Christmas 2012 Cards

Hey everyone!  Before I show you the cards I made for the Christmas card swap over at Scraptures, I wanted to let you know how the MFT contest went. Well, I wasn't chosen. :(  I really didn't have my hopes up, but I do admit that I would have really liked to be on that DT just for the experience of being on a highly visible DT like that one.  Oh well, I'll keep trying. They have a contest every month, so I'll keep at it. :)  I've never been called a quitter.


So I found Sassy Cheryl's digi stamps a couple years ago, and I always thought they were really cute, but I just had so many digi stamps that I never got around to buying any of them. Then she had a sale on her stuff and I couldn't pass it up.  The couple I bought were an absolute steal for 50¢ each.  Her stuff is so cute and whimsical and I love the snowman images. I only used one of the stamps (saving the other one for next Christmas) and I used a free colouring page for the digi stamp on the other card. Here are the two cards I made:

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Play it Again Sam - Sassy Cheryl's digital stamp
Paper:  Recollections cardstock, Recollection Christmas stack, watercolour paper
Tools:  Watercolour pencils, Snowflake embossing folder, SU scallop border punch

I hadn't used my watercolour pencils in a really long time, so I thought it was time to put them to use.  It took a bit of practice to get the shading the way I wanted it, but it worked out. I discovered that there was enough pigment in my rinse water that I could actually use it to paint the shadow around my image.

This next card was one that I had pictured in my head, and I even had printed the image out last Christmas, but I didn't end up using it. I really wanted to put this card together, so I thought it would be a nice one to use for the swap.  Here it is:

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Free downloaded colouring page, Michaels stamps - sentiment
Paper:  Recollections cardstock, Daisy Dee 6x6 Christmas stack, Wausau Exact Index 110#
Tools:  Colored pencils - Crayola/Prismacolor, oms, CraftRobo, Frosted Lace stickles, EK Success Morrocco Lace edge punch, EZ Cutter oval templates, EZ Cutter swivel knife, Versamark ink, gold embossing powder - Stampendous.


I love Christmas images. I don't know why, but I especially like snowman images. I just think they are so cute. This card is made with an older Stamps Happen stamp that I bought on clearance at Michaels a few years ago and this year was the first time it saw ink. I made it for the November One on One swap at Scraptures. Here's the card.

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Festive Snowmen - Stamps Happen
Paper:  Recollections cardstock, Recollections Christmas paper stack
Tools & Embellishments:  Copic markers, Stampology Onyx black ink, Stardust stickles, ribbon - Michaels, Fiskars large and small scallop decorative scissors.

So that's everything for today. I've been working on a layout, but its just not gelling. I think I'm going to work on a digital one to see how that goes. I was playing around with some templates the other day, and boy, I can see that they would sure help a layout come together quickly. I've never used templates before (although I use to make them when I was designing) to put together layouts, but I may just start.  They're even better than sketches - at least for digital scrapbooking they are.

I'll be back soon.

Talk to you later...

Cat

Halloween Cards & a layout

I know Halloween is long gone, but I wanted to show you the cards I made.  I'm so behind on organizing my posts & my pictures.  I'm working on it.

So anyway, I think these cards turned out pretty cute. I made one for my brother and one for my niece. I love these digi images by Sassy Studio which I coloured with my Copic markers.  The tag is a graphic I found on the internet a couple years ago, so I don't have the details of where it came from. All the shapes were cut using my CraftRobo and I used my scallop edge punch from SU.  The patterned papers are from a Halloween mat stack by K & Co. I  bought at Michaels 2 years ago.  I love using the mat stacks for my cards because the scale of the design is perfect, and there's very little waste when cutting into a sheet.  Here are the cards:

The layout I want to show you are of pictures of my husband.  He's probably not going to like it that I'm putting these pictures up on my blog.  I think they're cute. They were taken on his birthday a few years ago and he was listening to some music with the headphones on.  All the cardstock is Recollections brand and I don't remember if the patterned paper is My Mind's Eye or SEI.  Again, I cut the shapes for the embellishments, the journal tag, and the title all with my Craft Robo.  This layout was made for the October tag layout challenge over at the Scrapture site.  Here's my layout:

I also used my loopy border punch and a pair of Fiskars deco scissors on the patterned papers.  That line of music was a bugger to get on there straight with those skinny strips of paper.  It was fun to make though.

