Flower Zentangle Montage

Flower Themed Zentangle Tile

By Katie Butler, CZT

Christmas Cards for Unique Crafters Challenge

This month is all about Christmas projects! The UniqueCrafters Challenge Blog is being sponsored by Cedar Chest Designs so don’t forget to stop by and link your own project for a chance to win a free $10 gift certificate. Both of these cards and images are featured as examples on the website.

 

As a special bonus, you can download the “Natures Christmas Tree Image” for FREE and anybody who uses it or any other image from Cedar Chest Designs will be entered into a random drawing for a whopping $35 gift certificate.

To make my first card I used the new Reindeer Penguin image from Cedar Chest Designs. He is colored with Copic markers and I assembled the card with paper and embellishments from the Merry Christmas line by Echo Park. The main pattern paper is called “Merry Border Stripe.” I finished the card by adding a bit of red sparkle with my Spica pen, a quick brown pen border to the image edge and a simple satin brown bow.

Copic Marker Colors Used on Penguin Card:
Penguin: C00, C1, C3, C5, C6
Reindeer Antlers: E15, E18, E29
Red Accents: R22, R24, R27, R59
Green Vest: YG61, YG63, YG67
Brown Shoes: E11, E13, E15, E17, E18
Background: W0, W2, W4, W6 

For my second card I used the Dew Drop Christmas Ornament image from Cedar Chest Designs. It was also colored with Copic Markers and assembled with the Merry Christmas line by Echo Park. I used a pale red, green and yellow marker to add the background dots and added lots of Glamour Dust to make the ornament sparkle. I finished the image with a simple knot of gold twine and a holiday stamp on the bottom.

 

Copic marker Colors Used on Ornament Card:
Ornament: R22, R24, R27, R59, YG61, YG63
Background Dots: Y11, R22, YG61

Happy Holidays Autograph Book

 

This little album was made mostly using paper and embellishments from the Simple Stories Handmade Holidays line that was released this season. I used pop dots to add dimension to several of the elements and filled the book with sparkle with my Stickles. I used a quick binding stitch on the side by punching two holes on the edge and then threading the twine in and out around the spine. It came together so quickly. It will be the perfect autograph book for a friend of mine who will likely be in the hospital over the holidays. All of us girls will sign it during our next crop and bring it to her when we visit. This could also be a nice idea if you have a family member who will be far away for Christmas.

Be sure to check out the Unique Crafters Challenge for more ideas to use during the holidays. Add a link to your own project and you could win a free gift certificate to Cedar Chest Designs digital stamp website.

Zentangle Inspired Frames

Two Zentangle Inspired Frames

Both of these paper crafting frames are on kraft paper and where created with a black Micron pen and a white water based Sharpie.

 

Little Libby Card

This month’s project for the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog has lots of sugar and sweet. The theme is all about little girls and it is being sponsored by Cedar Chest Designs.

This card was made with the Little Libby image from CedarChest Designs. I love how sweet and innocent she is. I colored the image with Copic markers and kept everything simple to match the look of the digital stamp. The card is made with Jillybean Soup papers and random bits and embellishments from my stash.

I hope you will all pop over and join us with your own girly themed projects. Get ready for Christmas too, because next month theme at the Unique Crafters Challenge is all about Christmas projects and they are giving away lots of cool prizes.

Zentangle Class in St. Louis

Do you live near the St. Louis area?
If so, don’t miss out on a great opportunity to learn about the Zentangle art method for paper crafters taught by certified special guest instructor Katie Butler. With over 20 years of experience you don’t miss out on a chance to learn from her. Also, be sure to check out the post about the alcohol marker class that is being held on the same weekend.

 

Paper Crafting With Zentangles

Saturday, November 10th, 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Sunday, November 11th, 3:00pm to 4:00pm

 

Classes will be held at Speedy Scrappers
310 Bargraves Blvd
Troy, IL 66294
Store Phone #: 1-618-526-8500
SpeedyScrappers@gmail.com

Call, email or stop by the Speedy Scrappers store to sign up today. Mention this article and the discount code “Cedar Chest Designs” to receive 20% off of your class fee. Class fee is due when you sign up. Advance registration is required. Class space is limited.

