Floral Frame hello

Greetings!

Today I am sharing a card made with the new Floral Branch frame from KLM digital designs.  Actually, this file comes with four different frames including a circle and a heart.

In this case, I cut away the center of the frame to make a shaker card. I partially die-cut the frame with a stitched rectangle die, colored the flowers with Copics, and layered the rectangle on a Distress Stain and mica-sprayed background. I used an embossing ink pen around the frame and embossed it with gold detail powder. The "hello" is from Honeybee Stamps Bitty Buzz words set.

Enjoy your day,

Susan

Bookworm Gnome

Hello there. Welcome to my card blog!

Today's card could have my face plastered on it. My love of all things books goes back to my childhood. I was that kid whose mom had to hide my current book so I would do my chores. Then, I worked in the local library throughout high school, became a teacher, and was in book heaven all day. Now retired, I haunt the monthly library book sale. I have to be careful to not overload my shelf to the point that it sags!

I had so much fun making this card. My latest toy is a foiling machine. I am so thrilled that I can foil with my regular dies. Those stars in the background are from the Tim Holtz/ Sizzix swirling stars Thinlit. I used Copic markers to color the klmdigitaldesigns image Bookwork Gnome. The "DOCUMENTED" on the front is a sticker from Tim Holtz's metallic sticker booklet.

KLM Digital Designs image, colored with Copic marker; Sizzix star die foiled onto the background; Tim Holtz sticker sentiment	Inside sentiment, is one of 3 that accompany the image. The same star die was used to cut a paper stencil and was then used with Distress Mica Stain to add stars to the inside.

For other book nerds: The beauty that the card is photographed on is one of my library sale finds.

It is a collection of Kipling's works in one volume. It has the most delicious feeling, hand-tooled, embossed leather cover. Unfortunately, the condition is not great and the copyright page is missing. However, the inscription inside indicates it was a gift:  To Willis from Helen, Christmas 1935  Kipling lived in Vermont for a time as his wife was from here. I'm shocked someone else didn't grab this book first!

Have a wonderful day and keep creating!

Susan

Graduate Gnome ll

Hello there, and welcome.

It's hard to believe it's already nearing graduation time. I find it even harder to believe that my Grandson is graduating! The card I am sharing today was made with him in mind.

This is a fairly simple card, using the Graduate Gnome II image and sentiment from KLM Digital Designs and Copic markers. It is layered onto a red and black scrap from my stash and a red card base of Real Red (SU). I made a tiny tassel of black and red heavy thread and dangled it from the mortarboard. The tassel adds a little 3D fun to an otherwise plain card. 

I hope you have a lovely spring day. Thanks for stopping by. 

Quick Gift idea

Hello there. I'm glad you stopped by.

Today is a speedy gift solution using a pre-colored image from klmdigitaldesigns.com, the medium tag from Tim Holtz/Sizzix tag dies, and a few embellishments to personalize the project.

This is a tag, ornament, and money or gift card holder all in one.

I knew I wanted to add a greeting to the Gnome so I opened the PNG for this project and dropped it into a Pages document (or Word Document). I added a text box, typed the message in my choice of font, and sized and positioned the box near the gnome. I used the group option and sized the whole image to fit the tag size I wanted to use. The image was printed on a piece of white card and then cut with the tag die. 

The students I made these for recently changed schools so I traced the pennant in the new school color then cut and glued it over the blue pennant.

I used some pinstripe press-ons from Love from Lizzie to personalize the tag a bit.

Next, I layered the tag onto a piece of card matching the school color. This piece was folded up on the bottom to create a pocket for the gift. I used a circle punch to cut a section out for ease of card removal. I used very thin double-sided tape to close the sides of the pocket.

The pocket was stamped with a to/from stamp then a gold cord was threaded for a hanger and a red and white baker's twine bow was added.

Even with the personalization, it took me about 30 minutes to make both tags.

This can be tied to a package or hung in the tree.

I hope this helps a little with your holiday wrapping.

Snowball gnome stand up

Hello again. 

I liked working with this image so much I decided to attempt a layered approach with him He was easy to color the first time, so I figured I'd try to layer him.

This isn't as easy as some people make it look. It takes some planning! It took 3 images to create the layers.  the main layer is the full image, then the hat and face, mitten and snowball, then snow for the hat and shoulder. I used glittery laser printer paper for those. Once that was done there is a fair amount of color planning as well.  Whew! I'm not sure I'll do this again any time soon.  

The actual construction took less time than planning out and coloring the layers. In the end, it came out great. I will make sure it is sent to someone who will not discard it quickly!

Image: klmdigitaldesigns.com

Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, retired Stampin'UP DSP

Copics:  BG000, 11, 13, 18

               E000, 01, 04

                E33, 39, 47 (beard)

                C2, 4, 5, 8, 100 

                Black Multiliner, Sakura gelly Roll Clear Star

Enjoy

Hang in there Frog

Hello, and welcome to the holiday season!

For all of us hosting family and friends, navigating the grocery aisles, working through a season of makes,    cooking, and cleaning as we go, HANG IN THERE! It's all worth it.

