Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Fall, I Miss You & A Winner!

Hey! I have to quickly write this post so I can help my husband move our couch out of our living room. We're getting new couches tomorrow--it's only taken two years to find something we can agree on. ha ha

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge, and this week, the colors are wine, pumpkin, and moss:


Those fall colors are awesome, aren't they? This week, we're being sponsored by E.A.D. Designs.


The company sent us some very cute stickers, and they were super easy to work with. Using the Fall Trees Stickerz, I came up with this card:



I started off by recoloring Adrienne Looman's Stitches Circles and resizing them to nest inside one another. I played around with adding drop shadows to give the stitching depth, but I'm not crazy about how they look on the wine color. Oh well...live and learn.

I added the E.A.D. tree and sentiment stickers and did some heavy distressing and inking on the edges of the papers. Here's a close-up:



Want to play along? This week's winner receives a prize from E.A.D. To link up to the PDCC, click HERE. The company also offers free shipping. Woo hoo!



I also wanted to thank for everyone who joined the Paper Crafts' Holiday Cards and More blog hop! The winner of the issue is #55 Puppy Kisses & Paper Dreams. So, Puppy Kisses and Paper Dreams, please contact me at the e-mail under the tab at the top and I'll forward it on to Paper Crafts. Thanks!

Supplies
Stickers: (Fall Trees) E.A.D. Designs
Cardstock: (Scarlet Jewel) PTI
Patterned Paper: (canvas digital paper from Peach Cobbler collection) Adrienne Looman at Two Peas in a Bucket; (orange polka dot from Head Over Heels collection) Lily Bee Designs
Digital Element: (circles from Stitches Circles) Adrienne Looman at Two Peas
Ink: (Antique Linen Distress Ink) Ranger

Friday, September 21, 2012

Holiday Cards & More Blog Hop

Happy Friday! Today, I'm participating in the Paper Crafts Magazine's Holiday Cards and More 12 Blogs of Christmas Blog Hop. 


If you're hopping with us, you should be coming from Latisha's blog. To start from the beginning, or if you get lost along the way, here's the order:

Jocelyn Olson <--You are here

I was so excited to be asked to participate and be among these super talented ladies. :) Woot!

We're each using one of the free Paper Crafts sentiments (you can find them HERE) and I used the "Yuletide Greetings" on my ultra-CAS card:


I pretty much just used the sentiment for the card, although I used it in two ways. First, I imported the image into the Silhouette Designer Studio and die cut the sentiment on silver cardstock. 

For the "greetings," I converted the file into a png file and cropped the word from the rest of the sentiment. Then, I converted the sentiment into a digital brush in Photoshop. It was a quick and easy way to recolor the word, and now I have the "greetings" brush for my next project (think Season's Greetings, Birthday Greetings, etc.). Here's a close-up:


I received my copy of Holiday Cards & More, and it is FABULOUS! It's definitely worth buying for card, tag, and gift wrapping ideas. If you can't find it, you can purchase it HERE

You can try to win a copy by commenting on each of the designers' blogs. Each designer will give away one issue. To enter, please leave a comment on this post (through September 25th) for a chance to win.

Next on the hop is the very talented Meredith. Be sure to hop all the way to the Paper Crafts' blog (psst--they have some great prizes). 

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Digital sentiments: (Holiday Cards & More vol. 7) Paper Crafts Magazine
Cardstock: (Sweet Tooth) Stamp School, (navy) Bazzill, (silver) The Paper Studio
Thread: (green) Gutterman
Digital elements on Photoshop
Die cutting on the Silhouette Cameo

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

You Measure Up

Hi! Wow, is it Thursday already? Fall is definitely starting, and yesterday I had to turn on the heat. There's always something about the first time turning on the furnace (besides the smell) that makes it really feel like fall is here.

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge. This week's colors are Flamingo, Honey, and Coffee :


We're being sponsored this week by The Alley Way Stamps, so I used the Work It Out set for my card:



Isn't that scale cute? I simply fussy cut the image, paper pieced the outside, and colored the center with Copics. For the rulers, I used an off-white digital image from Echo Park and changed the hue to match the challenge colors. I opted to cut out the rules and fussy cut them. Here's a close-up:


Like the colors? Want to play along? This week, the winner will win a prize from The Alley Way Stamps:


You can link up your project HERE.

Please be sure to come back on Friday. I'm participating in a blog hop for the new Holiday Cards and More issue by Paper Crafts. Eek! I'm excited!

Have a great day!