 

 

Alcohol Marker Class in St. Louis

Do you live near the St. Louis area?
If so, don’t miss out on a great opportunity to learn about alcohol markers and see the Cedar Chest Designs images in action.

This educational weekend will be taught by certified special guest instructor Katie Butler. With over 20 years of experience you don’t miss out on a chance to learn from her. Also, be sure to check out the post about the Zentangles class for Paper Crafters that is being held on the same weekend.

 

Beginner Alcohol Marker Workshop

Class flyer is below.

Saturday, November 10th, 4:00pm to 7:00pm

Sunday, November 11th, 10:00am to 1:00pm

 

Classes will be held at Speedy Scrappers
310 Bargraves Blvd
Troy, IL 66294
Store Phone #: 1-618-526-8500
SpeedyScrappers@gmail.com

Call, email or stop by the Speedy Scrappers store to sign up today. Mention this article and the discount code “Cedar Chest Designs” to receive 20% off of your class fee. Class fee is due when you sign up. Advance registration is required. Class space is limited.

Halloween Cards

I love making cards for Halloween! I designed these two cards for the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog. My first card is the "Falling For You" bat image by Paper Smootches and the second card is the "Pumpkinstein" image from Stampendous. Both images were colored with Copic Markers and assembled with scraps from my stash.

This month’s challenge at Unique Crafters is all about Halloween theme projects. Octobers Halloween themed challenge is being sponsored by two generous businesses so we will have two prize winners for the challenge. The best scrapbook page will receive a $25 dollar prize pack of craft supplies from Crafty Crops and the best card or altered art project will receive a free $10.00 gift certificate to the new Cedar Chest Designs digital website.

 

Cedar Chest Designs

Digital stamps and pattern paper for the craft world.

http://www.cedarchestdesigns.com/

I have entered the following challenges:
Unique Crafters Challenge Blog
http://craftsandmechallenges.blogspot.com/

 

Unique Crafters Challenge Blog Hop

Unique Crafters Challenge Blog Hop

Come check out our blogs and enter to win a free digital stamp image for each of the design team sites that you visit. Simply check out the blogs on this list, find the blog hop post on each blog and leave a comment with your name. You will be entered to win a prize for each of the blogs you visit and comment on. You have until Sunday, September 30^th to enter. Please, only enter once per blog.

Watch for the winner announcement post on the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog on October 7^th along with our other prizes for the month to see who won.

Check out all the sites on this blog hop:

http://midnightpixydesigns.blogspot.com/ (You Are Here)

http://popperandmimi.blogspot.com/

http://scraphappensembellishit.blogspot.com/

http://capturingcreativity.blogspot.com/

http://oopsicraftmypants.com/

http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.com/

http://scsdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://www.justwordz.ca/

http://cissyandfranshow.blogspot.com/

http://scrapbookingunique.blogspot.com/

http://uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/

Unique Crafters Big Chance Giveaway Challenge

This is my simple and clean family tree card for the anything goes challenge this month at the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog. I used my Silhouette to cut out the tree branch and the leaves on the background. I added green paper on the inside and lots of Tim Holts Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I used my Crop-a-dile corner rounder on the edges and added the family stamp piece with pop dots.

I am so excited to announce the Big Chance Giveaway Contest for September at the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog. You will have over 20 chances to win great prize packages when you enter this month.

The theme for this challenge is: “Anything Goes”

This month is going to be a little bit different. Instead of commenting on the posts our designers will be focused on discovering great new blogs to be highlighted in our Friday Spotlight Posts. Also check back on September 15 for information about the Designers blog hop where you will have another chance to win prizes. Remember, with an “Anything Goes” theme, you can post up to three links for any paper or digital craft project you have designed during the last three months.

