Gift card holder

Hello!

Today I'm here today with Creative Inspirations Paints to show you a cute gift card holder I made for my son's birthday earlier this week.  He gets such a kick out of receiving handmade goodies from his mom.

I cut it with my Silhouette Cameo, the template of which included the shapes for the paper and the stars as well as the basic holder itself.  It even has a little hidden tab to keep it closed.

I stamped the striped paper with little Antique Silver stars and painted the larger red stars with Garnet, then I embossed some of them with Deliquesce Super Sparkle Red embossing powder and popped up the largest star.  Some red Jeweled Inspirations finished them off.

Thank you for joining me and don't forget our challenge this fortnight is Inspired By: Back to School.  See you there!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oldie But Goodie - Embossing (cardstock and paints are old)

April Showers with CI Paints

Hello! 

Today I'd like to show you a get well card using paints and glitters from Creative Inspiration Paints, because shimmer and glitter are bound to make anyone feel better, right?  I hope it makes my stepdaughter feel better - she had an emergency appendectomy a couple of days ago and isn't feeling very well right now.

I've followed the sketch which was shared by the talented Kristie over at Stamp Nation (here for non-members) except I flipped it on its side.

I've paper pieced the little umbrellas and rain boots using various printed papers.

The rain boots have been glammed up with Resplendence Angel Dust, and the sun behind the sentiment has been painted with Sunshine and Pumpkin Creative Inspirations Paints.

The raindrops were first stamped with grey ink and then again using Sky Blue CI Paint.

I even made a matching envelope, coloring the sun and cloud with Copics and using CI Paints for the raindrops again.

Thank you for joining me today, and don't forget to head on over and check out our Anything Goes challenge.  We'd love to have you play along!

Happy crafting! 

Challenges entered:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Ode to Sunshine
Pile It On #30 - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
613 Ave. Create #30 - Anything Goes (opt. Friendship Day)

Shimmer Tags

Hello!

For today's project I have made a couple of tags and used several products from the Creative Inspirations store.  I never have enough tags but they're so useful to have on hand. 

I've been playing around lately with mixed media projects, and one of the things I've started experimenting with is stenciling.  I LOVE stenciling and find myself doing it more and more, even when I'm making simple projects.  It adds a nice note of depth and interest to a background, plus it's just plain fun.  And the color challenge this week over at The Play Date Cafe just begged to be played with -

Cream, Melon, Cantaloupe.  Yum.

On this card I stenciled the tag using the Rose Builder Stencil from MFT with Peach and Mint paints for a very subtle base image, then I stenciled the diamonds with Mango.   I inked the edges of the tag with a dark peach ink then turned to the die cut using Rose Bouquet Die-Namics die, also from MFT.  I used patterned papers, first painting the pink paper with Peach before embossing both it and the green piece with Deliquesce Metallic Copper.  The stamp is from MFT called Blooming Roses and coordinates wtih the stencil and die.

Here it is at a different angle where you can see the stenciled image a little better.  Very subtle but very shimmery. 

Some hand dyed crinkled seam binding finishes this simple little tag.

I brushed the second tag with Peach and Green Olive, then stenciled the diamonds also using Green Olive.  I applied peach glitter around the edges of the tag and peach and green glitters to the rose diecut after first embossing it with Deliquesce Metallic Copper.  A little stamping and some green hand dyed crinkled seam binding finish this tag off.

Thank you so much for joining me and don't forget to pop on over to the current CI Paints challenge, the theme of which is "Ribbon and Bling."  See you there!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

The Play Date Cafe - Cream, Melon, Cantaloupe
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Good to be Green
Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 - Sizzlin' Summer Colors + Ribbon
Divas By Design - Tags
Crafty Ribbons #53 - Clean and Simple (CAS) + Ribbon
Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes

Friendship Feather

Hello!

My card today for Creative Inspirations Paints uses a project I've been wanting to try ever since seeing it done several months ago, and that is to make a feather out of washi tape.  But first I had to make the washi tape itself!  Kendra Sand, one of the designers at CI Paints, had a great tutorial on making shimmery washi tape a few months ago.  You can see it here.

