Hot Air Balloon card

 

Hello Crafty Friends!

Sometimes I like to make cards to have on hand for a last minute occasion or as an anytime note card.  Today's anytime note card used the happy Spellbinders Balloon die set and Dylusions sprays in Cut Grass, Lemon Zest and Vibrant Turquoise.

After the sprayed paper was die cut, I applied Distress Crackle in Clear Rock Candy.  When dried, a gold Sakura marker was run along the edges.  Blue card stock was die cut using Spellbinders' Modern Stationary card creator.  White card stock was stamped using Wendy Vecchi's Vintage Text background stamp and Distress Ink in Weathered Wood Distress Ink.  It was die cut using dies from the Modern Stationary set.

A yellow twine bow and some wee bling and the card was complete.  Easy Peasey!  :)

Thank you for stopping by!  I do hope you enjoyed the wee anytime hot air balloon card.

Big Crafty Hugs,
Kathy Jo

Stencil Winner!

Happy Sunday Crafters!  

A big thank you to all that commented on the stencil giveaway post!  The winner is....

jordanbev5@yahoo.comFebruary 21, 2016 at 3:10 PM

Love the multilayers of colors and textures!! Thanks for the chance to win!! The reason I craft is that I love the calming affect of creating, fulfilment of personal goals of getting better at different skills, and giving others the gift of different art forms. It all started with scrapbooking about the history of loved ones that had passed away and wanting to my own children to know about their lives.

Everyone had the most wonderful reasons why they paper craft.  It was enjoyable reading all of the responses.

The next giveaway is this Wednesday...stay tuned!

Until then, have a happy crafty day.

Big Hugs,

Kathy Jo

Sea Inspired Birthday card using ECD dies and Graphic 45

Hello All!

Today is my day to post as a Guest Designer at Elizabeth Craft Designs- Woo Whooo!  I am sharing a sea inspired Happy Birthday card using ECD's beautiful die designed by Suzanne Cannon:

It also used some other Elizabeth Craft Designs dies including the very cool Lighthouse die:

The patterned paper is from Graphic 45's By The Sea collection.

Feel free to hop on over to the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog to see more details and instructions to make this card.

Thank you for stopping by!  Thank you to Elizabeth Craft Designs for the Guest Design spot!

Have a happy, crafty day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG

Last Day for Tim Holtz Stencil Giveaway!

Happy Friday Crafters!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter in the Tim Holtz stencil giveaway! Leave your comment on last Saturday's post for the giveaway entry.

Good luck!
Kathy Jo

Butterfly Background Tutorial- Friendship card

Hello Crafty Friends!  

Today is my day to post at Quietfire Creations and I am sharing a tutorial for making a bright and cheerful butterfly friendship.  The card uses Quietfire Design's butterflies from the Butterflies/Dragonflies stamp set:

and the beautiful Friendship Isn't a Big Thing stamped sentiment:

The card background is so much fun to make and too easy to do.  So grab a cup of tea, hop on over to Quietfire Creations and enjoy the background instructions!  

Isn't the sentiment just gorgeous?  And the butterfly background is too happy.  This could be a bright card for a dear friend.  :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I do hope you enjoyed the card and that you will enjoy the tutorial!

Have a happy crafty day!

Big Hugs,

Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG

Small Die Storage- Graphic 45 Upcycle project

Hello Crafty Friends!

Last night was our monthly Crafty Gals meeting and as always it was a fabulous time.  Until about two hours before the meeting, I was standing in our kitchen thinking about the meeting and that I had no clue what to work on.  Then, I started to think about my die organization in my craft room and how I have no efficient storage for my small dies.  It was then that I looked at the empty 48 count Fiber One box in my kitchen and the project idea was born.

Before heading to the meeting, I removed the cover of the box, adhered a piece of chipboard on either end (the ends have box folds to "smooth" out) and applied black Gesso inside and out.  At the meeting I brought many sheets of Graphic 45's Artisan Style papers, doilies, gold marker, pearls, and black flower ribbon.  The box was almost completely finished by the end of the meeting- this morning the green twine and buttons were added.  Admittedly, I would have loved to add more details and layering but lack of available surface space in my craft room means that the box had to take up the least amount of space as possible.

