The Pen Stops Here

More birthday cards!  The first one I had colored with colored pencils.  I only recently got some alcohol ink pens, but I haven't really learned how to color with them.  Everything comes out badly when I try to use them. On the copper colored Birthday Wishes card, I didn't have any circle stamps.  So I made some circles with cork and used them as stamps.  I like the effect the cork made.  I own circle stamps now, though.  I never know when I need something until I go to make where I want it to have specific features.  I had passed up circle stamps for ages until that card, then I realized that I really wanted them.

Not that long ago, I found some really great tutorials on making night skies.  I like the ink blending ones better than I do the watercolor ones, but I'm working on getting better working with the paints.  My favorite one is the one with the moon. On the last card (below), I had tried out a perspective card, based on one that I found on Pinterest.  I really like how it came out.  This was also one of the first night skies I have ever made.  This isn't actually a card, it's just an A2-sized piece of cardstock. Tree stamp by Stampin' Up: Lovely as a Tree set

It was a pretty decent card-making day yesterday.  I like the red & black Birthday card the best. Don't think I like how the Christmas card came out.  I'm still not at a place where I can just churn out cards.  It took me all day to make these.  

So as I've mentioned, birthday cards are some of my favorite to make.  Probably the ones I am most comfortable with making.  Plus, I find myself making them often, since there are many people in my life (spoiler alert - they all have birthdays). Birthday card made for my best friend's son I liked how this card (above) had come out.  I had found a similar design on Pinterest, but I can't seem to find it to link it - apparently I didn't add it to any of my boards.  The black stars are from the center of the die-cut image on the front.  After painting the stars with the clear-silver Wink of Stella, I added clear acrylic to give them some dimension.  The starburst die is from Stampin' Up Birthday Blast bundle, and the silver stars are brads from Recollections. The blue and white birthday card was made for my sister using a boarder die from Spellbinders small August Die-of-the-Month Club.  I really LOVE the Die-of-the-Month club. The die...

I love the Spellbinders dies Admittedly, I am in love with dies.  But I only started using them this past year.  I didn't even know what they were when I first started making cards.  In fact, in the beginning I was using a Cameo Silhouette.  It's a electronic cutting machine, like the Cricut.  I still have it, actually.  I just don't use it as often anymore.  Between lack of space, how long it takes to get it hooked up, and design what I want, it's just easier to use dies.  So mostly it just collects dust, and pulled out when I don't have a die for what I want to make. But thankfully I've quickly amassed a large amount of dies. My stepping stone to die-cutting was the big red Sizzex die-cutter.  If you aren't familiar with it, it's very, very heavy, has a handle to push down to make the dies cut, and is no longer sold retail.  When I purchased it, I got mine off eBay along with 15 dies made for that brand. With shipping, the total...

Most recent ink purchase - love the distress oxides. I haven't been working with cards for very long.  I've spent way too much money on something that was only meant to be a hobby.  But when I started, I had no idea how much fun it would be, and how many very beautiful and creative things were out there to utilize. I hope someday that I will get to a point where I feel confident in my skills, so I can maybe profit from what I make.  But I worry that my lack of drawing ability may hold me back.   Also, prior to making cards, I hadn't worked with coloring since middle school - and I can tell you that was a long time ago. But I've been following tutorials so I can learn, and sometimes I like how things come out, and sometimes ... it's a mini-horror show. Iridescent watercolors I've recently started playing with watercolors, and that has been a lot of fun.  When I first started, I didn't have watercolor paper, just drawing paper, but it was go...