Izbzee

Birthday Season has arrived

Lots of birthdays are on the calendar for the next few months... time to buckle down and make a few more cards!  

Our littlest princess turns 1 very soon.  Hard to believe she was born just as the world went a little crazy last year!  We've missed out on so much of her 1st year -- here's hopes for a reunion very soon.

Papers for this card are from a collection I found at Creative Fabrica.  The website is one of the first places I stop when looking for themed digital images and papers.  

Pink and Gold Foil Digital Paper Set 

  I was even happy to find the crown was also included in the collection.  It's really a pretty simple card and the eCal3 software made it a breeze to fill the name and shadow of the 1 with the digital papers -- and size it to the shape. The card is based on a cake topper I saw on Pinterest.  I love that it was easy to translate into a card front and so quickly.  

The shadow layer of the 1,  Happy Birthday, and the crown are printed on the AC smooth white card front.  I used my print template for a card and oh how easy it is to print a card at a moment's notice in the software. 

A second crown with a blackout shadow and the name, Emily, were cut separately.  The number 1 was cut out of plain white cardstock.  The gel pen came in handy for some dots at just the right size for our cute little granddaughter.  Using a little double stick tape, the number was adhered to the card front, centered over the "shadow."  Pop up dots add a little dimension to the name and I also used a gold metallic gel pen to highlight the crown in several places before using some pop up dots to secure it to the card front over the printed crown. 

Birthday wishes are going out in the mail today!     

Hoping you're enjoying some creative time -- and if not, will set aside some time to do so in the very near future! Enjoy!   

 

a little spring in February

Loved making this mixed media piece and very happy to have it featured on the Artistry at CreativeFabrica.com

The creative process Window to Spring can be found at

https://www.creativefabrica.com/the-artistry/mixed-media/window-to-spring-how-to-create-a-mixed-media-canvas/

 

 

rolling into 2021 -- lots of changes ahead

While the pandemic (COVID) continues to create new "normals" on a daily basis, there are more new beginnings for us as well this year.

My plans to retire late 2021 were sped up a bit in late December of 2020 and I was launched into the realm of being free to rethink the timeline.  There's a part of me that is ecstatic about new opportunities and more time to craft and create during the hours I used to spend working. 

New opportunities await  -- ideas and projects that were pushed to the back burner are now moving to the front and may finally see the light of day much sooner than previously thought.

Looking forward to new beginnings starting now.  

Let's begin with a stack of Thank You cards. 

CAS panel - 3.5 x 3.5 print 2 cut on Kraft 
card base - 4 x 8 colored base, scored at 4 along the 8 inch side.  
Adhere panel to card base front*.  
** I chose to insert one of the thank you cards in a frame as a gift for a special friend.  The "box" also contains a small gift.  

All Occasion cards



Panel - 3.75 x 5.00 speech bubble cut out with word (designed in eCal3 and cut on eclips2
card base - 4.25 x 11.00, scored at 5.50 along the 11 inch side.
Attach panel to card base.  
Glue another copy of the word on the card panel

And lastly, Photo print Cards



Panel - print 2 cut image panel (4.00 x 5.25), designed in eCal 3 and cut on eclips2 (photo credit to Debi Tullier)
Vinyl - cut and apply focus word (631 vinyl)
Card base - 4.25 x 11.00, scored at 5.50 along the 11 inch side.
Attach card panel to card base. 

*Scor-tape and Lineco glue used for these projects.  
AC cardstock used for all card bases and boxes in this post

Hoping your outlook for creating time is looking great this year!  Let's get ready for some major creative play!   

 

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 8

This tag was inspired by a gift tag we received a couple of years ago... I was hoping to be able to use some of the Holiday "sprinkles" I'd purchased from KatScrapiness earlier this fall and a combination of 2 bags worked pretty well together.  The tag is created in eCal and cut on the eclips2 - my go to machine.  The front uses a triangle and vertical rectangle sized to fit in the small shaker front.  Use Front minus back to create the cut effect.  I used an old stamp set of swirls and flourishes on the front of the shaker.  It is stamped in Silver (heat set or let dry overnight).  The back of the shaker is a P2C piece filled with a snowflake pattern in silver from CreativeFabrica.  The banner on the front is also filled with the same pattern as the backing.  The word Joy and the hearts are made using the draw command and the Foil Quill.   A small silver heart from a nail art kit tops the tree.

I hope you're enjoying this year's selection -- and if you're wanting to see more, be sure to check out the album on the eclips/eCal Facebook page for all of this year's contributions!  If you're not a member, feel free to join us.  

