You're Special

Hi there and happy Friday to you all.  Today I am going to share a fun technique using Tombow Dual Brush markers and stencils to create a fun watercolor background.

For this card, I started by taping a stencil onto a large piece of watercolor paper and then going over the entire stencil with embossing ink and then I removed the stencil and embossed it with black powder.   Next, I spritzed the paper with a fine mist of water and scribbled some pink, yellow and orange Tombow Dual Brush pens onto the paper and then rubbed the colors around with my finger.  If your paper has dried a bit, just give it another spritz and continue moving the color around.  

Next, I trimmed down the piece to the size that I wanted for my card and added a black and white mat.  I used Tombow Xtreme to hold the watercolor piece to the black cardstock and then some Tombow Foam Tabs to adhere the white panel to the orange embossed card.  

I stamped the sentiment with black ink onto a white scrap and popped it up with some foam tabs.  I added some die cut butterflies and sequins as a finishing touch.

Congratulations!

Hi there! 

I am back with the final card in my star series.

This card would be great for the graduate in your life.

I chose to use the colors of our local high school, but you could change it up to fit whatever school you needed it to be.  

I used the Hero Arts Stylish Stars die to cut the large star opening into some blue cardstock and then embossed it with a dots embossing folder.  Next, I used the Memory Box Starry Nights stencil and some Denim Adirondack ink on a white panel.  I cut the white panel a little smaller than the blue embossed panel and used some Tombow Xtreme Adhesive to adhere the panels together.  Tombow Xtreme is great for heavier items or textured papers as the hold is very, very strong. Have you tried it yet?  I added the star panels to a black layer and then to the white card base.  I created some banner flags in black, navy and white and the stamped the "congratulations" sentiment from the Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler set.  For a finishing touch, I added some Stardust pen to the stars and silver cording around the panels.

Top 13 of 2013

Hi there and happy 2014!

Operation Write Home is having a hop where each person can share their Top 13 cards/projects for 2013.

Now all of my projects may not be OWH cards and I will note underneath if there is a reason why it wouldn't meet OWH guidelines.  I think this will help the newer OWH card creators to know what can/cannot be used (i.e. glitter, bulk,) for our cards for our Heros. 

If you would like more info on any of the cards posted, please click on the name above the card to be taken to my original blog post.

Valentine Peyton

OMIT the glitter from the heart on this one and it would be a great Valentine or Love card from OWH.  Always remember, no glitter for Operation Write Home.

Be My Valentine

I loved creating this card, possibly my personal favorite for the whole year.  I loved everything about making this card.

Happy Spring

Okay, this is not okay for Operation Write Home but definitely on my favorites list.

Oh Happy Day!

This one has some layers, but lays nice and flat.  

Cup of Thanks

This one was created for the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

Live Your Life in Color

I loved the way this one turned out, you can definitely tell it was warm outside by all of the bright colors I used :)

Rockin' Out

Okay, these are just plain fun!  OMIT the glitter from the guitar if you want to create something like this for OWH.  

Happy Zinnias

Another bright and summery card.  If I were to use this for OWH, I would OMIT the glitter and just tie a small knot instead of the bow.

You're a Peach

Lots of layers, but not a lot of bulk.  

Thank You

This one was created for Operation Write Home's World Card Making Day Blog Hop.

Click the link above the card to see a more masculine version.

Cattails

Lots of layers, but still nice and flat for OWH, OMIT the glitter on the cattails and this would be a great card for OWH.

Merry Christmas

Love the simplicity of this card, yet it has a little pop to it by using the silver embossing powder on the ornament.  

These were just some of my favorites for the year.  I invite you to stop back by and check out my blog as I love to create and share with you all.

You're Tee-riffic!

Hello and happy Wednesday to you!  This week my Tombow teamies and I are celebrating the Dads in our lives.  Be sure to go here and here to see what Marie and Debbie have created so far and leave a comment for a chance to win a prize pack.

Today I am celebrating my hubby.  He is a wonderful Dad!  David loves to golf so I made this card for him.  I really do think he is Tee-riffic!

I started with a white cardbase and added some print paper from Graphic 45's French Country 6 x 6 pad using Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots.  Next I layered up some solid paper from the same collection to create the base for my image panel.  The blue panel is popped up with Tombow Foam Tabs.  I stamped this cute little golf cart from the Paper Smooches My Guy set in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored it with Tombow Dual Brush Pens (#535,#991 and the Blender). I paper pieced the golf bag, seat and canopy using the Mono Glue Pen, it was perfect for the small spaces.

Be sure leave a comment on the Tombow blog each day this week for a chance to win a prize.

Thanks ever so much!

Happy Memorial Day everyone! 

