The chick with the coloured loops

Hey there everyone,


I feel like this blog is one long novel and I just pick up where I left off last time! 


Thought you might like to see the card I was talking about on my April 8 post. 


Remember this?


"Another quick example. I was making something just last week and I liked the green grass under the chick, but the card wasn't going where I wanted it to. You know what I mean by going? It wasn't kicking it.

I left it and came back hours later. As soon as I caught sight of the card as I was sitting back down at my desk, the answer hit me right between the eyes - literally, because it was a visual thing. Oh, I've gotta make it in other colours! I did and it worked and get this, the whole thing is different to how I was going to make it in the first place.

Happen to you too?"


Here's the card!

It's looking a little wonky because of the angle of the card.

It didn't want to stand up straight, you know.

Anyway, in real life the loopy borders at the top are straight. They kinda remind me of those candy eggs we used to get as kids. I saw some on the counter in the fruit shop the other day actually. You couldn't pay me to eat one now.

I'll stick to making paper versions, thanks.

There's clear Glaze pen on the pink heart - a very common theme this Easter. 


And this is the die I used to make the card. 

Sizzix clear Oval. 


I folded my card first, put the fold just inside the die edge, then die cut it. Another common theme this Easter. I love adding new things to what I do. 


Can you see me in the reflection of the plastic? ha ha


Enjoy your day, won't you?

Rabbit card, I lied and Glaze pens v Dimensional Magic!

Hey there, 

A few things to talk about and share today. 

Firstly, this card - an Easter one I did recently. I've made quite a lot of things for Easter and they're on the table over at Photo Continental if you'd like to have a look. 

Mum just missed the new display by about half an hour last week. Or I missed Mum by half an hour! 

Here's the die I used for the cream layer on the card. Note the yellow graphic down the bottom that shows exactly what die cuts you get with the die. So fab. They never used to do this and it was hard to tell what the die actually was sometimes...so glad they've added it.

It's a mini book type die, but I rarely use them for things like that. I've made an actual card using it so far. Still haven't used the other bits yet - there's a label type shape, an oval and a ticket one on it too.

Pretty good.

Here's the punch that I used for the thought bubble for the rabbit, it's the Photo Captions one. A goodie that one.

I love this punch - so great. Speaking bubbles and punch art up the cute factor significantly.

And good news - all punches are 25% off for the month of April at PC! Wow, a great deal.

Okay onto the next part of this post - the part where I lied.

Note the rabbit ears.

Sullivans makes this punch. It only comes in orange, green and blue, or so I thought.

During class on Saturday I told the ladies that the punch comes in the three sizes above, but not in yellow. Orange is small, green is medium, yellow is large and blue is extra large, so you see, a size was missing.

When I needed a large ear recently, I cut the extra large one down to the size I wanted. We didn't have to do that in class, but still, I was just esplain'n the situation to the girls.

So I told 'em there was no yellow fish. And there wasn't - I knew that for a fact.

But there is now!

I went over to PC last Thursday and look what I found...ah yes, a yellow fish and now all the necessary sizes exist. The girls probably saw it hanging up when they went shopping and wondered why I fibbed to them :o)

Righto, now we've cleared that up, onto Glaze pens vs Dimensional Magic.

Just wanted to show the difference in shine that these two add. The Glaze comes in pen form and the DM comes in a bottle and is quite runny. I use both all the time, but for this post I just wanted to show you the difference on the rabbit's nose.

Okay, so here's the bunny's nose with clear Glaze pen on it.

There's shine there, but you can't see it well.

It's also quite flat. The shine, not the nose.

Here's the Dimensional Magic.

Remember, the DM is runny and it comes out pretty fast, particularly when the bottle is full.

I always up-end it on some scrap paper first because there's usually an air bubble that needs to come out, and then I keep it up-ended, and move it above the bit I want to gloss and then apply it carefully.

