A Deer Friend

Hello!

Oh how I miss my card making and posting!!  Things have just been busy, busy, busy, with no sign of it slowing down.  Work is busy, life is busy.  I know we are all in the same boat!  I did carve out some time to make a card yesterday...for a VERY special reason.  My sweet, sweet, most awesome friend, Carol is now an Inkspirational DESIGN TEAM MEMBER!!!  WOOT, WOOT!!!  Those of you who are lucky enough to know Carol, know that this team has struck gold having her on their team!  So what better way to celebrate, and congratulate her than to make a card for the challenge?!!! 

The word prompt is "bloom" and here's what I came up with.

I love that the word prompt allows for such range in how to apply it.  I went subtle, and stamped my blooms in a "supporting role" on this card, but really love how they look.  I used Lawn Fawn (the deer, and the "deer"), Mama Elephant (the blooms!) and some old PTI stamps to finish off the sentiment.

If you haven't already, play along with me!!!

Congrats again, sweet Carol!!  Just a matter of time before more DT's come calling to snap you up!!!

Thanks for coming by to see me!
Shannon

It's a Miracle!!

Hello!

It's a miracle - I made a card!!  It was nice to get back into my craft room!  I made a Mother's Day card for my sister...and here it is!!

I also made one for my Mom and my mother-in-law (they're getting the same card - I just made two of them!).  No need to show it here, because it's a total CASE by one of my FAVE card artists - Heather Campbell.  Have a look at her version here (it's much better than mine!) - she created it for Ellen Hutson's "The Classroom".  I just replaced the sentiment with Happy Mother's Day.  (In fact, you will notice little hints of her inspiration in my sister's card too!).  If by some crazy chance you have not seen Heather's blog already, check it out - you will fall in love with everything you see. 

Thanks so much for stopping by - have an awesome Sunday!
Shannon

No card, but maybe you can help!

Hello!

Gah!  So bummed that I haven't been around much these days!  Hopefully life's craziness will settle soon and I can get back into my craft room!  But in the meantime...

 

Just wanted to share a story with you that touched me deeply.  This community is so thoughtful and caring, and I thought it would touch you too.  It's a local news story here in Vancouver that was shared recently about a fifteen year old girl named Brooklyn who suffers from a form of autism and epilepsy.  She was involved in an exchange program with a group of students from Prince Edward Island, on the east coast of Canada. 

 

As planned, students from PEI visited Vancouver first.  During that visit, Brooklyn had an epileptic seizure.  As a result, a board determined that Brooklyn would not be able to make the exchange trip out to PEI with her peers.  This decision was devastating for Brooklyn and it broke her heart.  Watching her story on the news broke my heart too.  If you have a few moments, please watch Brooklyn's story here.

 

For more information, you can visit Brooklyn's Facebook page.  A petition has been started to reverse the decision and help Brooklyn get to PEI.  I signed it and I'm hoping you will consider signing it too.  It will take less than five minutes and it could help this sweet, brave, intelligent girl get what she deserves.

 

Thank you so much for letting me share this with you!

Shannon

Two Cards for a long overdue post!

Hello!!!

Oh my goodness, it has been so long since I last posted!!  My work schedule has changed significantly, and it has completely eaten up all of my card making time!!  And I am not a happy camper about that!!!  It's also affected my ability to comment on all of your blogs, which is most disappointing of all for me :( .  I just love connecting with all of you, and feel terrible that I haven't been able to be as "active" as I was.  I'm not sure things will be back to "normal" anytime soon.  But at every opportunity I have, I will drop by for sure.

Okay, and because things are still crazy, I am going to make this short and sweet!  Two cards today.  The first one is for Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch Challenge.  I LOVE this challenge, and just couldn't let this one pass me by!!  And I love the PS Sparks Challenge as well, and this week, it's an Anything Goes.  So I took a little time today to play, and here's what I came up with:

And this second card is one that I made for a 50th wedding anniversary that friends of my parents were celebrating.  I think 50 years SUCH a milestone.  To love and support each other, though all that life would have offered them through the years, the good, the bad and the ugly, is something to be honoured.  Love and commitment in its truest form.  No challenges on this one - I just winged it!  And here it is:

Thank you SO much for coming be, especially since posting has been non-existent around here lately.  It means a LOT to me!!

