll see you again soon!

Journaling Jigglers

How did you get your name?  Are you named for someone in the family, friend, etc.  Do/did you have a nickname?

Describe a childhood birthday.  Do you have pictures?

If you could meet one person in the world, who would it be?  Why?

Yesterday, it was my pleasure to present a program on Preserving Our Family Stories in Venice, Florida.   As part of this presentation we discussed journals, and their uses in telling our personal stories, starting family conversations, and as triggers for successful interviews with our ancestors.  I have prepared a list of 50 such thought provoking prompts.  If you would like to download them, the link for JOURNALING JIGGLERS is HERE.   I hope they will help you get started telling YOUR story!

PS  Many thanks to those who were there and helped me!  I fell ill, and they jumped right in and took over.  Off to the doctor again tomorrow.

Happy creating to all!

Roses and Lace

Nothing is as feminine as beautiful lace and gorgeous roses.  I am delighted to share both with you tonight.  This is a card I have made for a special friend, and it features a new die I have from Heartfelt Creations.

The roses are handmade from punches and Cricut cuts, with a delightful new twist.  Watch for a YouTube video coming soon!

I hope you will be joining me for my UStream class tonight.

Happy crafting,

Mustaches and Vellum

It's Valentine Week, and I hope you are enjoying time with loved ones in your life.
This is a CAS card that I did for my 4 year old grandson, along with about 50 mustaches
for his friends!

The mustaches have a hole in the center for sliding up over a lollipop and Mommy can use my 

word program for making tags for all of his Valentines.  

He is one very excited little fellow!  His little sister looks adorable in her 'stache, too!

I was at StampFest this past weekend, and it seems that Vellum is making a big comeback... 

as if it ever really went anywhere!  But there were lots of vendors using vellum in their projects.

Join me Tuesday evening at 8:00 for my UStream class, and 

we'll take a look at several card projects, including this beauty above.  

Just click on the blue icon in the upper right corner and it will take you there.

Looking forward to streaming with you!

Note about ATG Tape!

I have a new shipment arriving any day now. 

Get your orders in right away.  

There is going to be a new price soon, and you 

want to stock up before it changes!!!

Get 'em while you can, and I haven't changed my postage prices, yet,

but I will very soon, so if you get there before I do, lucky you!

Happy crafting ~

Monochromatic Cards with Embroidery

Monochromatic cards are done with all one color papers and trims.

This time I have added a beautiful piece of embroidered embellishment

(made for me by a special friend on her embroidery machine)

which adds a delightful pop of surprise color.

Here is the cream colored version!

I hope you have enjoyed today's projects!

I'll be back again soon.

Happy crafting ~

Live from CHA

Join me as I chat with Kathy Files and friends live from our hotel room at CHA!
We will be streaming at 10:00 eastern time... simulcast and ready to bring you all of the fun so far!

My Tablet Cover

Tonight's class was lots of fun, and I want to thank all of you who were there!  It was great to be with so many of you again, however there were some issues with the broadcast, and the very end of class was frozen.

Here is the completed Tablet Cover project!

                                                   This is the cover, with the elastic closure.

                                             Inside, with the elastic straps, and holding tray.

                                                                        The back cover.

I hope you enjoyed the project, and if you missed it, the class was recorded, and you can check it out on my UStream channel.  See you next Tuesday night at 8:00!

Happy creating ~

E-Reader and Table Covers

Happy New Year everyone!  I am excited to be back with you on UStream, and tonight's class will be making covers for E-Readers and tablets in your favorite papers.  I hope you will be able to join in.  Just click on the icon in the upper right corner at 8:00 eastern time, and join the fun.  If you can't be there in person, the class will be recorded for a few weeks.

Wishing you a very happy, crafty year.

Vinyl Tiles

One of my favorite mediums is vinyl.  I am having a VINYL PARTY on Tuesday, and we are making lots of tiles for gifts.  It is easy to create lots of customize-able goodies with vinyl and your die cutting machine. 

 Adjust the cutting depth so that you "Kiss Cut" the vinyl, cutting only the vinyl and not the backing paper, weed out the unwanted parts, then use transfer paper or masking tape to move your project from the backing paper to the project.  Easy! 

Here are samples of the designs we are making.  You have seen the Wise Men Still Seek Him tile before :)

LOL  Blogger and I must have wanted you to know that I really like the black and pink one about laughing - it's a girl thing!  I have a couple more that we will be doing.  If you are in the area and want to join in, just send me an email, and I'll send you the specifics!  If not, I hope you will get some vinyl, a few tiles, and have fun :)

Bee creative~