Honeycomb's big, yeah, yeah, yeah

As soon as I saw the awesome Accordion Tunnel Card & tutorial by Shelly Hickox using Karen Burniston’s Pop it Ups Accordion dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs, I just had to try it right away. I made a beehive card using my newest purchase, the Bee set of Sizzix Triplet dies.

The tutorial uses the Rectangle Accordion die, but I used my Fancy Labels version. I cut the pieces on my BigShot from yellow paper & embossed them with a honeycomb-patterned Fiskars texture plate. I also cut a frame from a DP from Recollections for the front. I inked it all with Barely Banana SU! ink.

I used Coasterboard from a•muse studio to die-cut the honeycomb pieces, because it was just thick enough to stay as one piece. I then heat-embossed both sides with yellow embossing powders (neon yellow from WOW! and regular yellow from Creative Zoo) and attached them to the card base. For the back panel, I backed two honeycombs (for each side) on white paper, which perhaps could be used as a message section on the back. I used the same honeycomb die to cute some overlays from a shiny yellow paper. The die set comes with little hexagon dies so I cut some of those from the same paper as I used for the card base.

The bees were cut from yellow, black, and vellum papers. I covered the yellow portions with yellow flocking.

The flower is cut with a die from a•muse studio's Cupcake Toppers set. I stamped the sentiment in black and inked the edges with the same ink I used earlier. I folded the flower to give it dimension.

Challenges/Inspiration:

Amusing Challenge: Birds &/or Bees + no digis (Cupcake Toppers die set for flower + Coaster Board from Amuse Studios)
Craft for the Craic May Challenge: Wings
Creative Craft Cottage Digi Creations #25: Monochrome (2nd entry)
Moving along with the Times: Texture

Update: This was chosen as the Winner for Amusing Challenge #126, and I was also the lucky winner of their May prize. Wow, thanks!

 

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting,

One for the Boys at Crafter's Cafe

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge this week is One for the Boys. We're sponsored by Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps, and I was able to use their adorable Choochoo Charlie to make a construction-themed card:

I was inspired by the current sketch at Your Next Stamp, and also used their CrissCross Border Die. I colored the image with Copics and added Flowersoft to make the "dirt" he's hauling off to a construction site. I made the train tracks in SCAL and cut them on my Silhouette Cameo. I used stamps from a StudioG set for the "Rock Star" sentiment. I finished the card with some actual rocks.

YNS Sketch #14, rotated

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cards in Envy: Masculine
Little Claire's #57: Outdoors
YNS Challenge: Sketch #14 (+ YNS die)

Thank you for visiting & hope you'll join us at The Crafter's Cafe,

Pilin' on the Caffeine

The theme this week at Pile It On is Coffee or Wine (or any adult beverage). We're sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps, and they have lots of fun coffee- and wine-themed images. I used the Frame it - Stella - drink coffee digi stamp to make this gatefold card:

To keep the front closed, I added a coffee cup brad that I heat-embossed in bronze.

For the base card, I used a shiny brown cardstock, and the bean-patterned paper is by Graphic45. I printed the Bugaboo image are 3 papers: a shiny bronze, a manila, a shiny white for the coffee cups, and plain white for Stella. I colored the images with Copics and glitter pens. I also added some gold coffee-bean stickers.

I used a Heartfelt Creations die set to make the cup for the inside, and heat-embossed a sentiment from a SU! rubber stamp set. The glittery steam lines over the cup are from the same SU! set.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Crafting By Designs: Sentiments
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper: Anything goes with Patterned Paper (2nd entry)
Creative Craft Cottage Digi Creations #25: Monochrome
Creative Knockouts #90: Sentimentally yours (Include A Sentiment)
Lia Stampz Challenge #88: Embossing (heat or dry)

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Grateful Ravens

So the other day I asked my husband for some crafting inspiration (he's my favorite muse). He suggested "Uncute Animals" and my mind immediately came up with this slightly unusual thank-you card:

I live in Baltimore (infamously known as Edgar Allan Poe's final resting place) and studied creative writing at the University of Baltimore, so Poe is one of my favorite go-to historical pop-culture icons.

The design is based around the "Poe Bust" digi stamp by Ikesart. It's printed on a shiny paper. I colored Poe with Copics. I cut the column on my Silhouette Cameo using a clipart file I found online. The pieces are cut from the same shiny paper. I made it a pop-up (see photo on right), so the card closes flat but stands up as well.