Shannon 

Love Birds...I mean Bees!

Hello!

It's a rainy day here, and what better way to spend it than make a card!  Of course I had to play along with Case Study again this week, with Joni being the muse!  I also wanted to try a technique that I learned over at PS Virtual Smooches a while ago.  Have you seen the videos Savannah and Emily do for this site - nothing short of AH-MAZING I tell you!  The technique I used today is to use a stamp to create a frame.  It took me a few tries to get a non-wonky oval, but in the end it turned out pretty evenly (just don't look under the banner - it may or may not be covering up some severe wonkiness there - ha ha!).  I'm going to enter this into the PS Sparks Challenge for this week as well - it's an Anything Goes!

Here's the card:

With wedding season approaching, I thought I would make a wedding card to add to my stash.  I went with love bees!  Just fussy cut them out and coloured their wings in blue.  Added glossy accents to kick it up a notch!  That heart in the middle of the two bees is just some white enamel that I shaped into a heart.  To create the oval, I just traced an oval with pencil and then tried to somewhat evenly space the flowers around it.  Background is distress inks.  Added the "forever" die cut and that's it!

Here's the inspiration card from Joni:

Hope you're having a good weekend and sneaking in a little crafty time!  Thank you SO much for stopping by!
Shannon

A Special EAD Blog Hop for Emma

Hello!

Today is a very cool day!  The amazing Amy Tsuruta asked me if I would like to participate in a very special blog hop that she is hosting along with a bunch of other EAD Designs fans!  EAD Designs is a company that created vinyl stickers and rub-ons, but unfortunately the company closed their doors over a year ago.  (unfortunately for sure - Amy sent me a few of their stickers to play with for this hop and they are AWESOME!).  Even though the company is gone, these ladies continue to inspire each other to use their fun goodies.

What all of our projects will have in common is that we are all using EAD goodies. 
And our challenge is:
KID-FRIENDLY

Not only was I honoured that Amy would ask me (and said YES right away!), but I was also touched by the reason behind this hop.  All of our cards from today's hop will be going to a special girl named Emma.

 Please read about Emma's story and the card drive hosted by Kelly.

Here's my card for Emma:

Isn't that owl adorable?!  Both she and the "cutie" sentiment are from EAD.  I put the owl on some Bazzill textured paper, and loved the grid look that it created on the owl.  Seriously, these stickers were SO much fun to play with!  Hope Emma likes it!

I also wanted to make a card for Addison:

That little bird, also EAD!  SO sweet!

And guess what?!  There is a surprise blog candy!  The more you leave comments on the blogs that are participating, the more chances you have to win!

Want another chance for a prize?!  Make a kid friendly card for Emma!  We'd love for you to join in the card drive!  Make a card for Emma, send it to Kelly and link up over on Amy's blog!

Commenting/Card link up open until Monday, March 24th at 11:59 pm pacific
Winners posted on Amy's blog on Monday, March 31st.

Have fun hoppin'!

Amy 
Colleen
Julie Smith
Julie Tucker-Wolek
Katie Brooks
Kelly
Lauren Bergold
Liz
Rose
Shannon
Stephanie
Wendi

Thank you so much for stopping by today and please consider sending a card to this special girl.
Shannon

Chugga Chugga Chu Chu!

Hello!

Well, it's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Joni Nina Andaya.  She is a huge inspiration to me, and many of the techniques I try here are because of her.  So when I saw that she is this month's Case Study, you KNOW I had to play along!

This one didn't come about very easily.  A LOT of trial and error!  But just like the little engine that could, I kept on going...chugga chugga chu(chee) chu!!  I knew I could, I knew I could (it's in my name, afterall - ha!).  And here's what it looked like in the end (nothing like how it started, btw!!):

Big mix of everything going on in this baby!  The background flowers in grey are Casual Friday, the polka dot label is Stampin' Up.  The flowers on the label are WPlus9 and the birdies are Lawn Fawn.  Both sentiments are Studio Calico/Hero Arts.  Finished it off with a little distressing of the edges to frame it up a bit and a little baker's twine.

And here's Joni's inspiration card:

Gorgeous, huh?!!

Thank you so much for coming by today!!  Hope you enjoy your Sunday, and please stop by if you can tomorrow...I am participating in a very special blog hop and I'd love for you to be a part of it too!
Shannon

Two Technique Re-Try!

