Birthday Ballet & More Unicorns

 My Favorite Things - BB Birthday Bears, Penny Black - Sweet and Cute, My Favorite Things - Chevron Cover Up

It's Friday, and Fridays make me feel happy. Maybe it's because it's generally my quiet workday, or maybe it's the promise of a potentially relaxing weekend, but I quite like Fridays.

And on this Friday, I'm sharing another birthday card. It features a sweet ballerina mouse from Penny Black and a large cover-up die from My Favorite Things. I have a few of these cover up dies - basic shapes like polka dots, stripes and chevrons. But for some reason, I used to find them difficult to use.

While they do cover up quite a bit of patterned paper, the problem was that I used the wrong kind of pattern. Anything too complicated of too large would look really fragmented and out of place. But using the miniature patterns from Doodlebug papers is just perfect! The cover up actually breaks up the pattern enough so it's not too overbearing.

Just look at it in action again:

Sweet Stamp Shop - Unicorn, The Alleyway Stamps - Lighter than Air (retired).

I feel like I stumbled upon the winning formula, there, and I'm going to go through my Doodlebug supplies again to see if I can match them with one of the cover-ups.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

I {heart} you, cutie!

My Favorite Things - Cupcake Cutie (retired)

I read a question the other day about whether I get inky fingers as a crafter. I don't, really. I'm always super careful not to touch the inkpad because I just know that I would accidentally smear it all over my pristine card front and end up crabby and frustrated.

What I do get, however, is the "Copic fingernail". What's that, you ask? Why, it's a little colorful patch of ink on my right ring finger. It tends to take on whatever color I used, but during marathon coloring sessions, it just looks black. Funnily enough, I've had a few friends concerned and asking if I'd pinched my finger in a door or something. Nope, I just colored a bunch of cute stamps!

It has to do with how I hold the marker when I'm coloring. Despite obsessively cleaning my Copics (the barrels, the caps, all of it), it still happens and the color sticks around for a few days before disappearing completely. And since I never wear nail polish, it's a stubborn little stain I can't just wipe away in a minute.

I never get annoyed by the Copic fingernail. It was my reminder that I had a chance to get creative and a quirky little detail to bring up in conversation. And, boy, did I have it when I colored the cutie from Cupcake Cutie! It was the darkest shade of brown in her hair, I think, but it left me with a splotch on my ring fingernail that I can giggle about.

Nonetheless, the card turned out fun and earthy. I liked using a peachy color for her dress, even if I didn't quite figure out the perfect peach color combo. I also found washi tape on my desk from a previous card and a piece of hemp twine (another supply I really ought to use more).

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Pinky B-day Bot

Pretty Pink Posh - Stitched Duo 1 die, Alleyway Stamps - Lighter than Air (retired, company is closed)

I have a pretty good collection of dies. Several blueprints from My Favorite Things, a collection of shapes and necessities from Simon Says Stamp and a smattering of shapes and pretty word dies from other companies. I have a Bigshot that is set up on a sturdy desk, and I reach for it often. Whether it be a front panel or a banner for sentiment, I've spent quite a bit of time cranking that handle and hearing the cracking as the dies cut through cardstock. I wouldn't say that I use dies on every card, but nearly.

And yet, I find myself gravitating toward the same familiar shapes and the same familiar uses. Little bits and pieces that come with blueprints or mini hearts of varying shapes and sizes sit forgotten because I don't have a place for them.

So, I thought... Wouldn't it be a good challenge to occasionally make a card with only those dies? Wouldn't it be fun to see what kind of layout I can come up with when I've only got bits and pieces?

The answer is... Yes, yes it would! A great challenge, in fact, and one that left me stumped for about a day before I figured out a card concept I was happy with. And what a fun concept it was!

I started with a very girly pink paper and added my small white rectangles in a neat little row. Then I put a blue robot on top of the middle one and a sentiment underneath. I scattered wood veneer, enamel dots and sequins for embellishment. I left two of the rectangles blank so I can write in the number -- always a nice way to personalize a card.


Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Golden Frog Celebrate

Sweet Stamp Shop - Royal Wish

 

When it came to crafty inspiration, I used to love Pintrest. I didn't have a Pintrest board dedicated to cards I liked, but I followed a few few ladies with massive boards (15K and 8K worth of images of cards only with a million different styles) and I browsed through them for inspiration. I liked seeing all the different takes on a stamp from design team members and I was always thrilled when a crafter used a technique or a product I love (especially patterned paper).

Instead of looking at fun designs, I caught myself researching the stamps they were using, or the dies, or the technique that's going to require 50 new tools. Suddenly, there were all these new "CRAFTY NEEDs" and a pattern of giving myself negative feelings. I'd be sad that I can't buy that super cute stamp or annoyed that I don't have 20 spare hours to make that technique work perfectly. And that's the exact opposite of what I want for myself when it comes to crafting.

So, I unsubscribed. I deleted the links out of my bookmarks and reminded myself once again of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to feel. I want to be inspired by what I have instead of what I want. I used to say "need", but it's not really a need when I can make without it. So, I don't need to know what others are doing - I just need to know how my happy crafty stash will inspire me today.

And today, it inspired me to make a celebration card with a frog and raining gold. I used a rub-on -- which is quite new to me, as I've never used one before (I guess they were popular before my time). It was a strange experience. A little frustrating, actually, and I can see why they're not making a whole lot of a comeback.