With any luck, I will FINALLY have all five of my grandchildren under one roof for the first time. We all live here in New England but this just hasn't happened yet. The kids range in age from 22 to 7. I can't wait for an actual photo of all of them together.

So... this card just seems to do the trick for the approaching festivities. 

I just love his expression. The image and sentiment are from klmdigitaldesigns.com. He is colored with Copic markers. On the background, I used the Flurry stencil from Lavinia Stamps. I purchase most of my Lavinia collection from DelBello Designs, here in the U.S. The inks are all Distress inks. I stenciled a few extra leaves to cut out and pop up on foam to all a little extra dimension.

Copics used:  E33, 37

                    Y00, 21, YR30

                    YG61, 63, 67

                     G40, 94

Hang in there, friends, and enjoy the holidays!

Gnome Farmer and Fido

Hello there. Thanks for stopping by.

Today's card uses the gnome farmer and fido from klmdigitaldesigns. I detailed his shirt to look checkered, colored the image with Copics, fussy cut, and mounted the image with foam tape. The background is made using the glue resist technique. I added a bit of stenciling with pigment ink to see how it worked. I was pleased with the results. 

There is a little plaid stenciling on the inside as well, where the image finishes.

Image: klmdigitaldesigns.com

Dies: Stitched Rectangle Stax, Stitched Sentence strips-  

      MFTstamps

Stencil: THS097  Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous

Ink: Versa Claire Shady Lane

Copics:E000, 04, 11

    Y11, 15, 21, 26

    E41, 43, 44

    E97, 99, 47, Y21

    Shirt- T2 shading, G40, 43, 24

Dog- T1, 3, 5, 7 whit gel pen, Black Multiliner

KLM Frog croak

Hello there!

We won't be hearing the peepers or croakers around her much longer. Trees are starting to turn fast and drop leaves more quickly, they are so stressed from the drought.

This frog looks like he's thinking about his age! The background was created by lightly stenciling through 3 different stencils with Distress Inks. The Frog is colored with Copics, and the panel was cut with a stitched rectangle die and added to an OLD stash piece. 

The sentiment finishes on the inside. I stenciled the leaf lightly on the inside also, to add a little interest.

Background stencils: Lavinia Stamps- Pebble, Feathered Leaf, Flurry

Distress Inks: Pumice Stone, Iced Spruce, Mowed Lawn, Evergreen Bough

Image and sentiment: klmdigitaldesigns.com

Copics: G20, YG23, 17, 67

            Y11, 02, YR23

            

Bailing on adulthood Gnome

Welcome, thanks for stopping by.

    There are days....and then there are others! Right? This fella is having one of those days. 

    I got the Snarky Small Talk sticker booklet from Tim Holtz/Ideaology and thought this worked with the leaping gnome from klmdigitaldesigns. I kid you not, my friend and I stood in the store, hysterically laughing at the sayings in the booklet. You just have to REALLY know the person you send them too. 

    The background uses a range of brown Distress Oxides that were brushed on card stock using a piece of paper as a mask to get a ray effect. It was then splattered with bolth gold and silver watercolors.

     The gnome is colored with Copics:

    Shirt- Y32, 23, 26

    Pants- YG93, 95, 97, 99

    Shoes/hat- E41, 42, 43, 44, 47

Hope you're having a better day than he is 😉😉.

Gnome backlog 3 Fireman

Hello, welcome to my blog. It's just a little thing to share card-making fun and tips.

Good Grief! It's already August?? Where did the summer go? No wonder I'm so behind in my card-making! Time has sped up and I have slowed down.

Today's card is one of the early images from klmdigitaldesigns.com. Fireman #1 is a quick easy color and great for a birthday card. This card uses a fun sentiment from MFT's set Festive Old Friends, but the sentiments included with this image are equally playful.

For this card, the image is colored in Copic markers, then fussy cut. The alcohol-inked background is from my stash. The sentiment was carefully heat-embossed onto the background. 

I think I might save this one for my son who is turning 40 this month. Talk about time flying!

Enjoy your day, I hope it's a great one.

KLM Sunflower milk can

Hello there. Thanks for visiting.

I have 2 cards to share today and a lesson learned. 

While preparing to print out my new images from klmdigitaldesigns.com, I grabbed some card stock that was sitting, out of place, mind you, near the computer. That should have been my first hint. While coloring with Copics I noticed the printer ink was being picked up slightly by the marker. I should have stopped right then! Needless to say, I was not at all happy with the results. So I reprinted on the correct paper and started again with much better results.  Who said the paper doesn't matter?????

The first card (shine like a sunflower) is the problem paper. It shines! Appropriate for the sentiment. So did the marker as I began layering and blending (which it didn't really do well).

The second attempt was printed on Pen&Gear 100lb. card stock.

Works every time. Everything I did was identical other than the background layers.

Lesson learned.

Copics: Flowers - Y21, Y8, YR24, E34, 37, 47

                R22, 29   YG05,17

            Can - C0, 1, 3, 5, 7, colorless blender

EDIT: I suspect the errant paper is from Hammermill.

I compared each file of white paper I have in my drawer and that is the only brand that appears coated. Marked now as a no Copic file!