Clear It Out Mid Challenge Card

It’s mid-post time and I’m sharing what I made using this adorable image from Lacy Sunshine.  You can find it here.

 

 

The challenge was to use something special that we had been holding on to.  I used this ribbon.  It got it from a friend ages ago and I have never used it so I thought this would be the perfect occasion.

 

 

 

I added a tab and some pearls to the edge of the image.

 

 

 

The theme for this challenge is “thank you” and I put mine on the inside…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  For more challenge details, hop on over to the Clear It Out Blog.  Hopefully I will see your entry there soon.   Enjoy!

From My Heart…

I am really loving the clean and simple look these days.  I used a free digi stamp from Broken Box Stock that I had in my files.  I repeated it on an angle to make the design at the bottom of this card.  I colored the heart in with my red copic (#R24).  I added a piece of washy tape and a clear epoxy sentiment to finish it off.  Enjoy :-)

 

Clear It Out Challenge–Thank You

A new Clear Out Challenge has been posted and it’s time to empty out your stash and play along in another fab challenge!

The challenge this month is:

• Theme:  Thank You
• Requirement:  Use something special that you've been saving.

You have 2 weeks to play along (until September 15th).

You can make any paper crafting project you like just make sure to follow the theme and stash item.

Our Sponsors This Week:

Bugaboo Digi Stamps

 

The Stamping Chef

 

and Lacy Sunshine

Winners are picked via Random.org. If your project is picked you must have both the theme, stash item and link back to our blog to be eligible.

Desire Fourie is an amazing and talented card creator.  I have been admiring the cards she posts on her blog for quite some time, especially the center step style she uses often.  I’ve always wondered how to do it so I went to my friend, Sir Google, and asked him just how I would go about making a center step card.   I found several tutorials but the one I used is here.  It took me a few tries to get the cuts and the folds in all the right places.  It’s not perfect but I’ll keep on trying!  If you have some time, go check out Desire’s blog.  She has some really fantastic things to share with you there!

For my card I used an image from Bugaboo Stamps.  When I saw this image I knew that it was the one for me.  About 14 years ago, through cyberworld, I met my very dear friend, Cynthia.  She has been instrumental in my life for so many reasons.  I met her at a time when I was struggling to work through some very deep, emotionally gut-wrenching hurts that I had experienced.  There were times when I just didn’t have it in me to believe that I would survive what I was dealing with but she was there to faithfully believe for me…and so much more!  I’ve been lucky enough to be able to fly down to South Carolina and stay with her on several occasions.  What a blessing that’s been.  Thank you, Cynthia, for your friendship.  You mean the world to me!

Okay, enough with the blabbering, lol, and on to the card…

 

 

I colored the image with my copics.

• Cloud Outline – B0000
• Angel’s Hair – YG11/13/15, E13/29/37
• Angel’s Clothes – RV13, BG93, R83
• Stars – YG17
• I added a little Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Clear gel pen to the Angel’s wings and the stars.

 

 

 

I used a sentiment that I created quite a while ago.  It was absolutely perfect for this card!  I’ve never used it before on a card so it’s my something special that I’ve been saving. 

 

 

 

 

 

These glittery stars were also something I’ve had around for a long time and I thought they would make a great addition to the card.

 

 

 

 

 

I added this sparkly bow to finish off the front of the card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I completed the inside with a “thank you” to my friend.  When I send it to her I’m going to include the following poem that I wrote just for her … my once in a lifetime friend!

 

 

 

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

Once in a lifetime someone touches your life,
attaching themselves to your heart without intending to.
Believing in you with an unshakeable confidence,
offering you strength and hope when you have none.
Encouraging you to reach deep into your soul to unveil a fresh perspective,
   allowing you to see yourself in new ways.
Standing steadfastly by your side in times of suffering & uncertainty.
Building you up and empowering you to be a positive influence
   to those you come in contact with.
Challenging you to continually strive toward the goals set before you.
When this someone comes into your life, hold on to them and be thankful
that you have been blessed with the gift of a once in a lifetime friend.

 

 

You can find more information about this challenge on the Clear It Out Challenge Blog.  Thanks for playing along each time. We appreciate it :)

Don’t forget to enter my 300 Follower Giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes!

In Typical Auntie Fashion…

I’m the worst! I am forever known as the Aunt who is always late sending cards to her nieces and nephews.  It’s not something I’m proud of.  I always vow that next time I’ll do better…sometimes I do but most times not so much.

My nieces birthday was August 13th.  Not only was I a week late in making the card, but then I left it downstairs in my craft dungeon for a full week after it was made before I realized (yesterday) what I’d done.  My sister and her family live 2-1/2 hours away from me but my niece is coming here to my town to go to school this fall.  She’s on route as I type this so I guess I will just give it to her in person, lol.  *hangs head in shame*.

 

 

 

For this card I went searching on google images for the perfect image befitting of a belated card … a snail.  Isn’t it the cutest, lol.  This one was already colored which was a bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used an embossing folder to add a little depth to the card. I wrapped some twine around the card a few times, added an eyelet to the sentiment to thread the twine through and tied it in a bow.

 

 

 

 

Here is a look at the inside…

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for this card.  Now I just have to make sure I remember to deliver it, lol.   Enjoy your Sunday.

Bonus CIO Challenge Card

So we had a third sponsor for our challenge this time around.  I made this cute card using an image from QKR Stampede.  QKR is offering 5 images of the winner’s choice.  Yep, they are giving over $35 worth of digital stamps, Yahoo!!

 

I used my copics to color this little fellow with.

Body – YG63/65/67

Shirt – Y15/17

Umbrella – R24

Book Bag – B93/95/97

Glasses – B0000 for the lenses and Bic-Mark-It Cloud Nine Grey for the frames

 

I added chipboard buttons for the required stash.

 

 

 

I didn’t have any ribbon that matched but I really wanted to add a bow so I took some white satin ribbon and colored it with one of my copics.  I think it worked out pretty well!

 

 

 

Here is a peek at the inside…

 

You will have a few days to get in on this challenge.  Check out the Clear It Out Challenge Blog for more details! 

Don’t forget to enter the great giveaway I’m having.  Read all about it here.00

How To Use My Digital Sentiments…

I had a request from one of my followers to do a tutorial on how to use my Digital Sentiments.  It had never occurred to me that not everyone knows what to do with them.  Thank you to, Suman Pandit, for asking this question.  As promised, here is a quick lesson on using my sentiments.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• An ink-jet printer with black ink
• Microsoft Office Word or some other software that allows you to import a picture and print it.
• Cardstock
• Scissors or Paper Trimmer
• Adhesive

WHAT YOU DO:

1.  Download the sentiment and save it somewhere on your computer where you can easily find it.

2.  Open your software and import the sentiment. You can use any type of word processing software to achieve this.  If you do not own a word processing program,  you can download one for free from OpenOffice.org.  I'm using Microsoft Word in my examples.

 

3.  You will need to resize it.  Highlight the image and use the bounding boxes to drag it to the size you want.

 

4.  Alternatively, you can adjust the size by changing the width/height.

 

5.  You are now ready to print your image.  Print it at high quality.  You may need to test different settings on your printer to see what works best for you.

6.  Use your scissors or paper trimmer to trim out the image. I usually adhere it to a piece of colored cardstock to frame it.  Here are a couple of examples…

 

 

 

7.  Add it to your project and you're done!

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will answer you (so watch for my answer in the comments).

Have fun!

Clear It Out Challenge–Back To School Week 2

I can’t believe that summer is almost over and the kids will be going back to school shortly.  As most of you know, I work in a local high school and I have enjoyed the quiet days of summer but I’m really looking forward to having the kids back next week to fill those empty hallways with noise. 

I love my job and one of the things I love most about it is the kids.  I work with a lot of “at-risk” kids that come from highly dysfunctional families and sometimes we (at the school) tend to be the only positive influence they have in their lives.  It brings me such joy to be able to infuse some of that positivity into them.

For this challenge we were given a “Back To School” theme with the requirement of using chipboard.  I thought this image of a school house from the awesome Nikki at Limited Runs was just perfect for my Back To School card.

 

 

 

 

I used my copics to color it.

• Wood Trim & Stairs – E13, E29
• Brick – R24
• Door – B93/95
• Windows – B0000

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found an apple on google images and used my glossy accents to make a 3-D glossy sticker which I popped up on the ribbon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added a chipboard flag under the sentiment which can be found on the inside of the card.