Hello!

So last week, I tried combining two new techniques on one card, and everything was going just fine until a couple of unfortunate incidents ended up in the entire card being ruined!!  It's okay, I've managed to stop the tears!!  So being the tenacious girl I am (sometimes!), I decided to try again today. 

The two techniques were from Kristina Werner and Donna Mikasa.

Kristina has been using the "smooshing" technique a lot lately - you can see an example here.  And recently Donna posted a card using "water stenciling" and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

And here's the result:

Can you see the water stenciling in the background?!  It's subtle, but I love the little bit of extra it adds!

Not only did I combine two techniques, I also combined two challenges.  In fact, two of my favourite challenges: Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch and PS Sparks, which is an anything goes this week.
For the sketch, I was inspired by the arc that the flowers created.  Play along if you can - I just love Lisa's sketches and I'm pretty sure you will too ;)

Thanks for the visit!!
Shannon

A Soap Opera?!

Hello!

Well, here's a card that started out totally differently...

I wanted to try two new techniques that I have spotted in blog land lately, on making your own backgrounds (which I am loving right now).  I actually combined the two techniques into one, and was pretty happy with the results.  I designed the rest of the card and put it together.  And then two things happened:

- First I used a cluster of balloons from Mama Elephant, which I had the rabbit holding from string.  As a last minute thing, I decided to add some Wink of Stella to jazz up the balloons a bit.  But hardly any glitter was coming out.  So I squeezed the top...a little harder than I should have, and a giant blog came out of the pen and all over my balloons!!!  Gah!  But, okay.  It only hit the balloons and the background was still salvageable.  So I tore off the balloons and went to work again.

- Rather than using the ME balloons, I thought it would add more dimension if I used some PS balloons and coloured / cut them all out separately.  I figured the result would be worth the effort.  And it was.  Perfect, the card was fixed and ready to be photographed.  But wait a minute.  Was it?  Nope.  When I replaced the ME balloons with the larger scale PS balloons, the card was totally off centre, and totally off balance!  Grrrrr.  What can I add to balance it out?  Hmmmm.  I tried a few things, but nothing looked right.  Then I thought: splatter, that will even things out!  So I covered up all of the parts that I didn't want splatter on and went for it.  I liked the look.  I took off the mask hoping it was done, but nope, it needed splatter in a few other places.  I masked it all back up again, added a bit more splatter and it turned out just how I wanted it to.  I took the panel and glued it to a note card.  What I didn't realize was that the splatter hadn't dried yet and there were black splatter smudges everywhere!!  My little creation was ruined!!! 

So I ripped off the balloons again, along with the bunny.  This time, I gave up on creating my own background (for now - I will try again another day!) and just pulled out some patterned paper.  And here, after all that blabbering and complaining, is what it ended up looking like:

Because I had given up trying to do the background technique, I thought I'd try a different VERY new to me technique - sewing!!!  I sewed the banner on!!!  Mom, if you're reading this, I really did!!!   I left the threads dangling like I've been seeing so much lately.  But aside from that, just stamps, patterned paper and some Copics.  Now that I see the photo though, I'm going back for one last final surgery - that heart (from PS heart dies) on the left on it's side is driving me crazy!   (With all these surgeries, this card might as well be starring in an episode of General Hospital!).

Hopefully I can make a fresh start on the background technique in the next day or so and have a little more success this time around!  I'll show you as soon as it's done :)

Thanks SO much for stopping by to see me!
Shannon

Trip to Hawaii #2

Hello!

A week or so ago I made a "Bon Voyage" card for a friend of mine who was going on holiday to Hawaii...and today I made another card, for another friend who is going next week!!  When's it my turn?!  Ha ha! 

Here's what I came up with this time around:

Still using Get Outta Town, and used some of the same, and some different images on this card.  My fave part of this card is the sentiment!  I am in LOVE with those alpha dies as well as with the trend of "stacking" layers underneath to create a chip board effect.  I just doodled the border with my white gel pen, added some Wink of Stella to the flowers and a bit of Glossy Accents to the centre of the hibiscus.  And that was it! 

Going to enter this into the Paper Smooches Anything Goes challenge this week.

Thanks for coming by!
Shannon

Anything Goes and One Special Card

Hello!

