MIM #109 Watercolor Stamping Plus Embossing

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post this morning to share my mom's Easter card.  I had been wanting to play in PTI's Make it Monday challenge this week, and just couldn't seem to find the time until yesterday morning when I realized I didn't have an Easter card for my mom.  I found time and had a great hour in my crafting room!  Take a look:

I know the lighting is terrible (where did my sunshine go?!!), but I also think this is a hard technique to photograph.  It really is very pretty IRL!  I used SU!'s Certainly Celery, Pool Party, So Saffron, & Pretty in Pink re-inkers to do the watercolor background (check out Betsy's great video on her site at: http://scrapbookgirl.typepad.com/paper_scissors_and_superh/).  After that dried, I used PTI's "Birds and Blooms" set to stamp the wreath in VersaMark and white embossing powder.  This is where IRL it's so pretty as the embossing shows all the delicacy of the leaves in this stamp.  I did add a few of the flowers in Pool Party, Pretty in Pink, and So Saffron to add a touch more color and then simply matted it with some So Saffron card stock and a white card base.  I finished by adding a sheer ribbon (Michael's) and a butterfly with pearls.  When I did the watercoloring part, I did 3 of them to see which one I'd like best, and I ended up using all of them:

  

Again, lighting not the greatest, but if you click on the photos to enlarge them, they look a little better.  I used SU!'s Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery for the other 2 cards and will probably use those for birthday cards down the road.  Glad I made the time to try this technique as it was a lot of fun and I will definitely be using it again!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families! :0)

CHRIST IS RISEN!

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5 NIV)  A very blessed Easter to all my family, friends, and fellow bloggers!

Bunny Basket

Good morning and Good Friday friends.  My project today is just fluff compared to what this holiday weekend is really all about...God loves each and everyone of us SO much He gave His only begotten son that we might live...for FOREVER!  PTL!!  So from the bottom of my heart, I wish each of you a most blessed Easter! :0)

Our 3 daughters have grown up so quickly and only our "baby" (who just turned 18 last week) lives at home now.  In past years, I have still given all the girls an Easter basket, but this year I decided just a treat for the older 2, and a smaller basket for my baby.  Decided I needed to be creative and make the basket to save some $$ (it's all going to the wedding!!!) though, and am actually quite pleased with what I came up with.  Take a look:

Very CAS, but I really do like the simplicity of it.  I started with PTI's Berry Basket die and a light tan dotted swiss card stock (from my local SS).  Next I just added the grass and bunnies (both from Impression Obsession) to all four sides, and then a handle made with the tan dotted swiss.  Almost too easy, but sometimes those turn out to be the best!

Again, I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend celebrating our risen Lord and Savior with your families and friends.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back next week with some more inspiration for you!

A Year of Flowers - Cone Flowers

Good morning friends.  Another quick post today to share a card I made for my mom's birthday next week (aren't you impressed I'm over a week early?!!)  This card is pretty much a CASE from the example shown in the Gina K idea book "A Year of Flowers".  I love this book as it showcases 3 different cards for each month and different techniques for each month too.  This month was direct to stamp technique which is something I have always loved doing.  The stamp used for this card starts with the whole daisy, but you use your markers to only color part of the stamp.  Take a look:

The whole daisy stamp would have been a complete circle, but by only coloring 6 of the petals (and the center) with my black SU! marker directly to the stamp, I was able to create a cone flower.  After stamping onto my card stock, I heat set the image for a few seconds with my heat gun.  I did this because I wanted to color the image with my Copics and didn't want the black outlining from the marker to run.  The Copic colors I used were: Y11, Y21, Y17, R29, YG03, & YG63.  

