Happy Easter

The newest Lawn Fawn release has cleaned out my tax refund, but the images are just SO cute I had to have most of them!  I'm actually proud that I didn't buy them all!  My family isn't religious at all, and most of my friends aren't either so I had no Easter stamps (except one other Lawn Fawn set, which is also SO cute) but you know we have to use the NEW stuff!  I love the bunnies in this set; you'll see them later.  This adorable Easter basket called my name for the first card I've made with all of my new Lawn Fawn goodies.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

What I Used to Make this Card:
White Card Base
Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes Petite Paper Pack, #LF1355
Lawn Fawn Outside In Easter Egg Stackables,  #LF1627
Lawn Fawn Eggstra Amazing Easter stamps, #LF1884
Lawn Fawn Eggstra Amazing Easter dies, #LF1885
Lawn Fawn Mushroom House dies, #LF1920 {I used the butterfly die out of this set}

Watercolor Paper {I use this}

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Zig Clean Color Brush Markers

Hero Arts Ink in Lavender {came with a MMH kit, but available in these sets}

Die-Namics Stitched Fishtail Sentiment Strips

Lavender Bow {from stash}

I started this card by using the egg shaped die cut to make a window on the front of the white base card.  I backed that opening with the watercolor paper {there are two shades of paper in this pack; I used the lighter shade} and set it aside to dry.  While my card base was drying, I stamped the basket, bunny, and

Another Look

eggs on water color paper, colored them in with my Zig markers, and cut them out.  I also cut the butterflies out of pastel colored paper.  I dug through my bows and found the lavender bow that matched my color scheme and fussed with it until I was happy with the size.

Once my card base was dry, I assembled the basket, added the bow, and glued it onto the card along with the butterflies.  I stamped the sentiment with matching ink, cut it out with the fishtail die, and adhered that to the front of the card, trimming off the ends since it was a wee bit too long.  I'm not a pastel type of person but I love the softness of this card.  It's going to my wonderful neighbor and I think she will just love it - mostly because she loves everything I make.  She's like a second mom to me, which is wonderful since my mom is blind and can't really appreciate the cards & gifts I give her.  I still make them for my mom, but I know it frustrates her that she can't see them.  Anyway, this card is all ready to hop on over to Helene's and wish her a Happy Easter! Thanks for reading & have a great day! Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Easter card in the following challenges:
Creative Friday - #228, Rabbit, eggs, Easter fun
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Spring Mood Board

Paper Funday - #4, Anything Goes, Option: Easter
The Card Concept - #113, Spring Celebration

Cuttlebug Mania - Make a Card w/ and Easter Egg on it
Dragonfly Dreams - Include an Animal

Christmas Owl Ornament

This little owl goes with the Christmas card I made for my neighbor Helen. When I visited her house I commented on the adorable little owls she had hanging here and there and she told me she collects owls.  That was all I needed to hear - I was on a mission! 

The Owl Die

I didn't have any owl stamps or owl anything so I was hunting for something to enable me to somehow add to her collection.  I honestly can't recall where I was when I found this cute little owl die by Impression Obsession but I fell in love right away.  I don't have much use for the graduation accessories that come with the set, but, who knows.  I may find a use for them yet. 




What I Used to Make this Creation:
Impression Obsession Owl Die, #DIE283-0
Ribbon for Hanging
Cut 2 (or 2 sets) of each of the following:
Owl Body out of Patterned Paper (if desired)
Wings out of Brown Card (match the patterned paper)
Beak out of Yellow Card
Feet out of Orange Card
Eyes out of White and Black Card
*Also cut a few more of the Owl Body to add Thickness. I just used heavy white cardstock.

I think he is adorable! 

As you can see I made him double sided so regardless of which way he is hanging he looks the same.  I anticipated this to be harder than it was.  Once I had the bodies all glued together (in hind sight I would cut the extra bodies out of brown cardstock) and the ribbon in place, I just used glue and set the wings and feet on each side at the same time.  I wasn't as precise with the eyes and the beak but I did try to line them up a bit. Due to the pattern on the paper, the die didn't emboss the wavy lines that are shown on the body die but they did show on the extra bodies I cut out to add the thickness.

