Hello, everyone! I hope you're having a great day! Today, I'm sharing with you three cards and a bookmark, so get ready for a longer-than-normal post!
This is the very first time I've used a digistamp. All of the images were created by
Dustin Pike, a very talented artist with the cutest images! These were some of his free downloads (and he has several on his blog) that I sized to fit an A2 card and a bookmark. He also has an
Etsy shop with images for sale. Prices range from $2 to $3.50 - a bargain!
This post also serves as my design team application for
SheetLoad of Cards. I used the sketch from the
April 2009 issue, although each card will look different because I changed the proportions of some elements on each card and left off other elements. Because of the size of the bookmark, I completely rearranged the elements of the sketch, but still kept the same patterned papers.
This first card always makes me giggle. When I was a little girl, my mom tells me I ate hardly anything. I was a "string bean", as she says. So, she started calling me "Chickadee" since they are small and eat so little. Not long after, it was shortened to "Chickie" - which is still a nickname she uses for me to this day. Since I left off the sentiment, I had to come up with my own name - so "Hello, Chickie" it is!
I altered the sketch by rotating it 90 degrees, resizing the two patterned papers on the left side of the card and the focal image, omitting the sentiment and adding three buttons instead of two.
supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, dsp: Hot Off the Press Citrus, buttons: stash, image: Dustin Pike
This image is so adorable. It's supposed to be for Easter, but since there aren't any strictly Easter references in the image, I decided to go ahead and use it for an everyday card.
I altered the sketch once again by adding three embellishments instead of two, leaving out the sentiment, resizing the focal image and moving the two patterned papers to the bottom after resizing them, as well. I also swapped out one patterned paper and used a different one in its place. Instead of rounding all the corners, I just rounded the patterned papers and the bottom two corners of the card base.
supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, dsp: Hot Off the Press Citrus, buttons: Colorbok, jute twine: stash, image: Dustin Pike
This little guy looks so carefree and happy, doesn't he? I've never tried sponging before, so this was a first for me. This card is probably the closest to the the original sketch, but you can see that I resized the focal image to take up more space, I moved the buttons to the edge of the card and added some jute twine to the image.
This was actually the first card I completed, and I thought the twine was perfect for this image - the kites we made as kids were simple paper, dowels and twine with some fabric tails. Once I got started on the twine, it just kept popping up on the other projects in this post!
supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, dsp: Hot Off the Press Citrus, buttons: stash, jute twine: stash, image: Dustin Pike
For the "beyond the card" item in the DT call, I floundered at first. I thought about altering something, but I had this little guy sitting in my image box. Since this was such a small item, I decided to completely change the layout, but I really liked the idea of blocking the colors that the original sketch used. Using the same papers as the first three cards, I used different sizes to add interest and rounded all the corners. To spruce it up a bit, I layered two buttons at the top and tied them together with jute twine.
supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, dsp: Hot Off the Press Citrus, buttons: Colorbok, jute twine: stash, image: Dustin PikePhew! That was a big 'ole fat post! Thank you for coming by for a visit! I'll be back on Friday with a Hip Hop Hangover post. Last week was just too crazy for me to fit everything in, but this week I had more time to play.
See you later, gator!
I used the ivory GCHF, some red cardstock scraps, and the kraft is actually postal wrapping scrap paper that was left over from wrapping gifts - why throw it away when it lends some nice character to my project, right? =D I used some background stamps to liven up the plain background, and used the mistletoe image from the {ippity} set to create a little background strip in the center. 
Today I'm sharing a couple of gift card holder folders. The basic layout is a CASE from Maria Gurnsey - one I've CASEd before in this card. The smaller format, however, doesn't leave room for a whole lot of elements or I'd lose the clean and simple layout, and I still have five more to make. These GCHFs are only 3" x 4.25" once they're all folded up (and if you'd like to get your mitts on some, follow the link above for a great price on them). I embossed the snow flakes with white ep, then mounted on a dark green mat before adhering to the front. The sentiment was stamped and matted on black. I tried inking the edges on one of them, and did some pen work stitches on the other. Both have a little gingham ribbon to keep it closed.
Today I have a Christmas card to share using the Kissmas & Mistletoe set. I used the December SheetLoad sketch and some Basic Grey papers, decorated the inside of the card and gave the envie a little love, too. This would be a great way to use up some of your scraps (I know I have a TON to use up) since the largest piece of patterned paper is cut to 3.5" x 1.25". Just three that coordinate and some matching cardstock...voila!
I only found out about SheetLoad less than a year ago and have really loved the inspiration I get from each issue. Unfortunately, this month is the final month of this wonderful e-zine. My hope is that one day it will make a comeback (please?).
I do have a card from an older release to share, though! I entered this card in the Kaboodle challenge to use a digi image. This little guy was released on June 25, but I was getting ready to head out of town, so I took him with me to color. The card front may look a bit familiar to you. It should! I decided to make the entire SheetLoad from the June issue, which yields 8 cards. I made up the fronts without images, then went back and added the finished image later. I added extra embellishments to some of the cards, like this one.
I used the July sketch for SheetLoad of Cards magazine to come up with this little guy, and decided to do something I rarely do: I paper pieced. In fact, the entire image is pieced with Christmas paper scraps from last year. I embellished with ribbons and poinsettia flower brads that I picked up during Michael's after-Christmas sale. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado, also an after-Christmas bargain. It's hard to see, but I used a QuickKutz embossing folder on the card base to add a little interest. I also used my Fiskars border punch for the scallops and my Tonic ticket tag punch on the corners of the image.
But this week I finally got the chance! I had the card front already done from last month's SheetLoad sketch, and I colored up this image with Prismas & baby oil while on vacation. All I had to do was adhere the image and add a few embellishments for this week's recipe challenge to include 3 ribbons, 2 flowers and 1 charm. Voila!
)
Here's my card. I decided to try something a wee bit different this time. I usually used my scallop nesties to mat an image, but this time I wanted to try making the image panel the scalloped part. Interesting effect, eh? I colored the image with Prismas & OMS, and the circles and heart at the bottom are some chipboard buttons in my stash. They're dressed up with some scrap ribbon. The layout is from the June SheetLoad magazine issue, and you'll see this image again when I finish the cards I'm making using this sketch.
This post also serves as my design team application for SheetLoad of Cards. I used the sketch from the April 2009 issue, although each card will look different because I changed the proportions of some elements on each card and left off other elements. Because of the size of the bookmark, I completely rearranged the elements of the sketch, but still kept the same patterned papers.
This first card always makes me giggle. When I was a little girl, my mom tells me I ate hardly anything. I was a "string bean", as she says. So, she started calling me "Chickadee" since they are small and eat so little. Not long after, it was shortened to "Chickie" - which is still a nickname she uses for me to this day. Since I left off the sentiment, I had to come up with my own name - so "Hello, Chickie" it is!
This image is so adorable. It's supposed to be for Easter, but since there aren't any strictly Easter references in the image, I decided to go ahead and use it for an everyday card.
This little guy looks so carefree and happy, doesn't he? I've never tried sponging before, so this was a first for me. This card is probably the closest to the the original sketch, but you can see that I resized the focal image to take up more space, I moved the buttons to the edge of the card and added some jute twine to the image.
For the "beyond the card" item in the DT call, I floundered at first. I thought about altering something, but I had this little guy sitting in my image box. Since this was such a small item, I decided to completely change the layout, but I really liked the idea of blocking the colors that the original sketch used. Using the same papers as the first three cards, I used different sizes to add interest and rounded all the corners. To spruce it up a bit, I layered two buttons at the top and tied them together with jute twine.