We will be giving away awards for the following categories:

Best Home Decor Project

Best Party Favor

Best Alcohol Marker Colored Image

Best Altered Art Project

Best Digital Craft Project

Overall Favorite Scrapbook Page

Best use of Photos on a Scrapbook Page

Best Theme on a Scrapbook Page

Best Color Combination on a Scrapbook Page

Best Simple and Clean Scrapbook Layout

Most Elaborate Layout

Overall Favorite Card

Best Birthday Card

Best Baby Card

Best Color Combination on a Card

Best Simple and Clean Card

Funniest Card

Most Elegant Card

Most Elaborate Card

One Big Grand Prize Winner

Click HERE to enter your projects. 

Digital Designer Job Opportunity

Cedar Chest Designs is currently looking for two more designers to submit digital images for our website that will be launching in October of 2012. This is the perfect job for somebody with artistic talents who would like to work from home and pull in a little extra money each month. It’s also a great opportunity for artists who would like to gain exposure in the industry and have their art published.

About Cedar Chest Designs

Cedar Chest Designs is a new online store for digital stamps that will feature a large collection of images and patterns in a variety of artistic styles. These images are primarily used by crafters along with alcohol markers or mixed media inks for cards and projects. Digital images of this type are part of a well established trend in the paper crafting industry.

Image Listings

Once an image is approved, Cedar Chest Designs will handle the distribution, marketing, promotions, sells and order processing. Designers are only responsible for submitting images. No minimum or maximum requirements are placed on the designers. You can submit images any time they are ready.

Compensation

Pay is entirely commission based depending on the number of your images that are sold each month. Designers do not pay any listing fees or up-front fees and earn a percent of each image that sells. You will also receive a one-time only $50 bonus once you’re first twenty images are submitted and approved. We will only be listing images that are submitted by the designers who have been hired internally. The site is not open to public listings like Etsy or eBay.

All images are listed with full credit to the artist. Designers maintain full intellectual property rights over the image and they will be featured with profile information and personal links on the store website.

Please remember that our site is new and it will take a couple months to launch and build up a customer base. Compensation payments will increase as the website grows and expands.

Requirements

We are looking for fresh new talent. Do not feel like you need to be previously published or have experience selling your images to apply. We are looking for individuals with at least a basic knowledge of the paper crafting industry in areas such as scrapbooking, stamping, digital crafts and alcohol markers. All applicants must have the ability to submit clean, high quality, ready to use, digital art files in .jpg and .png format. Do not bother applying if you do not have the technological resources for these types of files. We will NOT accept any images that are vulgar, profane, violent or display any nudity or foul language.

Applicants

To apply for the design position, please send an email to info@cedarchestdesigns.com along with the following information. Incomplete applications will be discarded.

1. A brief synopsis of yourself including your artistic styles and preferences and any experience you have in the art and paper crafting industry. Be sure to tell us why you would like this opportunity.

2. Links to any online sites, blogs or websites that currently displays your art or craft projects.

3. Three to five images of original art created by you.

4. Contact information including your full name, email address, mailing address and phone number. 

Unique Crafters Sparkle and Shine Challenge

Todays card is for the August challenge over at Unique Crafters. The theme is any project with glitter and shine. For my card I used a Magnolia image that I colored with Copic Markers and then added Glamour Dust to the wings with a Quickie glue pen. That must be my favorite method for adding sparkle to my images. I finished the page up with leftover paper and embelishments from a scrapbook page I did a few months ago and stiched around the edge with my black pen.

For the image I used the following Copic Markers:

Dress and Butterfly R000, R81, R83, R85

Skin E0000, E000, E00

Hair E31, E33, E35

Wings BV00, R000, B0000, BV0000

Shadow C3, C1

Be sure to stop by the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog and add your "Sparkle and Shine" example.

Patriotic Challenge- Altered Book

In cerebration of the Fourth of July, the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog theme is all about Patriotic projects with Red, White and Blue. I went all out with this project and created an altered multi media Mini Album. I painted a hard back children's book with texture paint and then covered it with scraps of paper, cutouts and embellishments from my stash. Then I used Modge Podge to seal all the pieces on. I love the way it came out.

 

  

Be sure to stop by the Unique Crafters Blog and enter in your project. 

Flips and Folds Challenge

I loved working on this weeks challenge for Craft Your Passion.

This weeks theme is...

FLIPS AND FOLDS
We want to see more than one flip or fold in your cards this week.
So get creative and show us what you've got.

