Dogs and Cats

Lover Boy

 

Paw Print Stencil

If you are a cat and dog lover you are not going to want to miss this month's release at A Colorful Life Design.

I'll show just 2 of the stencils in this post: Lover Boy and Paw Prints Stencil:

For Lover Boy I use mini cubes from The Stamp Market: Citrine, Leafy, Island and Jade. The stencil is a 6" X 6", so I cut part of it to make a doggy bookmark, too!

For the Paw Prints stencil, I used mini cubes from The Stamp Market, Hero Arts and My Favorite Things. I have accumulated quite a few mini cubes over the years and very seldom use them, so I made an effort to break them out! The silhouette cat is an old Stampin' Up! punch from my stash.

The sentiment for Lover Boy comes from Art Impressions Dog House Cubbies and for Paw Prints - Honey Bee Stamps -  Rainbow Bridge. 

Thank you for joining me and don't forget about my 10% discount code for A Colorful Life Designs: AnitaFan10.

I will be submitting to my favorite challenge: NBUS for I always seem to have so much Never Before Used Schtuff!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Embossing Folder & Animal

Today I am playing along with a new fun challenge called "Let's Squash It"! which is an embossing folder challenge. My card will be submitted to Challenge #4: Use an Embossing Folder and an Animal.

Also submitting to NBUS Challenge #22 since I have never used this embossing folder before:

This is a Tim Holtz Texture Fade Embossing Folder by Sizzix called Crackle which gives the most amazing dimension. Right now Sizzix has a sale going on and it is less than $5.00!

I definitely thought of it when I saw the challenge - isn't that a fun name for a challenge, too?! I started with Neenah Solar White Classic Crest in 80 lb. and spritzed it with my Ranger Distress Sprayer - just enough to dampen the paper. This soften the paper fibers and keeps it from cracking (where you don't want it) when you run it through your die cutting & embossing machine. Just look at that dimension:

I gave it a few drops from my Distress Mustard Spray Stain for a little color. After I did it I thought, umm...does that look like the dog peed? I don't know, but I am going with it anyway. 

I had previously colored this cute dog from Tim Holtz's Crazy Dog and cut it out with the coordinating die. The coloring was with Derwent Inktense Colored Pencils which are watercolor pencils onto Ranger Watercolor Paper. Both are favorites of mine for cardmaking.

He is finished with Nuvo Crystal Glaze on his eyes and a large action wobbler on his back. Lots of movement!

The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions' Noteworthy Stamp set. I stamped it with Altenew's Obsidian Black Ink and quickly sprinkled Nuvo Crystal Clear Embossing Powder over it and heat set. Once cooled, I cut it out with the circle from SugarPea Designs Element Builder II. I've mentioned before this is one of my favorite dies for the tiny dots that go around the borders of both the rectangle and the circle:

I've used the banner die, many, many times, too. If you are not familiar with SugarPea Designs, please take a look. They have the cutest designs and if you want to see some wonderful creativity, sign up for their emails and follow their blog hops. If you are a stamp/die lover like me, you'll really enjoy it!

Here is the Taylored Expression set, Noteworthy. I watched a You-Tube where Taylor created a set of note cards for her sister and I had plans to do the same for Christmas. Haven't done so, but I still have plans - there's always next year!

I used double sided adhesive tape from Scrapbook.com to adhere the embossed panel to the card base of Neenah 110 lb. Classic Crest Solar White cardstock. Since there is so much dimension it really needed a strong adhesive.

The inside sentiment is a simple Happy Birthday stamp from Dare 2B Artzy You've Got Mail. I like the large simple font from this set.

So that's it for today, friends. A Clean and Simple card for a new challenge group and of course, some NBUS!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

i-crafter and Art Impressions Get Well Card

 

I know, I know, more NBUS? How can it be? There is a lot my friends in my craft room and I want to use it all!

This stencil from i-crafter called Cosmic Flare is my NBUS for this card. I bought it a while ago, but until I used it, I didn't realize how cool it was!

Don't you just love the positive and negative spaces of this stencil? So many possibilities. I only used one color, but by keeping it heavier in the middle and lighter at the edges, it gives lots of dimension. And there is free shipping this weekend!

So perfect for any friend:

The little sloppy dog and sentiment is from the Art Impressions Doggy Kisses set:

This is such a fun set. I've used it many times and have just sent a card to a friend who had surgery recently. The images and sentiments are perfect for a get well card especially for dog lovers! 