I am going to tuck this little owl in her Christmas card and I hope she likes this little guy. I certainly enjoyed making him and I foresee myself making many owl cards in the future.  Thank you for taking the time to check out my Owl Ornament - I know this is a crazy time of year and I appreciate your comments! Fondly, Christi


I would like to enter my Owl Ornament in the following Challenges:
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - #309, Anything Goes
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 260 & 261 - Anything Goes w/ snippets
Love to Create Challenge - M - #25, Anything Mixed Media Goes

Colorful Cats Happy Birthday

My wonderful cousin has a birthday coming up and she has been so instrumental in my life that she is one person I make sure I send a card to. Last year she was here in Colorado visiting and you can see the card I made for her here.  This year she'll be spending Christmas with us and I am so excited! But, on with the card:

She is also a cat lover so I know she will adore the cute cats I made using the Newton Nook's Newton's Antics stamps and coordinating dies. I just cannot stop playing with these adorable kitties!

How I Made this Card:
Purple Square (5 1/4 x 5 1/4) Card Base
Newton's Nook Designs Newton's Antics Stamps & Die Set
Fabric that isn't really Fabric (see my explanation here)
Purple Glitter Paper
Derwent Inktense Water Color Pencils
Tombow Blender Pen from SU!
Silhouette Cameo 
Cut File
Various Shades of Purple & Pink Cardstock
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
Purple Ribbon
Distress Ink in Dusty Concord
Spellbinders Petite Labels One, S3-205

I found the "fabric". already dyed, in my stash.  I have no idea what I used to dye it with and it's very picky about the things it lets dye it.  So I cut it down to work with the purple square card, glued it on and set it under the floor tile I keep on my desk for embossing and holding things together.  While I let that sit, I stamped and die cut the cats from the Newton's Antics set and colored them in with the Derwent pencils & the blender pen.  Set them aside as well.  

I then decided I needed a bit of bling, so I cut out the Happy Birthday using my

Silhouette Cameo and glitter cardstock (ok, confession time - I scraped away the little dot for the i, so I improvised with some loose glitter and glue - shhhhhh) and the shadow out of regular card.  I glued the 2 pieces together.  I used a sentiment also included with the Newton's Antics set, stamped that in Dusty Concord and die cut it out, along with the next largest die, using Spellbinders Petite Labels One set.  

After playing around with the placement of things, I decided I needed a ribbon.

Now I don't typically play with ribbons - I have a hell of a time making my own bows and most of the time the ribbon does exactly what I don't want it to do. But, I threw caution to the wind and went for it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well it came out! It was a keeper.  So now I had all my elements cut, made, colored and stamped so I put the card together.  You can't really tell that that "fabric" is on the card in the pictures, but, in real life you can.  The card is already in the envelope and ready to mail since I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for about a week.  I am a terrific procrastinator, so the fact that I got this card done AND in the envelope means I get some chocolate ice cream tonight.  Well, maybe after I start packing!

I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial.  Thank you so much for popping by & I hope to see you soon - fondly, Christi Also, if you'd be so find as to consider following me - I am about 15 followers shy from meeting my goal of 100 new followers in 2015 :)

I am SO thrilled that the Cat Blog Hop decided to remain open for the weekend - that way I get to link up my card! In addition, I would like to enter my Colorful Cats Birthday Card in the following challenges:
Her Peaceful Garden - Cat Blog Hop
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' - Use Dies and/or Punches
The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - K is for Kitties!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Throwback (use a previous challenge, I used Stamp & Punch/Die Cut

Christmas Decorations at Craft-Room Challenges!

