Make it Monday #111

Good morning friends.  When I saw Heather Nichols beautiful card over at PTI's latest Make it Monday challenge, I knew I had to play!  The challenge was to use embossing and watercoloring, which combined together, makes a truly beautiful effect!  My only struggle with this challenge, was photographing it!  This is one of those cards that in real life, really, really is so pretty!  Take a look:

I used PTI's "Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley" for this card.  I started by using SU!'s Crumb Cake ink and "French Script" background stamp on a layer of really light tan cs from my local stamp store.  I then embossed the flower image with VersaMark and white embossing powder.  For the leaves and stems, I used SU!'s Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke re-inkers and my Aqua Painter.  When it came time for the flowers, I admit I was a little stumped what to use, as I didn't have a white re-inker.  I tried using a white water color pencil, but it simply did not show up!  I ended up and used a product called "Smooch", which is a pearlized top coat.  It works almost like a nail polish as far as applying it.  Once it dries, it gives this really pretty pearlized look to the flowers that like I said earlier, I just couldn't seem to capture with my camera...grrrrrrrrr!  Here's a close up that shows the flowers a little better:

   

I finished the card by layering it with Always Artichoke, and then the card base is the same light tan cs.  I added seam binding ribbon (Spring Moss), a button tied with jute, and a little tag from PTI's Ting Tags die and stamp set to finish the card.

That's all for this week friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Festive Friday Color Challenge

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Spent mine doing wedding things of course, but did find some time to play along with the Festive Friday challenge (FFC05), which this time was to use the colors blush, aqua, & gold.

Not a hardship at all to play with these colors...loved it!  Here's my take on it:

My starting point was some BoBunny designer paper, and then used one of my favorite PTI stamp sets - "Winter Hills".  I used my Copics to color the scene, and then simply layered with the designer paper and SU!'s Pool Party card stock, added a sparkly gold snowflake (Memory Box Dies - Bianca Snowflake), and finished with a ribbon and aqua button.  Oh, and added the center from the snowflake behind the button to add a little more gold to the card.

  Came together very easily, and the colors just make me smile!  There's a lot more to smile at too, if you head over to the Festive Friday blog, so make sure you check it out! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Monday. :0)

MIM #110 - Collage Elements

Good morning friends.  Had to carve out some time to try PTI's latest Make it Monday challenge after watching Dawn's video.  It's all about using different stamps to create backgrounds, and Dawn McVey (My Favorite Things) did a great job explaining how to do this on her video, which can be found here: http://www.dawnmcvey.typepad.com/

I pulled out 2 of my favorite SU! background stamps to get started, and this is what I ended up with:

You basically just start at the bottom and work your way up!  I started with SU!'s "Weathered" background stamp using Crumb Cake ink, and then added the "French Script" (SU!) next using Certainly Celery ink.  I added my sentiment next from PTI's "Funky Florals" set, and then added half of the border from PTI's "Boutique Borders Birthday" under my sentiment to make it stand out a little more.  Next I added the flourish in Old Olive from SU!'s "Priceless" set, and then started filling in with Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery using some of the stamps from the "Funky Florals" set.  I used the PTI dies that coordinate to cut out the layers for my flower, and then embossed the top layer in gold embossing powder to give a bit of sparkle.  After adding a button and bakers twine to the center, I thought I was finished, but decided it needed a bit more sparkle. I used the back of a pencil eraser with my Crumb Cake ink to create the dots, and then added glitter for that extra "bling"!  You can see it better in this close up:

  

This card took a bit more time than I thought it would, but with my ipod playing, I lost all track of time and just had fun!  It's good to be adventurous and get out of your comfort zone sometimes, because you never know what you'll come up with!  This is definitely a technique I will try again! :0)

That's all for today friends.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back Monday with my latest Festive Friday challenge card.  Thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Flowering Flourishes

Good morning friends.  Have a quick card to share with you today.  Had so much fun playing with last weeks Make it Monday technique from PTI, that I had to do one more.  I had SU!'s "Flowering Flourishes" stamp set sitting out (from all the wedding stuff!!) and got to wondering what it would look like with the watercoloring and embossing, and this is what I came up with:

I used just 2 colors (SU!'s Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke re-inkers) and then clear embossing powder. (a little hard to tell in this photo, but the clear really shines IRL!!)  Very simple, but I really like the way it turned out. In fact I made a few of them to use as thank you's for some of the people involved in my daughters wedding. 

That's all for today friends.  Set myself a goal to have all the wedding party favors finished by the end of the week, so I have quite a bit to do!  I have gotten a lot accomplished so far this week though, and I think it's the sunshine that has finally shown up in my "neck of the woods" that's helping to keep me motivated!  Have a great Wednesday everyone, and thanks for stopping by...love it when you do!! :0)

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!