God won't give me anything I can't handle

Kindred Creations has yet another great new digital kit coming out today, the Chocolate Sky paper pack.

Some friends have been going through a rough patch lately so I decided to make a card for them.  I love this quote by Mother Teresa and printed it out using the font Kaufmann BT along with the digital papers.  I rotated the striped paper 45 degrees before cropping it to size.  I cut out the quote along with the two patterned papers.  I matted the larger paper with dark brown card stock just smaller than my card base. I then cut a piece of white card stock and edged it with the Martha Stewart Deco Flowers PATP punch, then cut the second patterned paper to fit just inside the edge of the flowers to create a thin border and edged the patterned paper with a Prismacolor marker.  I matted the quote with some coordinating DCWV card stock and adhered all the layers together, adding a layer of foam adhesive under the white decorative border.  I then used the Martha Stewart twig punch as well as the Nellie Snellen Leafy Branch punch to create foliage from the white and DCWV card stock.  I coloured the white twig punchies with the Prismacolor marker and layered them onto the two corners of the striped paper and added a number of Prima flowers which I centered with pearls.

Computer Guy Birthday card

I have to say Mo Manning has some incredible images for young boys, which are sometimes a little hard to find... and digi is so easy to buy in a pinch and work with that same day! Love that! I needed yet another birthday card for a young boy and this image suited him well.

I started by printing the Mo Manning digital image onto X-Press It card stock and colouring it with Lyra artist and Sansodor.  I then printed out some DCWV 300DPI digital papers.  I stitched them together with a card stock mat and layered them together.  I double matted the image.  I added three diamond eyelets onto the green paper and added some Liquid Pearls to the center of each eyelet.  I also added a photo turn to the top of the matted image.  I then adhhered the layers onto the white card base adding the image with foam adhesive.  Lastly I stamped a Whimsy stamped sentiment onto the yellow card stock with navy ink and added it to the top right hand corner of the image with more foam adhesive.

Baby Girl Baptism

I used another Mo Manning digital image and the coordinating Kindred Creations Cutie Pie Farm kit to match the Baby Boy Baptism card.

I started by printing the image onto X-Press it card stock and colouring it with Lyra artist pencils and Sansodor. I went over the lace of the dress with a Sakura Stardust glitter pen to add a little girly sparkle.  I printed the papers from the Kindred Creations Cutie Pie Farm kit.  I layered the pink striped paper over my card base then added a strip of the green dotted paper which I wrapped with  a piece of ribbon tied in a bow.  I then used the Martha Stewart Deco Flowers PATP on the brown dotted paper and lined the inside with the floral paper.  I adhered it to the card using foam adhesive and slipped the ribbon bow through the brown card stock.  I then also added the image which I cut out in a circle using foam adhesive.  I added some Prima flowers with Pearl and pearl stamen centers to the top right hand corner.  I punched and cut various leaves from the green dotted paper to finish off the floral arrangement.

Baby Boy Baptism card

For this card I used a Mo Manning digital image as well as the Kindred Creations Sweetie Pie Farm digital kit.

I printed the image onto X-Press It card stock, coloured it with Lyra artist pencils and Sansodor.  I printed the papers from the Kindred Creations Sweetie Pie Farm kit as well as the a few star embellishments.  I layered the blue striped paper over my card base then added a strip of the green dotted paper which I wrapped with  a piece of knotted ribbon.  I then used the Martha Stewart Deco Flowers PATP on the brown dotted paper and lined the inside with the star paper.  I adhered it to the card using foam adhesive and slipped the ribbon knot through the brown card stock.  I then also added the image which I cut out in a circle using foam adhesive.  I added some swirls cut with a Marianne Designs die and the the stars from the kit to the top right hand corner.  The stars were adhered using some more foam adhesive.

Birthday Hockey Card

I created this card for a boy who just loves to play hockey. In the fall I had the opportunity to watch him play and taken some pictures, so I was able to go back and find out his team colours. So I used his team colours for this card.

