Copictopia Card of the Month Club - May 2022

 Hi friends!  A few months ago, I joined the Copictopia Card of the Month Club.  Cristina does such beautiful work, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to continue working on my Copic coloring skills and have all of the elements ready to put it together in a card.   I finally got around to using the May kit and oh my gosh!  It was so fun! 

With the Card of the Month Club, everything but the main image is included, so that if you want to use something different you can.  Christina includes two tutorials - a coloring tutorial and a card-making tutorial and all of the pre-cut elements to make the card.  

This month we used the Chloe Holding Large Flower digital stamp from Amanda Jayne Designs.  It was incredibly fun to color up!    I really love all of the elements that make up this card.  I have never used lace on a card, and I have to say that I really love it.  I am also going to start using flowers more often.  They add such a nice touch! 

If you are looking for a fun project, I highly recommend the Card of the Month Club!  It allowed me to create something beautiful and I didn't have to think too terribly hard, which is always a good thing in my book!  

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Xoxo, Kim

Daisy Days - Polkadoodles Craft Challenge - Week 19

Happy Saturday, crafty friends!  You know what Saturday means!  We have a new Anything Goes Challenge up on the Polkadoodles Blog.  This week, the Design Team is working with spring flowers. 

I have been really intrigued with all of the beautiful art journaling I have seen lately and decided that I would give it a try.  I don't know about where you live, but it seemed that winter would never end!  We were experiencing some super late snow showers, and I thought that spring would never show its face!  The amazing Daisy Days Digital Collection was perfect to celebrate the overdue arrival of spring. 

To begin, I resized the printed paper that I chose from the collection to fit on my journal pages.  I determined which elements I wanted to print on the page versus cutting them out and layering them.  I wanted the sentiment to be part of the background page, so I typed a message to spring.  I decided that I would include the butterfly element and the swirly elements in the upper corners of the pages (I didn't think I would be able to cut out the detail and do it justice), so I arranged them where I wanted them, and I printed my pages and adhered them in the journal.  

I printed out multiple flowers and leaves from the collection and I fussy cut them.  I arranged them on each of the pages, and when I was happy with how they looked, I adhered them.  All of the images that I used were pre-colored, as I thought it was a good way to get started.

I really enjoyed this process much more than I thought I would!  I am looking forward to exploring this type of journaling more.  I really don't know anything about it, so if you have any thoughts about it, please leave me a comment and share them!  Would love to hear your ideas, what you like about it or don't like, etc!  Also, how often do you work in your art journals? 

I hope that you have found something to inspire you here!   Please make sure to come over to the Polkadoodles Blog and share your creations this week with us!  Anything Goes means there are no product requirements, no theme, no sketch!  It truly is Anything Goes!  And there are some great prizes up for grabs!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Xoxo, 

Kim

Winnie Champagne Celebrations - Polkadoodles Craft Challenge 51

Hello lovelies!  Today, I am thrilled to be sharing my latest Design Team project for Polkadoodles. 

We have another Anything Goes Challenge up on the blog, and as always there are four generous prizes up for grabs to participants.  With the Anything Goes Challenge, it means, exactly that - Anything Goes... there are no product requirements, no sketch, no theme... You make whatever you want and share it with us!  Easy peasy, right? 

The theme for the Design Team was Happy New Year, and the requirements were to mix gold and silver together.  I have to say that I had SO much fun creating this shaker card for you.  

To start, I colored the Winnie Champagne Celebrations digital stamp using Copic markers.  I used Sakura Gelly Roll pens to add shimmery accents. I created my shaker element and loaded it up with New Year confetti and chunky glitter.  To create the background, I ran Distress Oxide Ink (Picket Fence) over the inside of my embossing folder, and then dry embossed silver metallic cardstock. The debossed areas picked up the white ink. 

For the inside of my card, I had fun with these dies from Spellbinders that just screamed New Year's celebration to me!  

I hope that you found something to inspire you today!  I really had a great time creating with this sweet digi!  Please head over to the blog and make sure to share your creations with all of us!  

As always, thank you for stopping by!  I would love it if you dropped me a comment to let me know how you celebrate NYE!  Are you "Team Netflix and Chill" or "Team Out on the Town"?  

Robin Gift Branch - Polkadoodles Craft Challenge 49

Hello crafty friends!  Today, I am excited to be able to share with you another project that I made for the Polkadoodles Design Team! 

We have a new Anything Goes Challenge up on the Polkadoodles Craft Challenge Blog.  There are four prizes up for grabs, so please pop on over and share your crafty creations.  There are no requirements for the challenge. 

 

The Design Team was asked to create a project that was ALL WHITE - Plus one item with an accent color.  Do you have any idea how difficult all white is for me?  

I used the sweet Robin Gift Branch digital stamp from the Winnie White Christmas collection. This image is perfect for winter cards of any occasion!   I colored the image with Copics using non-traditional colors. 

I used multiple snowflake die-cuts to layer behind my image and I heat embossed my sentiment.  I used a few other embellishments to tie the elements of my card together. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Again, I hope you will join us for Challenge 49 and throw yourself in the hat for the chance to win one of four prizes!  All of the details can be found on the blog! 