Well, that's all for today.  I'm working on getting myself organized and trying to get caught up on deciding which projects I want to post.  I have quite a few I want to share here, so check back soon.  I'll probably have a few posts over the next week or so.

Talk to you later...

Cat

Ok, So I fibbed...

When I said I wouldn't post again till after Christmas.  I haven't wanted to do to much but sleep and just laze around with this cold.  So I was playing with the SS software again.  I created this cute little reindeer and want to offer it to you guys out there.  I realize that its probably a little late for any of your holiday projects, but hopefully if you download it, you can use it for the next holiday season's projects.  Here he is:

In the zip file there is this preview .png file, a digi stamp .png file, a .studio cutting file, and a .studio print & cut file.  If you take the file, please leave me a comment.  I'd really like some feedback on these little drawing/files and I'd like to know if you're using the files.  If you do make a project with it, I'd love to see it. You can leave me a link in the comment section of any post on this blog to let me know, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. Either way works. :)  You can download the files HERE.

Thats all for today.  I won't promise to be back before Christmas - or even New Year's if this cold gets any worse - so if I don't see you again before then, have a great Christmas everyone!

Talk to you later...

Cat

Its looking a lot more like Christmas...

Its turned cold here and we got a little bit of snow, so now we will have a "real" Christmas instead of the brown grass Christmases we've had in the past. And, just because I have a bunch of stuff I wanted to get done before Christmas day, I woke up with a cold this morning.  Great...

Well, anyway, I've been playing with the SS software again today and I made this digi stamp for you.

Its a little rudimentary, so I need to brush up on my drawing skills, but I thought someone might be able to use it.  The file contains the preview you see above and a blank file.  You can download the files from HERE.

I doubt that I will be able to post before Christmas, so you all have a wonderful day with your family and friends.  I'll talk to you after the big day...

Take care

Cat

Just a quick post

Well, I can't sleep again.  Here it is 4am and I'm wide awake.  I think I've been going into menopause for about 2 years now.  My body just isn't acting the same way anymore and I don't like it one bit.  This getting old thing really isn't my cup of tea.  I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I would get my fat ass out of this computer chair and do some exercise.  I usually didn't have a problem getting to sleep at night the last say 15 years, but these last couple years, I could stay awake all night.  Mind you I would sleep until noon the next day.  Like today.  I was up until 5 this morning and got up at 11:30.  You would think I'd be tired.  But I'm not.  And my husband is sawing logs, so I know he'll just keep me awake if I try to go to bed.

Anyway, this leads me to why I'm here.  To pass the time, I was playing around in the Silhouette Studio software testing out some of the upgraded features in the Designer Edition. Oh yeah, did I tell you I won a copy of the designer edition software.  I did!  From the Bargain Shopper Mom!  I made up a couple things I want to share with you.  They're not much really, but I thought they were kind of cute.

 First, here is a digi stamp I made with the software of, what else, but a cat. :)  I'll do up a tutorial after the New Year on how to create digi stamps with your Silhouette software (I have a new video capture software I want to try out courtesy of a recommendation from Bird on her new forum).  Here she is (just click on the picture to make it bigger and then save the image to your computer):

Second, I made a cutting file of some lamps.  I know its nothing spectacular, but I have a card in mind and didn't want to go hunting for a file on the internet.  I also want to become more self-sufficient and make more of my own stuff so I don't have to worry about credits and where I got stuff from, and whether I can use it to make stuff to sell or not, and so on.  So here is a picture of the lamp shapes:

They are .rar files and will open with winzip or you can download a trial version of winrar (it never expires, but just keeps popping up a reminder to purchase a full license version).  I've included the .studio file as well as an .svg file.  Please read my TOU that I've included too. These are for personal use only and may not be shared.  If you think someone might like to have the file, please send them to my blog to get it. Here's the link:  CatScrapFever Lamp cutting files  I should also mention that they are blank shapes.  I only filled in the shapes so I could show you what they would look like using patterend paper and cardstock.

I'm using MediaFire now for my downloads.  I don't have that many files that I've been giving out, but I want to change that in the new year.  I want to try to get back into designing and offering some free digi scrap stuff and digi stamps here and there as well as the occasional cutting file.  I'd also like to see how many times the files are being downloaded.  I wasn't able to do that with the other methods of delivery I was using, so I think this will be the way to go.

