Izbzee

August cards

Tried to get a head start on August's cards, but I'm still working on them.  I let one of them get out into the mail yesterday without getting a picture of the finished under the sea shaker card.  Might have to try to recreate that one in the future.  

In the meantime, I did manage to get all the ministering cards done in good time.  This was a much easier card to print, assemble and get into the mail just before the end of the month.  BONUS:  Easy to change out the greeting on the front of the card too!  

After creating the design in SCAL, printing and folding the card base, I thought the card front was a little too plain with just the word smile and the patterned paper strip.  So I added a little color using some splattered color on the card front.  The splatters were created using some FSJ Silks I've had in my stash for a few years. It was a good way to use a little of that and it does go a long way.  I chose Cranberry and Sour Lemon as they were the closest to the colors in the paper strip.  When the splatters were dry, the paper almost looked like a little more expensive handmade paper I have always loved.

Adding the printed, cut and inked paper strip popped up with some foam tape, adds the finishing touch to the front of the card.  

Anniversaries start on the first Friday in August.  I wasn't sure I could meet that deadline, but yesterday was a good day for designing in SCAL and getting a little cutting done early in the morning and then printing the card base a little later.   I tried a new technique to me - still needs some refining, but I think it works for this design.  I hope to do a little more playing in Procreate to see if I can get the background just the way I see it in my brain.  Fingers crossed.  


I used the color cube system to choose the colors - I think they blended quite well.  Now to make a palette using that system for a few upcoming projects I'd like to try using Procreate again.  

4 more birthdays to do for August.  Hoping to make a dent in one or two of those today for the grands and then focus on the last two cards for the month.  

Family Reunion

We were trying to explain to the 92 year old that he had quite a posterity.... but he couldn't wrap his head around the number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren he had.  So what better way than to create a visual of that -- and who belonged to who!  

We've done family group shots in previous years -- But that isn't quite the same and doesn't make it any easier at times... so after looking around for the perfect SVG of a tree that could be used as a background for the project, I found one on Creative Fabrica that would work.  It needed to be big... the 8 x 8 original size of the file wasn't going to allow me to put a large enough image for each grouping... so resizing in SCAL 6 Pro was easy enough and the final size of the tree is 20 x 20 inches.  Hobby Lobby has sheets of watercolor paper in different weights in the 23 x 30 inch size and that was perfect for what we needed to cut the tree -- and having a mat in the right size made it possible to cut the tree as one piece.  

The tree is painted with watercolor paint.  We let it dry overnight before taking the next steps.  

The sentiment at the bottom of the tree is foil quilled using a Single Line Font -- I think Gma would have given a thumbs up on that choice.  

We gathered images from family FB pages and special email requests and could fill all but a very few of the spots -- we still have a couple of blank spots yet.  I'm hoping they'll help us "fill" the circles in over the course of the next few weeks.  The goal was to have the tree finished by the 20th in time for the reunion and share at our gathering.  I initially planned on using hearts to showcase the family photos, but found that difficult with many of the photo choices I had -- so we bagged that went to a circle with a shadow behind it.  We popped up pictures depending on the generation for a little more interest and dimension. 

The frame was one we found on Amazon -- we'd purchased it for another project, but the puzzle didn't fit into it -- so the frame has been sitting for over a year waiting for another opportunity to be used.  

It's a keeper!  Gpa loves it and points out many of the pictures he can identify individuals in.  

Happy 4th!

June pretty much blew right by -- and July has popped up on the calendar!  We needed to refresh a few things around here and of course that meant a little holiday decor.  The mantel is filled with lots of Red, White and Blue stuff from years past and now, we have a new small banner.

The gnome Uncle Sam is from My Scrap Chick -- it's a freebie for a few more days...I'm really glad I grabbed it as soon as it was posted.  It's very adaptable from a treat box to a flat design.  And adding a little inking really adds some definition!

They are pretty easy to put together and aren't too heavy for hanging on the banner.

The stars are from the SCAL library (Basic Shapes).  I added an inset shadow and the lettering is cut in 2 layers.  White ink for the blue and red stars and a little pumice stone ink for the white star.  Bearly Art glue for the assembly of both the gnome and stars.  

I added sleeves to the back of each of the elements and then threaded with a ribbon for hanging.  

A new door hanging was also needed for this year's fabulous 4th.  I have a stash of some 12 inch rounds -- did a quick paint with some acrylic full body paint and added some vinyl cuts to the bottom half of the painted round.  The bow uses some leftover ribbon from a previous project and I added one of the patriotic gnomes to finish off the round.  


