Hi – thanks for stopping by.  My card today is for the Outlawz Greeting Card Challenge.  The theme this week is Coffee and Friends, the Perfect Blend.

My card is a hybrid, the digi in the forefront is called Breakfast and comes from our sponsor, Guylous Inimitability.  I created the background of the card in Photoshop Elements using digi paper I purchased quite some time ago.  (Sorry I cannot remember the name of the vendor – that was back in the day that my digi organization skills hadn’t been properly developed – a skill I’ve been working on ever since).

Thanks again for stopping by.  Please join us at the Outlawz this week to see what my fellow design team members have come up with for inspiration.  Have a great and creative week.

Hugz and creativity,
Linda

Most of the country (and from what I’m hearing, other parts of the world as well), has been going through a very cold and messy winter.  I thought it might be time to think some warm thoughts.  I found the cutest digi from Inky Impressions, called Summer Fun – Owl.  Doesn’t he make you want to run outside and play with a beach ball?  If only we could!

I colored my digi with Copic Markers, and I used Glossy Accents for the sun, the beach ball, his eyes, and the tip of his beak.  I thought those little accents would finish the design.  The sentiment is also from Inky Impressions, and I like the feeling that it portrays, don’t you?

This card is part of Monday’s Greeting Card Challenge with the Outlawz (scheduled for Monday, Feb 4th).  Be sure to check out the other fantastic cards you will see there featuring designs from Inky Impressions and Fred She Said.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a very creative and great week.  If you don’t need to think warm thoughts for yourself, think warm thoughts for others!  lol

Hugs and Creativity,

Linda O

I was so lucky this week to be asked to teach a card-making technique to a great group of women from my mother-in-law’s church.  I knew that several of these gals were experienced card makers, so I wanted to come up with something fun and a tad bit different, but easy enough for the not-so-experienced.  I decided to demonstrate making colorful backgrounds with alcohol inks.  I had an absolute blast!  (And, if any of you are reading my post – I really appreciated your enthusiasm!)

Materials Used:

• Focal point (design) of card; final size 2 ½” wide by 3 ½” tall
• Card-stock to use as matting for design card – final size 2 ¾” wide by 3 ¾”
• Card base – 4 ¼” wide by 5 ½” tall (ours is top-fold made by cutting 8 ½” x 11” in half, vertically, and folded at the 5 ½” mark)
• Glossy Photo Paper 4” by 5 ¼”
• Ribbon
• Alcohol inks (Copic Marker Various Refills or Adirondack Alcohol Inks)
• Felt pieces and applicator (wood block with a piece of “rough” Velcro on one edge) for “daubing” ink.

The focal point of my card came from a rubber stamp this time, but I thought it would be fitting for the occasion. So that I could focus my class on the inking technique itself, and not the intricacies of cutting various sizes of paper, I pre-cut all of the paper pieces for the cards and then stamped and embossed several focal pieces before class. This saved time in class and allowed everyone to make multiple cards in a short period of time.

For the background paper, we inked the pad by adding 3 to 5 drops of each color.  Once inked, we dabbed it, twisted it, and/or smeared it all over our paper to create different effects. Sometimes we had to re-ink the pad to complete our page.  It was absolutely amazing to see how many combinations and designs we created this way – no two were alike!  What fun!

Once our backgrounds were finished, we assembled our cards.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope this gives you some inspiration to try something new.  This technique is fun to do, and for me, it was more fun because I was able to share it with others and watch them have fun.

Since my card doesn’t match any challenge criteria for the week (that I’m aware of), I won’t be submitting it, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I hope you enjoyed it. Have a very creative and fun week.

Hugs and creativity,
Linda

It’s Christmas Eve already.  My children and their families are all in Missouri – a whopping six degrees this morning.  None of them could make it to visit my mother-in-law with us in Florida this year, and I miss them all very much – especially the grandchildren.  It’s been a tradition with us that we come to visit Mom for Christmas each year, and we’re hoping that next year ALL of us can be together in sunny Florida.

Here in Florida, Mom insisted that we turn the air conditioner on in her house, just for me (now you know why we come – she treats me like a queen).  Mom knows I don’t handle the heat very well and yes, I know, 84 degrees isn’t really that hot for everyone else, but me… well… I’m happier around 65 degrees – so we try to reach a happy medium.

