DragonflyBirthday: Alighting on Pink, more Pink and Green

When it comes to a special, dear girl in my life, I try to include her favorite colors for any cards I make for her.  Girl = pink and purple, and I threw in a bit of cheery yellow and green,   I've done a many layered, all one-colored card before, each layer with a different texture.  Although it turned out fantastic, I don't look forward to another one, so that's why adding more color to her request of her constant duo of pink and purple colors.  I just sat at my creating table and thought, and thought, of what I could do that this gal hasn't seen before.  I walked to my stash of paper, saw something that caught my eye, and began from there and my imagination began to soar.  I never once, from that point, faltered on what I was going to do.  Boy! Howdy!  I love when that happens.  Let's take a fly-over of the finished card.

I love that it screams out--in a nice voice--happiness and cheeriness.  When she open the envelope and saw the card inside, she "oooo'ed and ahhhhh-ed".  Just what every cardmaker wants to hear.  Will I be able to out-do this one?  Maybe........ maybe not, but she won't care.  She knows I'll do my best to make her something she loves, and that's that.

Thanks for viewing, and please leave a COMMENT about your special girl or boy.

Ballerina: Glittered on Pink

I'm guessing that all of us card makers have had to do a quick and easy card at sometime through our creative journey.  Sometimes, these cards are harder for me to make since mine are usually a one-layer or close to being a one-layer card.  I was a tween girl's birthday, she loves to dance, and she loves pink.  That wasn't new news to me.... pink and dance being a young girl's favorite things.  And what little girl doesn't like glitter?  Pink was easy to assemble, dancing was easy to put with it, but to make it explode into something great?  Could that be glitter?  I used a glue pen outlining the ballerina's dress, and tapped some glitter onto it.  I didn't get but maybe a bottle rocket explosion, so, let's take a look.

Yep, not the big rockets that create a very loud noise, but maybe a small bottle rocket.  The girl was thrilled with it and kept it on her nightstand for several months.  During those several months, I've learned much about tips and trick, techniques and coloring that would cause my imagination to soar a bit higher.  We'll get to those more recent-made cards in the future, or you can look at the previous two postings.  I want to include some of my early pieces at the beginning of this blogland experience of mine.

Speaking of a card made during the beginning of my card making several years ago, here comes another.  This, too, was for a birthday, but this time for a 3-year-old boy.  It was totally done with the Cricut and a cartridge.

The boys I know love these kinds of cards, especially with their name on it.  I think they like how it is put together--like construction work--and how it layers.  You see from the time stamp that this was a few years back, and I sure didn't seem to know how to take a good picture.  Can't say I'm much better today, but at least I put more effort into it.  It's so hard (the effort) to push that button to take the picture  :)

I've not made a Cricut card in a long time, and I think I just might pull the ol' Cricut out and explore and see where my imagination flies. I know there's all sorts of super embellishments on those cartridges that are put onto cards today.

Have a great day, COMMENT below about the very young kids you make cards for, and may all your goodnesses be blessed.

Using the Bottom

If you read the previous post, this one is a follow-up to that.  I've used the same die--the MFT Floral Fusion, but instead of using the waxed paper layer of this cutout, I used the cardstock layer.  When using dies, I sandwich them together like this:  Bottom is cardstock, Middle is waxed paper, and the Top is the die.  In the previous post, I showed the image using the waxed paper layer--today is the cardstock layer.

This time I remembered to use dimensionals between the base and the next layer, which I was happy about.  I also used the Sakura Jelly Roll Glitter Pen in clear to color in the flower centers and also some of the petals.    It's always satisfying to get a project completed and send it on to the recipient.

This card is for an anniversary of a couple I've known many years, and we get together with 8-10 people every month and play all sorts of board, card, and dice games.  We used to have this gathering at night, but we'd want to play into the very late hours, sometimes the wee hours, so we changed it to brunch, and then the games begin.  It's a potluck kind of deal, and everyone is a great cook or baker.

Here's an up-close image to show off the Sakura glitter pen, but I think it's quite visible already in the first image.

Please COMMENT below about your favorite coverall die, and may all your goodnesses be blessed.

Floral Fusion meets Waxed Paper

I needed to make an anniversary card.  I didn't want to detract from the image, so I decided against a sentiment on the front, and used a "happy anniversary" sentiment on the inside.  I began by making a die cut of one of my favorite dies..... the MFT Floral Fusion.  Because I put waxed paper between the cardstock and the die, I saw, while riding my imagination, that I could actually try to use the waxed paper cutout on a second card.  Waxed paper!  On a card?  On the front of the card?  Ohhhhh yeeeeaaaaah (smoothly spoken in my mind).  Don't forget, I use a small Sony digital camera.  Here's the picture of the waxed paper cutout applied to a sponged layer piece of cardstock.

The layer card was sponged, then SU Shimmer Spray Vanilla was applied.  The image above, as usual, doesn't show the shimmer but I know it's there somewhere.  Here's the close up that showed the shine.

I am thrilled with how this simple card turned out. It's pretty and delicate.  The female recipient will gently handle it (she's a cardmaker as well), but the male?  Not sure.    One more image from the other direction, and durn.... a mistake.  I actually noticed it AFTER adhering the layer onto the base, but it was too late by then.  I wanted to throw a couple or eight dimensionals between the layers just to add another uhmmmmm... might I say dimension?

I intend on getting better with picture taking and placement of the light, but where else will you get a brightness to the center of the card like you see above?  I have to say that I will always rethink whether to use or toss the waxed paper cutout.  I know everytime I die cut, I will be using the cardstock + waxed paper + die, giving me the ride through my imagination.

COMMENT below about if you have used wax paper on cardstock, or if you plan on using wax paper on the front of your future cards.  A blessed day to you.

Cuttlebug's Flourished Box and Have a Sit-Down

This is a "thinking of you" card I made for a friend in my Ladies' Bible Study.  Instead of a letter, I made this card and wrote what I would generally write in a letter.  It's so much prettier than paper and pen, and means more to the recipient since it was made specifically for her.

For you, viewer, I think this picture should come through clearly.  I don't use fancy smancy equipment, just my little Sony digital.  I have a few upcoming cards that look a bit unclear, so please bear with me--a newcomer to blogland.  Also, it looks like the edges have had paperclips on them.  Now that looks uncomely, and that won't happen again.

On this card I used an embossing folder from Cuttlebug titled Flourished Box, and smack in the middle of the embossed rectangle, I put in a stamp from an old SU set called Feathered Friends. This is one of my favorite embossing folders to put an image in, and I like the idea of a one-layer card.  I need more creativity to make them not look so blah.  One-layer cards are a challenge that I look forward to because if I can make a great one-layer card, that would be a feat for me.

COMMENT below and tell me about your favorite embossing folder,  Have much peace and go forth with confidence.

One Layer Graditude

This ivory and light brown one-layer card was made for a person that had done a bit of work around my house without wanting anything in return.  I was deeply touched and prayed that his goodnesses were mightily blessed.

The card seemed too elementary with just the plant and the sentiment, so I grabbed a ruler and drew on a couple lines--with each line being a different color of the brown family.

Let me know what you think about making one-layer cards by COMMENTING below.  May all your goodnesses be blessed.