Hi There

I was in two minds as to whether or not I should share the following card on my blog. On the one hand, I want to share it because I like it and I think it's cute. On the other hand it shows how silly my husband and I are about our cats which I think some people might find a bit odd. Obviously the first hand won out, otherwise you would be reading about another (less weird) card right now.

Backstory: My husband (Mark) and I don't have kids (and won't be having any in the future either) so we give all of our love and attention and absolutely dote on our cats (okay, maybe me more so than Mark). For years now, as a joke, we have gotten each other Mother's and Father's Day gifts 'from the cats', usually accompanied by a funny email or note that the cats made us write, etc. (Do you see where I'm going with this yet?)

So the Sunday before last was Father's Day and the cats commissioned this card:




I printed the kitty from the 'Be Mine' digi by Softpencil (retired) twice onto Canson cardstock and I coloured them in with a warm grey Copic marker. If you've seen the photos I've posted of Abby before you will note that I left a diamond shape white on the right hand kitty's forehead as well as her paws to represent her markings. Toby (on the left) is completely grey so he didn't get any white spots, though he does have a few white hairs growing here and there these days - a kitty version of going grey I suppose.



I attached a strip of Bazzil cardstock to the front of the card (Canson) and used foam dots to pop the cats on top of the strip to make it look like they're peeking over a wall. I then stamped the sentiment from Sophie's Sentiments by Lawn Fawn in Versafine Black Onyx ink.

Thanks so much for looking, and for reading the little story behind the card. I'll be back tomorrow with another one!

Birthday Medley

Good afternoon and Happy Saturday! It's a VERY windy day here in Brisbane so I haven't ventured outside at all except to collect debris from around the yard and pick up overturned pots. It's awful, but at least it's making the washing dry really fast! Being inside though has meant I am 'forced' to craft up in my newly organised craft room (hehe) so here is a card I created for the "Simply Sentiments" challenge from Wee Memories.





The challenge is to make the sentiment the focal point so I used Birthday Medley, one of my digital sentiments available at Squigglefly and printed it onto Bazzil aqua cardstock. I then ran it through my Bigshot with the Jumbo Scallops die from Die-namics. I masked off the sentiment portion as well as the scallops with a couple of post-its and stamped the Hero Arts Dotted Background cling stamp in Versamark ink over the cardstock. I then chose some pale green Bazzil cardstock to complement the aqua (who says blue and green should never be seen??) and cut off  a couple of strips which I used to disguise the depression above the scallops left by the dienamics die (I think because my sandwich was a bit too tight - should have made a test cut first!)

I then created a top folding 6 x 4 inch card in the same pale green as the strips used on the aqua panel and then glued the aqua panel down to the front of the card.

Before I go, I thought I would share this photo I just took of Abby - she has a plethora of soft places around the house and in this room where she can lie in the sun (including the carpeted floor!) but she chooses to sit on the most uncomfortable thing she can find. I guess I should be flattered though because the set of drawers she is lying on is the closest thing to me :)



Well that's it from me today, but I'll be back tomorrow with another card I created whilst waiting for the wind to die down :)

Enjoy your day!

Have a wonderful birthday + free sentiment!

Hello again :) I've got a card to share as well as the sentiment I used which I'm giving away as a freebie. 

To save, right click on the above image and choose 'save target as...'.

Sentiment info:
File type: PNG (can be dropped into MS Word, background is transparent)
File size: 171kb
Full dimensions: 25cm x 11cm
Fonts: I wish I knew! My old computer died and I have yet to reinstall all of my fonts...

All of my free digital sentiments can be found on the "Free Digital Sentiments" tab at the top of every page of this blog, or by clicking here. I'd love to hear from you if you use them! Please leave a comment or drop me a line: jess@lennonforever.net.

 And here is the above sentiment in action:




 After printing the card (see template below) on white cardstock I used a strip of Mask-It film sheet - a temporary low-tack adhesive plastic - to create an invisible border above and below my sentiment. I then stamped some of the flowers from 'Petals from Scratch' by Fiskars with Black Onyx Versafine ink. After pulling off the masking film I took out Versacolor cubes in Boysenberry, Grape and Raspberry (yummm) and diluted them with a spritz of water on a stamping block and used a paintbrush to colour the flowers. As you can see from the photo above I went for a very loose and watercoloury effect which goes well with the loosely drawn flowers.


