Izbzee

some fun cards

Summer is just around the corner.... but the weather has been warm enough to flip the switch and turn on the AC for a few hours every afternoon.  

Sandy at Simply Crafty SVGs has put out a new batch of cards in the last week --  fun box cards.  

I've made a couple of these cards from the new files.  Love them!

I added a shaker element in the pitcher and literally filled it with polymer clay sliced lemons I found on Etsy a couple of years ago.  So fun!  
Used some collage podge on the pitcher and the lemon slices.  The digital paper is from Creative Fabrica.  It was perfect and grounded the card.  The basic box elements for the card can be cut from a single 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper!  Lots of inking and a little watercolor painting.  I love the design of the glass in this file.  It looks dimensional.  

And then there was this one... who doesn't like donuts?  

I used several mediums on this one.  Inking, Dimensional Glaze, nail art bits and pieces and Pearl Luster Lumiere.  It was fun - but was hard to wait for everything to dry!  The original file does not have the transparent window.  I created on for a little more fun and will likely add a sentiment to the window to personalize it when it is gifted.  

Both cards were cut on the Skycut using SCAL6 Pro software to set up the SVG files for cutting.  Paper from AC Cardstock.  Bearly Art Glue and Scor-Tape  were the adhesives used.  

Both cards will fold flat and fit into a standard invitation envelope.  If you choose to add a shaker component, there is a little bulk, so extra postage may be needed if you add any dimension like I have done.  

More Halloween ....

The Frightful Flower from SimplyCrafty SVGs has joined this year's Halloween decor and I'm loving it!  It's definitely worth the time to cut, color, ink and assemble. Here's my version.

Isn't it fun?  The flower petals are hand painted -- well, I let the Watercolor ink from Poetique just run on some wet areas of the cardstock.  The edges are inked with distress ink for a little more definition.  Erase any pencil lines if you need to.  I used them to create a basic shape for the colored area of the petals.  

The face of our flower has just a little bit of inking and I did leave one of the pieces off (dripping blood).  

I added additional texture to the leaves using the backside of a craft knife... inked the entire leaf using Distress Inks and a blending tool.  

Three leaves were used for this version of the Frightful Flower.  The file does include 3 different leaf patterns for you to mix and match for your own special version of the file.  

For the easiest way of assembling this project, be sure to watch the video here.  Just scroll down the page for the video.  TIP: Be sure to pull your embossing folders, inks and a spritzer filled with diluted mica for another layer of interest before you begin to assemble.  

 

All papers from AC Cardstock and Stampin' Up!  
Skycut C24 and SCAL 5 Pro
Green wrapped wire
Hot glue gun, clear glue sticks
Poetique Watercolor Ink refill (Argyle Red)
Waterbrush, flat and fine
Distress Inks, blender tool
Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue
Silver Pearl Ex
Rubbing Alcohol
Mister spray bottle
Brown moss

 

on the artistry....Dimensional Sunflower for our HOME Sign

Our HOME sign gained another interchangeable dimensional element.  We've now got elements to take us through the month of August.   Hand-painted using watercolor markers, inks and brushes.  Love how it turned out.  

This 5-inch +dimensional sunflower was a perfect choice to add to our elements that decorate our foyer HOME sign for August. It's made from sketchbook paper which cut beautifully on the Skycut!   It was also fun to add color to for a one of a kind look as well.  

You'll find all the details on The Artistry, here.  

All files for this project and previous elements are from CreativeFabrica.  

Snowflake, Heart, Celtic Knot,  April Showers/Boot, Strawberry Truck, Watermelon/Lemonade, Beach Scene - tutorials for these and other projects can be found here.  
Thanks for stopping by.  Have some creative fun today and every day.  

Featured Blog post on IkonArt Stencils

I was pretty excited to hear that an article was accepted and is now published on the IkonArt Stencil blog.  You'll find it here:  https://ikonartstencil.com/blog/airbrush-handmade-cards-with-ikonart-stencils/

It features a second grouping of cards made using a stencil with images from Creative Fabrica and Craftwell's eBrush and the Poetique refillable Watercolor markers.  It's very similar to this article posted on The Artistry last fall... matter of fact, they picked up the process video.