Sometimes I just put a blob there and use a tool (anything) to move it around and get it to the edges.

Here's the result.

A lot more glossy and fab, don't you reckon?

Now, like I said, I love the Glaze pen and use it all the time, but on the really small little things like pink hearts.   I've got a lot more Easter things to show you over the coming weeks (unless you go to PC and see them first!) and you'll see a lot of pink hearts with clear Glaze on them. It's the way things rolled out this time.

Okay then, blogo-teers, have a great day!

:o)

Revamp, redo, repeat or recycle - part 3

Hi, 

Me again. 

No surprise there! 

Talking about Santa and the inspiration he gave me to make a similar card. 

Another revamp, if you will. 

Again, no single word like ho ho ho, but grass instead. I did think of hop hop hop, but I didn't have a stamp.

Could've written it in white pen, I suppose. Great idea after the whole card's made.

Here he is again.

In the grass this time.

The green shred is from Spotlight, as are the eggs. I love Spotlight and find some great stuff down there. The bags (of shred) were only a couple of dollars (got 'em on special too) and they have a tonne in them.

More of that loopy grass I love so much. So fun to hide the eggs in it.

And the eggs are Sullivans balloons with the rubbery knotty bit trimmed. They don't have egg punches. Rats to that.

And the kicker that binds the two cards?

The shiny nose that's mounted with foam tape. Mounting with foam tape kicks a goal.

Dimensional Magic - it's a staple in this crafting kitchen for it's shiny adding abilities, and for it's 'I'm great for sticking buttons down' abilities too. Winner winner chicken dinner!

So remember, want to make a card?

Revamp, redo, repeat or recycle something you've already made!

Revamp, redo, repeat or recycle - part 2

Hi there,

A week or so ago, I talked about revamping, redoing, repeating or recycling something you've already made into something new.

I talked about it because it's hard to slip into the creative mode sometimes.

When we create we don't have to originate! Ha ha, that's my new saying. It's a goodie, sometimes I just want to create, not necessarily create anything new. You know the deal, right?

Well, I took my own advice and did a bit of recycling recently.

You may remember this card I posted around Christmas.

Remember him?

Cuuute!

And oh so simple - never oh so simple the first time, but oh so simple to re-create the ten times after.

I rarely do that - you know, make ten of the same good card, but I should. I mean, we're talking about making and not thinking, and that's making and not thinking to a T.

Ah, my favourite part of this guy is his nose. His shiny nose. Just makes him, well...shine, really.

My other fav bit is the scallop heart beard because I never thought I'd use a scallop heart. Just thought they were dodge really and never saw any use for them.

In enters the scallop heart at Christmas as another beard option and it didn't leave my desk until after Valentine's Day. Used it to make lots of hearty lollypops and bunting and hanging things.

I love disregarding a punch and then finding it's oh so cool. There's something oh so cool about that.

Okay, onto the ravamp, redo, repeat or recycle concept.

Let's call this one a revamp.

Scroll up (did you? Back to the Santa?) - yep, same card base with a character type thing going on.

I couldn't really think of a word to repeat for the chick, so I went with a speech bubble instead. Worked.

The key with the four Rs is to start with a concept and then see where it takes you.

Art never works when you try to push into a box. It just doesn't. I've tried it and I'm never happy with what I do.

So, chick got a speech bubble and some grass. I've done the Easter display for Photo Continental and this grass is on everything.

Chicks, rabbits, eggs and grass...they're the theme. And bunting. It's still a theme. And the bright colours. Another theme. And no red. The last theme. And cards that warm my heart because I love 'em so much because of the characters, bunting and bright colours. Yep, theme.

The grass is Martha's Ribbon Loop combo set (corner and border) - PC had a few sets last week when I was there. Totally cool and it needs a mow :o) Just like 'round here.

Hello, chickie.

Yes, you.

Welcome back to some cards.

