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