Have a BEARY Merry Christmas!

Hi, everyone.

The card below was inspired by Operation Write Home's Polar Bear Tutorial and photos of adorable baby polar bears in ice caves. I have to say I am THRILLED with the way this little guy turned out.   :)

Distress Ink core paper; cardstock: Bazzill black, AC white
Cuttlebug embossing folder
punches: EK hole, Paper Shaper circle, Recollection snowflake
Creative Memories oval cutting system
pens: Uniball white, Micron black; tool: Staedtler bendable ruler
techniques: paper piecing and fussy cutting

While this digital picture is one of my better efforts, there are a few details that don't show up. The red core paper around the borders was embossed, and lightly sanded, using a Swiss dot embossing folder. Also, the outlines of the bear cub and the Santa hat were lightly inked using blue and black shades of Distress Ink, respectively.

Speaking of the Santa hat, Microsoft clip art images were used to make the hat and candy cane. After images were printed, they were cut out to use as templates.

If you haven't seen a Staedtler bendable ruler, you might want to check them out. A good friend gave me one a while ago, and I it comes in handy at the most unexpected times. For this card, I used it to outline the "cave" opening so I didn't get too tear-crazy.

Parting Thoughts

I'm hoping that this little cub brings a big smile to the face of one of our troop's little ones.

And, I'm thinking this could be a popular card at this season's craft fairs. Just need to find a way to keep the cuteness -- and attention to detail, while streamlining the process. Trust me, this little guy was pretty labor intensive... but definitely worth the effort! I couldn't be happier with this little bear cub.   :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Thank You for Protecting Our Freedom

Hi, everyone!

This week's Casual Friday's Red, White, & Blue challenge is perfect to honor our country's finest on this Memorial Day weekend. The card below is an Any Hero card that will be sent to Operation Write Home, which is hosting a huge bloghop this weekend!

paper-pieced heart: original computer-created design
sentiment: the Sweet Stamp Shop in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy
cardstock: tan: Distress Ink core, blue: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co, white: AC, blue: ???
Marvy and the Paper Studio star punches; Recollections brads
Mark Richards crystals; 3D glue dots

Parting Thoughts

Really looking forward to the OWH bloghop. If my post goes live as scheduled, I'll be sharing two cards: a card thanking one of our troops for his/her service and a thank you card that can be sent home to a loved one. See you at the hop. :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Cupcake Walt Disney Could Love

Happy weekend everyone,

Maybe it's just a piece of Disney folklore -- or a bit of wishful thinking, but there's a story I've heard about Walt Disney that I think of at the most random times.

As the story goes, young Walt was drawing flowers during an assignment to draw a still life. As his elementary school teacher walked past, she was shocked -- and dismayed -- to see flowers with faces and arms. When she informed Walt that flowers don't have faces, Walt replied, "My flowers do."

I can't ever watch Fantasia without thinking of this story. (And, I often times wonder what that teacher would've given to have kept that youthful drawing of smiling flowers.) I was reminded of the story once again when I saw a smiling cupcake face on the cover of Imaginisce's Hello, Cupcake! 6 by 6 pad.

Happy Cupcake to You!

Paper: Imaginisce Hello, Cupcake!, AC cardstock
Tools: Creative Memories cutting system
Techniques: fussy cutting, paper piecing, inking in Close to My Heart Desert Sand

This card was made for this week's OWH Midweek Challenge to make a "card 4 kids". The top of the cupcake is double layered. In addition, the cupcake edges were inked and this little guy was adhered using 3D dots. I'm thinking of trying Barb's marker trick along the inside edge of the teal outline circle.

In case you can't tell, a circle was cut out from the front of the card. The cupcake is attached to two circles on the inside of the card.

I originally cut out the cupcake that was on the cover of the paper pad. However, it was a little too large for the cut-out circle. So, I scanned the cut-out cupcake with our computer's all-in-one printer and printed slightly smaller images. The printed images aren't as glossy. But, printing out multiple images allowed me to double up the top of the cupcake, which I couldn't have done if I'd just used the cover cut-out.

If you look closely, you'll see three of the candles on the front of the card also have flames with smiling faces. I'm hoping this little card will bring a smile to the face of a little one knowing that someone special is thinking of him or her on their special day. :)

Parting Thought

Happy cupcake, happy weekend, and happy scrappin'!

Monday Musings: An OWH VCMP Early Edition

Hi, everyone,

Hope you all have had as much fun as I have making cards for this weekend's OWH VCMP party. Thanks to OWH for organizing the hop and to the hosts for such wonderful challenges.