It can take a bit of trial and error to get the sentiment placed just right on the cardfront but to make the process even easier I've done the hard part for you by making up a word document with the sentiment already in the right spot and the page dimensions to print a 4x8" (score at 4") card - all you need to do is print it out and stamp/embellish/whatever!
You can download the word document I used for the above card here. Please let me know via comments or email if you have any problems accessing the file.


Thanks again for looking at my cards, and for leaving such lovely comments. :)

I'm back!

It's been so long since I've even looked at my blog (the end of March apparently) that I even forgot the url! (Turns out it isn't http://paper-play.blogspot.com... hmm)

I've been really busy moving house, taking care of a sick kitty, unpacking, more taking care of a sick kitty, gardening, rearranging my new craft room about a zillion times, and finally settled in fully about a week ago. I haven't gone near my crafting supplies since I stopped blogging (except for a couple of little projects here and there) as I haven't felt motivated or inspired.

I thought this week's CAS-ual challenge would help me get back in the groove, and it did!

Here's what I created:








I printed the gorgeous butterflies this digital kit from Hero Arts on bleedproof paper (as per advice from Melz!) and embossed the digital butterflies with embossing powder straight out of the printer so that I wouldn't get any smudges when I used my blending tool on them. I used Turquoise and Marigold versa color inks with the blending tool on the butterflies and then used Turquoise again on the cardfront for the text ('Cursive Script' clear stamp from Kaisercraft). This was a bit 'meh' so I edged the card with the leftover ink from my blending tool and when that was not enough I used the blending tool and streaked it all over the cursive script to smudge it. I then adhered the butterflies on top, added some antennae with a sharpie and stamped the sentiment (from 'Wedding' mini clear stamp set by Kaisercraft) to finish it off.

I'm going to enter this card in this month's Hero Arts contest to fit within the digital category for 'Creatures'. Wish me luck! :) Details of the comp are here.

Thanks for reading and I will be back to share another card real soon! :)

Wherever you go, go with all your heart

I'm back! I realised just now that I haven't posted for 2 months... eek! I've been working long hours at work (and at home) which has done absolutely nothing for my cardmaking mojo... but things at work have settled down a bit now so I'm creating again... yippee!

Are you ready for another Sentimental Sundays challenge? This week we are challenging you to create an item with Pearls and Lace (as well as a sentiment!)

Here's my creation:




Here's another view:



The offset sentiment started out as kind of a mistake but I went with it and discovered a layout that I think I'll use again. Don't you love it when that happens?

The strip of patterned paper is a bit that I found in my scrap drawer, and the lace is also.

You can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: C6 (A5 folded)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Canson textured card (white), Kaisercraft 'English Rose'
Stamp - I Heart You Sentiment Set by Raindrop Echo Designs at Whimsy Stamps
Ink - Printer
Extra - Lace, Kaisercraft pearls
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, scissors, Pixma printer, Helmar glue runner

You turn cloudy days sunny

I'm here to share another Sentimental Sundays challenge - this week we have a colour combination for you:

If you don't have those exact colours just do what I did, and improvise! Here's my card:




It isn't my usual style at all is it? I think the bright cardbase is the most 'non-me' thing about it, but I wanted to illustrate the 'sunny' part of the sentiment so there it is.

I used a sheet out of Kaisercraft's Peachy Keen collection paper pad to imitate Poppy Parade, and also some of their grosgrain ribbon which looks like Handsome Hunter. I created the dotted background in Paint Shop Pro and used the colour swatch to match it to the Old Olive colour. I popped it up on some foam dots to give it some interest. The cardbase is a sheet from the Cre8tive textured cardstock pad which looks alot more like Summer Sun in real life.

I also (sort of) used the Clean and Simple Stamping FTL124 for the layout of this card.

You can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: C6 (A5 folded)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Cre8tive textured cardstock, Matte photo paper, Kaisercraft Peachy Keen paper pad
Stamp - Love Sentiments by Raindrop Echo Designs at Whimsy Stamps
Ink - Printer
Extra - Kaisercraft grosgrain ribbon 
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Helmar glue runner, foam dots, Bigshot, Labels Four, scissors  

Happy Birthday

Happy Sunday everyone! This week's theme at Sentimental Sundays is Anything with Wings (+ a sentiment). Think birds, planes, butterflies... you name it!

