Patriotic

Hello!

When I hear the word patriotic, I immediately think of the USA.  They REALLY celebrate their nation's birthday and make a huge party out of it.  I am Canadian and very proud of that.  Canadians tend to take a more laid back approach and sometimes I wish they'd show their pride a little more.  I try to buy Canadian and support Canadian artists and local businesses when ever possible.  I've even tried (unsuccessfully) to throw Canada Day parties...  Oh well!  Thanks Priyanka for a chance to show how proud we are of our countries! 

The My Heart Pieces challenge this week is Patriotic.  So I chose 'Rajrupa'.  This lady reminds me of my godchild when she dressed in her native country's outfit for Ukrainian dancing.  Canada was founded by many different immigrants and this is a nod to that.  We also have two official languages, French and English, and the 'Mon Ami' is a nod to that.  Of course I used the maple leaf where ever I could!  :)

The image was printed to 4x6" and coloured with watercolour crayons and a water pen.  I cut her out and added a cut out Canadian flag I stamped from an old Stampin' Up! set.  The card base is an 8.5x11" piece of Duplex cardstock folded in half for a 5x5 x8.5" sized card.  I matted a 5x8" piece of printed paper from a Canadian pack from Michaels with a piece of white shimmer paper, punched in the corners with a maple leaf corner punch by McGill.  The ceramic 'Mon Ami' is by 7Gypsies.  And Voila! a patriotic Canadian card!  Hope you like it!  Where are you from?  What makes you proud of your country?

August Sketch Challenge

Hello! 

The Born Doodler has a monthly challenge and for August is to use this sketch: 

I love sketches, so here's my card:

 

 

I used a 4.75x 6.25" piece of marble paper with an embossed piece of blue metal scrap and a yellow ribbon along the right side of the panel.  I coloured the House Mouse image with watercolour crayons and a water brush, then trimmed and matted it on a piece of green scrap paper and placed it on the panel.  Once on a 5x6.5" white card front, we are done! 



R&R Stencil Class

Hey there! 

I took a class today from a local lady at R&R Scrapbook.  Playing with stencils.  I have already been playing with stencils, but it is always nice to see someone else's take on a technique!  I came home with more supplies (can't have enough stencils!) some sprayed and stamped backgrounds and this display piece. Thanks Reah!!!

The base is a 6x6" piece of sticky backed canvas by Claudine Hellmuth.  Adhered it to a 130# weight 6x6" cardstock and started spraying!  Adirondack Spray - Pesto, sprayed over the 6" leaf stencil by The Crafter's Workshop.  Then sprayed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist over that to darken it a bit more.  Used a paper stencil and Inca Gold paste paint for the brown/copper leaves.  The corners are by Ranger.  The butterfly/swirl bling is by Prima.  I stamped the greeting (did not note the maker, sorry!) and a scrap piece of paper and edged it with Sepia Versafine.  Pretty huh?   

On a separate note, my computer is coming home this week!  Yay!!!!!!

Using Metal

Hello!

Just when everything is going well, something will happen to throw a curve into the order.  My computer had to be sent in for warrantee work.  My screen died!  So we continue, but at a much slower pace. 

Here is my contribution for this week's challenge at My Heart Pieces: Use Metal.  I started with 'Baby Bee Enjoys Fall' and coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils then I fussy cut it out.  I took a blues sheet of Spellbinders metal and trimmed it to 3 7/8x 6 7/8" then embossed it twice, once with leaves along the bottom and swirls on the top 3/4 of the sheet.  I used brown StazOn ink along the leaves then green alcohol ink to try to make it like dirt for the pumpkins.  I sanded the swirl part to get some dimension.  I matted this onto gold textured paper and then shimmer green cardstock by DCWV. (Die Cuts With A View)  I folded a copper sheet in half to make a 5 1/2x 8 1/2" card.  I added a metallic ribbon with wheat and copper accents along the right side of the card.  I adhered the matted panel on top of the card, then added the pumpkins and Baby Bee.  Finished off with accenting with 3 metal leaf brads along the bottom and stickles on the bee's wings.

Friendship

Hello!
I am sometimes a bad friend.  Really!  I am not comfortable calling people up to see how they are doing, as usually, I end up calling at a bad time.  When you add in different time zones, it becomes worse.  As a result my friends will hear from me through letters or emails more regularly than any other way.  The only problem with this system is when the friend's best way to communicate is by phone! :) 

This card is for a very good friend of mine, Judith.  It will be sent off tomorrow along with some little items I picked up for her birthday. 

