Happy June!!

For many of you, school's out, and you're starting summer vacation, but here in China (we follow the Canadian school calendar at my school) we are here until the bitter end: June 30th! Waaaaaaaaahhhhhh. 

But instead of being sorry myself, I've gotten my butt in gear and started my end-of-the-year thank you cards. There are so many people to thank in a school community:

This card is kind of a general "I'm happy for you" card, but with flair! 

The gems are cut out of DecoFoil adhesive foam and I used multi-coloured foil on them. So pretty!! 

Supplies: 

Priceless Stamp set (Technique Tuesday)

You Are A Gem (Technique Tuesday)

Hi guys!! I'm here today with some spring-inspired greeting cards. 

Butterflies are a guilty pleasure of mine and I have quite the collection going, which makes mixing and matching elements a snap! 

These cards feature a stamp set by My Favorite Things, and a diecut from Sizzix. I made four cards in total, and a couple of them say "Thank You!" and a couple of them say "Wish" thanks to We've Got Your Sticker: Happy and We've Got Your Sticker: Thanks.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Supplies: 

Die Cut: Sizzix Thinlits (Sheet) Mold 1 - Stereo Staggered Butterfly

Stamps: My Favorite Things

Chinese followers: 

Sizzix is now in China! 

CLICK HERE to go to the exclusive Chinese site for all things Sizzix! 

Oh hey? Do you follow me on Instagram? 

(I'm @jazzytobi just in case you want to be friends)

Anyway, if you do, then you know i'm now 40 YEARS OLD!! WHAT??? 

It sounds old, but it feels good. Life makes sense, you know? 

Well, until something catastrophic rocks my world and I move to another strange country again, but for now - I'm enjoying it! 

This card was made on my birthday and it's a very happy.

I only used the best colours! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: 

Stamp set: Fringed Dahlia

White Embossing Powder

Bazzill Cardshoppe Cardstock

Watercolor Paints

But the star of the card is definitely these pretty flowers. They were the inspiration for the colours and the focus of the whole design. 

thanks for stopping by!! 

Supplies: 

Sizzix Die Cut: Love Birds 3-D Rose

Distress Oxide Inks: Broken China, Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet

Stamps: Technique Tuesday - Fringed Dahlia, Lots of Dots, Butterfly Collage

Hi there! I'm sharing a cute card that is fun to construct, cute, and speaks to my scooter-riding soul! 

Before I came to China I was no stranger to two-wheeled vehicles having had my first dirt-bike at the age of four (my parents were nuts!!!) but, I had never driven a bike/scooter on the road as my primary mode of transportation. There are days when it REALLY sucks (when it's below freezing and pouring rain or snowing) and days when it feels so good to have the sun on your face and the wind blowing through your hair... 

Anyway, this die has my name written all over it! 

This die would be fun to give to your kids! Putting it together was like a fun little puzzle, and the colour combinations are endless! Take a look on the Sizzix Website for a helpful video and other colour schemes! 

Luckily, I had the most perfect sentiment ever in my stash of stamps (this one is from Stamping Bella) and a few cute scraps of patterned paper to make this die cut shine! 

Supplies:
Sizzix Bigz Die - Moped

Patterned Paper - MME

SRM Border Sticker

Bazzill Cardshoppe Cardstock

Best Creation Glitter Cardstock

Do YOU love Sizzix products? 

Simply create your make using at least one Sizzix die, then use the form HERE to enter your make into one of the four specialist categories before May 1st, 2017.

   

I have admired peoples creations using foil lately so I got envious, then I went shopping, hahaha... At first I foiled WITHOUT a machine (a laminator, etc) and discovered the sticky, messy side-effects. 

So you might not be able to tell, but these letters don't have the slick, super-shiny finish that traditionally foiled letters have. That's because I used adhesive instead of the laminating technique. This resulted in the letters remaining sticky even after I added the foil, so I dusted the letters with an "anti-static powder tool" which is actually an anti-stick tool. 

The great thing about foiling your sentiments is that they really become a focal point, rather than an afterthought. 

You can see in this photo a little better that the finish is more like a brushed metallic, than a super sleek metal finish. 

Supplies: 

Die Cuts - Celebrate DIY Steel Die (Technique Tuesday)

Foil - Prima Foil Intergalactic 

Hello there! I'm here with some cute gift bags for Easter and/or spring. 

We don't celebrate Easter, especially since moving to China, but we usually give little gifts of our favourite candy (mini-eggs) or baked treats to each other! My boys love getting these kind of presents, so I thought I'd make a cute little bag to conceal the contents.... 

I assembled my supplies and got a colour-scheme going. This is usually the way I jump-start my creativity if I don't have any ideas - which was the case today. Colours are inspiring to me and I can usually work quickly after choosing a scheme. 

I coloured an image that will serve as one of the elements on the bag. I made the colours muted intentionally so that the image can be used on top of any bag - regardless of colour.

Here are the bags, one for each of the people in my family!  

I kept the design elements the same but just changed the colour of the bag! It's a really easy way to personalize a design without a complete re-design! 

Supplies: 

Black Chevron bags

Hot Pink Chevron Bags

Teal Chevron Bags

Charcoal Baker's Twine

Sticker Stitches - Black

I made a galaxy background with watercolor paints... And actually, I started with a long panel so I was able to make two cards!

Have you seen the new Sizzix 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folders? 

I was surprised when I got it out of the package that it was much thicker and heavier than your normal embossing folder, and now I know why! 

The results are impressive!! 

The embossing is quite substantial, with grooves and edges at angles that truly make it 3-D. 

I thought it looked lovely in the kraft paper so I set to work making a just because card. 

I do anything colour-wise because of the neutral base, but I decided to go with a nice and fresh blue/green palette. 

Supplies: 

We've had a lot of requests for a no-line colouring tutorial because, let's face it - it's kind of scary!! The lines disappear and before you know it, you don't know what you're colouring anymore! Hopefully these tips will help you in your no-line quest! 

(the markers I used)

Start with a very pale stamped image. I went so far as to stamp off the image once before stamping this "keeper." I did that so once the image is coloured in, the lines will not be visible. 

Start with the darkest marker and set about adding the shadows. The more you shade the better - this helps a lot when the lines start to "disappear." If done correctly, your shading will tell you where your lines are! 

Add the next lightest colour and gradually move into the centre. Make sure you blend those lines! 

With the lightest colours, fill in the rest of the area. If you want certain features to stand out (like I did here with the whiskers and the nose), colour those FIRST before laying down your marker colours. Those lines will disappear and it will be hard to find them again. 

Add in fun details like shading around the eyes, and eyeballs with pens! 

One step further: because we stamped so lightly we can actually add in features that weren't there in the first place, like the muzzle or the curve of his back legs. These details were added with a pastel-chalk pencil - a lot of people use pencil crayons for this type of detail too!  

Mount your creation on a simple inked background and you're done!! 

I actually made three - all with different sentiments. 

I hope this was helpful!! 

Thanks for stopping by!