Here is the front iso view of the box:

Left side (love the peacock!!):

Rear iso view:

Right side (such a sweet looking home):

The box with a few of my dies inside.  Perfect fit!  And there is enough space for more dies...oh-oh...I think I just heard my wallet cry...

Thanks for stopping by!  I do hope you enjoyed the upcycled box.  And don't forget about the Tim Holtz Stencil Giveaway!

Have a happy, crafty day!
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This project is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Stamp Monday, Upcycle

Weekly Inspiration #6 and a TH Giveaway!

Hello Crafty Friends!

I was thinking the other day about how much life can change in such a short amount of time.  If someone would have told a younger high school me that I would move to Canada, marry a sweet and handsome Canadian, work as a mechanical engineer and at night enjoy a hobby of paper crafting...well...honestly...the high school me would have thought that those things were for someone else.  Funny how life works out, isn't it?  I feel very fortunate for all aspects of my life.  Take paper crafting- what a great way to express our inner creativity.  And the crafty friends I have met:  you all are great!  So inspirational and encouraging!  This blog is my happy, crafty place in the blogosphere and I am beyond words in appreciation that you all visit this place.  Actually, this little blog hit a milestone recently: over 100,000 visits! I believe that calls for a celebration.  And a giveaway.  :)  Giveaway details are on the bottom of this blog post.

The weekly altered playing card continues.  Today I am sharing last week's card- Valentine's Day themed.  The card had white Gesso applied.  After drying Distress Paint in Broken China and Peacock Feathers was applied.  I cut a heart out of cardboard, adhered and painted using Festive Berries and Fired Brick paint.  The flower was from my stash- Gesso applied and was painted in Scattered Straw and Picket Fence.  Black Distress Crackle was applied.

Golden Artist Colors' Extra Heavy Gel was mixed with Scattered Straw and used with Tim Holtz' Hearts stencil.

Several different Tim Holtz stamps were used with Jet Black Archival ink and applied to the background.

White paint was flicked on the card and randomly added to the card corners.  True was stamped on Scattered Straw colored paper and adhered as shown.

Very happy with the final result!  It is so bright and cheerful...just the way True Love should be.

I hope you liked the Tim Holtz Stencil because that is today's giveaway!  

The giveaway details: 1- be a follower (either Google Blogger, Bloglovin' or email) and tell me in the comment which type of follower you are.  2- Extra entry point if you tell me your favorite reasons why you love crafting.  Easy Peasy!  Don't worry if you don't win this time as there will be one giveaway every week for the next 4 weeks!  If you have problems with a comment (as I cannot have anonymous comments) just drop me an email at little_teapot at live dot com and I will make sure to add you to the draw list.  You have until 11pm EST next Friday, February 27 to leave a comment.  Winner will be posted on Saturday the 27th.

Good luck on the draw!  Thank you for stopping by and have a happy crafty day!
Big hugs,
Kathy Jo

This project is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Stamp Monday, Upcycle
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Shake it up (paint)

Masculine "Thanks" card

Hello Crafty Friends!  On Wednesday it was my day to post at Quietfire Creations.  My project was a masculine "Thanks" card using Quietfire Designs' Fill'er Up T Thanks stamp:

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find masculine cards to be tricky: I always want to use a big bow or glitter or flowers or butterflies on my projects.  However, masculine cards typically do not have those much loved components.  So when I decided to make a thank you card for a male friend of ours, I was not sure where to start.  Luckily Quietfire Design's Thanks stamp is perfect for a feminine or masculine card.

For more details and products used, please feel free to hop on over to the post.  :)

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a happy crafty day!
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG

Weekly Inspiration: Butterfly "Dream"

Hello Crafty Friends!

Today I am sharing this week's altered playing card inspiration: Butterfly Dream.  As I mentioned yesterday, I am having the best time altering a playing card every week.  This weekly project has allowed me to try to mediums, new techniques and just have a good ol' time playing in the craft room.  

