card ideas

CardMaker Magazine Blog Hop featuring JessicaLynnOriginal Stamps

| marialrussell

I am just so excited for today’s blog hop as we are collaborating with CardMaker Magazine plus we can use whatever favorite stamps we like from JLO Stamps!  There will be a FREE DIGITAL STAMP for all – anyone can visit www.jessicalynnoriginal.com and download that digital stamp.

PRIZES, PRIZES!  To be eligible to win a $50 Gift Card good for ANYTHING at Jessica Lynn Original’s website, we ask that you please leave a comment on each blog. Jessica will pick one winner.

Are you ready to see the cards?  The first one that you see here is a Halloween-themed card. This stamp is called Ghost of Christmas Past. I must admit that I overly-embellished this card. A common occurrence when I have my creativity mojo going. Sometimes I get really carried away. This card must have taken me 4 hours to make. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. My husband keeps commenting that my cards are so detailed and embellished that they will be too expensive to sell. I don’t really sell my cards. I mostly give it to friends. I love that when they get my cards, they like it so much that they put it in a frame and display it at their home offices! That is a huge compliment for me! I feel that if I don’t take my time or put a lot of effort into making my cards, what’s the point of even making one?

With the exception of the pumpkins, everything has been handmade/die cut by yours truly!

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The second card is one of my favorites. It’s so simple but adorable at the same time. I used two stamp sets for this card. The owl is one of my favorites from JLO Stamps. She is called “Ruby With a Martini” and the cute bat is from “Ghost of Christmas Past”. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I make a lot of Halloween cards and scrapbook layouts.

Created by Maria Russell For www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Created by Maria Russell
For http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

The third card is a Valentine-themed card. I love the simplicity of this one. I love Jessica’s sentiments on this stamp set as well. I think she has the most amazing handwriting I’ve ever seen.

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Last but not the least, is a birthday card!  Today is MY birthday so of course I have to make a birthday card somehow.  I combined two digital stamps on this card, and used some of my confetti stamps to create the confetti background.  I also used my magnolia doohickey balloon dies to cut out the cute little balloons that you see below.  I wanted this card to be happy, girly and adorable.

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Created by: Maria Russell For: http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

Which one is your favorite? Mine is still the Halloween Witch card just because she looks so stylish and I love Halloween! We are all little witches in our own sort of way, aren’t we?!

If you got lost along the way, this is the order of the hop:

CardMaker: http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/blog/

Vickie Yeakley: http://stuffbyvickie.blogspot.com/…/jessicalynnoriginalcom-…
Mendi Yoshikawa: http://www.snippets-of-mendi.blogspot.com/
Sharon Rogers: http://sharonshowcase.blogspot.com/…/jessicalynnoriginal-ca…
Stacy Morgan: http://twinshappy.blogspot.com/
Amanda Pollock: http://wombatleu.blogspot.com/2015/…/cardmaker-magazine.html
Maria L. Russell: https://mariarusselldesigns.wordpress.com/
Jeanette Cloyd: http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/…/its-…
Jennie Harper: http://stampawaytheday.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Greco: http://glitterinmyhair.blogspot.com/…/cardmaker-magazine-bl…
Gini Williams Cagle: http://ginicagle.blogspot.com/
Chrissy Hsu: http://bubblegumpaper.blogspot.com/
Chitra Nair: http://www.craftingchitra.blogspot.com/
Jessica Lynn Mould: http://jessicalynnoriginalstamps.blogspot.com/…/CardMakingM…

Please don’t forget to leave a comment on each blog for a chance to win a $50 gift card.  Good luck and I hope you all have an amazing day!

Happy Haunting ~ Lawnscaping Challenge No. 112 ~ Embossing

| marialrussell

Good morning crafters!  I wanted to start my Halloween cards early this year so when I checked my emails and received a notification for another Lawnscaping Challenge, I just couldn’t resist.

For my card today, I am using the Lawn Fawn Spooktacular stamp set, Sweater Weather stampset and their coordinating dies, Grass Border and Stitched Rectangle dies. These stamp sets and dies are so much fun and so versatile; you can mix and match them for any occasion.

Happy Haunting
Happy Haunting

I first stamped all the images that I needed for the card on white card stock and colored them using my copic markers. Then I cut my card base, and black card stock as well as the vellum using the stitched rectangle die. I didn’t really have any design in mind at this point. I knew I wanted a round moon, so I cut it using my circle die, and dry-embossed it with my dots embossing folder. I then sponged the edges of my moon using my yellow inkpad to add a little bit of color. I proceeded to die-cut the trees with black card stock using the sweater weather dies, then went ahead to die-cut the rest of the stamped images and the grass border. I also used my bridge dies to create a cute little scene for my cat. Now that I had everything laid out in front of me, I started to create my card. The last thing that I did was to stamp the sentiment “happy haunting” using my white embossing powder on some dark purple card stock, then I adhered it to the front of my card. Oh, of course I had to use my wink of stella to give the moon some glittery effect, as well as the pumpkins, the witch’s hat and the leaves.

