'Ey there Mr Cool Guy!

It's time for a "Use a Digi" challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT)! I love stamping, but digi stamps are so much fun too, and StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds from many wonderful artists.

Vicky chose our image this time, and I couldn't have had more fun with Cool Buds by BBKakes:

click to enlarge

I pieced the image together in 3 layers: The dog & base; The boy; and his hair, sunglasses, and jacket. Everything is colored with Copics, and the sunglasses are colored with black and clear glaze pens.

I find that I really enjoy coloring leather jackets. Maybe it's because I grew up in Spain, near Morocco, with a large Navy population...now that I think about it, I've spent a lot of time around leather. I've visited Ubrique many times; as a child, I loved the feel of their embossed leather. The whole town had a rich, leathery smell that I remember fondly. And I've been to several Moroccan leather factories...the reality and smell of which I remember less fondly (although I adore Morocco). And I'm pretty sure most of my friends' Navy dads had leather jackets. Look at me, getting all sentimental...

In any case, I'm pretty pleased with how this jacket came out. I gave it texture with Distress Crackle Paint.

I ran his hair through my Xyron sticker machine and covered it with fine Flower Soft.  I used a glue pen to apply white flocking to the dog. You can read some of my tips about adding Flower Soft and flocking here.

You may remember the cityscape die cut from several of my recent posts (archived here).
Here's another photo, where you can really see the texture:

Inspiration/Challenges:

1. Alphabet Challenge: I for Image
2. Crafting for all Seasons: Masculine
3. Delicious Doodles #40: All Creatures Great and Small
4. Hanna & Friends #173: Banner + cute person/animal stamp
5. Jellypark Challenges: Masculine
6. Polka Doodles: Male Theme
7. Simon Says Stamp: Transport
8. Stampin' For The Weekend: Cute
9. The Perfect Sentiment #83: Masculine + Sentiment
10. Top Tip Tuesday #103: Masculine

Hope you'll join the Use a Digi challenge at One Stitch at a Time this week (and be sure to check out my teamies' fabulous projects). For entries using a StitchyBear Store product (be sure to add a # after your name when entering), you'll be eligible for our main prize. You're welcome to enter the challenge using different products, but instead you'll be entered into the draw to win a $3 coupon to StitchyBear's Digi Outlet. Can't wait to see what you create!

Thank you for visiting,

At the Beach with Sunshine Mail

It's time for a new Sunshine Mail Foundation Challenge (June 15 - July 1). Our theme is "At the Beach" and the only real rule is that you send in at least one card (it doesn't have to be the card you enter in the challenge; Donation guidelines here).

I used Happy Times - Beach Boy by our sponsor, The Paper Shelter:

I recently saw a photo of my nephew playing at the beach that reminds me so much of this image! He lives in Florida, so I wanted the card to reflect how hot and bright it would be on a summer beach day.

The sentiment is by TLC Creations, and I drew out the sandcastle shape and inked it with Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger) by pressing the piece onto the inkpad briefly, which gives it a nice texture.
The circle frame was cut with 2 dies (Spellbinders), and heat-embossed in yellow (Creative Zoo). The frame is cut with the Disney Bubble Frame Die/Emboss Combo (Cuttlebug) from a shiny blue cardstock (Core'Dinations), and sanded a bit to add contrast on the bubbles.

The ric-rac is from my stash...I think it was actually originally from Mom's stash! As soon as I saw the June Sketch at The Stamp Spot, I knew I had to use it for a sun theme.

The Stamp Spot

Inspiration/Challenges:
Charisma Cardz #23: Digi Stamps Only
Crafty Bloggers Network: Bright & Breezy
Lady Anne's Challenge: The Great Outdoors
Mema's Crafts Monday Challenge: Summer/Vacation
Scrappers' Delights: S is for... (Sun, Summer, Sand)
Stamp and Create June Challenge: Summer Fun
The Stamp Spot June Challenge: Sketch
Whimsical Designs: Summer
Without Words: Hot Colours + CAS + hand-colored image

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join the Sunshine Mail Foundation Challenge,

Pile It On - For a Dad

We have a timely challenge for you this week at Pile It On - For a Dad! I know you'll be able to link up to lots of challenges with this one.