For challenge #90 at the Craft-Room Challenge, Hazel has chosen to inspire us to make Christmas Decorations - no cards. I have been intending to make ornaments for the three cats that I had to let go last year (they all lived to a ripe old age; Baby was 19, Spike was 19 and Boo was 17) and I know I did what was needed to for their sake.  What made it so much harder was I lost Spike on December 5th and then Boo on December 6th.  I truly intended on making all 3 ornaments, but, I only got to make one ornament because I got just too emotional to make all three.  I chose to make one for Boo first (and you can read a bit about him here).  Letting go of my furbabies is the worst part of being a pet parent, but the unconditional love, joy and laughter I get from my pets is priceless to me. And, I do have a houseful of five cats, so I am certainly never lonely for cat company. 

Big fat, happy Boo :)

What I Used to Make my Project:
Chipboard Ornament, 2  (I can't for the life of me recall where I got these, but they are about 4" at their widest spot)
Folk Art Acrylic Paint in Metallic Champagne, #675
Ribbon (the metallic gold ribbon was about 1 1/2" wide)
3D Enamel Gel in Satin Gold  (Mine came from Globecraft & Piccolo)
Embellishments
Krylon 18kt Gold Leafing Pen
Bulldog Clips (to hold it together while drying)
Your choice of picture

When I bought these round ornaments, I bought 6 of them so I could make 3 ornaments.  My goal was to cut out a portion of the center on 3 of them, and then use the other three as the backs of the ornament.  That was a great plan, except I have a terrible time cutting in circles - just another one of those things.  I enlisted help and got 3 of the ornaments cut & left three intact.  It helped that they didn't need to be smoothly cut.

 Once they were cut, I picked a pair and brainstormed how I was going to cover the chipboard - I wanted to use paper initially, but after conferring with my teamies, I chose to use ribbon.  So I cut a length of ribbon about as long as my arm (I never measure those kinds of things) and began wrapping it around the ornament with the hole in the center (I'm going to call that ornament the front piece and the back the back piece).  I liked the way the wrapped ribbon came out, and I did try some other ribbons on the other front pieces I had, but the gold looked the best to me. 

The Ribbon I used

I did have to re-wrap the end, up by the hanging piece a few times, but all in all I am satisfied with the results.   Before I glued the ribbon to the front, I colored the area where you put the hook with the Krylon Leafing Pen in case any of it showed.  Then I decided to use the 3D gel on the very top just to give some pop to it.  Once the 3D gel dried (I left it overnight) I glued the ribbon and moved on.

While the ribbon was drying I decided to paint the back portion in a nice, soft gold - Metallic champagne is the perfect name for this color - so the ornament would look finished, plus I think I am going to write a bit about Boo eventually on the back.  I edged the back piece with the Krylon Leafing Pen so all of the chipboard was now covered with something.  I set the back aside to dry.

It dried nicer than this - all the brush marks settled in.

Deciding what picture to use was another issue.  I have no children and I take LOTS of pictures of my cats.  But I found one where Boo is on "his table" (it really wasn't his table, but he adopted it and it became his table), where he'd hang out with me in Connecticut while I was in my art room.  He is fat and healthy in the picture and I felt it was a beautiful representation of him.  I printed out the picture on 4" x 6" photo paper, cut it to size, and sandwiched the 2 pieces of the ornament around the picture.  A bit of glue has seeped onto the top of his picture, and I am sure it would have been fine IF I left it alone, but no - I had to try to wipe it off. 

The red circle shows were the glue is peeking out

I found out what happens when you use a baby wipe on a photo printed picture - it takes the color off.  Yup.  I tried to color in where the color was rubbed off, but the photo paper kept resisting every marker I tried to use.  Mortified that the ornament wasn't going to be perfect, I ripped it apart and printed another picture.  Glued that picture over the ruined picture and sandwiched the ornament again.  I found that the back piece warped a bit so I needed to use some bulldog clips, spaced around the circle, to hold the ornament all together while it dried.

Lastly, I took an old embellishment from my stash (I think it is a part of an earring) and placed that at the top of the ornament.  All the emotion and trouble was worth it because I adore this creation of mine.  I think Boo looks like the handsome kitty he was and this was a fantastic way to remember him.  Maybe I'll be able to make the other 2 ornaments after all.  We'll see. 

