For DAD

Happy Monday Everybody!!  Thanks so much for checking in with me.  I have a cute card for you today to help inspire you in your card making for Father's Day.  That's this week's theme at the Card A Day Blog.  If you're not familiar with the CADB, we have a new card to inspire you every day, we have a new theme each week, and we have challenge prizes every month.  So I hope you'll consider joining us in the fun.  We love seeing what you create.

Now for my card.  I've been accumulating a few rolls of washi tape, and decided it was about time to start using some of them.  I chose a color scheme, and went about finding all the elements I would need.  I started with the washi.  I have a pack with blue and green rolls (four of each in all different designs) and decided to use the tape on a white background to really show off the colors.  Using five rolls of the tape, I created my own striped designer paper.

I added a matching piece of pleated ribbon, a die-cut tag for the sentiment, and the word "dad" in holographic glittered chip board letters.  The ribbon is very dimensional, as are the letters, so I added a little more dimension by affixing the card layer and the tag with foam tape.

Since I used a darker card base, I decided to add an inside mat for the sentiment and signature.  I used more strips of the washi to coordinate nicely with the front of the card.  For a little variety I tore the inside tape unevenly instead of cutting it neatly as I did on the front.

I think my two sentiments work nicely together even though they are from two different sets and two different companies.  I love it when things work out that way.  Don't you?

Your final view is a straight on front photo.  I think this one is the most authentic in color and brightness, although the blue is closer to a true navy in person.

Here are some of the details:
          Gina K Designs - outside greeting
          Stampin' Up - inside sentiment, card base, ink and ribbon
          American Crafts Thickers - letters
          My Mind's Eye - decorative tape (washi)
          Spellbinders - tag die

That's it for now.  I hope you are having a wonderful day in your corner of the world.

HUGS,
CHRISTINE

An Expression of Sympathy

No need to be alarmed by my title.  I just have a card for you.  So happy to have you join me today.  My card is for the 'Sympathy' theme week over at the Card A Day Blog and then it's going into my card box for later use.  It was somewhat of a quickie to make as I had decided to use pieces from a small pile of scraps I hadn't yet filed away.  So, without delay, here is my card:

 

 

Okay, let's see if I can remember any of the details.....Most of the cuts and papers were left over from a decorative box I made which you can see here .  Even the 5 1/2x4 1/4 card base came from those leftovers.  The doily was a half piece that I had saved from something - don't remember what it was.  The large flower piece was an extra cut that I had made for a wedding card, and the small flower is a plastic button with the shank cut off that was left from some 'recycled bottle' bracelets I was helping some Girl Scouts make.

 

 

The sentiment strip is a small scrap of handmade paper, purchased not made by me.  And the sentiment, itself, was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed using  Sweet Stamps 'Fine Detail Copper' embossing powder.  The stamp is from Hero Arts set C1342.  Sorry, but I don't have a name.

 

The side frame pieces were affixed using Tombow Mono, but the other pieces were layered using foam tape or Scotch Quick Drying Tacky Glue.

 

Well, I said it was a quickie, didn't I?!  Nope, I haven't even finished the inside; saving that for when the card will be used.

 

I hope you've had a sweet, though short, visit today.  Come back and see me again soon!!

 

Big THANKS and even bigger HUGS,

CHRISTINE

FOR YOU...

Hello lovely followers and guests!  I have another Card A Day Blog offering for you today.  I made a card for my sister's birthday.  Yes, it's okay, her birthday was last week!  (Carole, if the post office lost your card, here it is!!!)  I used an adorable stamp set from Crafter's Companion called Angelica.  She's a cute little birthday angel.

I started with a lavender card base.  The image was stamped onto white card and colored with Copics and glitter pens.  I used my ATG to affix the image to the card base.  Then I took another piece of lavender, ran it through my Cuttlebug, and cut out the center with a craft knife making a frame for the image, which I affixed with foam tape.  I inked the frame to bring out the embossed design.

I used the same embossing folder for the inside layer, but I affixed it with the de-bossed side facing up.  I stamped the birthday greeting and was finished.  This card fits a standard A2 envelope.

Unfortunately, the glittering doesn't show up much, if at all, in the photos, but I used it on the wings, the ribbons and the butterflies.