I used CI Paints in Green Olive, Pumpkin and Buttercup, brushing them on in random fashion.  (I only had 1" wide tape which makes a wide feather.  Narrower tape will yield a narrower feather.)  Then I stamped a small design on it with black dye ink and folded it over a covered florist's wire before snipping the sides to create the "feather."  No, it's not supposed to look realistic, just feathery.   :-)

See the shimmer on the feather?  There's also a bit of glitz on the largest button that I had gold leafed with some leftover leaf a short while ago.  I always keep a few of these on hand.

The rest of the card was kept simple with some stitching, some coarse textiles, some jute twine and a variety of vintage buttons.  I did, however, spray a bit of my homemade shimmer spray on the two-paper layer.  I make these sprays with various CI Paints as well as a few other ingredients.  You can see it a tiny bit in this picture though it doesn't come through as well as I'd like.

Thank you for taking time to visit today, and I hope you'll try your hand at making feathers (and/or washi tape) too!  Don't forget to head over to play in our latest challenge, the theme of which is Inspired By: Anything Goes.

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Frosted Designs - Use ribbon/twine/washi tape (at least 2 of 3)
Eclectic Ellapu - It's a Man's World
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes + Create Your Own (from chart)  I used: patterned paper, solid paper, sentiment, sketch, die cut, glimmer mist (homemade), buttons, washi tape, twine, fibers.

SCS - Sketch #440 (I didn't enter this challenge, just used the sketch)

Bottle Cap Magnets

This is today's 2nd post.  To see my project for A Gem of a Challenge, please go here.  (Or scroll down.)


Hello!

Today's project uses some fun products from Creative Inspirations Paints, including their newest product, the one-step resin known as Resinesence.  I've needed some new magnets for my magnetic white board, so I thought I'd make my own using bottle caps (the purchased kind)!

I punched out one-inch circles from white cardstock then painted them with two colors each of CI Paints.  Then I stamped them with tiny stamps.  I glittered one of them with Resplendence Angel Dust and added Jeweled Inspirations to two of them (seated in flattened bead caps first).

With a red Jeweled Inspiration

 Here are a couple of close ups.

With Resplendence Angel Dust

Now as soon as I can find my little magnet circles, I'll be able to attach them and use them as intended.  In the meantime, I'll call these "desk jewelry."  Heh.

Thank you for joining me, and please don't forget to stop by and play with us in this fortnight's challenge which is Inspired by Red, White and Blue.

Happy crafting!

Products used:

Paints: Garnet, Aqua Marine, Sunshine, Sky Blue, Citrus, Emerald
Resplendence Angel Dust
Red Jeweled Inspirations
Resinesence



Challenges Entered:

Simon Says - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

Hearts Aflutter for CI Paints

Hello!

Today's project is a canvas board I made.  I've never done anything like this before and had a lot of fun with this one.  I'm calling it my "CAS" attempt because I can promise that my future canvases will have more stuff on them.

I started out with a layer of sheet music, then gessoed over the top of that.  Unfortunately, I think I applied a little too much as it's now a bit difficult to see the music.  Live and learn.  I then painted the piece with blue and turquoise acrylic paints over which I painted CI Paints in Sky Blue and Aqua Marine.  Instant shimmer!

The cheesecloth was painted with Autumn Wheat and Rustic Red with touches of Gold here and there, then stamped with the wings from the Tim Holtz Regal Flourish stamp set. 

The centerpiece heart is grunge board on which I used the Faux Cloisonne Technique using Rustic Red, Aqua Marine and Royal Purple.  A couple of gold bead caps nestle the red Jeweled Inspiration nicely. 

The little hearts are painted with Rustic Red and the wings were painted with Fairy Dust then glittered up a bit with Resplendence Angel Dust.  Some gold leaft around the edges and it was finished!

Thank you so much for joining me, and don't forget to visit our latest challenge, Inspired By: Red, White and Blue!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oozak #16 - Anything Goes w/a Sentiment
Divas By Design - Distressing
Sugar Creek Hollow #63 - Mixed Media
Pile It On #25 - Vintage/Shabby Chic

Time To Shine

Hello!

Today's project isn't a card.  I'm taking a tiny break from cards because the urge to put stuff to other surfaces is too much to ignore.  There is SO much inspiration out there in blogland, so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  And here is the result - a 5x7 canvas board that I thought might make a nice, colorful decoration somewhere.