I started with applying a few layers of white gesso onto the playing card.  After drying, white acrylic paint was applied and dried.  Honestly, I had no idea where this project was going to take me this week and had no plan.  I pulled out my Distress Inks and applied a colorful background using Candied Apple, Mowed lawn, Squeezed Lemon and Peacock Feathers.

Next, Blueprint Sketch was used with Tim Holtz' stamp set, Flights of Fancy.  White Distress Stain (Picket Fence) was used with Stampabilities' Faded Text Background stamp.

Tim Holtz' stencil, Speckles, and Ink-Gold's Mint Green created some shiny speckled happiness across the card front.

Pale yellow vellum paper was embossed and die cut using Tim Holtz' Butterfly Duo Texture Fades.  Wink of Stella's white glitter pen was used on the back of the butterfly.  Sakura's gold metallic marker was applied on the edge.

Mini Glue Dots were used on the butterfly body and the butterfly wings were slightly curled.

Elizabeth Craft Designs' die, Dream, was double die cut (white card stock and gold shimmer stock) and adhered as shown.  The final step was applying the gold metallic marker along the outside of the card.

Aren't the colors pretty?  So light and lovely!  I hardly ever use these colors and I am glad I pulled them out for this project. 

Thank you for stopping by!  I do hope you enjoyed the altered playing card. 
Have a happy crafty day!
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This altered card is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Stamp Monday, Ray of Sunshine

Weekly Inspiration 4: "Happiness"

Hello Crafty Friends.

The New Year's Resolution continues!  Today I am sharing the altered playing card I made for last week and tomorrow I am sharing the card for this week.  (Being sick the weekend before threw my schedule off a little bit but I happily made two altered cards this week to catch up.)

The altered card for last week was inspired by Blue Monday- nicknamed as such because it is supposedly the "blue-ist" day of the year.  I decided to flip that frown upside down and create something cheerful.  

The playing card was covered with two layers of white gesso, dried and then Martha Stewart's Pearl Acrylic Paint (color: Aquarium) applied.  While it was drying I stamped Dina Wakley's Holiday Media Stamp and Stencil set on scrap papers and heat embossed in black.  The hat and bird were fussy cut and glossy accents applied to the eyes.

After the card was dried, I used Brett Weldele's star stencil (love this stencil!!) and Ranger's Texture paste to create the background.  Distress Glitter in Clear Rock Candy was sprinkled onto the paste.

A small amount of Ranger's Texture Paste was mixed with Dina Wakley's Heavy Body Acrylic Paint in Ruby.  It was used to create the "happiness" from the Holiday stencil.  It created a very cool texture and pops against the glittery blue background.

The scribbly bird was adhered to the card front and two large black pearls were the finishing touch.  Isn't that a happy bird?  The bird and altered card is definitely the antithesis of Blue Monday.  So sweet!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I do hope that the altered card made you smile.  Tomorrow I will share this week's card...which was also a fun make.  (I am really enjoying this resolution!)

Have a happy crafty day!
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Wednesday, Have a Heart (heart hat)  

"Those who find a faithful friend..." card- Scrapy Land Challenge

Hello Crafty Friends.

It is that time again...time for a new challenge at Scrapy Land!  The challenge this time is a favorite: Anything Goes using any brand of steel or thin ruled die that Scrapy Land sells- which is easy to do since they offer over 40 Brands of dies.

For my project I decided to make a friendship card using the sweet sentiment from Quietfire Design stamp set, Always be my Friend.

The card base was die cut from the largest die in Spellbinders die set Victorian Medallion Three.

Gold shimmer paper was die cut using the two largest dies from the same set.

The sentiment was heat embossed in black onto patterned paper from Marion Smith's Junque Gypsy.  The sentiment and background patterned papers were die cut using Memory Box's Stitched Square Layers.

A double bow was made from sheer ivory ribbon.  Three butterflies were fussy cut from the patterned papers and applied as shown.

The finishing touches were ivory pearls and- of course- Stickles on the roses.

I do hope you liked the project and it inspires you to create a project to share at Scrapy Land this fortnight!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a happy crafty day.  :)
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo