2018 Cat Lovers Hop – Day 1 – Cat On a Fence Card

While I’ve been away chasing my tail, time has zipped by faster than a mouse running from a barn cat (waaayyy faster than running from a house cat!) and we’ve come ’round to my favorite time of year again…. The 4th annual Cat Lovers Hop has begun!

This year our fabulous hop hostess, Janis of HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com, has gathered a clowder of generous sponsors and prizes will be given among those who enter projects and those who comment on projects entered, so there are plenty of opportunities to win and to enjoy loads of feline crafting inspiration If you didn’t start at the beginning, you’ll want to click HERE to get all the details. (And don’t forget, to be a winner in her hop, you must also be signed in HERE.) The hop Guidelines & FAQs page is HERE.

To add to the fun, I am pleased to announce that there will be several blog candy giveaways on my blog during this year’s hop, starting with this very post! If you’re not already a subscriber, you will want to sign up so you don’t miss any posts and chances to win some fun crafty goodies.

My first card is this sweet Cat on the Fence from Cheapo Dies. They may be inexpensive, but they’re good quality dies… I have several of their dies and they’ve all cut well so far! You will want to stay tuned until the end as there will be a Cheapo Dies giveaway and discount code!! This die is made to cut completely out, but I covered both sides with some circle dies to frame it up and hold it in place for a see-through window.

I cut it out two additional times, One in white and one to back it. I used part of the one I cut out of the card for the envelope. I also cut the cat out again for the inside against the ‘sunset’.

Supplies:

• Cheap-O Dies: Cat on the Fence
• Spellbinders Tear Drop Circle, Large Classic Circles, Small Classic Scalloped Circles dies
• Little B: Meow & Woof (just the paw print) dies
• Recollections Elegance card pack – gold
• Recollections white, brown & black cardstock
• Copic Markers B39; C7, 13; E55, 71; R35, Y17; YG17, 63, 67
• Pebbles, Inc. Pearlescent Chalks Jewel Tones
• Simply Defined Stay-Put glue

 

*****      Giveaway now closed      *****

Now, for the news you’ve all been waiting for… the blog candy giveaway!

Cheapo Dies has kindly offered to give one commenter on this post (open worldwide) THIS darling cat die:

They are also generously offering a special discount code to all who are participating in this hop or reading this post: You can use the code  CAT for 10% of your  orders from Oct. 22, 2018 (that’s today!) until Nov. 7, 2018. Thank you, Cheapo Dies!!! There are at least half a dozen cat dies, all under $5 and oodles of other fun dies…. click HERE to check them out!

What do you have to do to be entered to win the above cute cat die from Cheapo Dies? Well, let’s show them some gratitude… First, go to their Facebook page HERE, like it and leave them a message thanking them for their generosity! Then come back here and leave me a comment that you did so. Easy peasy. One entry per person. This giveaway is open worldwide. You will have until Midnight, Eastern Standard Time, October 28, 2018 to get your comments in. Sometime after noon Eastern Standard Time on Monday, October 29, I will publish a post listing all winners from giveaways on my blog from this hop (chosen using Random.org). Winners will have 48 hours to claim their prizes so, if you’re not subscribed, be sure to check back later that afternoon for that post!!

Well, we’re off to a roaring start! Let the fur fly (and craft scraps, too!) as you get busy cranking out those Cat Themed projects. I can’t wait to see what you create! I’ll be back later today with another kitty project to aMEWs you. Meanwhile, big, furry hugs & purrs to you all!

If you’re continuing on the hop, the next entry is the talented ionabunny HERE

~D.Ann

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Synchronized Swimming Purr-maids in a Shell-Shaped Card With Spinner Tutorial

Hello from the sunny see-side! Well, yes, I AM by the SEA (which many people use interchangeably with the ocean). But here in my blog, you get to sit by my side and SEE what I’ve been working on. (I can hear you audibly groaning!) Enough of the bad puns… let’s get to today’s project, SHELL we?!

I wanted to do a pair of mermaids swimming in a shell for the current Newton’s Nook Inky Paws Challenge #78: Summer/Beach. 

Since this week’s Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Distress It,  I chose to use Distress Oxides to make a blended seashell card base.