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a full view of the inside of the card…

 

Don’t forget…you have one more week to play along (until September 2nd) and you can make any paper crafting project you like just make sure to follow the theme and stash item!  Check out the Clear It Out Challenge blog for more details.

Clear It Out Challenge–Back To School

A new Clear Out Challenge has been posted and it’s time to empty out your stash and play along in another fab challenge!

The challenge this month is:

• Theme:  Back To School
• Requirement: Use chipboard

You have 2 weeks to play along (until September 2nd).

You can make any paper crafting project you like just make sure to follow the theme and stash item.

We have 3 amazing sponsors this week. We are so lucky!

 

  Winner will receive 5 images of their choice.

 

Winner receives 5 images of their choice.

Yep, they are giving over $35 worth of digital stamps, Yahoo!!

 

Winner receives 3 digis of their choice.

Winners are picked via Random.org. If your project is picked you must have both the theme, stash item and link back to our blog to be eligible.

 

The image used on this card is from Digi Darla.  I kept this card clean and simple, intentionally leaving a lot of white space showing.  I printed the image directly onto the cardstock and colored it with Bic Mark-It’s. 

 

 

 

 

 

The arrow is a chipboard piece I picked up from HomeSense.  I colored it with my Rambunctious Red Bic Mark-It and added some polka dots using my white gel pen.  The Baker’s Twine is also from HomeSense.

 

 

 

 

 

You can find more information about this challenge on the Clear It Out Challenge Blog.  Thanks for playing along each time. We appreciate it :)

Don’t forget to enter my 300 Follower Giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes!

I Just Discovered Something Cool…

Well, at least I think it’s cool.  If you are a PC user and you are using Windows Live Mail to receive your emails did you know that you can have your feeds (for example http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default) downloaded straight to your inbox.  Here is a screenshot of what I’m talking about….

 

 

All you have to do to add a new feed is to click on the word “Feeds” at the bottom (see #1 above) and then click again on the word “Feed” at the top left (see #2 above). 

 

Type in the feed address for that blog and you’re good to go.  The best way that I’ve found to figure out the feed address is to scroll to the bottom of the blog and look for Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).  Right-click on that and select “copy link location” then paste that into the feed box when it asks you for the feed URL.  Of course, this only works if the blog has a feed set up.

 

 

If you want to comment on the post just click on “View Online”  to go to the blog and comment.

 

 

You may already know all about this but since I just recently downloaded the free Windows Mail client to try it out this is something I’ve just discovered.  And now that Google Reader is no longer available I thought it was worth sharing.

Mid Challenge–Clear It Out

Before I start I need to apologize.  When I posted the original challenge post I mentioned that Laura was giving anyone who commented a chance to win a $10.00 gift certificate to any CIO challenge sponsor’s store of your choice.    That’s true.  But what I failed to mention is that she was combining all of the Designer Blogs into one big random draw.  She picked a winner via random.org and congratulations goes out to Lucy who commented on Jenni’s challenge blog post.  I truly apologize for this misunderstanding. 

BUT, don’t forget you have a chance to win one of four great prizes in my giveaway so hopefully that makes up for my boo-boo.

Now let’s move on to the challenge.  You have one more week to enter your card into the Summer Vacation Challenge.  One of the things I loved doing when visiting the cottage during the summer was fishing with my family!  I couldn’t get enough of it.  So, because of this, I chose this cute little image of a girl fishing from Lacy Sunshine, one of our sponsors for this challenge.  It really brought back those special memories.

 

 

The image from Lacy is of the girl and her fishing pole.  I placed her on a dock which I found in Google Images.  I added some glitter star-shaped brads and some ribbon which I tied in a knot off to the side.

 

 

 

Our required stash item for this challenge was rub-ons or stickers.  I chose to use a cloth sticker that I picked up at my local HomeSense.  I’m not sure if you have ever heard of HomeSense but if you have one near you, I would check it out for card making and scrapbooking supplies.  I was surprised by how much I found there and the best part of it all is that the prices are EXCELLENT!

 

 

Here is a peek at the inside…

 

That’s it for this post.  I hope you are enjoying your day.  Don’t forget to enter my 300 Follower Giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes!

I Love This Idea!!

 

I was visiting Virginia’s blog -- one of the Fresh Squeezed Stamps design team members -- and saw this idea posted.  I love it and wanted to share it with you.  Visit her blog here for more information on how you can make this, too.