We haven't seen you for while, have we? Glad you're back though, you're my favourite, but don't tell the bunny that.

The speaking bubble punch is an EK Success one called Photo Captions. It's got three different sized speaking bubbles on it. Perfect to go with punch art and have been dying to use it for ages. Used it here too.

Actually this one looks more like the chick card I ended up with!

I think I used them both as inspiration now that I think about it.

I did - I remember now - I thought three eggs floating around the place would look silly, so I put them in some grass instead. There you go, go with the flow and go with what the current card needs.

And also yak on about using one card as inspiration when in fact you used another!

Good one, Debra.

Here are the said eggs.

Easter hunts require hidden eggs, not floating eggs, so grass (and a little flower to finish), was the order of the day.

Speaking of cooking speak, have you heard of Heston Blementhal? He's an amazing British chef and a new show started last Thursday night. He took on aeroplane food - amazing. You can catch the episode online if you missed it. We missed the last 10 mins and I caught up there.

I've seen some of his feasts...another show of his on SBS...Heston's Feasts (or something like that). The last one I saw was a seaside/fishy type one and what he did was incredible.


The guy's a genius.

So, hope you liked the chickie card. I do. I should, I made it :o) Will be back soon with another Easter card based on the four Rs!

Close ups!

Hi!

You're probably all busy at your last day of work before the break, or getting ready at home, or finishing at work and then going home to get ready, or getting ready to go home, or just going home, or going away, or falling down in a heap because you tried to get cheap petrol (at 1.18) and your car actually ran out of it because you waited in line for forever...so, I'll keep it brief today!

Been playing around with the camera and doing some close up shots - it's amazing what you see.

Blush on her cheeks...

(it's coloured pencil - just a light touch)

Individual colours of glitter...

(See the purple, pink and clear? Amazing)

The fibre in the cardstock...

(This is what the back of Bazzill looks like close up - I omit the texture of the Bazzill when punching sometimes, particularly for little pieces. Smooth is good for them)

Little stray pieces of card...

(there's a orange bit to the left of the beak there)

Gorgeous shimmer on both the cream card and the grass...

(Didn't have the foresight to spray the card before I put the grass on. Didn't know I was going to shimmer it before I put the grass on. Go with the flow, right?)

Individual pieces of pink glitter on a pink nose...

(Why do I find this so enchanting? Who would've thought craft could be enchanting? Are you with me on that or am I speaking into the abyss of cyberspace where the resounding echo of this question continues on forever?)

Sorry, supposed to be brief...

More glitter than you can poke a stick at...

(What does that mean anyway and is it wrong?)

Even more glitter that you can poke a stick at...

(Once again, right or wrong?)

Texture, lots of texture...

(and whether I've been specific about keeping it all aligned. Do you line up your Bazzill and punch it so the texture is straight? I do, mostly. The pattern on the box is diagonal because that's the way it works when it's folded. Who knew? See what you see when you get up close?)

A stray dot of glue...

(Handmade!)

Me in the reflection...

(That's me, the black spot. At least I think it is)

Just wanted to say too, since we're talking about taking a close up look at things, that Easter is the season where Christians remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, He died. Yes, He rose again. And if you strip away all the details and get to the crux of what that means - it means love. And He did it for you.

He not only died, He took on all the sin of the world (all of it! Past, present and future) on Himself. It's sin, someone has to pay for it. Take responsibility for it. The way sin has to be paid for is through death, and Jesus paid that price for all of us, and died for us, so we wouldn't have to. That's what He did, that's what it's all about. The price was paid so that a way could be made for us to be with God in heaven. The only way to the Lord is through His Son, Jesus, and accepting Him as your Saviour - the One who saved you from your sin.

Does that make sense? It's kinda like having someone pay your mortgage for you! Just paying it, making you free and clear and debt-free. If someone did that for you, wouldn't you be amazed? I mean, debt, then all of sudden, no debt! Gone! The burden taken - what a gift to get. Was it earned? No, it was just given out of love.

