Lawn Fawn Collage

I have been making and loving clean and simple cards - those with few layers, minimal embellishments, no clutter, crisp edges.  They appeal to me and I like making them.  Best part?  It's easy to put them in the mail. Typically a forever stamp will do.  I'm better at making the card than sending it, so if it requires a trip to the post office, most birthday cards will need the extra word "belated."  LOL.

Having said that, I admire those cards and scrapbook layouts with layers and embellishments and have always wanted to be able to make one of those.

So I gave it a try, with the cutest Snow Day paper and many dies from Lawn Fawn:

Perhaps I like it because of the cute paper from Lawn Fawn.  Perhaps I like it because it is a Christmas card.  Perhaps I like it because it is my first attempt.  Who cares?  I like it!  Yay!  My first attempt appears to be a success!

I didn't start making this card without any research.  I have browsed through a lot of cards and layouts and studied them.  But you know, sometimes it is difficult to quantify those parameters.  My observations and conclusions for these cards are: a)  Variety of patterns and shapes; b) Contrast between each layers; c) it's ok to show only part of the image.

With those rules in mind, I started cutting my paper away and used a variety of Lawn Cuts to build my card.  I had a blast and am determined to try it again!

My card is linking up to the following:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Weekly Christmas Card - Anything Goes
Christmas cards all year round - Christmas Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of hearts

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great and relaxing weekend.  I meant to do some serious crafting this past weekend but alas, my computer broke down.  You know how it's like.

I am an absolute idiot when it comes to computer.  It took me several attempts to find out what went wrong then another several attempts to restore the settings.  By the time it's done I realized that a lot of chores are awaiting......  The good news is that it's fixed and I can use it as usual now.

I didn't get to craft much but I still have a card to share.  It is a traditional love card with lots of hearts and pink:

I white heat embossed the hearts stamps from Lawn Fawn, then rub Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar distress ink on top.  Next I die cut the hearts and the scripty word and stuck on the front.  The finishing touch is to add some shimmer on the scripty word and seal the shimmer with glossy accent.

My card is linking up to the following:
613 Avenue - Anything Goes
Amusing Challenge - Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant - Anything Goes
Time Out Challenges - Valentine's Day
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar - Valentine's
Scribble and Scrap - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Dies and Punches

Thanks for stopping by!

Some CASE cards

Today I'm sharing several cards that I have craft lifted from the talented and sweet Laura Bassen.  I took an online class that she taught and had to try some of the techniques shown using my supplies.

First up is this birthday card that involves blending the ink colors:

Then it's repeat stamping but the colors do overlap.  I started with this arrow stamp set (worried that it could be an epic failure):

The stamp image has four arrows.  Whenever I ink it with a new color, I stamp it with the overlap with the rightmost arrow from the previous color.

It was a blast and I tried it with the chevrons which is a border stamp:

Another one that I liked a lot is to add some depth to stamped images with colors:

I really could not take any credit for these cards except for one thing:  I don't have a perfect shade of orange for my flower card and guess what?  I'm not going to let that deter the progress.  I simply stamped the image twice - once with pink (called Pixie) and once with yellow (called Canary) to create my orange.  So glad that it is a clear stamp so aligning it wasn't difficult. :)

I'm going to try the other techniques in her class.  It's really fun!

I'm linking up my second card to the following:
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Colorful
Dream it Up - Happy Birthday to You
Scrap and Craft - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Welcome baby!

My cousin has given birth to a baby girl and we are all excited!  My cousin and the baby girl are doing great.  The little baby is quiet and smiles a lot.

I am thinking really hard of the perfect gift but I'll start with the easiest part - the card:

I couldn't resist using pink on the card - I used the pink patterned papers from Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine paper pack for the panel and the die cuts.  To keep it really simple, I stamped "sweet" and "girl" in black.  While I was lining up the letters s-w-e-e-t from the Lawn Fawn Clark's ABCs set, I realized that putting the word horizontally is not a good idea because my pink panel on the left wasn't wide enough!  The lesson here is to have better planning before cutting out patterned paper!  So I rotated the word "sweet" and it is pretty cool!  I get to keep the font and it's a nice balance with the die cut "baby".

Now I gotta go back to think about the gift for the parents and the little girl..........

My card is entering the following challenges:
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes with a Twist - Baby Card
Paper Minutes - Keep It Simple
Sweet Stamps - Hearts
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Beep-day

I've made a birthday card for a guy using the Lawn Fawn Beep Boop Birthday stamp set and die.  I've also used the Puffy Star Stackable dies too:

When I first started, I wanted to make a shaker card where there is a smaller star filled with star sequins. What's better than using the stackable dies to make a shaker card?  But after I put the stars together I think that the shaker star would be too small so this idea was aborted.

