Operation Smile: Punny Bear!

Hi All! I wanted to share a little note card I made from a Copic coloring project I did during #thedailymarker30day coloring challenge. Let's take a look:

 To showcase this little coloring piece, I created this card from white Neena Exact Index cardstock and layered it with some scraps of retired Fundamentals papers in Pacifica Blue. The image is from the Animal Greetings stamp set that Close To My Heart created to benefit Operation Smile. This is chock full of cute little animals and fabulous puns.

I stamped this little bear on a 2 3/4-inch square piece of White Daisy cardstock in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The heart is from a retired stamp set. I then colored the images with my Copic markers, using E30 & E33 for his stomach and snout and E23 & E33, with just a hint of E18, for the rest of his fur. I added a touch of R21 to his cheeks and Black 100 for his nose. The hearts are colored in R08 & R27, with a little Shimmer Pen for pizzazz.  I used C3, C5 & C7 for the ground and B0000 along my my colorless blender for the sky. I added highlight to his nose and the ground using my white Signo gel pen. After the white ink dried, I stamped the sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black and popped the whole thing up with foam tape.

Here's a close-up of the coloring:

And here's a look at the stamp set:

Close To My Heart donates $7 to Operation Smile for every one of these sets sold. 

Until next time, have a wonderfully creative day!

CTMH Animal Greetings (Operation Smile)	Neenah Exact Index Cardstock (white)	CTMH White Daisy Cardstock	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Uni-ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen	CTMH Shimmer Brush (Clear)	Copic Sketch Marker E18 (Copper)	Copic Sketch Marker E23 (Hazelnut)
Copic Sketch Marker E33 (Sand)	Copic Sketch Marker E30 (Bisque)	Copic Sketch Marker R21 (Sardonyx)	Copic Sketch Marker 100 (Black)
Copic Sketch Marker C7	Copic Sketch Marker C5	Copic Sketch Marker C3	Copic Sketch Marker B0000 (Pale Celestine)
Copic Sketch Marker 0 (Colorless Blender)	Copic Sketch Marker R08 (Vermillion)	Copic Sketch Marker R27 (Cadmium Red)

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Inspired by....

Hi All! Happy Fall! I've had a few people ask me where I get inspiration for my projects. And honestly, I don't have one particular source. It may be from something I read, or a pin I saw, or a myriad of other people, places and things. So today I'm sharing a card I created that came from multiple sources of inspiration.

Inspiration for the layout came from this week's Mojo Monday card sketch:

The color choices were inspired by the color challenge over at The Card Concept (a new challenge blog for me):

And the stamp choice was inspired by the amazingly talented artist Lynn Darda at From My Bungalow (she was playing along with The Card Concept challenge):

And now, here's my card:

The base of the card is made from Kraft Cardstock and is 4 x 5 1/2 inches. The first layer is Colonial White Cardstock cut a quarter of an inch smaller than the base. The patterned paper was made using my ShinHan Touch markers and the Tim Holtz Marker Spritzer by Ranger. The ShinHan markers don't fit the spritzer, so I improvised. By holding the marker in one hand and placing the nozzle of the the spritzer directly on the chisel tip of the marker, I was able to blow ink off the tip of the marker and onto the White Daisy Cardstock to create a spatter effect. Pretty cool, no?

I stamped the leaves and acorns from the Fall Harvest stamp set using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. (I would have used Chocolate Pigment Ink, but I ran out. Time to reorder, like yesterday!) After the ink dried, I colored the leaves with ShinHan markers so that the images would reflect the colors of the back ground. I fussy cut the images and popped the aspen and oak leaves up with dimensional adhesive. I then tied a double bow in white crochet thread and attached it with a glue dot. 

The sentiment is from the Have A Happy Day stamp set. I stamped it on Cranberry Striped Twill Ribbon using the Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I frayed the edges of the ribbon to add a little texture. (Note: this ribbon does not fray easily, which I actually like; however, with a little effort, you can get the frayed look if you want it.)

