Card Making: Easter Card #6

When I saw this image in BW, I wanted to color it right away! When I did, I wasn't so happy with the result because the colors were too flashy and intense for me, and I didn't know what to do with it, but then I had an idea: I colored it lightly with the Ranger Antique Linen distress ink and the effect was just what I wanted (without knowing it!), it took a light yellowish tint, like pages from an old book, so vintage looking! Then I mounted it with foam pads on a piece of white cardstock that I had already colored with the Tattered Rose distress ink, I also accented the edges with a dark brown Copic and then adhered the lot on the card using foam pads once more, it gave a 3d look to the card.
For the card base I used light green cardstock but decided to give it an aged look, so I colored it with Bundled Sage distress ink, I also used a Tim Holtz mask.
Last detail the ribbon, I colored it with my copics because I wanted it more coral pink, I also added the pearls. It was missing something, so I decided to use one of Tim Holtz's Fragments, I had already printed some vintage postcards I found online and adhered a piece behind the fragment using Ranger's Glossy Accents. Then I made it into a pendant and tied it behind the ribbon with some DMC embroidery floss after coloring it with my copics because I wanted it to match the ribbon.
I must confess, I seriously LOVE my copics!

Card Making: Easter Card #5

This time I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder after inking it with distress ink. Then I stamped with Stazon on a thin transparent plastic sheet and colored the butterflies with my copics.
For the card base, I covered it with a piece of tulle and then inked it with distress inks. Then I removed the tulle and stamped on the card base with the Hero Arts Old Letter stamp using the same distress ink.
Finally  I cut the colored image and adhered it on foam squares and then added the Happy Easter I did with my Dymo on a cardstock strip and...ready!

Card Making: Easter Card #4

Well, this started not as a card but as an experiment in Claudine Hellmuth's products, in particular I bought the Mat Medium and the white color. So I mixed them and added a drop of Ranger Broken China and started playing with the brush. Then I added some strokes of brown and some greens, and I liked the impromptu sky view so I stamped a little bird and adhered it on a foam square.
Then I added some Crackle Accents on the corners, I must confess that this is my least favorite Ranger product, I can't make it work the way I want.
I finished the "experiment" and didn't want to waste it, so I adhered it on cardstock and made this card, I also accented the edges with the Pumice Stone distress ink. Then I thought to experiment a little more and did some machine stitching for the first time!
A not so ordinary easter card, maybe I should add a flying chicken!LOL!!!

Card Making: Easter Card #3

In this card I ventured a bold color for the card base, that is a dark but vibrant red. Then I thought to combine it with green, so I used distress inks on a piece of white cardstock and then stamped on it with a Hero Arts Designblock stamp and cut the edges with a round punch.
When I mounted it on the red card, the contrast was too much for me, so I stamped on it with white ink and the Hero Arts Old Letter background stamp (on second thought I should probably have used ivory and not white...)
The combination was perfect for mounting the image, it is a freebie that I colored with my copics. Then I faced the dilemma: how do I adhere it to the card??? So I had the idea to use the tulle I recently purchased from Jumbo, so I colored it first with distress inks, then adhered the image on top with foam squares and...ready!

Crafter's Net: Craft Critique Spring Blog Carnival

Quick post:

Goodmorning guys, I just wanted to share with you that Craft Critique has quite a few links of fellow crafters/blogers with spring projects in the Spring Blog Carnival post and among them you can find a link to my spring projects!

Check out the post, lots of links with beautiful/interesting stuff.

Card Making: Flowers for U

I made this card for the name day of a friend of mine. After stamping and coloring the Tilda with my copics, I stamped again but this time I colored only a few roses and the tiny butterfly, I cut them and adhered on top of the colored image with tiny foam squares.
Then I had the idea to do a little something on the lower left corner of the pp (K & Co), that is to do some stitching with green twine, but the result wasn't to my liking and this part of the pp was a disaster. So I thought to try something else prior to tossing it in the garbage: I cut the lower left corner with a round nestabillities die and guess what, it worked! I also cut a smaller circle and when I positioned everything in place it came out so cute!
The detail I like the most is the button, I glued a Basic Grey alpha sticker underneath a clear button and adhered the lot on tulle that I had already cut with a nestabillities die.
I think my friend will love it!

Card Making: Easter Card #2 and Shaker Box Tutorial

I liked my first shaker card so much that I decided to make another one, I'm so glad you liked it too girls!
Here's the finished card:

And the little bunny in the spotlight! (LOL)

So let's start:
1) I prepared the parts of the card, that is I cut a window in my card (after coloring it with distress inks, stamping on the inside and spraying the front with the water-Perfect Pearls mix, you know, the works). I also cut an oval shape about 1/4 of an inch larger than my focal image (freeby bunny that I printed and colored with my copics) and cut the acetate piece also at 1/4 of an inch larger than my focal image. I also cut a scallop frame.

2) Tip #1: I found this mesh like thing at Jumbo and I tried to use it with distress inks (on a piece of pattern cardstock I had already cut with the MS Trellis border punch) in order to make a pattern, really cool result!

 3) Then I cut tiny thick foam pads in half and adhered them around the acetate piece, thank god I remembered to remove the protective sheet first! (LOL)

4) Tip #2. Do you like chunky glitter? I do nowdays but don't have any. So I made some!!! This is how:
I used two small leftovers from the acetate piece I had cut and covered them with Ranger's Glossy Accents. Then I covered the one with green Flowersoft and the other with glitter and did the same on the other side too. I left them to dry for half and hour and then cut them randomly in tiny pieces. How cool is that??? Especially the gliter ones are awesome in real life!

