Inspire Me Monday: Some Tips to Create in a Jiffy!

Hello everyone and happy Monday! It's time for another Inspire Me Monday and today, I have some fun, easy and relatively quick cards that I made to slip into the mail to send to my daughter at college. But, these little numbers are really all occasion cards that you could have on standby to send in a jiffy!

I started by going through some of my favorite digital stamps from Power Poppy and narrowing them down to images that would be "pick me ups" and happy illustrations. I decided on Wish You Luck, Asters Abuzz and Cuppa Buttercups! 

So how are these creations quick? I'll share some of the tips & tricks I used to keep it simple! 

First, I started by opening all of them up in my Photoshop Elements and putting them on a printable page just for ease and then, second, while they were all on the same page, I used different dies to cut out each image. 

Once I had my images die cut, I decided to make my card in reverse for ease. I call it backward but maybe this is how you create all the time? Let me know if you do because, honestly, it cut down on the time I normally take picking up and putting down so many different decorative card stocks until I settle on "just the right one!" For some reason, when the image isn't colored, it's easier to choose? Hhhhmmm.... maybe!

Oops! I almost forgot! With the Wish You Luck image, you'll notice the original has the stems included in the image and I wanted to create just a circle of clover -- so I opened up the image and then used the magic eraser to erase the tied stems! 

Here's a peek at the original illustration! 

Okay, back to my tips and tricks! I went about creating my card bases before I even put marker to paper....

I created these three layouts in less than a half hour (and honestly, probably less time than that). I simply picked papers that looked appealing to me instead of trying to perfectly match them to the vibe or the color of the Copic markers that I used. 

Now, the reason why I wanted to do it this way was because my daughter plays college softball and since we can't always make the away games, we sit in front of our TV and watch her for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. That's perfect coloring time in between innings! ;-) 

WISH YOU LUCK - Card #1

With midterms and finals always looming, I decided to use this image to pop in the mail when she needs a little encouragement. As a nursing major, it seems like every test is "do or die" and so a little love from mom can't hurt, can it?

While this card might seem a little "loud"-- I think it's happy and the patterns are fresh and fun! Color up the image with Copic markers, add a sentiment strip and some bling and.... done! 

Here's a closeup for you! 

ASTERS ABUZZ - Card #2

This creation is just a little reminder to stay positive and when life gets you down, re-write the script and make your own happy. It's an important lesson, right? 

And, here's a little closeup! You can see that I did add a little sparkle to the bee's wings! 

CUPPA BUTTERCUPS - Card #3

I love this last card because you can pop a card like this in the mail any time for any reason! 

And so, after some coloring while watching softball, here's all three together! It was funny, after coloring an image, I'd run to my craft room and assemble and take a photo then run back to the couch to do it again! I have to say it was a fun way to create -- no stress or fussing at all like I normally do! :-)

I hope you had fun sharing a little time with me today and maybe you'll give these little tricks a try -- picking a handful of digital images and putting them on a page, die-cutting them in one fell swoop and then creating each card's layout before you color! It sure helped me! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous and creative week! 

Inspire Me Monday: Fun Little Folds

Hey everybody! Welcome to another Inspire Me Monday! Today I have a fun little project for you that is a little non-standard but fits in a standard size envelope. Recently, I was surfing and someone created a card somewhat like this and it stuck in my head. Go figure, when I tried to get back to where that idea was, I couldn't find it, so these dimensions and how I created my card are probably a wee bit of my own making! ;-) When I find things like this, I love sharing with a Power Poppy spin on them! 

Here's a peek at the card we'll be making.... 

 You will start with a strip of paper that measures 5-1/2" by 12". This will be your card base, so be sure to use a kind of paper with enough bulk. You'll want to score this piece along the shortest width at the 6" line. 

From here, fold your piece, setting the fold along the 0" edge of your scoring device and score 4-1/4" to the right side of the fold. 