And colorful it is.  I love color, and lots of it.  I've only used three acrylic colors on the base, but I more than made up for it with the decorations.  Every single flower started out another color but was painted with Creative Inspirations shimmer paints to suit my tastes.  And the frame...well, I'll get to that in a bit.  And I'll let the pics do most of the talking this time.

Bits of gold embossing sprinkled about.

The stamps are from the Inspired By Stamping store, Paris for the clock with Eiffel Tower, and French Country Backgrounds for the faint bits of chicken wire pattern that you can see here and there.  I embossed the clock with black embossing powder to make it stand out.

Lots of color and texture.  The small clock is wood.

A tiny prize in a Christmas cracker.

This little frame started out bright silver.  I think it was the prize in an English Christmas cracker several years ago and has been floating around the house ever since, too small to use but too cute to discard.  So glad I didn't.

I gessoed it and then coated it with several layers of shimmer paints.  The flowers and leaves were colored with Copics then accented with more shimmer paints.  Black ink was sponged over all, then wiped off, leaving the colors dulled down a bit.

Sweet little birdie.

Thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you, too, take a notion to do some crafting.  I have to let the smell of E6000 filter out of my craft room before I go back in, but I can hardly wait to try the next project!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Stampotique Designers Challenge #105 - Anything But a Card
Oozak #16 - Anything Goes w/a Sentiment
Creative Card Crew #38 - Metal
Divas By Design - Distressing
Sugar Creek Hollow #63 - Mixed Media
Eclectic Ellapu - Summer Sunshine

Keychains? Or Bookmarks?

Hello!

I have something for you today that I was playing around with using products from the Creative Inspirations Paints store and wanted to share.  And you may decide for yourself what they really are.  (They're not keychains.)  :-)
 

I know, I know, they LOOK like keychains, and I suppose you could use them for that if you wanted, but I think they'd be really cute bookmarks as well.  At least that's what I'm telling my husband when he opens his Father's Day card and one of these falls out.  Shhh...

They are made with clear shrink plastic, Creative Inspirations Paints, CI Resinesense, and rhinestones (one of which is a CI Jeweled Inspiration).

I cut the shapes with regular dies (the largest of each shape), punched a 1/2" hole in one end, sanded one side with fine grit sandpaper, and painted the sanded side with CI Paints, in this case Gold and Garnet.  Now before I go any further, let me say that some of the pictures don't match the finished products because I wasn't really planning on doing a tutorial per se and just snapped a few pics here and there as I was experimenting.  The pic below on the left was not a keeper.  I tried to use more than one color and it didn't work out.  The one on the right worked fine.

Two colors turned very muddy when shrunk.

A single color worked much better.

After painting the shapes, I stamped images with Staz-On.  Then I put the heat gun on them until they were shrunk.

Here's a confession: I was actually trying to use the shiny (non-sanded) sides of the shapes, but after several failed attempts, it turned out that the painted side looked better - shimmery and glittery!

Tip:  For larger shapes, dust with Embossing Buddy first so the shape doesn't stick to itself when shrinking, like this one did.  It was a challenge to flatten it out.  (Some colorful language may have ensued.)

At this point I  painted the backs of the shapes with the same color paint, four coats.  Then I signed them and topped things off with a coat of clear glaze.

Now it was time to finish the fronts.  I used CI Paint's newest product, the wonderful one-step resin, Resinesense.  I applied several thin coats to allow the resin to build up into an attractive, full shape.  Of COURSE I goofed and caused one of the shapes to leak resin into the punched hole, but a small drill bit took care of that after it dried (because that was when I discovered it).  The good news is the shimmer from the paints isn't dimmed at all by the resin. 

I applied a rhinestone to one and a Jeweled Inspiration to the red shape.  It just took a tiny bit of glue to hold them until the resin could anchor them in place.  Those babies aren't going anywhere.

And here are the finished products.  There is a lot of room for creativity here.

Needs more stamping.

A little too much stamping.

This one's juuuust right.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you give these keychains er... bookmarks a try.  We'd love to see them!  And don't forget to join our current challenge, the theme of which is Inspired By: Father's Day!

Happy crafting!