Couple of cards today!  The first one is going out to a very special boy named Colin in Michigan.  Have you heard the story?  I saw it on the news a few days ago.  Colin is turning 11 in March.  When his Mom asked him if he would like a party, he told her there was no point, because he didn't have any friends.  It just broke my heart.  Ugh, nothing gets me more that a child suffering - whether it be from in illness, from bullying, from loneliness.  His Mom set up a Facebook page in order for friends and family to send him positive, encouraging birthday wishes, which she thought would be better than a party.  To her surprise, it went "viral", FAR beyond family and friends.  The number of "likes" exploded and is now over two million!!  But, I don't Facebook.  I know, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the entire world who doesn't!  So I couldn't "like" the special page  I felt sad that I couldn't do my part.  Then, I was visiting over at Ellen Hutson's "The Classroom" to check out one of my favourite features, Hello Monday, by Julie Ebersole.  This week, Julie featured a card that she made for Colin!!  I had no idea that the family was also accepting cards!  Well, of course, I got straight to work!

Here's what I came up with:

Very simple and hopefully masculine enough for an 11 year old boy!  I also used a sentiment on the inside from PS Slang Gang that says "have the best day evah".  Well, actually, I had to add the "have" but that was easy enough to do with another stamp and a little masking.

If you have time, why not make a card and send it to Colin too, and let him know he's got friends!
His address is:
PO Box 756 Richland, MI 49083-0756

And here's my second card:

Like so many of you, I'm trying to use up what I have!  I just kind of went for a more scrappy look but  I'm not sure if there's too much going on here or not!  It's out of my comfort zone a bit, but I think it's always good to stretch yourself once in a while and try something a little different. 

Both cards are all PS, off to the Anything Goes challenge they go!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and please consider sending a card to Colin!
Shannon

Washi background

Hello!

Trying out more new to me things today.  I saw a tutorial over on the WPlus9 blog on how to use washi tape with a diagonal stripe to create a background.  I LOVED the idea, because I have had this roll of washi tape for months (Wal-mart purchase) which I adore, but can not make it look like it belongs on anything!!  So I gave it a shot.

Here's my card:

Ironically, I didn't use any WPlus9 sets on this.  The angel and the cloud are Mama Elephant, the "thank you" is PS and the "for being there" is spelled out using Lawn Fawn's Milo's ABCs.  I do love how the washi background turned out, but two downsides for me - it wasn't quite as simple as I was hoping it would be to get the lines to match up - I was straining my eyes every time, and, although it is subtle, you can see where the lines where the pieces of tape meet.  Would I do it again?  Probably! 

That's it for me today!
Hope you are enjoying you Sunday!
And as always, thank you so much for coming by!
Shannon

Oh Hello!

Hello!

Just a quick post today.  I really wanted to make a hello card for a very special friend today.  When I saw Shari Carroll's video over at Simon Says Stamp this morning, I knew I wanted to try this technique to make the card. 

Have a look :)

The colours are not as soft and pretty as Shari's, they actually took on more of a muted look.  I'm not sure if it was because I used a different type of paper?  But I do like the different look it gives.  Once the "painting" was done, I used my Hero Arts Wet Cement ink to overlay a Hero Arts background stamp.  Then I went to work on the focal point.  The letters are also HA (I LOVE this set!) and that sweet little bunny holding the flower is Mama Elephant.  I also used an ME die for the scalloped border.  A few hits of the Wink of Stella glitter pen in the tiny circles of the background (you can't see them because I added them after I took the photo!) and my card was all done!

Thanks for stopping by today!!!  Hope you are having a good weekend!
Shannon

Bold!

Hello!

Bold is the key word over at Casology this week!  I have really enjoyed experimenting with new things lately, especially backgrounds.  So that's where this card started: with a bold background, and then it evolved from there.  It is totally Joni inspired!!!

Here it is:

A lot of distress inking going on here.  The hearts that are stamped in the background were squirted with water before stamped on the paper.  Added some splattering and did a little bit of blending and the background was complete.  Just added those Savvy flower stamps, the WPlus9 leaf dies in white and vellum.  The banner is Paper Smooches and the Happy Birthday is Lawn Fawn.  I added a subtle WPlus9 sentiment in the top right hand corner as well.  Some Wink of Stella on some of the flowers finished it all off.

