Autism Awareness Blog Hop

An amazing bloggy friend (here's looking at you, Tenia) asked me to participate in a blog hop to raise in honor of Autism Awareness Day - recognized internationally on April 2.

Of course I said a resounding yes. I've been blessed to have individuals with autism in my life. One of my first ever jobs was working with an autistic man, helping him succeed in his job and it was one of the most rewarding things. People with autism might find themselves facing challenges with non-verbal communication and some social interactions.

You might have heard about the spectrum within autism and that's because it's really what it is - no two people with autism will present with the same symptoms. Today is a day to celebrate individuals with autism, and I'm proud to be a part of this hop.

The color for autism awareness is blue, so I started with a watercolored blue background made with Dina Wakely Scribble Sticks.

I added to the blue with some mandalas, stamped with Distress Inks.

Next, I used a butterfly  mask from STAMPlorations and painted over it with gesso.

I outlined the butterflies, created with the negative space of my mask, using a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen, then used Scribble Sticks and water to create a hazy blue cloud around my butterflies.

I embossed a sentiment, super appropriate for this blog hop from STAMPlorations and added a little embossed butterfly.

 So there's my happy blue card. I hope you'll all participate in this awesome hop and check out the rest of the talented designers. Check them out! 

Erica A-B

Sandy Allnock

Amanda Bodine

Kimberly Crawford 

Joscelyne Cutchens (Instagram)
Dana Joy

Wanda Guess

Jill Dewey Hawkins

Jennifer Ingle (Instagram)

Emily Midgett

Kay Miller

Carly Tee Minner

Miriam Prantner

Elena Roussakis

Heather Ruwe

Amy Tsuruta

Marcie Sharp

Alice Wertz

Vera Yates

Tenia Nelson

Catherine Cosimano

Rachel Parys

Pocono Pam

Terri Burson

Becca Dawn Cruger

Cindy Blancett

Bonus! There are some super awesome prizes up for grabs thanks to some uber generous sponsors. Happy hopping! 

Layered Mixed Media Card Ken Oliver Color Burst Tutorial

If you've been following along on my blog, you know I've been stuck in CAS (or the Becca version of CAS anyway) for quite a little jaunt. 

I was bound and determined to break myself out of that zone and this weekend I set out to get messy. REAL messy. 

 

I also realized that it's been awhile since I've made an official tutorial for you, my bloggy followers (although I do post regular tutorials on both the STAMPlorations and Coffee Loving Papercrafters blogs). 

Here is my remedy for that! PS If you like the tutorial, please consider Pinning it!

To be completely truthful, this card was alllllllmost a CAS design. I stamped a lovely tree from the Wendy Vecchi Card Art Sentiments stamp set.I thought I'd create a scene with the tree using some Ken Oliver Color Burst Crystals.... SO I spritzed my paper with water, plopped some crystals on, AND - hated  the result. It's not at all the lovely scene I was picturing. 

So what did I do? Rather than putting the project into the trash bin, I cut it into different sized rectangles and started layering. 

I used a dry brush and some gesso on a sheet of black paper for my base. I love the look of the brush strokes still in plain view. 

Once I was happy with the position of my rectangles (and don't ask, please HOW many times I rearranged the pieces) I started gluing them down and defining the edges using a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen.<----psssttt these pens are divine for writing over pretty much any mixed media surfaces!

OOOOOOooo - I think defining the edges really helps to make the individual pieces POP. I also added a layer of white scribbles to the edge of my black cardstock, using a white gel pen. 

I didn't want to cover up too much of my colorful panels, so I added a bold black butterfly die cut (PSSTTT... you can get it for 20% off in the STAMPlorations shop by using code STAMPGIRLBECCA) and a vellum overlay with a simple sentiment. 

I'm going to link up my creation to the following challenges:
More Mixed Media Challenge - ATG + Brights
Creative Craft Cottage - Add a Butterfly
Mix It Up - Anything Goes + Optional Paper Piecing

Taaaadaaaa! Messy beauty achieved. I'll have you know that creating this little number broke me out of my CAS shell and I'm back to my mixed media love.

Glitter, Gelatos & Butterflies - Oh My!