The dog was stamped onto Bristol Smooth Card Stock and colored with Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Makers. I cut it out with my Brother Scan 'n cut, but it could easily be fussy-cut. I used Distress Oxide Wild Honey with Scrapbook.com's foam ink blending tools for the stencil. Of course, I used Wendy Vecchi's Make Art Stay-tion to hold the stencil while ink blending. I am not a big fan of stencil sprays, so avoid them if at all possible. The Make Art Stay-tion works just fine.

Here is Wendy Vecchi's photo of her Make Art Stay-tion:

MORE ABOUT I-CRAFTER.

For those of you not familiar with i-crafter, Lynda Kanase, owner and designer has a very interesting background and story. You can read about her here. Lynda will introduce her new line of products on You-Tube. There she shows her sketches and the evolution of the design. She has innovated products such as:

i-mend self healing mat for your die cutter:

How clever is that?! A self healing mat for my Big Shot. Yah! I have this and use it all the time now.

i-brush blender brushes:

These are brushes, not foam, that can be stacked and used anyway which is comfortable for you. One for each color family and perfect for traveling. Here is a You-Tube video where Lynda demonstrates these brushes. On my wish list!

Here is a die I just bought (free shipping, Yah!), Butterfly Burst, and am anxious for it to arrive:

I want to create water colored backgrounds and let the butterflies pop up! But Lynda includes not only the main die, but separate butterflies and their bodies to make it so versatile. Her designs are so well-thought out.

Well, I appreciate you sticking with me if you have gotten this far. I love mixing and matching different products and styles for unique looks. The stencil was actually for a comic book look, but I like it with my doggy! Be well, friends.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Art Impressions Doggy Kisses

Who doesn't love a card with a cute animal on it? For our family, dogs are the favorites! Our Rottweiler is named Caesar Salad, but we call him Squeeze. He looks nothing like this cutie! The inspiration for today's cards is from the following 2 challenges: Inspired By #IB139...give a dog a bone image & sketch challenge and...

My Time to Craft #439: Clean and Simple:

If you follow my blog you know that I have cleaned the top of my craft table and sorted all my colored bits and bobs into small bags. I have a bag of images from Art Impression's Doggy Kisses which had been colored with Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and cut out with my Brother Scan 'n Cut. I choose the Dachshund cutie for today's card:

The background was made by using Prima Finnabar Elementals Stencil to mimic the circles on the sketch challenge. After adhering the stencil over an A2 size piece of Neenah White card stock, using my Wendy Vecchi Make Art-Stay-tion, I gently ink blended Altenew's Silver Lake Crisp Dye Ink from dark to light over just some of the card. As usual, I used Scrapbook.com's Foam Ink Blending Tools. They are domed and work perfectly for smooth ink blending. Once saturated, they work even better! They come in multiple sized packages and I keep a supply of clean domes on hand at all times. 

You can see the dark to light ink blending better here:

The border was created with Spellbinders Nestabilities Hemstitch Rectangle Dies - one of my all time favorites! It leaves a nice clean border but gives a lot of interest.

I messed up the sentiment on the card, so Plan B called for a popped up sentiment. I ink blended the same Altenew's Silver Lake Crisp Dye Ink over a scrap of white and then stamped the sentiment and cut it out with a die from my stash. Happy accident, as they say. I like it better!

The card base is from WPlus9 Dove Grey card stock. This is a pale grey with the perfect weight for a base, easy to score and fold with the right amount of contrast against white for a very Clean and Simple card. 

I hope you've enjoyed our little Dachshund card. I've left the inside sentiment off until I need to use the card and can personalize it to the situation. One of the many benefits of being a card maker. Thank you to the 2 challenge blogs for the inspiration today!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Card Concept 138c Dog Days of Summer

Who doesn't love a dog in sunglasses?! I was literally inspired by The Card Concept inspiration picture "Dog Days of Summer" for my Design Team Clean and Layered card:

I tried to mimic the towels in the picture, too. I have a die cut set in my stash that cuts "waves" or "mountains". I just cut pieces of random card stock for the base of my doggie friends.

The dog was stamped with Tim Holtz's Crazy Dogs and matching framelits and accessorized with the sunglasses from his Crazy Things set. They were colored with Derwent Inktense water color pencils. Our middle daughter, Jill, has 2 labs, one chocolate and one yellow. Bennett (the chocolate lab) and Cooper (the yellow lab) were in my mind when I colored these 2 guys. 

I used a silver metallic gel pen on the sunglasses and Glossy Accents to try and give them that mirrored look.

The sentiment is from Jillibean Soup Sunshine Shaker Maker and I thought perfect for any dog lover.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to play along with us...we'd love to see your "Dog Days of Summer"!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.