Girl with flowers

Look out digi world here I come! tee hee :-)  My girlfriend Diane got me into coloring...and hopefully I'll be making my colored images into cards really soon!  Here's one I did recently.  The image is from Softpencil.  Go check them out!  Very cute stuff! 

Tools used: Cuttlebug - die cutting and Nestabilities; Delight in Life stamp set from SU; Prismacolor pencils; flowers & brads

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In the end, there are only two things to worry about:

either you are well or you are sick.

When you're well, there is nothing to worry about.

But if you're sick, then there are two things to worry about:

either you get well or you will die.

When you get well, there is nothing to worry about.

But when you die, then there are two things to worry about:

either you'll go to heaven or you'll go to hell.

When you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about.

But when you go to hell, you'll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends,

you won't have time to worry!

Valentine's Bookmarks

Instead of doing the typical valentines or candy for my daughter's class this year, I used my trusty Silhouette machine to make some valentine bookmarks.  My daughter really liked them and they were so easy to do!  I cut a sheet out of hearts, and two sheets out of the mats.  On top of the mat I put a white bookmark and then I added the heart on top.  My daughter signed all of them (she's 5) and wrote out the girls' names, but she wanted me to write the boys' LOL.

p.s. I have the file saved - it's a gsd file - if you're interested email me and I can send it to you. 

Tools used: Silhouette

Eye shadow on a card?

On the suggestion of my friend Darcy, I used some old eye shadow (don't ask my why I still have this stuff when I don't wear it lol) with my block stencils to create this card.  Instead of using chalks I used the eye shadow and although you can't see it from the pictures, it's really a nice shimmery color which I think added a nice element to the card.  A little ribbon and bling and I was done.  Enjoy!

Tools used: Silhouette, ribbon punch

My first sliceform

I made this card for my mother-in-law's b-day.  It was my first attempt at a sliceform.  If you just read that and said to yourself, 'what's a sliceform?', you can read all about them below the pictures.  I'll paste the explanation from the wonderful lady, Jennie, who created this vase file!  Speaking of which, you can find her vase file here.  Jennie offers it in a variety of formats - I used the gsd format, naturally LOL.   

For this card, I cut everything out on one piece of peach colored paper.  The flowers I colored in with Prismacolor pencils.  The stems and random pieces of grass I stamped with a green ink spot and then used my blender pen to soften it up a bit, but to allow the lines from the ink spot to show as if it were the veins running through the grass and stems and to give it some faux texture.  The tops of the flowers were adhered to the card with pop-dots while the stems were just placed into the vase.  I embossed a piece of green cardstock for the background.  I hope you like it! I'm looking forward to see what else I can create from Jennie's very cool creations!

Tools used: Silhouette, Cuttlebug, Prismacolor pencils, blender pen, embossing folder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is a Sliceform?


A sliceform is an object normally made totally from paper, where all the different parts slot together (normally no glue is ever needed apart from any embellishments) to form a 3D object. These sliceforms fold totally flat with the simple push of a finger, making them perfect for including inside a card which has to be mailed to a friend or loved one,or even inside a pocket on a scrapbook page. Then either by lifting the sliceform, or again pushing it with your fingers, it will pop back into its 3D form.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubby's b-day card

I find it challenging to make 'men' cards, but I think this one came out okay.  I used the diamond plate embossing folder for the background and some 'screw' brads in the corners.  The sentiment is from JustRite Stampers.  The silver stuff is like sticky paper that I came across.  I cut a strip to use down the center of the card.  I also covered a punched circle in it to mat the sentiment.  The second picture was taken to show that I used a pop-dot for the circles to give the card a little more dimension. 

Tools used: JustRite Stampers, Cuttlebug, Embossing folder

Cooper's 1st b-day card

This is a card I made for my husband's Godchild who had his first birthday last month.  It was the first pop-up card I've made with a file I purchased from the Silhouette online store.  The pop-ups are so fun!  This train was designed by Rivka (check out her blog here).  She's a Silhouette designer and has some fantastic designs! I can't wait to use more!  I have purchased some more of her pop-up files and when I create cards with them I'll post here.  Until then... you can enjoy this one :-)  (The signatures on the card are from my 3 and 5 yr olds.)

Tools used: Silhouette

Block Stencils

For these cards I took two blocks of the block stencil kit and enlarged them to 2.5x2.5" each.  They come either in the sheet, or as individual blocks, so once I enlarged them and centered them on a rectangle (4.25x5.5") I removed the outline of the block so that the stencil part would stay on the paper I was making for my card.  This created the centerpiece, if you will, for my cards.

For the hearts card I cut a frame out using my nesties and cuttlebug and put it over the stencil part.  I used a scrap piece of red paper to put behind the hearts.  Chalked the border of the paper I cut on my Silhouette and then stamped "love" and added some flowers to the end.  Voila!

For this card I followed the same kind of thing as above, but instead of the red paper, I used - get this - a part of the blue plastic bag that covers our paper each week.  Good way to recycle, right? :-)  I was going for more of a stained glass look.  I wanted the blue to really show through, but I wanted it on a black card, so I layered the blue plastic and then white paper behind the stencil (blue plastic on black would've been too dark).  Then I added bling, a ribbon, a stamped sentiment and then adhered to the black card and I was done!  Well, except that it's hard to write on black, so I put a white piece of paper inside to write a note on.

Tools used: Stencils, Silhouette, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Flower Stencil sample

Here's a card I made using Darcy's Floral Stencil Kit.  One of the things I love about this kit is that it's so versatile!  You can mix and match and make any kind of flower you want.  Also included in the file are mats for the flowers too.  Very cool! 

In this card I used the "ink on the Q-tip technique" in my previous balloon card.  This time I didn't use the blender pen because I wanted a softer feel for the flower.  I used my Cuttlebug to cut the mat and the slider.  The 'thank you' is from Just Rite Stampers.

Tools used: Stencils, Cuttlebug, Just Rite Stampers, Silhouette

Stencils with your Silhouette? Oh yes!

Did you think about creating stencils on your digital cutter?  Well, Darcy of Darcy's Designs did! You can check out her blog here, store here, and digital cutting site here.  Yes, she's a busy lady!  Below is the first card I made using her Birthday Stencil Kit.  I colored the balloons with a Q-tip and ink, and then I used a blender pen to blend them in a little bit more.  Tied a bow on it, framed it, and called it a day. :-)  Very fun, yet simple to do!  I can't wait to try other media on the stencils!  And more samples to come this week - keep your eyes open ;-)   

Tools used: Silhouette (to cut the stencils); Cuttlebug w/ Nestabilities to cut the frame;