Well, I think I should try to get to bed now.  Its getting on towards 5am and I don't want to waste the day tomorrow sleeping. Hubby is on his days off, so I want to spend a little time with him and get some baking done.

Let me know if you use the files and I would really love to see anything you create with them. Just drop me a line using the contact form in the right sidebar.

Talk to you later...

Cat

ADFD New Release 02/11/11

Hi everyone!  Its time again for another great release from ADFD.  This week's images are, as usual, very pretty. You just can't go wrong with them.  Here's a peek at the new release:

The card I made this week is in my usual style: simple and straight forward.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Daddy's Little Princess (A Day For Daisies), birthday sentiment (Michaels clear stamp)
Papers:  Recollections cardstock, Wausau Exact Index 110#, Energy digital paper collection (Summertime Designs), Staples matte finish brochure paper
Tools & Embellisments:  Prisma pencil crayons, oms, ribbon (dollar store), coral craft ink (unknown - dollar store), paper crimper (Fiskars), edge distresser tool (Heidi Swapp)

I really like using digital papers these days.  There are thousands of talented designers out there and they put out some beautiful work.  What I love about digital papers is that I never run out of a cherished design because as long as I have paper and ink to print with, I have another piece of that gorgeous paper. It really isn't as expensive as you think.  How much do you pay for a piece of patterned paper at the craft store? Usually, anywhere from $0.50 to $1.99 for name brand designer papers (plus your time and gas running around to the craft stores).  Even if you pay for a digital paper (because there are thousands of beautiful free ones), plus the cost of of paper and ink, you will end up paying anywhere from $0.45 to $0.75 for a sheet of letter size paper.  I don't think that is all that much. So anyway, I'm not going to go on about the benefits of digital. I'm digressing from my topic today.

Like I said, this card is pretty simple and straight forward.  I printed my patterned paper out, cut it down to size to cover my card front, then tore it in half.  I used a coral colour chalk ink and sponged around the edges to distress it a little more.  For the ribbon treatment, I adhered my ribbon to a piece of cardstock, then I ran it through my crimper.  Make sure the ribbon is well adhered to the cardstock, because it will pull away from the cardstock as I learned in my first attempt.  I used Sobo white glue the second time and let it dry for about an hour before running through the crimper.  I used my edge distress tool on all the edges and then assembled my card. Pretty easy.

I hope you pop over to the ADFD store and check out these images as well as all the other fabulous images Tammy has in the shop.  And don't forget, there is still another week to get in on the challenge over at the ADFD blog.  You could win yourself an image from the store, plus there is a free image for you on the blog just for playing along in the challenge.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Talk to you later...

Cat

The Brakefast Club Challenge #14 - Fancy Folds

Woohooo! I'm ahead of schedule this week with this card.  Last week was a disaster for me trying to get caught up.  I got through it and now I've hit the pavement running.  The Brakefast Club's challenge this week is to use a "fancy fold" - something other than your plain card.  The I Brake For Stamps shop has a Technique CD you can purchase that has tutorials and examples of a lot of different card folds.  Here is my card for this week's challenge:

Supplies:
Stamps:  Pot of Flowers (I Brake for Digis)
Papers:  DCWV, Recollections, Office Depot (cream cardstock for the image)
Tools & Embellishments:  Dotted Scallop edge punch (EK Success), Scallop Trim edge punch (Stampin' Up)generic dew drops (Dollar Store),  paper flowers (Dollar store), Marvy markers, fine paint brush

This is called a spring card because of the way its folded the card springs up.  I altered the dimensions a little from a tutorial I found on the Splitcoast Stampers.  For the card base, I cut my cardstock 5" wide and 9" long.  I cut and folded according to the following dimensions:

Both fold lines going straight across the cardstock are valley folds, and the lines that make the "x" are mountain folds.  The top two triangles are cut off to create a diamond.  Put adhesive on the bottom triangle formed by the folds and adhere it to the very bottom rectangle.  You should have a diamond that stands up on the base.  (If my instructions aren't clear to you, you can search for the tutorial in the Splitcoast resource section of their website - it haqs pictures you can follow along with & a video).

I hadn't used my Marvy markers for a little while, so I decided to use them to colour this image.  But I didn't want the dark bold colours they would create by colouring directly to the paper with them, so I decided to use them to watercolour with.  I got a very thin fine paint brush and a little cup of water and a small acetate sheet I had left over from a stamp set (any piece of plastic will do) to use as a palette.   I scribbled the colour I wanted to use on the acetate and then wet my brush and picked up some of the ink off the acetate, then painted my image.  You can't use too much water on regular cardstock (which is what I used) since it will warp quite a bit from the water.  If you use watercolour paper, you could probably do quite a bit more shading than what I was able to achieve with the paper I used.

