Penny Black: For you - boy's 8th birthday card

Hi blogging friends!  Thanks for stopping by :-)

I made a quick little card for my girlfriend's son's 8th birthday.  I was very inspired by Susan Raihala's children's cards on this post here on her blog:  Simplicity and really loved the layout.  Susan is the "Queen of CAS" IMHO (in my humble opinion) and I learn so much from following her Blog.  Susan's cards are always so well-balanced - something I struggle with at times.

Getting back to my card........I know that you have seen this little Penny Black dog before on my Blog, but I just love him because he is so easy to colour and is a fantastic stamp for masculine cards.  I love his happy little face and he makes me smile everytime I look at him :-)

I stamped both the image and sentiment with Vintage Sepia ink and heatset it with my heat-gun to ensure the ink didn't run when I added OMS to it.  I coloured the image with my trusty pencils and OMS.  I wanted the present to have a little bit of dimension, so I cut out some little pieces of Olive Green Glitter cardstock and glued them on top of the present on the image.  I really love this range of glitter cardstock by Best Creations - you will get soooo tired of seeing it on my cards LOL!   I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk (but you can't really see it in the photo - trust me - it's there). 

I then layered the image onto - yep, you guessed it - the same green glitter cardstock - then onto Kraft cardstock. The Kraft cardstock was embossed with one of the embossing folders from my Sizziz "Birthday set #3"; I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the same sandwich as for Cuttlebug folders, ie: A plate, B plate, folder with cardstock, B plate.

Well, that's my simple card - and I didn't even use any ribbon which was soooo hard as I kept thinking I should put one somewhere, but couldn't figure out where, so I left it off.  I guess I figured that if Susan didn't put one on her card, I didn't need one either; sometimes less is more (if you know what I mean!).

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT309 of 'Happy Birthday' where you have to use any sort of birthday products on your project, even if it's just a sentiment.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Dog - Penny Black 'For you' 3446E, Sentiment from Penny Black 'Make a wish' clear set 30-052

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer paper:  Best Creations Olive green glitter cardstock

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions #656504 Birthday set #3, heatgun, Kindyglitz red glitter glue, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), paper stumps

Penny Black: Message from above - a Thank You card

Hello and thanks for popping in :-)

I made this 'Thank you' card for a friend in the USA who has taught me so much about cardmaking and specifically, how to colour using Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits aka Magic Coloured Pencil.

It is a simple, one-layer card (OLC) which are my favourite type of card to make.  The image was coloured (as you would have guessed) with OMS and Prismas plus Derwent Coloursoft pencils, and I added some pink glitter to the flower petals, the bird's tummy (bit hard to see in the photo) and there is lemon glitter around the edge of the letter.

The dry embossing was coloured lightly with pearlescent chalks using pink, lemon and blue, and I added these same colours around the image as well so it all ties in together.  They look so pretty IRL as they are shimmery.

The tiny pink hearts next to the sentiment are my all-time favourite little leftover punchies from my Arrows Border punch which I use all the time; I glittered these with Kindyglitz Crystalina.

I am entering this card into the My Time to Craft Challenge #113 of 'Quick and Cute' - where they want you to make something that is quick and easy.

I am also popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use it Challenge WT286 of  'Just One' where you are to stamp on a single sheet of cardstock.  There's nothing I love more than just getting back to basics with a card and having no layers.

That's about it for me - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'Message from above' 2617J, Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder from Hello Kitty® Spring Set #2 (656149), Odourless Minerals Spirits, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, I-Kan-dee Pearlescent chalks, Art Institute pink and lemon glitter (Shabby Chic set), Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Kindyglitz Crystalina, Cardstock: KW Doggett 'Knight' white, pink (for tiny hearts)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border

Eeeek, it's a spider.....or two - Halloween card

Hi and thanks for visiting my Blog :-)

I thought I would make a Halloween card just for something different after I saw the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenge CAS89 of a Sketch inspired by kstamper's card here which I loved - so this is my take on the Sketch. 

I have had this old spider and web stamp for years and years and forgot I had the stamps until today when I was looking for some inspiration among my stamps for a Halloween card.   I must admit:  I hate spiders.  I am the sort of person who would jump out of a moving car to get away from one, or abandon my car in the middle of the freeway.  One of my recurring nightmares is hundreds of spiders dropping down from a ceiling on top of me - it seems so real that I usually jump out of bed in my sleep - which then scares poor DH.....anyway, enough waffle and onto the card.......  

The black embossed background was made with a newly released Sizzix Textured Impression embossing folder called "Winter Set #3" (comes as a set of 2 folders).  The spider and web were stamped with black pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder which makes them stand out alot more than just using dye ink.  Then I inked all the edges with the same pigment ink and added embossing powder to that too.  Can you see that little spider lurking at the RHS side ready to jump out at you (insert scream here!)?   Thought I would do that just for a bit of fun!  I stamped him on a scrap of black cardstock, heat embossed him, then cut him out and glued him under the terracotta panel.  I coloured the eyes with Cadmium Yellow Acrylic paint to make them look really bright - like they are looking right at you.