Now, flip your card 180 degrees so that the piece you just scored is now on your left-hand side. Now, again, to the right side of the fold, score at the 3-1/2" line. Once you've folded these pieces toward the middle of your card front, you'll have something that looks like this below. The inner fold is a valley fold and the outer fold is a mountain fold. 

I didn't want these flaps to protrude so much into my card, so I trimmed both flaps so that they were an inch in width. Now they lay nicely and don't take up too much of my card front. You'll see why this is important in a minute! 

From here, I cut two pieces of coordinating card stock to measure 1" by 5-1/2". 

I then adhered these two pieces to each of my two flaps. 

Before I finished the front, I wanted to make two pieces to serve as the inside of my card. I opened the digital stamp set Forget-Me-Not Heart in my Photoshop Elements and then changed the color of it to match my green paper. These pieces measure 3-3/4" by 5" and then 3" by 5". I wanted to have a nice amount of border around these pieces. The sentiment is from the polymer set called Chrysanthemum XL, which is retired. 

Now, with any folds like this, you know it's hard to close your card, so, that's why we create those fun belly bands on cards -- to keep everything in its place! :-)

And... that's what I did. I took a piece of paper that was 12" by 1-1/2" and folded it around my card, trimming off the excess and securing it in the back with double-sided tape. Some people choose to score this piece but I have never had any luck doing this with the proper measurements. My band is either too big or too small forcing bad words to come out of my mouth. So, instead, I lightly fold the strip around my card and follow up with a bone folder to make that edge crisp! 

From there, I printed off another Forget-Me-Not Heart, making it a wee bit smaller than the ones I used on the inside. Since I was using the blank heart portion of this set, I wanted a different sentiment and chose the one from the Camellias digital set "Life is Better with Friends." I colored it up with Copic markers and chose shades that would match my cardstock. My blue is a little bolder than the colors on my paper but I love how "cheery" it is! 

And, here's a little close-up for you! I did add a wee bit of glitter to the insides of my flowers. I can't resist. I just can't resist glitter! 

And that, my friends, is it! A fun little fold that keeps the person you give your card to guessing a wee bit! Not to mention, it's super fun and extra easy to make! If you end up making a version of this, please include a link in the comments! I'd love to see how yours turned out! 

Have a fun and creative week! 

Inspire Me Monday: Digital Ink!

 

Hello all and welcome to another edition of Inspire Me Monday! Since I love working with and fiddling with digital stamps, today I thought I'd share a few 10-minute cards that involve -- no coloring! That's right, no coloring! That is, unless you want to! Today, we'll be dabbling in a little "digital ink!"

I love bright, bold colors on my cards and this technique lets your printer do all the work so that you could make a bright and cheery card in a jiffy! 

Let's take a peek at what we'll be making today!

I used these digital stamps: Orchid Cascade, Spring Border One and Asters Abuzz. 

So, how did I do this? Well, you'll need photo editing software that allows you to add some effects. My tutorial today will share tips using Photoshop Elements. It's a budget version of Photoshop and I really love it for digital stamps! 

I started by opening up the digital stamp Aster's Abuzz and erasing the background behind the image. I used the Magic Eraser tool and just clicked around until the background was gone. 

From there, I cropped it down into more of a rectangle and erased the part of the image that hung over the cut line. 

I also cropped the bee out and then, by dragging and dropping, managed to arrange him more at the top of the image instead. 

Now it's time for our digital ink! I created a canvas that was the same size as a card front. Using the rectangle marquee tool, I created by rectangle, clicked on "layer" and then clicked on "new fill layer" and "gradient." I chose this red to orange gradient to serve as the backdrop for my aster cluster! 

From here, I just dragged the rectangle over to my aster image and situated it right behind. 

And, here's a look at how this card shaped up! I created a little window because I wanted the inside to be a kind of "surprise!" You can see that I also added a bit of sparkle thanks to some foil accents and a foiled sentiment. TIP: When you print your image, make sure that you are on "best detail" for printing. I know every printer has this type of version. It just ensures that the color is laid down on the paper in the highest saturation. 

