Butterflies and Distress Oxide

My fingers are permanently stained with distress oxide inks but I am having fun playing with them.  Today I am showing my Case of Dana Joy's beautiful card.

 Here is my take:

Wild Honey, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide inks.
The butterflies are cut with a Birch Press butterfly die then sponged with oxide ink.
Sentiment is embossed onto a piece of cardstock on which I had applied oxide ink.


Only a few more birthday cards to make for July.  Thank goodness for the challenge at Stamploration - to CASE the work by the team. 

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Double D - butterflies
Cardz TV - anything
Stamploration - CASE a team member

Teen Girl Birthday

Several of the birthdays in July and August are for teen granddaughters.  Here is a card for one turning 13.  This little gal reminds me so much of the recipient.

I wanted to do the smash technique (with distress oxide inks) behind the girl but could not figure out how to do that without fussy cutting the whole image.  So, I stamped her on the cardstock then masked the image so I could add the distress oxide inks.
Here was my inspiration that I was hoping to copy a bit more than I did.

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - anything
House That Stamps Built - anything
Time Out - warm
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Stamploration Birthday CASE

Cardz TV - anything
Joy Clair - anything

CASING Again

Yes, CASING again.  The hardest part of making a card (for me) is coming up with an idea and especially the layout.  I will probably do a lot of CASING this summer for it sure takes up less time when I want to make a card and time in the craft room is much reduced in the summer.

Here is Linda Walmsley's card that I CASED.  Isn't it beautiful?

For my card I Stamped Azaleas from the Power Poppy set of that name then colored them with Copics and Prisma pencils. The black cut is done with a hand punch.  Sentiment is stamped on with Stazon Black.
Thanks to Linda for the inspiration.

Challenges:
Stamploration Birthday CASE

Word Art Wednesday - anything
CardzTV - anything
Joy Clair - anything
Simon Wednesday - anything 
House that Stamps Built - anything 

This One In Orange

When I made the birthday card yesterday, I printed out two flowers - two colors.  I was happy with the first card so I guess I CASED myself with the second one.  Just kidding.  The card was inspired by Jerri at Stamploration.  Her card:

My card:

This one is a little bit more grunge than yesterdays.  I used Stampin Up Script and Itty Bitty Backgrounds.  The Ranger Distress Oxide inks are the same: Twisted Citron, Wild Honey, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry.
I added Prisma pencil to the pre-colored digital image and also added some white gel pen.
The Happy Birthday is Memory Box die cut. 
Humm.  Which do you like best?  Yesterday's pink or today's orange?  I love this warm orange but I think I prefer the bright pink of yesterday's card. 

Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday - bright and cheerful
Time Out - warm
Word Art Wednesday - anything
CardzTV - anything
Always Happy Birthday 
Stamploration - Birthday CASE

Joy Clair - anything

Bright Birthdays

While looking for birthday card ideas, I saw one by Jerrie at Stamploration that I knew I wanted to CASE.
Here is her beautiful card:

And here is what I came up with:

The flower is a digital stamp by Doodle Pantry.  I actually used the color version and then added some more color with Prisma pencils and added some dots with white gel pen.
The multicolored strip is done with Distress Oxide inks Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Wild Honey.
The sentiment is cut with a Memory Box die.  Script is Stampin Up.
I really like the brightness.  Birthdays should be bright and happy.

Challenges:
Simon Wednesday - bright and cheerful
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Always Happy Birthday
Stamploration  -   CASE

Let The Summer Celebrations Begin

In the months of July and August we have fourteen birthdays/anniversaries in our family.  That is not counting my siblings and good friends.  So the pressure is on to start making birthday cards (9 needed in July).

The Paper Sweetie balloons were stamped, colored with Copics, then cut out with the coordinating die.  I had to add a balloon though, because my grandson is turning 5.  The numeral is a sticker.
The clouds are cut out with MFT and Memory Box dies.  "Happy Birthday" is aSpellbinder die.
The sky is made with Ranger Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and the"trees' are Ranger Twisted Citron Distress Oxide with streaks of pencil.

Simon Wednesday - bright and cheerful
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Dies R Us - summertime fun
Cardz TV - anything
Work It Wednesday - sunshine and summer
Always Happy Birthday

More Butterflies and Blues

Like I said in my previous post, I'm hooked on butterflies and blues right now.   Here is another card inspired by Shery Russ but also by Susan Raihala.
Shery's card:

 Susan's card:

My Card:

I used stamps from several companies: Unity, Stampin Up, and an unlabled stamp.
Inks: SU Not Quite Navy, Ancient Page Gray Flannel.

Challenges:
Stamploration Birthday CASE

Word Art Wednesday - anything
Patties Creations - anything that flies
Joy Clair - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Double D Challenge - butterflies

Butterflies and Blues

As I look at cards on other blogs, I am drawn to butterflies and shades of blue lately.  So with the the inspiration of others, I made a few cards with both.
I'm not very good with the grunge look but I was determined to make one I liked and therefore CASED Shery Russ's card.

