Hexagon Overlay Cards

You may remember my Hexagon box with matching card/envelope set; well, I had so much fun using my cutting machine to cut those overlays that I decided to make some larger, individual cards with the same files. I'm calling them "overlay cards" until I can think of something better.

My husband suggested this layered design, and I used the "Offset" tool in Silhouette Studio to create the layers.

I made the sentiment layer using the font Eccentric Standard:

I bought a paper pack of Autumn colors at JoAnn's, which gave me a nice mix of colors for this one. I added some gemstones and a wooden embellishment that I painted with a gold leaf pen.

My mom has been making white-on-white cards, so I used several white papers, gemstones and pearls for this, which will probably become a Wedding card:

These cut amazingly well on my Silhouette, although there's a bit of cleanup. Man there were paper pieces everywhere! I used ZipDry as my main adhesive, but for the fine cuts I used a ZIG glue pen. To do that, I use a coated paper (usually a piece of junk mail) as a mat.

These are pretty addictive, so you'll be seeing more of them! Thank you for visiting,

Popsicle stick flower Easel card - Crafting with Dragonflies GDT

I'm pleased to be guesting designing along with the talented Crafting with Dragonflies team for their next two challenges! Today begins their two-week Make your own flower embellishment challenge.

I made an easel card with two punched flowers:

We enjoyed many a Popsicle this summer, so I'm trying to find a creative use for them! I punched a hole in it with my Crop-O-Dile. The flowers were made with a Recollections 3-in-one stamp/punch set:

This is a fun punch; you ink one of three flower shapes, place it into the punch, and you get a nice punched flower with an embossed edge. It works really nicely; I recently used it with my friend's two young daughters and we were all very entertained!

I got fancy and used Versamark watermark ink and heat-embossed the stamp. Then I ran the shape through my BigShot with an embossing folder, and then lightly sanded the Core'Dinations paper. I did the same thing with the leaves, which were cut with a Sixxiz die. I shaped the flowers and sprayed them with a matte coating to help retain their shape. I punched a hole and secured the flower with a brad.

The "Best Wishes" sentiment is a gold sticker that I colored with a silver Sharpie before adhering.

For the background on the front of the card, I inked an embossing folder with China Blue distress ink and ran it through my BigShot. I used the same technique for the "grass".

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafting with Dragonflies #14: Make your own flower embellishment (on its own or on something, card, scrap page whatever...No Halloween)

A Gem of a Challenge #103: More than one Fold
Crafting When We Can #56: Make your own flowers
Fashionable Stamping Challenge #59: Make a Card
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Anything Goes

Many thanks to the Crafting with Dragonflies team for letting me join them for this fun challenge. Hope you all will join us! Thank you for visiting,

Cute Halloween - Love to Create GDT

I'm very pleased to be guest designing with the Love to Create team this week! I was one of the prize winners for Love to Create's "Fancy Folds" Challenge, and being invited to GD was icing on the cake. 

The Love To Create Challenge theme this week is "Halloween" and our sponsor is Stamp Fairy, so I used their adorable Barry Halloween digi stamp:

The bear was covered with Teddy Bear Flower Soft, and the bag was colored with Copics. I ran the ghost-sheet layer through my sticker machine and covered it with white satin ribbon (May Arts). I cut out the eyes and covered them with Glossy Accents.

For this Tall Step Card, I used Glenda's tutorial at The Stamp Camp. The base DP is from October Afternoon's Witch Hazel Collection, and the three coordinating DPs are from Graphic 45's [out-of-print] Magic of OZ Collection. I edged everything with a bright orange ink.

The Clear Shapes are from Making Memories (they are actually adhesive, so I left the backing on), and the tiny license plate is by Junkitz. The little candy-corns are from a rubber stamp set by Studio G, and I colored them with Sakura glaze pens.