Here's a peek at the inside! 

And, you can see that I did try to create a little razzle-dazzle by coloring the image with Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen. It really sparkles in real life - just adding that little bit of interest! 

See that bit of sparkle? 

And, here are some more ideas! 

For this image, I created the rectangle and then used the "stoke" accent around my gradient box just for a little extra pop. I also splashed some color on the flowers and stems. This is still a 10-minute creation because I literally scribbled on the color, for just a soft effect. The sentiment was created by some of my foil dies. 

For my last card, I did want to explain how I got my image in a circular shape. You simply open up the image, remove the background and then, using the circular marquee tool, you can cut out a portion of the digital stamp in a circular shape. From there, I created a circle using my marquee tool and then using the same steps as the rectangle shape I created, I added a new fill layer in gradient color. 

And here's a look at how my finished card ended up!

For this creation, I added some pizazz with an embossed background, some rhinestones, a foiled sentiment and then, I added some stickles to portions of my orchid just to make it pop a bit! See? 

And, here's one last look at all three cards together!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and maybe learn a new technique that you hadn't even considered before -- digital ink! Learning little tips and tricks like this sure helps to give your digital stamps a little more longevity. You never really get bored of them! Why? Because they can be used in so many different ways, they can evolve to serve so many different "styles!"

Thanks, everyone for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous and creative week!

 

The Blossom Challenge: Glassy-Eyed!

Welcome to our second The Blossom Challenge from Power Poppy!  We had such a great time perusing your beautiful challenge entries from last month’s The Blossom Challenge of April Showers Bring May Flowers.  Last month’s winner will be at the end of the post!  

I’m your host Christine and this month we’ve got a fun theme called Glassy-Eyed!  We invite you to use an image that is in glass or under glass on your design.  So dig into your Copics, Pencils or watercolour, and any Power Poppy image with glass.  You could even be totally artsy and use a Power Poppy image and draw your own glass vase, snowglobe or cloche!  

Today I’m using the NEW image from Power Poppy called Accentuate the Positive.  What a gorgeous array of flowers and fruit around this pretty mason jar! I printed the image quite lightly for colouring and then used Copics and Prismacolour Pencils to brighten up the blooms.  One of my favourite varieties of Zinnia is Queen Red Lime, they have such a nice fade between lime and rosy red, so I tried to give the flower on the lower right that treatment in my colouring.  

I have a short tutorial on my blog on what I think are important features of colouring glass HERE.  

Things I like to consider when colouring something in or under glass.  

• Where the light is reflecting on the glass
• The width of the glass for colouring, and the bottom edges (if in a vase)
• Will the glass be coloured or clear
• Will there be a water level be and will you define it
• How stems refract and colour fades in water

Marcy has graciously given a special 25% OFF price on some of her best glassy images again during this challenge, all of these beauties on sale are linked here:  

Accentuate the Positive
Cuppa Cupcake
Cuppa Buttercups
Hellebores
Hyacinth Bulb in Glass
Nest is Best
Seaside Sweetness
Single Orchid
Snowglobe Greetings
Sweet & Sugary Snowglobe
Tabletop Tree
Tiny Treasures
Volumes of Beauty
Well Hello Dahlia
Wildflower Mini

Zinnia Parade 

Challenge Details:  We hope you can join us for the challenge this month and create something in or under glass with Power Poppy images! You could win a $20 Gift Code to the Power Poppy store!  Link up your creation BELOW!   

Remember: You MUST use a Power Poppy image somewhere on your design to be included in the Glassy-Eyed challenge.  Entries close on July 16th at NOON.  

Last month’s The Blossom Challenge May Flowers RANDOMLY DRAWN WINNER IS.....Liz Williams with her beautiful Pure Prairie Bouquet!  Congratulations Liz.  Contact Marcy at bloom@powerpoppy.com for your prize code!  

Here’s some gorgeous Glassy inspiration from The Bloom Brigade:  

Essie

Gloria

Barbara

Lisa

Nancy

and Christine

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter