These Kitties Are Ready to Party!

Greetings, fellow crafty folks!

Just stopping in to show you another birthday card, this one full of the cutest darn kitties you've ever seen... who are TOTALLY ready to PARTY!!! =)  LOL

This is the Party Kitties stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs, and one from my favorite of their artists. I broke out the Copics and actually enjoyed coming up with different ways to color each of them and keep it visually interesting... although I might try doing this image in all black/white/gray cats sometime. After I did a test run for color, I stamped the image three times so I could fussy cut and layer them up....

For a bit of interest, I used Glaze pens to color in their noses and hats.  It's hard to see on the photos, but there's a lovely sheen on their noses as I used a thin coat of clear over Copics.  I used the colored Glaze pens on their festive hats and gave them a thicker coat for real shine and added a bit of Stardust Stickles (I should start buying it in bulk lots haha) on the pompoms for sparkle. So fun! =)  On the background I added some dots with a Viva Decor pearl pen.   

I trimmed up the image with a Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangle die and layered on my kitties before adhering the panel to a cute striped paper from a Glitz Color Me Happy paper pack which is nearly 2 years old, but still available. I love the current rainbow phenomenon going on and since I was away from crafting, I'm just getting into the whole chevron thing... but since I'm no trendy crafter, who cares?! =)  LOL

I added a bit of Doodlebug twine in Ladybug red and Stickled the heck out of that bow. For the inside, I added the leftover snipped from the striped paper. I created and printed my sentiment from Word and cut with the same Spellbinders die and running a Copics marker around the embossed edge, followed by a coat of Wink of Stella. Simple, but purrrfect. haha =)

The birthday girl is a cat lover, so I'm sure this one will go over well. I certainly had a good time creating it! =) 

One of the best things about blogging again is getting to participate in challenges, so I'm popping over to these blogs to enter my little party felines:

     Fab 'N' Funky Challenge - Challenge #237 Birthday

     Seize the Birthday - Birthday - Optional Topping of Monochromatic Orange (my 2nd entry)

     Crafting for All Seasons - Challenge #90 Birthdays

     Papertake Weekly Challenge - 2 or 4 Legs (Kitties have 4! LOL)

     Inky Impressions Challenge - Challenge #185 Animals
     Eureka Stamps Challenge - Challenge #114 4-Legged Friends
     Addicted to Stamps Challenge - Challenge #121 Anything Goes
     Creative Moments - Challenge #55 Anything Goes/Celebration  (my 2nd entry)

So, that's it for today... til the next card, happy crafting!

Christy

A Sunny Day For Squirrel

Isn't he the cutest widdle squirrel ever?!  Squee!

Hello, my crafty friends! Back with another card I had to wait a few days to post as it needed to make a short hop over the Pond before I could share it. =)  For this one I went for a sort of  uber cute with a nice pop of color but a grown-up touch. Sort of pleasing the inner child and the outer adult all at the same time. LOL Anyway, here's my clean and simple sunny day card that I made for my best bloggy buddy, Squirrel -

Sorry he pictures are a little wonky and a bit fuzzy... I didn't have much time and the batteries in my camera were going dead. But the postman doesn't wait around. LOL

The red swirl paper has been in my stash a very long time, maybe even as long as decade. Scary. I'm not even sure what I originally planned to do with it, but I thought it was pretty and I loved it. LOL Sad when you have a paper addiction before you ever become a card crafter. =)  The blue sky background paper is a new purchase from Nitwit Collections, part of the At the Park set. Love! It was perfect for my Pink Cat Studio digi squirrel and his heart-full branch. The sun is also from PCS... a freebie sentiment stamp, but I masked off the sentiment before I printed it.

I colored the three stamp images with Copics and then used the large-balled end of an embossing stylus to round out the images a bit. I focused on the squirrel's tail tip, his eyes, his cheeks, his little acorn, the branch, and the center of the sun are all popped out just a bit more.  I also cut a second layer of hearts for the branch which I embossed and then smothered in Glossy Accents. I attached everything with different heights of foam dots. Here are some angled pics that kind of show the dimension...

