A little late...

I have had this layout finished for a few days now, but I am just now taking the time to share it. I needed a break from studying for an exam. It's Monday night, so wish me luck :)

Once again, I am participating in a sketch challenge with Creative Scrappers. I thought this layout would be perfect for some of my photos of my eldest stepdaughter dancing. I didn't get the great photos I was hoping for, and so I knew I would need to keep the images small.

Let's see: The black base cardstock came from Paper Temptress. I don't know where I found the shimmery white. The blue glitter cardstock that I used to emulate ribbons came from Michael's (I think -- don't quote me on that). I cut two strips of the cardstock, then cut one of those strips in two. Yes, one of the strips is thinner than the other. That was intentional. I then cut a little triangle out of the bottom of the three pieces. I'm going to have to remember that trick -- it works well when you don't like your ribbon choices.

The flowers came from Petaloo. I debated spraying them with some Tattered Angels mist, but ultimately decided I wasn't sure how that would turn out.

The butterflies are from Maya Road, and I painted them with a dark blue Silks acrylic glaze from Luminarte. If you love paint and/or shimmer, I recommend you try out Silks. 

Finally, I used Thickers from American Crafts for the title. I wanted a fairly short title, so, yes, I went with the Lady Gaga song. I apologize if I got it stuck in your head. It could be worse: The title could be "Call Me, Maybe." :)

I am pleased with how my pictures turned out -- some things are actually in focus! I applaud those who are able to use an iPhone to create a great work of art. I don't think I will ever be one of them. Give me my DSLR any day.

That's it for this week. As always, your comments are appreciated!

Second scrapbooking challenge

 

I spent a rare free weekend -- well, Saturday -- in my craft room, working on the newest sketch challenge for Creative Scrappers. It looked like the perfect layout for a page on my stepdaughter's college graduation. She received her associate's degree from a Dallas-area community college back in May -- before she had even attended her senior prom! A program at her high school allowed her work on an associate's degree and high school diploma at the same time. I've been so jealous!

The gold and white cardstock came from Paper Temptress. I cut the navy shapes (you can sort of see them in the photo to the right) using my Cricut. The blue glitter border I created using Scor-Pal tape and, well, blue glitter. If you haven't noticed, I love sparkly things :)

The gold flowers came from Hobby Lobby. I painted some Petaloo Color Me Crazy flowers blue. I had the most fun making the stars, though. I mixed some gold mica powder with a clear acrylic glaze by Luminarte. Then I just painted the chipboard shape.

These pictures don't do the page justice, though. I guess I haven't gotten the hang of taking pictures with my iPhone.

As always, I appreciate your stopping by. Thanks for any comments (especially if you have advice about iPhone cameras).

Scrapbooking challenge

I've taken a bit of a break from making cards -- I've been struggling to get my creative mojo running. Instead, I've been busy scrapping. I have tons of pictures that need to find their way onto a layout, and I'm adding to the pile all the time.

I'm taking a step out of my comfort zone and joining in a sketch challenge at Creative Scrappers (I've included the sketch below). I love all the girly elements of this layout. So I decided to use my stepdaughters' prom photos on this layout. The white cardstock base came from Paper Temptress. The blue and cream metallics probably came from a metallic pack.

I made the turquoise glitter paper myself, using double-sided adhesive sheets, cardstock, lace and two shades of glitter (turquoise and white). I love how this technique makes a girly dp.

The white flowers and curlicues came from Hobby Lobby, I believe. I know the flowers did. I wish you could see the sparkle in the photos. I'm still learning how to take pictures with my iPhone. Finally, the ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbon's June club kit.

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate any comments!

Birthday card

I had so much fun making this birthday card for a friend. I used a variety of glitters and embossing powders, all from Sparkle N Sprinkle, one of my favorite places to spend money. I created the background using Sparkle N Sprinkle's sticker paper and three different glitters from the company (Priceless Peacock on the top and bottom, then Sparkling Snow, and finally Hanauma Bay in the middle). This is a modification of a Technique Junkies technique.

The flowers were embossed using two powders from Sparkle N Sprinkle. I got the stamp at an eBay auction, and so have no idea what kind of flower that is.

All in all, I think it turned out OK, though I doubt I'll enter it in a contest. I need some more practice with embossing.

Thanks for stopping by!

First Christmas Tilda of the year

I actually have finished a few Christmas cards, and I think I'm already in better shape for Christmas 2012 than I was ever in for Christmas 2011.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to not neglect my crafting so much. By spending so little time on my craft last year, I've gotten out of practice on coloring with Copics. I hope, though, that it's like riding a bike (which is probably a bad comparison, seeing as how I haven't ridden anything but a stationary bike since I was 15!).

Anyway, here is my first Tilda Christmas card of the year. I borrowed the design from a magazine (Just Cards! Holidays). I don't think I've ever used that much cardstock on a card before. The cardstock came from my stash. I used Tilda with Christmas Stockings and colored her with the aforementioned Copics. I may add a flower or some crystals to the card, but I haven't decided yet.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! More to come (I hope)!

Rough semester

This past semester was a rough one, and I am just now getting back to my card-making.