The ravens are all from the "Poe Bust" digi stamp, but I took the file into SCAL and cut them from a shiny black paper on my Silhouette. I used a ZIG glue pen to cover the ravens with glitter black flocking.

I had the perfect yarn for the "brain" but it was light yellow, so I died it with Pure Pink Copic ink.

If you look closely, you can see that the white background is embossed with little hearts (forgive the pun!) I added loopy red trim to the sides.

I wish I could send this to my teachers/coworkers/mentors at University of Baltimore; they taught me so much, especially the need for a creative sense of humor!

Challenges/Inspiration:

Ike's World Challenge #38: History
Perfectly Rustics: Pop-up
Quoth the Raven: Raving Ravens + Poe

Update: This was chosen as a Top 3 for Ike's World History Challenge!

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting,

Get Well at Crafter's Cafe

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge this week is Get Well. I used "Little Patch Puppy" by our sponsor, All Dressed Up.

To add to the Get Well theme, the background is made of medical tape that I've saved from my dogs' last few vet appointments. It's what they use to bandage their legs after they take blood, and since the tape doesn't touch any actual blood, I couldn't resist recycling the brightly-colored tape!

The blue banner is cut from a rubber tourniquet that I saved from the last time I had blood drawn (the phlebotomist looked at me suspiciously, but once I told her I would use it for crafting she let me take it!) I heat-embossed the sentiment in neon orange.

All Dressed Up has lots of cute image, but I really enjoy paper-piecing their dog images. I used pink, yellow, and green dotted papers. I added some color with Copics, and hand-colored his cute flower-patterned ear. The little flowers are from the same digi set. I made the ribbon flower using an adhesive Glüber base.

To create the background, I wrapped the plaster tape around strips of white cardstock. I added a faux stitched border with a Pitt artist pen.

Stick It Down May Card Sketch

Inspiration/Challenges:
All Dressed Up: Anything Goes with an All Dressed up Image
Craft and Smash: Animals
Crafty Ribbons: Animals + Ribbon
Glitter n Sparkle #137: Use Some Ribbon
Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent May Challenge: Recycle
Scrap It Girl: Stitching & Sewing (faux stitched border)
Stick it Down May Challenge: Card Sketch

Update: This was chosen as a Top 3 for Stick It Down's May Sketch Challenges. Besides the honor, I'll be guest designing for them in July. Thank you!

Thank you for visiting & hope you'll join us at The Crafter's Cafe,

Vintage Family History at UnstampaBelles

The UnstampaBelles May challenge is Family History + Vintage. Make a vintage-style project about a family member who is in the past. You can link up your projects until the end of the month, but remember: NO STAMPS (digi or otherwise).

I made a wall hanging featuring a photo of my mother & grandmother:

I believe this photo was taken when my grandfather was stationed in Khartoum, Sudan in the 1960s. It was digitized from a slide. My grandmother has been gone for many years now, but the stories of her adventures live on through my mom and me.

I started with a glossy-coated wooden hoop ornament. I sanded it, inked it with Vintage Photo distress ink, and painted it with Crackle Paint. I used Glossy Accents to add a braided trim to the inside & outside of the hoop. I glued the lace trim onto the back of the hoop, trimming between each shape to make it fan out.

I used a gold ribbon to hang a working bell and a gold bird from the frame. The bird is actually a vintage-style plastic bird (a pink one, no less) that I heat-embossing with gold powder. I used my Dremel to drill a hole in it and attached a hanger with Glossy Accents.

Inspiration/Challenges:
A Creative Need: Favorite moments with Mom (or mother figure)
Altered Eclectics: Altered Art/Mix Media only
Frilly and Funkie: Snap, Crackle, Crackle + Vintage (Crackle Paint on wood hoop)
House That Stamps Built: Anything But A Card

Be sure to check out the fabulous projects by my teamies and hope you'll join us this month at UnstampaBelles!

Thank you for visiting,

Pilin' on the Historical Puns

The theme this week at Pile It On is Not Cute. You can interpret that however you like, as long as the project doesn't feel cutesy. Our sponsor, SLS Lines, has lots of funky images, and I used this unique Marie Antoinette with Cupcakes to make this rather macabre birthday card:

I couldn't resist using this sentiment! Come on, all I know about Marie Antoinette is that she liked cake, met with a bad end, and bragged to have inspired the champagne glass. I feel a bit guilty about making light of it all, but I'm certainly not the first! I used the Zapfino font for the sentiment, printed it on white paper, and cut/embossed them with a Spellbinders die.