 

I also glittered up the center of the sun with some beautiful yellow Stickles and punched out my computer-generated sentiment on two cloud punches (Fiskars) which I touched up with a bit of Copics - a light grey on the top edges and a pale blue on the bottom. As a last touch I added a few small gems, one on the cloud and three teensy tiny ones in the bottom corner.  

I'm entering my Sunny Squirrel card in the following challenges:

Craft Your Days Away - All Creatures Great and Small

Moving Along With The Times - Keep It Real!

Cardmadfairy Digi Days - Clean and Simple

Crafty Sentiments - Bingo: Patterned Paper, Colored Image, Punches or Die Cuts

Top Tip Tuesday - Clean and Simple

Kaboodle Doodles - Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

That's all for now... back soon! 'Til then, happy crafting!

Christy

SAS4K Challenge: Spring/Easter Card for Kids - Over Da Wall Puppy

Good morning and happy Saturday! =)

Just popping in for our Send A Smile 4 Kids challenge post! It may be cold and dreary, at least at my house, but we're thinking SPRING! Our challenge is Easter/Spring cards for kids and we're sponsored by two great digi stamp sites,  Delicious Doodles and Robyn's Fetish. One lucky winner will receive 4 digis of their choice from Delicious Doodles and another will win 5 images of their choice from Robyn's Fetish!

Our sponsors generously provided a number of images for the DT to play with. Now, I have to be honest and admit the image I chose was not my first choice, but I was a bit of a late start and most of the DT had picked those delightful bunny images that they used on their wonderful Spring cards. I felt a little sorry for this poor little puppy, sitting there, forlorn and unchosen. Having caught my attention, she realized this was her chance and sent me the hint that she would be a perfect first try for 3D decoupage or paper tole that I've seen here and there in bloggyland. So I printed her out...again and again and again! After coloring and layering her up, I must admit, she was the perfect choice. Just goes to show what a difference a a pair of scissors, a bit of Copics and a touch of glitter plus time and crafty love can make. =)

 Isn't she a sweet pup? =)  I chose to layer in three sections. First I did the entire image as a back layer. This was my first attempt at coloring stones in a wall. In my trial-and-error practice I tried to blend some blue into a mix of gray and brown, but I wasn't quite getting it, and I was using a basic Georgia Pacific with a little less blending power than the smoother Heavenly Weight paper I've used. So, I went for a more simple look just using my ProMarker warm greys. I will say, too, that my favorite rocks got hidden under my sentiment and flowers, but sometimes you have to sacrifice for layout's sake. LOL The rest of the image was colored using Copics. I used a combination of scissors and an X-acto knife to cut all the fiddly bits out between the flower stems and leaves as I knew I was going to lay the image over a blue field.



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My next layer was the flowers, her entire head and the ledge with her paws. I used just a little Diamond Stickles on the flower centers and curved the petals a bit to give them a little more dimension. Then I attached the layers with 1/16" foam dots. Still working on hair and fur techniques, so she's not got too fancy a 'do, just a little shading.

The third layer was her muzzle and her paws. I used a bit of glossy accent over her nose to give it a little shine. These were also attached with the 1/16" foam dots.

I added a sentiment circle from Lili of the Valley which was originally white, but it was too stark, so I colored it over with an even coat of the lightest green I used in the leaves and stems. I cut two more flowers out of the extra layers and colored and Stickled them the same way as the others. I attached these with 1/8" foam squares so they would be about the same height as her paws and the nose.

I used papers from the DCWV Spring Stack. and some ivory and peach textured cardstock from DCWV and Colorbok, respectively.  I used a little Distress Ink in Pumice Stone for the edges as the cardstock was fading into the background papers. A few little flower crystals from Colorbok, and there you have it. One cute pup, ready for Spring!

If you're inspired to color up a pup of your own, you can find Over Da Wall Puppy here at Robyns Fetish!  Come join us over at Send A Smile 4 Kids and check out the rest of the DT's creations and then create a Spring or Easter masterpiece of your own! See you soon! 

Happy Crafting!
Christy