MISS YOU NOTECARD

Welcome everyone! Today's share uses a digi from PpinkydollsArt - I just love their digis, they are so easy to color and shadow! I made this card for The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge inspiration - head on over and check out all the great projects by the design team!

To make this card, I colored in the image with alcohol markers, then fussy cut the image and framed with blue CS. Then I stamped the sentiment "I feel so miserable..." with black ink. I attached the yellow paper flower to the cut image, then centered on the pink CS. Next, I attached the yellow flower in the upper left corner and stamped the other two sentiments. The last step was to add the rhinestones and attach to a blue A2 card!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

LITTLE BOY'S MONKEY BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello! I had so much fun designing today's share! It's a birthday card for my grandson, who is about to turn 2! The inside verse, not shown, says" "Happy Birthday, little monkey! Grami & Grampa are BANANAS 'bout you!" Being almost 2, Grayson is a very energetic, acrobatic monkey himself, climbing and swinging on everything, LOL, so I thought this card would be perfect for him!

The monkey image is by +Gerda Steiner , and I think it's soooo adorable! (Check out Gerda's site, you can get this image if you participate in the challenge!) I created the sentiment on the card front with a mini alphabet stamp set, and the green vines are a die cut. I cut the bananas by hand from yellow CS.

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

CUTE BIRTHDAY CARD IDEA

Hello everyone! I'm so excited! I've just joined the The Outlaws Twisted Thursday Design Team (in addition to being on the Tuesday Color Design Team)! Today's share is the first card I've designed for TT, using images by PpinkydollsArt! Check out their images at Etsy, if the link isn't working, please copy & paste into your browser:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ppinkydollsart .

To make this card, I stamped a lace swirl pattern onto pink CS (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" folded). Then I printed the adorable digi onto white blending CS & cut with a Spellbinders oval die. I colored in the image with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers and added Stickles Glitter Glue to the wing of the butterfly. After the glitter glue dried, I attached the brads, then attached the oval die cut to the card front. Finally, I colored the white polyester flowers with the alcohol ink markers, then attached them to the card with wonder tape. The final touch was to add the self adhesive pearls to the centers of the flower!

This weeks challenge at Twisted Thursday is Tic Tac Toe! Be sure to head on over to The Outlawz Challenges to check it out! I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

3 MONOCHROMATIC CARD IDEAS

Hello and welcome! Today's share is 3 monochromatic cards I've designed! If you've never made a monochrome card before, don't let the technique scare you - monochrome cards are easy and fun to make. All you need to do is pick 1 color as your main color. You can add small amounts of a few other colors, if you choose, OR you can use different shades of just the one color! I'll discuss each of today's cards below to help you get started with yours!

My main color for this Princess Birthday Card is BLUE. As you can see, there's also some white in the sentiment and the bow, browns, red and flesh tones on the princess, and a silvery tone in the rhinestone flowers. But the predominant color is BLUE! So it's perfectly okay to add small amounts of other colors, as long as they don't overpower the MAIN COLOR.

The main color for the second card is PURPLE! In fact it's the ONLY color you see in this card! I've just used many different shades of purples to create this. When working with only one color, I find it helps to layer the different shades of CS to create an interesting card, as well as to add embellishments like the flowers and rhinestones. By the way, I didn't have any purple rhinestones, so I colored clear ones with purple alcohol markers! I've also stamped the background & the sentiment in a Violette ink.

Here is yet another take on a monochromatic card! This card uses close to equal amounts of white and light blue! So is it monochrome or not? It is monochrome, because the blue overpowers the white so you notice the blue more!  Therefore, BLUE is the predominant color! 

Okay, so now it's time for you to make your monochromatic card. Gather up your supplies and your favorite image(s)! Remember, if you have alcohol markers, you can color practically any embellishment to match your main color - I've colored rhinestones, ribbon, polyester and paper flowers, etc..... to make them match what I'm creating!

Have fun! And be sure to upload your monochrome creation to The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week, as the challenge is, of course, MONOCHROME! I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello! What a beautiful spring Saturday morning it is! The birds chirping so happily this morning inspired me to create this scenic birthday card for my son-in-law's birthday! The background stamp by TAC was stamped with black Memento ink and colored in with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers. Then I stamped the motorcycle image (by Fun Stamper's Journey) with black Memento ink and colored in with the alcohol markers. I attached the motorcycle with pop dots for a 3-D effect, and stamped "Happy Birthday" on the top with black ink.

Next, I stamped the foliage image in teal blue on green CS, added the blue ribbon, attached to the card, and finally attached the main image to this! Although not shown, the inside verse says "Happy 32nd Birthday JJ! The only difference between men and boys, is the prices of their toys!" Of course, my SIL is into dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, and the like ......... so thought the phrase was perfect! LOL!