The quote was stamped on cardstock and given to me a while ago.  I do not know the company, but would be interested in knowing to get one for myself!  I used leftover ink on sponges to add some colour the edges of this layer.  I used Spellbinders Labels 28 to make these layers.  The next layer is a background I created at a class last year with memory foam.  The third layer is handmade marble paper I got in a paper exchange a while a go.  Yes, I am trying to use up the bits and pieces in my stash! :) 

 

The card base is 5x6 1/2".  I wrapped different coloured ribbons, fabric strips and knit trim around a green glitter card cut from DCWV pad.  I then adhered the die cut panels on top.  The flowers in the top left corner are from Stampin' Up!  I finished off the card with rainbow coloured recycled Sari fibre, tied in a bow.  I love texture!    How about you?

 



I'm also entering this in Loves Rubber Stamps weekly challenge this week.  It's for "Anything Goes!"

Loves Rubber Stamps Design Team

Hi there! 

I love to follow guidelines or challenges when creating cards.  I come up with fun ideas on my own, but a challenge gets my creative juices flowing!  For this reason I am applying for a spot on the design team of Loves Rubber Stamps. 

I've been creating cards since 2000 when Stampin' Up! expanded to Canada.  I was aware of stamps but found them fussy to use and clean.  My girlfriend showed me how to heat emboss with gold embossing powder and introduced me to the scrubby style stamp cleaner.  SOLD!  My collection then grew exponentially over the next few years!  Fortunately my skills improved as well.  I went from stamping various stamps on a card front (and that's it) to now doing more layers and techniques and using all sorts of ephemera along with the stamps!  It is amazing what you learn on the internet and from friends you meet in this hobby!

I have been blessed to be a member of the design team at My Heart Pieces for a year now and also to have cards published in various magazines.  (Check out my 'Published Cards' page!)  I have created personalized scrapbooks that I have given as gifts and even sold a few!

These are some of my favourite cards. 

This one I blogged about in August 2011.  It was my first step card and also the first using so much ribbon and 3D items!
http://connell-crafts.blogspot.ca/2011/08/out-of-box-card.html

 

Sometimes paper inspires me... this one is more recent and I blogged about it in June.

Yep it's another dragon!  I couldn't help using this Dylusions quote.  It SO matched this guy's expression!

http://connell-crafts.blogspot.ca/2013/06/doodle-dragon-challenge.html

 



Man it's hard to pick 3 favourite cards!  But this is my third card.  I blogged about it this week, "Using Stitching".  I used pencil crayons for the first time in a while!

Using Stitching - Real or Faux

Hi there!

Everybody has something to learn.  That is the beauty of life.  We spend our entire life learning.  This week I was talking with a friend about my cards and I asked her for her honest opinion of them.  She indicated that they were ok but that I needed to work on my colouring.  I admit, I tend NOT to spend hours colouring an image... I just do not have the patience.  However, in an effort to give my images some more depth, I approached colouring this week's images more thoughtfully. 

Our challenge this week at My Heart Pieces was to use real stitching or create a faux stitching look.  It's so easy now a days with stamps you can purchase to mimic the look, just take out a black pen and make those marks yourself!  I chose Priyanka's 'Anhki' image for this challenge.

The first card is coloured with my Prismacolor pencil crayons.  I then cut her out in order to place her in the window die from Heartfelt Creations.  After cutting out the window, I kept the paper in the die and used watercolour crayons to colour in the embossed areas.  After popping out the cut die, I used a black pen to 'stitch' around the coloured areas.  After trimming a red piece of cardstock to the right size, I used a scalloped stitch stamp to make a border , then cut it out.  I actually did not mean to make a Christmas card but as I put these elements together, it screamed 'CHRISTMAS!!!'  :)  So into my Christmas stash and I found the poinsettia paper flower and Merry Christmas clothing tag. 

My second card is coloured with watercolour crayons and a water pen then also cut out.  I used two 6x6 papers from the same Walmart pad and trimmed to fit the front of the card.  The one piece was used to cut out a frame from Cherry Lynn.  I glued them together then used my black pen again to 'stitch' on the frames.  I adhered my coloured Anhki in the bottom right.  Stampin' Up made the 'Sew Sweet' tag I stamped and coloured to match.  The flowers are from my stash and matched the colours beautifully too! 

So how'd I do?  My images more engaging?