Here are the other details:
     Paper:  Recollections (lavender), Georgia-Pacific (white)
     Ink:  Stampin' Up Wisteria Wonder
     Embossing Folder:  Darice Ornate Frame
     Glitter Pens:  Sakura Gelly Roll, Clear Star and Purple Star

I am also entering this card in the Crafter's Digital Art Center Anything Goes challenge.  These challenges are running for three months, ending June 30th, so there's still plenty of time to enter.  Anyone can join.  Hope to see you there!!

 Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Big HUGS,
CHRISTINE

Celebrate MOTHER Every Day

It feels like such a long time since I was last with you, but I've been a bit under the weather for most of the past two weeks.  I'm feeling better, not great, but definitely better, and I have a card to show you which was made for the Card A Day Blog theme, Mother's Day.  I like to think of every day as Mother's Day.  Where would any of us be without our moms, after all?  My mom has been gone a long time, but not a day goes by that I don't think about her.

The image stamp that I used for my card is one that I've had for quite awhile.  It's a silhouette stamp, and I was never sure how I wanted to use it, but while I was looking through my stamps for an idea for my card, this stamp practically jumped out at me.  I knew I wanted flowers, and I knew I wanted a child or children, and I wanted something playful.  Well, here it is:

 

 

I decided that, rather than use the silhouette in the regular black on white that we are so accustomed to seeing, I would stamp my silhouette in reverse, that is, white on black.  It's a little unexpected, and I thought it would be a bit more fun.  I layered it with foam tape on a piece of yellow card leaving a narrow border.  On a white card base, 4 1/4x5 1/2, I applied three pieces of a bright floral dp.  I used a wide strip in the center, and triangles on the sides.  I then affixed the matted image with more foam tape for extra dimension.  My last addition to the front was a simple tag stamped with the word, mother.

 

 

 

I decided to bring a little color to the inside of my card by adding another triangle of the dp in one corner before stamping the sentiment.

And there you have it, a really quick and easy card that you can put together for your mother or adapt the design for any other occasion.

Thanks for coming to visit!!  Here are your deets:

          Papers:  Recollections black and yellow, Georgia Pacific white, Generations Stackers Primary Color Collection
          Stamps:  Hero Arts 'Dancing With Flowers', Pink By Design (no title, but it might be 'hello, life'), My Pink Stamper 'family & friends'
          Inks:  ColorBox 'Frost White', Memento 'Tuxedo Black', Tim Holtz Distress 'Antique Linen' (used for a bit of inking on the dp)

I am also entering this card in the Creative Digital Arts Center Anything Goes progressive challenge.  Lots of fun happening at CDAC, so come on by and check us out!!

Big HUGS,
CHRISTINE

Teacher Appreciation

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to bring you my card today.  I really loved most of my teachers, and the theme this week on the Card A Day Blog is "Teacher Appreciation."  We've had quite a few teachers in our family, both mine and my husband's, and I know how much they've given of themselves to do the best for their students.  So here is my little salute to all our teachers:

I was searching my library of images looking for something entirely unrelated to this project, and this terrific digital image of a teacher at her desk jumped out at me because my subconscious was actually working for me at the time and screamed, "You need to use this for CADB!"  Quite coincidentally, we have a whole new group of challenges which began April 1st and will run until June 30th over at the Crafter's Digital Art Center.  Here are the links to all the challenges:

"Pick up Your 1ST FREEBIE HERE"

"Anything Goes Challenge"

"1-2-3 Challenge"

"Inspirational Challenge"

"Seasonal Challenges"

 

My card will be entered in the "Anything Goes Challenge." 

 

Guess I went off on a little tangent there, didn't I?  Back to my card.  The cute image comes from Guylou's Inimitability Digistamps.  I've had the image for awhile, and it worked just perfectly for this card.  I've been wanting to use chalks for coloring recently, so that's what I did here, and that is also why the colors are so soft.  I put together the '#1 Teacher' using some Martha Stewart alphabet stamps, and affixed the matted image to the card base with foam tape just to give my card a bit of dimension.

 

The inside sentiment has become one of my favorites.  It is from a set called 'Our Heroes' made by Pink by Design.  This set was made primarily for policemen and firefighters, but this sentiment works so well for teachers also.  Here it is:

 

 

 

In case you're not seeing it very clearly the sentiment reads:  "Not all heroes wear tights & a cape."  Love it!!

 

I hope I've given you a little inspiration for cards to give those special teachers you've known.  (My compliments to you, Carole.)