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 6

Years ago I fell in love with The Snowman and the SnowDog.  Crafter's Companion (CC) had some fun decoupage elements in a pdf file.  I decided it was time to get those out and see if I could do something with them.  There are times when things don't go quite as you planned, but regardless this tag still gets a "pass."  I used a border embossing folder from another CC set and embossed 2 times.  I print the snowman and the second layer head and put the head on a wobble. The markers are from Ohuhu -- they're pretty good and have basically replaced most of my Spectrum Noir markers. 

 

Enjoy your creative time this holiday season... It's a great way to revive the spirits!  
  

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 5

2 for one for today's tag.  Print 2 cut using graphics from a digital collection by Echo Park and a single line font.  I decided to just print everything for these two tags and add a little bit of sparkle with a gel pen by adding berries to the tree and to the holly berries.  Tags are back with some red metallic stock I've had in my stash for a while.  One of the great things about this challenge is that I can dig deep into the archives and shelves and find what I need to be creative and not have to dig into the crafting budget for that.  

Have an amazing day and hoping you get some creative time in soon!  

2020 12 Tags of Christmas - Tag 3

Tag three was a blast to make.  I'm in love with shaker cards and thought I would adapt a design to create a shaker tag.  

I used the rounded square from the basic shapes library and the half circle with a cutout.  Union command in eCal3.  Copy and paste a 2nd shape on the mat. HIghlight one of shapes, choose contour cut from the Effects menu.  Create an inset shadow, that would leave about 1/4 inch of an edging on the basic shape of the frame. Click okay.  When you get back to the mat, move the shadow to the top of the layer palette.  choose Path > back minus front.  This piece will become your shaker front.*  Open the library again, choose the rounded square.  Make it a little bit larger than the opening of the shaker front.  This will be the cut for the transparent window of your shaker front.  

Add a snowflake to the mat.  Size as needed.  

Create the sentiment using a favorite font**, place on the shaker back.  Set the letters to draw.  Using the foil quill, foil the lettering.  If you're not using a single line font, you'll need to use line fill (effects tab) to fill the lettering.  

Cut the shapes.  Place the transparency on the back of the front and secure in place.  To create the shaker:  Add some narrow foam tape to the right side of the back shape of the shaker card.  Add the shaker bits -- in this case, I used some holly and berries mix from Kat Scrappiness.  Place the shaker top in place.  

 

*I used a digital print from and old Echo Park Christmas collection to fill the shape with the holly and berry paper.  And print 2 cut.  You could also set the sentiment to print to cut if desired. I also set all strokes on the shapes to none.  

** Font, Hello Blushberry Sans Serif is from CreativeFabrica

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas

It's that time of the year again... and we're celebrating the holidays on the eclips/eCal FB page with our annual 12 Tags of Christmas reveal.  

Tag 1:  Playing with basic shapes in the eCal 3 library - place a circle and half circle on the  mat - using the union command, create a single shape for the ornament base. Fill using a buffalo plaid* using the pattern fill command.   The smaller circle has a foil quilled sentiment. 

Fonts (Charming and Charlotte) from CreativeFabrica.  
Buffalo plaid from CreativeFabrica.  

playing with paper in June

Just a couple of cards for the past couple of weeks, but at least there was a little bit of time spent at the craft table.

Digital image from Creative Fabrica.
Colored pencils (Rembrandt)
Paper (AC Cardstock and Bazzil)
Fixative (Krylon)

 

Queen & Company Special Delivery kit
Nuvo Crystal Drops
AC cardstock scraps

 

Gradient lettering done in eCal3 (Font: Impact)
P2C 
Lettering and base cut on the eclips2

 

Tag 5 - Spring Tag Challenge 2020

Well, it's Friday and it's been a fun week. Thanks for dropping by and sharing a bit of your day  or evening checking things out. As you can see I decided to make another shaker card - a perfect way to round out the week.  

The background is an image I purchased on Dreamstime.com - I've used it for a couple of cards and have plans to use it for another couple of projects in the days to come.  I loved the colors and thought they would serve well as the background for this tag.  

Printed on photo paper (4x6 -borderless setting).  

The sentiment is written in the Walking Wind font and is from CreativeFabrica.com  I used the foil quill and some pink glimmer mist foil from Spellbinders.  I think it turned out quite lovely.   

Stack 5 ovals cut using the eclips and ecal and adhere them to form your shaker box, centering the stack around the sentiment.  

Add the sequin mix.  Adhere an oval cut piece of transparency and the top card stock oval.  If desired add a few more sequins to the oval and the tag base.  Add some ribbon or fibers to hang your tag.  

Thanks for joining me this week.  It's been a fun week.  Don't let COVID-19 get you down .... I hope you'll be able to find a few minutes, hours or more to craft as you can.  Be safe, stay well.