FCD Gets Patriotic

Welcome to the FireCracker Design Team blog hop for the month of May! We have been featuring the So Far Away set this month and what better way to end the month than with a hop showing more ways this set can be used. I bet your expecting red, white and blue colors if you are from the USA right? Well I went with a different color scheme, most of us just associate the colors with being patriotic but if you look up the definition of the word it is an adj. for feeling, expressing, or being inspired by love for one's country.

Although I am not a service member I am patriotic. I do appreciate and thank the service men & women I know verbally and through adopt a soldier programs. I hope that you too share your patriotism with others in whatever way you can.

The first picture shows a tag I made that you can include in a scrapbook layout or as a gift tag on a package if you wanted. I stamped the large soldier stamp onto a canvas tag (from Prima) with my Tea Dye Distress Ink, I didn't think it was dark enough so I over-stamped it again with Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I added the word Hero to the upper left with the Versafine Ink also. The embroidered flowers and word journey complimented it perfectly. I added a bit of Ribbon to the side and then used a key chain piece to attach a pair of die cut boots that I had swiped ink on to look camouflage and then dipped in embossing powder to sturdy them up a bit. I really like how they dangle there.

The tag would also be wonderful to use on a Father's Day card if your Father was in the Service and you were sending it to him!
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The second item I made is another way to thank someone and remind them they are
not forgotten.


I used Near & Dear - Andrea by Kelly Shults Designs paper from Dream Street Papers to wrap around and also the bottom punched circle on the lid. I then found a scrap of shimmery Manila to stamp the words and heart on to mount on the top of the lid.


I wrapped the container (which is a cupcake liner container-hows that for recycling!) again with the paper and 2 lengths of ribbon. I added Prima flowers along the sides, matching the opposing sides one brown and one smaller cream.

But why pretty up a container well so you can fill it of course! The filling varies as to what I have on hand or can easily get but in this case it is filled with Jelly Belly's being that I just got back from the one in WI this week :)

YUM!

I have in the past sent things similar to this to some soldiers (from the adopt a soldier programs) and they love it saying it is easy to put into their sacks and carry with them and pull out for a treat to share or indulge in when they can.

Thanks for stopping by to look today and I hope you enjoy the hop! I can't wait to see what the rest of the DT team has come up with!

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This is a “circular blog hop” where the only beginning is wherever you start!! You will know you are at the end of your blog hop when you get back to the blog you started from!

The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out!

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to Sherri's to see what she came up with for the So Far Away set. Remember to keep going until you get back to where you started! Thanks so much for playing along with us and we hope you have a great time!

Don't forget to place your order for So Far Away by heading to Pamela's now...

Remember it is 20% off during the blog hop!

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**Winner(s) will be contacted by Pamela via e-mail (so be sure to leave it with your comment.) You can also find out on Pamela’s blog after the blog hop ends on Wed, …June 3rd at 8:00 PM (EST).**

hugs,

Sneak Peaks & News

Hey everyone! I know I have missed a few days here and there...been busy and visiting my friend and other things have come up...such is life! I wanted to hop in real quick today though and share some sneak peaks and news with you!

First off Elemental Doodles has some sneaks up of the new stamps coming...you can see them by clicking {here}. Pre-Order specials will start on June 1st and remember if you are on their newsletter/mailing list there just might be a super saver code to use! The stamps are expected to ship around mid June so be sure and hurry to place your order so you get in on the first shipment! In other Elemental Doodle news, Mel has me to stay on for another month as Guest Designer so I will be sharing more from them through the entire month of June now :)



FireCracker Designs DT will be having a blog hop that starts tomorrow! Another "circular hop" you can start anywhere on the hop and continue till you get back to where you started. There might be goodies along the way so make sure you leave comments on all of the blogs AND I know our feature stamp is 20% off during the hop so make sure to get your order in for it! If you have been following any of the DT team blogs this past month you have already seen how versatile the set can be so I hope you join us for another dose of fun with "So Far Away" starting tomorrow morning at 11 AM EST.

