My Favorite Things stamp “Pure Innocent Love” took me back to my childhood of playing with paper dolls. After digging down to the bottom of my patterned paper cut-offs drawer to find all those tiny pieces perfect for cutting her dress out of, I had a lot of fun dressing her up for her card debut.
I have a favourite, which one’s yours?
My youngest grandson is turning 5! He is mad about dinosaurs (spiderman & transformers), while his older male cousins are more into dragons. Hope this fits the bill.
stamps: “Dino” set by Basic Grey, “happy birthday” by Stamp-it
Another fun little card for my grandchildren.
Life is a journey, a continual process of making mistakes, hopefully learning from them and moving on.
stamp: Lg Dragon CT116G by Artee Stamps; Campfire B02622c by So Suzy Stamps
dies: Houses 118-H by Impression Obsession; Hanging Cloud Border 98835 by Memory Box; Inside Out Alphabet 657827 by Sizzix. Dragon wording I just did on the computer.
Oops! Did I do that?!
I love the way the googly eye swivels, so the dragon appears to be looking down in horror at his misdeeds.
Rules of Survival
stamps: Dragon Sleeping G00210c by So Suzy Stamps; Castle by Lavinia Stamps
die: Pine Trees CR1287 by Marianne Design
inks: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Weathered Wood & Stormy Sky Distress Pads
INSTRUCTIONS:
Stamp dragon in black ink. Tear a curved line in scrap paper for hill shape. Lay it into position on card (protecting sky area). Sponge over Milled Lavender to create hill, then sponge down and around dragon too. When you lift off the scrap paper, you should have a softly undulating hill in your background.
Stamp your castle in black ink. Tear a smaller piece of scrap paper for this hill, making sure you ground your castle. Sponge Dusty Concord for this one to make it appear further in the distance.
Sponge Weathered Wood lightly across the top of card for sky, making the sky darker nearer the top edge with Stormy Sky. I ran a wet paintbrush from castle and along side of hill for road.
Colour in dragon. I added Star Dust and Lavender Stickles after and some Orchid Liquid Pearls for his spots.
Cut out trees from purple card and glue into place. I added a little white to trees and more purple ink to hillside.
I just did up the wording on computer, printed onto white card which I cut into tag shape and Magic Mounted on.
A little light relief now as I go back in time to when dragons roamed the world.
This is a tri-fold card as I wanted a third panel to conclude my story (and indulge my warped sense of humour). I was an avid reader of fairy/folk stories when I was younger and they always seemed to have a moral. This one could have a few interpretations – “A suit does not the man maketh” and “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. Just because someone puts on a monkey suit, doesn’t mean he’s a monkey – you have to look beneath the surface and form your opinion of their character by their abilities and actions. Hopefully my grandchildren will enjoy this one.
stamps: Dragon solo-101 by Katzelkraft; Dragon wordings by Stamp-it, Slate & Stone CMS299 by TH Stampers Anonymous
The wording in the first 2 panels is actually one stamp which I have cut into 2 parts.
I sprayed Barn Door Distress inks over, then coloured dragon in with Spectrum Noir pens, adding glitter to his stomach. Knight is a die.
I stamped out dragon head only, then masked off to stamp stone wall behind him. I gave the dragon puckered up lips and used StarDust Stickles to replicate spit and scrunched up tin foil to represent chewed up knight’s armour.
stamps: Moon & small Dragon by Lavinia stamps; Timepiece Collage G-3570 by PSX
dies: Cityscape Metropolis siz661804 & Halloween Shadows siz658253 both by Tim Holtz; Gothic Gate 51-146 by Penny Black; Dragon YCD10045 by Yvonne Creations;
inks: Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet & Pumice Stone Distress Stain Sprays; Victorian Velvet, Frayed Burlap & Stormy Sky Distress Pads; Jet Black StazOn Pad; Sepia Archival Pad; Cement Antiquities Pad; Silvery Shimmer Delicata Pad; Perfect Pearl ‘Perfect Pearl’ Mist
papers: White & Ivory Matt Cards; Fawn & Pinecone Bazzill Cards; Fig Bazzill Smoothie Card; Lt & Dark Grey & Brown Prismatic Cards; Magenta Mesh; SLove Notes – ‘Always’ Cosmo Cricket Paper
accessories: Silver Ball Chain; Lavender, Crystal & Silver Stickles; White Chalk
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Magic Mount; Glossy Accents, Tombow Liquid Glue
tools: Big Shot Machine; Circle Punches; Notebook Fiskars Border Punch; Sponge Blocks; Water Spritzer; Heat gun; Paper Trimmer; Scorer; Metal Ruler; Awl
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Lightly spritz your white card with water, then with the Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet & Pumice Stone Distress Stain Sprays
. Dry with heat gun. - Cut out multiple buildings from Cityscape die in this sheet and some from the Cosmo Cricket patterned paper. Keep in mind that you are trying to replicate an ancient city, so some of the building shapes may not be suitable as they look too modern. Cut out matching rooftops in light grey or brown card. Sponge around each piece with sepia ink and glue rooftops on.
- Stamp out moon in silver ink. Cut out with circle punch. Spritz with Perfect Pearl PP Mist. Heat set. Sponge around edges with sepia ink.
- Cut out Gothic gates in dark brown card. Sponge silver ink over randomly. Place lighter brown card behind gates and cut to same size. Glue together.
