Izbzee

It's HOT!

Temps climbing into the high 90's and maybe creeping into the 100's have been the norm the last week or so - time for lots of ice, cool drinks and cool treats. 

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest and decided to try to recreate it with my own spin on it for July's ministering stack of cards.  The popsicle file is from Creative Fabrica and the file has several different styles of cool treats in it - so you could mix things up a bit if you wanted.  I decided to do a little hand coloring and while that took a bit of time, it was fun to make up 16 cards and have each just a little different than the others.  


The sentiment was printed on each card front before cutting and the corners rounded.  I added some Nuvo drops for a little more interest and I like the way things turned out.


I used: 
Tombow markers
water brush
pop up dots
Bearly Art Glue
Nuvo drops (asstd colors and clear)
Mod podge  Glossy
Skycut C24
SCAL 6 Pro
AC cardstock (smooth white)
Printer for sentiment on card front and inside

August cards....

Canning, making jam and dehydrating has filled quite a few of our days lately.  The garden is also beginning to produce so veggies are just around the corner and the fruit trees are showing their bounty as well.  HOWEVER, we have managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting time and now that a few of these are already on their way, I can share some of them:

My FIL turned 91 in July.  I've always wanted to make the expanding candle card and this celebration let us do it!  

It was fun and he enjoyed pulling it out and trying to refold it.....  I only lost one cut out of the 270 flame pieces.  Not bad!  The papers were from an Echo Park Let Freedom Ring kit I had some scraps left over from.  He loved all the plaids and prints since he lives in plaid shirts!  

Birthdays abound in August... so I got a little ahead of those and put a couple of them together early.  This one is for my Granddaughter who is turning 16.  She's had some health issues and thankfully, we're able to celebrate the fact that she'll be able to go a full year before having another MRI as her last scan was clear!  

I used several digital papers and images from Nitwit Collections and a tuxedo card base for this one.  It folds flat for mailing and then will pop open a bit to stand.  

The cuts for the two cards above were made using the Skycut C24 and SCAL 6 Pro.  Bearly Art Glue and Scor Tape were used as adhesives.  

My ministering cards for August were made using some unbranded dies - - I purchased the dies through Amazon.  I saw something similar on Pinterest and then decided to flip it to horizontal for about half of the makes.  I used distress inks and a blender tool for the background and some tombow markers for additional interest.  The stamp is from Bear Essentials by Ellen Hutson.

There's more -- but this is enough for today!  Hoping you have a creative day!  

Slider in a box card & more

For this card, I chose the At the Ballpark box card from Simply Crafty SVGs.  You'll find it here.  It's very easy and quick to assemble.  I adapted the baseball diamond and added a slot for a slider.  I chose to use the baseball from the file as the ball for the slider.  I like the size of the ball and it does look like it's being hit out of the park as you pull the slider.  Once the slider component  has been completed, the baseball diamond is added to the back insert using foam strips.  

The Grand Slam title is part print to cut and cut.  It looks like there are 4 layers, but actually, there are only 3.  It is popped up on the insert as are the bats.  

Digital papers from Creative Fabrica.  Other papers from AC Cardstock.  

 

A couple of other cards made recently for a couple of grandsons.  

Both are Pinterest inspired.  

All the papers in the Cool Kid card are from the Manual Labour collection from NitWit Collections.  Lots of fun masculine looking papers and lots of fun ephemera.  It was fun filling 3 inch squares with the papers and then making some cuts after printing.  The stars were filled and the print 2 cut option was used in the SCAL5 Pro Software with the Skycut C24 making all the cuts.  

The background paper for this card was also printed from the Manual Labour collection.  The stars are colored in using Tombow markers.  The tone on tone for the background and personalization for the card was what caught my interest when browsing through Pinterest.  I think it turned out quite nicely and I'm sure that the boys will enjoy their cards when we celebrate birthdays this coming weekend.  

If you haven't set any time aside to do some crafting, today might just be your day! Have a great one and enjoy your creative time!  

Spring Pitcher of flowers

Sandy's been a super support lately and I really appreciate her help with this project.  I'm sure at some point the pitcher design will be in her shop -- so stay tuned!