Our sponsor is My Heart Pieces, so I used her Summer Fun digi stamp along with this sentiment from Paper Makeup:

For the background, I used the Pinwheel Party DP from My Minds Eye's Kraft Funday line. I colored the image with Copics and glaze pens, and inked everything with Barely Banana ink from Stampin' Up.

Die Cuttin' Divas

Inspiration/Challenges:

1. Creative Belli #171: Father's Day (the Candi & bottlecap have been in my stash for a long time)
2. Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #118: Sketch + Die Cuts
3. My Heart Pieces: Clean & Simple
4. Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge: Father's Day
5. Party Time Tuesdays #123: Happy Fathers Day
6. Simon Says Stamp: Masculine/Father's Day
7. Stamp n Doodle: Father's Day/For a man
8. The Perfect Sentiment #82: Father's Day/For a man
9. The Stamping Chef: Father's Day/For a man

Update: This placed in the Top 3 for My Heart Pieces' Clean & Simple challenge! 

Thank you for visiting,

Super Dad

With Father's Day just around the corner, I pulled out one of my favorite digis, Huge Hero by KennyK, to make a funny card.

The duct tape piece is what was left on the roll...you know, after the sticky part's gone, some is stuck onto the cardboard roll? Well, I peeled that off and embossed it in my BigShot with a TH embossing folder. The birdie banner is Washi Tape.

The sentiment is from a Teddy Bo & Co. set (free with an issue of Simply Cards & Papercraft), and the airplane is a brad from my stash. I edged the skyline with a silver Sharpie.

Last year, my brother-in-law hired me to make some Thank-you cards for his Chiropractic office. He sent me the files for his logo, based on the Orlando skyline, and I have several pieces left over. You can read the whole story, and see similar projects, in this post.

Inspiration/Challenges:
ABC Challenge: Sketch #30 (oops, missed deadline!)
Cards For Men: Dad
ColourQ #191: Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Cool Caribbean + White
Crafty Creations #224: Superhero
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #126: 3 feature elements with the same letter (Brad, Banner, Birds)
Melonheadz Friends Challenge: Father's Day and/or Male-inspired
Whimsical Designs: Recycle (the duct tape is actually the remnant of a roll)


Update: I made ColourQ Courtier for the Color Combo #191! WOW, I am so super honored!

Thank you for visiting,

Hiring & Inspiring

My awesome brother-in-law hired me to make some Thank-you cards for his business, Nightlight Chiropractic. He sent me the files for his logo, made by Orlando Mesa at 407 Wraps & Signs based on the Orlando skyline, and since they were already vector images in Illustrator, I was able to export the layers into SCAL and cut them out with my electronic die-cutting machine.

I kept the cut-out sheets, and when my best friend was visiting recently, we used one as a mask to paint a background for this card for my friend's dad:

We also used the pop-up part! This was so much fun to make; my friend, who isn't a crafter, colored and cut out the suitcase himself.

My friend suggested that the image also looked like mountains, so I wanted to play with that idea. Here's my first try at it:

You can read more about this card in the original post.

I used the masks again to make this glittery card (for my friend's sister, actually).

It's really difficult to see in the photo, but the skyline is mirrored underneath. The top city is covered in glow-in-the dark glitter, and the bottom is covered in Prisma glitter, both adhered with sticky embossing powder.

The purse opens to reveal a sentiment from Viva Las VegaStamps: "The only time a woman came change a man is when he's a baby."

I used the cut-outs for some Father's Day cards:

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And a Batman-inspired baby card:

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Plus, it came in handy for my OSAAT DT project featuring Cool Buds by BBKakes:

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I'm out of the city die cuts, but I still have some mask pieces that I look forward to using.

Thank you for visiting & for supporting my crafting,