Another view - this one is a bit more sparkly

Thank you SO much for reading all of this - I know I over shared, but sometimes that's what I have to do.  I hope you will share your creations with us at Craft-Room Challenge (PLEASE read our pesky rules!) – you have two whole weeks to enter, so get going!  Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my ornament in the following challenges: 
Crafty Ribbons (w) - Challenge #107,  Animals at Christmas plus Ribbon
CCEE Stampers (w) - Photos & Photography 
The Mirror Crack'd (m) - #3, Christmas Decorations
Unruly PaperArts (m) - RAQ - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Naughty or Nice Challenges (November) - #9, Festive Furballs
Fairy Tale Challenge - #105, Animal Christmas

Autumn Candle for Anything But a Card

For my “Anything Goes” Project at Anything But a Card I decided to make my mother a centerpiece for her table.  Since I have five cats decorating here is a challenge so I often give my projects to my mom.  Besides, she is my #1 fan.  I started with a plain pillar candle that I bought years ago (I have boxes and boxes of candles – I just love them so much!) and spruced it up a bit for the fall season.  Here is my Fall Candle for challenge #41:

 

What I Used to Make my Project:

Sequin Leaves (gold, red, orange)

Pillar Candle

Heat Gun

Ribbon (Dollar Store)

Mini Wooden Sign Embellishment

Leaves to adorn the top of the ribbon (Dollar Store)

Straight Pin, preferably with colored top

 

The sequins

I wanted to make something that my mom could actually use; in this case actually light.  So I had a theory about the sequins and I needed to see if it would work. I took my heat gun (now, I have a Weller Heat gun, it is actually used for paint stripping - I think - so it is HOT. However, please use caution regardless of what heat gun you use) and I heated a spot on the candle and stuck a sequin leaf in the soft wax.  Some of sequins held on the first try, some didn’t.  If a leaf fell off, I just reheated the spot and stuck it back on (it helped that my candle had sort of a rustic look to it) and then I heated the spot a bit more to “set” the leaf.   I found out that sequins melt really quickly, so if you need to set your sequins, you must reheat them with just a quick burst of heat. I let the candle sit for a few hours and then reattached the leaves that fell off when I picked it up. 

 

Close up of the cute sign

Then I cut a length of ribbon that matched the autumn theme of the candle.  I simply tied it in a bow – my ribbon was wired so the bow didn’t fall exactly like I wanted it to, but, it looked pretty.  Then I notched the ribbon ends and glued the wooden plaque onto the ribbon, not the candle. 

Lastly I used a straight pin with a red top to pin the three silk like leaves to the top of the ribbon. Being able to remove the large silk leaves was very important, since if they stayed on I am sure they would of been a fire hazard.  Everything

else can stay on the candle while it is being used as long as it isn't left unattended.  The ribbon is tied on, not glued on and the wooden plaque is glued to the ribbon.  As the candle melts the sequins should just fall with the melted wax. Besides, who knows how many of them will be left by the time I give it to her (just kidding - I hope!) 

There you have it! Honestly the entire project took me about an hour, and the longest part was getting the sequins to stick, as they would initially stick, and once the wax was cooled, they'd fly off. But they are fine if you don’t touch them (hehehehe).  In spite of the minor sequin trouble, I think this candle came out lovely! And I am proud to say I didn't buy a thing for this project; everything came from my stash (not going to say how I celebrated as it may incriminate me). There is still plenty of time to get your muse going and to make a project for Anything But a Card – as it says on the blog, “Whatever strikes your cre8tive fancy” (but, no cards!).  Fondly, Christi

I am entering my candle in the following challenges:
Allsorts - Anything But a Card
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #106, Winter Holiday & Ribbon
Quick Quotes Challenge - #45, Gratitude
Not Just Cards Challenge - #6, Anything Goes

Celebrate Red, White and Blue

I don’t normally make 4^th of July cards, but I had an idea brewing for a while now and I decided to try it out and see if it would work.  Plus I had this red, white & blue ribbon that I had bought when I was a dem for SU! (and that was at least 15 years ago) and I have never used it.  So, what do you get when you have an idea and old ribbon? This card! {Warning! Adorable cat picture at the end of this post!}

