Only one?

Hi. How's your week been? I've had the house to myself all week, since DH & DS are in Florida until tomorrow morning. This morning I had to shovel snow again - maybe about 3". I am so ready for spring. It has to be just around the corner.

For today's limited supplies challenge on Splitcoast, we were to use just one flower stamp and a sentiment - no backgrounds, or dp. I chose the large single flower in Embrace Life. I used cameo coral to stamp the flower all over the background on groovy guava card stock, which I mounted on black.

For my main image, I stamped the same flower on apricot appeal with black stazon and colored them with watercolor crayons. Then I cut them all out and doubled them up for more fullness. In the center of each, I took some coral primas, sponged the edges with cameo coral and attached them with brads. Then I brushed crystal effects on the primas and added some dazzling diamonds glitter. I attached the flowers to the card with mounting tape.

I stamped the sentiment from Fabulous Flowers on apricot card stock, trimmed it to 1" wide and put one end into my key tag punch to round off the end. I sponged the edges with coral and attached it to the card.

At this point, I almost quit, but the upper right really looked like it needed more. After trying several different ideas, I finally decided that a piece of faux ribbon would work, so I cut a strip of apricot and then cut the edges with scalloped scissors. I sponged the edges with coral and added a faux stitching line down the center with my white gel pen. I glued that on and decided a little more bling never hurt, so I added some rhinestones. I'm really happy with the final result.

Supplies:
stamps: embrace life, fabulous flowers (SU)
ink: jet black stazon, cameo coral
paper: basic black, groovy guava, apricot appeal
other: watercolor crayons, aqua painter, primas, crystal effects, dazzling diamonds glitter, brads, rhinestones, white gel pen, mounting tape, key tag punch, sponge

I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a wonderful weekend.

jewel in distress

Today was the sketch challenge on SCS and I really wanted to play, since it was an easy one and I haven't had much fun stamping time lately. I actually ended up combining it with Monday's technique challenge. I love designer paper, but have a major tendency to not use it. It's just something that intimidates me, not really knowing which papers to use together and I don't like my cards cluttered. But, anyway, I got brave and pulled out 3 sheets and used them all on one card. The only plain card stock I used is chocolate chip.

I started by gluing some dp to a piece of chipboard and then running it through my cuttlebug with a butterfly die. I then stamped some images on it from Kind Thoughts and sponged the edges with chocolate chip ink. I punched a hole with my crop-a-dile and added the red jewel brad.

I stamped some of those same images on the largest piece of dp and stamped the large swirl from Baroque Motifs on all three pieces of dp. After sponging the edges with chocolate chip and roughing them up with a distressing tool, I layered them all on chocolate chip. I found some brown lace in my stash, which I added to the red piece. Along the edge of the lace I put some drops of liquid pearls. When that was dry, I used a Copic marker to color the drops of liquid pearls a dark brown. The red layer is raised on mounting tape. I'm pleased with how this turned out.

Supplies:
stamps: Baroque Motifs, Kind Thoughts (SU)
ink: chocolate chip, creamy caramel, ruby red
paper: chocolate chip, dp (from a stack), chipboard
other: cuttlebug, butterfly die, lace, liquid pearls, jewel brad, copic marker, mounting tape, sponge, distressing tool

I'm so glad you stopped by.

The writing is on ...

Not the wall this time, but on the card. Hello. I hope you're having a great weekend. Seems like it's been a long time since I've posted. This card was made for the splitcoast limited supplies challenge on Friday - use handwriting on your card. I wanted to play with my twinkling H2O's, so I pulled out one of my new stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms - single coneflower. It has a nice open image that's great for watercoloring.

I stamped the image in black craft ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I like that the embossing gives a bit of a ridge, making it easier to stay within the lines. I used my aqua painter and blended several colors together on the flower. I really like how the image turned out and it's all shimmery. It's matted on black and marigold morning.

I didn't want the background to be plain, but I wanted it to be subtle, so I stamped the same image several times in white craft ink on both the coral and burgundy. Using my mat pack as a guide, I punched holes and threaded the hemp through and tied it in the corner.

The sentiment is handwritten (and yes, I realize there's a misspelling). Hopefully, the recipient won't mind. The image panel is popped up on mounting tape.

Supplies:
stamps: single coneflower (Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: black & white craft
paper: cameo coral, bravo burgundy, marigold morning, basic black, very vanilla
other: twinkling H2O's, aqua painter, mat pack, 1/16" punch, natural hemp, tag corner punch, mounting tape, black marker

I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a great day.

Snowing... again!

As much as I love watching the snow and it's pretty on the ground, I must say that I'm quickly getting ready to see spring. It's snowing again this morning, although the weatherman has predicted less than 1" accumulation. I certainly hope their right. Anyway, happy Monday! The card I have to show this morning is for Splitcoast's Saturday inspiration challenge. I actually finished it about 1:00 this morning, but didn't upload, because I was falling asleep.

I got some new toys this week, several of the new cuttlebug embossing folders and two combination die/embossing folders. I used one the combo sets - a butterfly, but I only used the die to cut a chipboard butterfly. When I started to make my card for this challenge, I was going in a completely different direction, but I didn't like the result, so I started over. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out.