I'm sending this to a lady that I used to work with before she got transferred out of province last year - that's why I used the "miles apart" sentiment.

Hope you like my BOLD card!!
Thanks so much for coming by today!!
Shannon

A bit of a cheat!

Hello!

Did you see the cool inspiration photo for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge?!  I really wanted to play along, and I had a Bon Voyage card in mind for a friend who is going to Hawaii next week (lucky her!). 

Here it is:

But I have to admit, I cheated...a bit!  I ended up substituting kraft for the gold, just because the card was shaping up to be a softer tone, and I thought the gold would flash it up a bit too much.  But I did sneak it in just a little by sparkling up the hibiscus - does that count?!  Just to jazz it up a smidge, I used glossy accents on the sunnies, and some liquid black enamel on the airplane.  (The black enamel looks bumpy in the picture, but it's actually really smooth irl).  I think I should have rounded a corner or two, to soften it up a bit, but, I didn't...oh well!!  I also cheated by sneaking in a Lawn Fawn sentiment - I was really wanting it to say Bon Voyage, and the sweet Get Outta Town set from PS didn't have that specific sentiment - hopefully it's ok :)

Here's the inspiration:

Hope you are having a lovely day!
Thank you SO much for stopping by!
Shannon

Mini Mania!

Hello!

My SWEET friend Carol has been inspiring me like crazy!  Always one to try a new technique, take on any challenge (including making a million Valentine's cards for her sister-in-law), and coming up with the most ADORABLE little numbers!  One thing that I haven't done a lot of (possibly ever!) are mini cards.  And Carol makes the sweetest mini card/envelope sets ever!  So I thought I'd try my hand at it.  I made a set of four thank you minis with matching envies, with two products in mind: my Basic Grey Persimmon pad and my Paper Smooches Stamps.  I used the Persimmon because it's one of five paper pads I have that I need to stop hoarding and start using!  And I used my PS stamps because I wanted to play along again this week with the PS Sparks Anything Goes Challenge.

Here are the four:

The envelopes were created with my We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board.  Best thing ever!

Thank you SO much, Carol for always inspiring me!
Hope you have an awesome day!
Shannon

Anything Goes

Hello!

Here's a little card I made yesterday, quarantined in my craft room, hoping to avoid my husband's strept throat!  You'd never believe it, but this one took me a long time to make!  As much as I have been in love with creating my own backgrounds lately, I also NEED to start using up my patterned paper.  That was my goal when I started this.  My other goal: to use PS stamps only (that was the easy part!) because I wanted to make this for the PS Sparks Anything goes challenge.

Here's the card:

Yeah, I have no idea WHAT took me so long to get this done!  Well, maybe I do...  For starters, I must have changed the poof on the top of the hat about five times!  Good grief!  And I was just not happy with anything I tried.  In the end though, I'm okay with it.  I mean, how could anyone not be in love with those puppy dog eyes?!!  I used four PS sets, and two die sets, and called it a day!

Hopefully the next card I make comes a little easier!!
Have an awesome day!
Shannon

Well, didn't think I'd see this stamp set again until December!

Hello!

I really wanted to play along with the Paper Smooches sketch challenge this week, but I struggled big time with it!  Though I really wanted to do something a little outside the box (did you see Savannah's DT card?!! - so cool!), I ended up going pretty simple and basic.  The divided circle reminded me of the ground and the sky.  I decided to make the ground a snowy one and create a little Christmas card scene.  Now, I'm not normally one to make my Christmas cards throughout the year.  Typically I leave it to the last minute and cram everything into December.  But maybe now that I've got one in the stash, I will keep making them throughout the year and actually be prepared for once...maybe!!  If I have any chance at all of keeping up with this, I think the Merry Monday challenge is the place I need to be! 

Here's the card:

I used embossing paste to create the snow, but should have only filled it in a quarter way up the circle (just like the sketch told me to!) - and maybe should have smoothed it out a bit more too (it looks more like icing!).  The top of the circle is vellum, and there is a light blue piece of cardstock behind it to give the look of a blue sky.  For the heart border, I snipped the die to extend it a little further (ie there are no hearts directly behind the snowman).  I used my Wink of Stella pen for the first time to shimmer up these hearts.  Again, very simple.  Just happy that I got a chance to play and that I have my very first 2014 Christmas card made already!