To make the matting around the image, I cut my first colour cardstock 1/2" larger on both sides, then the second colour 1" larger on both sides than the dimensions of the image.  On the first mat layer, I used the dotted scallop punch, and on the second layer mat I used the scallop trim punch.  Glued all the layers together, then adhered it to the top diamond of the card base, centering it on the diamond.  To finish it off, I used a couple generic dew drops on either side of the image on the points of the diamond, and layered a couple paper flowers together with a matching brad, and adhered those to the sides on the base.

Once you get the way the folds are suppose to go, this card is very easy to do. If you're going to give this card a try, I would suggest practicing on a piece of copy paper first so that you can practice the folds and not ruin your good cardstock.  If you want to use the same image I did for this card, you can get it at the I Brake For Digis shop.  They have a lot of great images.

Well, that's all I have for today. Take care...

Cat

ADFD - Very Special New Release Image

It's new release time again at A Day for Daisies and this one is very special to me.  The DT was asked to send Tammy their favourite picture, so I sent one of my wedding pictures.  Its a picture of me and my husband kissing after we were announced husband & wife.  Tammy took the picture and made a digital stamp from it.  How cool is that!  I think its beautiful!  So here's the card I created with "my" new stamp:

Supplies:
Stamps:  My Story Begins and Ends With You (A Day for Daisies), Sentiment & floral flourish (unknown - clear stamp set)
Papers:  Recollections card stock (red & brown), Wausau Exact Index 110# (white), patterned paper (CatScrapFever Designs), Staples matte finish brochure paper
Tools & Embellishments:  Fleur De Lis pennant dies, Renaissance Hearts border dies, Fancy tags dies (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug, Walnut Stain distress ink (Tim Holtz), Red & Star Dust stickles, rhinestones, crayola markers (red & brown - to ink the stamp), PSPX 

So first, I didn't have the paper I wanted for this.  I couldn't find anything in the stores near me close to what I wanted, so I had to design it myself.  I use PSPX to do 95% of my graphics work and I used it to design the paper.  The paper was done using a bunch of stock brushes on the background layer.  Then I typed the poem "How Do I Love Thee" over and over on the top layer of the paper.  I used a couple different blending layer options to get the paper to look the way I wanted and it was done.  I really like it.  I printed it out on matte finish brochure paper.  I like the look of matte finish papers for this type of thing rather than glossy or semi-gloss.  However, I do prefer to have my photos printed on glossy.  Once I got all the layers for the card cut, and the patterned paper edges distressed with ink, I cut the shapes with my Spellbinder dies.  The frame for the image is two dies glued together.  I cut one large shape from the Fleur de Lis die set and then 2 of the next largest die.  I glued the two smaller shapes to the top & bottom of the large shape - making sure they were the same height and centred.  Then I glued rhinestones in the centre design on the top and bottom of the die cuts. For the sentiment, I first stamped the flower in red, cleaned the stamp, inked the sentiment, lined it up and stamped.  Then I cut it out with the Fancy tag die making sure the sentiment was centred.  Then I cut off the curly queues on it and sanded down the edged to smooth off the scissor marks.  I cut the same shape again in brown and layered the white onto the brown tag.  For the heart  border, I cut the red with the bottom border die, then with brown cut the top layer.  I had to trim the bottom layer since the die doesn't cut the entire shape out (I guess its meant to just go along the bottom edge of the paper).

Next was to work on the image.  This was actually fairly simple.  I used a couple filters in PSPX to make it look like a cartoon (Posterize & Pencil lines filters), then I lowered the opacity to about 40%.  I layered the new stamp over top of my photo and deleted any of the original photo that didn't fit inside the stamp.  Then I printed it out onto my white cardstock.  I used stickles on the image for the flowers in my hair and what looks like "confetti" floating down.  I think this image is so cool.

Tip:  remember to make a duplicate of your digital photos before you work on them.  If you make a mistake and have saved the image, you still have the original as back up.  Never use your original and always back up your photos.

So that's it for this one.  Remember that there is still time left on the challenge, so get your entry in.  You could win yourself an image of your choice from the store.

Take care.