This week, we have the honor of being sponsored by...

 

To make this card, I used a full 12 x 12 sheet and cut a 6 x 4 inch pieces out of the bottom two corners. Then I folded the sides in and the middle piece in half and tucked it up inside the card. When it is open, the card will stand on its own with a three dimensional piece in the middle.

 

I colored up my adorable fairy Tiddly Inks image with Copic markers and used pop dots to add her and the embellishments to the card. This project actually looks way better in person.

Ice Cream Sundae

This weeks challenge for Craft Your Passion is about projects using the chevron pattern. I used the bright colors from the chevron pattern to make this summer themed birthday card. The image is the "Ice Cream Sundae" digital stamp from Delicious Doodles and I used my Copic markers to color it. The purple tone on the glass was made with BV000 and BV20. I used bits of supplies from my stash to assemble the card and then finished it off with several little pink gems using my I-Rock tool.

Challenges Entered:

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/

http://charismacardz.blogspot.com/

http://craftybootschallenges.blogspot.com/

http://sentimentalsundays.blogspot.com/

http://thecraftypad.blogspot.com/

Unique Crafters Challenge

This months challenge for the Unique Crafters Blog is all about how to use buttons. My absolutely favorite way to use buttons is by adding them to the middle of my flowers like I have done on this two page layout.

This layout was designed in a unique new style that I started doing when I needed to add different information and photos to the same layout for multiple books. I start with a paper layout and embellishments, then I scanned the pages and added the words and the photos digitally. The double process allows me to add different photos for a different member of the family.

Challenges Entered:

http://bythecuteandgirly.blogspot.com/

http://emeraldfaeries.blogspot.com/

http://uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/

Baby Girl and Boy Card Set

This week’s challenge for Craft Your Passion is all about babies. I decided to make a card for both in this little matching set. I had a lot of fun cutting the circles and the doily frame with my Silhouette Cameo. The images where colored with Copic markers and the supplies all came from my stash. I used by Tim Holtz ink to distress the edge of the images and the cards to soften the look.

Come join us at the Craft Your Passion Challenge this week for a chance to win free prizes. Our sponsor for this challenge is Patties Creations and Unique Crafters and entries are due by midnight on June 3rd.

Challenges Entered:

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/

#3 Challenge for Unique Crafters - Ribbon

The challenge this month for Unique Crafters Challenge Blog is all about using ribbons and fibbers in your projects. This mini album uses multiple ribbons that are all tied around a binder ring to give the book its fun personality.

Entries my be added before the end of May. Scrapbook Unique is giving out a $25 prize package for the grand prize winner. You could also earn a chance to join the blog as a guest design team member or a full time design team member.

Click this link here and add your project.

http://uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/

Green School Girl Card

This months challenge on at Unique Crafters is all about paper flowers. Click here to stop by and join in the fun. You have all month to link over your projects and the winner will receive three packs with paper crafting supplies.

This card was made with the Lilly of the Valley School Girl stamp colored with copic markers. The pattern paper is Bo Bunny and the cardstock is from American Crafts. I used brown Tim Holtz distress ink on the edges and finished the card with Bo Bunny gems and embellishments. I also used two types of paper flowers.

Butterfly Sally Card

This little girl is called Sally with Butterfly. She is from Cardmadfairy Designs for this weeks Die Cut or Punch challenge. I colored her up with Copic's and then created a mat and the outside frames with cardstock. The butterfly die cuts have also been brushed with Spica Gel Pins. Come over and join us for this challenge by clicking here.

Little Spring Lamb

This next challenge for Stamping Dragon is all about cards that show "Spring." Stop on by and enter in your new projects by clicking here.

This little image is the new "Lamb" by Stamping Dragon Designs. I colored him in with Copic markers and assembled the card with American Craft cardstock, Jilly Bean Pattern Papers and several embellishments from my stash.  

Purple Iris Card

This weeks challenge at Craft Your Passion is cards that are "Monocrhrome,"In other words, the project has multiple shades of one color. I chose purple. This great image is the "Iris Flower" from our sponsor, Delicious Doodles. I used my favorite color combo with Copic markers V93, V95, V97 and V99 to add the purple to the flowers.