Hope you're finding some creative time in your creative space.  Enjoy and have an awesome week!  

More fun in June

The last of the cards for this month are done -- 

Sandy from Simply Crafty SVGs helped immensely with this card design. I love the hexagon pop up cards -- however, this one gave me a run for my money.  My machine didn't like the paper I chose much ... so the original colors I'd hoped to use had to be switched out.  It did approve of the final choices and I do like the way it turned out.

The digi paper is from Polkadoodles (Rebel Collection) and the flowers are from Lori Whitlock (one of her envelope box cards).  I hand painted the flowers and leaves with Vintage Pastels from Art Philosophy.  


Normally, this card would lay flat for mailing, however, I altered the design a bit and now it's a stand up card that won't lay flat.  LOL  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.  She's all into flowers this year and volunteers at a community garden.  

I played with this llama design in Procreate.  I like how it turned out and it was easy enough to export as a png and trace in SCAL and use as an svg.  I used Ohuhu markers to color.  I stacked 4 cuts to make it sturdy like a chipboard die cut.  The small adornments on the blanket cut quite well on the skycut using SCAL 6 Pro (6.056), all things considered and this One Year Celebration card is now ready for personalization.  This is for an early July birthday.... 


Looking forward to sharing July's cards with you soon.. I have some unexpected medical testing added to the calendar this month and possible surgery in the near future -- so I did get my July Ministering Card stack completed.  I'll share those very soon.  In the meantime, I've got a few tags to get made before the 24th!  

Have a creative sort of day -- even if it's just perusing pages in Instagram or Pinterest.  Enjoy! 

June and nearly July

Lots on the calendar this month -- and we seem to add a few more things every day. We've still be creating -- but maybe not as much as I'd really like.  

Father's Day is just around the corner so I did a little looksie over on Pinterest, found a sketch I really liked, but the paper was a no go -- it's no longer available!  Drats!  However, I did have something I could use in my digi paper stash (Nit Wit Collections - Manual Labour Collection) that is my usual default for masculine prints.  So using the pattern fill, print and cut options in SCAL 6 Pro was my go to.

I opted to do a little personalizing on both the front for a couple of our sons and again with the sentiment on the inside of the card.  One other thing I really like about SCAL is being able to set a template for the size of the card and then using pre-cut stock, just print the inside of the card.  It's a BREEZE!  

June's Ministering Card stack was fun and a little more cutting intensive, but the Skycut handled all the cuts and the "buttons" were really a fun addition to this card.  

The rose gold vinyl "hello" was the perfect way to add the sentiment for the front of the card.  I now have a stash of kraft colored hearts to use in shakers over the course of the next couple of months!  LOL

Our Mother's Day card was an adaptation of the Orchid Box card from Simply Crafty SVGs.  I wanted a slimline card and the orchids and stem were resized a bit to fit on the card.  I really like how this one turned out.  

I played around with a pocket design and some holographic overlay on some digital clip art.  While I like the images, I'm not so sure about the final use on this project.  

And last, but not least, we have a couple of boys celebrating birthdays this month.  I finished up their cards late last month -- I really like the pop & twist movement in this card.  Interactive cards are at the top of my to-do list whenever I can! 



Since the rest of the birthdays are still coming up -- I guess I'll hold off sharing those images until a little later this month. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a creative rest of the month!  

May b-days....

they all come so quickly!  This was another year to share Mother's Day with one of the recipients.  

Oldest son has a resident iguana at his second home.  It's rather large and we thought this might have been a perfect way to celebrate his birthday since they wouldn't be spending time there this month.  

Our daughter-in-law is a delight and we wanted to share a few of our favorite photos with her = the "reel" seemed perfect for this year's card (a pinterest inspiration).  

We couldn't let the "cow" rest too long and we thought #3 son would enjoy "milking his day".  

a long 2 weeks

the ideas are stacked up and I have a bit of cutting to get done -- Covid sort of put a crimp in things and when you're down you're down.  3 of 4 of us tested positive within 24 hours.  I've been the last holdout and finally....  tested negative this morning.  I'm very grateful and there's even a bit more energy and less coughing than yesterday.  

COVID brain leaves a lot to be desired and when you need to get something done and all the steps just don't fall into place, it's difficult to see something through.  After sleeping on a a design idea for 24 hours, I was able to figure out what I was doing wrong and get it together.  It really is an easy card -- and it was a good design for who it was meant to go to.  