Just a quick post today, I hope you all are spending this holiday with your loved ones and remembering those who have served or are serving in our military.  We can't thank them enough for all they do for us!

While cleaning off my desk this morning, I came across lots of scraps from earlier this month when I created THIS card for the Challenge Chicks May challenge.  

Challenge yourself today, to create a card with just scraps you have laying around.  If you do, come back and leave me a comment with a link.  I would love to check it out.

Sending much love and thanks to all of our military branches today.  You are true HEROS!

OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop

Hi there and happy Saturday everyone!

Today I am sharing a card that I created for the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop.  

The theme is to create a Thank You card using one of the many, many sketches from OWH.  You can find all of the sketches HERE.

I picked Sketch 133 to work with and stuck pretty much to it, I changed the horizontal panel to a flag instead of the rectangle, but that was about it.

Isn't this little cup cute?  I used a new (to me) product called Wink of Stella by Zig to add a little sparkle to the steam.  I love this because it gave the card a little zip without the worry of glitter rubbing off.  Just perfect I say!

There are lots of blogs to see along the way, so I am just going to share the card recipe below.  If you have any questions, be sure to leave me a comment (with a way to get back to you).  Happy hopping!

Recipe:
Stamps:  Cyber Cafe-Paper Smooches
Paper:  Neenah Solor White, Melon from ??, Floral-October Afternoon, Dot from ??
Ink:  Tuxedo Black-Memento
Extras:  Tombow Dual Brush Pens (N75 & 991), Buttons, Twine
Adhesives:  Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots, Tombow Foam Tabs

I am not going to keep you as there are a lot of great stops on this hop and you can find a complete list by clicking on the banner below.

Thank you to all of our service men and women who protect us everyday.  My world is a better place because of you. 

Hop with Tombow and Kristina Werner

Happy Monday everyone!  

Today, I am joining with my Tombow teamies and our special Guest Designer, Kristina Werner for a fun hop.  Tombow will be giving away a fantastic prize package, so be sure to comment along the way for a chance to win.

You should have arrived at my blog from Debbie Fisher's blog, but if you didn't you can go back to the Tombow blog and start from the beginning.

My inspiration for this card came from the May color challenge at the Challenge Chicks Facebook page.

I started with a golden yellow cardstock and stamped the Hero Arts Woodgrain background in a deep yellow ink giving a tone on tone effect.  I found this fun little print paper in my stash and added it to a brown layer to created the base for my image. I stamped the kitty image in brown ink and colored it in with Irojiten Dictionery Color Pencils and odorless mineral spirits.  I went back in with some brown Tombow Dual Brush (#969-Chocolate) pen and went over the cute little freckles on the kitty's face.  I used Tombow Dual Brush (#873-Coral) for the little heart nose. I used Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to adhere the image panel to the brown scallop panel and the print panel to the brown layer. Both of these layers were popped up using some Tombow Foam Tabs. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and was stamped in brown ink.

Please be sure to hop along to each of the blogs and don't forget to comment along the way so that you have a chance to win this amazing prize pack.  The prize pack contains the following Tombow products:

Dual Brush Pens 6 set, Jewel

Mono Adhesive Removable

Mono Adhesive Permanent

3D Foam Tabs

Now, I will send you on your way to Jennie Garcia's awesome blog.

If you get lost along the way, here is a complete list of hoppers:

Tombow Blog

Debbie Fisher

Melissa Cash (me)

Jennie Garcia

Marie Browning

Kristina Werner-Guest Designer

The more you comment, the more chances you have to win!

The winner will be announced Friday May 17^th  at 3:30 Eastern Time.

Birthday Bucket of Flowers

Hi y'all!  I had a little break in blogging and now I am back to share a fun bucket of flowers with you.

I know that Sunday is Mother's Day, and this would make a great everlasting Mother's Day bouquet for sure, but I decided to create a birthday card as this is a class project I am teaching for the end of the month.  

I started with a cut file from SVG Cuts and used that for the bucket and the roses. The blue flowers are a Silhouette cut file.  I used Tombow Mono Multi to put the bucket together.  A tip when using Mono Multi on a project like this is to use the Mono Multi sparingly.  If you glop on too much, the paper will become saturated and it will take way to long to dry.  To attach the print panels to the bucket I used Tombow Mono Dots Adhesive. 

For each of the flowers, I sponged the petals and then glued them together with Tombow Mono Multi, stacking the petals catty wompus of each other so that the pieces form a flower. I did this for both types of flowers.  To add a finishing touch to each of the blue flowers, I adhered a button to the center using a 1/4 of a Tombow Power Tab.  The Power Tabs are clear and very easy to cut with your regular scissors.

To create the card I used some Tombow Mono Dots Adhesive to adhere the print papers to the card.  The flower was created as I stated above.  The leaves were embossed and then folded in the center to add some dimension.  I attached the leaves with Tombow Foam Tabs.