Nonetheless, I used a different supply that I didn't have to go out and buy and that made me happy. As happy as the little frog king sitting under a rain of gold.

Thanks for reading
~Elle~

Welcome Fox

I still had the Woodland Cuties stamp set out on my desk, so I decided to whip up another card. This time, I went with a baby card, as I didn't have any of them left in my card stash. I stamped the fox out and colored it in bright oranges with my Copics, then carefully cut it out with a pair of sharp scissors. This particular set has a matching die set as well, but I did not pick it up - so, fussy cutting was needed.

I made a cute little front panel using the scalloped rectangle from Tag Builder Blueprints 3 and a banner for my sentiment from Blueprints 20. I adhered the sentiment strip to the bottom of the rectangle and layered the fox over it.

For my background, I chose the purple and orange plaid paper from Plaid Patterns 6x6. The addition of purple complemented great with the orange and really made the little fox pop. I tied on the rest of the colors with a few enamel dots. I didn't try to match the colors perfectly, just using what I had on hand.

I added everything to a top-folding A2-sized card (4¼x5½") made from purple cardstock.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

YNS - Color Challenge #43

 I've just discovered that Your Next Stamp has challenges, and - of course - I just had to play along with one. I had the super cute Woodland Cuties stamp on my desk and I figured it would be just perfect for this challenge.

A fun and bright palette was right up my alley. I used a teal frame for the bunny, which was colored with soft grays. Then, to add an extra punch of color, I added a piece of washi tape with the red heart and tied everything together with a few enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Chatty Sunday: SCS

It's Sunday and it's time for another chatty post! This week, I want to share a big piece of exciting news, and also chat a little about being busy.

So, for my big news... I'm a part of the Dirty Dozen Design Team over on Splitcoast Stampers!!!
I had to keep it a secret, but now I can talk about it since it's been announced! I'm still not fully believing it, but it's sure true...

I got the invitation from Lydia a little while ago and my first thought was that she surely meant to ask someone else! While I've lurked at SCS for a while, I'd only become active very recently and I was absolutely sure that I was flying under the radar. But lo and behold, she did mean to ask me and I accepted! I'm really thrilled, amazed and honored -- all rolled into one ball of butterfly-inducing excitement. I hope I can do it justice and help inspire all the friendly folks at SCS...

And that leads me to the next topic - being busy!

I'm still a part of the Some Odd Girl design team, and with 2 DT responsibilities, I might find myself mega busy... Couple that with trying for extra work, and you've got one potentially overwhelmed me. So, I may switch to a slightly different format when posting.

Normally, I write my posts and publish them right away. Then I can also share them on FB or Flickr. But I'm going to switch to pre-writing my posts so that you can see cards on a regular basis and I'm not writing them at midnight while I'm dead tired and unable to utter a single coherent sentence.

And there you have it! A quick chat on a sunny Sunday. I'll leave you with a quick card share:

(featuring Sweet Stamp Shop's Dragon stamp)

 

Thanks for reading!

~Elle~

SOG - Accessories Galore

The final release day for Some Odd Girl is today, and I think it's probably one that you will all be the most excited about because this release features accessories - like hats, glasses, bows and mittens. What's really awesome about the accessories is that you can add them to a huge variety of digital stamps - critters, people or objects. You can re-size them, print, color and trim to add on top of your regular stamps, too. Super versatile!

I used the cute pig from Day 2 release and gave her some glasses and a bow. Not only did this make her look absolutely adorable, but it added some fabulous character. You could easily use the glasses and a scarf to make her into a Harry Potter pig, or add a fancy hat and make her into a fabulous diva.

Of course, I couldn't just stop at one card, and I had to make a super smart Corgi (also day 2). A simple set of glasses, and he looks so smart and clever! Perfect to go with the sentiment from Hipster Pets, right?

And be sure to check out what other creative ideas are brewing over on the Some Odd Girl blog!

SOG - Where's Perry?

Day 4 of the newest Some Odd Girl digi release is here! Today, we've got a whole 'nother bunch of cute and fun critters - llama, platypus and hippo.

I just could not resist the platypus - especially since I also had a hat I could add to him. And that, of course, made me think of Agent P from Phineas and Ferb. So, I just had to make the iconic "where's Perry?" into the sentiment.

The rest of the card was inspired by some fun boy shapes and colors. I decided to make use of some embellishments that have been sitting in my stash for ages and added a few die-cut shapes to make the card more interesting.

Check out what the talented Design Team ladies did over on the blog!

SOG- Spice!

Day 3 of the newest Some Odd Girl release is here! Today, we're inspired by some cute house-hold objects like rolling pins, graters and teapots.

I recently made a card that used the sentiment about spicing up one's life, and I thought it went just perfectly with the little salt/pepper shaker digi. I grabbed my Copics and colored in the shaker stamp, giving it lots of dots to make it look like it was half-filled with pepper. I adhered it to a die-cut circle with a scalloped edge behind it.

I constructed my sentiment out of a die-cut you and the letter stickers I found in my crafty stash. since the sentiment took up a lot of space, I focused my embellishments around the pepper shaker.

Check out what the rest of the Oddies did over on the blog!