Oh Happy Day!!!

...and seeing the sun shining again is a joy, especially after having two very dreary days of wind and rain.   I am thankful for the much needed rain, but boy is it chilly again!   Our Spring started out with Summery weather and seems to have gone downhill ever since.  The temps all this week will only be in the 50's and 60's and after those wonderful 70's and 80's, it's a bummer to have heat back on and all the windows closed.

   On the happy side of things, it's been perfect for me since I've been spending so much time in my craft room. I'm totally enjoying working on new cards and loving the wonderful 'A Cut Above' class.   All of the cards I'm sharing today were inspired by some of the new hints and tips I have learned in class.

   Our focus this week has shifted from die-cutting to embossing and working putting both of those together to make so fun cards.  I really LOVE the look of embossing and have a wonderful selection of embossing folders, or so I thought until I saw some of the newest things in class.   Have you seen the new M-bossibilities by Spellbinder's?  Well I had not, but I can tell you know that I fell in LOVE with them and have already ordered some new ones for my collection.   They are double-sided embossing folders and each side has it's own unique design -- I shopped around a bit and found them at ScrapMart for great prices, ordered yesterday and my order shipping the same day!  Now that is some fabulous service and a reason I love to shop there for many of my die cut products!!   Another awesome new product I learned about are these new Diffuser Folders by Sizzix and those too are now on their way to me!  :)

    My first card today was one I finished up late on Sunday and it's one where I used the Sizzix/Hero Arts - combo die/stamp sets, aka Framelits.   The set I used is called, Playful Flowers and Butterflies,  and you can see them on Hero's site HERE!

    As you can see I also used a variety of circle shaped die-cuts for a mat for my flower, which I colored with my Copic and then coated in 3D Crystal Accents.    I used a white Gel Pen to add a dash line around my sentiment, something I often see in Kristina's Werner's cards, but my came out very un-even -- Kristina has this down, I do not!   This card was submitted to this Week's Button Challenge over at "Crafting By Designs".  

  My next card was created for this week's Greeting Card Challenge at The Outlawz, where the theme was to create a card inspired by Music or a Song.   At first, I felt a bit stumped, so I pulled up my iTunes Library and randomly let it pick a song, which ended up being a fun and happy song, that is from Toy Story, by Randy Newman.  I think everyone knows it and if you know, you can listen to it on this You Tube video - it's sure to make you SMILE!!

  The background on this card was created using a fun and easy 'faux letterpress' technique that I learned from Jennifer McGuire.  For my ink I used the Soft Pool Shadow Ink by Hero arts and one of my newest Sizzix embossing folders.  The oval die cut, behind my sweet little digi Image (by Lori Boyd), was also embossed in a different design.  I colored my (Penny) image with my Copics and used my computer to create the sentiment.   

   My next card was created using my Silhouette Cameo and it's my own design, which I made up using various shapes I have purchased from the Silhouette Store.  I cute several sizes onto one large sheet of Bo Bunny Cardstock and then layered them all together, along with a white doily and some flowers to create this fun new card, which I have submitted to the current "Flower" Challenge over at Lily Pad.

     I also created another flower and faux letterpress inspired card and this too was one that I had a lot of fun putting together!   I also used two different embossed folders on this card, one for the top banner and a second one to create the faux letterpress look for my background.   The flower was created with variety of dies and I topped it off with a few little pieces of bling!!

   And that brings me to my last card today, which is one I created this morning and also featured another sweet little digi image that was created by Hannah Boyd - Lori's talented daughter.  This is little Marcie, one of the newest little Bug & Roo images that you can find in the store HERE!!  

   This card was also inspired by a sketch challenge at BLD and also by this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz.  The theme this week there is to create a project the inspires Happiness and also have the word HAPPY, somewhere on your project.  

   I am heading back to class to watch the video's again and make some more cards.   I'm also thinking about what fun and bright card I can make with this new Color Combo Challenge, at The Outlawz!   Check this out -- Very vibrant colors - looks like it's going to be FUN!!!

 
  Afternoon Update:  I had so much fun with the colors that I actually made two different cards?   Now I want to know, which one you like best?  

Card One

Card Two

   Come on over and join us!   This wonderful challenge group is open to ALL and they offer a new challenge every day, with lots of awesome inspiration, fun and prizes!!