I'm entering this set into the following challenges:
(Oops! I scheduled this post and then forgot to enter the challenges I had selected! So I'm entering them on Wednesday instead of Monday; This isn't back-linking, it's more like late-linking!)
A Gem of a Challenge #103: More than one Fold
By LORi Designs #58: Trick or Treat

Simon Says Stamp: Halloween/Halloween Colors (5th entry)
Stampavie and More: Bear

Thank you for visiting,

Fall Foxes with Freckled Fawn

This week we're going Embellishment Crazy at Pile It On! Our sponsor, Freckled Fawn generously supplied our DT with some of their great goodies to work with, including adhesive gems (available in their September kit) and wood embellishments (available in their October kit). As soon as I saw their little wood veneer foxes I knew exactly what I wanted to make:

I usually decorate my wood pieces somehow, but in this case I just left them as-is, except for adding a bit of red paper behind the heart in the mushroom. The large gemstones on the corners are also from Freckled Fawn. They come with adhesive foam, and so really stand up nicely on the card.

I made the fox/chevron pattern with Cali Arroyo's Chevron Tile Silhouette cutting file, and cut it on my Silhouette from kraft, orange-red, orange, and cream papers. I mounted the kraft frame onto a white card, and then indivudally placed in the different colors to make the chevrons. This seemed like a better idea when I thought that all the pieces would be the same size; I didn't realize that each piece was unique until after I had taken them all off the mat. Sigh. Oh well, it kept me busy for quite a while! And was absolutely worth it.

I used some plastic templates to trace the hearts on white paper & a scrap of DP. Even with my die-cutting machines, sometimes handcutting is still the best!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Baffies Kreativladen: Autumn
Lady Anne's Challenge: Autumn/Fall
Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge: It Is Fall
Perfectly Rustics: Pattern Paper
Stamping Sensations: All Creatures Great and Small
Use It Tuesdays: Creatures (hoarded supply: "Family" plastic embellishment and small gemstones)

Thank you for visiting,and hope you'll join us this week at Pile It On,

There's a light ... Over at the Frankenstein place ...

There's a light
Burning in the fireplace
There's a light
In the darkness
of everybody's life.
–The Rocky Horror Picture Show

My sister-in-law is a huge fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I've wanted to make her a card using this Dr-Frank-N-Furter-inspired digi stamp by IKEsWorld for years.

click to enlarge

Can you believe that it's the 40th anniversary of TRHPS‽ I dusted off our old VHS tape of the movie and watched some it while "researching" this card. And yes, I danced the Time Warp along with the movie; I think it's the law!

I colored the image with Copics and glitter pens. The gloves & vest were printed on shiny black paper, and I painted the vest with ZAZZ glitter. I added tulle stockings with Glossy Accents.

You can read more about this card design, as well as see the cards I made for the rest of the family, in this post.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Craftitude Challenge #51: Anything Goes
IKE'sWORLD Challenge #3: Anything Goes + IKE'sART image

Update: This won a Top 3 spot at IKE'sWORLD. Thank you!

Thank you for visiting,

Purple & black ghostie

For this card, I purchased Magician Boo by Di's Digi Stamps:

The notch swing card and starburst buttons were designed in Sure Cut A Lot (SCAL) and cut with my Silhouette electronic die-cutting machine. All of my Notch Swing Cards are archived here. 

I printed the image onto shiny purple paper (Recollections) and heat-embossed it in purple (Stampendous). I did the same thing for the hat, but on shiny black paper. I also printed it on white cardstock, colored it with Copic markers and Sakura pens, and covered the ghost with glow-in-the dark glitter.

The background is a purple/black Core'Dinations paper that I embossed with Cuttlebug folder and sanded. The baker's twine and ribbon are from my stash.

The sentiment was made in InDesign with Chinchilla and Chinchilla Dots.I printed it on shiny black paper and heat-embossed it with a glittery-white embossing powder. I traced the purple circle and cut it out with deckle scissors, and added border with purple Liquids Pearls.

This wonderful Lizard Wizard is a rubber stamp my Mom found somewhere and gifted to me. I've had it almost a year, and was so glad to have an opportunity to ink it up. This is probably my last Halloween card for this year; I sent it out today!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Di's Digi Designs Challenge: Halloween
Incy Wincy Designs: Purple & Black
Simon Says Stamp: Halloween/Halloween Colors (4th entry)

Update: This was a prize winner at Incy Wincy Designs!