This card has American Craft Cardstock and Pattern Paper. I used my Tim Holtz Distress ink to edge the image and finished this card off with simple button and ribbon embellishments.

Floral Forrest Fairy Girl

This weeks theme for the Stamping Dragon Challenge is all about "Things With Wings." It might be my favorite theme of all time. I used this adorable little fairy image from Whoopsi Daisy. They are our generous sponsor for this challenge. She has been colored with Copic markers.

The background paper on this card is the "Origins Revitalize" paper from Basic Grey. It is one of my favorites. I also used a second pattern from the same paper line along with American Crafts cardstock. I finished off the card with a variety of paper flower embellishments and some great green fiber from my collection.

Picnic Girl

Come over and join us at Craft Your Passion Challenge with a great theme all about Easel Cards.

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/

This months sponsor is The Paper Shelter. I love their images and had so much fun coloring all the detail on the "Picnic Girl" image I used for this card.

Silver Movie Owl

I love this card. It has a lot of glitter and shine that doesn't come through well in the photo. I used the Yoo Hoo with Popcorn image from Stamping Dragon Designs. He have a great challenge going on right now with projects that are all about "Rock and Roll". Stop by the Stamping Dragon Challenge blog and show us your stuff.

I used mostly scraps for this card so I don't know the brand names, but I used several different types of cardstock and foil papers. The grey cardstock was embossed with my Sizzix dry embossing folder and I inked the card with black Tim Holt's distress ink. I also continued the look with silver ribbon, silver eyelets and silver stickles.

100th Challenge for Craft Your Passion

The team is so excited to be making our 100th Challenge post today!!

We have several amazing sponsors and we have brought back a couple of our very special past DT members and we even invited our sponsor DT members to join us!! Extra sponsors give you lots of opportunities to win. The theme for this special occasion is "Anything Goes."

Stop by the

Craft Your Passion Challenge Blog

to enter your project today.

This card was made with the "Pattieboop and Allie on a Swing" image from Patties Creations, one of many sponsors. The image has been colored with Copic markers and the edges were all inked with Tim Holt's Distress Ink. I used American Craft cardstock, Jilly Bean pattern paper, a Prima flower and lots of other embellishments from my stash.

Mothers Day Card

This card was made with a sweet little image from Cardmadfairy's Digital Stamps. The theme for the next challenge is "Mums the Word." We are celebrating are mothers. Come over and join us at the Cardmadfairy Challenge.

This card was made with American Crafts cardstock and Jilly Bean Soup pattern paper. All the shapes and flowers were cut on my Silhouette Cameo. I added some brown ink around the edges along with buttons and ribbon from my stash.

Rock On Girl

This weeks challenge at Stamping Dragon is sponsored by Kenny K Downloads. I used this happy little image called Pop Star to create this card. The challenge theme is all about Rock and Roll. The winner will receive 5 free images from Kenny K so don't forget to stop by and show us your projects.

I used American Craft cardstock, pattern paper and glitter paper. The image was colored with Copic markers and detailed in a few places with my Spica Pens. I added a few simple touches with some stitching and gems with my I-Rock tool. I also used a little yellow paint from my Adirondack paint dabber to rim the edges.

First Challenge for Unique Crafters

I am so excited to show you my first project on the Design Team for the new Unique Crafters Challenge Blog. The theme is “Anything Goes” Sponsored by Scrapbooking Unique. All you need to do is create a project using paper to qualify for this site. That means all types of projects qualify. Scrapbook pages, cards, Copic Markers, digital stamping, altered art, ATC’s, etc…

The challenges run from the first day of the month to the last day of the month so they are easy to remember. The first prize package will be worth over $200 so you don’t want to miss out on all the fun.

I used a beautiful little cascade flower image from Sylvia Zet’s Wee Stamp creations as the center for this card. I cut the scallop circles out using my Silhouette Cameo. To complete the card, I simply added an off white ribbon from my stash and a couple metal embellishments and distress ink from Tim Holt’z.