My card is for everyone.  My graphic is called:  “There’s a Penguin in my Cocoa!” by The Paper Shelter.  I colored it with Copics, and cut it out using a Spellbinder’s die.  I decided that this would look great as an easel card.

I’ve had a fantastic year making cards, learned a great deal from all of the fabulous challenges and blogs that I’ve visited this year.  I hope to keep learning, so if you see anything interesting on a blog or a site, leave the information in a comment below, I’ll be sure to check it out.  I love to try new things, and I’ll post the good – and the bad.

Have a terrific holiday – thanks for stopping by.  Merry Crafting… er… I mean Merry Christmas.

Linda O

I was curious about Easel Cards, so I did some research.  I hadn’t really tried any before because they looked very involved.  Boy, was I wrong.  I found some great instructions on the Splitcoast Stampers site.  I’ve been having so much fun – you should give them a try sometime.

My first card uses one of my favorite Christmas digis, 3 Candles by Pamela Lehto available through Squigglefly.  It’s such a pleasure to color and I really like using a wide variety of greens and yellow greens for the Holly leaves.

The completed design on my card face is 5″ by 5″ and the final card size is 5″ by 6.5″  Using a larger base allows me to mail it in a rectangular envelope instead of paying extra to mail a square envelope (and it gave me a different way of decorating – LOL).

To make an easel card stand, the bottom of the card needs a 3-D object to prevent the top of the card from closing.  I used some ribbon from my stash, tied a bow on it, and glued it to my lining paper.  That provides enough depth to keep the card front upright when opened, and allows the card to lie (almost) flat to be mailed.  I generated the sentiment on my computer (PowerPoint – and saved it as a .jpg), added mats and glued in place.

My friend provided the Poinsettia flower from her stash, and my daughter quilled the three  paper spirals to match the spirals on my ribbon.  So the final card was a joint effort, and I’m very happy with the results.

Now for my next card…

The digi is once again from Squigglefly.  The design is called Christmas Bouquet Cup also created by Pamela Lehto.

This card uses a square base.  After coloring my image with Copic markers, I thought that it still needed something, so I added a thin coat of Stickles to give it some sparkle.  Unfortunately, my photography doesn’t do it justice, so you’ll need to take my word for it.

I’m entering both cards in the Squigglefly challenge – Ribbon or Lace and The Paper Shelter Challenge, Christmas is Coming.

Well, I hope you enjoy my cards.  I’m ready to continue my exploration of of easel cards the next chance I get.  Thanks for stopping by today, have a wonderful Thanksgiving with you and your family, and find time to create when ever you can.

Hugs and Creativity,
Linda O (Loster)

I was thrilled with how this card turned out until I discovered something…

I love the digi by The Paper Shelter,called, “Are You Ready My Friend?“  It was so much fun to color with my Copics.  The decorative paper came from Michaels and I created the sentiment on my computer.

Here’s a closer view – have you found them yet?

There are at least two major issues, one that I caught, and one that my friend pointed out.  I’m so glad to have a friend that can tell it like it is.  I’ll be submitting my card to The Paper Shelter’s “Christmas Is Coming” challenge.

Does this help?

I always thought that I paid great attention to detail – I guess I’m wrong again.  I hope you have a fantastic and creative week as you prepare for turkey day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Love,
Linda

You’ve heard the old saying… “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, haven’t you?   That’s the base for today’s card.

On the outside, it says…

And now for the inside…

I’m going to submit this card to the following challenges:

• Squigglefly – “Let’s see your Polka Dots“
• Outlawz Friday – Alcohol markers challenge  ”Tickle my funny bone“
• Use It Tuesday –   ”Stick it” – printed paper from my stash, digi that I’ve had for almost a year

How I made my card:

The apple digi is from the book, “Copic Coloring Guide Level 4: Fine Details” by Marianne Walker and Colleen Schaan.  The book comes with a disk containing many of the graphics used in the tutorials – that’s where the apple came from.

The Spellbinders that I used are: Grand Labels One LF-161 (for the card base),  Labels One S4-161, and Scalloped Labels One S4-375.

My bow was created by gluing my ribbon back-to-back so that it appeared to be reversible ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you can find some time this week to do something creative.

Hugs and Creativity,

Linda