The orange is actually red

What I Used to Make this Card:

White Cardstock

Red, white & blue ribbon, 3/8” wide (like I said, I used SU! but they discontinued it)

Crafters’ Pick glue

Tim Holtz StampersAnonymous “Simple Sayings” set, #CMS155

Karen Foster Design Sparkle Brads

Acrylic Red and Blue Stars

Blue Cardstock Base

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Silhouette Cameo Cut file of rockets

Hand Held Hole Puncher that has a very tiny hole (not the kind to make paper fit in a 3 ring binder)

First I had covered a spare piece of white cardstock with the ribbon.  I did this a while before I made the card but all I did was glue the ribbon to the cardstock.  Once it was dry, I trimmed it to the size I wanted and then “sealed” the edges with glue so the ribbon wouldn’t fray. That was my idea to test, as I have a hoard of ribbon that I never use - I need to start using it! And it came out better than I expected.  

Huge spool of ribbon                                                      Ribbon attached to paper

      

Close up of the brads

I literally have had the Karen Foster brads for at least 10 years and I had to find them since they didn’t fit where I had stored my other brads.  That wasn’t easy! But find them I did, so once the ribbon panel was completely dry I figured where on the card I wanted the 2 brads to be placed, punched a hole and attached them.  The next step was the rocket cut outs that I made with my Silhouette Cameo, using white cardstock.  It was a free file I got from somewhere – I haven’t got a clue as to where.  After fiddling with them, I glued them down.

 

Fiddling with placement

Next, I stamped the full stamp from the Simple Sayings set that said, “just celebrate” in the Jet Black ink.  I cut the “just” off and adhered the “celebrate” to the lower left hand corner of the card.  Lastly, I dug out some of my acrylic stars in red & blue, placed them where I thought they looked good, glued them on, then glued the ribbon panel, with all the attachments to a card base I made of blue cardstock.  It’s a simple card, but I think it is pretty, with all the sparkles and such.  I know the perfect little girl to send this to!

Also, I announced a couple months back I would be having a giveaway.  My Blogaversary has passed, but I haven’t been able to get it together enough to have my giveaway, yet.  I do have tons of goodies to giveaway, and I will be doing it eventually, but honestly it probably won’t happen until September.  I figure since this is my blog, I can have the giveaway any time I want, despite it being a Blogaversary celebration.  So stay tuned! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed my card! Christi

 

Another View

 And, since I actually got a good picture of Mew (it is so hard to get a good picture of a black cat!!) I thought I'd share her & Junior being patriotic ~ 

I am thrilled to enter my card into the following challenges:
Crafty Girls Challenge - #21, Anything Goes
DL.Art Thankful Thursday - #135, Patriotic Challenge
Red Carpet Studio - #73, Born on the Fourth of July
Pumpkin Spice - #77, Red, White & Blue
My Sheri Crafts - A Star is Born (Use 2 or More Stars)
Cupcake Inspirations  - #267, Picture Inspiration 

 

Love Candle Holder for Anything But a Card

Love Candle Holder for Anything But a Card Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32

When one of my teamies came up with the idea of doing a Tic Tac Toe challenge I was all for it! I volunteer on a blog that lists challenges and I have seen quite of few of then & I think its fun to make things guided by a few rules.  Not too many rules, just a few.  Here is the Tic Tac Toe board we used:

**Disclaimer - I had pictures of the whole process for this post but they have magically disappeared! So what you are actually seeing are pictures after the project was done. 

While thinking of what I wanted to create and how I wanted to incorporate the challenge into my project , I was actually leaning toward an “un valentine” theme of some sort – like maybe a wall hanging to celebrate someone’s divorce, but the closer it got to Valentine’s Day the more I wanted to stretch myself and make something happy.  While digging through my stash I spied my glass square candle holder the idea just clicked in place!  I used the middle line, vertical, for this; Recycled the tin can, my faux velvet heart and the black is the ink. 