I started out with a simple Christmas card (I need to get a head start on next year, as I expect my last semesters of grad school to be quite busy). The card uses a green metallic cardstock base and is topped with a dp that came in a pack that I bought at Hobby Lobby (how's that for specific?). I spritzed the dp on the card's front with Dazzling Diamonds from Tattered Angels. I didn't do anything to the dp on the inside. The iridescent cream cardstock came from my stash.

I added a little bow to the front of the card, and made the glitter "ribbon" using glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle (one of my favorite online stores). The sentiment is from a Crafter's Companion (I think).

With any luck, I'll finish a few more cards before classes resume. Until next time!

Flowers for a friend

I have fallen in love with the stamps at Heartfelt Creations. I saw their products at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention back in June and could not get them out of my head. I've placed two orders since then!

For this card, I modified an old sketch that I had saved to my computer. I apologize for not saving the information regarding who created the sketch. I just loved it, and so I copied to my desktop. If it's your sketch, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

I colored the roses and leaves with my Prismacolor pencils, and used Stickles on the petals. The glitter stripes I made using Scor-Pal tape and glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle. The card stock that I used as my base is, I think, from Wausau Papers.

On the inside of the card, I used a digi-paper from the Nitwit Collections. The quilted purple digi is part of the Fairy Tale Too collection. Using my Nesties, I cut out the two scalloped ovals so that I could write a message to the recipient.

I'm sending the card to a friend of mine who just recently had an emergency surgery to repair two strangled hernias. I hope the card can cheer her up.

I'm entering the card into the following contests:

GingerloftChallenge: Make It Sparkle
Jellypark Friends: Favorite Embellishment (glitter is now and always will be my favorite embellishment!)
Mami Doodles: Challenge #31 Flowers
The Poodle's Parlour: Round and Round the Garden
Wags 'n Whiskers: Sparkly

Thanks for stopping by. As always, I appreciate comments and suggestions!

Christmas easel card

May I present to you my second easel card! I apologize for the quality of the photos, but I was anxious to get her posted.

I used the Foxy stamp from Sugar Nellie and colored her with my Copics. I decided to use traditional Christmas colors this time around -- something about that combo of green and red makes my heart happy.

The dps came from a Paper Wishes Christmas card kit. I don't recall where I got the stickers, but you can probably tell that I didn't think through the placement of one sticker. Oh well. That's why I call my blog Crafty by Accident.

The sentiment on the inside is actually a cardstock sticker that I mounted on a couple additional pieces of cardstock. I then adhered the sentiment to the card using a dimensional adhesive.

I am entering this card into the following contest:


Christmas inspirations: Anything goes
Just some lines: Easel cards
Christmas Stampin All Year Long: All about you
Class Act Insider: Chapel Road Challenge

For my great-aunt

I made this card for my great-aunt's 90th birthday. I made the flower using a stencil, Dreamweaver embossing paste and Pearl-Ex pigment powders. The jewels came from Michael's, and the cardstock from my stash. It is a pretty simple card to make, but you have to give the stenciled image time to dry.

I'm dreaming of a pink Christmas

I thought I'd try a Christmas card in some nontraditional colors this time. This little Magnolia angel -- Christmas angel -- was colored with Prismacolor pencils and a gold Sakura pen.

I got the dp at Michael's. I'm still trying to decide what embellishments to add to the card, so it's not quite done. I would appreciate some advice!

And the Cat came back ... with a Christmas card

I'm back! I'm sorry I've been gone so long -- this past semester was rough, and in the break between semesters, I've been trying to catch up on everything else. But I have completed a couple of cards, and have several others that are nearly done.

I'm pretty pleased with this card, which features Tilda with Wedding Gifts. The stamp is so versatile -- obviously I use her a lot for my Christmas cards. The design is based on a card I saw in an old magazine. I used plain card stock -- no dp this time -- and like the clean look of it. So I may try this design out again.

Tilda has been colored with Prismacolor pencils and some Sakura gel pens. The "noel" down the side comes from the American Crafts Thickers, which are by far my favorite alphabet stickers.

I hope to enter the card in some challenges, but that will probably have to wait until after work.Thanks for stopping by!

First Christmas card of 2011

Yes, I know it's only March, but I decided it was time to start making Christmas cards for my friends. So here it is, my first Christmas card of 2011!

The DP and the sentiment are both from The Paper Studio. I put a couple strips of Scor-Tape on the stripes (on the front of the card) and coated them with glitter from Sparkle and Sprinkle. I don't remember where I found the flower.

This angelic little Tilda (Christmas Angel) is one of my favorites. I colored her with the following Copics:

E000             E53
E00               E57
E11               G16
R20               G17
R22               G28
R24               W3
R27
R29

I used a gold Gelly pen from Sakura on the crown and star.

Birthday card for mom

Wow, has it really been over a month since my last post? Yikes.

I just finished my mom's birthday card and got it in the mail to her Wednesday. Her birthday was Sunday (oops). Between school and my usual trial-and-error method of card making, it took me about a month to finish it.

It's my very first easel card, so I'm pretty happy with the results. The metallic papers came from my stash. The dimensional sticker and the gemstones came from Michael's. The white paper is from Cryogen.