I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

RED VINTAGE COLLAGE CARD IDEA

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card I created for the Twisted Thursday Challenge at The Outlawz Challenges - "Anything with Wings" twist! I know, most vintage style cards use much softer colors than scarlet red, but I was feeling adventurous and broke all the rules with this one - I love this '20s flapper girl fairy image and decided to use the red anyway with her! After much ado trying to make this card work, I decided to combine 2 styles - and my final result is a VINTAGE/COLLAGE card!

The fairy and the sentiments on red are from a set called "Fly Fairy" from +Red Rubber Designs and its still available through the website! I decided to add the sentiment in the upper right corner "she drew recklessly that day" to fill in blank space, but its a bit of humor as well, as I "created recklessly today" - LOL! This sentiment is from a set called "Art Gave Her Wings", also still available at +Red Rubber Designs . This card will be a birthday card for a good friend of mine - she loves red and fairies!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Don't be afraid to bend/break the "rules" once in a while! Smiles, Laura

NON-TRADITIONAL GRADUATION CARD

Welcome! Today's share is a non-traditional graduation card that I made for my niece's upcoming graduation in May. Her school colors are orange & black, which I incorporated into the card, but she also loves butterflies and spring! I thought the sentiment on the inside was fitting advice for a "changeling" such as a high school graduate! Being on the design team for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge, this card is my inspiration for this week's challenge - head and over to The Outlaws and join us in the fun!

I made the background on the card front by cutting 3 different color of CS and piecing them together. The pink and yellow are 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" and the blue is 1 3/8" x 5 1/4". After these were attached, I stamped the floral background with black ink and added the ribbon to the top. Then I attached this to the purple A2 card.

Next I colored the Cricut die cut with alcohol ink markers so it would match the ribbon and stamped "fly" on it with black ink. Finally, I stamped the butterflies, colored with alcohol ink markers and hand cut each one and attached them to the card.

The inside of the card uses the same colors as the front, layered as shown in photo. The stamp sets used here are from +Red Rubber Designs , I'm not sure if they're still available, you'd have to check and see.

As always, I hope I've helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles Laura

3-STEP BIRTHDAY CAR

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Happy Friday everyone! I designed this 3 step card for The Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge this week - it's for my granddaughter's birthday this summer, she'll be turning 4 and she loves flowers and butterflies. I wanted to mention that I found the template for this card at From My Craft Room, a blog by one very talented Norma! If this link doesn't work, please copy & paste into your browser:  http://frommycraftroom.blogspot.com/

If you're interested in creating 3-step cards and more, Norma has all kinds of templates for different types of cards - be sure to stop by her blog!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

MOTHER'S DAY 3-STEP CARD

Welcome everyone! I had a lot of fun creating this 3-step card for Mother's Day. It took some time, as this is only the second step card I have ever made and was on a huge learning curve, but I just love this type of card! I'm looking forward to making side-step cards and more in the near future! I cut the lattice with my Cricut and also used Cuttlebug & Spellbinders dies, as well as adding some flowers. Here's the inside:

The mother/child image is from a Stampin' Up set. I honestly don't remember who made the pretty paper, I've had it in my collection for over 10 years and decided it was time to use it! I hope my MIL appreciates this one in May!

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Smiles, Laura

JUNIOR ARTIST CARD

Hello! I spent some much needed time with some of my grandchildren over Easter break last week. My eldest granddaughter, Lexi & I had fun in this grandma's craft room! Lexi, age 10, is a very talented up & coming artist, and she created this card for her 5th grade teacher! She made the die cut with Cricut's Elegant Edges cartridge and colored the flower with Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers, hand wrote her teacher's name, then topped the card off with Stickles Glitter Glue. What a beautiful card, her teacher is lucky to get it!

MASCULINE DREAM CATCHER NOTE CARD

Welcome everyone! Today I'm sharing "Dream Catcher," a note card done in masculine colors.

It's an A2 card, and I've used a tan parchment CS for the card base. The images are from TAC and are retired now, I believe - not sure if any other companies have similar images. I stamped the dream catcher  image with black ink on cream CS and colored in with several shades of brown watercolor pencils,then "fussy cut" the image out.

The brown piece of distressed CS you see under the dream catcher started out as a scrap of the tan parchment CS used for the card base! First, I tore the edges to give them a rough look, then crumpled it up several times to wrinkle it. Then I dragged a terra cotta ink pad over it for the first base of color (direct-to-paper technique). After letting this air dry for a few minutes, I used a brayer to lightly apply burnt umber (dark brown) ink for the second coat of color (I did this step several times, until I liked the color.)

After this dried for 1/2 hour, I crumpled it one more time for good measure, then attached the dream catcher image to this. Then I layered this onto the green & terra cotta CS, attached the beaded leather strips with a brad and attached this to the card. Next I stamped the sentiment "DREAM" with black ink and stamped three arrowheads down the right side of the card. I colored the arrowheads brown watercolor pencils, and added shadows to them with a Tombow gray marker.

I hope I have helped to inspire your creativity today! Happy card-making to all & Smile, Laura