Mo's Challenge #14

Let's Have Tea!

Our challenge was to use one of  Mo's images in a great sketch designed by
this week's DT hostess, Lisa Cook.

I made a 5" x 7" card using 'Tea Time'.....she's all dressed up in Mom's best and ready for tea.

The DP is from Basic Grey's Lemonade collection.

I colored her with Copics, cut her out, and popped her up on an oval Nesties panel using mounting tape.

The two rose CS panels were embossed with different embossing folders.

The yellow rose is from Prima's Trellis Rose collection, and the leaves were

made with Martha Stewart's leaf punch.

The little floral teapot is from my collection of miniatures.

Join us for the fun this week in Mo's Challenge.

We'll be looking for you!

For the Guys

 A Masculine Sensibility

I know that most people have a hard time when it comes to making cards for men, but I love doing them! I'm not a frilly, lacy type, so those very feminine cards are the ones I fret over. I guess I enjoy making masculine cards because of the simpler lines and deep, richer colors.

This one uses the fisherman from Mo's Digital Pencil. I'd been searching for the perfect fishing image for years, but could never find one that I really loved...until I saw this one! I used Copics for the image and Prismacolor pencils and OMS for the sky. It was a joy to color, and great for all the anglers out there.

I needed some kind of simple embellishment, so I did a Google search for a black and white line drawing of trout and found a free clip-art image. It was just one fish, so I layered them using my PrintMaster program to look like a string of trout. I colored them with Copics, covered them with Versa Mark and clear embossing powder and gave them a blast from my heat gun, so they'd look wet. I 'hung' them from a loopy brad that I had colored with Copics to look like hammered metal. I added some photo corners made with a Stampin' Up! punch to finish it off.

The heavyweight, textured striped DP is 28th Street Market by My Mind's Eye, the brown textured paper is from Bazzill, and the gray is from SU!. I use PaperTrey Ink white to print off all my images.

An Early Start

I Love Valentine's Day!

I love the colors, the hearts and cupids, the lace and flowers, and the chocolate....I love it all!

I had a chance to color and put a couple of cards together over the past few days. I want to make sure I get all my personal cards done early, especially those for our grandchildren.

This one uses a sweet new image from Mo's Digital Pencil called "James".

He is from her series of  four cuties called "Shy Valentines". I colored him with Copics and shaded around him with Prismacolor pencils, although the scan washed it out. The paper is from Basic Grey's "Sugar Rush" collection. The flowers were made with Martha Stewart's hydrangea and leaf punches. The heart border is an MS punch, too.I added a bit of sparkle with a glittery heart I got at Target's Dollar Spot a few years ago.

This cute dragon is a free coloring book page from Elizabeth O. Dulemba, who, like Mo Manning, is a children's book illustrator. Her free images are for personal use only, but I believe she now has a line of rubber stamps. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the company that manufactures them.
The image was also colored with Copics. The sentiment is computer-generated. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the panel of red card stock, and the green hearts are another Dollar Spot find.
I'll have "Nessa", another "Shy Valentine", finished and uploaded tomorrow.

Triskaidekaphobia!

Mo's Lucky 13 Challenge!

The fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia...now that's a real mouthful!

No need to fear this number 13! It's Mo's thirteenth challenge! Our hostess this month is Lisa Cook, and she's challenged us to make a birthday card using any one of Mo's fabulous images.

I've used two for this card....the pile of presents from "Bronte Wants it Now" and  the image of Bella (minus Bronte!) from "Hoppin' Happy". They were cropped and printed using my PrintWorks program. The cake is a digital image that I believe I got from a coloring book site. 

The images were colored with Copics. I used the "out-of-the-box' technique for the main image so that she looks as if she's jumping out of the frame. The main panel and the sentiment tag were popped up using mounting tape, and I used large dimensional dots to pop up the cake. If I recall correctly the DP is from Bo Bunny's  Rob & Bob collection, but I've had it for so long that I'm not sure. The card stock is from Stampin' Up!.

Now don't be you afraid of the number 13! Hop over to Mo's Challenge Blog to enter a birthday card for a chance to win a wonderful  image from Mo! 

Magnetic Calendars

What Day is It?

I had so much fun making the calendar for Mo's "New Beginning" Challenge that I just had to make more!

