runway inspired challenge #82

I'm playing along with the Runway Inspired Challenge.  Here's my card...

 
...and here's our inspiration.  So pretty and sparkly.

I was inspired by the bold black and gold combination as well as the blue background.

This card was made for a friend of mine to give to her sister, who is leaving NYC to move to California.  Making it kind of made me sad, but I hope the card can bring them both a bit of joy.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle (Fabulous Florals); Simon Says Stamp (You)
Dies: Avery Elle (Simply Said: You); WPlus9 (Spring Wreath)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black); gold gel pen
Other: gold sequins, glitter paper

runway inspired challenge #80

I'm trying to get back to my routine of making cards after a bit of a break (Christmas through Valentine's day is the busiest time for me), and so I thought it would help if I combined cardmaking with my daily gratitude practice...writing at least one thing that I'm thankful for each day.  Today, I made this...

...which, I'm submitting to the Runway Inspired Challenge.  This was our inspiration.

It's important for me to focus on the positive, to remember and appreciate the good things in my life, and to always, always, always practice gratitude.  Even when everything seems to be going wrong and all the things that stress me out seem like they are just piling up, that's when I push myself the hardest to count my blessings.

This card was made for my Brooklyn family, for taking me in and letting me stay at their place while I'm having major repairs done on my house.  I can't thank them enough for their support and love.

This card was made by stamping with distress inks, which I hardly use to stamp with.  I liked the beady and not-so-sharp look that the ink made on the solid vase and flower images.  I provided a bit of definition by taking a wet brush to some places to smooth out the color.

Thanks for taking a look.  Would love your feedback...I'm always striving to improve my work:)

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant - Many Thanks, Sweet Havana
Dies: Mama Elephant - Sweet Havana
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (black soot, faded jeans, peacock feathers, spiced marmalade, tumbled glass, wild honey); Versamark (onyx black) 

runway inspired challenge #75

Hello, hello!  I'm so happy that I had a chance to be at my craft table today.  It gave me a chance to unwind, relax a bit, and make this card, which I'm submitting to the Runway Inspired Challenge.

My card is based on this dress.  Oooh, so pretty!!!

I was inspired by the bright pink and the swooshiness of the dress.  I made the pink curves by using a curved die to create masks for each section.  Time consuming, yet lots and lots of fun.

I then finished it off with my sentiment and a sparkly ampersand.  On the inside of the card, I stamped the sentiment "I'm so grateful".

Thanks for checking this out!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant So Many Thanks
Dies: WPlus9 Sparkle and Shine Trio
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (picked raspberry); Versafine (champagne)
Other: white embossing powder, sequins

runway inspired challenge #73

I recently picked up a bad habit, where I make a card for a challenge, forget to blog about it, and then remember right after the collection has closed.  Well, its time for me to break the habit.  Here's a card I made for the Runway Inspired Challenge.

The card was inspired by this dress.

The color palette reminded me so much of the 80s.  What a wonderful time.  I used the colors and striped pattern for my card, which was given to my aunt for her 67th birthday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle Red and Goldie, Avery Elle Fabulous Florals
Dies: Avery Elle Fabulous Florals Elle-ments; MFT By the Numbers Die-Namics
Other: Patterned vellum

ric #70: sparkle and shine

Just like a lot of other crafters out there, I was blown away by Julie Ebersole's new stamps that were released at the beginning of the month.  The new Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies have the quirkiness and humor that I really enjoy working with.  Here's the first of what I'm sure will be many projects using the EBE products.

The deer is from Essential by Ellen's Prize Stag.  I die cut it three times -- twice on scrap pieces of card stock and once on some glittery black card stock.  Stacked and glued them to each other for a sparkly embellishment.

This card easily came together with a small piece of patterned paper I made using Basic Grey's Tiny Triangles, a scrap piece of black card stock, a pinch of sequins, enamel accents, and a sentiment using Mama Elephant's Winter Wonderland stamp set.  I'm thinking it'll be a great card to mass produce for the holidays...plus it'll help me to cut down on my paper scraps (and make room for more in 2015!!!).

A close-up of the sparkly deer.  Oh, how I love him so:)

I'm entering this card into the Runway Inspired Challenge, where we used this pic as inspiration.

Pics like this make me miss having TV...Project Runway was one of my fave shows, especially the last part before the runway when the designers would bring their models down to the hair and makeup artists, who would often completely transform the look.  Pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant Winter Wonderland, Basic Grey Tiny Triangles
Dies: Essentials by Ellen Prize Stag
Other: sequins, enamel accents (black)

runway inspired challenge #68 - time to soar

I'm still trying to hone my watercoloring skills.  Not sure how people make it look so easy!  Here's a card I made using Avery Elle's Look Up stamp set.  I just love the handwriting and doodly-ness of this set.

I'm submitting my card to the Runway Inspired Challenge, where we used this pretty shoe as inspiration. (Yes, I totally goofed on the color match....I thought it was purple, pink and light brown.   Well, at least I got the light brown???)

I first heat embossed the sentiment in white.  Then I used a combo of distress inks, colored pencils and watercolors for the background.

I cut square sequins so that they looked more like diamonds.

For a closeup of the matchy-matchy sequins...

Thanks for taking a look!  Would LOVE some feedback...and some pointers on how to improve my watercoloring:)

Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle Look Up
Inks: Derwent Inktense pencils, Koi watercolors, Tim Holtz distress ink (picked raspberry)
Other: sequins

butterfly puzzle

I'm joining the fun at the CAS(E) this Sketch and Runway Inspired Challenges with this butterfly thank you card:

I recently saw a video by Laura Bassen (here), where she glued a bunch of small die-cuts from a larger die.  The effect was so cool and well worth the time and effort, so I decided to try the same thing with my butterfly die.

Piecing the wing bits together back together into the intricate butterfly frame was oddly enjoyable...honestly, it reminded me of one of my favorite games as a child: Operation!!!

Finished my card off with a label from the DYMO label maker I "borrowed" from my sister;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Inks: Memento Luxe (lilac posies, nautical blue); Delicata (golden glitz)
Die: Simon Says Stamp Devonshire Butterfly
Other: Wink of Stella glitter brush (clear); DYMO label maker

hey there

Here's another card that I'm sending to my friend, Junard, in the Philippines.  It will be entered into the Runway Inspired Challenge.  My first entry can be found here.

The photo inspiration...

 

I really like the black, grey, yellow combo -- it feels smart and sophisticated, and appropriate if you want to give a  masculine card.  I've been thinking about just continuing with the color scheme until I have a nice set of coordinated cards to send overseas.  Here's my start to that collection...

Thanks for taking a look:)

Supplies:
Stamps: WPlus9 Sweets and Treats
Inks: Hero Arts (wet cement)
Other: patterned paper, sequins, enamel accents

salamat (thank you)

For the next week or so, most of the cards I'm going to make will be sent to my friend, Junard, in the Philippines.  We met in February when I was in General Santos City, the Philippines' southernmost city, for a medical mission.  He was one of the brains behind the whole mission -- doing lots of outreach and testing of patients -- so that by the time the volunteers like myself showed up, everything was very neat and organized.  Junard did a fantastic job, and although this is very very late, I would like to say salamat (thank you).

I'm submitting this card to the Runway Inspired Challenge; for this week's challenge we have to make a card using the bold and graphic photo below as our inspiration.  I'm also submitting this card to Retrosketches, so I designed my card to fit this week's sketch also seen below. 

 

I focused on the grey and black pants and pulled in the yellow from the model's top to match the bars in the sketch.

Using paper strips and having a more modern look isn't really my style, but I kind of dig this card.  Its masculine and it's multilingual!!!  That's pretty exciting to me.  I haven't seen any sentiments in Tagalog (one of the many Philippine languages) available for purchase, so I made my own with Mama Elephant's Midnight Letters.

I sent Junard a message to let him know that I finally made him a card (better late than never, right?) and he informed me that General Santos City was celebrating its annual Tuna Festival.  I so wish I could be there!!!  Aggggh!!! The week that I was there for the medical mission, I probably ate the most tuna and the best tuna I've ever had.  Ever.

Here's a photo from the early morning fish market where we watched fisherman haul these gigantic tuna from the sea and off their boats.  It was fascinating and somewhat terrifying...to guarantee freshness, the men sprinted off their boats to have their fish weighed, assessed for quality, and then auctioned to the highest bidder.  If you didn't watch where you were going, you could have gotten smacked by a big ol' fish.

   

Supplies:

Stamps: Mama Elephant Midnight Letters

Inks: Memento (tuxedo black)

Other: sequins, patterned and solid paper

runway inspired challenge #42

It's my first time participating in the Runway Inspired Challenge, and I already have a feeling that this will quickly become one of my favorite challenges.  Not that I know much about  fashion or anything, but I really enjoy the different color schemes and patterns that serve as our inspiration.

For the current challenge, I made this card...



using this wonderful dress from the Peter Pilotto Resort collection as my inspiration.



I wish I could wear something like this!!!  I tried to match the colors from the dress.  For the design, I actually tried to mimic the tiles from a kitchen back-splash that caught my eye the other day.

It's a bit hard to see, but I used glossy accents to make the little punched out squares actually look like tiles.  I also brushed on some glitter to some of the tiles.  (It looks better in real life, I swear!)

This card is dedicated to a friend that I've known for 20 years.  He's one of the smartest, most ambitious, and accomplished people I know.  We met up for dinner last night and talked for hours about family, work, and living life with no regrets.  Thank you, Ray, for the catch up time.

Supplies:

Stamp: WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals

Inks: Memento (tuxedo black); Tim Holtz (broken china, faded jeans, spiced marmalade, wild honey)

Other: Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (clear); glossy accents