Laurel's Creative Connection

Monday, October 31, 2011

Thank you/ lacey card

I used real lace edging to replicate the imagery of the DP, which is by October Afternoon (both sides of one paper). Nestabilities Labels Ten dies were used to cut cardstock and parchment paper for the sentiment.
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Howdy!

My next batch of cards for Operation Write Home will be mostly cards for children; I was inspired by the story of a child who carried around a card from their mom or dad all day long. For this card I used DP's from Reminisce. I'm not sure who made the rubber stamp; I bought it at a flea market and it wasn't labeled. I colored the image with Copics, used Spica pen in the hatband and feather and a gold pen on the buckle, and attached it with dimensional tape. For the finishing touch I made a lasso of hemp twine.
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Friday, October 28, 2011

Sweet Dreams

My grandniece got a bad "owie" this week, so I'm sending her a little card to cheer her up. The stamp is Sweet Dreams Marci from La-la Land Crafts. Still learning how to color people with my Copics….
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Polka Dot Challenge: Jester

This is for the Operation Write Home midweek throw down, which asked us to make a card with polka dots. I started with a black base and decided to use this stamp of a jester (by Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper?), and replicate the alternating dots and diamonds of his costume in the card. I colored him with Copics and put him on bright green paper.  The next size Nestie would have hidden too much of the card, so I just cut my own black background behind the green Nestie shape. I put dimensional tape behind the Nestie shapes and behind the juggling balls. I used an artist's pen to put gold ink on each of the bells on his collar and hat, but that didn't show up well enough so I used small rhinestones and colored them yellow with my Copics. I outlined the collar with a black Spica pen, and finished it all off with a sentiment and ribbon. Perhaps next time I'll try putting the sentiment on the inside so as not to interfere with the harlequin/polka dot symmetry. IRL the polka dot paper looks more purple than blue. After taking this photo I went over the juggling balls with clear-drying glossy dimensional glue, which worked great!

He's a very happy little guy and I enjoyed spending time with him today! Hope you will too! Thanks for stopping by.
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Lunch with Sara

Any day that includes lunch with my son or daughter is a special day! Yesterday my daughter took me to a small restaurant in a Victorian house in Redwood City. Very fun! It had several tiny rooms, each decorated a bit differently. We especially enjoyed looking at the wallpaper, which had wonderful wide borders and even some medallions on the ceiling. Thanks, Sara!
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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Alice in Wonderland

This is for sketch 92 posted today on OWH.  I reoriented it 90 degrees.  I used a green paper with gold shimmer as the background and then a layer of black paper embossed with the Tim Holtz clocks folder.  I ran over the embossed surface lightly with gold pigment ink (ColorBox), and didn't worry about hitting every bit of the raised surface since I wanted a somewhat distressed look anyway.  The DP is "Alice's Tea Party" from the Hallowe'en in Wonderland Collection from Graphic 45.  The stamp at the upper right is "Rabbit Serving Tea" from Stamp Francisco.  I inked the edges of the Alice paper with black ink, and the edges of the rabbit image with gold.  Popped up the rabbit with dimensional tape and added some small pearls and gold ribbon.  Although the paper was from a Halloween collection, there are no references to Halloween on the card so it could  be used at other times of the year with an appropriate sentiment inside.  Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Card for a seamstress

I love this DP so much - very vintage 1940's looking. (Karen Neuburger, "Vintage Floral" from Paper Adventures). I was saving it for just the right occasion, which turned out to be my nephew's wife's birthday. She's a seamstress (designbymar on etsy.com) and enjoys crafts, so I wanted to do something special for her. The deep pink mannequin sticker is from Hambly Studios. I picked up the rubber stamp of the sewing machine at a flea market and don't know who the manufacturer is. I stamped it with sepia ink to keep the vintage feeling. Love my Swiss Dots embossing folder and scallop punch! They see a lot of action! A happy discovery: Spica pens worked well on the butterflies, and a Gelly Roll pen worked well for going over the sentiment - no pooling of ink when I stopped my hand momentarily. I also went over the thread on the sewing machine with a gold Spica pen, which gave it a nice shimmer. I put a white liner inside and stamped a border of faux stitching and buttons. Too bad OWH didn't have a throwdown for feminine cards this week!
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Thanks for staying in touch


"Thank You" card for OWH midweek throw down. I love this nestabilities shape for a more contemporary look. Image by Rubber Hedgehog. Sentiment by Hero Arts. (The white behind is the envelope. )
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Friday, October 14, 2011

Monkey business

Another masculine card for OWH. I was so happy to find the grid paper in my stash because it reminds me of a circuit board.
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Hats Off to You! card

I made this card for the Operation Write Home midweek throwdown, which asked for masculine cards. The papers are reminiscent of the fabrics used in men's suits and ties. I like the stamped images of hats because they remind me of my dad.  Please see my "Monkey Business" card too!
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