Make it Monday #181 - Paper Casting

Good morning friends.  Attempted to play along with the Make it Monday challenge this week where Danielle shows the centuries old technique of paper casting.  I have one tag to show for my efforts, but I will definitely try this again, as I really do love the looks of this technique.  I think my lack of bolder lined stamp images, and impatience contributed to my lack of success.  I ended up using one of my "Fancy Flake" dies for the one that turned out ok...take a look:

Using a stamp versus a die definitely makes the image bolder and easier to see, but after adding ribbon and tags to dress it up, it will still look great on a gift!  Hard to see in this first photo, but I sprayed silver Glimmer Mist  all over the ornament and IRL it really sparkles.  Here's a better shot to see some of the sparkle:

Check out Danielle's great video and beautiful tags all right here .

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Wednesday.  (I get to go see my new granddaughter again today...yeah for me!!!  Really, being a grandma is just the best!)

I can see clearly now...

Good morning friends.  We had new windows put in last week, and I decided to send a thank you card (along with our final payment) for all the great work the guys did.  I used my last window die cut my cousin had sent me a long time ago (I'm guessing it's Memory Box or IO, but I could be wrong) and a sheet of clear acetate to make the window realistic looking, and then stamped my scene behind it.  Take a look:

I stamped my sky first, using Cool Caribbean (SU! - retired) ink and a cloud template I had made.  Next I stamped the tree from SU!'s "Branch Out" in Soft Suede ink, and then added the leaves in Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Hello Honey, & Gumball Green.  I used foam tape to mount the window die over the stamped image and then added my computer generated sentiment.  Here's a couple closer up views:

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Tuesday! :0)

Thinking of You Dot

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Busy putting our house back together after the window installs, and a trip to Chicago for a family wedding reception, so not much stamping time!  I do have a card to share though, for a friend from the stamp club I belong to that had a fall and needed surgery on her wrist.  And yes she's right handed, and that's the wrist she broke, so not much stamping for her either for awhile! :0(   Anyways, for whatever reason, Dot doesn't seem to want the SU! set called "Lovely As A Tree", which everyone else in the club owns and loves, so we all decided to send get well wishes to her using the Lovely As A Tree set...she's getting a good chuckle out of this!  Now if we can just get her on board with this classic stamp set!! :0)  Here is the card I sent to add to her collection:

I mean what's not to love about this set, Dot?!!  This was a really easy card to do too.  After stamping the main image in black, I used a little dotted flower stamp from an older SU! set (2001...seems like the stamp set was called Watercolor Garden, or something like that!) that I keep specifically to make leaves and grass on cards.  I stamped each tree with Gumball Green, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, and Hello Honey inks. (If you click to enlarge the photos, you'll see the tiny dots better!)  I added a sentiment and then a frame using Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle die.  Finished the card by mounting it to a Hello Honey card base and then added a piece of hemp cord to the side.

All kidding aside, we hope you heal up quickly Dot, so you can get back to stamping soon!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and first day of Fall! :0)

Merry Monday #126 - The Words Have It

Good morning friends.  Better late than never, but finally had time to put a card together for this weeks challenge over at Merry Mondays. 

 

The Christmas sentiment is from SU!'s "Seasonal Sayings" stamp set, and I embossed it in gold on Gina K's Ivory cs.  I layered it on a piece of gold glitter cs, and then a piece of solid gold cs, before layering it on a card base of the Ivory cs.  I added a gold die cut holly (PTI's "Holly Jolly") with a few champagne colored pearls for the berries, and then twisted some gold cord behind it.  Pretty CAS with a touch of elegance to it! :0)  Here's a closer up view:

This would be a great card if you have to make a lot of them, but fortunately since I've been playing along with the challenges all year long, I don't have many more to make!  Basically just the insides to finish!  And remember how I said that my New Years resolution to myself was that I was going to finish the insides as I made each card?  That lasted for about a month I think!!  Dang it!  Oh well...I tried.  Kind of! :0)

There's not a lot of time left, but if you hurry you can still play along with this challenge over at Merry Monday.  You can find all the details and beautiful cards right here.