hugs,

Sketch 95

I love when you can add depth to an image simply by using more paper! For this one I stamped the bloom of the flower 2 extra times, painted them all with my Peerless watercolors and then trimmed them to layer up. I curled the edges up a bit and staggered them so they weren't laying perfectly onto the base (you know the petals a little off not completely lined up right)

The Flower is from FireCracker Designs by Pamela set called Forgive Me. It was stamped onto Sweet Tooth Pop Tones paper and then I used more Pop Tones in Blue Raspberry and Grape Jelly to complete this card. The layers of Sweet Tooth were run through the cuttlebug and then I swiped Lilac ink across them to highlight the embossing some. The Sketch I followed was from Sketches by {tamara} #95 but I am not getting it posted in time to be current LOL!

Hope you enjoy looking and have a wonderful day!

hugs,

Hero

Today in the United States we are honoring our Hero's.
Those who have passed on and those who are still fighting the battle for freedom. If you have a Hero in your family - tell them I said Thank You!

This was a great card to make with the Split negative technique and the soldier stamp from FireCracker Designs So Far Away set. I stamped and cut the image on both the black and the white paper then lined them up and put them in the paper slicer and held my breath! LOL no they lined up pretty good and I just sliced it as close to the center as I could. Then I paired them together to make a single image by using a little bit of tape on the back.

I cut a piece of the gorgeous Black Lustre paper from Paper Temptress to use as my front base. Click on the first picture here also and when it is enlarged you can see how pretty this paper really is! I used my white versa color ink to stamp the word "HERO" multiple times across it. Added the bit of ribbon across the center and then adhered the main image and the matted word "Proud" onto the top. I then mounted it onto a piece of White Pure Luxury (Gina K's 120lb) paper that I had folded to make the base card.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday here in the United States...remember to thank your Hero's!

Don't forget also that this weekend FCD - DT will be carrying on the celebration through our blog hop...hope to see you there!

Talking Birds

So this is what I am doing yesterday and probably all day today and tomorrow and the next day too! I am visiting my bestest friend Anna and yes we talk alot!
And yes she is really a lot taller than me! {giggle}
I am pre-posting of course but I know that this is what it will be like, oh and lots of hugs too!

This image is from Doodle Factory and was in one of the One Million Stamps project sets that I purchased. I stamped it with my Kaliedacolor ink pad and then cut it out with the tag nestie. I used some metallic rub on to edge the nestie cut and the base layer cut too. The blue circle was cut from some pattern paper I ran the cuttlebug double hole puncher thingy around it (to sorta look like sewing I guess - also did this to the white piece) then adhered it to the white.
The flowers at the top are rub ons and the flowers at the bottom are Prima's with a large silver brad holding them together. Finally all of it was mounted onto a light blue card base.

Ok gotta run............

hugs,

Anna's Box

Maybe you saw my post about the Art Share? Well my friend Anna is who I got the idea from which made her my #1 sign up so I needed something special to share with her. I had seen this box on another blog while hopping and knew it was something I wanted to give a try to so I thought Anna might like it too and what fun to create one for her! So I rummaged through my Pattern Papers to find some I liked and off to town I went! Papers are from Rusty Pickle (Girl Stripes RP308) and MOD Autumn Leaves (#37090 Blackbird Early Bird) both of which I love!

I used Tombow Mono Multi and Mono Adhesive to make this as well as Red Line Tape. The ribbon around the top is from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

This s what it looks like open and I added some little goodies inside for Anna to enjoy!

So now don't ya wanna join my Art Share and see what I come up with for you?

If you want to give this a try yourself you can find the tutorial here.

Now Anna and I are off to have some fun!

Swan Sunset

This scene card was made using sponge and Palette ink. Stamps are from both FireCracker Designs by Pamela and Seaside Stampin Ink. The sun was cut from the slice and then I sliced through the card front and put the sun through to make it cast more of a reflection look by blocking out the behind color instead of covering it.