 

 

After perusing Pinterest a couple of weeks ago, I found an antique pitcher shape I really liked... however, there wasn't much in the design shops that I could find that looked close to the shape and would be simple to put together without using panels.  Sandy had already started something similar and she was gracious enough to send me a test version of a file.  

Needless to say, I fell in love with it and the shape was near spot on to what I had in mind.  This was created in Blender and Pepakura.  NitWit Collections Lilac Blossoms collection was a perfect fit for a Spring look.  I used SCAL5's option for print 2 cut and added the Lilac spray to the base of the pitcher cut.  

Assembly is easy for someone with a little experience.  The handle is 3 strips of paper glued together and shaped before the glue dries. It is attached to the back seam wall of the pitcher with some white washed brads I've had in my stash for years!  

Apply a coat of gloss Mod Podge to the outside for a nice finish and a little more strength.  If you plan to use live flowers, you do need to seal the interior of the pitcher BEFORE you assemble.  A tall pharmacy prescription bottle fits nicely inside and a 2 inch styro ball can be scrunched into the bottle to help with placement of your paper or silk floral pieces.  

Did you know that only one shop has a design for 3D lilac flowers? And that site requires a paid membership to access.  Budget being what it is, I looked for something that I could use - and found the Filler Flower at Maison Gregoria's Etsy shop to be a great fit.  Lots of tiny flowers, all cut on the Skycut using sketchbook paper.  Assembly is a bit tedious since each bloom is on it's own wire.  But it's worth the time and effort.  Once everything is wired and bundled into groups, it was time to use the eBrush for a little color.  Tombow markers in three shades of purple (623, 620, 636) were used to add some texture and depth to the shapes.  Even bundled the color went on fairly evenly.  PLUS:  it didn't take but a minute for the bundles to dry with the layered colors and you're ready to start putting your arrangement together.  

Add some additional greenery from the Poinsettia Wreath file (also from Maison Gregoria on CreativeFabrica.com) which I downsized a bit and also cut using the Skycut.  Wired and ready for use.  I used some chalk for a little extra color and used my exacto knife and a pair of craft tweezers to add the veins to the greenery.  While most of it is too tiny to see in the images, it was worth the time and effort to make it happen.  




The pitcher and floral arrangement stands about 8.5 inches tall and would be perfect for a side table, tablescape tray or open tiered tray or riser decor.  

 

Thanks for dropping by today.  Hope your day is filled with beautiful things!  Wishing you a creative day!  

 

Create One-of-a-Kind Backgrounds with Layering Stencils - Creative Fabrica

via www.creativefabrica.com

I'm in love with this stencil. Hope you'll enjoy the results of using it too!

It's been a productive week...

or at least a productive couple of days!  Birthdays for this month are creeping up and so it was a mad dash to get a few done. A mix of digital and hybrid.  Love all the fun that can be created using the SCAL 5 Pro software and a few fun files and dies from favorite vendors.  

Using the Gradient feature in SCAL 5 Pro, you can create a full rainbow of color and fill the text with lots of fun!  Moving the individual sliders you can play with the color movement as well until you're satisfied with the shift. 

Purely digital and so much fun.  

Let the Skycut plotter/cutter do the cutting of a chunky font and you create the background on the card base using distress inks and blending tools.  Embellish with a single cupcake (digi is from Creative Fabrica) colored with pencils are markers of your choice.  Add a little glaze to the cherry for some shine.  

Digi image from Creative Fabrica (watercolor collection).  Print 2 cut using SCAL5 Pro to set up.  Once the image is printed, use a Spellbinders' border die.  Round the corners of the back edge and add a bit of additional color to the edge with a strip of paper in a complimentary color.  

 

 Hoping you will be able to spend some time in your creative space this week.  Enjoy every moment of it.  Happy Crafting!  

Stencil Art

While preparing another article for The Artistry, I decided to try something I haven't done for a while.  I got out the eBrush and the Tombow markers to see how they would work with the silk screen stencils I was making.  