Supplies
Cardstock: (Rustic White) Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: (red and brown plaid from Konnichiwa) Basic Grey), (yellow from Wave Searcher) Fancy Pants
Stamps: (Work It Out) The Alley Way Stamps
Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento
Markers: Copics
Digital Element: (ruler from For the Record 2 Tailored) Echo Park

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Watercolor Flower

Hi Everyone! I hope you're having a great week. We're definitely back into the swing of things regarding school, after school activities, etc., and I'm enjoying a break from work. :)

My mom's birthday is this weekend--69 (although she'd kill me for publicly blogging that!). It seems like she was 40 about 10 seconds ago (and according to her, it was--hee hee). I wanted to make a card she would like, and I managed to work in this week's Play Date Cafe colors and join in the Hero Arts challenge for September (using holiday products in a non-traditional way). Score!

The colors for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge are Orchid, Sea Foam, and Tangerine:


For my birthday, my husband bought me my own set of watercolors. I am a total novice with them, but I thought I would try it on the card:


I cut the Hero Arts Poinsettia Silhouette image onto watercolor paper and then watercolored it using the colors. I added a little bling to the flower centers. Now that I look at the photo and the PDCC colors, I realize my flower may be a little too orangey tangerine instead of reddish tangerine. Oops!

Here's a close-up of the flowers, and you can see how I lifted the edges of the petals to add dimension:


I forgot to add in a little Perfect Pearls when I was coloring, so I spritzed the die cut with some Pearl mist. I think I use that stuff on everything. Ha ha

I finished off the card with a Hero Arts digital sentiment from the Say It Again set. This set is so versatile--it's definitely been a good investment.

Like the colors? Want to play along? The winner of this week's PDCC will win a prize from Simon Says Stamp.

To enter your project, click HERE.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Specialty Paper: (premium matte photo paper) Office Max; watercolor paper
Stamp: (sentiment from Say It Again! set) Hero Arts
Die cut file: (Poinsettia) Hero Arts
Rhinestones: Doodlebug Design
Ribbon: (Aqua Mist) PTI

Friday, September 7, 2012

We Click

Happy Friday! Well, my daughter's back in school, my big work projects are done, and things are finally returning to normal. I figured I would be crafting up a storm, but instead I've been feeling pretty non-crafty the past couple of weeks. *sigh* The other day, I even chose cleaning over crafting. Yep, it's clinical.

So today, I'm sharing one of my cards over at Two Peas:


This card was technically one of the more difficult cards I've made--lots of trial and error. The "click" with the graph paper is an enlarged Captured digital journaling card from Hello Forever. The journaling card was in grey, and after playing around, I changed the card into an overlay with "Hard Light" function and adjusted the hue and saturation.

The cute cameras are from Adrienne Looman's Retro Camera set. For the hearts, I inked some Studio Calico wood veneers with a Distress Ink. Here's a close-up:


I'm entering this card into the Moxie Fab World Movement challenge. I usually think of movement literally, but with the Paper Crafts' Card Design Handbook, I saw fab examples of movement by drawing the eye from one element to the next. In this card, it would be the hearts, camera, "we," and "click."

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend!

Supplies
Cardstock: (white) Stamp School
Specialty Paper: (Premium Matte Photo Paper) Office Max
Digital Elements: (cameras from Retro Camera) Adrienne Looman; (journaling card from Captured) Hello Forever both available at Two Peas in a Bucket
Stickers: (alphas) My Little Shoebox
Embellishments: (wood veneer hearts) Studio Calico
Ink: (Mustard Seed Distress Ink) Ranger)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Fall Bookmarks-PDCC #148

Hi All! We're back from our trip to the Twin Cities and it was so nice to get away for a few days. I went to two Archiver's, which is always a treat. I finally got a new paper cutter--woo hoo!

Anyways, it's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge. This week's colors are Navy Blue, Stone, and Peach:


I knew I wanted to use a Poppy Stamps die I hadn't used yet, and I ended up making bookmarks:


I started off by making my own grey paper. I have very little grey paper and couldn't find the right color (even at Archiver's), so I used grey watercolor on watercolor paper. I love the heathered look--it reminds me of a cozy sweatshirt.

Next, I die cut two bookmarks in each color and die cut the Gentle Leaf dies. I heat embossed the edges of the dies with my favorite Holographic embossing powder. I didn't want to use actual glitter since I didn't want glitter in a book. Here's a close up:


I wish I could figure out how to photograph the glittery look. *sigh* Maybe I'll figure it out someday.

This week's PDCC is sponsored by Tami Mayberry Designs:



Want to play along? You can enter your project HERE.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day.


Supplies
Cardstock: (Navy) Bazzill; (Sweet Blush) PTI
Watercolor paper
Dies: (Bookmark) PTI; (Gentle Leaf) Poppy Stamps
Embossing Powder: (Holographic) Ranger
Ribbon: (silver), (pink) May Arts

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