Shaker Card Lawnscaping DT Entry

Hey There! 

I'm just stopping in for a quick post tonight since the clock is tick-tick-ticking!  Lawnscaping is having a design team challenge and I just had to participate!  Lawn Fawn is one of my very favorite stamp companies and the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog was one of the main reasons I started this blog last October.  I think I've participated in just about every challenge since I started blogging and to become a member of their DT would be uh-mazing!!  The DT is full of talented ladies, and it would be double uh-mazing to be a part of the team :) 

I've been trying to think of a card to make since the DT challenge announcement, but have hardly had a chance to think of anything other than moving.  All of our stuff is *hopefully* safely on it's way to Hawaii and today has been the first day I've been able to breath a little.  We're staying with family for about a week before our flight leaves next week.  BUT, I made sure to pack the essentials in my suitcase:

So let me stop babbling and share my card before I miss that midnight deadline! 

I made a fun underwater themed shaker card!  I used Critters in the Sea for the main part of this card as well as the banner from Home Sweet Home, Quinn's ABC dies, and Sally's ABC's.  I started by making an underwater background with distress paints.  I just bought a few, so I'm still figuring out how to use them, but creating this background was super easy albeit a little messy ;)  I then adhered my pieces together and that was it!  I was going to do a photo tutorial on shaker cards with this, but I'm a little pressed for time-- but I promise to share one soon if anyone's interested.  I will add 2 helpful tips, however: 

1. Shaker cards are best as one layer cards (i.e. a background and images on one piece of cardstock).  Otherwise, the glitter gets stuck on the images and can look a bit messy.  Since mine wasn't a one layer card, I made the following sandwich from front to back: acetate, fussy-cut images, a second piece of acetate, the foam circle with glitter on the inside, and then the back panel.  This ensured that my fish and turtle were sandwiched between 2 layers of acetate and had no contact with the glitter.  

2. Use a tape-runner type adhesive.  Liquid glue is great for a lot of things, but totally makes a sticky mess with this.  Once the acetate gets glue on it, it smears and becomes sticky.  The glitter ends up having difficulty moving freely and makes for a messy looking card.  Trust me- This is version 3 of the card!  

Here's a photo of all the glitter (I used blues and greens from a Martha Steward glitter pack): 

And one last one: 

Thanks so much for visiting today!!  Good luck to everyone for the DT spot! 

-Lizzy

Happy Graduation!!

Howdy! 

I hope everyone is doing well!  It's been a while since I last posted, but things have been so hectic here lately!  My husband and I finished our respective programs this past weekend and our big move happens tomorrow...yikes!  I hope you'll indulge me and allow me to share a few pictures of this past weekend with you. 

Erik was commissioned into the Army Medical Corp on Saturday 

We both graduated from the University of Virginia this past weekend-- I graduated from the acute care nurse practitioner program in the School of Nursing and Erik graduated from the Medical School.

And since a blog post can't be complete without a card, here's a little graduation card that I made for Erik: 

Thanks so much for visiting today.  I now have to go pack up my stamping supplies :(  to be ready for the movers tomorrow.  I plan on packing some in my suitcase, but I won't see most of it for a couple months :(   BUT, I still have plans to post on this blog to keep you updated on the move to Hawaii, so I hope you'll still come to visit :)  

-Lizzy 

Belated Birthday Wishes

Hi There! 

I'm just here to pop in to share a card for the latest Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge: Anything Goes. 

For inspiration, I went back through old SPARKS challenges and came across this Trend Watch from last year: 

I was inspired to make a *belated* birthday card, with an emphasis on "travel", with a few of my Paper Smooches stamps: 

If you thought of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, you're right in line with my creative vision...lol!  He's about to jump down that black hole, because he's late!  I used the bunny from A Little Lovin' and dressed him up in a vest and coat.  His pocket watch is actually the alarm clock from Perpetual Bliss that I selectively cut out.  

I thought this idea would be a cute idea for a belated birthday card.  Here's the inside of the card: 

The sentiment is from Word Salad.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope I'm not too late to enter the challenge! 

-Lizzy

Thanks

Hi! 

Today's card is my second entry for this week's CAS-ual Friday's challenge.  It's a BIG one and a fun one too!  The objective is to choose a row from the tic tac toe grid below and make a clean and simple project. 