I got my color inspiration from the Lion’s Paw shell (Lyropecten nodosus) that I have. It starts from a light orange and goes to mauve. I decided to got to red instead…

I LOVE the easy blending of the oxide inks!! And the ridge design of this die is so very similar to real shells, it makes for a beautiful card front! This week’s Simon Says Stamp’s Monday Challenge is Sprinkles and Splatters,  so I spritzed the oxide inks hoping for a wet water look as the inks react with the water… fair, but I’ll Make them stand out more in a little bit…

 

Meanwhile, how about a tutorial for the spinner on the inside of the card? The included circle dies (probably meant for a ‘pearl’ make making a spinner super easy! You could use the small circles from any basic circle set the same way…

1. Cut the smaller circle in the middle of the bottom inside shell (110#). It is helpful to have your circle for the spinner already cut so you can choose where to put the center hole. Cut 4 additional (110#) small circles. The edges have an embossed ring around them… follow the embossing line and cut to make them slightly smaller than the opening in the card.
2. Cut a piece of 3mm foam with the inner shell die. (note: It would probably be better to already have your double sided adhesive on both sides the foam… I got ahead of myself and had to cut the adhesive to fit afterward.) Cut a circle out of it in the center using the larger circle die. cut about 1/8″ around the circle you just cut… the goal is to have the hole in the foam slightly larger than the larger circle. If you don’t want the edge of the foam showing, now would be a good time to run a sharpie that matches your card along the edges of the foam.
3. Cut two copies of the larger circle out of 110# cardstock.
4. Adhere the foam to the bottom shell INSIDE. (Note, you only have to color a small bit of the edges of this that will be seen. I wasted a lot of ink coloring the whole thing. I thought of that with the second one and just ran a marker around it before closing it up.)
5. Adhere the stack of smaller circles to one of the larger circles. Make sure this will fit in the ‘hole’ in the middle of the foam with some wiggle room and that the smaller circles fit it the small hole of the cardstock with some wiggle room.
6. Here is the secret ingredient: BABY POWDER! I like to put a little dash of baby powder on the edges of the stack of small circles to make sure there’s no adhesive that might cause them to stick to the card and not spin. Having done that and sealed up the card I found it wasn’t spinning smoothly, so I went back in and added a pinch of baby powder into the ‘hole’ with my tweezers and that solved the problem. So I recommend you just save that trouble and put a little UNDER the larger circle in the foam side ‘hole’ just so there’s a little extra in there.to keep it smooth, not enough to fall out and dust the recipient, making them sneeze and reactivate the oxide inks if you didn’t seal them! LoL!! : )
7. Now, hold the stack of small circles so they’re poking through the hole you see in the cardstock. The larger circle will keep them from going all the way through. Take the other large circle and adhere the small circles to it on the other side of the shell (what will be the inside of the card. This will keep it from falling back down. Adhere the shell to the foam.

• Adhere your already decorated large spinner circle to the circle that’s in the middle of the shell making sure no adhesive sticks to the shell card itself. I used a scalloped circle to make it easier to have something to catch with your finger.

I’ve been wanting to try Finnabair’s Art Alchemy Opal Magic paints on both light and dark paper to compare them, so I grabbed the Blue-Violet for the purr-maids’ tails and tops and the results were delightful! On the black cardstock this gorgeous shimmery paint is more purple with hints of blue and on white cardstock it’s more blue with hints of purple (how does it know?! LoL!)… Truly magical!!

To finish, I used the seashells stencil with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide… it was interesting to see that it blended a little with the background colors, becoming more green at the bottom and more blue at the top. I love that Distress Oxide inks can layer without becoming mud!

I had been worrying that, since they stay reactive to water, if the card were to get wet in transit or the recipient were to spill water on it, it would move the ink wherever it got wet.  I just watched the video on Jennifer McGuire’s new blog post (HERE) where she used Design Master Clear Finish Matte spray to seal her AMAZING Distress Oxide project and it looked fine… soooo, I rooted through my supplies and found Plaid’s FolkArt Cearcote Acrylic Sealer, Matte Finish and decided to give it a try.

 

BTW – I don’t know if you can read the stamp on the back, but it cheekily says: “If it was a Hallmark, it wouldn’t look this good!” : )

The before pics are on the left and the after are on the right. It seems to have made the colors a little more vivid. It didn’t seem to reactivate the inks (phew) and they do have a slightly shiny matte photo finish.

Note: I posted that question on Tim Holtz’ Facebook page and he just replied. He suggested using Distress Micro Glaze. I will have to try that next time and compare. Thanks, Tim!

 

Now, to finish off the water droplet look I wanted on the front. I have a hard time being random when adding water droplets, so it was perfect to have the spritzed discolored areas to follow as a guide for some truly random glossy accents droplets.