As I look at my set of cards, I'm seeing a definite theme -- now that I've gotten serious again about counting Weight Watcher points in anticipation of pool season. Freudian images of sweets -- cupcakes, ice cream, cake -- abound!  :)

One other Common Element

While working on these cards, I tried a new technique. And, I liked it so well that I used  it on 4 of the 5 cards.

I pressed cut-out images (the top and bottom of the cupcake; the ice cream scoops and cones; the flame, candle, ribbon, and bottom trim; the flip flop print) in a Versamark pad. Then I heat embossed using clear embossing powder. 

The result was a shiny, slick image that really draws attention to the embossed images. Patterns really come through nicely. And, if you repeat the process, the embossed images are even shinier -- kind of like applying a second layer of varnish. 

Card 1: Paper Piecing a Child's Card

Initially, I thought this card could work for either a child or an adult. To make it more child-like, I added Stickles to the stars and flowers on the background paper and added gems to the corner.

DCWV Sweet mat stack; Stickles, gems

Card 2: Using Something Hoarded

 
Okay, the paper and embellishment on this card were supplies used in one of my first card classes at Pizazz It!. I loved this S.E.I. line so much that I've been holding on to the leftover paper and die cuts to use on an extra special wedding card -- maybe for my nephews' weddings. :)

But, my nephews are 12 and 10. :( 

So, here goes...

S.E.I. Moonrise paper and die cuts

Seriously, this was a great idea, Carol!  Thanks for the inspiration. I think it made for a very nice card.

Card 3: Making Food a Focal Point

I have to say I am quite pleased with the way this little card turned out. Heat embossing with clear powder really popped the patterns on the ice cream scoops and cones!

DCWV Sweet mat stack; Inkadinkado Birthday Cupcake sentiment

OWHers, no need to worry if the looped background paper looks glittery. This is one of those DCWV paper packs in which the glitter seems to be baked in really well.

Card 4: Using Bright Colors

As much as I like the previous card, I LOVE this card. It is one of my all-time favorites. The inspiration for it came from one of Tiffany's card-making classes at Pizazz It! A few new techniques and added elements have kicked a great card up a notch or two. :)

All paper came from a Stampin' Up! garage sale find!

I'd like to take a few minutes to describe my thought process when creating this card.

• I rounded the top corners of the card base, but kept the bottom corners at right angles, to mirror the shape of the cake.
• I selected the floral print and then selected the coordinating blue, red, and gold papers.
• Next, I decided the background needed a color to pop the floral pattern. I chose to heat emboss Distress Ink scattered straw, using clear embossing powder. (And, if you've never tried this technique, the result is sooooo gorgeous. It just glistens in the sunlight!)
• I decided to use red for the flame and cake base, and blue for the candle, ribbon, and bottom trim to help the eye go from the top of the cake to its bottom. I chose gold for the center flower to connect it with the background color.
• I used Versamark and clear powder to heat emboss the papers for the flame, candle, ribbon, center flower, and bottom trim. Again, this adds a great shine and brings out the patterns in these papers so nicely.
• I scored the cake base, crimped the bottom trim, and formed the ribbon and snipped its ends for a few textural elements.
• When piecing together the cake, I made the candle 2-layered so that the flame would fit nicely in-between. Pop dots raise the cake top and candle/flame.
•  I set the candle a little to the left so the cake was just a little asymmetrical. (I initially tried tilting the cake's layers a little, but didn't like the result.)
• After adding the pearl to the center of the flower, I added pearls in a vertical line to the top right of the card. These pearls also helped pull the eye down the card. And, they added a little interest to the top right portion of the card without detracting from the cake or from the beautiful Distress Ink background.

It's amazing how CAS cards look so simple, yet can be so intricate in their designs. Speaking of CAS, CAS-ual Fridays is celebrating its first anniversary. So, I think I'll post this little cake there, as well.

I just love going to CAS-ual Fridays for inspiration. I've not been following CAS-ual Fridays long, so maybe it's a mis-perception on my part. But, it seems that the DT's sample cards often have varied backgrounds, but the winning cards seem to have mainly white backgrounds. Regardless, I'm posting this little card, entitled Look Who's Turning One, at CAS-ual Fridays and crossing my fingers. :)

Card 5: Using a Die Cut

I'm almost embarrassed to post this card after the last one. Let's just say it's still a work in progress. It needs a little more oomph before it makes it into my OWH box -- think I'll tinker with the flip flops for starters. However, I do really like the heat embossed flip-flop-"sandprint".

DCWV Stack 6, Bazzill Preppie cardstock red

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone involved for a great blog hop. Looks like I have an owl-themed challenge to take on this week. And, I want to post a card for this month's ODBD challenge. 

Have a great week!  Happy scrappin'!