I'll be giving these as "Thank You" gifts when I get back to school on Monday.

All the images are from Mo's Digital Pencil. The ducks were cropped  from her "Duck Day" image of a little girl with an umbrella. The little girls with their dolls are from a two image set called "Winter & Spring", and the little girl heading off to school is her "Prairie Girl".

All the patterned paper is from Basic Grey. I love their 6" x 6" paper packs...they are my 'go-to' papers for most cards. All the card stock is from Stampin' Up! except for the PaperTrey Ink white. I don't like to use anything else for digital images and Copics. I have some SU! and some Georgia pacific that I'm trying to use up for dry embossing

I colored them using Copics and Prisma Pencils, and embellished each of them a bit differently. My wired gingham bow got a bit squished in the scanner but it was easy enough to fluff it up again.

I saw another style of calendar that I want to try next. It was made as an easel card and could sit on a desk. I'll be working on those over the coming week.

Here is the calendar template.

Mo's Challenge # 12

A New Beginning!

 

I hope everyone had a pleasant Christmas, and you are all enjoying a well-deserved rest after all the holiday preparations and celebrations.

We were fortunate to be able to spend time with all our children and grandchildren. It's wonderful that they all live near enough so that we can see them often, especially at holiday times. It's also great that they all get along so well and enjoy each others' company (ours, too, apparently! LOL!) We just all love to laugh!

 I can't believe that this is Mo's twelfth challenge! It's so much fun to create with Mo's images. I hope you are all enjoying the challenges, too!

Our hostess Lydia's challenge to us this week was to create a card or project for a "New Beginning"....a new baby, new home, new love...you get the idea.

I chose to make a magnetic calendar for 2010 to give to my sister-in-law for her January birthday. She has framed some of the cards I've sent her in the past, so I figured I'd make her something she could keep up for the whole year that would be decorative and useful.

The image is Mo's "Home, Tweet Home". It's available as a freebie to members of her PCP and SNR  groups, or for purchase in her online store.
I colored it with Copics and mounted it and the mini tear-off calendar (Created by Cat on SCS) on Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses DP and SU! card stock in  coordinating colors. It measures 5" x 7". I  used Diamond Glaze adhesive to attach  four 1" x 2" magnetic strips on the back. (That might be over-kill, but I didn't want it to pull off the fridge when she pulled off a page!)
Okay, now let's see what you'll do to celebrate something new!

Time to Myself

My husband has gone to an eye appointment and to do some shopping, so I had a little time to myself today. I finished a couple of  Thank You cards from days ago that I had a bit of trouble with. I find if I put them aside and go back to them later, things seem to iron out and I'm happier with the results.

 

I  had used larger Prima leaves that just didn't look right. Today I ripped them off and made some using my MS leaf and branch  punches.

The daisy is a digital that I downloaded from somewhere. Unfortunately, I have so many images stored that it's hard for me to keep track. I do wish that all artists would include their signature on the artwork. They could then be credited, and  it could always be cropped out before the image was printed if you chose to.

The background  was made using scrap pieces of CS that I ran through my Cuttlebug to emboss. I have sooo much scrap, so I'm always trying to find ways to use it up. Unfortunately, the pile grows faster than I can get through it!

The roses were made using SU!'s "Roses in Winter" set. I never get tired of making them or using them on cards....they're always a hit with the recipients. The centers were finished by gluing on some tiny seed beads.

Day Tripper

  

This card was also giving me the fits! I had the little guy from Mo's Digital Pencil colored weeks ago, but hadn't gotten around to putting a card together until today. I just couldn't seem to get it looking right until I hit on the idea of making those funky flowers.

I cut three sizes of CS and thoroughly abused them to get this look. First, I laid them flat and rubbed the edges with my scoring tool, which separated the edges and gave it a softer look. Next, I balled them up and rubbed them between my hands. I then sort of pleated them with my fingers to ruffle them a bit (I'm sure they were already felling a little "ruffled" at this point!). To finish off the center, I strung a few tiny beads on thin wire, threaded the ends through the Basic Grey buttons, then ran the wire through the holes I had poked in the centers of the stacked circles. I think they're the perfect embellishment to go with that bright, psychedelic Basic Grey DP. I hand cut the leaves and used an embossing stylus to vein them. Now I have to come up with a sentiment for the inside!