Make it Monday #210 - Using Vellum to Soften Patterns

Hello friends.  This weeks challenge on Make it Monday is with Lizzie Jones, and she shows several different ways to use (and attach) vellum and soften up some of our busier background patterns. I had a lot of fun using my new (to me) Apple Prints stamp set to create my background, and then the Enclosed: Apple Die with vellum to soften up some of my background.  Take a look:

 
For my background I colored directly to the stamp with markers so that I could have the sentiment and apples be both red and green.  For the apple die cut, I snipped out the "thanks" that comes attached to this die, and added the "hugs" from Big Hugs stamp and die set.  A little hard to see, but before I glued down my vellum apple layer, I added a few flat red sequins and glued the apple down while pushing the sides toward the center a bit to create a bit of space between the vellum and my background so that it would work a bit like a shaker card.  (Hope that makes sense!)  I didn't glue the leaf down to the background so that it curls up a bit, and then added a small piece of bakers twine around the stem.  It's kind of a busy card, but I think it will be perfect to send my youngest daughter before she starts exams next week! :0)

 You can check out Lizzie's video and all the other cards over on Nichole's blog right here.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Merry Monday #156

Hello friends.  Playing along with this weeks challenge over at Merry Monday.  Pinecones, greens, and the word "Believe" are what we are being asked to include on our card, and my thoughts went right to SU!'s Ornamental Pine stamp set.  Take a look at what I came up with:

Can you see how I incorporated the word "Believe"?  I die cut my "Believe" (Serendipity Stamps) 6 times and glued them all together, before inlaying them into the main image.  It's hard to photograph so that you can really see the depth this brings to the card, but IRL, it's an amazing look and fun technique!  The pine branch and pinecones were stamped in Old Olive and Soft Suede inks and then I sponged Tumbled Glass Distress Ink all over my die cut circle (Lil Inkers).  The snow was done by embossing with white and one of the images from "Gorgeous Grunge" (SU!).  I layered with a piece of Real Red cardstock and attached that to a white card base.

                                                           

If you'd like to play along with Wendy's challenge, or just check out all the beautiful inspiration, you can check it all out right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Tag You're...It Challenge #20

Hello friends.  Haven't played with the Tag You're...It Challenge in a while, mostly because I make the tags and then don't use them.  However, I fell in love with the background colors of Jen Mitchell's tag and decided I'd gear the tag to add to my daughters birthday gift this coming weekend.  The colors in Jen's tag were so soft and Spring like, and I've been waiting for Spring for what seems like forever, so that was my starting point for this tag.  Take a look:

I started by inking my tag (Tag Sale #8 - PTI) with TH Distress Inks in Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, & Peacock Feathers.  Next I lightly embossed in white with a Heidi Swapp background stamp, and then embossed again with black one of the images from Serene Silhouettes - SU!.  I die cut the "you" from Hello You Thinlits - SU! twice in black and white and glued them together a little bit offset, and then pop dotted them to the tag.  A small black strip embossed with white for the "just for" and a few rainstones finished off the tag. 

Here's Jen's inspiration photo:

 

 

You can check out all the other great tags and play along right here.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Papertrey Ink April 2015 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  The inspiration photo for this months Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink highlights a wedding (reception) using the new popular colors of navy blue and pink.  Waaaaaay back when I got married, my colors were dark gray and pink, so I can see the appeal of the navy and pink quite easily!  Here's what I came up with for this challenge:

I had had the Floral Flaps Die sitting on my desk for a while now to encourage me to use them....yes, I had bought them months and months ago, and never used them.  So anyway, with a wedding themed card in mind, I figured this was the time to figure out how to use these dies!  Definitely didn't use them as was intended and cut off the edge strip that is supposed to be folded over to the back of the card.  I then lined them up on a square panel of silver glitter cardstock like a quilt block.  After gluing in one triangle with all the small pink and green pieces, I finally remembered I had a tool my girlfriend Sue had given me for my birthday (pick.me.up by Silhouette) that worked wonderfully for picking up all those tiny pieces and setting them in the right spaces...the last 3 triangle went much quicker!! :0)  Everything was then layered onto a white card base, and then I added a vellum strip that I embossed with the sentiment from Quilled Elegance.  A little bit of silver cord finished off my card.

Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with from this inspiration photo, and you can too by clicking right here. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Make it Monday #209 - White on White Die Cuts w/ a Pop of Color

Hello friends.  Playing along with this weeks Make it Monday challenge, where Lexi Daly shows us some eye popping cards using white on white die cuts and then adding just a simple pop of color.  This was a fun challenge and surprisingly easy to do, once you decide what dies to use that is!  I ended up going for a juvenile birthday card using the dies from Sweet Baby and Wonderful Words: Birthday.  Take a look:

I used double layers of the die cut animals, except for the head of the lion where I used 3 layers, and then the word "birthday", where I used 5 layers.  I like the 3 layers on the lion, but I wish now that I had kept the word "birthday" to just 2 or 3 layers too...little bit of overkill there I guess.  My pop of color came with the balloon from Birthday Style which I inked up in Aqua Mist.  Clean, simple, and fun...I will definitely be using this technique again! :0)

You can check out all of Lexi's cards (she made a bunch as examples!), her video, and all the other great entries right here. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0) 

Perfect Dahlia's...I Did It!

Hello friends.  The other day I mentioned that I've been on a bit of a vintage kick, so here's one more for you.  I used PTI's "Delightful Dahlia Additions" for this card, and I have to tell you that I've had a love/hate relationship with this stamp set!  I love it because I love Dahlia's, but I'd hated it because it's a 3 step stamp and I couldn't for the life of me line it up right!  Well, that's over!  Thanks to the MISTI I was able to line up the 3 stamps perfectly!  It really is an amazing tool, and while a little pricey ($50 - $60 depending on where you get it...I got mine at: http://mysweetpetunia.com/ ), it's definitely worth its weight in gold!  Take a look at these beautiful Dahlia's:

Aren't they pretty?!!  And here's a closer up view so you can see how beautifully aligned the 3 shades of pink are:

Before the MISTI, I had never been able to line these stamps up so that you could see so much definition...it's almost like they're popping right out at you! :0)  For the flowers I used Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, and Raspberry Fizz inks, and the leaves are Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.  The "En Francais" (SU!) background and "Flowering Flourishes" (SU!) background were both stamped in Baked Brown Sugar ink, and then the whole card was sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink (TH) to give it that vintage look. I also used a Spellbinders die for the top 2 layers.  A dyed to match seam binding ribbon and a few champagne colored pearls finished off the card. 

I know I should send this card out, but I almost feel like I should frame it just because it's the first time I ever used this stamp set successfully! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Lily of the Valley

Hello friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  It was absolutely beautiful here in my "neck of the woods" and guess what?  My Lily of the Valley are coming up!  I know they're a very invasive flower and for that reason some people don't like them, but I love them!  There's just something so delicate and antique or vintage about them, and I love bringing bouquets of them into the house!  And since I seem to be on a bit of "vintage" kick since last weeks Merry Monday challenge, I thought I would share a couple cards this week that I have antiqued up...including this "Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley" (PTI) card:

I started with a ivory card base, and then added some scrap DSP, all of which I sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink (TH).  I stamped my Lily image with Old Olive ink onto a piece of ivory cs, and then used a Spellbinders circle die to cut it out.  I again distressed it with the Antique Linen ink and then used some "Smooch Pearlized Top Coat" to paint the flowers.  I added a seam binding ribbon, twine, button, and "Tiny Tag" (PTI) to finish the card along with a few champagne colored pearls.  And something I don't do enough of anymore, was to quick stamp a part of the flower image onto my envelope, so that it all coordinates. 

And I'll leave you with a picture of my mom, myself, my oldest daughter, and my granddaughter (who was more interested in her feet than posing for the picture!) from the other day when we visited the Meijer Gardens:

  
I love the fact that this is a 4 generation picture!! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!

Just Looking In.....

Hello friends.  Trying to use some of the stamp sets I've recently bought so they don't add to my NBUS pile, so up today is the set from SU! called "From the Herd".  I passed right over this set when the new mini catalog first came out, but then of course I kept seeing cute cards on Pinterest, and yep, I HAD to have it!  The card I'm sharing today is a total CASE, but I don't know who to credit as there have been quite a few people who copied it and put it on Pinterest.  We've all put our own little spin on it, but whoever came up with the original idea...congrats, cause it is just too doggone cute!!  Here is my take:

 

Aren't those faces just priceless?!!  I started by stamping the "Hardwood" (SU!) background stamp with Soft Suede ink on a kraft cs panel and then cut 3 small circles out on my Big Shot.  I layered an off white piece of cs behind this layer and lightly traced the circles, and then inked up only the faces of the llama, the pig, and the goat.  After coloring them with my Copics, I added small googley eyes.  These faces just crack me up and I know my SIL who is still recovering from a couple of major surgeries will love this card!! :0)

 

Here's the simple inside:

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend! :0)

Merry Monday #154 - Let's Go Vintage

Hello friends.  This weeks challenge over at Merry Monday is to make a vintage Christmas card....I LOVE vintage!!  I may have gotten a little carried away with the Walnut Stain and Tea Dye distress inks, but I sure had fun!  Take a look:

This card has oodles of layers...there were just too many things I wanted to include!  After using the distress inks on the card base and all the other layers too, I started assembling.  I used a couple of scraps of DSP on the bottom, and then added a doily that I had glued a "Rustic Wreath" (PTI) die cut on top of.  On the upper right side I added a snowflake from "Fancy Flakes" (PTI).  I added a deer die cut (Tim Holtz) to a Cherry Cobbler tag (Tag Sale #5 - PTI) that I also embossed in gold the sentiment from "Rustic Wreath".  Next I added some smaller snowflake die cuts (IO) and a few champagne colored pearls.  A milk chocolate seam binding ribbon (The Craft Spot) finished off my card.  (I also dipped the edges of all the snowflakes and the wreath in gold embossing powder...love that look!!)



Lots of beautiful cards to check out this week, and all the info you need to play along right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Bitty Bouquets CASE

Hello friends.  Just a quick post this morning, but wanted to share a card I CASE'd from Heather Nichols (PTI Design Team).  Those of you that follow Heather know that she LOVES to use kraft cardstock on a LOT of her cards, and I just love all the amazing projects she comes up with using this color!  I didn't change much on my card since hers was so perfect.  Take a look:

Don't you just love the red, white, and green on the kraft color?!!  If you look closely at the tulips (Bitty Bouquets - PTI), you can see that I used both Real Red and Cherry Cobbler inks on them.  Because the flowers are smaller I used my stampin' write markers directly onto the stamp rather than actual ink pads that are too big.  I think this gave some great definition to the tulips! :0)  You can check out Heather's card here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!! :0)

Smooshed Mistakes

Hello friends.  So I'm sure you are all aware by now that I LOVE the "smooshed" water color technique, and yes, I do have two more "smooshed" cards to share with you today.  For those of you who have tried this technique, you know that the end result is very unpredictable, and some turn out better than others!  I had two pieces laying on my desk that I thought were mistakes and were headed to the circular file, but at the last minute I decided to save them and see what I could come up with to beautify them.  See what you think:

 
The top one I used distress inks on, and while I liked the color, I didn't like the way the ink flowed on the paper.  After I added the sentiment and flowers from Bitty Bouquets (PTI) stamp set, I rather liked it! :0)

The 2nd card I used Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, & Raspberry Fizz inks, and again it just didn't thrill me...I think it looked too washed out.  But after die cutting the "Joyful Bouquet" (Memory Box) out and adding the sentiment, I thought it looked pretty cheerful!  (even though I think the flowers are daffodils and should be yellow...artistic license you know!!)

So anyway, I guess the moral of todays story is don't throw your "mistakes" away!

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0) 

Make it Monday #208 - Ombre Stamping

Hello friends.  This weeks Make it Monday challenge has Laurie showing us some great tips on ombre stamping.  Here's what I came up with:

I used "Delightful Dahlia Additions" (PTI) stamp set, and instead of inking from the bottom up, I started inking from the center out on the flower.  I used Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, & Sweet Blush inks.  For the leaves I did ink from the bottom up with Simply Chartreuse, Limeade Ice, & Spring Moss inks.  After fussy cutting the flowers and leaves out, I attached them to my card base that I had stamped with "Background Basics: Super Chevron" (PTI) in Simply Chartreuse ink and a Heidi Swapp background stamp in Smokey Slate ink.  I also added the sentiment from the "Delightful Dahlia Additions" stamp set in black ink, and then a little bit of glitter to the centers of the flowers. 

If you'd like to play along with this weeks challenge, you can check out Laurie's video and great card all right here. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Merry Monday #153 - Angels/Cherubs

Hello friends.  Playing along with the challenge at Merry Monday this week, where we are being asked to use an angel or cherub on our Christmas card.  You'd think with the number of angels I have around my house (lots and lots!!), that I'd have lots of angel stamps too, but sadly only 2!  However, I do really like the one in Paper Smooches "A Blessed Christmas" stamp set!  I kept my card very simple and used a few Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Dusty Concord, & Spun Sugar) for my background, and then embossed the angel with white embossing powder.  Take a look:

 

 

The sentiment is from WPlus9.  I added a few sequins to finish it off, but I'm second guessing myself now and kinda wishing I had left them off.  But anyway, I really do like how this card came out, and I'm thinking I'm going to make a few more to ramp up my Christmas card stash! :0)

You can find all the information to play along and also check out all the other entries right here.



Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Addy's Easter Card

Hello friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your families and friends.  We celebrated twice...my mom's 83rd birthday was actually on Easter, but we got together with just about everybody on Saturday night, and then had a smaller celebration yesterday.  My granddaughter Addy, and my niece's two kids (Parker - 3 and Emery - 1) all kept us quite entertained on Saturday...fun times!! 

Made a shaker card for Addy's first Easter, and used a product Jennifer McGuire recommended by IO, called Shake It - Clear Self-Adhesive Pouches.  This worked out so slick, and they come in all kinds of sizes and shapes.  You can find these on Simon Say Stamp right here.  And here's Addy's card:

I used the "Polka Dot Parade #1" stamp set (PTI) for my background and repeatedly stamped the word "bunny" in Pretty in Pink ink.  I also used PTI's "Polka Dot Basics" to stamp different circles and dots onto the white background before I added the stamped "Chocolate Bunny" (SU!).  The outer blue scalloped circle is a Spellbinders die.  I think Addy liked it, although it went directly to her mouth!  A 7 month old puts EVERYTHING in their mouth!!

 
Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do! :0)

Sheltering Tree Bunny Scene

Hello friends and Good Friday!  (And it will be an even better Sunday!!)

Just a quick post today to share another Easter card I made for one of my friends at bible study.  I used SU!'s "Sheltering Tree" stamp set and an IO bunny die to create my little woodland scene.  Take a look:

I also used SU!'s "Hardwood" background stamp and Soft Suede ink for the front panel and SU!'s Emosslits Beautiful Wings for the butterflies.  This is what I wish it looked like outside my window right now...well, maybe less the rabbits as they would drive our 2 dogs nuts!  The temps have started to warm up a bit here in West Michigan, but it's still pretty brown outside, and I'm longing for some color!!  I know, I know...be patient and it will come!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I wish each and every one of you a most blessed and happy Easter!!

The Corner Garden...Color Version

Hello friends.  The other day I showed you a black & white card using the "Corner Garden" (SU!) stamp, and today I have another card using the same stamp, but with color.  I actually have 2 cards to show you today, as one of them was kind of a mess up.  Take a look and see if you can figure out what I did wrong (in my eyes!) with one of these cards:

Yes, I am STILL hooked on the "smooshing" technique, and really wanted to use it for my background on this card; using more than 2 colors to make the flowers end up being all different colors.  Can you tell where I ran into a problem though?  I suppose there's nothing wrong with blue flowers, but I really wanted colored flowers and a blue sky...can you see the problem now?   Yep, wasn't thinking that I'd have to add my inks the opposite way to get the blue to come out on the upper right hand side instead of the left!  Hence making a 2nd card as my anal brain couldn't accept the sky not being in the right place! :0)  But anyway, I did make my "mistake" into a card, as I really do like how the colors blended together in that one, and I'll just send it to someone who doesn't think like I do! :0)

Inks:  Blueberry Sky, Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold, & New Leaf (PTI)
Stamps:  Corner Garden(SU!), Butterfly Basics (SU!)

Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #207 and Merry Monday #152

Hello friends.  I'm combining 2 challenges today and playing along with this weeks Make it Monday (with Laura Bassen who is so talented and also just cracks me up!!) and also Kristie who is hosting this weeks Merry Monday.  Laura is showing us how to do a "double partial die cut" (I tried Laura, I really did!!) and Kristie is asking us to come up with a Christmas card using the colors lime, turquoise, & white, and here is what I came up with:

  
My partial die cutting did not work so well, so please don't look too close!  I'm wondering if I would have had better luck if I had used a die sh ape with a flatter bottom rather than a circle, but you know how you get an idea in your head and don't want to try anything else?  Yup, that was this card!  Anyway, I patched it together a bit, and I do like how it looks.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, & Tumbled Glass) for my background sky, and it looks much more turquoise-y in real life.  I used PTI's "O'Tannenbaum" stamp set with Limeade Ice ink for my 3 trees, and then fussy cut them out.  The "peace" is from "Wonderful Words: Holiday Die Collection" and the "on earth" is from "Think Big Favorites #21" (both PTI).  I finished with some silver Stickles on the trees and a bit of black & white bakers twine. 

You can check out Laura's video and card right here and Kristie's Merry Monday challenge right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!  (It's going to be sunny and 63 today....woohoo, I think Spring is actually here!!!)