We Are 3's Muddy Paws

 What a ball I had with Muddy Paws.  The blue patterned paper is cut in the drape fold.  For the drape fold, I printed two different patterns back to back.

Pop over to the Etsy shop where Bonnie has added some fabulous new designs.

                    

Muddy Paws at We Are 3

I used We Are 3's fab Muddy Paws to create today's card.  The background is from the Muddy Paws paper collection - enlarged considerably.  Then I used the burlap pattern from the collection to digitally color the doily behind the heart - which I layered and popped for dimension.  The dog and heart is from the Muddy Paws printables.

                

Angel Kitty with Cheryl Seslar County Clip Art

Hello, All!

I've been working on pet-themed cards - after a while, they all begin to look the same.  Today I made a card featuring Angel Kitties by Cheryl Seslar.  I love how this one turned out. I made a pop-up heart frame, then accented it with clouds and stars in the same digitalfile.  It's a super simple card, but with a punch of color coordinated through the digital file. 

The black chevron and striped cardstocks are from Craftsmith's Natural Luxury...the white embossed cardstock is Tim Holtz.

A Gorgeous Card in only 4 Minutes!

HAH!!!!! I could literally spend HOURS on a card.  Ideally, I should finish a card in a matter of minutes.  I thought when I bought this embossing folder by Darice, I could quickly make an elegant sympathy card (in this case - Pet Loss).  Hah!  We all know the size of an A2 card - why are these folders always just a little bit off?  And with the embossed frame so close to the card edge (only 1/8" smaller) - it was extremely difficult to center this embossed image on the card.  No such thing as finishing this "simple" card FAST!  Truly a shame - because it is a very beautiful embossed image - Clean - but NOT simple.

This cute dog is a freebie from Melonheadz.

Pets: Adopt Love - Mega Pet Adoption Event

Pet sympathy cards for Tucson's Mega Pet-Adoption Event on April 11 - Tucson Expo Center.

Pet Talk - the last of it

This card was made using a cat silhouette from Clip Art Best, along with the heart die from Spellbinders.

Pet Sympathy Cards

Hi, All!

I have some more pet sympathy cards for you today.  I love this little pup.

For today's cat card, I used Aurora Wings Sweet Dreams digital stamp.  Kadoodle Bug's Puppy Peeker - perfect for this type of card.

Suzy Bee's Challenge - Cards to Inspire You

This past week was extremely busy.  After a quick & crazy trip to Las Vegas last weekend, the week just hasn't stopped.  But dropping some things - finished with my One-Stroke class - quitting my day job (but not to become a painter - lol!).  I keep thinking I'm freeing up time - but I find as I'm making plans with others, we are now into February and March!  Guess it never stops.

But, as always, I try to get some cards in on the weekend - and here is the first card I've made in over a week.  It's perfect to let someone know you're thinking of them after the loss of their pet.

I'm also attempting to figure out just what is my favorite way of coloring digis - so you will see more of this little guy as I try to color him using Copics, Distress Pens, Colored Pencils - and whatever other items I've spent all my money on to find the perfect medium for me.  :D  This digital from 2 Cute Ink is colored using Adobe Photoshop.  While I love the perfect blending everyone else gets with their markers - I am thinking I may just end up coming back to this method for my favorite.  We'll see.

Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge this week is ATG with a Twist - Stripes.  I made this card this morning before checking out Suzy Bee's - but since I had a striped background, am entering it in the Challenge.  Will make more striped cards later today to include.  Be sure to check out Suzy Bee's for some amazing inspiration!

Here is my second card - this time colored using EK Success Pigment Markers.  These don't blend - though with patience you can darken areas by going over them several times. 

Here's card #3 - colored with Copic Markers.  So far - no front runner...LOL!  But because of my heavy hand, I do prefer markers with hard tips.  I find it very hard to "stay in the lines" with Copics - the tips are too soft - but I'm pretty pleased with the pup.

This next card was colored with PrismaColors colored pencils and baby oil.  I think what I especially like about working with PrismaColors is that I don't fear of my ink running out mid-project.  With markers, there really is no way of telling how much ink is in your pen - I'm not fond of refilling - but replacing gets expensive.  With light colors, it's even sometimes hard to even be able to tell if there is ink there.  Of all the images so far, I think the flower looks best using PrismaColors.  I want to add - I just learned about blending with PrismaColors.  Many people use Gasmol or mineral spirits.  In my YouTube search for this, I saw a video for using baby oil instead.  I tried both - I prefer baby oil...the end product is nice and smooth.  With my hard touch, with mineral spirits I tended to blend so hard, I would almost tear a hole in the cardstock.

Okay, last one for the night.  This next card uses Distress Markers.  The YouTube video I watched for this technique uses a craft mat.  I don't keep mine out all the time - it's stored rolled up as I purchased it.  So to pull out this huge craft mat when I want to do some quick coloring wasn't ideal.  I just purchased a Sizzix crease pad - the packing material included two plastic sheets - perfect!  Small enough to be handy all the time.

Now the big question - which method did I like best?  Well, I think I decided it's not the method so much as it is my creative mojo for the day.  Last week I wasn't happy with any method - the impetus for me doing this today.  Today - I liked all the methods!  But I think if I have to pick a favorite, it's going to be the PrismaColors and baby oil.  While I'm "satisfied" with all the results - the PrismaColors actually turned out closest to what I intended.  And while PrismaColor pencils are expensive - they are much cheaper than all the other methods.  I'm sure I will lose pencils long before any of them wear out - and I bought 60 colors at Hobby Lobby for about $15 with my coupon and employee discount.  I think I have a winner!

Vintage Pet Sympathy - OWH #240

Today I decided to create a Pet Sympathy card using Operation Write Home's Sketch Challenge #240.  I turned the sketch upside down.