Take a close look, Jesus did what He did for you (and me, all of us) and it's all about love and grace. It's amazing.

He loves you, hey, He really does.

If you would like to love Him back and say thanks and become a Christian you can say this prayer:

"Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving me and for dying on the cross for me. I repent of my sin and am so grateful that you paid the price for me so I wouldn't have to. Come into my heart because I want to love you all the days of my life. Amen."

If you said that prayer now and believed it in your heart, you're a Christian! Welcome to the family! Send me an email if you'd like to. I'd love to hear from you.

Well, that's all for now. Have a wonderful and blessed Easter. Stay safe, be good and don't eat too much chocolate!

Debra :o)

PS. Sorry, the word brief obviously isn't in my vocabulary!

Easter cards = chicks + glitter

Hey there!

Have quite a few Easter card and tag ideas to share with you today.

Gotta say, I'm loving the bright colours and the glitter paper. So fun.

Firstly, a cute chick hiding in the grass with a treat for you!

The punch at the bottom is one of those huge Martha Stewart deep edger ones. I don't know the name, sorry. Daisy something?
I'm just starting to get into the habit of labelling my punches - ie. their names. They always have the name on the packaging, but never the punch. I've started writing them on with permanent pen, so I know their names and can tell you!
I write on my punches all the time. Little marks to show me where the image is underneath the punch (because on the levers it doesn't line up with the picture on the top), names of the punches, sizes of the circles so I pick up the right one etc. And with the circles I write in both inches and mm - it's useful to have both on there.
Okay, back to the cards. The glitter paper is from Doodlebug. It was in a stand at PC near all the other Doodlebug papers. Comes in lots of fun colours.
It also gets all over your desk! The glitter, that is. We all know what it's like to work with glitter :o)
A giant chick with giant eggs!

The crepe paper is Melissa Frances Vintage Treasures and there's four colours in the pack (cream, green, blue, pink). Pleating the crepe paper like this is a lot of fun.

To do it - just put your tape on the card itself and then pleat along as you go. I made it a bit wiggly so it looked more grassy.

And some punch art fun - cute girl on a swirl.

I used my Matte accents (it's the same as Dimensional Magic, only matte. I use this strictly as glue as I have no need to make anything look matte) to draw the swirl and then put Banana Art Glitter over it. Sticks well. Dimensional Magic would work just as well.

This Easter basket is a new one for me this year. It's Martha (don't you love her?) and the punch includes the basket and four eggs. Those eggs are so cute!

Above I punched the basket twice and did the handle in a lighter yellow. It's not very obvious in the photo. A very simple card, this one.

Next, I pulled out the oft used Cupcake punch from McGill.

The cupcake bottom is the basket obviously, and the icing is the grass. Good punch that.

If you want to make simpler cards, you could make these.

Be prepared for people to say that the eggs look like shot-puts, though. I said that about my own cards, so others will too probably!

The background embossing folder is a Tri-Dots one from Sizzix (from a birthday set). It's a nice option, I think.

And more glitter paper. Been using it a lot lately...

This embossing folder is Caramelo by Provo Craft (Cuttlebug people). Love the flowers.

The chick looks a little sad or confused. Egg or shot-put?

All the little cards are the same as the bunny tag from last week. They have a back piece that's creased for the card flap bit.

They don't have the pierced holes like the bunny tag does, I just noticed.

And more crepe paper and hidden eggs.

Love the hidden eggs.

See what your macro setting shows up?

What's that black spot?

Hmmm....

I sprayed the background of the whole card with Vanilla Smooch - gives it a subtle shine. It's on the border at the bottom too.

And that little Scatter Joy stamp is from Daisy Bucket.

I got all these supplies from Photo Continental. Lots of fun things to be found over there!

I'll be back again tomorrow with some more Easter crafting ideas.

Enjoy your day!

:o)