The EEK sentiment was done with an alphabet foam-mounted stamp set I bought from KMart years ago - don't know if it's still available.  I don't have any Halloween sentiments, so came up with this instead - I thought I would stamp the letters at any angle for a bit of interest - wish I had had an exclamation mark to add to it.  These letters were also heat-embossed.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into 2 Challenges - both with Halloween themes:  The first is Crazy 4 Challenges C4C60 and the 2nd is Dutch Dare Card Challenge DDCC #89 which also has the alternative colour theme of purple, black, orange and green if you didn't want to make a Halloween card).

Thanks for stopping by - it was lovely to have you come and visit :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  All Night Media Spider 612A and Corner Web 407B (both c1994 and most likely retired), Alphabet foam stamp set - name unknown (K-Mart)

Ink:  Versacolor black pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Winter Set #3, cadmium yellow JoSonya acrylic paint, clear embossing powder, Cardstock:  Colormates Deep Terracotta and Black

Sympathy card using Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders

Hello and welcome :-)

I found myself needing to make a Sympathy card during the past week for a lady whose husband passed away.  It's never easy making a Sympathy card and I like to keep things simple.

I corner-punched the cardstock first (if you do it after the embossing, it squashes and marks the embossing - maybe that's a 'no-brainer' but I have often done it after, and then wished that I hadn't!!) - then used one of my narrow embossing folders from my Cuttlebug 'With Love' folder set.  I added the Scor-pal line so I could butt my Sizzix Textured Impression embossing folder up against the line - that way, I knew the embossing would be straight.  I have found that if I do the embossing first, then add the Scor-Pal line afterwards, it is almost always crooked.  Even if you squash the Scor-Pal line a little, you can just re-do it.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  The sentiment panel is up on 1mm mounts.  I only had really wide organza ribbon, but folded it in half and it turned out looking OK - though it was a bit fiddly to hold it folded in half while I was putting it through my Bow Easy!

I added some very fine white glitter to the flower centres as well as the punched hearts on the sentiment panel.  It's a really white glitter which I prefer for my Sympathy cards - this glitter is not like Kindyglitz Crystalina which has the pinky-blue hues in it.  Adds that bit of "something" but still understated and not over-the-top (well, that is what I hoped to achieve).

I'm popping this card into this week's Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC253 where the inspiration for your card comes from the John Lewis Department Stores website.  While I was thinking about what to make for this card - and thinking of a bunch of white flowers - I came across this image of beautiful white freesias.  As soon as I saw them, I thought of my Cuttlebug 'With love' narrow bunch of flowers folder and my Sizzix Floral Flourishes folder - the stems and unopened buds on the freesias reminded me of this Sizzix folder: hence my combination of the two folders.

Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear stamp set (I believe this set is retired but is still in stock at a few stores - bit hard to find though)

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, With Love embossing folder set, Sizzix Textured Impressions Floral Flourishes and Vines #656259 (comes as a set of 2 folders), Scor-Pal, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, Designer dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Bow Easy, white organza ribbon, Cardstock: white

Punches:  Carl CP8 Heart (has 2 different-sized hearts), Stampin' Up corner punch

Crafter's Companion Bunches of Love for my niece's birthday

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made this card for this week's Ways to Use it Challenge on Splitcoaststampers WT278 Yellow sunshine where you are to use yellow in a card.  See this link for the deets.  Yellow is not a colour I use very often, so this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to ink up this cute little duck.

This clean & simple (CAS) little one-layer card is going to my niece for her birthday.  Not a whole lot to explain really - the duck is from an unmounted 'Popcorn the bear' set by Crafter's Companion - and was coloured with Odourless Mineral Spirits and Prismascolor pencils, then I added some little strokes with watered-down acrylic paint to add some feathers (you will probably need to click on the piccy to see them), then blended the feathers in by adding a wash of watered down yellow paint over the top.  I did a similar thing with the centre of the flower too.  I love how you can combine the pencils and paint to create some "extra" texture to an image.

Because I am the Glitter Queen, I added pink glitter to the duck's heart and purple glitter to the flower petals and around the edge of the sentiment tag.  The tiny little purple and lemon hearts underneath the birthday sentiment are the leftover punchies from my Arrows border punch.

