Merry Christmas 2018

Wishing all my family, friends, and followers a blessed Christmas.

E. Marie

Winter Wonderland

I had to work really hard to produce this card this weekend.   I had been sick earlier this week so I decided I would make a lot of cards while playing with my friends at our favorite scrapbook store this weekend.  We showed up late, ate a fantastic lunch, celebrated a birthday, and then the store closed early due to a coming snowstorm.  Didn't leave much time to get creative.  Today with all the ice, snow, and wind our power kept going on and off and it took some real determination to get out of my comfy chair and go to my chilly craft room and get creative.  Sure had fun once I got started. Since a winter storm is very unusual for our area, it seemed the perfect time to share a winter card.

The Pines along Stream Silhouette image from Just For Fun was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and a portion was die cut using Spellbinders’ Label 4 Nestability.  Then a mixture of Stormy Sky and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink and Paris Dusk Memento Ink were sponged around the edges. The Winter Wonderland sentiment from JFF's The Seasons Word Block, along with the bird section of their Lighthouse Silhouette, were stamped with Paris Dusk ink.  A little white “snow” was added to the trees and ground.  I wanted the snow to pop a little more but my poor white gel pen dried up on me and all the stores were closed (not that I could even get out of my neighborhood as the streets are still totally packed with ice/snow).  

The die cut image was layered on a larger white die cut that was embossed with an embossing folder.  This was added to blue layers on a white card base.  It is hard to see there are two different shades of blue used for the layers but these add to the winter chill of the scene.

Have a wonderful week.

Autumn Greetings

With all the Black Friday craziness, everyone around me is moving on with Christmas prep.  I am still enjoying my turkey and the lovely fall look surrounding my neighborhood.  Before I move on I have one more fall card to share.

I have had the thought and design of this card in the back of my mind for a while and finally had some time to create it.  The new Modern Leaf from Just For Fun was stamped repeatedly with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on cream cardstock, then added to layers of brown and gold.  The same image was heat embossed in gold on fall colors of cardstock and fussy cut.  These were tucked around the Autumn Greetings sentiment, from JFF's The Seasons Word Block, and at the bottom.

Love the simplicity of this card with the pop of color.

Just For Fun November Challenge

Just For Fun Rubber Stamps has a new challenge for the month of November.  Use the colors “Brown, Orange, and Red”.

I decided to share a Thanksgiving card since this holiday doesn’t get a lot of attention and I really enjoy it.  Two of Just For Fun’s new stamps, Harvest Bundle and Wild Turkey, were used.  The Harvest Bundle was stamped with Peanut Butter Memento Ink on cream cardstock.  The edges were sponged with more Peanut Butter ink and some Rich Cocoa Memento Ink.  The orange and brown layers were also sponged on the edges with Rich Cocoa and Morocco ink.

The turkey was stamped with Rich Cocoa ink and colored with Copic Markers.  After fussy cutting, it was popped up on the card front.  The JFF sentiment, Happy Thanksgiving, was stamped with Morocco ink in the top corner.

Head on over to the Just For Fun Blog for all the challenge details and more “Brown, Orange, and Red” inspiration.

Halloween Greetings

Halloween is around the corner, with a night full of spooks and goblins.  Check out this cutie, sneaking through the woods.

I used one of the upcoming Just For Fun images and heat embossed it in white on dark blue cardstock.  The image was stamped again in black, colored with colored pencils, and fussy cut.  This was layered on top of the 1^st image, leaving a spooky white outline around the image.  The Cluster of Stalks from Just For Fun was stamped in black on top of it.

The Halloween Greetings sentiment (JFF's Sentiments 1 Unmounted Sheet) was heat embossed at the top and black ink sponged around the outer edges.  This card front was layered on orange, black, and white.

Have a fun Halloween and be safe!

Batty Halloween

The October Challenge at the Just For Fun Blog is Halloween.  I created these two Halloween Cards using the same three Just For Fun images with just a slight difference.  The little bats are part of the upcoming Just For Fun release.

Both cards used the same decorative/colored layers.  The colorful center was created by sponging Distress Inks on white cardstock.  The Doodle Circle was stamped over the light center to create the moon.  I couldn’t decide where I wanted the little bats, in front of the moon or behind the moon.  I decided to try it both ways and share the results with you.  Then I stamped the Happy Halloween sentiment from the Sentiments 1 Unmounted Sheet.

Which look do you like best?

Just For Fun October Challenge

Though it still doesn’t feel much like Fall where I live, October is here and hopefully the cooler weather will catch on soon.  It is time for a new challenge at the Just For Fun Blog and October brings thoughts of ghosts and goblins so the new challenge is “Halloween.