 

Here are the other little details:

          Paper:  Recollections (green), Georgia Pacific (white)

          Ink:  Stampin' Up Wisteria Wonder

          Dimensions:  5 1/4 x 5 3/4

 

Thanks so much for your visit today.  I do so appreciate that you took the time.

 

HUGS,

CHRISTINE

Angels' Wings

I hope everyone has been celebrating a beautiful Easter.  Our service this morning was so inspirational; it set just the right mood for making the card that I have for you today.  I have used a glorious image from Shelly's Images to make this sweet and simple card.  Shelly's Images is the sponsor for the current Crafter's Digital Art Center Progressive Challenge.  This challenge ends tonight, but fortunately, a whole new series of challenges begins tomorrow, April 1st.  No foolin'!!

Here is my card; I just love this beautiful image and the sentiment that came with it.  I kept it very simple so as not to take away from the focal image.  You can see that this is a vertical center-opening card.

 

And here is the inside of the card.  I love the way Shelly has styled the sentiment.

 

This photo shows the card with just the bottom flap open.

 

Isn't she just the prettiest angel?

 

 

 

This card was put together quite easily, but was an absolute joy to create!  Hope to see you in the challenges over at CDAC !!  And thanks so much for your visit.

 

 

 

Big HUGS!!!

CHRISTINE

 

 

Digi Duck

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to my little space.  I have, for you, what I think may be my most clean and simple card ever.  I am today's designer for the 'Thinking of You' theme at the Card A Day Blog, and I was looking through my collection of digital designs to see if I had something appropriate.  I found an adorable image that comes from Doodle Pantry, and while I was searching I found the perfect sentiment to go with it which is from the same designer.  I just love the little Howard Duck wandering through the garden full of Spring flowers to find just the right one for his loved one.

I brought in the main image as a jpeg to my workpage and sized it.  Then I added the sentiment as a png to fit around the top.  Since the png is a 'clear' image, I didn't need to worry about layering over the jpeg.  I really love the way it turned out.

After fitting the image in the correct area on the workpage to become the front of an A2 sized card, I printed it on a nice white cardstock, cut the page in half, and then colored the image with my Prismacolor pencils.  I also added a few Petaloo flowers, two of which were white ones that I colored with the pencils, for a finishing touch.  The flowers already had the rhinestones, so I didn't really want any more bling.  I finished the card by rounding the top corners, which I thought would work well with the arced sentiment.

I'm also entering this card in the Crafters Digital Art Center (CDAC)  Seasonal Fun Challenge which ends tomorrow!  Lots of fun new challenges are coming to CDAC starting on April lst.  If you love working with digital art you will love CDAC!!

As always, thank you for stopping by, and Happy Easter!

Hugs,
CHRISTINE

Home Sweet Home

Hello to you this fine Spring day!!  Well, for some of us that would be wishful thinking, but it has been teasing us a bit lately.  I have for you a new card today on CADB.  Our theme, this week, is 'Congratulations,' and my card celebrates someone in their new home.  I started with a sweet digital image from Nana Vic's Digitals which I purchased only yesterday.  I hadn't decided on what direction to go with my card, and this image hit me in just the right way when I came upon it.

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, added some flowers from Petaloo, cut a swirl with my Cuttlebug, and stamped the sentiments, inside and outside.  The image was affixed with foam tape.

As you can see, I added some of the Petaloo flowers to the inside sentiment to bring some color to the inside.

I also rounded a few corners for just a little variety.

My card is also being entered in the Petaloo Flower Contest Challenge and the Digi Image Challenge at the Crafters Digital Art Center.  There's lots of fun going on there, so if you like digis, it's a great place to spend some time.

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Here are the deets:

     Stamps:  Digi from Nana Vic's Digitals, sentiments from Taylored Expressions "Treasure Life" set
     Flowers:  Petaloo Mulberry Paper Flowers "Mini Delphiniums" and Flora Doodles "Jeweled Florettes Baby's Coming"
     Pencils:  Prismacolor Premier
     Ink:  Memento "Rich Cocoa"
     Extra gems:  Darice Self-Stick
     Papers:  'generic' Kraft and White
     Foam tape:  3D-DOTS from eksuccess

Big HUGS,
CHRISTINE

CDAC/Pataloo Challenge & Contests

If you haven't checked out the CDAC/Petaloo Challenge and Contests yet, perhaps our slide show will encourage you:

 

Find more photos like this on Crafters Digital Art Center 

Come join the fun before it ends on March 31st!