I chalked around the image for the sky and ground and lightly chalked the dry embossing.  I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Thanks again for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Bunches of Love set by Crafter's Companion, Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 WP16

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black (for the sentiments) and Memento Tuxedo black (for the duck)

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty Spring Set' #2 embossing folder, Odourless Mineral Spirits, Prismacolor Pencils, paper stumps, Kaisercolour chalks, JoSonya Acrylic paints, paint brushes, Bow Easy, yellow button, yellow sewing thread, 12mm-1/2" wide ribbon, Art Institute Transparent Glitter - pink and purple from Shabby Chic set, Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive, EK Success Arrows border punch, Cardstock: white, purple, lemon

Penny Black: 'For you' - Doggone - it's another birthday card!

Hello and thanks for stopping by my little Blog :-)

Over at Splitcoaststampers, about 2 weeks ago Roxie posted a fabulous sketch: Sketch Challenge #278 and thought it would be perfect for my nephew's birthday card.   This is one sketch I will definitely use again - I really love it!

The image was stamped with Vintage Sepia ink and then I heat-set it with my heat-gun to make sure the Odorless Mineral Spirits wouldn't bleed the outlines.  I coloured it with Prismacolor pencils + Gamsol and lightly chalked around the image for the sky and ground.  I stamped the image again and cut out just the present and added fine blue glitter plus I coloured in the bow with a gold gel pen then popped it up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

The paw pad is a button which I cut the shank off and attached with a 1mm mount.

The gorgeous designer paper is from a digital set by NitWit Collections called FQB (which stands for Fat Quarter Bundle) - Me-Wow Collection.  Isn't it adorable?! 

Challenges:

I am entering this card in the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C36 where the Challenge is to use this children's nursery rhyme to create your card -

What are little boys made of?
Frogs and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

So you can make a boy card, or something with frogs and/or snails, puppy dogs etc.  What a fun challenge!

I am also entering this card in The Treehouse Challenge #049 - THT049 which has a Masculine Theme.  I love challenges with Masculine themes because, let's face it, masculine cards are "challenging" and we all need ideas - it's great to look at DT cards for loads of inspiration!

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with one of my Fat Cat's Card Corner Design Team card..  It has been drizzly and grey all week - not great photographying weather, but the sun should be shining tomorrow according to the Weather Bureau.  See you again soon!   And thanks again for visiting!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'for you!' 3446E, Sentiment - from Crafter's Companion 'Popcorn the Bear' Bunches of Love set

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer paper:  NitWit Collections Fat Quarter Bundle Series "Me-Wow" ©2009 by Mary Fran of www.nitwitcollections.com

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Dots embossing folder (from Dot & Flowers set), Spellbinder Square Nestabilities & Scalloped Square Nestabilities, heat gun, Kaisercolour chalks, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), gold gel pen, fine .008 blue glitter, Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, Buttons Galore 'paw print'

Penny Black: Love Tail - Flowers for my sweet friend

Hello and thanks for visiting my Blog :-)

I've had a tough week with the sudden and unexpected passing of our dog, so I needed to make a bright and happy card to soothe my soul. The CAS Challenge #54 on Splitcoaststampers from a little while ago was "Wishing for Spring" - see this link for the deets - and as I love Spring flowers and this cute little PB stamp the Postie brought me a few weeks ago HADN'T seen any ink yet, I thought it seemed a good way of taking my mind off things.

It's a very simple one layer card which took very little time. The dry embossing border is a Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder which is my fav all-time folder - and it fits in the Cuttlebug with the same sandwich as the Cuttlebug folder.  I lightly chalked the embossing with my Kaisercolour chalks.  The image was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils. I chalked around the image with those same chalks, then added some very fine .008 red glitter to the six hearts around the image. The camera didn't really capture the sparkle, but it looks so pretty IRL.

The sentiment was stamped with Stazon ink and I added a tiny heart next to it which is the leftover punchie from my EK Success Arrows border punch ('cos the punchies look like tiny hearts to me). I added red glitter to this tiny heart as well. The gingham ribbon bow was made with my Bow Easy then I sewed a button on top and attached it to the card with a glue dot.

I'm also entering this card in the PaperPlay Challenges Blog - Week 16 - No patterned paper.  See this link for all the deets.

I'm giving this card to my best friend who has been there for me this week.  Thank you sweetie :-)  I feel so much better now.

Thanks again for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black: Love-tail 3608J, Sentiment: from Crafter's Companion 'Someone Special' set 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Stazon Jet black 

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix 'Hello Kitty' Spring Set #2 embossing folder set, .008 fine red glitter, 3/8" - 10mm wide red gingham ribbon, red sewing thread, red button, glue dot, Kaisercolour chalks, EK Success Arrows border punch, Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, Bow Easy, cardstock: white, red 

Dovecraft: Pepper and Friends - Hello my beautiful friend!

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!

This is a "Thank-you" card which I made for my best friend who has really helped me a lot this past year or so.  She is the sweetest girl you could ever meet!

This is also for the Splitcoaststampers CAS54 Challenge of 'Wishing for Spring' - I just LOVE spring flowers especially daffodils - so cheery!  See this link for the deets.