Here is a picture of the completed project.  I really think this would make a great gift for someone special.

Tag, you're it!!

Happy, happy end of the week!  It has been a busy week for me and I am glad to take a breather and enjoy some downtime.

I am still in "little gifts" mode and made some chocolate dipped sugar cookies with different types of Christmas sprinkles and then packaged them two to a bag and tied them off with some fun holiday tags.  I have added these to my treats basket and they are ready to go.

For each one of the tags, I used the awesome Fancy Pants Blissful Blizzard line.  I love everything about this line as it lends itself to everything from whimsy to elegant.  Each tag measures 2.5" x 4".

This tag was easy peasy as the paper is printed with all of the little elements on it and all I needed to do was add the print tag to a base tag using some Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots.  I wrapped some twine around the tag and then tied it off with a button and bow.  I added a Tombow Power Tab behind the button to hold it firmly in place. I used a little more twine and a smaller button to attach the tag to the bag. I stamped the to/from from the Paper Smooches Word Salad set and Merry Christmas from the Christmas Sampler set.

The next two tags were created just like the first in that I adhered the print piece to the solid using Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots.  The accent stripes on both tags are from the Blissful Blizzard Tape Stickers sheet.  The tape stickers were self adhesive but just to be sure that they would not come up I added some Tombow Mono Multi to each strip.  I cut the poinsettias out with my Silhouette Cameo and this file.  The leaves are cut from this one and that one.  I used Tombow Mono Multi to attach the leaves and Tombow Power Tabs to attach the flowers.  The tags were tied to the bags with twine.

 Remember crafters, don't forget your package delivery people, little gifts like this are the perfect way to say thank you for their awesome service.

Snowy Sliders

Happy Friday!  Wow, I am glad that the weekend is here.  I am finally starting to get some energy back after my surgery a couple of weeks ago and I am thrilled about that. 

Today I have some fun candy bar sliders to share with you.  I always like having a basket of fun little treats like these to give to friends during the holidays.  These would even be  great if you wanted to hide a gift of cash inside.  What a surprise that would be!

For all three of the sliders I used a variety of print papers from the Bo Bunny Snow Day collection and coordinating solids from my stash.  For each of the sliders I wrapped a 6 x 6 piece of cardstock around the candy bar and attached it with Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots.  I did the same thing for any coordinating layers. The buttons were attached on each of the sliders with Tombow Power Tabs that had been cut into quarters. Believe me, these buttons will not fall off!

For this slider, I water colored the image with Tombow Dual Brush pens.The marker colors used were: 098, 249, 933, 969 and the Blender pen. The images are from the Paper Smooches Warm Hearts set. I cut out the trees and snowman and used some Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to adhere them to the snowflake embossed panel.

For these two, I used images/sentiments from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler, Freezy Fellas and Swanky Snowdudes sets.  For both of these sliders I attached the layers together with Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots  and popped each of the image panels up on Tombow Foam Tabs.  For the slider on the left I added some Tombow Mono Aqua to the snow bank and covered it with glitter.  Both of the images were colored with Tombow Dual Brush pens in the following colors:  312, 346, 451, 933, 991, 993, N15, N75, N95 and the Blender pen.

BLD Candy Gram Sam

Hi there folks!  It is Tuesday again and I am back with another awesome image to share with you from By LORi Designs.  

Today, I am sharing Candy Gram Sam with you.  He is one of four amazing winter images that Lori has created for us.

Sam was colored with a variety of Copic markers and then layered to some GKD PL Sweet Corn cardstock.  All of the prints are from the Bo Bunny Snow Day 6 x 6 pad.  I haven't used brads in a long time and thought they were the perfect touch along with the little wooden snowflakes.  The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler.

Be sure to head over to By LORi Designs and check out the amazing creations from the rest of the team.

Christmas Rewind

Sometimes best laid plans are just that....best laid aside for another day.

 I had some surgery last Friday and I thought for sure I would be able to whip up a mighty fine project for this week's post, but find I am having a small setback in my recovery and will hold off on my "sweet" post until next week.  

Today I am going to share a couple of my favorite Christmas cards with you.

 I used Tombow Foam Tabs to pop up the snowflake embossed panel onto the white card base.  For the trunk of the tree I added some Tombow Mono Multi and wrapped the trunk with twine.  For the star I used Tombow Mono Multi with some "Tang" glitter from Art Institute.  Want more details, click here.

For this card, I used Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to layer my embossed panel to the white card base.  I die cut some snowflakes and covered them with Tombow Mono Aqua and liberally coated them with Crystal Glitter from Art Institute and then popped them up with Tombow Foam Tabs.  For more detail click here.