Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I'm using the title of one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies for my blog title today because I just bought a new raindow die set from Sizzix and have cut about a bazillion rainbows. I bought this die set because Sizzix is giving $10 from the purchase price to Feeding America. I love when just purchasing something crafty can do some good in the world.

For my first rainbow card, I used glitter paper and a background I created with the Viviva Colorsheets I was sent to try out. They are so vibrant and saturated, I only used a little of each color for this panel and got amazing results. 

For this second rainbow, I die cut the rainbow from rainbow striped paper from Lawn Fawn and then inlaid the solid colors. I added sequins and mini rainbow clay pieces from Kat Scrappiness.

For the final card today, I tried a shaker card again...I am rubbish at these cards, no matter how many videos I watch or how many I try. I think I am just incapable of pulling together the elements. Either the bits stick to my foam tape or—like this card—I don't put enough foam tape to make the card panel sit flat (see how the top portion is kind of bent down). 

I think the purple one is my favorite, but I'm certain I'll be making more rainbows in the future.

Happy Friday,

Chark

Thanks for the Gumball

I made a shaker card, successfully I might add, with the gumball stamp and shaker bits from Jillibean Soup. The shaker part is self-adhesive and deep, so no bits get caught in the adhesive. This is definitely a padded envelope type of card, but it's adorable!
I've had this stamp set awhile, but I finally inked it up with my Hero Arts Hybrid Inks and loved how it turned out. I cut the circle myself with one of the infinity dies from Hero Arts, but you can purchase pre-cut cards too. The stamp set is Sweet Treat from Jillibean Soup, and technically, it doesn't have to be a shaker card, but there's no open circle for the open part of the machine, so you'd have to draw it in.

 You could make your own shaker part too, if you don't like the deep acrylic shaker that matches the stamp set, but I do because I could fit in the gumballs embellishments from My Favorite Things. You could also add a ton of sequins, beads, and stamped gumballs you trim out too.

I've seen it made with cake sprinkles and that's pretty fun.

Here's a close-up of the gumballs. I also used my markers to color in the machine at the bottom, it's striped normally. You get gumballs and jimmies stamps and some sentiments too. I love how quick and easy it was. I know more of these cards are on the way!

Happy Wednesday!
Chark

Hero Arts Boo Stamp and Cut

Love the Stamp and Cut sets from Hero Arts, you get stamps and matching dies that you can usually use by themselves, which is exactly what I did on the a2z Scrapbooking blog today. 

I just used the die and made a shaker card...the matching ghosts and faces will have to get inked up soon, but in the meantime, I tried another shaker card. This one went better than previous cards, but it's still not my favorite technique--I love them, but I can't pull them off for some reason.

Here's a little close-up, hop over to the blog to see the full project and say Hi! The new September Challenge is up too, so I hope you'll enter.

Happy Weekend!
Chark

The Weekend Approaches

Am I wrong or did this week fly by? I'm glad to see the weekend of course, I just wonder what happened to the rest of the days. I've been making a lot of crafty things, hoping to get some published, so maybe I was just caught in a creative vortex. Now it's time to get that table cleared off, so people can eat at it! Ha!

Here's one project I made recently for a2z Scrapbooking Supplies. The step-by-step project is on yesterday's blog here if you're interested. I turned a gift bag into a shaker bag in a few easy steps.

I showed you a peek at the crepe paper rosettes I made the other day and here's another peek at the project—it's a Valentine project. Here's where I used the rosette.

Hope you have a great weekend and that you join me in some challenges, including the Stamplorations September challenge here (I'm still working on my entry) and A Blog Named Hero here and, of course, the monthly challenge at a2z Scrapbooking Supplies.

Happy Friday!
Chark

Finally, A Shaker I Can Love

You may know I keep trying shaker cards...love them in theory, but never in practice. Guess what? I finally made a shaker card/tag that didn't take me all day and actually works and that didn't cause me to tear out my hair! 

I used a package lid from some nail art bottles (that I'll use as glitter for cards). Now, I know exactly how to make this a technique I love—use raised plastic packaging.

 

The lid had a lip on the edge, so I just placed it on top of the cardstock and used glitter tape to seal it. So, so easy! No need to sandwich things together and use foam to elevate, since it was already elevated. 

Here's a close-up and you can see the tape sealing the edge of the plastic lid. I found the nail art bottles at the Dollar Tree, so I'll be purchasing more just for the packaging. The glitter bits are just extras!

I added tons of sequins and stamped stars and hearts from this stamp set.

I stamped "Mary" on the background cardstock and added the number 8 that I trimmed out as part of the shaker bits. This would be great for, say, Mary's 8th Birthday or her infinity birthday, since the eight on its side is the symbol for infinity...which I noticed after shaking  :) I used this alpha set, but any would work.

The glitter tape is Darice and I have it in blue, silver and gold because it's awesome and no glitter comes off at all! My fave kind of glitter (see blog name)!

I'm entering this over at A Blog Named Hero, where the theme is Happy. Nothing says Happy Birthday like sequins and shakers imo! They're partnering with Pretty Pink Posh and if you haven't seen their site, run there now, it's fab!

I'm also entering this over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, where the theme is Use a Technique You Love. I've always loved shaker cards, but never the technique until now—I just had to find the right product that made it easy for me to do. Get ready, family, for an influx of shaker cards!

Happy Monday!
Chark
p.s. don't forget to get all your Hero Arts goodies at a2z Scrapbooking Supplies and use my super secret code CHARK15 to get 15% off your cart total of $25 or more. And you can request pretty much any Hero Arts product and they'll get it to you at no additional cost! Love it!

Shake It Up, Shake It Up

Today I have a shaker card featured on the a2z Scrapbooking Supplies blog. And let me tell you, it was an adventure making it. I've tried at least 4 times to make shaker cards and they just are a little too tricky for me. I don't cut something straight, the foam isn't quite right or the adhesive catches the sequins. I just can't pull it off to my satisfaction even after viewing videos.

So I cheated a bit and started with a bag from my stamps that I just taped to the back of the card. It was less fussy and less work, so it actually turned out. Yay!

Here's a peek, hope you'll stop over and say hi! and remember my code CHARK15 if you wanna score a 15% discount on your cart of $25 or more at the a2z store. You could grab some new Hero Arts Stamp and Cuts like these or some HA digis that are exclusive to a2z.

And if you like Taylor Swift's song that I stole my title from, you might find this as funny as I did. Here's The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, lip-syncing the song. Omgoodness! 

Join me tomorrow for 1940s Baby Advice...it's bound to be good!
Happy Wednesday!
Chark