I've had this Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder (from the Hello Kitty Spring Set #2) for quite a while now and only used it once - and then the other day I "re-discovered" it and have made about 6 cards with it so far.  I LOVE clean & simple one-layer cards and this folder fits the bill perfectly because the middle is blank for me to stamp my image & it fits LOTS of images I have in my stamp stash.  Plus it easily fits in my Cuttlebug and uses the same sandwich as Cuttlebug folders. 

This cute little image arrived in my mailbox the other day from the UK - isn't it just adorable?  It was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils and I added Kindyglitz to the flowers, some of the leaves and the dog's cheeks. It didn't take long to colour because the flowers/leaves aren't too detailed - just a flick of colour with the pencil and "smudged" with the paper stump/Gamsol - just to give an impression of shading/highlighting.   I lightly chalked the background for the sky etc with my Kaisercolour chalks and used these same colours to lightly colour the dry embossing frame.
 

Thanks for having a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Dovecraft "Pepper & Friends" HCWS05 by Helz Cuppleditch, Sentiment: from Flourishes Strawberries clear set #57 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty #2' embossing folder set, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, EK Success Arrows border punch, Cardstock: white, rose pink

Elzybells: Teddy Surprise!

I made this for my DD's schoolfriend for her 7th birthday.  I've been wanting to make a Gatefold card for ages - ah, so many techniques & so little time!!

All the images are from a clear stamp set by Elzybells, and were coloured with Gamsol and Prismascolor pencils.  Isn't the teddy just sooo cute?!  The blue that I coloured in the background REALLY shows up in the photos but it's not THAT blue in real life.  The ribbon was attached at the back of the card with glue dots.

The dry embossing on the front of the card was done by running a Sizzix Textured Impressions folder thru my Cuttlebug.  I use the same 'sandwich' that you use for Cuttlebug folders.

I really went to town with all the glitter which has been added to the present ribbon, spots on the present, and on the inside of the card: on the balloon, ribbon, spots on the present and the teddy's cheeks.  After all, it's for a girl and all little (& big) girls LOVE glitter!! :o)

Here is a close-up of the card inside:  

Don't forget you can click on any of my photos to get a REALLY close-up view.

Thanks for having peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe: 

Stamps: Elzybells Art Stamps: Teddy Surprise 20-016-CC clear stamp set 

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black 

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, ribbon, Kaiser Hot Pink pearls, Sizzix Textured Impressions - dots & flower set, Cuttlebug, glue dots, Stampin' Up ticket corner punch, glue dots, Kindyglitz Crystalina, Cardstock: white, bright pink

Well, here I am Blogging for the first time with my Penny Black stamps!

Hello everyone,

Welcome!!  And thanks so much for stopping by :-)  Thought I would add another card to my stash which could be used as a Thank-you card, Happy Birthday, Friendship - anything really.  I am a huge fan of Penny Black 'Margaret Sherry' stamps - can't get enough of their furry friends - they are so cute! 

I also made this card for the Clean and Simple Challenge #54 on the Splitcoaststampers website of 'Wishing for Spring'. See this link for the deets:  I *LOVE* Spring flowers especially when the daffodils and jonquils start flowering in my garden. How amazing that you get these beautiful flowers from a bulb that looks nothing more than a brown onion!  And I am also entering it in the Penny Black Saturday Week 92 Challenge of:  Spring Flowers.  See this link for the deets.
 
I have used this Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder (from the Hello Kitty Spring Set #2) alot lately because the middle is blank for me to stamp my image & it fits LOTS of images I have in my stamp stash.  Plus it easily fits in my Cuttlebug with the same sandwich as Cuttlebug folders. Makes for a quick and simple card because there is no layering. I made 3 similar cards in 1 day - just with different images but with the same ef - that's a record for me!   I lightly added some Kaisercolour chalks (pink, lemon and blue) to the dry embossing.

The image was stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils and I added Kindyglitz to the flowers. It didn't take long to colour because the flowers/leaves aren't too detailed - just a flick of colour with the pencil and "smudged" with the paper stump/Gamsol - just to give an impression of shading/highlighting. I lightly chalked the background for the sky etc with the same colours that I used for the dry embossing.
 
I stamped the sentiment with Stazon ink and the tiny punched hearts (2 next to the sentiment and 3 around the flowers) are the leftover punchies from my EK Success Arrows Border punch (they look like tiny hearts to me).
 
Thanks for having a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Mouse: Penny Black 'Hugs' clear set, Sentiment: Penny Black 'Tiny Wishes' clear set

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Stazon Jet black 

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty #2' embossing folder (set), Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, paper stumps, Kindyglitz Crystalina, EK Success Arrows border punch, Kaisercolour chalks, Cardstock: white, rose coral