What do you guys think? I hope you like my card today.  Happy Crafting and Happy Haunting!

Lawn Fawn Life is Good Box Card ~ Process Video

| marialrussell
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Created by Maria Russell ~ http://www.youtube.com/rprmlr772
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Created by Maria Russell ~ http://www.youtube.com/rprmlr772

Launch of Toy and Working Dog Breed Stamp Sets by JessicaLynnOriginal

| marialrussell

I am really excited to share today’s blog post. We are launching two wonderful new stamp sets at Jessica Lynn Original called “Toy and Working Breed”. I have always loved dogs! I grew up with them and I can’t imagine not having a dog in my life. They are amazing, loving, funny, faithful – truly a man’s best friend!

The toy breed stamp set is very special to me. The Chihuahua image that Jessica has for this set had a striking resemblance to my beloved pet, Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi was my constant companion and I took her everywhere with me. She was very stylish and had outfits for every occasion. She was super spoiled! I lost Chi-Chi in 2013 and I was really sad for a long time that I still couldn’t bring myself to getting another Chihuahua.

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When I first received the stamp set, I really had a hard time trying to think about card designs. I’ve always loved stamping, but I’ve never had stamp images that are so life-like, it was honestly hard to get creative. I am a novice with Copic markers so it was really hard for me to color the images and make it look realistic.

I decided to stamp and color a couple of the images on white card stock. I then fuzzy-cut the images and gathered my card supplies but when it came to putting the card together I was just stumped! I made one mistake after another.  I just couldn’t get creative! I left it alone for a few days and decided to look at Chi-Chi’s old photographs! For some reason, I had a light-bulb moment and got my crafty mojo back. I started with a simple card below, but then since I had all the other images already cut and colored, the ideas just kept coming. I guess it’s obvious since this is the very first time I actually have 4 card samples and one Doggie Treat bag for the launch.   You can tell I had so much fun playing around with the stamp images, I used a lot of my dies to “dress-up” the dogs.

I am not going to list all of the dies that I used for the cards because I would like to eventually post a YouTube video showing you how I made some of the cards, as well as the doggie treat bag.

Please let me know what you think about the cards or if you would like to see a tutorial for any of the cards I’ve shown today. Which one is your favorite? To order your sets, here is the link to the toy dogs stamp set: http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/jessicalynnoriginal-akc…/ and the link to the working breed stamp set: http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/jessicalynnoriginal-akc…/

Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Processed with Moldiv
Birthday Pop-Up Card by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Processed with Moldiv
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Doggie Treat Bag Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

Lawnscaping Challenge Sparkle and Shine Sponsored by Ellen Hutson

| marialrussell

There is something about Lawn Fawn stamps that just makes me happy. It’s whimsical, fun and brings out the inner child in me. I found Lawn Fawn stamps two years ago, but it was only the recent 6 months that I started getting obsessed with it.   I watch Lawn Fawn’s YouTube videos constantly, especially when I don’t feel crafty. I somehow get my mojo back just watching people create with Lawn Fawn stamps.

I am entering this card for the Lawnscaping Challenge called Sparkle and Shine.  The card below is one of my all-time favorite stamps – the Critters Ever After!  As a child, I was very sickly and most of the time I was stuck indoors looking at my sisters and other kids play in the yard. I wasn’t allowed to go out so I always pretended I was a princess stuck in a castle. A little cliché but true! So when I saw the stamp set, I was immediately hooked! They didn’t have the coordinating dies then so I bought the stamps first and when the dies came out, of course I had to get them too. Who likes fuzzy-cutting?! Definitely not me!

It took me a couple of hours to create the card below. I’ve put on some music and just let my imagination run wild. I wanted it to look girly, whimsical and glittery. This is the reason why I used a lot of glitter paper on this card, vellum and stickles. In my memory as a child, this is how the dragon looked like ~ cute, friendly, glittery and purple! I used my Wink of Stella clear glitter pen on the dragon but unfortunately, my camera and the lighting didn’t catch the glitz and shine.

The unicorn and the frog prince are also one of my favorites, so I decided to do a pop-up card to show them off. I didn’t want them left out!

I hope you guys like this card and please let me know what you think. Happy crafting!