Thank you for visiting,

Halloween Wedding Anniversary

My brother-in-law married his wonderful wife on Halloween last year, so I had some fun with their Halloween/Anniversary card!

The card base was cut from an October Afternoon paper, using the Circle Flip-its Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die on my BigShot.  The spiderweb doilies are from Bird's Cards, and I designed the banner in SCAL. Both were cut on my Silhouette electronic die-cutting machine.

I made the corner embellishments by folding black lace seam binding over white paper, and adhering only one side, with Glossy Accents. Then I was able to fit the corner onto the card. I added Prima flowers with gold brads to two of the corners.

The skeletons are from a Studio G set, and heat-embossed in black on a shiny white paper. I cut the image out with a Spellbinders die. I colored the hat and hair bow with a silver Elmer's gel pen, and used a white Sakura glaze pen for the bowtie and skirt. I used a ZIG glue pen to fill the skeletons with glow-in-the-dark glitter.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Digi Darla Challenge: Anniversary (of any kind)
Stamp n Doodle: Black and white

Thank you for visiting,

A Family of Halloween Cards

I'm really enjoying learning how to use my new Silhouette die-cutting machine and its software. I decided to make a set of cards for my in-laws using the Haunted House Silhouette Cutting File.

click to enlarge

Three of these cards are for my nieces, and the fourth is for my mother-in-law (my nieces' folks are getting a card too, but that's in a different post). My sister-in-law told me what the girls are going as for Halloween this year, so I looked up the costumes on Target.com and used the Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge (that's right, I pulled out my Cricut too!) to personalize their cards.

Our oldest niece is going as a Rock Star in a glittery purple dress:

The dress was printed on a shiny purple paper and painted with purple Stickles. The feather boa is covered with Flower Soft. The pre-glittered background paper is by Core'Dinations (used on all the doll cards), and the foreground paper on this card is by Graphic 45 (I used a Graphic 45 paper for the baby's card too; the other DPs are from my stash). The yellow linings are cut from Recollections or Paper Company cardstocks. The base card and the shiny papers are all Recollections brand.

Although I cut the house-blackout layer on my Silhouette, I printed the sentiments and glued them behind the doors. I added detail with a black PITT artist pen to the pre-cut lines on the faces and treat bags. I also added "pulls" on the doors with baker's twine.

Our second niece is going as a Rapunzel Bride (Who knew that was a thing! I know she owns a Rapunzel wig, as I've worn it several times while playing with the girls!):

And the 1-month-old is going as Snow White, so I put "Happy 1st Trick or Treat" in her doorway (sorry the door is shut in this photo).

I used the same Fiskars stamp, orange ink, Paper Company cardstock, and PageMaps die for the inside of all the cards:

For my mother-in-law's card, I kept it really simple and let the Haunted House silhouette shine. We'll be meeting her boyfriend for the first time in November, and this is the first card we've sent to both of them. So this is sort of our introduction to him...think I hit it on the head, ha!

I'm entering this set into the following challenges:
Ladybug Crafts October Challenge: Halloween
Crafting for all Seasons #63: Too cute to spook
Divas by Design: Spooked
Simon Says Stamp: Halloween/Halloween Colors (3rd entry)
The Sisterhood of Crafters: Halloween


Thank you for visiting,

Baby's First Halloween

Although I have plenty of Halloween stuff already, I just had to buy this Haunted House Silhouette Cutting File. I thought it would be fun to use it with non-Halloween colors to make cards for very little trick-or-treaters.

I recently won some Di's Digi Designs via Love to Create (plus, I'll be Guest Designing with them on October 28!), so I used Di's sweet Batty Bears:

click to enlarge

I cut out the images with deckle scissors and colored them with Copics. The hats and pumpkins were printed on different papers and pieced onto the image. I did the same with the bears' bodies, ran them through my sticker machine, and covered them with flocking (Stampendous). They are stuck onto the background with Action Wobbles.

