One Layer--No Flourish

One Layer--No Flourish, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

This week's challenge on the Less is More blog is to create a card with a flourish. Laurie at the Stamping Up North blog made this beautiful card. I went looking for a flourish and was distracted by this dandelion stamp.

I love this stamp!

So I decided to use Laurie's recipe and forgo the flourish! =D

I grabbed a long clear block, using a Post-it note to mask the bottom--it was too long for my card. Then I stamped the new Shaded Lilac Distress Ink all over the clear block and pressed it onto the card blank. The really cool thing is it created texture on the card! You can really feel the ink spots! :-)

Then I stamped the dandelion, the drifting seeds and the sentiment. In real life, you can see the sentiment much better.


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank)
Stamps: Great Impressions (dandelion and seeds); Endless Creations (sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shaded Lilac and Black Soot)
ETC: EK Success (clear block)



Thanks so very much for visiting today!

~Cynthia

Summer at the Beach

Summer at the Beach, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Happy Monday!!! =D

This page is for those of you, like me, who are currently experiencing cloudy, rainy, misty weather. ;-)

I'm loving that Carolyn over on A Colorful Journey has invited everyone along on a virtual vacation to the beach!

And I'm loving that this month's challenge over on the Inspiration Emporium blog is to "Create a Little Sunshine." (I totally hope a sunset qualifies!! LOL!)

AND I'm loving that it's Monday, so that means Shimelle has another Starting Point scrapbook page challenge up too!

Play along with us if you can!

This photo was taken a few years ago (sigh!) at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina--my most favorite place to camp in the state! I LOVE to take pictures of the sunrise and sunset each day I'm there. Does that ever get old???? =D

I used Shimelle's recipe and lots of mixy/matchy papers. Some from Crate Paper, a bit from Basic Grey and a flashcard from Tim Holtz.

I guess I had better get back to my housework. Just because it's raining doesn't mean I can take the WHOLE day off to play, now does it??

Well....maybe! ;-)



Thanks so much for dropping in today!


~Cynthia

Birthday a la Susan Raihala

Birthday a la Susan Raihala, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I ripped this card idea straight off of Susan Raihala's blog, Simplicity. She, in turn, took the idea from Michelle Bertuzzi in Card Creations Volume 10.

Did you get all that?? ;-)

I pretty much used Susan's recipe for this card. I punched out a scalloped circle, then used the negative space as my mask.

I stamped the script stamp in a lighter pink than the ink I used for the Happy Birthday stamp.

Then I smooshed the darker ink pad on some scrap paper and punched out the butterfly.

Twas like a 5-minute card, it was. =D


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank)
Stamps: Inkadinkado (script stamp); Endless Creations (birthday stamp)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar)
ETC: Martha Stewart (butterfly punch); Marvy Uchida (scallop circle punch)


I haven't created too much this week because I had jury duty. Seriously? Not fun. :-( But that's over and now I have a bit of time to create! Just waiting for the mojo to return. =D

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

~Cynthia

June 2012 Tim Holtz Tag

June 2012 Tim Holtz Tag, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Woo hoo!!! LOVE June's Tag by Tim Holtz!!!! I mean...tinting an old photo. AWESOME.

So, of course, I didn't have an old photo to tint. So I had to go all MacGyver again this month!

I stamped the lighthouse image on a piece of glossy paper, using Archival Ink. Works like a charm on that glossy paper!

Then I tinted parts of the image using...get this....Distress Markers. NO SMEARING. Awesome!! Yes, the lighthouse looks a tad pink, but I just rolled with that. ;-) I added a grunged up piece of Tim's paper along the bottom of my faux photo.

I also distressed it with Distress Inks and a paper distresser.

Then I grabbed the Alcohol Inks. I inked up the metal letter L on the left there--it stands for lighthouse, of course! I ran a piece of silver tape (the kind used for heating and air conditioning stuff) through a Dymo Label Maker. I embossed the phrase "By The Sea" and then covered it with two brown Alcohol Inks. I lightly sanded the ink off to make the letters more visible.

I also found a key in my stash and covered that with Alcohol Ink too. The little bling on the bottom right was made the same way. I glued a large blue diamond bling to a Chinese coin and added the Alcohol Inks as well.

For the background tag, I put Distress Stains in a puddle on a craft mat and dragged the tag through several times. I dried it and stamped the sand dunes and sea oats.

Finally I dyed the seam binding (it was green) with blue Distress Stain to make it match the tag. Then I adhered everything and did a little happy dance.