I have a thing for dragonflies so I made this one:




Here's another view:



I was inspired by a technique by Jennifer McGuire for this one - on a sheet of acetate I combined a couple of drops of Milled Lavender distress ink with a generous blob of Platinum Liquid Pearls like what she did in this video. She's probably done this as well but I don't remember seeing it - I used a sponge applicator to sponge the resulting 'ink' (well, it's more like a paint really) onto the stamp and stamped it on watercolour paper. It has the most beautiful, subtle shimmer in real life that I just love, but it is quite hard to capture with the camera. You'll just have to trust me :)

I stamped the sentiment using 'Ash Rose' versacolor ink (an almost dead ringer for Milled Lavender!)  on a tag using the same watercolour paper and traced over the letters with my clear Spica Atyou pen for some more sparkle.

You can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: C6 (A5 folded)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Bazzill textured cardstock, watercolour paper
Stamp - 'Birthday Sentiments' by My Sentiments Exactly, Dragonfly from 'Garden Delight' by Inkadinkado
 Ink - 'Milled Lavender' distress ink, 'Ash Rose' Versacolor
 Extra - Platinum Liquid Pearls, Clear Spica Atyou pen, ribbon, crochet cotton
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, scissors, Helmar glue runner, Carl tag punch, sponge

Thanks for looking! Enjoy your Sunday :)

Happy Birthday + Memento for Android

A mid-week post from me? I know I'm shocked as well! I just wanted to share the card I made for my sister-in-law to give to her daughter who is turning 1 this month.

Here's a side on view to show the wonderful dimension and sparkle:





Oh Glossy Accents - how I love thee. This effect was VERY trial and error but was salvagable in the end. And I took pictures of the process!

See at first I just had the balloons (from this set by Goodness & Fun on MyGrafico) printed on the cardfront. I showed my husband (as I always do) and he hemmed and hawwed and said it needed a little something. I seethed a little inside (as I always do when he doesn't exclaim and declare it the most beautiful! card! in the universe! immediately) but then thought a little bit of sparkle would do the trick. I used my clear atyou spica pen (which I also love) which made the balloons sparkle but looked awful and blotchy whenever looking at it from a non-sparkly angle (see image below) - I think because the 'clear' pen is really a sort of light greyish colour. Back to the drawing board.





I then thought STICKLES. Gosh I'm clever. So I squeezed a blob of Frosted Lace onto some acetate and painted away with a fine little paintbrush I have just for these types of jobs. Hmm. My husband declared it 'better'. However they just looked sharp and pointy to me, not balloon-like at all (see below and click on it to see it up closer!)





Then I had another lightbulb moment - GLOSSY ACCENTS. I usually make a hash of it so I was very careful - I applied it over the large areas first and then moved or dotted more Glossy Accents into the teeny tiny areas using my little paintbrush. I left each balloon to dry quite a bit before moving onto the next as Glossy Accents has a habit of spreading if you join two circles for instance.

So that's the wonderful journey that this card took me on. I enjoyed sharing the mistakes today, as I read other blogs that do this and always like seeing the 'before' and 'afters'.

Size of card: 11b (5 1/2 x 3 7/8)

Card: Matte photo paper, Bazzil cardstock
Ink: Printer
Stamp: Birthday Girl stamps by Goodness & Fun on MyGrafico
Tools: Pixma printer, Carl rotary trimmer, Helmar glue runner, clear Spica atyou pen, Glossy Accents, Frosted Lace Stickles, paintbrush

Oh and the second thing I wanted to talk about was Memento for Android. I recently got an android phone which uses Google's operating system for mobiles (it's a Samsung Galaxy S i9000 in case you were wondering). I'm not really big into the whole application thing - I have my mail and my internet and that's about all I need, however I discovered a fantastic database app called Memento which people normally use to catalogue their dvd collections.

I thought it would solve the problem I have with remembering which Prismacolor pencils I currently have in my collection, as I have to admit I've come home from the art shop more than once to discover one of the colours I bought is already sitting in my pencil caddy - usually still unused. So now when I go to the art shop I can bring out my phone and check the pencil I'm holding against my collection.

And tonight I made a database for my meagre collection of Copic Ciao markers. I really don't want to buy duplicates of those because they aren't cheap! At least with the Prismacolors while it might be annoying to buy duplicates, it isn't an expensive mistake - they only cost a couple of dollars each.

I buy the majority of my markers at my local craft shop so this database will come in handy there too.

Here are a few images of my device and database in action:

It's a very easy to use application and versatile too - you can catalogue just about anything you want! I've just started one for my custom card sizes to fit certain envelopes because I kept losing the little bits of paper I had lying around with the measurements on them.

Another great thing is that you can sync with Google Docs which means that you can never lose your database if something happens to your phone or memory card.

