Not Quite Christmas in July!

This is my last batch of cards I made for an earlier submission.  And, what seems like, the last time I had the opportunity to make some art too.  Between the end of school and all the subsequent activities and everything else, I haven't had any time to create.  (* sigh *)  Hopefully, I'll have some time here soon though.

These particular cards were made for a holiday edition.  You were supposed to use non-holiday products to create Christmas cards -- but you were allowed to use one holiday sentiment if you wanted.  I actually thought it was a lot of fun, trying to look at our stamps with a different eye and making holiday cards.

This first card was using the Fabulous You set, making the bird a Christmas-red cardinal and using traditional Christmas colors.



This next card is using the Distressed Backgrounds set, with some trendy colors and a more contemporary feel.



Then I was playing around with the Love Doily set, trying to see if I could make a poinsetta-like flower with the doily.  My first attempt was using darker colors with Kraft cardstock.  I even cut out a few leaves with the doily to finish the flower.



I then tried it again, using brighter more vibrant colors.



I love the cute Owls set, so I definitely wanted to try to see if I could turn a card I already created into a holiday card.  I changed out the colors and added a Santa hat, and I love how it turned out.



Since I was liking those colors so much, I pretty much used them again with a few changes.  This one was clean and simple, with a fancy sentiment creating the holiday card.  The large flourish was from the Swirls Around set. 



Then I thought it would be fun to use what would definitely not be normal Christmas colors.  I used the cute little Hello Blooms set, thinking that the musical flower may help lend to a holiday song.



And the last card I created was using the Honeycomb set, I went back to a traditional Christmas color scheme.  I was so happy with how this card came together, this set is so easy to use as a background for most anything.



How do you think I did?  None of the cards were selected for publication, but I loved how they all turned out.  I need to work on some thank you cards here next, if I ever get a chance to create again, that is.  :-)

Dani
 

More Call Out Cards: Stencils, Sketch, Stitches & Ampersands

Here are some more cards that I made for some of the recent Paper Craft call-outs that didn't make it.  I've been having a lot of fun with some of these.  The first couple of cards are using stencils:





Then I made a couple of cards to the sketch that they had provided in their September call-out:







I loved the stitching call out; I made a few cards to submit for that as well.  I always love how hand stitching looks, but it can be a bit time consuming at times.







And my favorite ones are the cards made with an ampersand as a focal point! Something that cracked me up with this call out, is that my kids had no idea what an ampersand was!  Yes, they knew that the symbol represented 'and' -- but they had no idea the symbol had a name itself.  :-)







I was really enjoying coming up with sentiments with 'and' in it.  I thought it was a great idea for cards. I can't wait to see the ones in the issue.  :-)

Dani

 

April's Stamp of the Month set: Balloon Talk and the Fox call out cards!

April's stamp of the month set, Balloon Talk, is so much fun -- filled with awesome little speech bubbles and messages.  With 24 stamps in the set, the possibilities are endless!  I had a lot of fun with this set with the fox call out a while back for Paper Crafts with the Wild About Love set.  

First, I made a cute little mini set of 3"x3" cards and a coordinating card holder.  The card holder was cut using the Cricut Artiste Collection:



I carefully cut out just the heads and tales of the foxes I wanted to use and strategically placed them behind each little speech bubble.  I used the beautiful patterned papers from the Paper Fundamentals Basics Assortment, along with the Cranberry Baker's Twine and Cranberry ink for each of the speech bubbles.  I kept the foxes colors neutral coordinating with the patterned paper, using Black, Slate, Chocolate, Saddle, Cashmere and Champagne.  I thought they turned out so cute!  :-)



Keeping with this same design, I made a regular sized card -- keeping it very clean and simple:



I thought it turned out okay, but maybe it was too simple?  So I tried it again, this time replacing the background with some patterned paper from the Ariana paper packet.  I liked this one better:



And here is another one that I was trying to mess around with some unique colors.  It is one that looks much better IRL, for some reason I couldn't quite get the colors to all look right in my picture:



Those were all the fox cards using April's stamp of the month set.  The rest are using a variety of other sets with the foxes.  This first one is using some patterned paper from the Lollydoodle paper packet, and the sentiment from the Laughing Lola Cardmaking WOTG kit stamp set.



Getting tired of all the fussy cutting I was doing for a while, I decided to go back to more simple again and just stamp directly on the cardstock.  I love all these colors together.



Something about the fox set, just lends itself to fussy cutting.  I went right back to cutting everything out again, except for the patterned background.  :-)



I really do love the Paper Fundamentals pack.  I love all the different patterns included, in all our basic colors -- you can use these neutral colors in anything! 



I love trying to mess around and play with new color schemes.  I also love the clean and simple look, but it is a hard one to achieve at times.



But sometimes, clean and simple just isn't enough.  Occasionally, it is fun to dress it up to the hilt.  :-)  I was utilizing the beautiful patterned paper in the Ariana paper packet again, as well as the Ariana Green cardstock. 