Paper Piecing Birds on A Branch

This week’s theme at Craft Your Passion Challenge is about Paper Piecing. It is being sponsored by AiFactory and Bunny Zoe. You will have a couple chances to win free images and even a chance to join us as a guest design team member. I used the Birds on Branch image from AiFactory for this card.

I love the look of paper piecing. It seems to be a lot of work so I was looking forward to the challenge, but it wasn’t as bad as it looks. Simply stamp or print your image on white paper and again on pattern paper for as many different patterns as you need and then use a really good pair of scissors to cut out your shapes. My Bumble Bee Scissors are perfect for this task. I find these cards are more successful if you don’t make everything into pattern paper.

For this card, I colored the image and the pattern paper pieces with Copic markers. Some of the shapes are pop dotted and others are glued straight down. The green and pink pattern papers both came from my stash so I don’t know where they are from. I finished off the card with a few clear dots and a button along with an EK Success flower punch and a couple hand cut leaves.

Vintage Plums

I love this Plums image from Dragons Lair Designs. It ended up being a complex image to color because plums change look depending on the light and angel. I used 15 different Copic markers to give the plums a purple, blue, grey dimensional look. I love the way they turned out.

The rest of the card was kept very simple. I used distress ink and a script stamp to distress green, purple and brown cardstock as well as a piece of kraft paper. I added a simple green netting fiber and a few Kiser Kraft pearls. I love the way it turned out!

Don’t forget to stop by and join our current Stamping Dragon Challenge. We are celebrating the “Year of the Dragon” with dragon theme projects.

Rainy Day Girl

This week’s challenge at Craft Your Passion is all about Red, White, and Blue projects to celebrate Presidents Day. This little image is the Rainy Day Girl from Mami Doodles, one of our Sponsors for this challenge.

I had a lot of fun with this card. I colored the little girl in with Copic Markers and then added silver Stickles to her and the hand cut raindrops on the page. I used American Crafts cardstock and a piece of Blue Polka dot Paper from Making Memories. I cut the shapes using my Nestabilities on my Big Shot and then dry embossed the pattern paper with the Sizzix Swirl envelope. I added some red ribbon from Michael's and a few sparkly eyelets from Memory Makers. To finish it off, I used a black pen to stitch around the image.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:
http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.com/
http://2sisterschallengeblog.blogspot.com/

Year of the Dragon

“The Year of the Dragon” is the current theme for the Stamping Dragon Challenge. Simply use a dragon on your project to enter in the fun and maybe win a few free images. It is sponsored by Dragons Lair Designs where they have dozens of perfect images for this theme.

This card is made  mostly with American Crafts Cardstock. The oriental theme border and the little black swirl where both cut on my Silhouette Cameo. The red fiber and the little medallion both came from my stash. I also used Charcoal Tim Holtz Distressing Ink around the edges of everything. The image itself was colored using Copic markers. The dragon has C00, C1, C2, C5, C6, W0 and W2. I intensified the shadows on this image so it would look like most of the light was coming from the lantern.

I've shared this card with the following challenge sites:
http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com/

Oriental Pendant

The current challenge at Cardmadfairy is all about cards that are not “Square.” I loved this challenge, because I love non-traditional shaped cards. This should be a great challenge for collecting lots of ideas. The challenge is sponsored by Cardmadfairy Creations so don’t miss our on your chance to win free images.

I used cardstock and my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the card shape and the character for “love.” I also cut a piece of oriental pattern paper from my stash to fit the same shape. I colored the lantern image with Copic markers then embellished them with some shine using my Spica markers and added fibers to give them dimension. Then I added them to the pendant with pop dots. I added the black ribbon and the little button from my stash.

Dragonlets Fantasy Card

I love this image called “Dragonlets and Me” from DeliciousDoodle. They are sponsoring this week’s challenge for the Craft Your Passion Blog. I hope you can all come over and join us.

The theme for this challenge is a recipe. Simply combine:

• One Ribbon or Twine
• Two Design Papers
• Three Button

I used a simple little knot of celebrate ribbon from Michael’s, brown and purple pattern paper from the Once Upon A Time collection by DCWV and cute little buttons from my stash. The title was printed on my computer and I used Core’dination cardstock for the rest of the card. I finished everything off by inking the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and added a little light Glamour Dust on the wings.