I used a glue pen to cover her hair with white flocking, cutting small slits in which to place the cupcakes and glasses. I printed the image twice, fussy-cutting the cupcakes out, but leaving some paper so that I could fit them into the slits. I added die-cut champagne glasses (from a Memory Box set) to her beehive to add to the decadence. The images are colored with Copics, and I used a Pearl Pen on her earrings.

The frame is a Silhouette cut file. I cut both layers from the same shiny gold paper, but I heat-embossed the top piece with gold powder. The crown-patterned paper is a DP from my stash.

Challenges/Inspiration:

1. Crafting for all Seasons: Birthday + 4 of something (4 metal champagne glasses)
2. Crafts for Eternity #226: Wood (wood veneer bird embellishments)
3. Creative Card Crew #87: Embossing (Wet embossing on outer frame)
4. DoubleClick Skittles #22: Happy Birthday
5. DRS Designs: Birds and/or Bees (wood veneer bird embellishments)
6. Ike's World Challenge: Naughty or Nice (pun is naughty in a macabre way)
7. Loves Rubber Stamps #151: Add a Sentiment
8. Red Rubber Inspirational #220: Sassy Women
9. Ruby's Rainbow: Humor
10. Snarky Stampers: Cake

Update: This was chosen as an Inspiration Project from Red Rubber's "Sassy Women" Inspirational Challenge!

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Pilin' on the Cute Animals

The theme this week at Pile It On is Cute Animal. We're sponsored by All Dressed Up Stamps, so I used their unique "Head in the Clouds" digi stamp.

I made the "and you in my heart" sentiment using the fonts Zigzag and KBAStitchInTime. In a happy coincidence, both phrases have seven parts so I could use a full rainbow color theme. The scribbly clouds were printed on a shiny white paper and pieced into the scene. I fussy cut the giraffe, colored it with Copics, covered it with an adhesive sheet, and coated it with Apricot glitter. I gave it a quick blast from my heat gun to set the glitter. I was inspired by the giraffe-oxpecker relationship and added a little wood bird that I colored to look like an red-billed oxbird. I covered the bird with glittery embossing powder.

The patterned papers are both by Recollections, and the green/kraft backing papers are from TH/Core'Dinations. I inked the edges of the patterned papers with a copper ink, and sanded the edges of the kraft pieces. I colored the giraffes with a glitter pen.

I made the banners from wood tape. I die-cut the little clouds using an IO die and my bigshot. I inked both banners with different brown inks.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper: Anything goes with Patterned Paper
Mojo Monday: Sketch #396
Penny's Paper-Crafty #226: Anything Goes
Ruby's Rainbow #103: Anything Goes
Southern Girls #110: Animal Crackers
Sparkle N Sprinkle: Loose Glitter/Embossing Powder
Top Tip Tuesday: Duo (Giraffe/Bird and You/Me)

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Your Inner Child at Crafter's Cafe

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge this week is Your Inner Child, and we have two great sponsors: Bugaboo Stamps and Deedee's Digis. I used Gus Birthday - Optional by Bugaboo Stamps.

Crafting for all Seasons #101

Inspiration/Challenges:
Card and Scrap #96: Male Cards
Catch the Bug: Anything Goes
Crafting for all Seasons: Sketch
Crafty Cardmakers: Make your own Background (no designer papers)
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #182: Anything Goes/Family Friendly

Thank you for visiting & hope you'll join us at The Crafter's Cafe,

Pilin' on the Ladies

The theme this week at Pile It On is Mother/Woman. We're sponsored by Sweet Pea Stamps so I used this Fairy Princess by Molly Harrison to make a Mother's Day card.

The sentiment is by TLC Creations. I used a Spellbinders die set & my BigShot for all the die cuts. The wood house embellishment was painted with a glittery white Wink of Stella pen.

Challenges/Inspiration:

RRR #117

Crafty Ribbons: Ribbon
Creative Corner: For Mom
Digi Sketch Challenge: Sketch
DoubleClick Skittles: For a Mom/Girl
QKR Stampede #137: Mother's Day Cards
Really Reasonable Ribbon #117: Photo Inspiration + Ribbon
Simply Create Too #84: Pretty Woman
Stuck on U Diecut Challenge: Mother + Die Cut
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #181: Anything Goes/Family Friendly

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,