Friday! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited for the weekend. I'm volunteering at our first Art & Wine walk of the season (a downtown crawl with 20 locations where you get to visit with artists and drink wine at every location!) And next month, I'm going to be one of the featured artists in the walk!!! EEee!! We also have a live music festival going on this weekend, too. So yep - pretty hoppin'.

But you didn't come here to hear me blather, you came here to see some card-making action! I'm happy to acquiesce because today is the day I also remind you to go play along at STAMPlorations theme & sketch challenge. 

I went for the theme this time around (because you can choose either theme OR sketch OR combine them - and also win fun prizes - and you can you ANY kind/brand of stamp you want). 

I began my card by scribbling some Faber Castell Gelatos in concentric circles on a piece of white cardstock. 

I smeared the colors together using my fingers, to blend. 

Next, I wanted to add a little bit of texture, so I broke out the Faber Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel and applied it through the Tribal Swirls ARTplorations stencil. 

I also wanted to incorporate all the colors from the Color Throwdown's latest scheme, so I stamped a big ol' purple butterfly from the STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2 stamp set and cut it out using the coordinating dies. 

I decided I wanted to tie in my purple butterfly more, so I stamped a border using the Artsy Border Maker stamp set, and completed my look by stamping a sentiment (also from the Trendy Butterflies 2 set). 

Taaadaaa - glittery, grungy, artsy and oh-so-vibrant!

I'm also going to play along in the 4 Crafty Chicks - Butterflies challenge. 


Pssstt - if you want any of the products used in my card, you can use my personal discount code STAMPGIRLBECCA in the STAMPlorations shop to get 20% off your ENTIRE order. :o 


Thanks for popping by! I hope you'll come play along in the STAMPlorations Theme & Sketch challenge!

Butterfly, Love, and Card Concept

HHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapppy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a fantastic hump day so far! If not - don't worry! You've got plenty of time to change that and do something for yourself that is gonna make your attitude shift. 

As for me, I'm in the mood to share another Mother's Day Card. 

This little lovely was inspired by the new The Card Concept challenge, which is up on the blog TODAY! It's so springy and pretty and... well... just LOOK at it! 

I incorporated the color scheme and the butterflies into my design. 

My background was made using kraft paper and Distress Oxides, using the dipping technique. I added 3D stickers from Bo Bunny and a sentiment from Winnie & Walter. 

Viola! 

We're welcoming some brand spankin' new designers to The Card Concept team this challenge and boy are they a wealth of talent! Wowzas. Seriously - you need to go check it out and then play along with us! 

Pssssst... I'm also up on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog today with a really cool tutorial on how to make this bold and graphic coffee card. 

Hope you'll pop on over and check it out! 

Spring has Sprung - Fusion Challenge Card

I don't know about you all, but Spring has officially come to North Dakota. It's a whopping 45 degrees out this morning, so I shrugged off my jacket and enjoyed the crisp morning air. I LOVE this time of year - no mosquitoes, no hornets... only a teeny bit of mud to deal with. 

So when I saw the inspiration image for the new Fusion challenge, my spring-filled heart sprung a spring-filled beat. 

ALL THE AWESOME PEOPLE WHO TOOK MY LATEST CARD CLASS!

I haven't had much time to play in my craft room in the last two weeks. Between meetings, prepping for and teaching a cardmaking class, a new workout regimen, and some volunteering I have been running around and crashing as soon as my little legs carried me home. Last night, I finally ducked into my craft room for a play session at around 9 p.m. and I didn't come out until the clock chimed midnight. :o 

I was too busy playing around with the beautiful inspiration image and sketch over at Fusion Card Challenge. 

It's so springy and fabulous! If you haven't played along at Fusion, you can use either the sketch OR the inspiration image OR both! 

I loved the woodgrain, mixed with the bright fun florals so that's how I was inspired by the image And I used the sketch, too. Bah-blam! Fusion!

That big ol' sentiment is from the Winnie and Walter The Big, The Bold, and The Happy sentiment stamp set. 

I hope you'll all go check out what the rest of my teamies have made and play along yourselves. The gallery holds some FANTASTIC inspiration!