5) I put them inside the acetate frame and then adhered on top the colored image facing down, sealing the tiny pieces inside the shaker box.

6) Next step, I adhered it on the card window using Ranger's Glossy Accents on the perimeter and I colored the back so as to be more uniform with the inside of the card.

Finally I adhered the borders and the flowery Happy Easter and...ready!

Card Making: Easter Card #1

This is the first of the easter cards I'm making this year, the image is a color freebie I printed and colored on top with my copics.
For the backround I used a Hero Arts Designblock stamp with blue distress ink. Then I cut the window with my nesties and then I thought to make it a kind of shaker card, so I cut a round piece of acetate slightly larger than the window of my card, adhered all around the acetate piece tiny thick foam squares and adhered the colored image on the foam squares. Before sealing it completely I threw inside some very tiny pieces of green cardstock and the two red flowers. Then I adhered the lot behind the window.
For the bottom I just used a leftover I had already cut with the MS Flower Bed punch and for the final touch, I added the Happy Easter sign and...ready!

 

Layouts: February 2010

This layout is about a masquerade party that took place in February and I chose the backround paper because it matched perfectly my costume! The frame in the middle was cut with a sizzix die on a pink cardstock piece that I accented with distress inks and sprayed with the Perfect Pearls water mix for some shine.

I made this little book for my journaling, I had so much fun making it!
I cut a piece of pink cardstock, used distress inks and also frayed the edges with the Tim Holtz distress tool (I finally got one) and then sprayed it with the Perfect Pearls water mix.
Then I stamped on a white glossy paper with the Hero Arts Old Leter ruber stamp using red distress ink.I also used distress inks for the edges and a brown copic.
For the corners I used a round punch, I just eyeballed the piece I would cut.
Then I added the labels, I got myself two Dymo labelers from Plaisio, one in greek and one in english, this one cost me 11 euros, and guess what, you can use plain cardstock strips as long as you cut them at 9mm width, you just sand them lightly after the punching of the letters.
And that's what I did,  and if you use white core cardstock the contrast is more intense! You can also use the Dymo 3d tapes, unfortunately the color range is restricted to black, red, yellow, orange, green and blue.
My favorite element is the butterfly, I stamped it with Stazon on a piece of acetate and then colored it with my copics, I also added some stickles underneath it for some shine.
I also hid a secret photo behind it, I always like such elements on layouts.

And I enjoyed so much being a queen for a night!LOL!!!

Project: Easter Basket Tutorial

If you liked the easter basket, here's how you can make one too!

1) I cut 3 strips of paper, the outside decorative strip I cut with the Martha Stewart Flower Bed deep edge punch is an inch and a half wide, the green one is 2 and a half and the pink one is 3 inches. Then I placed one strip on the other and decided that I didn't like the sizes so I narrowed a bit the green strip. I scored on the last two measuring about half an inch from the straight end and then made little fringes with the scissors. The fringes will be glued on the round piece. In order to cut the round piece I used the largest nestabillitie from the large set. I also used distress inks.

2) I adhered the srip on the circle

3) Then I adhered the inside strip

4) Then I adhered the decorative strip and cut the fringes on the pink paper

5) Then I didn't like the inside of the basket, it seemed too plain to me, so I cut two circles, the green one the same size with the base circle and then trimmed it with the scissors so as to make it fit inside after adhering on top the patterned one. Then I cut anothed strip using the border punch, accented the edges with green distress inks and put it in place. I also used the bone folder to bend the pink strips and added some pink distress ink on top.

6) Then I used the Fiskars Threading Water border punch on a 12 inches long strip, I punched the one side from one end to the other, then cut it at one inch width and punched the other side too. I also cut 2 very narrow strips from the pp, one for underneath the green one and the other to be placed on top the green one.
Then I added the handle on the basket.

7) I used this cute little stamp and then I adhered it with foam pads on a larger round piece of paper. Then I made the "happy easter" strip using white paper and distress inks. I adhered it on the basket with foam pads, on the exact spot where the edges of the decorative strips meet, so the "seam" is not visible.

8) And here's the final result:

Ok, I think I overdid it a bit, but still, isn't it cute?

Project: Easter Basket

I had some leftovers from the photo frame project and there was one I wanted to use in something, that was a strip of pp that I had already punched with the Martha Stewart Trellis border punch, about 5 inches long and didn't use it.
So I was fooling around with it, not sure how I could use it, when I bent it and formed a circle. Easter coming, I had the idea to use it in order to make a kind of basket, so I started experimenting:
I made a base by cutting a circle on cardstock at a size that the punched strip I started with would cover all around it. Then I realized that there was no way to adhere the border on the base, so I cut a strip of green cardstock about an inch and a half  width and adhered that first on the base. The trick is to cut narrow fringes about a quarter of an inch deep, so as to glue theese fringes on the base following the round shape.
Then I didn't like the way it looked and used my scissors to cut irregular fringes on the upper part too.
Then I adhered the punched border around it, but it was still missing something. So I decided to add a handle, I just glued together two narrow strips, a pp on top of a cardstock strip.
Then I made two little bows and fastened them with some hidden stitches on the left and right of the handle.

Then it still seemed to me it needed a little something, so I used a wider strip of pink paper and adhered it inside the basket after making fringes to that too. I also accented the edges with red distress ink.
Final step, I threw inside the basket some crumbled pieces of pink paper and sprinkled the lot with the water and Perfect Pearls mixture for some shine. I didn't add anything else on this, and now I see it again, not too bad for an experiment!!!
If I'm not too lazy, I'll make a few for easter gifts for my friends and if I actually do this, I'll take photos of the steps so you 'll be able to make one if you like it!