Find out all about it at the developer's website: Luckydroid

I hope I haven't bored you silly with this extra long post! I promise to do better next time!

 



If friends were flowers I'd pick you

Happy Sunday everyone! It's time for another Sentimental Sundays challenge - and this week we are being sponsored by Deedee's Digis (check them out, you won't be disappointed!)

This week's theme is Celebrate Friendship

I used the image from the following set for my card:

Here's what I came up with:





I used my beloved Prismacolor pencils to colour the flowers and the red parts of the ladybugs. I had only just bought Enamel Accents the day before - they were perfect to make the ladybugs black parts shiny! I love the dimension that the black enamel gives as well.

Here's a close up to show the dimension:



I used a toothpick coated in the enamel to dot on the ladybug spots. To make the 'grass' I used Paint Shop Pro to make a green rectangle and added the text in white using a cute font (LD Cotton Candy to be exact) and printed it. I cut the 'grass' using scissors and wound some cotton around it.

So that's it from me, but you can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to use at Deedee's Digis as well as two (2) digital stamp sets from Raindrop Echo Designs!

Size of card: 4" square
Supplies:
Card/paper - Quill white cardstock, matte photo paper
Stamp - Ladybug Hugs from Deedee's Digis
Ink - printer
Extra - Prismacolor pencils (Grass green, Kelly Green, Blue Slate, Lt Cerulean Blue, Cream, Jasmine, Canary Yellow, Raw Umber, Crimson Red)
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, scissors, Helmar glue runner, Ranger Enamel Accents, Zest-it blending solvent, blending stump

Thanks for looking, have a wonderful day!

Welcome Baby

Welcome to another Sentimental Sundays challenge! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Usually our Christmasses here in Brisbane are sweltering hot, but this year it wasn't too bad, apparently due to wind direction or something. Thank goodness! I hate the heat :(

Now on with the challenge!

This week's theme is Baby + a sentiment.




I opened the Framed Circle Swirls shape from Raindrop Echo Designs in Paint Shop Pro and coloured it to match the ruffled (ruched?) lace. I created the sentiment using the same program, layered it onto the frame and printed the image onto white Canson textured card. I don't have a die matching this shape (I plan on rectifying this very soon) so I cut it by hand.

I used tacky glue for the lace it was so thick it kept popping off. Nothing's going to shift it now though! I stuck the frame on top of it using foam tape above and below the lace.

So that's it from me, but you can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: C6 (A5 folded)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Canson textured cardstock (white)
Stamp - Framed Circle Swirls from Whimsy Stamps
Ink - printer
Extra - ruffled lace
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, scissors, tacky glue, Helmar glue runner, foam tape

May Joy Fill Your Home

It's time for another Sentimental Sundays challenge!

This time the challenge is Let it Snow + a sentiment.

Here is my card:






The background is a piece of fabric my MIL gave me the other day that is super sparkly on one side (too sparkly for my needs I'm afraid) but only slightly sparkly on the other. I used the slightly sparkled side, and stamped over it with a Hero Arts snowflake in Cement Versacolor ink.

Here's a bit of a closeup to show some of the sparkle:





I drew over the snowflake in the sentiment with my clear spica pen. I also sponged around the sentiment layer with the Cement Versacolor just to make it stand out a bit.

I am entering this into the Wee Memories CASE Your Favourite challenge for this week - my muse is the ever/uber/amazingly talented Joy Taylor (who for some reason subscribes to this little blog of mine so I hope she reads this and is flattered, not aghast! ;))

I also would like to enter it into the Moxie Fab Glitter is Glam challenge!

So that's it from me, but you can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: C6 (A5 folded)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Canson textured cardstock (white)
Stamp - Season's Greetings Sentiments set from Whimsy Stamps, Hero Arts "Winter's Butterfly" set
Ink - printer, Cement versacolor
Extra - American crafts ribbon, Clear Spica Atyou pen, glitter fabric
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, scissors, Helmar glue runner, JAC adhesive sheet, foam dots

Challenge: Moxie Fab World - Glitter is Glam

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a lovely day!

You make life beautiful

Hello! It's Sunday, so it's time for another Sentimental Sundays challenge!

This time the challenge is Happy Anniversary + a sentiment.

I think my fellow design team members have gone all out for this one - so many lovely creations on one page - check it out (link is in the last paragraph of this entry), you won't be disappointed!