Here's the sketch:

That's it from me!  Hope you are having a good weekend, and getting a chance to be crafty!
Shannon

Purple???

Hello!

"Purple???!!!  What am I going to do with purple??!!!"  That was my reaction when I saw the Casology Challenge for this week.  I just can't seem to work with purple, and I know a lot of you feel the same.  But then I saw Kimberly's card!  You know Kimberly, right?!!  From Wienerhoneymooners?!!  Another awesome blog you NEED to check out!  It is full of inspiration.  She is crazy talented, and crazy artistic with her designs.  So when I saw her card, done in the most beautiful shade of purple ever, I changed my judgy ways!  Purple can be beautiful and fun to work with! 

Here's what I came up with:

It's design that I'm sure you've seen a million times, but hope you like it anyway!  The purple I used: Momento Luxe Lilac Posies.  I really love this shade, almost as much as the shade that Kimberly used - almost!  The stamps are Savvy (wood mount), and the leaves are from a Wplus9 die (how did I go so long without dies?!!).  The background behind the open circle is a PS polka dots stamp, which I repeated a few times and then white embossed.  I did splatter a tiny little bit of the purple onto the polka dots, but it's barely noticeable.  The sentiment is PS - one of their TAM sets from a while ago.

And that's it...it actually came together *relatively* quickly!  Thanks Kimberly and Casology for helping me change my perspective on purple ;) !!

Hope you're having a good day!
Thank you SO much, as always for stopping by to see me!
Shannon

Trying out some water colouring

Hello!

Playing around with backgrounds again, still totally inspired by Joni!  This time I went a little more classy and elegant than my regular style.  I will get straight to it:

Joni posted a video last week showing how she created her own flowers with water colours.  They turned out beautifully.  My attempt, not so much.  But I figured I might have better luck using an image that I could colour in.  So I pulled out one of my favourite old Stampin' Up! images - a somewhat large scale flower, and went to work. 

What you're seeing is my second crack at it.  The first went straight to the recycling bin, with no dinner!  Once I had the water colouring done, I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls to give it a really nice shimmer (although you can't see it at all in the photo).  Next I used one of my Wplus9 heart background stamps and stamped it repeatedly in versamark ink until it filled the panel, then I white embossed it.  I added some splatters with my gold distress paint and finished it off with some vellum die cut leaves (Wplus9) and gold hearts (PS).  The sentiment is Wplus9 as well.

And that's it for me today!
Hope you are having a fabulous day!
Thanks for stopping by - I always appreciate it!
Shannon

I gotta 'nother wanna!

Hello!

I made another card for the Wanna Sketch challenge!  I couldn't resist!

Here it is:

I'm totally into making my own backgrounds right now.  (Although I *should* instead be using papers from the million 6x6 pads I bought - oh well!).  My inspiration: Joni Andaya.   I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: if you haven't checked out her blog, you NEED to!   My backgrounds don't hold a flame to hers, but I am bursting with inspiration from what she does.   I guarantee she will leave you inspired too.  For this card, I splattered some pink (there I go again with the pink!), yellow and a bit of blue on a white panel.  Then I used Paper Smooches Spring Fling and Calico to stamp the flowers.  Used some yellow distress ink to frame the edges in yellow.  The little chick is also from Spring Fling, and the heart balloon and "celebrate" are from PS Hullabaloo.  The "happy birthday" is from an old Papertrey Ink set I have.

And here, again, is the sketch:

Short and sweet today!!  Hope you are having an awesome day!
Thanks for the visit!
Shannon

Wanna Sketch is back!!

Hello!

So, I've said a few times that I don't really like pink.  And I don't.  So why do I keep making pink cards?!!  Got another one for you today.  This totally pink card is for the Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch challenge.  After a little break, it's back!!  Yeah baby!!  It's one of my fave challenges, so I had to play along.  I actually started this card last night, with the intention of squeaking it in to the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge as well, but with the deadline looming, and my droopy eyes getting the better of me, I left the card to finish today, post Sparks deadline.  Oh well, I will try for Sparks this week :)

Here's what I came up with:

I think I got a little carried away with the hearts - there aren't nearly as many in the sketch!  Pretty simple card though and almost all PS, with the exception of the hearts, which are Lawn Fawn.  That little bunny is from PS Spring Fling, and the original image has her holding a sweet little carrot (it's a spring/Easter themed set).  But I wanted to make it a birthday card, so I cut off the carrot and replaced it with a cupcake from the Hullabaloo set.  I ordered this set after I saw Savannah O'Gwynn use this cupcake on the card she made for Carol's birthday in December - ADORABLE!  I also wanted to use embossing paste, tinted in pink, to give the look of *real* icing.  Added a little glossy accents to the cherry, and framed it with the Mama Elephant border die, and that was it.