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

Make it Monday #180 - Paper Weaving

Good morning friends.  New windows are in and I'm finally back in my crafting room!  It was only 2 days, but it seemed like forever!  And it is SO nice to actually be able to see out of my windows again!  All the seals had broken on our windows (29 years old), so for the last 10 -15 years all our windows had that cloudy look...but I can see clearly now, so between that and being in my craft room, I am a happy girl today! :0)

This weeks Make it Monday video with Ashley Cannon Newell is all about paper weaving, and it brought back memories of one of my early elementary school years of weaving pink, red, and white placemats for our Valentine's Day party...isn't it crazy how something you haven't thought of in decades can come back to you when something like this weeks challenge is shown?!! :0)  Anyways, my new "Haunted Borders" stamp set and "Text Block: Halloween" die (both PTI) have been calling my name, so this is what I came up with:

 
I paper weaved strips of DSP from the Bitty Dot Basics and the "Haunted Borders" that I stamped in Orange Zest, Winter Wisteria, & Simply Chartreuse inks.  I layered this to a black panel, and then onto a Wisteria Wonder cs base.  I die cut the text block from a shimmery black cs and then used some foam tape to give it a little more dimension.  Next I wove some orange and white bakers twine around and through the text block and then die cut a spider (PTI) and attached it to the bakers twine.

After I finished, I went to open the card and found I had gotten so into weaving the bakers twine around the card that I had woven the twine right around to the backside, and now it won't open!  Kind of funny, but now I have to figure how to fix it!  Oh well, some days are like that!  Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them and you'll get a much better view of the details.

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so make sure you check out Ashley's video (and cute, cute photo of her little girl Lauren!!) and all the other cards right here .

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Thursday!! :0)

Phrase Play #8

Hello friends.  Just a quick post this afternoon so you know I'm still around!  We're getting new windows this week and the whole house is a mess, including my stamp room, so can't do a whole lot this week.  I did finally make a card using the Phrase Play #8 die from PTI's release last month, and pretty happy with the way it turned out. (Not so happy with my photographic skills though...grrrr!!)

If you click on the photos, they look much clearer.  For my background I used Gina K's "Fall Foliage" stamp set with Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, & Peeled Paint.  The hardest part of this whole card was putting the tiny little cutout pieces of the diecuts back in! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you're enjoying the beautiful sunshine and cooler temps...it has been such a pretty day here! :0)

And another picture of my beautiful granddaughter Addy Grace for those of you who don't follow me on FB:

NBUS #2

Good morning friends.  I'm playing along with the fabulously fun and funny Darnell Knauss and her 2nd NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge.  I may have mentioned this before, but Darnell could hold these challenges for the next 50 or so years and I would have enough unused rubber to play in every challenge.  Yes, it is a disease, and NO, I'm not interested in being cured!  With that being said, the background stamp that I am using for my card today is one that I can't even remember how long ago or where, I even bought it from!  I do know that I have looked at it many times and then always put it back for "another time" because I just didn't know what to do with it!  You'll understand when you see how busy it is!!  Take a look:

Click on the picture so you can see even closer what all those Santa faces look like.  I should have taken a picture of the actual stamp for you, as it's one of those that has the colored picture on the back of the stamp so you can see how to color it...it's all red, white, and flesh (for the faces) colored.  The size too has always thrown me...it's only 4 1/2 x 3 3/8, so not big enough to cover an entire background (A2 size).  But anyway, I was agonizing over this stamp waaaaaaaaaay tooooooo much, and decided to just keep it simple and stamp it in black, and then yes, just leave it be and make something else the focal point.  And what better than the Flourishes Santa stamp?!!  I stamped him in Smokey Slate ink and then matted everything in Real Red cs.  I added a little red/white bakers twine and some rainstones to finish the card, and actually really like how it turned out! :0)  And if you're wondering, the manufacturer of the background stamp is Brother Sister Design Studio and the name of the stamp is called "Santas Everywhere!".

You have until Thursday, September 25 to play along with Darnell's NBUS Challenge #2, and you can find all the info and laughs on Darnell's blog right here .

And no, I'm not going to include any pictures today of my beautiful new granddaughter, because as you so graciously pointed out before Darnell, she does steal the show when compared to my cards/tags! :0)  (It's ok, cause I'm too head over heals in love with her to care anyway!!!)  Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)