I finished with the sentiment from PTI's new "Birthday Style", a black & white checked ribbon, and a yellow button (SU!).  And don't you love the little ladybug at the bottom crawling toward the flower?  This was a fun and easy card to make and I think my mom will really like it! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a terrific Thursday.  It's going to be sunny and in the 40's in my neck of the woods today...yea!!! :0)
   

Daisy Bug

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today of a card I made for my daughter's friend who just got her drivers license.  Take a look:

I'd love to tell you who the manufacturer of the stamp is, but I borrowed it from my girlfriend and forgot to write it down while I had it...old age don't ya know!!  Anyway, I stamped it on Whisper White cs and then stamped the image again on a scrap of design paper and cut it out to paper piece over the image.  I used a silver metallic pen to make the bumpers, tail-lights, and mirror pop (a LOT shinier in real life!).  The pink background is embossed with a ProvoCraft  "Congratulations" embossing folder and sponged a bit to make the words stand out a little more.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look, and I hope to be back later this week with a card I made for my mom's birthday.  Have a wonderful and JOY filled Wednesday! :0)

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Another wedding shower and NO snow, so it was a great weekend for me! :0)  Today I'm sharing another birthday card (all 3 of our daughters birthdays are 6 weeks apart) and also using it for the monthly blog hop over at Papertrey Ink.  The challenge this month was to use sequins, and while you won't see many of them on my card (only 3 to be exact!), they do add a nice little "bling" to the card!  Take a look:

I know, I know.....there's NO stamping on this card!!  It was just one of those cards that came together using dies, and didn't need anything else.  And even though I'm not showing the inside of the card, I did stamp the sentiment, so technically, it is still a hand stamped card!  The "hello" and "birthday" are both PTI dies, and the letters for "girl", were cut using my Cricut.  The flower was die cut using PTI's Beautiful Blooms and the leaves are from PTI's Limitless Layers die (Melissa Phillips did stitching on felt leaves on one of her projects and I loved it!!).  The blue designer paper is BoBunny, and the rest is just scraps from my scrap pile.  The ribbon is SU!'s Melon Mambo and the 3 sequins are from one of the girls school projects from who knows when....  

I'm sure there will be many cards from this challenge that will have LOTS of sequins, and hopefully I'll get inspiration from them!  For now though, I like the way this card turned out with my 3 little sequins! :0)  Thanks for stopping by and taking a look, and I'll be back later this week with another birthday card and a "car" card.

FFC04 - Trigger Challenge

Good Friday morning friends.  The sun is shining today, but there is still snow on the ground (my husband says we're putting up the Christmas tree tonight!), so it is definitely a good day to play the Festive Friday Challenge!  This time round, it is a trigger challenge, and the trigger word is "merry".

Papertrey Ink put out a wonderful little $5 set at Christmas this past year called "Think Big Favorites #20", and I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate one of the sayings that used the word "merry" in it.  So anyway, that was my starting point.  Take a look:

I made the "merry" pop out a bit by making it red with the rest of the saying in black.  "Merry" makes me think bright, fun, festive, so I knew I wanted this card to be bright and full of color.  I happened to glance over at my tub of scrap paper, and the green and white polka dot was peeking out, and that's what got the rest of the card started.  Don't ya just love it when inspiration strikes quickly like that?!!  (trust me...that's not always the case!!)  Anyway, the card came together very easily after that.  I finally used the Spellbinders Pointsettia die (that I've had for over a year and hadn't used - oops!) and some bright red dotted swiss card stock to make the flower, and the green leaves are from some scraps left over from the party favors I've been making for my daughters wedding.  Before I glued anything down, I ran the white layer with my sentiment already stamped, through the Cuttlebug with the large dot embossing folder (Provocraft).  Then it was just a matter of assembling and finishing off with some bakers twine (SU!) at the top and some gold nailheads (Gina K) in the center of the flower.  This card definitely makes me think "merry", so mission accomplished! :0)

Well time to go start getting all the decorations out...oh wait...it's not Christmas...it's SPRING!  I think old man winter is just feeling a little too much jolly and doesn't want to leave!  But I am hearing the birds singing this morning (thank you Lord!), so spring must be coming and I just need to be patient! Have a wonderful weekend friends and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #108 - Inked Backgrounds

Good morning friends.  Back with a couple cards for PTI's Make it Monday challenge - Inked Backgrounds.  Heather Nichols did a great video showing how just using a simple sponge and a couple colors of ink can make a really neat background.  Take a look at my take on this:

My lighting again wasn't the greatest, but I think you can get the general idea.  My inspiration for this card actually came from a scrapbook page my SU! demonstrator Stephanie showed us this week at our club meeting...I LOVED this color combination! (Thanks Steph!)  I used SU!'s Crumb Cake and Midnight Muse to sponge the background, and then lightly stamped the "French Script" (SU! - retired) in Crumb Cake on top of the sponging.  Then I stamped the flower from SU!'s "Blooming with Kindness" first with Crumb Cake and then just a little over with Midnight Muse.  The sentiment is from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms" stamped in Midnight Muse.  I layered with Midnight Muse card stock and a Whisper White card base, and then added a sheer Night of Navy ribbon (SU! - retired) and piece of hemp cord to finish it off.  I made a 2nd card with only changing the sentiment (also PTI)  and leaving the ribbon off:

   

This was a fun challenge and I hope you enjoyed my take on it.  Have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back with another card tomorrow for the Festive Friday Challenge  (I know, I know...I should be spending my time doing wedding stuff instead of making cards, but it's just too much fun!!!). 

Happy Spring!

Good morning friends and happy Spring!  Even though it doesn't look or feel like spring in my "neck of the woods", I've seen my first robin, so I'm still hopeful it's coming! :0)  I also have another reason to celebrate today...it's my baby's 18th birthday today!  Hard to believe and I'm not sure where the time has gone, but she has turned into a beautiful young lady and I'm very proud to say I'm her mom!!  She's also been my number one supporter and cheerleader when it comes to my cards, so I'm hoping she'll cheer about her card today too as I really like how it turned out!  Take a look:

I remember when the chalkboard technique first came out I wasn't too thrilled with it, but it has really grown on me.  My good friend Sue also made a card for me using colored embossing that inspired me to use some color in this card...thanks Sue!  I started with a piece of basic black card stock, and stamped the "18th", the "happy birthday" (PTI), and the flourish (SU!) with versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder.  The flowers I stamped next were from PTI's "Beautiful Blooms" set and I embossed those with SU!'s Melon Mambo embossing powder.  I used a white colored pencil to add the lines around the edges, and then added some pink and white twine (The Twinery) and a few diamond dots to the 3 smaller flowers.  I layered this with Melon Mambo and a Whisper White card base.  The chalkboard technique is not for a "quick" card, but it is worth the time and effort! :0)

That's all for today friends and I'll be back either tomorrow or Friday with another card I made for the Make it Monday challenge over at PTI.  Until then, stay safe and remember to find the JOY in your day...it is there for those who seek it out! :0) 

Hello

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  I saw my first robin yesterday, so even though the weather is showing a big snowstorm headed our way later today, I'm going to stick with the robin and hope spring really is on the way! :0)

My card today also looks like spring and is a CASE of PTI's Melissa Bickford's card, which can be found here - http://justdandy.typepad.com/just_dandy/ .   I love Melissa's clean and simple style with bright and fun images, and here's my take on her card:

Doesn't it just make you smile and think spring?!  I started with a Certainly Celery (SU!) card base, and then used the small circle stamp from SU!'s "Simple Shapes" (retired) and stamped halfway up to create the background.  I used PTI's "Flower Fusion #5 & #11" stamps for the flowers (Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, & Cool Caribbean - SU!) and a scrap of pink dotted design paper to cut out the "Hello" (PTI die).  I matted this layer with more of the pink design paper and then added a small dotted swiss pink ribbon (Michael's) and a turquoise blue button (SU!) at the side to finish the card.  I love how it turned out and it just plain makes me smile! :0)

That's all for today friends.  Have a wonderful Monday and keep thinking positive thoughts about spring...it WILL come! :0)
    

Hip Hoppin' In The Rain

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  Sorry I haven't been around much, but wedding, wedding, wedding things have taken over my life!  Actually I have found time to make a few cards, but can't show you till later next week so I don't ruin the suprise! :0)  For today though, I have a cute little spring time card showcasing a couple bunnies hopping along in the rain.  Take a look:

Are these little guys carrying the umbrella's not just the cutest?!  Kittie from KittieKraft,  (http://kittiekraft.typepad.com/kittiekraft/)  always has the cutest cards made with a lot of different dies from Impression Obsession (Ellen Hutson), and I just fell in love with these bunnies after seeing her cards!  Of course I HAD to have the umbrella die too, and that's what determined my sky color choice (SU!'s Soft Sky - retired).  The grass is from PTI's "Daydreamer" stamp set and the color is SU!'s Gumball Green.  The umbrella's were cut out using a pink polka dot dp from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby).  I added a couple small pearls for the bunnies eyes and that finished the card!

 Hard to believe Easter is only 2 weeks away...sure would help if the weather would cooperate!  We have snow coming tonight and another storm next week yet...grrrrrrrrr!  Maybe if I get my act together this weekend and decorate for Easter/Spring, it will actually start feeling like it! :0)  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by....I love it when you do! :0) 

Calla Lillies

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today to show you a CAS card I made for my daughters bridal shower this past weekend.  I have been so busy with wedding preparations lately that it didn't even hit me till Friday last week that my daughter would expect a hand made card to go with her gift.  And of course when you're in a rush, the mojo just doesn't seem to be there...grrrrrrrrrr!  But once I started thinking about it, I remembered I had an older SU! set ("Long Stemmed") that had 2 Calla Lillies in it that would be perfect as that is what Colleen wants her bridal bouquet to be.  Take a look:

My daughter has a very clean and simple style and has never liked the glitz and frills (like her older sister!!), so in the end I was pleased with the simplicity of this card and she liked it too! :0)  The card stock is a pearlized textured green (from my local scrapbooking store) and the ink is SU!'s Gumball Green.  The embossing folder is from Darice and the sentiment is from SU!'s "Love and Laughter".  A couple diamond rhinestones on either side of the sentiment finished off the card.

That's all for today friends.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday! :0)

 

Winter Wishes

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend?!  We had a bridal shower for my daughter yesterday, and it was so much fun to watch the excitement on her face through all the festivities.  Hard to believe my little girl is going to be a married lady in just a short time!! 

Today I am sharing a card for the Festive Friday Challenge (FFC03), and this challenge is to incorporate a snowflake into your card.  Not a problem for me as I LOVE snowflakes!  I really liked the picture used as inspiration for this challenge too:

This is the very first photograph of a real snowflake ever taken, and as tired of snow as I am, I can't help but appreciate the beauty and symetry of this icy beauty!  While silver would be the most logical color choice for my card, I ended up using golds and browns because of the "vintage" Santa stamp I used.  Take a look:

Again I apologize for the lighting in this photo, but it is still winter here in Michigan! (if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you'll be able to see a lot more of the detail and the glittery snowflake) And while it may not be time for Santa, I loved using this stamp for this challenge because of the snowflakes in his beard!  I started the card with a base of kraft card stock, and embossed it with SU!'s "Northern Flurry" embossing folder.  I sponged over the snowflakes with SU!'s Soft Seude ink to define them a bit more and add to the vintage feel.  I then added a couple strips of designer paper (The Paper Studio) before adding the main image of Santa (Rubber Stampede - "Santa Collage").  He was stamped on kraft with Soft Seude ink and layered with SU!'s Cherry Cobbler card stock.  The sentiment at the bottom is PTI's "fillable Frames #9, and the snowflake at the top is American Crafts POW glitter paper in antique gold and cut out with a Spellbinders snowflake die.  I added a red button and some twine to the center of the snowflake and called it good! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!  

Aimi with Lantern

Good morning friends.  The card I'd like to share with you today is a LOTV stamp that I HAD to have about 6 months ago (or maybe longer...can't remember!) and finally got around to inking it up!  "Aimi" is an oriental little girl, and I think she's just adorable!  Take a look:

I think the reason it took me so long to ink her up was because of the amount of detail, but once I got started coloring, it was easy to keep going!  I took my color cues from the design paper (Little Yellow Bicycle Inc.) and used my Copics to color her.  I have never colored "black" hair before, so that was a new learning experience for me, and then just when I thought it was looking pretty good, one of my Copics started bleeding on me!  It was towards the top of her bun, and I didn't want to start from scratch again, so I improvised and added some flowers with pearls to her hair...I thought it was a pretty good save! :0)  SU!'s Cherry Cobbler card stock matched up perfectly with the red in the desgner paper, so a simple Spellbinders flower and seam binding ribbon finished off the card perfectly. 