SUCCESS!  
The design for this stenciled card front is from Ikonartstencil.com and is one of the free files they have on their website under the resource tab. 

There are quite a few files available in pdf or svg format.  I used SCAL5 Pro to set up the files for printing.  The next step of creating the silkscreen stencils is a breeze.  I'll have a full tutorial on that coming up in a couple of weeks on the Artistry.  

I love the option of being able to reuse the stencil multiple times.  Using the eBrush allows for even more flexibility in colors and easy clean up especially when applying the color to paper.  Similar results can also be achieved using acrylic paint and a foam brush, but the clean up for the markers is much easier and quicker.  (wink - no brushes to clean!)

Thanks for dropping by and hoping you're enjoying some creative time or have some scheduled soon.  Keep nurturing your own creativity!  It really is good for the soul!

 

 

 

 

Spring Tag 2020 Challenge

It's that time of year again - with all the chaos that Covid-19 has been causing, this challenge has offered a bit of respite during this period of self-isolation and social distancing.  The first cases of the virus wreaked havoc in the stores as people hoarded certain items and made it nearly impossible for the general public to have access.  One of the items was toilet paper -- and in true crafter fashion Whimsey stamps offered this digital freebie!  

eCal3's Print 2 cut feature was perfect for this tag using the digital image from Whimsey Stamps.
Creative Fabrica's font library provided the font, name of font.  Font was "filled" with the line fill command and printed (I had originally planned on using the foil quill, but my quill broke and I didn't want to wait for the delivery (yeah, some days it's just like that.) You just have to keep crafting.  

Rembrandt colored pencils were used to color Dudley and the print 2 cut feature was used to cut both the tag and Dudley.  

Run the lower 1/3 to 1/2 through an embossing folder and the Big Shot for a little extra texture.  I decided to add a little more dimension using the eBrush and a light gray marker.  Just a little color added enough dimension.  

Using some strategically placed pop-dots place Dudley as desired on the tag and embellish as desired.Add a for a hanger.

 

Hop on over to the eclips/ecal FB page to see what others are making this year.  It's time to get some more crafting on!  Hoping you're finding some time to do the same.  Enjoy!

2019 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 8

Happy Llama-Days!  Tag 8 is another quick and easy tag to complete.

Fill the tag with the background pattern of your choice.  My pattern is from CreativeFabrica.com.  They have a huge selection of backgrounds you can choose from (a few are even free!)

I added a little color to the print2cut llama also available from CreativeFabrica.com. I used Tombow markers and a little bit of glaze to add a little dimension and interest.  The sentiment is made using the WRMK Foil Quill (Black foil, fine tip, D adapter*) This section was added as an extension to the original tag cut.  The llama is secured to the tag base with some pop dots. 

Additional details for the foil quill and settings using the eclips2 and eCal3 software can be found here. 

Lots of good ideas for tags are filling the 12 Tags of Christmas album on the Facebook group page.  Don't forget to stop by there to see the rest of the makers' tags. 

Thanks again for stopping by!  Enjoy your creative time! 

 

tendonitis vs crafting

And the tendonitis is winning at the moment.  So bummed!  And a visit with the specialist is still a month out!

Every now and then, I can get a few minutes in - ice and then a few more minutes.  I did sneak in a little bit of time to create this playful "get well" card for my brother-in-law who just had some shoulder surgery. 

I used eCal3's library of basic shapes to create the band-aids and fill a card shape. I used a square and a half circle to form the sides of the band-aids.  Place a few circles and center a square over the bands and you've got the shape. Add a few other details as desired. Group all the pieces in the band-aid and then set the lines to Print2Cut Print.  Copy and paste to fill.  Print and then follow the step by step directions to cut your card base to size. 

Color with a couple of swipes of a Tombow marker, the coloring is done.  Adhere the card front to the base, add your sentiment and it's ready to deliver.

I think I'll print a full page or two for future cards. I imagine we'll need a few more cards this coming winter. 

Hoping to be able to share a few more projects in the coming weeks.  Hoping you've set aside a bit of time in your studio or craft room.  Celebrate your creative spirit!