A Day For Daisies First Ever BLOG HOP!!!

Hey everyone.  Its the ADFD first ever blog hop.  We're going to send you along an exciting trail to see some great works from the design team.  You have a week to work your way through all the blogs, so take your time and visit (& comment) along the way. :)

Make sure you leave a comment at each stop.  Anyone who leaves a comment at all the participant stops will be entered to win a set of images from the new releases today!  Yay! And they are fantastic as usual.  There are three sets to choose from.  Here's a peek of this week's new images:

Aren't they great!?  Don't forget that today also marks the start of a new challenge on the ADFD  blog - Very Vintage.  This is the card I made with the Vintage Rose Blooming image (available now in the ADFD shop).

Supplies:
Stamps:   Vintage Rose Blooming (A Day For Daisies), Hanging by a Thread set (stitching around edge - Technique Tuesday), How Do I Love Thee digital paper (CatScrapFever Designs)
Papers:  Recollections cardstock, Domtar coated 200# ivory cardstock (base), Matte finish brochure paper (Staples), Wausau Exact Index 110# (main image printed on this)
Tools & Embellishments:  CraftRobo, rhinestone corner sticker (Dollar Store), gold glitter glue (Studio G), homemade glimmer mist (DecoArts paint - Rich Espresso), crotchet ribbon (Dollar Store), ivory satin ribbon (Michaels), white Liquid Pearls, pencil crayons (Martha Stewart), oms, heat gun, black Stazon ink

The card itself is fairly simple in design.   However, the little embellishments are where all the work was.  I made the little roses out of scrap cardstock.  I researched about 50 different ways they were done on different tutorials and you-tube videos.  Once I figured I knew what I needed to do I created a cut file and cut them with my CraftRobo.  I sprayed some of my homemade glimmer mist onto a piece of sponge and sponged the edges of all the flower pieces, let them try, and then assembled the flowers. They really are easy and once I get my craft room cleaned up, I want to do up a little video tutorial to show you how easy they are.  The corner pieces were also cut on my CraftRobo.  (I found the cut file on ukscrappers.com.  They have thousands of free files there if you have a CraftRobo/Wishblade/Silhoulette.  Its a great resource for cutting files.)  Once cut from cream cardstock, I put gold glitter glue all over.  I was impatient and used my heat gun to dry the glitter glue and it made the glitter glue bubble which was kind of a happy mishap because it gave it a really cool texture that you can't see in the picture.  I hand cut the main image out after I coloured it using my Martha Stewart pencil crayons and oms. Again, I could have used my CraftRobo, but I already had the image printed, so I didn't want to reprint it with the cut&print feature on my CR because it uses more paper and I don't like to waste paper - even if it is fairly inexpensive.  The Nestability shapes were cut on my CR and I used my "faux nestability" templates to emboss the edges to make them look even more like the real thing.  I used my How Do I Love Thee valentine paper for the top layer just because it has a nice vintage look to it and it worked well with my colour scheme.  I used the sponge again with my homemade glimmer mist around the edges to give it a little distressed look and some glimmer.  I put small pearls on the scallops using white Liquid Pearls.

TIP:  To get the Liquid Pearls to dome properly without the little "horns", I flicked the backside of the paper gently and that gets rid of those pesky little "horns".

Once the Liquid Pearls was dry, I used pop dots to adhere the image to the centre of the nestability shapes, and pop-dotted the focal piece to the cardfront.

I should mention that I also used the sponge and glimmer mist around the edges of the "stitched" cardstock as well.  I love this colour of homemade glimmer mist - Rich Espresso.   The "stitching" was done with a stamp and black stazon ink.

If you're following along the path of the blog hop, you should have arrived here from the talented Candy's blog.  The next stop on the hop is the amazing Jen's blog.  Don't forget to leave your comments along the way to be entered for the grand prize. :)  If you miss a stop or get lost, you can head back to the ADFD blog and the list of participants for the blog hop will be posted there.

Have fun everyone!

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