- Cut out dragon shape in dark grey card. Highlight with white chalk and purple Stickles. Fill his eye in with crystal Stickles. Set aside to dry.
- Cut an A4 sheet of ivory card lengthways. Score into thirds. Find center points for 2 right panels and cut between them, then score down. Pull bottom part outwards (mountain fold – this is where the gates will be attached) and top part backwards (valley fold). See picture for layout. Cut 1st panel height shorter than others. Create decorative edge with Notebook border punch along top. Sponge with Victorian Velvet and Frayed Burlap Distress inks.
- Meanwhile play around with your layout, the order
you want your buildings in, the position of the moon & dragon. I attached my gates into place first, then worked from the front of the card to the back. 
- Start gluing your buildings into place, overlapping in places.
- Stamp the small dragon onto moon with black StazOn ink. Decide where to position moon and glue into place. Add accessories: – I stamped a clock from Timepiece collage stamp in sepia ink and cut out with small circle punch. Glue into place and cover with Glossy Accents and set aside to dry. – I cut a section of mesh off sheet to use as ladder up to clock. Glue into place. – Cut out fence from Halloween Shadows die in light grey card, sponge with Frayed Burlap ink and glue into place. – Using an awl, pierce 2 small holes near gate handles and insert silver ball chain.
- Cut another piece of ivory card, same length but taller than previous folded one. Score into thirds and sponge with Cement and Stormy Sky inks for sky. Glue into place behind decorated one. Decorate sky with stars using silver Stickles. Set aside to dry.
Continuing with card ideas for young girls. Somehow I always circle back to the sea:)
The main stamp image is “Collecting Sea Shells” 50031 from Stamps Happen; “Seashells” B1887 wording is from Stylish Images Australia; and the little brown shell at bottom right is from a Stampin’ Up set.
instructions: 1. Create puddles of ink on teflon matt with Bundled Sage and Weathered Wood Distress Stains. Swipe white card through puddles until completely covered. Dry with heatgun. This particular cardstock was quite absorbent and the inks soaked in straightaway, rather than sitting on top for a while and creating the lovely drippy effect I prefer. This was more subtle, but it worked okay for this background.
2. Stamp girl in black Archival ink and colour with pencils as desired. I then used butterscotch chalk over sand contours and highlighted the stamped seashells and girls ribbon with Cantaloupe Liquid Pearls (applied with a paintbrush). Paint some tiny white seashells (real ones) with Cantaloupe and Coral Liquid Pearls too. Set aside to dry.
3. Tear along bottom of card. Mix small amount of structure paste (similar to texture paste, but with gritty granules in it) together with touch of Lettuce and Aqua Adirondack Dabber Paints. Using a palette knife, smear coloured paste around sides of torn card. Push painted tiny shells and some natural tiny starfish into paste while still wet. Set aside to dry.
4. Assemble card layers. Stamp seashell wording at top of card in Potting Soil archival ink. As you are stamping over multiple layers, you may need to touch it up with a texter pen after.
5. Stamp out tiny shell image in Potting Soil Archival ink onto scrap of ivory card. Cut out and magic mount at bottom of main card. This should balance out wording at top of card.
I thought I’d make a few more kids cards while I was in the zone. As usual, I got to the 3/4 stage and then came to a standstill. I struggled to find coordinating backing cards, and I wanted to add a little something more to it, but couldn’t decide what worked. In the end, I used a stencil pattern over the sprayed Dylusions background around the main image. Normally I would spritz water through the stencil then quickly dry with paper towel, but that method can be a little messy and it’s hard to control where the water goes. So I used a “wet one” instead. That way I could pick which parts of the stencil I wanted to emphasise and where to place the design. This worked well, and I am quite happy the way it turned out. Got a little zealous whilst sponging around the perimeter with Sepia ink though, so had to add an extra butterfly or two. All good. No such thing as mistakes in art… (is there?).
Coloured with pencils; Glossy Accents added to peach.
Penny Black stamps: You are a Peach 40-124; Enjoy 3410D
Stencil: Mini Swirly garden TCW325s 
“Too much of a good thing is simply wonderful!”
I haven’t made kids cards for a bit and they’re always fun.
“Cupcake” 40-367 by Penny Black; “Wonderful” D-2834 by PSX. I’m pretty sure this is a Mae West quote.
I stamped the girl and cupcake in Jet Black Archival ink onto white card and coloured them in with pencils. Using a paintbrush I coloured the frosting with White Opal Liquid Pearls, then went over it thicker in places (direct from bottle) to create swirls and folds. The cherry was covered with Glossy Accents. When dry, I cut image out and laid onto stamped background card.
The girl’s tutu was decorated with Pale Green Flower Soft. Her wings painted in Glossy Accents, with crystal glitter sprinkled across while still wet. Her crown was highlighted with Silver Liquid Pearls and Stickles.
The background was from my “box”, it looks like Broken China, Dusty Concord and Picked Raspberries Distress Stains (I think).
This young girl’s party invitation is comprised of a number of envelopes joined together to create a booklet that folds up into itself. You can make it as long or as short as you like. The top flap folds over the back of the second envelope (with the others envelopes being tucked inside) and is secured with the ribbon. A great idea that can be adapted to any theme – birthday invites for all ages, wedding invitation, baby shower or birth announcement (you could put photos in the envelopes). The pockets of the envelopes provide plenty of space to add additional information, such as maps, wish lists, RSVP’s etc…