CDAC & Petaloo Challenges and PRIZES

CDAC and Petaloo are teaming up for some  FANTASTIC
Easter/Spring Challenges & Contest BONANZA'S!!!

  It starts TODAY, March 17th and runs through the end of the month!! Lots of  prizes will be awarded at the end of the month so, don't miss out! There are crafting challenges, a "LIKE" Facebook contest and even a simple "spread the word" Contest. Along with some wonderful Gift Certificates from some wonderful Digi Artists, Petaloo is offering some AMAZING prizes. Petaloo International, is one of the largest floral manufacturing companies in the crafting world and is your source for floral & specialty embellishments. With exclusive factories in China, India & Thailand, along with over 20 years experience in floral & craft products, they offer customers fun & innovative products at factory direct pricing.  Here is just a "sample" of "some" of the prizes that will be awarded. Plus, Petaloo has a WHOLE NEW LINE of flowers coming out on April 1st that will also be part of these prizes. Don't miss out on being the "first on your block" to own some of these fabulous flowers!!!

 CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FUN!!

 

And, oh yes, we've been having some fun getting ready for you.  All the designers on the team have made wonderful creations for you using the beautiful Petaloo products.  Mine is an explosion hat box using an adorable digi image from "priscillastyles" .  Here it is:

 





 

My project features thee different styles of Petaloo flowers, a Petaloo stick pin (or, in my case, 'hat pin') from their Accessories collection and a trim from their Fancy Trims collection.  Be on the lookout at your favorite Petaloo retailer for their whole line of products, and definitely enter our challenge for the chance to win a fabulous prize!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I always appreciate your visits!

 

Big Hugs,

CHRISTINE

For the Girl Scouts

Hi everyone!  I thought I'd show you one of the projects I helped with for our local Girl Scout troop.  They're doing some fundraising at a craft fair for a trip to Europe they're planning, and one of their ideas was fairy wands.  I cut various shapes in fun foam on my Cricut and sprayed on some glitter; the girls painted dowels, added ribbons and embellishments and did the assembly.

 

The girls also were asking for some items that would appeal to other scouts.  You can see some trefoil shapes among the others here:

I'm entering these in the Anything Goes Challenge at CDAC.  If you like challenges, and you haven't been there for a visit, I would suggest you click on over.  There's lots of fun to be had, and often prizes!  Come join the fun!!

Thanks for visiting today,
CHRISTINE

CDAC Newsletter

 Two posts in one day??!!??  ME?!?  Here's ALL the latest from CDAC:

 

LOOK WHO'S SPONSORING CDAC AGAIN!!! Petaloo AWESOME HUH? Is your craft table ready for Spring? It could be!! Check this out! We are sooooo lucky to have one of the largest floral manufacturing companies in the crafting world sponsoring us for our Easter/Spring Challenge and Contests coming on March 17th!! Their prizes will be awarded at the end of the month to a few lucky people! Wow how awesome is that? Stay tuned for more details because there will be a few ways to enter and win!!! Petaloo International, is your source for floral & specialty embellishments. With exclusive factories in China, India & Thailand, along with over 20 years experience in floral & craft products.They offer customers fun & innovative products at factory direct pricing. Wooo Hooo!! Just a little Sneak Peek of our Mid March sponsor's prizes.... Please help me welcome our new Design Team! One or more of them will be monitoring every day so if you have a question just ask on the main page or on your group/challenge wall and they will try to help or be able to get an answer for you if they can’t. You can visit their personal blogs by clicking on their links. Lynnel Lynch http://lynnellynch.blogspot.com/ Christine Patton http://creativegenie-ous.blogspot.com/ Deb Ochs-LaGrone http://alookthroughmyeye.blogspot.com Patricia (Pattie) Gomez http://pattiescreations.blogspot.com/ Vicki Romaine http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/ Jennifer Swandells http://jenni45.blogspot.com/ Peggy T http://dailygracecreations.blogspot.com/ Loretta Macri http://inpaperheaven.blogspot.ca/ Meg Farris http://www.ladybugcrafting.com/ Sandi DeFalco http://craftysideofsandi.blogspot.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***EXCITING NEWS*** WE ARE RE-OPENING THE CDAC SWAP GROUP!!!! Join NOW!! We are re-opening our Swap Center! Our Hostess Deb Ochs-LaGrone will be starting with two new swaps, a card swap and a pin swap, and will be adding more shortly. Please come join in the fun but do so quickly! Each of these swaps is limited to the first 18 people to sign up. ***Reminder*** There is only one month left to join in the current CDAC challenges. Every person who enters will receive a free image for participating and there will be special recognition for a few outstanding projects as well so please link up and join your fellow crafters in highlighting your work! *** April Outlook*** We have some awesome plans for April and we’re not fooling! We will have several new challenges including a NEW Freebie Progressive Challenge. Think SPRING and that’s all the hint your getting. You’ll have to come by April 1st to find out what the new challenges will be. Thank you for your continued support of the Crafter’s Digital Arts Center! We are so happy to have you here! Let’s join together and make this the best craft sharing site on the net!!! Visit Crafters Digital Art Center at: http://priscillastyles.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