I chose to use the middle column: kraft, bling, emboss.  Here's my card: 

This one-layer card was made using PTI's Mini Blooms stamp set.  I stamped the grouped flower images in white pigment ink and re-stamped all the elements in colored dye ink.  The sentiment is heat embossed in black.  I finished the card off with a little bling and rounded the bottom corners. 

Just as the card says... thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Wish BIG!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're enjoying the weekend!  I'm here today to share a birthday card using a very sweet Unity Stamp Company image.  It's my first foray into coloring a person with copics, so here goes... 

I love this sweet little image.  It was fun to color too!  I'm definitely still a copic beginner, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  After I finished coloring the little girl, I added little dots of white gel pen and stickles to the dandelion for some extra sparkle.  Next, I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Birthday Sampler by Paper Smooches.  I then added a few rhinestones to finish the card. 

I'll enter this card into the latest CAS-ual Friday's Challenge, which is a fun one!  It's a tic-tac-toe board of their top 10 challenges.  I chose to combine left row: polka dots, square card, and birthday.  I created a dot background surrounding the girl, which reminded me of polka dots, so I think it fits. 

And I'll be playing along with the Simon Says Stamp challenge, which is "Happy Mail." 

Thanks for visiting today!  

-Lizzy

Always Card

Happy Thursday! 

I was thinking about the watercolor challenge over at the Moxie Fab World blog again, and thought it would be fun to play with some distress inks and water.  I used a few shades of purple, which were rubbed onto an acrylic block and spritzed with water.  Using a paint brush, I brushed the various shades of purple onto a cardstock panel and created a pretty, purple background.  I was going for an ombre effect, but it didn't quite turn out how I envisioned, so I ended up cutting apart the panel and using just a square.  I'll keep the rest of the paper for another project.  Here's the card that I ended up making: 

Once I cut apart the cardstock panel, I used a Lawn Fawn heart die to cut a heart out of the middle.  Next, I stamped the sentiment, which is from the Word Salad stamp set by Paper Smooches and popped the panel up on some foam adhesive.  A few sequins and some twine finished the card.  Oh, and I used my corner rounder to soften the edges of the watercolor panel and the card base. 

And I think I'd be pretty happy to receive this card in the mail, so I'll be playing along with this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Happy Mail". 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

Bookmark Card

Hey! 

For today's card, I wanted to try out the technique of extending a die.  I had recently watched Savannah O'Gwynn's video tutorial on how to get more (literally!) out of your dies.  I thought it would be fun to use my Paper Smooches tag scallop die to make a bookmark.  Savannah gave a lot of great tips in her video, which made extending the tag very easy to do!  I'll definitely use this technique again.  

Here's my bookmark card: 

 After I die cut the bookmark, I decorated it with images from Smarty Pants and the sentiment is from Get Outta Town (Paper Smooches).  I adhered the bookmark to the card with some repositionable adhesive, so it easily peels away and can actually be used.  To finish it off, I made a tassel and cord out of some lime baker's twine.  

The bookmark would be super easy to reproduce and make multiples and, of course, it could be decorated to suite your needs. 

Since the theme is "Anything Goes" over at the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge, I'll be playing along. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

-Lizzy

The Wonder of Watercolor

Howdy,

Have you been loving the watercolor trend too?  One of the challenges over at the Moxie Fab World Blog is to create something using this medium.  I've been having fun playing with my Inktense pencils, so I thought I'd create a watercolor card with them: 

What better image than a fish, right??  ...Alright, I just wanted to use this stamp ;)  It's an image of a longnose butterfly fish for all you non- ichthyologists (one who studies fish).  And although I may have taken a lot just a bit of artistic license with it's color, I do like how it turned out.  I started by embossing it in black and then colored the image with the pencils.  To finish it off, I added a few water dots from the French Foliage stamp set (SU) in a light gray ink.  I don't think all cards need sentiments, especially if the images can be used for various occasions, so I chose to leave the card without one.  Plus, this way, it reminds me more of the Japanese fish print images (gyotaku), which are super cool!  I'll probably end up using it for an upcoming birthday though. 

That's all for me today.  Thanks for visiting. 

-Lizzy