Here's my little card:






And here's another angle:




Both the sentiment and the background it is printed on are digital. The gorgeous sentiment is one from Raindrop Echo Designs called "Marriage Sentiments".
The background pattern is from a Christmas release from MyGrafico by Jazzy Patterns called "Christmas Time". It's such a beautiful pack - lots of damask (you know how I love damask!) and in sort-of-traditional Christmas colours - perfect for non-Christmas cards!

So that's it from me, but you can see what the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have created this week at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: 4" square

Supplies:
Card/paper - Canson textured cardstock (white), Kodak matte photo paper
Stamp - Marriage Sentiments set from Whimsy Stamps, Christmas Time by Jazzy Patterns on MyGrafico
 Ink - printer
Extra - Natural coloured crochet yarn, Twill
 Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, scissors, Helmar glue runner

Thanks for looking, I hope everyone has a lovely day!

Home Sweet Home

This was a slightly belated housewarming card for a former colleague who recently bought a house.




Here's a slightly different angle:



The sentiment was released this weekend at Squigglefly [click here to get it!]

I think I unconsciously used Clean and Simple's sketch 108 (sort of) for this card, but I only realised it because I happened to glance at the handy PDF of sketches 96-108 I have pinned up on my bulletin board today. Weird! Great sketch though ;)

I used versamark to stamp the houses (one stamp, repeated). I've found that if you want a darker impression just press the stamp down for longer. I'm not sure whether I've shared this tip before, so if I have my apologies. :)

Size of card: approx 4" round(ish)

Supplies:
Card/paper - Quill white cardstock, Matte photo paper, Utopia collection by Kaisercraft, Cre8tive textured cardstock
Stamps - "Home Sweet Home" from Squigglefly (by me!), Inque Boutique "Memoirs"
Ink - Versamark
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, Bigshot, Big Scallop nestabilities, Circle nestabilities

And I just thought I'd share another picture of my girl Abby - this time showing where she likes to sleep while I craft.




I swear she has that 'oh you've just gotten up so you're going to feed me' look on her face that she wears so often ;)

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a lovely day!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours

It's time for another Sentimental Sundays challenge! This time we're challenging you to follow a recipe:


3 DP, 3 buttons, ribbon

It's not for the faint of heart if you're a CAS gal like me, but I think what I came up with is relatively CAS:



I got out my Christmas Carnival 6x6 pad by Kaisercraft and punched out squares from several different pages before deciding upon the three I used. I adhered some ribbon on them and then stuck down the buttons already tied with Copic-dyed sewing thread. I ran the card through my printer using Word to get the sentiment right where I wanted it after colouring it pink using Paint Shop Pro to match the Christmas Carnival paper.

The sentiment is from the "Christmas Sentiments" set by Raindrop Echo Designs at Whimsy Stamps which will be released December 1st.

So that's it from me, but you can see how the rest of the Sentimental Sundays team have followed the recipe at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. You have until next Sunday to submit your entry if you decide to play along, and the random winner will receive four individual sets of digital sentiments from Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection, and a custom watermark from the Custom Designs at Whimsy Stamps!

Size of card: 10cm x 15cm (6" x 4")

Supplies:
Card/paper - Quill white cardstock, Christmas Carnival collection from Kaisercraft - 6x6 pad
Stamp - Christmas Sentiments set from Whimsy Stamps (will be released December 1st!)
Ink - printer 
Extra - ribbon, sewing thread, Copics (Cool Shadow, Pale Pink, Pale Cobolt Green)
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, Sullivan's punch, Papercraft adhesive tape, foam dots

Thanks so much for looking, hope you have a lovely day!

Welcome Little One

I just love this sketch from Clean and Simple! Here's another card I have made using it:





Here's a slightly different angle:



The sentiment was released last weekend at Squigglefly [click here to get it!], and the little rattle is from the Baby Stamps set by Tainted Sweets on MyGrafico - love that set!

Size of card: 4" square

Supplies:
Card/paper - Quill white cardstock, Matte photo paper, Inque Boutique 'Isn't it Romantic' 6x6 pad
Stamps - Welcome little one from Squigglefly (by me!), Baby Stamps by Tainted Sweets
Ink - printer 
Extra - Prismacolor pencils, Kaisercraft grosgrain ribbon
Tools - Carl rotary trimmer, Pixma printer, EK Success large corner rounder, Papercraft adhesive tape, foam dots, Bigshot, Big Scallop nestabilities, Carl 1 1/4 inch round punch

Thanks so much for looking, hope you have a lovely day!