A Kawaii Hello

This bunny card was made for my friend Rachel. When I first started crafting years ago, her website was one I would go to for inspiration. She was always winning card challenges and for a newbie like myself, getting to her level was something to aspire to! Fast forward a couple of years, I realized we actually had more in common than just crafting (including living quite close to each other!) We'd leave comments on each other's blogs but with the introduction of social media, we actually started having real conversations. She's such a close friend at this point despite the fact that we've never actually met face to face! Hopefully if this pandemic ever calms down, we can leave the kids with their dads and have a proper craft day.

I wanted to send her a card to say hello and Happy Spring. I was also sending her a Tuxedo Sam memo pad because we talked about how much we like Sanrio and I honestly don't know anyone else into Sanrio and Kawaii stationary. (Pochacco 4 lyfe!) This cute set was from Darcie's Stamps and it was quite fun to copic color. The sentiment, cut from glitter paper is from Lawn Fawn. 

Happy Spring from Pochacco!

Welcome Baby Girl!

Recently, I had to make a card for my husband's cousin who is having a girl! I had gotten these adorable bunnies on a cloud stamp set from Mama Elephant so I knew I wanted to make something with them.

To begin, I created a pink cloud background with Picked Raspberry and Kitsch Flamingo distress oxide. I added one of the stamps (I got the dies with it so it was so easy to cut!) and stamped the sentiment below it. I was already really excited because I had purchased embellishments from Trinity Stamps so long ago but kept forgetting to use them. This color palette was perfect so I added them randomly around the stamp. I think it gave the whole thing an extra pop. I really liked how this simple and sweet card turned out!

A Muggle Birthday!

This card was made for my sister-in-law who is a big Harry Potter fan.  I was trying to decide what kind to make and really wanted to keep it simple and classy.  I also wanted to use my distress oxides but not flood the entire card with it. So I did a few messy swipes with Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Scattered Straw, trying to showcase Gryffindor colors.  I also (for the very first time!) messed with water and the oxides using a paintbrush. I simply dabbed it very lightly and honestly, I could have done more, but I was paranoid it would oversaturate the cardstock. Maybe I'll get a little more adventurous with my next attempt! I added a little Harry and Hedwig below and colored those with copics. They are (of course) from The Sassy Club. The banner was from a set I got months ago from Concord and 9th and I really wondered why it had taken me so long to use it! 

Parlez Vous Français?

For this next card, I wanted to do something different and make a postcard. My friend Scott has a fancy job working in Paris. (he's an animator on the new Super Mario Brothers movie!) He was kind enough to indulge my massive Disney pin addiction and purchase two really cool villain pins when he was at Disneyland Paris. Were we not currently in a pandemic, I would have shown up on his doorstep a long time ago pretending to be Emily in Paris except instead of showcasing an amazing wardrobe, I'd have colorful Mickey ears. 

For the postcard, I used a Mickey stencil from The Sassy Club to try and create an ombre look with different colors, but it kept turning into a disaster no matter how much masking I used. So I chucked it and decided to go with a very simple color palate. The castle is from a Sassy stamp set and the words are from Simon Says Stamp. It still looked a little bare, so I used Squeezed Lemon distress oxide on a border.

For the other side, I created a stamp also from a Sassy set (she has the best Disney stamps) and then used my fanciest script writing to make it look sophisticated. I snapped this photo before writing out my note to him. I also blurred out his last name for this post. And of course, I had to include a picture of the pins! Paris had a really awesome villains release last Halloween. They glow in the dark! 

Unfortunately, my current pin collection is in storage or I would post a picture of that as well. However, I do have a picture of the pin bouquet I made for my wedding. I saw someone selling Disney pin bouquets on Etsy for a crazy amount of money and I realized I could just make it myself and be able to really personalize it just the way I want. It was a little heavy, but soooo beautiful and totally worth the effort. Lasts a lot longer than flowers too!

Holly, Jolly Christmas 2021

So I ended up scrambling to finish my Christmas cards, but working down to the wire usually suits me just fine. I really never toot my own horn, but I have to say, I was REALLY happy with how this batch came out. I spent a really long time just copic coloring pages and pages of nutcrackers and penguins but I finally forced myself to cut them out and start assembling. I also have SO many holiday stamps and embellishments that I didn't even come close to using everything. Perhaps I'll actually start next year's batch during the summer so that I could make the amount I want.

I probably won't though. 

This card was made for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law because I just loved the little penguin family and this year is my nephew's first Christmas!

This sentiment is YEARS old. I think it's one of the first Christmas stamps I ever bought but I've never used it! I realized it went perfectly with my stamps from My Favorite Things though so it just goes to show you that you should never throw out anything... haha

I really wanted to create a snowy look and I know a lot of people just use white paint, but I cheated and used the Avery Elle white ink spray. I just let it dry overnight and I really loved the effect.

This one was specifically made for JP. He actually picked out the Nutcracker set from Avery Elle the last time we were at a craft store so I had to make him one!

This is one that took me a couple of tries because I kept screwing up the snow drift effect with the blue distressed background, but when I finally got it, I was so happy with the end product. 

I really hope that if you're reading this, you had a safe and wonderful Christmas. I'm crossing my fingers for continued health and some peace of mind in the new year because thankfully, I'm already surrounded by more love than I probably deserve. I hope you are too. 

 

Better Late than Never

I'm extremely late with this Halloween post, but trying to find a quiet moment to blog has been challenging lately. As a result, I'm going to do my best to remember the particulars of these cards!

This first card I made for a friend of mine who is currently working and living in Paris! I wanted to send him a card and some candy since Halloween isn't really a big thing over there. Of course, due to our crazy postal system, it got there closer to December... But whatever. This stamp was one I bought AGES ago at Michael's and finally got to use. I tried to distress it a bit with Black Soot Distress ink and kept the coloring basic. I don't remember where the background cardstock was from though, but I'm willing to bet that came from Michael's too!

 

My last post had gotten me thinking about the wicked stepsisters from Cinderella and I remembered that I ordered these awesome stamps from Sandra at The Sassy Club last summer.  I played around with some backgrounds and die cut letters. Unfortunately, you can't really tell from the photos, but I was really proud how this coloring and blending came out- especially since I eyeballed all of my combos. (after lots of test swatches) The one thing is that I wish her stamps had accompanying dies because fussy cutting is so hard and annoying. Those corners are tricky!

I'm slowly starting my Christmas cards. Every year I tell myself I'll do it early and every year I'm always scrambling to finish. Maybe I'll get some Christmas magic in the form of free time soon!

10 Year Crafting Anniversary!

So a few months ago, I realized I was coming up on my 10 year blogger anniversary. That's a long time! Of course, I've been doing some sort of crafts for much longer than that, but 10 years ago, I decided to start keeping track of my creations. 

And some of those early cards are *cringeworthy* But it shows me just how far I've come and I'm grateful for that.

The other day was World Card-Making Day and I posted a picture of my desk on IG. As always, it's cluttered and messy, but I feel no matter how much room I have, I'll always have that problem.

That's not to say that I don't dream of having a big craft room one day, but for now, this is just fine. This weekend, I'm going to a craft store on Long Island so I'm going to do a post about it. I know it's been a long time since I've blogged about any craft excursions and I'm treating myself to celebrate 10 years.  Happy Craftiversary (is that a thing?) to me!

Stay tuned!