Earth Tones Owl Card

This little guy is the “Yoo Hoo Owl” from Stamping Dragon Designs. The rest of the card has been designed with the Earth Tones Page Kit also from Stamping Dragon. I printed of the paper, words and embellishments and added a little embroidery floss and a little bit of Stickles. Just like that, the card was done. I love the Digital Page Kits, so fast and wonderful!

Don’t forget to stop by The Stampingwith Dragon blog and join us in this week’s challenge sponsored by Dude Time Doodles. The theme is all about “Man’s Love”. We all know masculine cards are difficult to come up with so this will be a great chance to see everybody’s ideas. We love to see all of your creative projects and you might even win a few free digital images from our sponsor.

Valentine's Bear Card

This week’s challenge on Craft your Passion is sponsored by Doodle Pantry, Little Miss Muffet and Pizzazz Aplenty. This cute little image is the Valentine’s Bear by Little Miss Muffet. He can be found at http://www.littlemissmuffetstamps.com/. The winner will receive credit for free digital images.

The theme for this challenge was Anything Goes without using design or pattern papers. To add interest, I dry embossed and inked some of the cardstock and used white gloss paper with liquid pearls, alcohol inks and blender solution to create the modge podge pattern frame behind the bear.

The rest of the card has Coordination cardstock, a sentiment from my printer, ribbon from my stash of supplies and a pearl brad from We Are Memory Keepers.

The image was colored with Copic markers. I used E31, E33, E35 and E25 for the browns. R00, R20, R24 and R27 for the reds and pinks. C00, C1 and C3 for the shadowing.  

Valentine's Day Vase Card

This weeks challenge on Cardmadfairys Challenge is all about HEARTS. All you need to enter in the challenge is to have a project with at least one heart on it somewhere. The challenge is being sponsored by Crafty Sentiments.

To make this card I used the Valentine's Vase image by Cardmadfarys Creations. I used my Copics to color the image and then used my Copic Red Spica pen to add glitter to the hearts. The card is assembled with Coredination cardstock and two Kaiser Craft pattern papers. I used my Cuttlebug envelope for the polka dot dry embossed pattern, used by Sillouette for the flourishes. I finished the card off with Tim holtz Distress ink and some ribbon, buttons and a charm from my collection.

Quiz Katie - Paper Tearing

Quiz Katie Challenge

This months question came from a woman at one of the beginner’s scrapbooking classes I taught recently. I have been asked this question a lot so here is the answer.

Question:

How do you tear paper for scrapbooks and cards?

I find that this question can be best answered by showing you an example of how it looks. Check out this card and these two scrapbook pages...

The last double page layout is the perfect example of how paper tearing can be used in your scrapbooks. You’ll notice that the background papers, title box, and page elements have been torn to create more texture and interest. Even the little flowers have been quickly torn from scraps of paper to create adorable little embellishments. To make your own hand torn flowers, simply cut the paper roughly into the shape you want and then tear around the edges.

Use your fingers or a straight edge ruler to guide the paper as you tear. Using your fingers will provide a wider tear with more edge on it. Using a ruler will give you a very lightly torn edge.

Six Tips to Remember:

1. When paper tearing, pull the torn edge towards you in small controlled motions to keep the line where you want it to be.
2. Don’t tear too fast, you will simple rip the paper without any consistency to the tear.
3. Try placing the edge of the paper along the edge of the counter or table so you can easily grasp the paper and guide the tear line.
4. Not all paper tears the same. Practice on a little scrap piece so you can see how that particular sheet will act before going all out on your page pieces.
5. For best results, use color core paper. It will tear more easily and provide you with the perfect color on your torn edge.
6. Ink and paper tearing are a great combination for rough and distressed effects. Simply tear the paper in the way you want and then use an applicator pad or sponge to rub the distress ink into the torn edge.

 Next time you get stuck on a page and don’t know what to do, try tearing a few of the edges. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to do with just a little bit of practice. The best part is, this technique doesn’t require any extra tools to do.