The silhouettes were cut from Core'Dinations cardstocks, and the house-blackout layers were cut from Recollections pastels. The background of the pink card is from the Springtime sheet from Graphic 45's Secret Garden Collection. I believe the purple background paper is from Stampin' UP. The bats in the moons were cut out, but I colored them with Copics and placed them back into the silhouette.

I used Stickles to fill in the windows, and added pink or purple Liquid Pearls to the corners of the cards.

Although I cut the house-blackout layer on my Silhouette, I printed the sentiments and glued them behind the doors. The pink one says "Too Cute to Spook," and the purple one says "Happy 1st Trick or Treat." I'm sending the latter to our 10-month-old niece!

Inspiration/Challenges:
All that Stickles Challenge: Halloween + Stickles
Delicious Doodles #58: Non Scary Halloween
Simon Says Stamp: Halloween/Halloween Colors (2nd entry)
Totally Papercrafts #189: Too Cute To Spook
Wobble Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes + Action Wobble

Thank you for visiting,

Happy hOWLoween notch-swing card

I've seen such gorgeous Halloween cards made by my fellow crafting bloggers, and this back-and-white card by Melissa Sunshine HoneyBee really inspired me.

This notch swing card was designed in SCAL and cut with my Silhouette electronic die-cutting machine, along with the spider web doilies from Bird's Cards.

Click the images to enlarge; the glitter-embossed leaf is hard to see in this photo. The owl is a wood piece (Prima or Recollections) painted with white acrylic paint. I used a double-strand of heavy black thread to stitch "Boo" on the little holes in his belly.

The spider web pattern was dry-embossed in my Big Shot using a Cuttlebug folder. For the corners, I covered a circle with Washi tape, adhered it to a spider web doily, and cut the piece into quarters.

Here's the other side of the center circle:

Isn't this little guy too cute‽ I stamped it in black Memento ink, added some color with COpics, and used a ZIG glue pen to cover his sheet with glow-in-the-dark glitter.

For the sentiment, I used a cute rubber stamp from the same set as the owl stamp (from my stash) that says: Happy hOWLoween!

All the designer papers were a gift from my Mom, and she had to cut off the info strip when she mailed them to me, so I'm not sure what company makes them.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafty Bloggers Network October Challenge: Things with Wings
Simon Says Stamp: Halloween/Halloween Colors
Through the Purple Haze: Anything Goes + Optional Twist: Halloween

Thank you for visiting,

Fiesta Skeletons notch-swing card

What is it about Halloween cards that make them so much darn fun‽ I've been cranking them out all week...maybe this is my way of keeping warm with this cooler weather! Much cheaper than turning on the heat. Mom sent me this adorable Halloween/Day of Dead paper from BoBunny's Fright Delight Collection, so I just had to make her something with it!

I designed this notch swing card in SCAL and cut it with my Silhouette electronic die-cutting machine, which made it easier to cut the frames as well. I'm working on a really good template that I can share with ya'll. All of my Notch Swing Cards are archived here.

Here's the other side of the swing part:

And the inside:

Card Recipe:

Stamps:
• Dancing Skeletons clear stamp from Studio G
• Corner spider web rubber stamp from All Night Media 

Embellishments:
• Cuttlebug spider web embossing folder
• Stampendous detail black embossing powder & Versamark Ink
• Sakura & Elmer's gel pens
• Black Copic marker & black PITT artist pens
• I designed the "Fiesta" banner myself in SCAL

Papers:
• BoBunny's Fright Delight Collection
• Recollections black cardstock
• Neenah white cardstock 
• Vellum from my stash

Tools:
• BigShot die cutting machine (for embossing)
• Silhouette electronic die cutting machine 
• Sure Cuts A Lot design software (SCAL)
• Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors
• Tim Holtz & Martha Stewart scissors
• Zip-Dry glue & ZIG glue stick 
• Marvy heat tool & corner notch punch

Challenges/Inspiration:
Cards und More #92: Halloween
Crafty Creations #245: Halloween Characters
Cut it Up #30: Halloween or Day of the Dead + Die Cuts
Make My Monday: Halloween

Thank you for visiting,