Here is my version:

and I actually like it!  Thanks Shery.
I started by printing the verse which has a swish of blue water on the left side (Maxam Made).  Then I used stamps from Unity, Stampin' Up, Stamploration, Joy Clair, and an unknown company stamp.
Inks used: Momento Black, Stampin'Up Not Quite Navy, Ranger Wild Honey Distress Oxide.
I am always afraid my one layer cards won't turn out so I seldom make them.  This is almost one layer! I adhered the inked panel to a white base.
No die cuts!  that doesn't happen very often.

Challenges:
Double D - butterflies
Words2Craft By
Crop Stop - anything
Work It Wednesday - inspired by sunshine
Joy Clair - anything
Patties Creations - anything that flies
MFT - colors - blue, white, yellow
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Stamploration Birthday CASE

Summertime Fun

One of the things I look forward to each summer is having some of my grandchildren several days each week during their summer vacation.  Here is a gate-fold card I made for them using Dearie Doll digital stamps.

These images are colored with Copics, Prisma pencils, and Sakura Silver Star pen on the water.  The edges are sponged with Ranger Distress Oxide Inks.
The panels are cut with MFT Die-namic Stitched Rectangle dies.

Challenges:
House that Stamps Built - summer vacation
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Dies R Us - summertime fun
Crop Stop - anything
Work It Wednesday - inspired by sunshine and summertime
Joy Clair - anything
Cardz TV - anything 

No Matter the Weather

Don't you love waking up to sunshine?  I just feel more energized when the skies are clear and I see the sun rise.  Here in the Pacific NW, we are not guaranteed those mornings!  We had beautiful days in May but now we are into some very gray days in June.  Forecast is for lots of sun next week.  Here's hoping, but one thing I can count on - God is faithful; His mercies are new every morning.  With that assurance, I can have a great day no matter what the weather.
My card today is a CASE of Helen's beautiful card pictured below:

I love her card so using materials in my craft room, I was able to make something similar.  (I must have those fern die cuts!)

If or when I make this again, I will do a few things differently. I will use Stazon Black instead of Momento for a darker more solid black and I will use a different wood grain paper, maybe make my own.  But due to limited time, this will have to do and I do like it (especially if I don't compare it to Helen's!)

The inside frame cut was made with a MFT Rectangle die.  The vine is also MFT.  The flower is made with the Cuttlebug Flowers die. 

The wood was enhanced with some Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress ink. 

Have a great day no matter what the weather is!

Challenges: 

Stamploration Birthday challenge - CASE 

 Crop Stop - anything 

Cuttlebug - frame it 

Simon Says Wednesday - frame it 

Word Art Wednesday - anything 

Cardz TV - anything 

Joy Clair - anything

Special Sixteen Birthday

My grandkids are growing up too fast!  which means my own kids are the age I should be!
Here is the card I made for my grandson who just turned 16.

I combined several ideas that I saw on Pinterest and Jerrie Mead's card.
We live 100 miles north of Seattle so I was excited I had this piece of map in my stash.  The car is a stamp by Unity which I colored with Copics.  The Route sign is a digital stamp that I was able to insert the "16" digital numbers by Doodle Pantry.
The circle is cut with a die in the MFT Die-namic  Circle Stax.  Route sign and front of the car are popped up with dimensional foam tape.

Challenges:
Stamploration Birthday Celebration - CASE
Crop Stop - anything
Joy Clair - anything (mood board)
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cardz TV - anything
Always Happy Birthday

Sunshine and Hard Work

It has been over two weeks since I have posted anything (BTW - A Big Welcome to new Followers!) and over a month since I picked up a Copic marker or colored pencil.  I don't think I have ever had those gaps before.   Lately I am usually too tired in the evening to even think about making a card.  But Sunday afternoon I took a page out of one of my adult coloring books and colored for at least an hour.  Today, after coming in from working in the yard for a few hours and then baking four loaves of bread and a batch of cookies, I sat down and finished the page.  I know I used to work like this all the time when the kids were small, but I sure didn't expect to work this hard at my age! and it is harder at this age!  Actually, each evening as I collapse onto the couch or into bed, I thank the Lord that I am bone tired because it means I have a home and property and the health to work on both.  Okay, enough talk.  Here is what I colored:

The page is 8 x 11 so I had to cut off an inch to put it in a frame but I wanted to hang it on the wall above my desk.  I have several other pages colored and want to change them out about every month or so.  After I hung it up, I showed this one and the other pages to my husband and was surprised that he liked this one the ..
Here is a pic that I used for my inspiration.  It is the photo inspiration at Time Out.

The funky flowers on the page looked like some in the photo and I love the colors so I tried to use those on my page.
Here are the Copics I used:

 Also used a few Prisma pencils.

I won't guarantee another blog post soon - still a lot to do outside.  Thanks for popping in this time  and for your support.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - bright and beautiful
Time Out - photo inspiration
Word Art Wednesday
Daily Marker - 30 days
Cardz TV