Cat

A Few More Cards...

I finally got my room cleaned up to the point that I felt I could make something again.  Unfortunately, I'll have to clean it again.  I don't know what it is about me, but every time I do something in my craft room, it looks like a tornado went through the room.  Well, I'm hoping its a sign of a creative person because if I try to keep it tidy, then I can't seem to create anything at all and it all just falls apart.  So anyway, I couldn't sleep again last night, and I had this image from ADFD called Can't Sleep, so I though why not try to use it to get my creative thought process going again.  This is such a cute image.  Here's a picture of the card I made with this image:

Supplies:
Stamp:   A Day For Daisies - Can't Sleep, Inky Antics (sentiment)
Papers:  SU Tempting Turqoise, DCWV paper stack, Glitter paper (unknown), Wausau Exact Index 80#
Ribbon:  Dollar store
Ink:   Studio G
Tools & Other:  MS Swirling Lace border punch, MS Hydrangea Trio punch, Frosted White Liquid Pearls
Copic Markers:  Y02, Y17, G00, BG15, RV02,E00, E33, E37, C5, C0

The next image is such a beautiful image and I hope I did it justice.   I had originally intended to use this image on the current challenge at ADFD (check out my side bar for the link).  It was a real toss up between this image and the Leaf Girl image, but I ended up using Leaf Girl for the challenge.  So, I had to use this image, just because it is so pretty.  The image is called Wind in my Hair.  Here's a picture of the card I created with it:

Supplies:
Stamp: A Day For Daisies - Wind in my Hair
Papers: Recollections cardstock, patterned paper (unknown), Wausau Exact Index 80#
Tools & Other:  SU Scallop Trim border punch, Waterfall stickles
Copic Markers:  BV00, E33, E35, E37, C0, 0
Bic Mark It markers:  pastel purple
Sharpie Markers:  medium purple, dark purple, medium red brown, dark red brown 

I made the card very plain because I really wanted the image to be the focal point.  Since I didn't have any pale shades of the Bics & Sharpies, I used the Copic colourless blender to remove some of the ink to create highlights on her dress and her hair.

TIP:  Did you know that the Ranger alcohol blending solution will work in your Copic colourless blender?  The solution is virtually identical in composition.  I've been using it and it works beautifully in my blender pen.  I think its a little more expensive than the blender refill, but its what I had on hand.

The last card I made last night is a little late in coming.  I had the Spooky Fall Tree image and just couldn't think of what I wanted to do with it.  And, some of the cards I've seen done with this image left me thinking that I probably couldn't do anything that hadn't already been done - and done well.  So I was finally getting tired around 2:00 this morning and for some reason, that's when ideas come to me.  Not that this card is all that unique in the layout, but its a design that I thought would look good so I went with it.  Here's how it turned out:

Supplies:
Stamp: A Day For Daisies - Spooky Fall Tree
Papers: SU Kiwi Kiss, Black cardstock, patterned paper (unknown), Wausau Exact Index 80#
Tools & Other:  MS Arch Lattice border punch, Green, Orange, & Black stickles, Olive Green Studio G glitter glue, EZ Cutter circle templates & swivel knife
Copic Markers:  E43, E47, E49, YR02, YR04, YR07, C5, C3, C0, 0
Sharpie Markers:  medium green, olive green, black fine tip
Ribbon:  Michaels 

I wanted the scene to come out darker, so I used the C5 Copic as my first line of shading around the image, then I widened out with C3, then C0, and then finally the blender to fade to white.  The sentiment is hand written with a black fine point sharpie marker.

Well, I hope you like my cards.  I also hope you'll be able to use my little tip about the alcohol blending solution.  Its come in handy for me.

Don't forget to get in on the ADFD challenge going on right now.  Its a lot of fun, there's a cute free image for you to use, and some other great rewards up for one lucky person. :)

Talk to you later...
Cat

A Little Gift For You...

I have these images I drew that I never got around to using.  I thought I would offer them to you.  Hopefully, you can use them.  Please, if you download them, do not share them.  If someone asks you for the images, please send them here for the link.  Also, these images are for personal use only.  I would appreciate a little note back with a link if you use the images.  I would love to see what you make with them. :)  Here are previews of the images. The link to download will be at the end of this post.  Enjoy & create!

And here is the link to download the non-watermarked, full-sized images:  CatScrapFever Digi Stamps

Talk to you later...

Cat