The dandelion SVG is from Creative Fabrica and I unioned that with a square frame.  A couple of swashes of color, a bit of vellum and a printed card front and it's done.  The frame is popped up on foam tape for a little more dimension.  This card was submitted for the Anything Goes Challenge on Facebook.  

Designed in SCAL 6 Pro and cut using the Skycut C24.  

Cut n Create Challenge piece

Insomnia has played a huge part in this project.... I got all the matting done after finding all the required files in my stash the other night after searching through lots of files to find just the right cutting files to create this framed wreath.  


The leafy wreath and square shadow box frame file are both from Creative Fabrica.  I used an old Stampin Up punch for a few extra "branches."

The rolled roses are from a file from Simply Crafty SVGS (Victorian Hat) and the small flowers are from a Dreaming Tree file (Hydrangea Tray).  The doily is a file from SVG Cuts Doily Collection.  

All files were matted in SCAL6 Pro.  I used print 2 cut print for the sentiment on the doily and then it was cut using the SkyCut.  I cut 3 of the leafy wreaths and inked them.  I wanted a little more depth and used foam tape between two of the layers.  The roses are inked on both sides and the top of the petals are slightly flared for a little more dimension.  They are glued directly to the wreath.  The smaller flowers have a small pearl in the center and are glued to the wreath as well.  Additional pearls are glued using E6000 and allowed to dry for a couple of hours to make sure everything is secure.   I added a loopy bow using 1/4" wide lavender ribbon and secured with a drop of hot glue.  

The 6" box frame is a single piece file.  Easy to put together.  The center area of the frame is about 5 inches.... it's a pretty snug fit.  

April Teacher Appreciation

Sticky note holder for the gift this month.  Super quick to make and it was fun to find notepads in colors that nearly matched the colors used in the rainbow.  I found the notepads on Amazon - they're vintage colors and blend well with the Boho Rainbow with Positive Quotes from Creative Fabrica.  

I did remove the sentiment in the original png image and added something that we thought would work well for this month.  The font is also from Creative Fabrica which can be printed without the stroke added for an almost single line font look when done in SCAL6.  

I had purchased some mystery boxes filled with Bazzil cardstock a couple of years ago and wasn't quite sure what to do with several of the packs, however, this color works well with the image and has enough weight and strength to hold the sticky note pad.  

A little spring.... maybe?

Spring was here for a week or so, but winter came roaring back yesterday with a bit of snow and some pretty cold air blew in with it as well.  Grateful we aren't having the blizzard like weather or getting dumped on either that many others to the east are having to deal with.  

I've been able to spend a little time with my software and cutting machine again -- having some and trying some new to me stuff.  We made some Spring/Easter cards for the family.  They turned out really nice.  I learned some new stuff that my cutting software (SCAL 6 Pro) can do and used that to create this card. The pre-colored digital images are from Polkadoodles.  

My big project for March was to convert a house file into a doll house.  To be honest, I nearly gave up as I had to change a few things to make it work.  I used the Halfling Hideaway House from Simply Crafty SVGs for this one. 





The doorway is changed and the alternative roof pieces were resized and used as the walls and ceiling for the interior of the house.  I added an extra layer for the flooring which is "brick" and inked some strips for the wood trim for the interior.  I think it turned out pretty good.  The house isn't a true 1:12, but is more closely a 1:24.  It will make creating the furniture a little more interesting since things will be much smaller.  I did get a table and benches made (file from Thicketworks), it still needs some detailing -- 

I've talked to one of my daughters and we're going thrift shopping for an old dollhouse to see if we could use it in there once we get the outside of the house spruced up.  I do like working with miniatures a bit and it would be fun to do something a little bigger and maybe even make a replica of the 150 year old family cradle that all my my children were rocked in as babies as well as me and my siblings, my mother and her father and several of his siblings and include that in the dollhouse.  I think it would be cool. 

Hope you have some creative time built into your schedule this coming week.  Nurture your heart and have a wonderful week! 

RESOURCES USED:
AC Cardstock
Bearly Art Glue
SCAL 6 Pro
Skycut C24
Digital paper (rocks and bricks from stash)
Halfling Hideaway House
Polkadoodle Digital Stamps:  Spring into Easter (Big Kahuna Collection)
Photoshop Elements
mini hinge and mini brads (stash)
Moss (hobby Lobby)