News and New Swaps

Hi Everyone!  It seems almost forever since I've posted.  Been busy with lots of things, and I'll be showing them to you soon.  But I have some exciting news, which some of you may have noticed in the sidebar on the right.  I have been chosen to join the Crafter's Digital Arts Center Design Team.  What a wonderful resource for crafters, especially if you enjoy using digital images.  With well over 8,000 members, we have challenges, swaps, discussion groups, tutorials and so much more including great designers offering their fabulous images.  Oh, and did I mention freebies?  Yes, often you will find free designs throughout the site.  So come on over and see what we're all about, and go meet the "brains" of this great meeting place at priscillastyles.  Can't wait to see you at CDAC!!

Here's out latest news at CDAC:

Crafters Digital Art Center

Digi image focused Site, Sharing Info, Challenges & Freebies from Digi Artists

priscillastyl- es priscillastyles has invited you to the event 'MUST SEE!!! NEW SWAPS!!: CDAC SWAP CENTRAL' on Crafters Digital Art Center!   MUST SEE!!! NEW SPONSOR, NEW TEAM, NEW SWAPS ALL ON CDAC!! Stop by and join one of our easy stress free swaps with the Fabulous Deb!! Time: March 1, 2013 from 6pm to 7pm Location: SWAP GROUP Organized By: priscillastyles Event Description: COME CHECK OUT THE NEW SWAPS!!! WE ARE REOPENING THE SWAP GROUP, SO COME JOIN THE FUN, EASY AND STRESS FREE NEW SWAPS THIS MONTH!!!!http://priscillastyles.ning.com/group/cdacswapcentral/page/page/listCLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR THE BRAND NEW ONES! See more details and RSVP on Crafters Digital Art Center: http://priscillastyles.ning.com/events/event/show?id=5856131%3AEvent%3A912174&xgi=1qb1Q5ldHzlvO8&xg_source=msg_invite_event About Crafters Digital Art Center Where Digital artists share and crafters create with free digi offers.                 8631 members 35501 photos 836 discussions 214 Events 134 blog posts

 Thanks so much for visiting; I hope you have a great day, and I'll be back with you soon.

BIG hugs,
CHRISTINE

Howdee Y'all

Down over yonder, at the Card A Day Blog , our subject for inspiration this week is 'Invitation.'  So I am hereby inviting you to view my contribution.  It may be a little early, at least in my neck of the woods, to be thinking of summertime activities, but my hubby fixed some ribs recently, and that got me thinking about barbeque, and that led me to thinkin' 'bout Texas and cowboy boots and a good ol' summer bar-b-que!  So, that is how my card began.

I started by searching for a boot in my collection of Cricut cartridges, as I wanted to create a shaped card.  I found just what I needed on the 'Just Because Cards' cart.  Using the "Cricut Craft Room" I added one boot to the mat, sized it to 4.25 x 5.5 to fit a standard A2 envelope, copied it and flipped the copy, and welded the two pieces to make my card base.  I then added a third boot, and sized it just a bit bigger so I could cut it from a design paper for the card front.

The dp is from the DCWV 'Textures and Finishes' stack.  I just love those papers!  The gold piece was cut from the liner that I had saved awhile ago from a box of chocolates.  Kinda crazy, I know.  I didn't have the right kind of stamp for my card, so I searched google for 'free western font' and downloaded exactly the kind of font I'd had in mind.  Then I was able to print my own front sentiment as well as the insert, which you can see in the next two pics.

 

Sorry for the fuzziness.  The close-up is much better.

I'll see all y'all again soon.  Thanks for the visit!!


BIG HUGS,
CHRISTINE