Paper I used is from Paper Temptress called Sweet Tooth and Hot Fudge, both from the Pop Tones line/ I used Copic Markers to do the swap and a few touch up items.

There is no sentiment used on or in this one - it can be made into whatever type of card I need later or simply used as a notecard.

I am off after work today to visit Anna and will be back early next week.

hugs,

A is for Ant

I think these ants from TAC are fun! This one is dodging rain drops and I layered him on a piece of chalk lines background which I made by following one of the TJ tutorials. Easy and fun!
I layered onto a black card front and added some ribbon and flowers to it also. Then everything was layered onto a white card base.

hugs,

Swan ATC

This ATC was made so that I could try out a couple techniques :) Only one made the final cut LOL! The background is made from a TJ technique called Faux Felt. It is a very fun and easy way to make a background or layering piece. If you aren't already a TJ member you ought to check it out (link on the right hand sidebar)

I used a combination of Copic Markers and chalks to make the colors on the background AFTER I had stamped the swan on. I used a bit of Ribbon to thread through a metal charm plate word and adhered it slightly above center onto the Faux Felt layer. I then matted the whole thing with a sturdy black base. The nice thing about using techniques or embossing folders on the papers sometimes is that it gives an otherwise plain stamped on piece of paper a bit of life! As I said only one technique made the final cut and that is because the texture that the Faux Felt added to the scene made this ATC, the others were just a swap stamped on paper and colored around.

The swan and the corner doodles are both from the Mystic Fairy set at Elemental Doodles.

Pearled Crocus

I really wanted to show off the paper on this card and it is so darn hard to capture in the photograph so y'all just have to trust me when I say that is is so mysterious and shimmery!

I used black Memento ink to stamp on the Iridescent Morphing Mauve paper from Paper Temptress and it looks more like a green ink! Amazing! I layered over some right pink and then onto a peralized base card. (also very shimmery!) I added self stick pearls onto the corners and along the one side of the main image as well as layering a bit of fun checked ribbon underneath.

The Crocus stamp is from Lindy's Stamp Gang, isn't it gorgeous!

hugs,

C4E32

Happy Sunday, here is another Sunday Sketch from Crafts4Eternity! I combined this with my SBS24 challenge of a Thinking of You type card. I also had been seeing tons of multiple patterned paper cards in my browsing of blogs this week so I decided to give it a go. There are 3 different patterns used here and one solid... what do you think? I am also sharing another card made with the So Far Away set from FireCracker Designs. This set is wonderful for letting someone know they are on your mind and that you haven't forgotten them.

Michele had challenged us to use stitching either real or faux. Well I am no seamstress by any means so no machine here. I used to have this roll on stuff but it really didn't lay down on the papers worth a **** so I went with faux...ehhhh not liking it so much! Wish I had simply inked my edges. Oh well...I tried. I do like the layout for this one and how it really allows you to play with different papers. I hope you give it a try and share what you make.

hugs,

Posies

This card was made using all scraps from on my work area. I am in a swap where we are to send our partner Posies/Flower cards - 2 of them this month. This is my first one. I used a shimmery base of purple, added some patterned paper I found on my desk, crumbled a piece of tissue paper (from acetate box) , flattened it out a bit then rubbed Sunflower Palette Ink pad over it. I crumbled it again, flattened it and Violete Ink over it. I used a piece of silvery-white ribbon over the center where the 2 papers joined and adhered it to the card front. Adding a layer of stamped flowers from a TAC set called Fanciful Flowers which used various stick inks to make purples and yellows on them. I added the flowers with a green brad center to the upper corner. Kinda funny how the card looks really amazing in person but the picture is only so-so.

hugs,

Gorjuss Girl

I have been a fan of Susan Wolcott for some time now and when I saw her images would be made into stamps I had to start watching for them. Well of course they are not done in the US so I had to wait a bit for some extra fun money to come available :) I finally was able to get a couple and I am really glad I did. I can make them whatever hair color I want now and can add them to my own work! How fun! ok ok on with the card info I know!