Supplies used:

From the Creative Inspirations Paints store: Paints: - Gold, Garnet; Jeweled Inspirations; Resinesense.
Clear shrink plastic
Rhinestone
Staz-On ink

Challenges entered:

Crafty Cardmakers #93 - Father's Day
Creative Card Crew #38 - Metal
Simon Says Stamp - Masculine/Father's Day
Pile It On #23 - For or From a Father
Eclectic Ellapu - "B" is for... (bookmark, bling) 

Shimmery, Sparkly Wedding

Hello!

Today's card is for my stepdaughter and her soon-to-be husband (the wedding is this week!).  As it's an all white card, and I don't DO white (much less all white), what better reason to add shimmer and sparkle?  Creative Inspirations Paints to the rescue!

Of course I had to emboss a base layer because let's face it, that much solid, smooth white would make me run screaming for the hills.  (I can't help it, Kristie and Maureen.)  Heh.

The little birdies were a natural for painting with Winter Frost...

...and the double layer heart-shape twiggy die cut lent itself to some strategic and generous helpings of Resplendence Angel Dust.  Oh my, how it sparkles!

Some teeny, tiny pearls for the eyes and sentiment, and some Jeweled Inspirations (small) on the corners finish things off.

I'll admit that this card didn't take the hours and hours that most of my cards take because of the white, so in that regard, white's pretty cool.  Just don't get too used to seeing it on THIS blog.  That is, unless there are more weddings in my future, and my daughter assures me there aren't.  <sigh>

Thank you for joining me, and don't forget to head over to the Creative Inspirations challenge blog.  The current challenge is Anything Goes!

Happy crafting!

CI Supplies used:

Winter Frost paint
Resplendence Angel Dust
Jeweled Inspirations

Challenges entered:

Frilly and Funky - A Time For Weddings
Frosted Designs - Punches
Pile It On #21 - Put a Bird On It
613 Ave. Create #21 - Anything Goes
Fussy and Fancy - Pearls and Lace (Do the lacy background and lacy die cut count?)

Dream

Hello!

Today's card was made using a chipboard tag that I had painted with Creative Inspirations Paints in Tutu Pink and Mellow Yellow.  I love pink and yellow together as it reminds me of spring flowers (think roses especially), so I use them together every chance I get.  Once the paint was dry I stamped it with the sentiment and some leafy flourishes.

I also wanted to use a piece of background paper that I had made months ago using the acrylic block technique and waterbase markers on a piece of glossy paper.  The finished product looked so like a sunset and I've been waiting for a chance to use it ever since.  The marbled colors on the tag sort of blend in with the sunset-ty colors, don't you think?

Here is a view of the tag and orange mat that show the shimmery qualities, especially of the mat.  It was dark coral, but I brushed the edges with Rose Quartz which turned it a slightly pinker color, then I inked the edges with distress ink. 

Look closely at the tag for a sneek peak of a new product that Creative Inspirations is about to release.  Fun!

A satin bow and some rhinestones complete this card.  Thank you for joining me, and I hope you'll head on over to the Creative Inspirations challenge blog and play along.  This fortnight's challenge is Mother's Day.  See you there!!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Paris (or...I can dream, can't I?)

Hello!

Today's card is a "just because" kind of card that I've made using the ever delightful Creative Inspirations paints.  I love, love, LOVE them, and one of my favorite ways to use them is the marbled background technique, which you can find here.  It is my new favorite technique and I've already done it several times.

This time I've used Tutu Pink, Mellow Yellow and Pink Highlights, the last of which is interesting because it looks ivory until you turn it towards the light, then the shimmery pink shows up.

I had to photograph the card at a couple of different angles to try to capture the shimmery goodness.  See that slight pink?

Here's another closeup.  You can see more of the pink down there to the right.  I really wish I could have a video within a picture so I could move the card around and show you the shimmer.  It is a fascinating way to create an interesting background that can pretty much stand on its own.

I used some lovely product from the Inspired By Stamping shop, including the always versatile Paris stamp set, the new Background Basics III stamp set (behind the word "Paris"), the Fancy Labels Die, and some Colonial Rose Satin Ribbon.  Some dots of gold glitter glue at the bottom finish this card.

And that, dear friends, is today's card.  Thanks so much for joining me and I wish you a lovely, craft-filled day.

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons #45 - No Design(er) Paper
Delightful Challenges - Stash It (use from stash - gold embossing powder, gold glitter glue)
Fussy and Fancy #88 - Anything Goes