On a side note, the finished cards were a big hit with Mom.  Her face lit up when I showed her the finished cards (both sets).  Today would have been her 90th birthday.  I miss sharing my projects with her and getting her feedback -- the good and bad.  

from dingbat to wreath!

Dingbat fonts are fun!  The wreath used in this card was created using a dingbat font I found on Creative Fabrica.  Check out all the details (including a process video) on The Artistry.  

I also created a couple of other versions - using the same dingbat font -- but finished them differently.  And remember those hearts I stenciled in the last post?  Well they were used on these cards.  The wreaths and hearts are created in SCAL5 Pro and cut with the Skycut C24.  

And the card below was colored using some NUVO drops.  

and here's a close up to show some of the details:  

 

The same process in creating the wreaths was used as in the post on The Artistry.. so be sure to check it out.  

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've carved out some creative time this week.  

3 Fall Tags - Tag 2

Oversized and big!  These tags measure nearly 6" x 10.5"!  They're cute and simple and made of paper and vinyl!  




Once again, I chose to use Tag 2 from the SCAL library.  Resize and ungroup to resize the circle.  Since I chose to use 1 1/2 in wide burlap ribbon, the hole is about 1 inch in diameter.  Cut using your cutting machine.  

Choose your font (CK Emily Pen).  Choose your words and using the text tool, type and size as needed to fit within the bounds of the tag, leaving a bit of a margin all the way around the tag.  Using the vinyl setting for your machine, cut, weed and transfer to the tag.  Highlight a shadow using a white gel pen as desired. I also round the bottom corners of the tags for a softer look.  

Add any other embellishments as desired.  

Since these are pretty large and I decided not to embellish, I added them to a 24" diameter grapevine wreath.  Centered under a paper twist tied bow and a few dyed* paper leaves.  

You'll need:  
Kraft paper for tags (12 x 12)
Vinyl
White Gel pen
Leaves (two collections from Creative Fabrica were used you'll find them here and here)
Poetique ink refills
Glass plate
Water
Toothbrush
Freezer paper
Skycut
SCAL5 Pro
Glue gun, glue
Paper twist (deep olive green)
wire
Burlap ribbon
24" grapevine wreath

To dye the leaves: 
Cut the leaves from AC white cardstock.  I used the textured stock.  It adds a look of watercolor paper - but that is purely optional.  Place a couple of drops of the desired ink refills on a glass plate and spritz a bit of water on the plate to spread the color. Lay the leaf cut face down in the color, lift and set aside to dry.  


Use a toothbrush to flick a little extra color if desired.  

Expect to get a little inky during the process if you don't want to wear gloves.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Tag 3 to be posted tomorrow.  

Enjoy some creative time today, or set some aside.  

It's Swatch Time

I recently purchased another set of Poetique Refillable Brush Pens -- now that I know I get get them to work in the eBrush.  Life just got a little better and I'm looking forward to creating some new backgrounds with the markers and some new silk screen stencils I have sitting on the craft table.  




I reached out to my contact with the company that sells the pens  and learned that the company does not provide a swatch sheet for their pens.  SO,......  I decided to make my own and then I won't have to figure out what colors would work best for the project being created.  

You could do the same using Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.  Easy peasy and the 48 count set still fits on a single sheet of paper.  I also liked the fact that I could print the template on a piece of 140 lb watercolor cold press paper (cut to US letter size) with ease using the rear tray feed on my printer.  

The pens in the  four trays  aren't in numerical order or necessarily ordered in the same color family... so I did a bit of re-ordering by numbers with the pen color name facing up. The 48 count  box has a good assortment to choose from.  I am also excited to know that there are ink refills available for each of the pens.  The brush nibs work really well and you can accomplish most of what you want to "paint" with this single nib.  

This made it much easier to create the chart.  Pen numbers and pen name are in the row below the swatch of the color.  some of the colors are pretty intense and others are lighter.    


Leave a comment or reach out via FB messenger if you would like a copy of the file.  A swatch chart will be available for the 24 pen set shortly.  

In the meantime, have a crafty sort of weekend and coming week!