What I used to make my LOVE candle holder:

• 1 clear glass square candle holder (2 ½” all around)
• Alcohol Inks in shades of red (I used Ranger & TRIA refills)
• Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution
• Ranger Blending Tool with felt
• Scrap from one soda can (I have a bunch of cans all cut up and ready to use)
• LOVE word stamp, manufacturer unknown
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
• Globecraft & Piccolo 3D Enamel Gel in Mars Black
• Scrap of waxed paper or non-stick craft sheet
• Faux velvet ribbon
• Silhouette CAMEO
• E6000 or industrial strength glue
• Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Glue

First, I washed the candle holder with rubbing alcohol to remove any residue on the glass.  Then I just began adding splotches of alcohol ink (using my blending tool and blending solution.  I love that alcohol ink dries so fast because that lessens a chance of me making the colors muddy.  So I colored my holder and set it aside to dry (overnight – I let lots of things dry overnight).

Then I needed to see if my Silhouette CAMEO would be able to cut the faux velvet ribbon.  I cut a few lengths off the roll (yes, I have a roll of it), went into my designing software & re-sized a heart to the size I wanted, stuck the ribbon on the mat and ran it through.  It took some tweaking with the blade, but finally I got all my hearts cut out.  Since these were to be put on last I put them aside.

This is the Faux Velvet Ribbon

Stamping on metal can be tricky because the metal is so smooth; it’s definitely easier than glass, but you still need to beware of possible slippage.  I took my scrap soda can and carefully stamped LOVE about 5 times using the Jet Black ink.  I let that dry.

I wanted something to look like the metal pieces were attached on to the glass holder, my first thought was to take the folding “legs” off some brads and just glue the tops on.  But the heads of the only black brads I had were too small.  So I made my own.  I took my 3D Enamel Gel and just made rows of little dots on my wax paper.  Some of them came out too thin and looked grey, but the more I tried, the easier it became to make them the size I wanted.  Again, these dried overnight.

Then I cut my metal can where the LOVE was stamped.  I used my paper cutter for this but I don’t think all paper cutters are strong enough to handle the metal.  I have a Genesis Trimmer, I have had this thing for at least 16 years and I haven’t even had to change the blade on it.  Yes, it was costly, but I feel the investment was a good one and it has paid for itself over & over again.  If you are interested in more information about them I highly suggest you go to Bonnie’s Best page HERE .  

Once I had all my metal trimmed around my LOVE sentiment and the gel drops were dry I glued the dots to the metal. To me, they look just like if I had used a real brad!  Gluing the metal onto the glass was the hardest thing for me because I have a love/hate relationship with E6000 glue.  I love the way it really makes things stick to each other but I hate the way it seems to get everywhere!  But I had to use it, so I smeared some on the back of the metal panels and stuck them onto the glass, one on each side.  I wrapped rubber bands around the panels to lessen the chance of them bending up and leaving sharp corners (remember, soda cans spend their life in a can position and I was essentially causing the metal to bend the other way). 

I still have some corners and if I had to worry about anyone getting hurt I would have glossed the whole candle holder, with the metal attached, really thickly – like using a resin – but I don’t have any little hands looking to get cut and if I am careful I should be OK.  The elastics did help bond the metal to the glass so that worked well.  Lastly I attached my faux velvet hearts to each side, under the LOVE.  Done!!

I tried a battery operated tea light and it didn’t give off enough light so for this I think I’ll use a regular votive candle until I can get a battery operated one – can I just say I had NO IDEA that there were SO many battery operated candles!! And some of them even have scent! Ah-Maz-Zing!  

I took a bunch of pictures & it is REALLY hard to get one of something that is lit!

I hope you have enjoyed what the Design Team at Anything But a Card has created using the Tic Tac Toe challenge.  There is still time to enter so go ahead get inspired, then create and ENTER!

Thanks!
Christi

I would like to enter this glass candle holder in the following challenges:
Cut It Up - #38, Valentine's Day
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes 
2 Creative Chicks - Re-Purpose Glass
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Craft My Life (All Crafts Challenge) - Feb/March Anything Goes