Or was I supposed to do a MacGyver Dance? Does he even dance?? ;-)


Supplies:
Paper: Offce tag; Ranger (Glossy Paper); Tim Holtz (Lost and Found paper pad)
Stamps: Seaside Stampin Ink (Just Beachy set); Stacy Stamps (East Bank Lighthouse)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Gathered Twig, Antique Linen); Distress Stain (Picket Fence, Stormy Sky, Frayed Burlap); Distress Markers (assorted); Alcohol Inks (Caramel, Espresso, Silver, Pitch Black); Archival Ink (Coffee)
ETC: The Sewing Place (seam binding); Making Memories (metal alphabet letters); Glue Dots; and lots of stuff I found in my stash! =D



Thanks SO much for stopping by and checking this tag out!! I had a blast making it!! =D


~Cynthia

Beach Vacation

Beach Vacation, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I love the first of the month! The crafters in Ali Edwards' One Little Word class host a blog hop, Tim Holtz posts his latest Tag 0f 2012 (uhhhh, insert link HERE when Tim posts his tag!), and I get to turn all the calendars to the next month!

OK, maybe not so much that last one....

But this "first" has Carolyn over at A Colorful Journey inviting us to go on vacation to the beach with her! Well, not really GO, but use that as inspiration to create something--anything!

So here's my card. Very beachy, yes?

I border punched the waves and dusted them with Picket Fence Distress Marker to create the foam.

So cool. *sigh* LOVE Picket Fence....

Then I stamped the sailboat on a scrap piece of paper, cutting out the sails only. I stamped the sailboat again--on the card blank.

I mushed Broken China and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks all over, leaving streaks to get the cloud effect.

I adhered the sails to the image using pop dots and then stamped the seagulls.

Finally I stamped the birthday sentiment down "in" the water. Hee hee!

Won't you join us at the beach?? Surf's up!! =D


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank); Bazzill (blue cardstock)
Stamps: Stacy Stamps (sailboat set); Endless Creations (birthday sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Tumbled Glass, Broken China); Distress Marker (Picket Fence)
ETC: Fiskars (wave border punch); EK Success (Pop Dots); Glue Glider Pro


Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!


~Cynthia

PS:  Here's a shot of Folly Beach, South Carolina, I took back in April.  LOVE Folly!  Best surfing on the East Coast, baby!!!

Father's Day

Father's Day, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Since I don't have any June birthdays to worry about, I went ahead and got my Father's Day card done early! YAY for early!!! =D

I got the idea for this card from another card maker. BUT....I can't for the life of me remember who made it. Nor can I find it. Some day, when I find it, I will give credit to that person......

Anyway.

Super easy card. I punched three squares, swiped each with a different color of blue Distress Ink, then stamped the hammer. I specifically got all crazy with the ink so it looks kind of distressed and kind of like the hammer is up in the clouds. Heh.

I spaced the squares to accommodate the wavy sentiment and called it a day! =D


Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (white card blank and remnants of a card blank)
Stamps: 100 Proof Press (hammer); Hero Arts (sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Black Soot, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans)
ETC: Marvy (square punch); Glue Glider Pro

Thanks for checking it out! =D

~Cynthia

Shaped Congrats

Shaped Congrats, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Since I got this super sweet shout out from Nonna today, I thought I should get on the ball with the blogging and earn it!! =D

My oldest niece is graduating from high school this weekend and then going on to the University of South Carolina--my alma mater! So I decided to whip up a congrats card in the university's colors for her.

I got the idea from Ann over on the KingstonMama Crafts blog and Ann got the idea from Nichole Heady on her blog, Capture the Moment. Isn't it cool how an idea can ripple so far out, like a stone tossed in a pond?? :-)

First I cut white cardstock into a rectangle shape, cut the corners off to form a tag shape, scored the line across the top and glued that section closed...so that it just bends at the score line when it's opened. I also punched two holes at the top for the ribbon.

I cut another white border piece, stamped the script on it and layered it over two pieces of red cardstock which I used a border punch on and adhered them to the card.

I used two sizes of Lacey Circle die cuts to make the red and larger (script-stamped) white circle. Then I stamped the Gamecock on a scrap piece of white cardstock and punched it out, adhering all the circle layers to the border layers on the card. (The Gamecock is USC's mascot.)

Finally, I stamped the congrats sentiment, cut around it and ran a Black Soot Distress Marker along the edge to create a bit of contrast.


Supplies:
Paper: GinaK (white cardstock); Bazzill (red cardstock)
Stamps: Artful Legacy (Gamecock); Studio G (congrats); Lost Coast Post (cat story script)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot); Distress Marker (Black Soot)
ETC: Fiskars (border punch and 1/8-inch punch); Marvy Uchida (circle punch); Spellbinders (Nestabilities--Lacey Circles); stash (ribbon); Glue Glider Pro



So that's it for me today. Thanks so much for dropping by! =D


~Cynthia