Still been working like crazy on wedding stuff, so feel like I haven't been stamping as much as I'd like to be!  Anyway, bear with me over the next 6 weeks as I probably won't be posting as much.  I'll still be around though, and will try to post at least once (or maybe twice?) a week.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great rest of your week! :0)  

Year of Flowers/Roses

Good morning friends.  Todays card was inspired by PTI's Make it Monday challenge last week, where Dawn McVey made a card using "The Sweet Life" stamp set.  This set has the most beautiful rose images, but unfortunately I do not have this set, but I do have a beautiful rose image from the Gina K "Year of Flowers" stamp set that my good friend Sue gave me for Christmas.  I was going to try and post a card each month using this set, but I'm a little behind!  But anyway, her is my version of Dawn's card using the Gina K rose stamp:

My lighting was not the best when I took this picture, but trust me that in real life, the color is much more vibrant and not so faded. (If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see much more of the detail!) The card is pretty self explanatory, so I'll just fill you in on my colors and stamps.  I used SU!'s Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Certainly Celery, and Always Artichoke card stock and ink.  The leaves and sentiment are from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms" and the heart border die is also PTI.  I did fussy cut one of the roses (and pop dotted it) and also the leaves so that they would both stand out against the red on red of the rest of the card. 

That's all for today friends and thanks for stopping by again! :0) 
 

Springs Coming!

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the sunshine if you live in my "neck of the woods"!  I didn't get a whole lot of stamping done as I was busy with wedding stuff, but I do have a cute card to share with you that I made a week ago using PTI's new "Polka Dot Parade #1 Die".  Take a look:

I didn't do any actual stamping on the outside of this card, but still had a lot of fun putting this together.  I started with a 4 x 4 Whisper White card base and then added a layer of SU!'s Soft Seude cs to match with the bunny that I die cut from PTI's new die.  The blue swiss dot card stock is from my local scrap booking store.  The green grass layer is SU!'s Certainly Celery, and I used a MS punch on it.  The little flowers are from a 1/8" Fiskars punch and the butterflies are from SU!'s "Embosslits Beautiful Wings".  I added a little glitter to the insides of the flowers, and the tail on the bunny is a scrap of white felt.  Here's what the inside looks like:

I used the PTI "Polka Dot Parade" mini stamp set for the wording and then the die for the bunny again, to match the front of the card. I LOVE these little inexpensive sets that PTI puts out, and had a great time making this cute little card.  Someday when I have grandkids, I know I will get LOTS of use out of this set...I mean you have to plan ahead, right?!! :0)

That's all for today friends.  Have a great Monday and I'll be back again tomorrow with some more inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by...I LOVE it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #105: Glitter Trim

Good morning friends.  Happy Friday AND happy March 1st!  Hopefully this will be the start of some warmer weather and actual sunshine that lasts for more than an hour or two!  The challenge this week at Papertrey Ink was to incorporate trim that has been glittered, and this is what I came up with:

I had been playing with SU!'s set this week called "Feeling Sentimental", and making cards to replenish my guy card stash, when I thought that this could work for the challenge too.  I used PTI's Heart Border die and glue (don't have a Xyron machine) and sprinkled it up with Martha Stewarts red glitter and I love how it turned out...even sparklier than red glitter paper you buy!  I'm going to save this card for my oldest daughters wedding anniversary in June, because the designer paper was a scrap (The Paper Studio) from her wedding album I made and they also live just miles from Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park.  Add the red glittered hearts and it will be the perfect card for her and her hubby! 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'm back to filling out more wedding invites!  I think I'll be able to be a professional wedding planner when this is all said and done!  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back next week!