I've really fallen for these Popcorn the Bear stamps. They are just so cute. I colored this one (from the Thanks a Bunch stamp set) with my Copics and added some sparkle with Stickles.

I'm looking for some challenges to enter, so stay tuned.

 Update: The challenges

AiFactory Challenge Blog (Luck of the Irish)
Charisma Cardz Challenges (Easel cards)
Colour Create (Greens/Olive Green/Brown/Cream/and Black)
Meljen's Designs (Green)
Paper Play Challenges (Green)
Stampin B's Design Team (bling)

Finally made a card

Wow, it has been a long time since I finished a card! I swore to myself that I wouldn't spend my entire snow day studying, and I finally got away from the books late this evening.

The end result is a new contest entry and a couple of Valentine's Day cards for my friend's daughters.

The first card makes use of the Noble Tilda I colored a couple weeks ago. She was colored with Prismacolor pencils, but I used Sakura gelly roll pens on some of the accents. She's sitting on the Love Envelope.

I can't find the name for the Tilda on the second card, so I would appreciate any help you can give on that front. She, too, is colored with Prismacolor pencils, and I used Stickles on her wings. She also sits on the Love Envelope.


I don't remember where I found the glitter papers -- all three were buried in my paper stash. The silver and purple foil papers came from American Crafts. The hearts I cut out using the Cricut George cartridge. I bought the self-adhesive ribbons at the Scrapbuck table at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention last year (I cannot wait for this year's convention!).

I'm entering the top card in the Magnolia-licious Highlites Challenge blog contest and in the Stamp With Fun sketch challenge (see below). If I find any other contests, I'll let you know!

Thanks for taking the time to look and leave comments!

Other challenges:
Creative Stamp Friends ("Shapes")
Double Dutch Challenges ("Love is in the air")
Really Reasonable Ribbon ("Pink, Red and White")

A colorful weekend

I didn't get any cards done this weekend, but I did get to color some cuties, and I'm thrilled with how they turned out. Two are from Magnolia: Tilda Goes Shopping and Noble Tilda, which is quickly becoming my favorite maggie! The third is Anya from The Greeting Farm. All three were colored with Prismacolor pencils and were stamped on Neenah Crest cardstock.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with them. I'm thinking I'll use Noble Tilda on a friend's birthday card. I'll need to do a little more work to her before she's ready.

A new Tilda for Valentine's

I have a Valentine in the works for my sweetie (but he doesn't know it's for him!). I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures -- I had to crop and straighten them in order to get them ready to post.

This lovely Tilda is Dancing Tilda from (I think) the Fairytale Collection. Simon Says Stamp is selling it on eBay (my apologies to the Magnolia store, but I couldn't find it there).

The pink flourish at the bottom came from a Christmas present: the Cricut Home Accents Solutions cartridge. The white cloud-like background was also cut using a Cricut cartridge.

I embossed the pink paper using a Sizzix Texturez plate. I added some Stickles to the Prima roses, and a Martha Stewart rhinestone to Tilda's crown. Whew! And that's just the front!


Inside I layered pink and white cardstock and topped it off with some pink lace.

I'm quite pleased with how the card came out, and so I'm making it my first challenge card! I'm entering it in Really Reasonable Ribbon's "Something New Plus Ribbon" Challenge.

Update: I have also decided to enter it in Paper Sundaes' Something New challenge and Creative Inspirations' Something New challenge. You can't win if you don't compete, right?

Really Reasonable Ribbon has blog candy

I posted this in the sidebar, but I'm having a little trouble with the link. So here it is again: Really Reasonable Ribbon has blog candy to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its blog. You can find out more here.

Winding down this year's Christmas cards

Wow, it has been a month since I last posted. In my defense, I had finals to deal with!

Anyway, here is the second-to-last Christmas card for the year. It's one of three similar cards that I've made for family members. It's also the best of the three. The metallic blue paper is DCWV; the dp is from Creative Imaginations; and the snowflake is from Queen and Company.

I'll have one more Christmas card, then I think I will work on some birthday cards in January!

Two new cards

I actually got two cards finished this weekend. I didn't study much and spent most of my weekend playing and crafting. But I'm thrilled with the stack of cards I have available to send to my friends.

The pictures don't do justice to the cards, I'm afraid. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to photograph my cards. I'm also struggling with the blog's layout today.

 The card on the left uses a stamp from Penny Black. I don't remember where I got the metallic red paper, and I believe the ribbon is Karen Foster.

The card on the right uses cardstock from DCWV, and a tree from Jolee's.

Finally!

I finally finished another card! It's only been a few weeks since my last one :)

This one features Unwrapped Tilda on the inside (below) and Tilda with Gifts on the outside (the out-of-focus card on the right). Both are stamped on Cryogen paper, and colored with a combination of Copics and Smooch Ink. The dp comes from The Paper Studio's Christmas collection.

I expect I'll have to custom-make the envelope, which will be a new task for me. The card is a 6-by-6. I keep finding flaws to it :( but I know I'm my toughest critic. I would appreciate any comments or advice!