Xoxo, Kim

Winnie North Pole Christmas Candy - Polkadoodles Craft Challenge

Hi friends!  I am so excited to share that I have joined the Polkadoodles Design Team and today I am sharing my first DT project!  

Today's theme for the Design Team over at the Cardmaking and Crafting Challenge was 

Christmas/Winnie/Make a Card that Moves

Make sure to pop over to the Polkadoodles Blog to check out all of the challenge details and see what amazing creations the Design Team has for you. 

For my card that moves, I decided to keep it simple with a wobbler, and let Winnie be the star of the show!  

To start, I colored Christmas Candy - Winnie with my Copic markers and cut the image out.  I used several digital papers, a sentiment and embellishments from the Work & Play 5 - Festive Hollybobs. Collection.  

The colors that I used really gave me a vintage vibe, so to make my layers stand out and add a little vintage distressing, I inked up the edges using Distress Oxide Ink in Vintage Photo. 

To create my wobbler, I wound a piece of wire around a pencil about 6 times and used a 1/2" circle punch to create a base for the wobbler mechanism.  Once I had the mechanism together, I adhered the wobbly heart to my card front. 

Please make sure to come over and check out the challenge, maybe join in and play along with us!  There are some awesome prizes up for grabs! 

As always, thank you so much for popping by!  

Luka the Fireman

 Hello again!  Today is a two-fer!  I am finally getting around to posting this card that I am so incredibly proud of!  

If you have been following my journey, you know that I have really been working hard to improve my coloring skills. I had no idea that there were so many techniques to learn.  I am so thankful for the amazing classes that Alyce at Kit and Clowder provides!  I am learning so much, and see progress each time I finish a class.  

I had so much fun with the Monthly Coloring Class from September, 2016 - All About Boys.  The background was provided by Alyce and the fireman image is Fireman Luka from La La Land Crafts. 

I took photos as I progressed through this class, so that I would remember what I started with and how the image came along.  

I was pretty happy with how Luka turned out!  I am still building my Copic collection, so choosing alternate colors is always challenging for me, but I had fun doing it.  The dog was a whole different kettle of fish. I really struggled with it, and was not at all happy with how it turned out until I did what Alyce says every single time... I walked away and came back and looked at it from a different perspective and realized he didn't turn out too badly! 

I was so incredibly pleased with how the firetruck turned out!  This part of the lesson was full of new techniques for me - metal, glass, and more shadows.  I am still struggling with control of my marker strokes, especially on fine lines, so I loved Alyce's tip of coming back in with a white gel pen to add the highlights where needed.  

The fire started out as a hot mess - again that combination of trying to select alternate colors and some of my markers are chisel tips, rather than a brush, and I had no clue how to use them.  I found that I needed to trust the process and see where it would lead me.  I am so glad that I did. 

The background was the most challenging part for me.  Again, lots of new techniques, but it was a ton of fun to watch it come together.  

I turned little Luka into a 5 x 7 card, and I haven't added the sentiment yet, as I don't know who he will go to, and he is deserving of the perfect recipient and sentiment.  

As always, thank you for letting me share my fun with you!  Happy crafting! 

A2 Daffodil Friendship Card

 Hey everyone!  Well, it is the start of a new week!  I hope that you had a fantastic weekend!   I did something that I have never done before!  I made a card using a digital stamp.  What a fun process this was!  

I was recently introduced to Alex Syberia Design and have been following her on Instagram.  Her designs are absolutely incredible!  If you are not familiar with her work, please check it out!  

I printed this gorgeous Daffodils A2 Cover Panel on card stock that is made for using alcohol markers.  I colored the image in using my Altenew Artist Markers (colors listed below).  I found this to be a very enjoyable challenge, as the details were fine (and I am still learning to use my markers) but not impossible.  To be honest, when I started, it looked like a hot mess, but I kept on, and the result is so beautiful!  

When I was happy with the card panel I set it aside and went to work figuring out what I wanted to do with it.  I cut a panel of lightweight black cardstock to frame the image, and I trimmed the colored panel down to size.  I die-cut the top two layers of the Honey Bee Stamps Friend dies, the top layer in a bright yellow that matched the daffodils and the bottom in black.  When I put them together on the card panel, I hated it. I tried again with an orange card stock and again, it didn't work for me.  After several more tries, I decided to color a strip of white card stock using the darkest two yellows that I used for the daffodils and die-cut it.  I was so much happier with the result!   The softer blend of colors didn't take away from the image. 

I wrapped some Altenew Metallic Thread around the side of my panel and adhered it to the black panel.  I then added a loopy bow to it, and adhered my sentiment over the bow.  I attached my panel to a white card base and finished up with some clear sequins.  That was also a process, as I tried about 5 different colors of embellishments before I finally settled on the clear sequins.  

I am over the moon in love with this card, and I know the friend that it is intended for will love it too!  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Recollections 65# Card Stock :  Black
• Spectrum Noir Premium Ultra Smooth Card Stock:  White
• Alex Syberia Design Digital Stamp:  Daffodils A2 Cover Panel
• Altenew Artist Markers:  G446, G425,  G515, G503, Y316, Y207, Y106, C004
• Altenew Metallic Thread:  Enchanted Gold
• Honey Bee Stamps Friend Die
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins

Thanks for stopping in!  Happy Stamping!