I close with a video of the spinner in action. (just click in the middle of the picture below or on the arrow in the middle to start it)

View this post on Instagram

Synchronized swimming purr-maids spinner shell card now on the blog – 8/13/18 post (Link in profile.) #honeybeestamps #newtonsnook #newtonsnookdesigns #Rangerink #distressoxideinks #primamarketing #finnabairproducts #artalchemy #sssmchallenge – Sprinkles & Splatters #ssswchallenge – Distress It #spinnercard #finnabair #opalmagic #opalmagicpaint #diecutting #synchronizedswimming #seashellcard #spinnercard #papercrafts #papercrafting #cardmaking #handmadecards #liveinthesunshine #swiminthesea #plaidcrafts FolkArt #clearcote #seashells #mermaids #liveinthesunshineswiminthesea

A post shared by @ d.ann.c on Aug 13, 2018 at 8:32am PDT

Supplies:

• Newton’s Nook Designs:
  • Purr-maid Newton stamp set
  • Paradise Palms stamp set (sentiment)
  • Seashells Stencil
• Honeybee Stamps Seashell Card Honey Cuts die
• Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles – Small
• My Sentiments Exactly Back of Card Set (that ‘Hallmark’ sentiment)
• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks: Abandoned Coral, Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, and Peacock Feathers
• Tsukineko Versamark Ink
• Judikins Extreme Peacock embossing powder
• WoW! Metallic Silver Sparkle embossing powder
• Spectrum Noir Metallic markers: Pewter, Pink Quartz, Silver Ingot
• Prima Art Alchemy Opal Magic Acrylic Paint – Blue-Violet
• Recollections 110# cardstock & 65# white and black cardstock
• Worldwide Papers Caribbean Colors – Ocean cardstock
• The Fine Touch gold poster board (the outer shell pattern)
• Foamies 3mm foam sheet
• Simply Defined Double Sided adhesive 2.5″
• Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue
• Plaid FolkArt Clearcote Acrylic Sealer Matte Finish
• The secret ingredient: baby powder

I’m playing along with the following challenges – click on any one of them for more information on how you can join the fun:

• Newton’s Nook Designs Inky Paws Challenge #78: Summer/Beach Theme
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Sprinkles & Splatters
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Distress It
• CropStop August Linky Party #42: Anything Goes  (Aleene’s, Core’dinations, Prima, Ranger, Spectrum Noir, Spellbinders, Tsukineko, WOW!)

It makes my day to read your comments… thanks for taking the time to leave some love!!

~D.Ann

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Thinking of You Card With DCAM Stencils & Spellbinders Dies

Hello, all! I HAVE been busy, just not with crafting lately. I’m popping in now with a quick post of a pair of cards I made using Spellbinders dies and Die Cuts and More Stencils.

The November DCAM (Die Cuts and More) challenge is to use stencils and at least three of these colors:

That works well with Simon Says Stamp’s Monday Challenge: Trio-tastic.

And they just happen to go perfectly with Marker Pop’s color Challenge #109 to pick 3 of:

I decided to use one of DCAM’s new Two-Step stencils, using an ombre inking of Memento’s Rhubarb Stalk on the first step and some Gelatos mixed into whipped spackle on step two:

I had leftover spackle, so decided to tri a different angle. (Yes, I admit, it’s a vague and terrible pun!)

Inking the butterfly diecut with Rhubarb Stalk before removing it from the die added extra interest. I was pleased with how the Spellbinders curved borders die made a great banner. For dimension, I just folded the scallops up a bit.

At first, I was just going to have the butterfly on there, but it needed a flower. I wanted something to go with the banner, so I pulled cut a scalloped circle, cut it in half and folded it at each valley toward the center of the circle. Then I took a couple of Copic markers to emphasize the petals. You’d never know it wasn’t a flower die!

So… which one do you like better… the ombre triangles going straight across or the solid ones at an angle? I kind of like the latter one a bit better… glad I had the extra spackle that made me try it!

Materials used:

• Die Cuts and More: Tri-Elegant two-step stencil
• Spellbinders dies: A2 Curved Borders One Card Creator, Classic Scalloped Circles, and Wings of Hope
• Die-Versions Sweet Wordlets: Thinking of You
• Memento dye ink: Rhubarb Stalk
• Copic Markers YR 21 & 24
• Faber-Castell Gelatos – Gold
• Faber-Castell Whipped Spackle
• Core’dinations Foundations cardstock Canvas Texture – Golden
• Core’dinations Gemstons Cardstock – Quartz
• Coredinations cardstock – White
• DCWV card base
• Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L EZ Runner permanent adhesive
• Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue
• Misc. foam squares

I’ll be entering these cards in the following challenges (either linked to this post or to Instagram). Click on any of them for more info on how you can join the fun:

• DCAM (Die Cuts and More) November challenge
  • Edited to add:
    • Thank you, DCAM, for the honor of being chosen as your           international winner!
• Marker POP! Challenge #109 Color
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Trio-Tasic (3 colors/3 words)
• Crop Stop Linky Party #22: Anything Goes
  • (They carry Spellbinder, Memento & Core’doinations)

I’m glad you could stop by today! The Winter Coffee Lover’s hop is coming up in just a couple of weeks, so I’ll look forward to seeing you then, if not before.

~D.Ann

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