The paper on this one is Making Memories Boho Chic and some Kraft paper from my stash. Used a nestie to cut out the center square and emboss it too. Used my punches for the circles then adhered them to the card topper and then trimmed to fit. I added some dew drops along the bottom, a bit of ribbon and a bow to the center then the nestie shape then my colored Gorjuss Girl on top. Finished it off with a pretty Prima flower and fuzzy brad!

Copics: c-7, E00, E51, R85, V06

hugs,

Mini Treasure Box

I can't believe that this month is already flying by me! I am finishing up my Guest Designer Spot for Elemental Doodles and I made a mini treasure box to send Mel this month!

I used the Mystic Fairy set to make background paper with the doodle nd the butterfly. I then colored them with Metallic and Gelly Roll pens. Next I ran it thru the Cuttlebug to add some Dots. Cut it to size and adhered it to the match box. I then stamped and cut out the small leaf sprigs in the cone. I used my Metallic Glaze Gel pens to color the purple and then my Green Gelly Roll pen for the leaves. After adding some purple and black polka dotted ribbon around I adhered the sprig to the top of the box.

For the bottom I used rhinestones on each corner to make "feet" for it to stand on.
**Tip: "feet" make it stand nicer and you don't notice the small overlap of paper that is covering the matchbox and the ribbon. Without "feet" you usually have a bit of a wobble.

Inside I packed as many goodies as I good for her including some riibon, brads and charms. Matchboxes are fun to do and great to for giving little candies in!

Enjoy!

Tulips x Two

One of the groups I am in had a mystery image swap.
The tulips were the mystery image!
I decided to make both of mine into cards, one to send to my partner and one I sent back to the lady who had stamped the images - a little thank you for taking the time to do so.

For this first card I used a base of shimmer pinkish-red. I colored my image with Copic Markers G99 & G94 for the leaves and stems, G00 was used for the sky/background and then R22, R32 and RV34 for the flowers. I carefully trimmed it and then I adhered it to layer of Shaving Cream paper I had made who knows how long ago and had already put a strip of butterfly ribbon across. I decided to cut the bottom with my Paper Shapers and then adhered it to the card base.

For this one I used a Copic Background paper I had made before (should be a tut postes soon on FCD about this and I will link you when it is ready) I colored this image with the same leaves and sky/background colors as before but the flowers are BV00 & BV02. The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and then I added 3 self stick pearls to it under the bow.

I admit this one was hard to send off to my partner as I really liked how it turned out!

hugs,

Polkadot Dog

I hostess image swaps on SwapBot and this is one that I got in it. The fact that is was stamped in Bright Green and that is had polka dots struck me as funny! I cut the dog out and mounted it on a piece of white paper I had run through my Cuttlebug embossing folder and then swiped with Chartreuse Palette Ink. Added a strip and some knots of fun green patterned ribbon and then cut out the word "DUDE" with my slice to add to it! Makes me giggle when I look at it!

hugs,

Stand Firm

ANNOUNCEMENT FIRST:

Since Memorial Day is the 25th,

FCD will be doing a blog hop that centers around

Patriotism.

We want to remember all of those brave souls, past and present, that have fought for the United States.

Due to some travel plans and company coming the hop will actually be the weekend after Memorial Day BUT don't forget that Flag Day in the US is on June 14th, Fathers Day (and we know there are many Father's who serve(d) is on June 21st and the 4th of July is coming too! Really though who needs a special day to do something nice?

So watch for the hop and make sure you play along! Things are going to be a little different that in the past too so make sure you come and play!


This card was made with a sentiment from FireCracker Designs So Far Away Set
This set has some wonderful sayings of support for not only service members but those who are facing a difficult situation right now. Remind them that you are thinking of them! Support them!