So, that's it!  Those were all the fox cards I submitted.  I was having too much fun making all of them, so I had to make myself stop to work on something else.  HA!

The only cards I have left from that call out are a few stencil cards and sketch cards.  I'll share those  next!

Enjoy!
~Dani
 

Crafting Time!!!

Part of my birthday weekend, included my request to have some time to be crafty. :-) I just wanted to relax and do something for pleasure.  I didn't want to have any particular project or deadline to work towards, and I just wanted to create.  I still struggle with finding time to just do my things.  I need to make this my new mantra:



Right?  I have had so much fun these last few weeks just creating things.  Another thing to keep in mind:



How 'bout that for a good one?  There are always, always, ALWAYS chores that need done; I have to remember that it is okay to do things that I enjoy too.  Pinterest rocks, doesn't it?  I can always find the perfect sentiment.

I decided it had been literally years since I submitted anything for publication, and that it would be fun to try to send some stuff in again.  I printed out Paper Crafts Magazine current calls and just had fun submitting to the ones that struck me.  I have quite a few things to share, so I decided to share them in groups.  The first category that I'm going to share was a call for all things geeky.

In this house geek is king, so my kiddos were shouting out ideas: Minecraft, Firefly, Star Trek, Dr. Who, The Big Bang Theory, Supernatural... you name it.  I kept telling them I was open to any and all ideas, but I needed a card sentiment to go along with it somehow.  That shut them down most of the time, but with Minecraft they were extremely helpful giving me a full set of 12 cards complete with sentiments.  I even made a little card holder for them with the Artiste cartridge.



I kept them very simple, with no curves anywhere -- trying to keep the simplicity of the Minecraft world in the cards.  All the backgrounds were neutral shades of grey, with simple mats that coordinated with each Minecraft icon.







I did several myself, but the kids helped me fill out the set.  For instance, I knew nothing about the enchanting table or the redstone torch.  My almost-eleven year old son gave me that one; both the icon and the coordinating sentiment.  Cracked me and my daughter up, but it was a good one!  In case you can't read them very well, the icons and sayings are:

1-Emerald: Great job, I'm green with envy.
2-Window: You see right through me.
3-Enchanting Table: You're enchanting.
4-TNT: You're the bomb.
5-Redstone torch: You turn me on.
6-Dog: Friends forever.
7-Pick: I'll always pick you.
8-Diamond: You're a gem.
9-Rock: Thanks for being my rock.
10-Creeper: You crept into my heart.
11-Pig: It's your birthday - pig out!
12-Birthday cake: Happy Birthday!
 
Delaney and I recently watched all eight seasons of Supernatural on Netflix in an embarrassingly short period of time.  We were hooked!



Being caught up now with the show, this whole waiting week to wait for one single episode is just dreadful.  (* sigh *)  I decided to give homage to the very devoted Supernatural fandom with this card:



I used a variety of our current sets to put this puppy together: Maximum Power,  Always Grateful, Words of Comfort, All the Details, and Blue Ribbon.  Then I found the Supernatural logo online and added '& IMPALAS' to the sentiment.  I don't need to explain the impala reference to anyone who has watched the show before. 



I only submitted one other card to the Geek call, and it was picked!  So excited!!!  I can't wait to share it with you.  As soon as I am allowed, I'll post it.

Next up, I'll share all my cards I created for their Fox call out.  :-)

Dani
 

March Stamp of the Month, Happy Place artwork!

March's stamp of the month is a cute little set, filled with awesome sentiments about families. I made a few cards to share.

This card is using the Jubilee paper packet, which makes me think longingly of summer!!!  It's so fun and colorful.  

 

With this card, I'm using the new Ivy Lane papers.  They are so pretty!  The house is cut out from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  

 

And last, but not least, this card is using the new Ariana papers, with the wood print from the new Timberline paper packet.  Too cute!!!

 

This Happy Place set is only available this month, so don't forget to get your order in while you can.  

Enjoy!
~Dani
 

Open House Artwork!

As promised, I said I'd share the artwork that was on display at the Open House!!!  First, I'll start with the other make-n-take card everyone got to make.  It is using the new adorable stamp set, Owls.



And here is another card that was on display, using the same stamp set:



 This card is using the new Ariana papers and the new stamp set Banner Wishes.



And here is another card using the same set:



This is another cute owl card using the stamp set from the Workshops on the Go Lollydoodle Cardmaking Kit with the Timberline papers.



This card is using some of the awesome new Paper Fundamentals Basics Assortment.  This pack is so versatile, filled with colors from the Basics color palette.



Here is another card made with the Dreamer set (I've shared a couple already), but this time I'm just using the heart from the set.



This is a cute little card made with the new Jubilee papers, and I even pulled the sentiment from one of the extra design strips on the B&T Duos.



And here are a few cards made with the new minis sets, this one is Perfect Polka-Dot Day.



This one is made with the Good Job Stencil.



And these are made with the new Hi mini set.


 


These cards are made with the new Feathers set.  Love it!!!


 


Enjoy!!!  If you haven't picked up your Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book yet, make sure to get in touch with me.

~Dani