Instead I used the robots from the Beep Boop Birthday set and had some fun Copic-colring them.  Oh, I must mention that when I first decided the color scheme I was worried that it would look nautical (It's red, yellow and navy) but I think the robots have neutralized that.  :)

I'm entering the card to the following:


Thanks for stopping by!
Jo's Scrap Shack - Anything Goes
A Gem of a Challenge - Birthday card for a boy
Sweet Stampin' - Masculine
Creative Craft Cottage - Anything Goes
Sister of Craft - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

A "Plane" card for guys

Don't you think love cards for guys could be extremely tricky?

I think in general masculine cards are more difficult, and love cards happen to be the type that is more difficult than others.  That's probably because a lot of Valentine-themed products were designed for men to give to women.

I struggled when I made this card but once I determined to avoid flowers, hears and such it became much easier.  I turned to a plane:

Yup, a plane flying by to say something to the recipient.  It could be a love card, a birthday card, a thank you card and basically anything I'd like to tell the recipient.

Now that I have the card front completed, I could add as many hearts as I like to the inside of the card.  It's a card for a guy so I am keeping it simple and un-embellished. It's a plain plane card.  LOL.  I do not know much about guys but I think that a card front with a plane is more appealing to them than a card with a bunch of red hearts.  Agree?

If you'd like a not-too-feminine love card, you could find one here.

I'm entering the following challenges:
Creative Corner - Love is in the Air
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Lil patch of crafty friends - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Hearts Galore

I'm on a love card kick and want to continue to make colorful love cards.  Valentine's Day cards usually have a lot of red but who says that love cards have to be the same?  In fact, I'm very trying to make Valentine's Day non-red.  I love pops of color and red alone just doesn't satisfy my color craving.  Further, Valentine's Day has evolved to be an occasion for us to express our love/care to people other than our valentine, so why not make our cards more bright?

Having said that, I hesitated to make those little green hearts in the card below:

I don't recall making green hearts before and it is a big step for me to go beyond my comfort zone.  Even though I never seek realism on my cards and layouts, when it comes to things we find in nature, I hesitate to make anything that's against nature.  I wish I had the talent to make a blue sun and brown clouds look nice but let's just say I'll need a lot of practice to make that happen.  LOL.

This card was very easy and quick to make.  I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle die to cut the white panel on top of the Kraft base.  Then I die cut the hearts using the Lawn Fawn heart die and the Let's Polka paper.  The word "love" was die cut from the Lawn Fawn scripty love die.  Finally I stamped "y" and "u" and put a heart in between the two letters.  I can't stop without adding shimmer on the word die cut and the little heart in "you."  It was fun and easy.

My card is entering the following challenges:
The ABC Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut - Patterned Paper
Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes
Dies R Us - Anything Goes
Lia Stampz - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

No stamping no problem

I'm sharing a card that doesn't involve stamping today.

"No stamping" was not part of the plan as I just wanted to play with the new Lawn Fawn Scripty Love die.  For sure I'd like to make it the focal point of the card!  I've flipped through many card sketches and found this from the Close to My Heart Make it from Your Heart Volume I.  I like that this book gives us clear cutting diagrams with dimensions and instructions, and samples.  Once I decided to use this sketch, I picked several pieces from the Let's Polka paper and Hello Sunshine paper to create this card.  The hearts were die cut from the Lawn Fawn hearts die, making great accents on the card.

At this point I felt that the card was complete, except that I'd like to line a thin ribbon along the large red polka panel to add some texture.  The final touch was to add some glitter using the Wink of Stella pen and glossy accent onto the scripty love die.  The card was finished that way without stamping.  Is there a problem?  I don't think so.  LOL.

My card is entering the following challenges:
Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes
Card Mania - Make it Sparkle
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Crafty Boots - Out with the Old and In with the New
Love to Create - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

BUGS and kisses

Happy 2015 everyone!  I know it's already the fifth of January but given the fact that I just returned home from my family reunion trip, I feel that 2015 has just started.

What's a better way to start 2015 with new craft supplies?  I've used the new Lawn Fawn stamps and dies to make this happy card:

It's a window card - one of my favorite kinds of cards to make.  I think that a window on a handmade card makes a world of difference from store bought cards.

Here's a shot of the card when it's closed.  The clouds and the sun are stuck to the card front, casting a shadow over the scene:

I've used a ton of new Lawn Fawn goodies on this card:  The Bugs and Kisses stamp and coordinating die set, stitched circle die and Hello Sunshine die.  I've also used the Ranger Ink Black Sparkle embossing powder for the very first time.  I like that the there are little sparkles peeking out from the traditional black embossing powder, making the black less harsh on a cute card like this.

My card is entering the following challenges:
A gem of a challenge - something new
Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
My Time to Craft - All Things New
Suzie Bee's Bloomin' - Anything Goes with a Twist of CAS
Sweet Stampin' - New

Thanks for stopping by!