bringing on the bling - C'bug Spot challenge

Bling on cards is a lot of fun! So, when I saw the Cuttlebug Spot challenge for this week was to Bring on the Bling, I had to make a card along those lines.

Here it is....


I used a few different types of "bling". The green is a very pretty shimmery card stock by Prima. Unfortunately, the shimmer didn't show up well up above, so you'll have to take my word for it. The hot fix rhinestones were actually clear and they picked up the green of the card stock in a way that makes them almost look metallic in the photo. The silver border was made using HVAC foil tape (for Heating, Vents, Air Conditioners) that was embossed and cut with a Spellbinders Borderabilities die. I like using HVAC tape because it has a little more heft to it than aluminum foil, so it holds the embossing better, plus it's nicely sticky on the back once you remove the paper backing. The embossed card border was made using one of the Cuttlebug border embossing folders. The stamped images are all by Cloud 9 and stamped using Memento inks. Love using Memento inks on shimmery papers and card stocks because they're translucent and let the shimmer come through.

stair step card

Okay, this is one of those card-making techniques that I'm late getting in on. It's a fun alternative to the regular A2 cards that I often make, and they fit inside the A2 size envelopes, so no extra fuss as far as that goes.

This is my first attempt at making one....


My apologies for the poor quality of the lighting. It was a gray day here, and even darker than usual because the ice and sleet were blocking my skylights.

I used the stair step base and added decorative wintry cardstock. The leaping deer was made using a Sizzix die. The snowflakes were made using Martha Stewart punches. The embossed dove is a Cuttlebug combo die. The label die cut and scalloped rectangle were made using Spellbinders dies. The Merry Christmas sentiment is by Cloud 9 Design. The remaining stamped images and sentiments are all by My Favorite Things and were stamped using Memento dye inks. The embellishments are Prima flowers, Flower Soft for the bath rug underneath the tub, clear Sakura Glaze pen for the bubbles and glass, Copic clear glitter pen for the mirror, and assorted sizes and colors of hot fix rhinestones.

The card looks rather busy in the photograph. It isn't so busy in real life where you get a better feel for the 3D effect and depth of the images.

This is a fun change from the usual and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at more of these.

a tale of two cranes

As I was making these two cards yesterday, I couldn't help but think how typical they were of my card-making experience. I had a good idea of what I'd wanted to try. I thought I had a good idea of where I'd go with that idea. HA!

This first card is the one that I struggled over. I'd used my Spellbinders dies to emboss a frame and a crane image without cutting them out. That was the technique that I was trying. I'd had the "brilliant" LOL! idea of using Core'dinations cardstock so that I could distress the crane and make it pop. I distressed the edges, too. That had all gone according to plan.

It was at this point that I started flailing. I'd die cut some of the bamboo pieces from the Asian edgeabilities die set. I couldn't get them to work with these images the way I wanted them to. Then the solid colored cardstock layer behind it didn't seem right. Neither did the first patterned paper that I chose after that, or the next. It wasn't until after I flipped the last patterned paper that I realized that I liked the back of it better than the front! Thank goodness for double-sided paper.


The card came together after that. The sentiment is by Cloud 9 and stamped with white craft ink.

This next card, on the other hand, was one of those that came together spontaneously. This was actually scrap cardstock that I'd first used to test what I'd wanted to do with the crane die. I saw patterned paper and coordinating cardstock that worked with that blue image, and after using some Inkadinkado stamps and Memento dye inks, this is what came of that.

So, two cards and two very different ways of getting to my endpoints. Typical. :-)