Born to be Wild - Scooter Card

Here is a project I had a lot of fun with. This is a Birthday card I made for a very special family member who just got a super scooter for her birthday. Being handicapped isn't easy and when I heard about the present she got, I thought I had to make a fun card for her....and this image just hit it home :-)

So first I had this lovely stamp from Art Impressions. I stamped it on some watercolor paper twice and colored it in with my watercolor pencils. I used the second image to cut out just the scooter with I placed with foam dots on top of the first image...oh and the little basket too. Next I created the step card base and here I decided to do steps on each side. But what can you put on the side panels? Well, the racing lady need some kind of background and street to race on...so again, back to my watercolor pencils. I added the gray street portion and some green for trees and a little blue sky. 

Then I found a set of tree stamps from Close to My Heart.  The great thing about the clear stamps is that they are so flexible. I bend the tree stamp on the bottom to make it look like it tilts to the right and stamped it on my right panel. The tree on the left panel was stamped like normal (straight ;-) )

For the second steps up front I simple made two smaller panel and also colored them in in gray. The sign is floating of the scooter and hanging on with a little string that is tucked under the back of the scooter. The cat looks so scared and guess what? The recipient has cats too....coincident?

I placed a piece of with cardstock on the back for some personal words and a few rhinestones finished of this card.... Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of this card?
I had a lot of fun making this card and I know it went to a very special Birthday Girl that loved it as much as I did :-) Now I wait for a real photo of her racing through the neighborhood!
 

Girl Friend " Cheers to You" Birthday

Oh the funny ladies again....Don't you love them too?

I used a piece of white cardstock measuring 4"x 4 1/2". I rounded the corners and stamped the ladies in the middle. The phrase fits perfectly in the upper left corner. I did use StazOn black ink for the stamping part.

For coloring the ladies in, I used watercolor pencils and a small brush with just a tiny little bit of water! Do not use a lot of water when you are working on regular cardstock, otherwise the paper will crumble.

Keep it simple and leave parts of their clothing white.


Two design paper strips along the top and bottom of the card base and a piece of matching cardstock was used to cover the middle of the base. I raised the ladies with some foam dots and added a few rhinestones to the front.

A "Happy Birthday" stamp for the inside and a few balloons and this card is finished.

Would you like to learn more about different water coloring techniques? How to start and what to look out for to get the best results? Come join one of my water coloring classes starting back up in September. Or contact me for an individual class!

Girlfriend Birthday Wishes

Sometimes we need a funny Birthday Card for someone special...I love these girlfriend stamps. So here we go...

I started with a piece of red cardstock and stamped the background chevron design on it in a corresponding color. To give the card a little bling, I used a glitter pen to underline a couple of strips.

A small 1" circle punch was used to punch out five openings in the cardstock. I stamped my phrase onto pieces of colonial white cardstock and adhered them in between the punch holes.

Next I stamped my girlfriends a couple of times and picked 5 faces for this card. With the same punch I cut them out and colored them in with alcohol markers. 
I places the red cardstock piece on top of my card base and marked each hole carefully with a pencil. I adhere the girlfriend heads on the markings, making sure that they would face each other. The top layer of red cardstock was placed with foam dots on top of the card and faces.

For the inside I stamped one complete image of the ladies and a matching phrase. I matted each one on another piece of red cardstock and colored the ladies with alcohol markers.    

A Girlfriend Birthday Ballon

Yeap, the same stamp we used a few days ago on another card, but this time I used it for a special Birthday card.
This time I stared with a pink card base. I added a black mat to the front in the center of the card. The image was stamped again with StazOn ink (black). You have to use a permanent ink for any kind of image that you like to color in with watercolors, otherwise you will smooch the image, since regular inks are water-based!


I colored her in with watercolor pens and added pink glitter glue to the heart on the dress. After things were dry, I rounded the corners and added the image into the center of the black piece.
I opened the card and placed it on a cutting mat, the image facing up. I used a craft knife and a metal ruler to cut around the black card stock. You only have to cut from the middle of the top, around the right side and on to the middle of the bottom part. Once the cuts are done, you take the pink frame and folded it back. The start and end cutting point are the beginning of the fold.
A ribbon is holding the flap back in place, but you could also glue it back down if you like. 

I placed a piece of design poka-dot paper on the inside and added a piece of white paper for the phrase and a note. To make sure your white paper will disappear behind the front cutout image follow this ....open your card and place the white paper writing face down onto the front cutout seen above. Now close the card by folding the back with the poka-dot paper over the white. This way you will always position it right and out of sight. 

If you like a kit of January's card workshop, please contact me for more information......Click here

Valentine with the Girlfriends

Yes, I am back with more of those funny Girlfriend stamps....Can't get enough of them....

All you need for this card is a red card stock base, a black card stock mat and a piece of white card stock. I stamped the girlfriend image in StazOn ink (black) and the phrase in regular black ink.

I then colored our friend in with some watercolor pens and assembled the layers of card stock as seen.

For some extra fun, I stamped just the dress part on a separate piece of card stock. Colored this one in with watercolor as well and places some red glitter glue in the hearts of the dress. After the glue was dry (will take a couple of hours), I cut the dress out and placed it with foam dot's on top of the original stamped image.

Inside the card a little phrase on a piece of white paper and your Valentines Card is done....

Coffee with the Girls

Need a little coffee break? Never underestimate being properly caffeinated…. And the girl friends will agree on this one.

I stamped the girl friend image twice on pieces of white cardstock using StazOn ink (black). I colored in both of the images with watercolor pencils and gel pens (glaze and soufflé). To give it a little bling, I added to one image some pearls and sparkles. The second image was cut to a rectangular size and I rounded the corners. Finally I cut the first image out and adhered it with foam spacers to the rectangular one.

I cut a window in my card base in the size of my image with an extra 1/16” for clearance. I matted the colored pieces and adhered them thru the window on the card inside. I added some matching design paper and a little phrase on the front. I stamped the inside and the Happy Birthday sentiments in Cocoa ink.

Enjoy your Coffee Girls!

Oh La La the girls are in Paris

Oh La La the girlfriends are in Paris. 

I love these ladies, don’t you?

A 5 ½” x 4 ¼” card base is created from smokey plum cardstock. A white mate 5 ¼”x4” is centered on the base. I used the stamp set that comes with the Workshop on the Go “La Belle Vie” from Close To My Heart to stamp different images in coordinating ink onto a piece of 5 ⅛”x3 ⅞”petal cardstock. Individual pieces are stamped on a lighter purple cardstock, cut out and adhered to the card.

I used the AI girlfriend stamp “Picture Perfect” and “Party Girls” to create the front and inside images. Both are stamped with StazOn Ink, then colored with watercolor pencils and cut out. The inside piece is adhered with an adhesive spring from Close To My Heart to make it pop out and giggle once opened.

Oh La La ….

The inside of your card

I often use darker colored card stock as my base for a nice birthday card, Christmas card, etc.
The darker color makes is hard to leave your message, therefore I like to add a piece of white paper inside the card. Decorate it with some stamps you used on the outside of the card or stamp a phrase on it to make it look pretty.

Born to be Wild II

Here is a more detailed look how watercolors work:

The easiest way to activate your watercolors is by using a watercolor pen. You fill the pen with water, next squeeze a drop of water onto a kitchen towel and tap the brushes onto the towel as well. You might think this is not enough water on the brush, but less is more. You brush will contain plenty of water to activate the color.

Next, start with the lighter color first. Go with you brush over the color and you will see how the water will intensify the color. Always tab your brush of before you start with a new color to avoid cross termination. Watercolors, once activated with water, will react like regular watercolors.

If you are staying in the same color family, for example brown, you should start with the lightest one, like a beige and move towards the darkest one. In this case a cleaning of the brush in between is not necessary. You will blend all brown shades nicely together.
Should you have to much water on the brush, tab it of, otherwise the paper will soake it up and it will get really wavy.

Born to be Wild

Here is another girlfriend stamp sample.... see the scared look on the cats face?.....

I love the fact, that I can color these images any shade I want. Every time a unique sample is created....

So play with colors and shades and mix and match them...

Girl Friend Card details

Here are more details about how I water colored my images ...

Water coloring is a great way to give your images more life. Play with light and shadow and create the impression of a 3D image. When you work with watercolor pencils, make sure you test them before you use them for the first time. A soft stoke of color makes it easier to blend with water.

See more details on how to use watercolor pencils in the next upcoming posts......

You will love these GIRLFRIENDS

This was such a great find! I love my Close to My Heart stamps, but once in a while I pay my local craft store a visit and once in a while I come home with something special.

I saw the ladies in the bathtub and couldn't stop laughing. What a great Birthday Card they would make for some of my friends. Love it!

So what do you need to create these funny cards... One of the many Girlfriend stamps from Art Impressions (I found them at my Archiver’s store in Novi,MI), watercolor pencils (regular color pencils will work too) or if you have, copic markers or anything that will color these figures in.

I stamped the images with StazOn ink in black and let them dry completely. If you are using regular color pencils don't worry about the type of ink you use. All others should use a water-resistant ink to avoid that the watercolors or markers smudge the image.

Now go ahead and color as you like....

Card size is 5" x 7" but can easily scaled down to 4 ¼” x 5 ½”. Contact me to get the complete measurements for these cards.

More ideas follow in the next few posts....so keep coming back!