I used orange colors with a rich brown for this card. The camera kinda bungled the colors a bit!
The sentiment was stamped and then cut with my nestie oval. I then cut the large nestie oval to mat it with. The flowers are double stacked Prima's with a Fiskar's Rain Dot in the center. Ribbon is from May Arts and I didn't like the bright white polka dots so I ran my Copic marker (YR16) over it to color them orange! The sketch was from heart2stamp a few weeks back. I edged all the various layers with Burnt Umber Palette Ink too. I think that is one of my favorite things to do as it makes each layer stand out on it's own.

Sparkling stars

I know I normally only make one post a day but I wanted to fit this in on the actual week it was a challenge instead of like normal which is who knows how much later!


My SBS sisters challenge this week was to Sparkle! So I made this birthday card with some sparkling stars! I colored the Queen & Co. Chipboard stars with Sunflower Palette ink and then added some glue pad ink and dipped them in fairy dust. The background is Faux Alligator Skin on white instead of darker paper and I liked the effect it has. The ribbon is shimmery and I really liked the colors in it to go with the darker yellow base card and the stars. The sentiment is from Stamp La Jolla and inside I stamped one of the dancing stars from TAC set Shine as well as Happy Birthday from the Another Year set.

So I sparkled actually twice today as the C4E card was colored with Spica and had Shimmerz on it too! he he

hugs,

C4E 31

Does Michele from Crafts 4 Eternity come up with some awesome sketches or what! This was a wonderful one to play with and I hope you all will give it a try to! I choose to feature one of my Fairy images from Lindy's Stamp Gang, Faerie Times set. She was colored with Copics, Spica Glitter pens and then a bit of Shimmerz Angel Wings added to the wings. I then used my oval scallop punch to frame her. The paper behind her is a watercolor resit technique from TJ Newsletter. Then the other layering papers are from Paper Temptress Pop Tones collection also! I added the ribbon across that had the small green stripes across to bring out more of the greens I used in coloring and layering. Gorgeous ribbon! The flowers are Prima's and in the center is a small brad from teh Basic Grey Euphoria collection.

Paper: Pop Tones Sweet Tooth, Spearmint and Razzle Berry
SU: Whimsical Blossoms Wheel with Versamark ink.
Fiskars Texture Plate
Copics: BG10, E00, E21, E93, E95, E33, G21, and RV06

hugs,

I LOVE MOM !!

I found this digital owl image from JessicaLynn while reading blogs the other day. I printed it on Paper Temptress Cosmic Coloring paper and used Copic Markers from the Copic Challenge this past week to color it. This paper colors beautifully!

This is also a Sketch Challenge card from one of the Yahoo groups I am on. It is also a Things With Wings card that is going out for another Yahoo group.

Copics used: E33, R02, E57 (challenge colors) and some YG63, YR02, Y00, and R11 too.

The black shiny spots are Rain Dots from Fiskars attached in opposing corners to balance it out.

hugs,

Blog Candy Alert

One of my SBS sisters is having some blog candy right now over at her place. Be sure to stop by Ed's and see what she has to say . . . Good Luck!

Row of Vases

This card is a side opener :) I occasionally do mix it up!
I used my threading water punch to make the front edge a little more decorative. I used some light peachy pink paper for my mat and then added the Hero Arts row of vases which I had colored with my markers and added 3D Crystal Lacquer on top of. Above it is stamped a sentiment from Lindy's Stamp Gang (Crocus/Cherry Blossom set)

The ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and I Really Really like the fade ribbon like this! I have some in green too...my stash is getting low...need more...no can't spend money...but I need more! Oh what to do?!??!?!

bunches of hugs to you all!

Tutorial Link for Birthday Minder

Several people have asked for the directions for the Birthday Minder {click here to see that post} I shared the other day. I tried to reply to everyone but I don't know if I missed anyone and don't want any hurt feelings ya know :) Here is the link to the basic tutorial I followed, I used my BIA and Scor-Pal. Have fun!