And here's the sketch:

Come play along with me!  You will love this challenge!  Lisa's sketches are awesome.  They're not intimidating at all (they won't leave you tearing your hair out *trying* to make it work!) and they are a ton of fun to play with.  Here's the link again...promise, you won't be disappointed :)

Thanks so much for visiting me!!
Have a good rest of the day!!
Shannon

I am loving gold!

Hello!

So, I am loving the gold trend.  You can see it in my jewellery (of the *very* expensive costume type) and now you can see it in my card making.  I am loving my gold distress paint, my gold stickles and I just received some gold embossing powder, which I am in love with as well.  And a big reason for this fairly new found love, is Donna Mikasa.  She uses gold in a way that makes your heart skip a beat.  Did you know that Donna is the muse over at Case Study this month?!  It is an absolute treat to CASE her!  I was so disappointed that I didn't get a chance to play along last week, so this week it was a MUST!  The card for this week is an example of the most amazing - and I mean AMAZING - gold embossing I have ever seen.  Pure perfection.  Blended with yellows and pinks...it's a jaw dropper for sure!

Here's my take on it:

I ended up focussing on the colours more than the design.  I used one of my hearts background stamps from Wplus9, and stamped it continuously in light pink distress ink to create the background.  Then I spritzed it with water to get the distress inks running a bit.  After it was dry, I splattered on some yellow distress ink by smearing some ink on a plastic surface, adding water and then using a paint brush to flick it onto the panel.  It is a darker yellow, and almost looks gold itself, but that's okay.  Then I used my gold distress ink to frame it all up.  The angel is from Mama Elephant - she's coloured in Copics.  I LOVE this stamp set, but I wish it came with a "you are my/an angel" sentiment.  Easy fix though...just brought out my Lawn Fawn Milo's ABCs and created my own!  To finish it up, I created a banner, and smeared more gold distress ink over it, then added the PS "thank you".  I really liked the look of the banner - it actually looks like wood veneer!  Weird, huh?!!

And here's Donna's beauty:

I had originally wanted to make it more bold, just like Donna's card.  And I wanted to use my gold embossing powder to do that.  But, I did not realize just how different my golds were!  Um, VERY!  They don't go together, at all!  So after I used the distress paint to frame the base of the card, I was committed to just that gold.  Bringing in the embossing powder, or the stickles was not going to be an option.  But that's okay, I will save them for another card! 

And that's a wrap for today :)  Thank you so much for dropping by!!   It means a lot to me!!!
Shannon

Now that's a little closer to the sketch!

Hello!

You might remember a few days ago I posted a card that looked absolutely nothing like the Unscripted Sketch for this week that I had intended to follow!  I really wanted to try this sketch again, and make something that actually resembled it this time around!  The light bulb went off yesterday, when the new Card Concepts challenge came out.  The challenge was to use texture, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do, using texture to make the Unscripted Sketch work.

Here's what I came up with:

I used my embossing paste, and tinted it with my new Soft Pool Ink (I have been waiting to get this for so long!).  I used the same process to tint the paste as I did when I made this card (third card down in the post).  I noticed that Shari Carroll used the exact same process in a video she did a few days ago for Simon Says Stamp.  If you are interested in seeing how it's done, have a peek at the video.  It is so easy peasy!!  For the circle, I just gathered some twine into a circle and tied a bow at the top.  I've seen this done a few times now, and really love the look.  Especially when you don't want to cover something up, like the embossing in this case.  Then I just added the sweet Mama Elephant image and sentiment, and the card was done!

Here's the Unscripted Sketch (I think you'll agree that the card looks much more like the sketch now!):

And here's the Card Concepts challenge image:

Thanks so much, as always for coming to see me!! 
Have a good day!!
Shannon