I'm going to play along in these fun challenges, too!:
Try it on Tuesday - Botanical
Simon Says Monday - Things with Wings
Deep Ocean Challenge - Flowers Everywhere


Thanks for popping by!

And Though She be But Little, She Is Fierce.

Hullo Ladies and Gents! 

Today, I'm sharing a design that I am pretty dang proud of. And it was all inspired by the latest inspiration up at the old Fusion Card Challenge.

 

Originally, I was a little bit stumped by this one. As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of layers on my card so the sketch wasn't doing it for me, and I wasn't really sure how to interpret the inspiration image...

And then I got some new Dina Wakely Scribbly Girlies stamps in the mail and couldn't get this card idea out of my head: 

Isn't it very Banksy? I stamped my image and then created a grayish haze of a background using watercolor. I added a splash of yellow to her dress, and layered up the background using some DCWV papers, gemstones, and vellum. The butterfly is a leftover Post-It note mask from yesterday's card. Recycling at its finest!! 

I hope you'll come play along at Fusion! Can't wait to see what you create! 

I'm going to enter this at:
Take it Make It Craft Stamper Magazine Challenge - ATG
Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge - Layers

My New Stamp Release - STAMPlorations Buttercups & Butterflies

Heyyyy you guuuuuuuys! Guess What?! (Well, ok I've already told you in the title, and you clicked through, so presumably you don't have to guess at all because you already know, but now I've already typed the question and so am committed to answer it.)

 My new stamp set gets released today and there's a GIVEAWAY!  Or I should say GIVEAWAYS because there is one right here, and one on the STAMPlorations blog.

*******GIVEAWAY ALERT*******

What am I giving away, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Check out the latest stamp set designed by yours truly:

Introducing Buttercups & Butterflies

********GIVEAWAY INSTRUCTIONS********

 I'm giving away both the stamp set AND the coordinating die. 

All you have to do to win is leave a comment here AND on the STAMPlorations blog. 

And now - for some examples of how the set can be used, I've made some cards using differing styles.

Shabby Chic

Made using the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. 

Clean and Layered

Made using the colors from House of Cards current challenge

Clean and Simple

Made for Hiding in My Craft Room Pastels challenge. 

I hope you like the new stamp set! And if you do, it's available in the shop for 10% off until August 15! Make sure you go swing by the STAMPlorations blog to see all of the new sets being released this week.

Butterfly Grunge Stamped Card with Distress Inks

Ooooooo have I ever got a good card to share with you today!! This is one of those designs that made my heart happy when I was all done being inky.

Just look at that sketchedy butterfly and those bright colors 

and TRY not to smile. 

This little number was inspired by the brand new challenge over at STAMPlorations. 

Here's how STAMPlorations challenges work:

> Use either the sketch OR the theme OR both

> Use any product/stamp/paper you like - STAMPlorations products NOT required

Now here's a full look at what I created, using the sketch. 

I did a whole lotta faux-stitching with gel pens, and then I stenciled on the background using ARTplorations Brackets Stencil. The butterfly is from the Blossom Like a Butterfly set and I muddied up the edges a bit using the Mixed Media Grunge set. Last, but not least, I added a die cut (brand new!) called CUTplorations Celebrate Word Die. 

I'm loving all the grunginess going on here! 

I'm also going to send my flutterby over to flit in the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafty Gals Corner - Birthdays/Celebrations 

Thanks for popping by!

Playing Around with Distress Paints - Full Tutorial + WINNERS

Hello Friends! 

Today I'm up at the STAMPlorations blog with a FULL tutorial on this vibrant card made with Distress Paints. I just loved how it turned out, so I hope you'll pop over there to check it out. 

 

I had so much fun getting a little messy with this card - and I made it specifically for a couple of challenges: Curtain Call is having a neon challenge, Craft Stamper is having a Spring Flowers challenge and Fashionable Stamping Challenge is having a Butterflies theme.

Anywho - pop over to STAMPlorations for the full on tutorial and see what I big mess I can make! 

------------------------------

Lastly - I just wanted to announce the winners of my Coffee Lover's Blog Hop Drawing

Arianna Barbara 

and

Dee Earnshaw

I've already heard from Arianna, but Dee - could you give me an email please? bexcruger at GMAIL dot com.