Lawnscaping Challenge Sparkle and Shine Created by Maria Russell
Lawnscaping Challenge Sparkle and Shine Created by Maria Russell
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Created by Maria Russell – http://www.mariarusselldesigns.wordpress.com
Created by Maria Russell http://www.mariarusselldesigns.wordpress.com
Created by Maria Russell – http://www.mariarusselldesigns.wordpress.com

Please check out this link to join the fun ~ http://www.lawnscaping.blogspot.com

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Father’s Day Card Tutorial

| marialrussell

Today’s card features my all-time favorite stamp so far, from Stampin’ Up! called Sheltering Tree.  This stamp set is so versatile and you can use it for any occasion.  I wanted to create a simple, yet elegant card for Father’s Day.  The card that I designed today is really beautiful but it is also very easy to make.  Please watch the video below and see for yourself. I have listed the supplies I used here on my Blog but for instructions to make the card, please refer to my YouTube video.

Supplies I used:

Sheltering Tree Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up! & Fahter’s Day Paper Pumpkin Stamp

Look Up to Father Stamp Set from Stampin Up

Whisper White card stock 1 piece of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock – cut at 5 1/2 (to get two pieces of 8 1/2 x 5 1/2)

Pistachio Pudding Designer Series Paper – 5 1/4 x 4

Whisper White card stock – 5 x 3 3/4

Labels Framelits

Wood grain embossing folder

Early Espresso Stampin Pad

Pistachio Pudding and Wild Wasabi Stampin Pads

Memento Tuxedo Black Stampin Pad

Created by Maria Russell
Created by Maria Russell
Created by Maria Russell
Created by Maria Russell

I hope you found the video helpful and hope to see what you create.  Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing Dads out there, and happy crafting!

UFO Brentwood Owl Stamp Set Release

| marialrussell

Today I am featuring two cards that I created using the new Stamp Set by http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com called the “UFO Brentwood Owl”. I am super excited to share these cards with you today because I absolutely love the images that Jessica created for this set. If you would like to win this stamp set, please head on over and leave a comment on Jessica’s Blog post (http://jessicalynnoriginalstamps.blogspot.com). Jessica will choose a random winner and she will announce it on her Blog, so please stay tuned for that.

To start, this stamp set reminds me of my love for the 90’s TV show, “Roswell”. My children and I were addicted to Roswell, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer – two famous TV shows at the time when my children were still young. Since we live overseas, I always pre-recorded the shows so that after homework and dinner, the kids and I will have some quality time together watching the show. We even listened to the Roswell soundtrack in my car while I drove them to school.

The first card below is a side-step card. I always love creating interactive cards, and I thought that Brentwood needed to have more space so that I can highlight each of the stamp images in their own way, without it getting “lost”. I think I was able to capture this sense by making a farm-scene at night with the moon shining in the background.

I first colored Brentwood and the UFO images with my Copics. Then I put glossy accents on Brentwood’s helmet to achieve the look of glass, and make it look more realistic. While waiting for the glossy accents to dry, I then stamped the other images using some of the stamps I already have in my stash and preceded to die-cut the pieces. Once I had everything laid out, it was really easy to put the card together. I added stickles to the moon and the UFO beam to make it stand out a little.

Processed with Moldiv
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

The second card below is very patriotic. With the 4th of July coming up, I think this is a perfect project to make in time for our Independence Day. My original idea was to create a scene where Brentwood was holding the USA flag landing on the moon, but one of our design team members already made a card using a similar design. I was in Germany and Lithuania for a week and only came back yesterday, so I was a bit late creating these cards. However, I still wanted to create a scene in space, so I decided to create a shaker card. Brentwood is holding the USA flag, but with the UFO, stars confetti, blue and red seed beads as the shaker material. I also added glossy accents to Brentwood’s helmet but unfortunately it didn’t show through the photo.  I had so much fun creating this card. What do you guys think? I will post a tutorial on my YouTube channel for these two cards.

Processed with Moldiv
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

Thank you so much for stopping by and have an amazing weekend!

Valentine’s Waterfall Card Tutorial

| marialrussell

This is a tutorial on how to make a “waterfall” card. I think this will be a unique card to give for Valentine’s day and the possibilities are endless. I think anyone who gets this card will be very glad and would think you made a lot of effort into making him or her feel special.

Materials Used:

Basic Black cardstock (Item No. 121045) — 2 pieces cut at 4 ¼ by 5 ½ (base and back cover), 1 piece cut at 1 by 4 ¼ for the band, 1 piece cut at 2 inches by 9, 4 pieces cut at 2 by 2.

Modern Medley DSP (Item No. 126926) — 1 piece at 4 inches by 5 ¼

Whisper White cardstock (Item No. 100730) — 4 pieces cut at 1 ¾ by 1 ¾

Glimmer Brads (Item No. 121003) — 2 pieces

Basic Black Stamp Ink (Item No. 126980)

Tombow liquid glue (Item No. 110755)

Sticky Strip (Item No. 104294)

1 inch. Circle punch to cut the tab (Item No. 119868)

Ribbon of your choice for the pull out tab

Expressions Thinlits Die (Item No. 132171) — used the word “LOVE”

I hope you enjoyed this video. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message.. Do some crafting and create some memories. Happy crafting!