Just For Fun Rubberstamps has some adorable new Halloween stamps in their upcoming release.  I used three of these for this challenge theme. 

The three square images were colored with Copic Markers, fussy cut, and layered on orange and crème polka dot. 

The images were then centered on additional coordinating Halloween designer cardstock.  Small black spiders were die cut and added.

Check out some ideas from my fellow designers and get all the challenge details on the JFF Blog.

Fishing Is The Life For Me

With some cooler weather starting to arrive, this is when I love to spend more time visiting my daughter and enjoying the ocean.  I love to hear the waves and see all the different boats and ships.  There is a great boat image in Just For Fun's upcoming release that I wanted to share on today’s card.

The card’s background was created using Color Burst powders.  When this was dry, the boat image and sentiment were stamped in dark blue.  Both of these stamps will be available with the new release.  The boat was cut out in a rectangular shape.  White and dark blue layers were added to the background piece and this was run through an anchor embossing folder.  Then the boat image was layered on top and small blue jewels added.

Have a wonderful week. 

Just For Fun's September Monthly Challenge

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  Do you have fun plans for the weekend?  I haven’t thought past putting my pajamas on and getting some extra sleep.  School has started and I am back to work and exhausted already.  Actually it is just adjusting to an earlier schedule.  Just For Fun’s new September Challenge fits right in with a Back To School theme.

I was with my friends at our favorite scrapbook store recently and found this cute cardstock from Echo Park Paper Co.  I thought it would make the perfect background to enhance my back to school Paint Brushes. I used the front and back of one piece to create the school supply strips on top of the alphabet background.

The JFF Paint Brushes image was colored with Copic Markers and fussy cut.  I added layers of black and this really helped the image pop.  I used a Zig marker to color and stamp just part of the Colorful and Happy... sentiment, from JFF.  This was layered and adhered along the bottom.  This how I hope each day is for my students.

Check out the challenge details and more inspiration on the blog, here.

Golfer's Birthday

Just For Fun’s latest release includes a variety of golf themed images and sayings.  Today’s card shows off some of these.

The male golfer silhouette was stamped in black and fussy cut.  It was placed in front of a “grassy” background of plaid designer paper, die cut and layered on a dark green background.

The sentiment, stamped in teal and die cut with a circle die, is the perfect birthday sentiment for your favorite golfer.

Enjoy your week!

Friends

Alcohol Inks are in again and so fun to play with.  I used these, along with Just For Fun's Peacock Feather stamp, to create the background for today’s card.

Several colors of Alcohol Ink were applied with an Alcohol Ink Applicator to white glossy cardstock.  Alcohol Blending Solution was applied directly to the Peacock Feather stamp and the image was stamped on top of this background.  This was repeated several times and then lightly buffed with a soft cloth.  This removed enough of the ink to create a subtle design.

The background piece was layered on blue and black cardstock layers.  The top portion of JFF's So Glad sentiment was stamped in black on white cardstock and the word FRIENDS was die cut beneath it.  This strip was layered along the bottom.  The word was die cut again from the blue cardstock and popped up over the previous die cut word.

Thank you for stopping by.

E. Marie

Just For Fun Rubber Stamps August Monthly Challenge

It is time for a new monthly challenge at the Just For Fun Rubber Stamp Blog.  The theme for the August challenge is

For inspiration, I decided to create my “stripes” with a die.  I die cut the top white layer with two different dies, creating the angled stripes and the oval center window.  This was sponged with red ink on the edges and added to a red layer, also inked on the edges.

The Lighthouse image from Just For Fun was stamped on watercolor paper and lightly colored with Zig Watercolor Markers.  This was die cut with an oval die slightly smaller than the window and added to the card center.

Head to the Just For Fun Blog for more inspiration and details.  We would love for you to join the challenge with your own striped creation.

Scenic Lighthouse

I am partial to scenic lighthouse images and Just For Fun has this lovely Lighthouse image.  It is a simple design and I decide to add just a little enhancement for this card.

The Lighthouse was stamped on watercolor paper.  Using Kuretake ZIG Watercolor Brush Pens, a little color was added to the sand, grass, and the lighthouse.  I did not want to distract from the image, itself.

I recently purchased a pad of Graphic 45’s Sun Kissed Design Paper and this was perfect for the background layers.  I love the sea turtles.

Thank you for stopping by.  Don’t forget there is still time to enter the July monthly challenge of Red, White, and Blue.  Get the detail and enter your project on the blog, here.

E. Marie