I started by printing out the Mo Manning Hockey Boy image.  I coloured it with Lyra artist pencils and Sansodor, and matted it with an amber card stock.  I then printed some patterned paper from the Kindred Creations Black and White digital paper kit available in the store now.  I started with a square base and layered it with a slightly smaller layer of the stripes 2 paper.  I then took a piece of the herringbone paper and matted it in the amber card stock and stitched them together.  I then took a piece of the spots 2 paper the width of the card and matted it with the amber card stock and used a zig zag stitch along the top and the bottom.  I took a piece of yellow mesh and wrapped it around the card a third of the way up the layer, along with a piece of twine which was threaded through a black button and tied in a bow.  I then adhered the image over that with foam adhesive.  Lastly I embossed a Whimsy Stamps Party Mini Letter Seals stamp along with a Just Rite border stamp onto the Herringbone patterned paper and adhered it with some more foam adhesive.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish you all the blessing of Christmas, and I hope you have the good fortune of spending time with those you love this holiday season. We have all our family gatherings on other days so today we will be spending the day with friends and all the lovely people at our local soup kitchen.

I created this frame using a wonderful piece of word art I found as well as the Classic Christmas digital paper pack from Kindred Creations.

Retro Christmas Tree

I have a new card to share with you.  Kindred Creations Scrapbooking has two new digital kits out today, Retro Red Christmas Tree and Retro Green Christmas Tree.  These packs are wonderful for the digi scrapper, but also those who don't mind printing out their own paper, which I did.  I also used the Ornate Merry Christmas Title which I changed to a green colour (although the greens appear quite black in the photograph).  I cut the image out using a Spellbinders Labels 17.  I layered the Red Tree Top paper over white and dark green card stock and stitched them together.  I also took a strip of Green Retro Trees paper and stitched it across the lower half of the card front.  I then added the image using foam adhesive and finished it off with some Kaisercraft clear jewels in the top right hand corner.

Vintage Postcard

I started by printing out some Kindred Creations digital papers Rainbow stripes and Damask.  I distressed them and layered them and sewed them together.  I printed out the postcard in green, stamp in red and Birdies Housework.  I matted the postcard with red card stock and stitched the layers together.  I added the coloured birdy tot he top left hand corner and the postage stamp ion the top right hand corner using foam adhesive.  I then wrapped the base with gold ribbon then mounted the postcard slightly angled on top.  I then tied a bow using the bow easy from the same ribbon adhered it to the bottom left hand corner, added two red roses, two leaves and a bunch of die cuts cut using the Martha Stewart twig punch.  Lastly I added some gold liquid pearls along the bottom of the postcard.

Irish Blessing

I printed the sun cloud digi out several times on white and yellow card stock, as well as with the sentiment onto blue inked card stock.  I cut the clouds out twice and the sun once, and edged all the pieces including the stamped base with clear stickles before layering them with foam adhesive.  I layered the floral papers from Kindred Creations and stitched around them before adhering the digital images which was also stitched.  Lastly I finished off the card with a bow tied using the bow easy and a few Q&Co pearls. 

Fallen Leaves

I used the Kindred Creations Fallen Leaves digital papers.  I printed the digital stamp, coloured it with Lyra artist pencils and cut it out.  I layered five of the digital papers and stitched them onto white card stock.  I took a square white base and added a layer of stitched reddish brown card stock, the four digital papers on the white base, then added the last digital paper that was also stitched onto white card stock.  Lastly I added the leaf image with foam adhesive.

Blue bonnets

 I used the blue bonnets digital image for this card .  I've been on a purple kick lately, so I used my Twinkling H20's to colour the blossoms and my Lyra watercolour pencils. I then took the Wisteria Moments Apple Blossom Time digi kit and printed out some of the papers.  I then started with a 5 1/2" square base and layered the papers on the base.  All the layers were stitched and some were matted with card stock. The plaid paper was matted using a piece of card stock cut with the  Spellbinders Fleur de Lis border dies.  I then cut the image out using Spellbinders Labels 4 and adhered it using foam adhesive.  I then stamped the Just Rite sentiment onto purple card stock with purple Adirondack ink, and the border on white card stock. I layered them and then matted in green scalloped card stock and attached it to the card using foam adhesive.   I added a green ribbon bow gathered and attached with a purple brad.  I also added a butterfly to the right of the image and added a few jewels for his body.

Forsythia and Flowering Almond

I created some hybrid cards using some precoloured images.

For this first card I used the Memory Makers Bohemian Summer digital kit with the forsythia precoloured image.  I created the whole card front in GIMP and printed it out.  I added drop shadows to each of the layers.  The torn paper was created by me using one of the papers in the kit.  After cutting and folding the card I added 5 KaiserCraft green jewels to the left of the image.

For this card I took the flowering almond frame image and the Kindred Creations Butterfly Garden digital kit.  I created a file for the card in Gimp and created the card base with the two patterns, then a matted piece of patterned paper, the green piece of card stock and the digital image to which I added the verse.  I printed out the file, cut the base and folded it.  Then I cut out the other pieces I printed, and layered them all onto the card.  I added the flowering almond frame using foam adhesive. Lastly I added some jewels  where the two patterned papers meet on the base of the card as well as 3 pearls above the digital image.  Lastly I added a white butterfly between the blossoms of the digital image.

These precoloured images are a great easy way to create a quick card, and the great thing about an almost all digital card is that if I ever want to create a second or third card, the file is sitting on my computer and all I have to do is print, cut, fold and add a little bit of bling.

Bambino

I created this card for Challenge 57 at the Sugar Bowl.

I started with a 5 1/2" square base. I then printed out papers from the Wisteria Moments Apple Blossom Time digital kit. I must say they printed much darker than they appear in the kit and the plum turned out an aubergine colour.  I matted the plaid paper with some light purple card stock which I edged with scalloped deco scissors, and stitched around it.  I also matted the strip of green patterned paper with the purple card stock, and stitched around them.  After I also adhered these to the base I added four purple KaiserCraft jewels to the outer corners.  I then cut out the round mat from Monica Bjork on my Silhouette, added a green inner circle, which I also stitched together then adhered to my base.  I then coloured the Sugar Nellie Bambino stamp using Lyra artist pencils and cut it out using a Spellbinders Labels 4 die, then mounted that with foam adhesive on a larger Labels 4 cut from purple card stock, which was centered on round mat.  I then also added KaiserCraft jewels to the round mat.  I tied a bow from sheer purple Offray ribbon using the bow easy and adhered it below the image, tucked in some leaves cut with the Martha Stewart twig punch, then dangled a moon shaped pendant with some beads from a small safety pin.  Above the image I arranged a bunch of purple ribbon roses with the same leaves, as well as some flourish die cuts.

I love the colour combo of this challenge even though I don't often use purple.  I would likely have done this image in typical baby blue for a baby boy, but I love the result here and if I'd coloured the little bambino's cap purple this same card would have seemed a bit more baby girl to me.  Though I think it is still neutral enough to be used for either I think.

Shine!

I've decided to do another clear card.   I cut out the word Shine with two mats from two of colours of card stock and layered them back together.  I then mounted the word onto a label using foam adhesive.

I also coloured some plumeria flowers, printed them out and cut them out.  I took the Spellbinders In Spades border die and cut two out from two of the colours of cardstock, as well as leaves from the greenest shade using the Martha Stewart twig punch.  I started assembling the whole thing by edging a clear card base using mint Liquid Pearls (paint is easier to control and get on cleanly but I didn't have any in a coordinating colour).  I then layered the ribbon around the card part way from the bottom, I only adhered until the front centre, but left it long enough so I could cut to length later.

I started by assembling the inside of the card, so that I knew what I would be able to see through the card when working on the front. I added an arrangement of plumeria to the inside of the card, tucked some leaves all around and layered the two In Spades borders over the ribbon that is on the outside of the card.  I added some drops of Stickles into the holes on the border die cut, completing the inside.

I then moved to the front of the card and adhered the label with the word shine over the ribbon and in such a way that the plumeria from the inside frame the label.  I took three more plumeria and added them to the front for more depth to the arrangement and tucked in more leaves.  Lastly I tied a bow from the ribbon using the bow easy and adhered it onto the ribbon on the lower left hand side of the label, and in the middle of the plumeria.  I then cut the ribbon to length.  Lastly I took mirror images of the plumeria on the front, and another label and adhered them to the front inside directly over their counterpart on the front to hide the glue and add colour.  The label on the inside also provides a place to write something on the card.

Bold Damask

Kindred Creations has had a Deal of the Day blog for almost 2 years now.  Recently however Kindred Creations has started adding a weekly Digital Deal of the Week to satisfy all those digital and hybrid crafters as well as those who like to print their own papers.

This week the Digital Deal of the Week is this Bold Damask paper kit.  Aren't they just awesome!  The best part is that you can pick up this paper pack for only $1!  You can always pick up some of the past Deals of the Week in the Kindred Creation Store at prices that are still very reasonable.

 Last night I quickly whipped up a card for the reveal of this weeks kit.  I thought these papers would be awsome to print out and use to create a card.  I printed out portions of two of the papers onto white cardstock.  (Even the B&W papers would be awesome to print onto coloured card stock for a change!)  I created an 8 1/2" x 3 2/3" card base and inked the edges with black ink.  I then took an 8"x3 1/3" piece of the black and white paper which I also inked and adhered it over the base.  I then took a 3x3 2/3" piece of red patterned paper and added a strip of white card stock edged with the Martha Stewart eyelet lace border punch.  I then tied a bow from black satin ribbon using the bow easy and wrapped the card stock layers with the black ribbon and topped with the bow.  I adhered this over the base.  A quick and simple card that's perfect for many occasions, with this elegant paper pack.

Magnolia cup sleeve.

I used a cup sleeve template and created a file where I layered various magnolia blossoms to create a bouquet. I added a shadow between the layers to give it some dimension, I then added a digital paper behind the flowers and printed it out. I cut it to the shape of the cup sleeve template and then covered it with a clear mac tac that I cut slightly larger than the card stock. I folded over the sides to the back. I cut the top and bottom every half inch and folded it towards the back as well. I then adhered it onto the fun foam that was cut to the shape of the larger template. I did cut a portion of the fun foam off the end so it wouldn't overlap like the card stock layer. I then stitched all around the card stock through the foam as well as stitching the overlapping paper together. Then just to add a wee little bit of dimension to the project I stitched on a small fabric butterfly between the magnolia blossoms.  I slipped the whole thing onto my ceramic travel mug and now it is sooo pretty... no more bland boring old travel mug for me.   The layer of clear mac tac allows it to handle a little bit of moisture, of course I still wouldn't suggest more than a damp rag to wipe the sleeve, but it easily slips of to wash the mug.

Haley

I created this layout for a rendition of layout tag and was given this layout by Adrienne to lift.  I started with a purple bazzill card stock base.  I then cut the flowers from a sheet of Colorbok Floral Tapestry paper.  I then took my photograph and mounted it on light purple card stock.  I pulled a pink colour from the center of the flower to create the journaling on the bracket shaped tag as well as the pink baby girl patterned paper I created using this technique.  I cut the bracket shape from white card stock using the Silhouette and coloured it very light pink using water colour crayons with a darker pink edge before feeding it through the printer.  I cut a piece from the backside of the Floral Tapestry paper larger than the baby girl paper.  I then layered them under the top right hand side of the matted photo and tucked the bracket shape under the left hand side of the matted photo.  Next I cut a strip of white card stock and created a border strip using the Martha Stewart floral vines punch which I coloured green using water colour crayons and adhered them under the picture.  I added a piece of white trim over the border strip.  I then adhered the flowers I cut from the patterned paper and mounted them with foam adhesive to the top left hand corner of the layout and the bottom right hand corner of the photograph.  I then printed a digital stamp by Annebodil in purple and coloured it using water colour crayons, cut it out and adhered it to the right of the photograph.  I used American Crafts Lax glitter Thickers for the title above the photograph.  I added three KaiserCraft jewels between the journaling and the photograph.  I then took a Crafter's Workshop template and pearl pink Liquid Pearls to create the swirls along the top and left hand sides of the layouts.

Thank You cards

I created two thank you cards that I want to share with you.

I created this first card using half a sheet of transparency for my base.  I then used the DCWV La Creme digital kit. I reduced the patterns to a 6x6 size before printing them on white card stock.   I used the black pattern paper for the insert on the inside of the card.  I cut a scalloped mat just larger than the insert from stitchflowers paper using the Silhouette.  On top of the insert I used the element that says Beauty which I altered in Gimp by removing the word Beauty and adding the sentiment Thank You.  I re-sized it to suit the front of the card and trimmed the image so there would be the same sized edge all around the black frame of the element.  I created a template for the tag so that I could use the print and cut feature of the Silhouette to print and cut around the tag.  I then used the blackwallpaper paper along the bottom of the front on both the sides of the transparency.  On the front side I added a piece of cream trim along the top side of the patterned paper.  I then took the flowerstem element and extracted a template from it that I could cut with my Silhouette from the tanburlap paper.  I then inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink before adhering it above the trim, to the left side of the tag. The result is a classic whimsical Thank You card.

For the second card I started with a red quarter fold card stock base.  I then cut a slightly smaller piece of white card stock which I ran through the Cuttlebug using the Tim Holtz Damask embossing folder using a shim to avoid embossing the area where the sentiment is placed. (Check the Cuttlebug blog for a tutorial on this technique.)  I then used the piece I cut out of the shim to emboss the edge around the blank area with an embossing stylus to make it pop and define the area more.  I adhered this to the front of the card.  I printed three damask shapes onto white card stock and cut it the same height as the embossed card stock.  I matted this with black card stock and added red KaiserCraft pearls to the corners.  I added this to the left side of the card leaving a strip of embossed card stock showing.  I then finished it off by stamping the Thank You sentiment form Inque Boutique using red Adirondack ink to the front of the card.

Using a very similar design I created a digital version that I would like to share with you.  The sheet has 2 cards that can be printed, cut and folded for a quick Thank You card.  You can download the card here.

Altered Journal

This week I am a prayer partner for SERVE, a program where youth travel for a week to another community to perform service work for financially challenged families or the organizations that serve them. My prayer partner is actually one of the leaders that accompanied the youth. I'll be creating a little something to encourage him throughout the week, and I hope to be sharing these projects with you here this week. For the first day I thought I would provide him with a journal to write in throughout his stay (and beyond) and I altered it by adding the theme verse to the front cover. I started by creating a piece of word art for the front cover. The Theme verse is from James 5:11 (the Message), and I used FLW Script and Bud Easy. I placed this on a background using 3 papers, tan burlap, black pattern and spalding, from DCWV La Creme digital kit. I printed this out onto plain white card stock. I cut it out and covered it with a clear mac-tac, folding the edges over to the back. I then glued that to the front cover of the journal.

King of the Dance Floor

I was inspired by Andrea's layout in another rendition of layout tag. Andrea creates digitally, and extracted her image from the photograph. I had wanted to scrap this picture for ages but I always found the background distracting. This was the perfect opportunity to try something different... I went hybrid. I extracted the ring bearer and the bridesmaid from the picture. I used a background paper from DCWV La Creme digi kit, however I wasn't too excited by the colour of the paper. Therefore I extracted the lace edge from the paper and placed it over some paper from my own 'A little bit of Glamour' kit. I added a drop shadow to the photograph. I then added my title using various fonts (Kingthings Petrock, Milk and Cereal, One Fell Swoop). I added a crown image behind the word KING. After which I removed the word KING again so that I could later add it as a paper element. I then printed out the layout on quality photo paper and let it dry. When it was dry enough to work with I added Kaiser craft jewels to the crown and the 'lace' edge. I cut the word KING out of black card stock covered with Forever Violet Perfect Pearls using the Kingthings Petrock font. I then ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Victoria embossing folder and adhered it to the layout using foam adhesive. Underneath the title I placed two purple satin butterflies that using Matte Accents to lift their wings. At the top of the page I added a tab that I stamped the date onto with white embossing powder. I cut the tab from a piece of purple card stock, folded in half and punched the corners with a corner rounder.