Here are some close-ups:

And here's one more look at the card:

So there you have it. The Card Concept folks like to have you own up to the style you used--clean, shabby chic, etc. Since eclectic isn't an option, I'll go with "free style." That seems like the best descriptor for "playing around in my craft room and having some creative fun," which sums up my card pretty well, I think.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight to my inspiration. Now tell me, what inspires YOUR creativity?

A Little More Mojo

Hi all! As promised, here is the second card I made using Mojo Monday inspiration and the Chalk It Up Picture My Life cards.

Here is the sketch again:

And here is my card:

To change it up a little, I cut the base of this card so that it would open vertically. The base is Kraft Cardstock. For the first layer, I pieced 2 of the Picture My Life cards together, and covered the seam with a little Black Striped Twill Ribbon. I then cut the tag from a 4x6 card, punched a hole at the top and added some Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon and a little Bakers Twine. The "Awesome" sentiment was cut from a 3x4 card. I edged all the layers with Black Exlusive Ink to make them pop just a little. I then adhered them all using thin foam tape. (This is my new go-to for dimensional adhesive. Love it!) I added 3 Black Epoxy Bubbles for a little bling, and voilà: another sweet back-to-school note of encouragement! (And this card required no stamping at all!)

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And one more look at the card:

Hope you enjoyed it! Have a fabulous weekend!

 

 

 

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A Little Weekend Mojo

Hi folks! Just thought I'd share a little birthday card that I made for my niece. The design was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

Here's my take on the sketch:

The base of the card is White Daisy cardstock cut at 51/2 x 8 1/2 inches and scored and folded at 4 1/4 inches. I layered that with Canary cardstock from the new Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment. The patterned paper is from the new Brushed Paper Pack. For the ribbon, I layered some of the new Thistle Diagonal Striped Ribbon onto some retired seam binding. I added a sentiment from the Happy Birds stamp set in Black Exclusive Ink. The butterflies, "Happy Birthday" and the interior sentiment are from the Your Own Kind Of Wonderful stamp set and are stamped in Thistle Exclusive Ink. The large butterfly, sentiment flag and the card front are popped up using Close To My Heart's new Thin 3-D Foam Tape. (Love it! It's about 1/16 of an inch think so it gives a bit of dimension without making the card too thick.) The butterflies were fussy cut and adhered to the card with foam tape (the big one) and glue dots. For the smaller butterflies, I added antennae with a thin black marker. (It was too difficult to cut around the tiny antennae on the stamp!) I then added bitty sparkles and clear assorted sparkles for a little bling.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And here is the sentiment from the inside:

And now for one more view of the card:

Hope you enjoyed this bright little card. Have a great rest of the weekend! (I'm picking up my kids today from camp. They've been gone for two weeks. Can't wait to see them!)

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Playing Along with The Paper Players

Hi All! It's been a while since I played along with The Paper Players, so I thought it was about time I did. This week's sketch is a fun one. It's so basic that it really lets you get creative. (Love that!)

Here's my take on the sketch:

For this card, I used paper from Close To My Heart's new Skylark Collection. It has such lovely shades of blues, greens and browns, it's quickly becoming one of my favorites to work with!

The base card is cut at 4 1/4 x 11 inches from White Daisy Cardstock. I scored at 5 1/2 inches so that it would be a tent fold card rather than the traditional left-hand fold. I then layered the patterned paper on Juniper Cardstock and adhered the layers to the base. The flags are all cut from the same sheet of paper as the patterned paper layer. The multicolor arrows are from the zip strip (that's the 1/2-inch strip of coordinating paper at the top of each sheet of patterned paper), the Lagoon-striped flag is an element in the paper that I cut out, as is the brown flag.

The sentiment is from the Lifting Spirits Stamp Set by Close To My Heart. I stamped it in Juniper Exclusive Ink on White Daisy Cardstock and then fussy cut around it. I popped it up on the layered flags using dimensional adhesive. I then added some Aqua Dots for a final understated flourish.

Here are some close ups:

(Isn't the artwork in this paper beautiful?)

And here is the card one last time:

Hope you're as inspired by Skylark as I am. It truly is a beautiful collection!