I started in the upper left with the ribbon. I didn't actually weave it, just glued one piece down, then another. The order in which they were glued results in a somewhat woven look.

After cutting the butterfly from a piece of chipboard (probably from the back of a tablet) with my cuttlebug, I inked it with brilliance pearlescent ice blue, then heat set it to dry. I stamped the small swirl from priceless on one wing with brown stazon. I should have used black, but didn't feel like digging it out of my bag. Anyway, the brown wasn't dark enough, so I carefully went over the lines with a black pigma marker. I decided I wanted the blue a bit brighter, so I sponged the edges with brilliant blue classic ink. I added some rhinestones for a little bling and balance.

After deciding how I wanted the rest of the layout, I stamped the sentiment from a new sale-a-bration set in basic black and the swirl in white craft ink. The butterfly was adhered to the card with mounting tape. At this point, I could have quit, but decided that a little extra bling never hurt, so I glued some rhinestones on the ribbon. This card looks a lot simpler than the designing process took.

Supplies:
stamps: Friendship Blooms, Priceless (SU)
ink: brilliant blue, basic black, white craft, Brilliance pearlescent ice blue
paper: very vanilla, basic black, creamy caramel
other: chipboard, rhinestones, chocolate, bluebird & taupe 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, cuttlebug, cb butterfly die, mounting tape

I'm supposed to have a class tonight, so I hope the snow stops. I need to go get my supplies ready.

I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a wonderful day.

Baby dress card

I really didn't have time to stamp this morning, but I needed to, so I made this little dress card for the VSN prechallenge. I created the pattern last week, but have been just too busy with other things, so I haven't done much stamping at all this past week. The fold is at the top. On the skirt part of the dress, I stamped a small flower from fabulous flowers, using the rock 'n roll technique. Then I used a stamp with two tiny butterflies to fill in all over the remainder of the dress. The collar is made using the scalloped circle punch and a 1-1/4" circle punch, a bit of sponging and pink liquid pearls. The bottom of the dress is trimmed with wave scissors. The skirt overlay is made of vellum. I wanted it to look gathered, which was very hard to do, because vellum is so brittle, it was hard to keep it from tearing. Then I wrapped wide white organdy around the waist and tied it in a knot. I really like how this turned out.

Supplies:
stamps: fabulous flowers, butterflies (don't know what set) (SU)
ink: pretty in pink, regal rose
paper: whisper white, vellum
other: sponge, scallop circle punch, 1-1/4" circle punch, pink liquid pearls, wide white organdy ribbon, sticky strip, wave scissors

I'm so glad you stopped by.

Black magic kickstand

Wow! I can't believe almost a week has gone by since my last post. I guess that means I haven't been stamping. Well, I did stamp today - oops, make that yesterday since it's already after midnight. This card is for the limited supplies challenge on splitcoast, which I am hosting this week. The challenge is to use only circle stamps, except for a sentiment, and circle embellishments. I used big flowers, which are almost all circles and alphadots, which are also circles. I love the black magic technique so much, I decided to use it on this card. And I thought the kickstand card would work really well with the circles. My white gel pen was brand new and really juicy, so my lines got rather messy. The row of circles at the top and all the letters are popped up.

Supplies:
Stamps: big circles, alphadots (SU)
ink: white craft
paper: cool caribbean, tempting turquoise, ballet blue, basic black
other: brads, piercing tool, 1-3/8" & 5/8" circle punch, circle nestabilities, cuttlebug, giga circle punch (marvy uchida), white gel pen, prismacolor pencils

I'm so glad you stopped by.

hello grunge

Happy Saturday! I made this card for the inspiration challenge on splitcoast today. When I looked at the inspiration picture, my first thought was 'yuck!', that is so not my style. But, after looking at it more closely, I knew that the smallest pillow on the bed would be the basis for my inspiration. I did pull in some other features as well.

The victorian pattern backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms reflects the overall pattern on the bed quite well, so that was perfect for my card base. I used the small floral spray from SU's embrace life set and colored it with markers. You're probably asking, 'where does the grunge come in'? Well, that fun swirl is a piece of Tim Holtz grunge board. I picked up a package last November and this is the first piece I've used. Very cool, fun stuff. It looks like chipboard, but is completely flexible (you can scrunch it up in your fist), but returns to its original shape. I colored it with my artichoke marker, adding some extra color along the edge for shading. Then I just glued it down. Easy and fun.

The little flower in the lower corner is made up of 6 layers! And a brad. The brad is just a regular office paper fastener, which I sanded, dipped in artichoke craft ink and embossed with clear EP. I attached it with a craft glue dot.

The sentiment is stamped on white, punched out with my small oval punch and attached on top of a round tab punch with brads. The image panel is popped up on mounting tape.

Supplies:
stamps: embrace life, amazing to zany (SU), victorian pattern backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: basic brown, not quite navy, always artichoke craft & classic
paper: river rock, ruby red, not quite navy, whisper white
other: brayer, markers, round tab punch, small oval punch, boho blossoms punch ( SU), daisy punch (EK Success), crop-a-dile, piercing tool & mat, mounting tape, brad, grunge board (Tim Holtz)

I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a great weekend.

Moochas Amor

No hearts, no flowers, no pink, no red --- just moochas amor! Today's limited supplies challenge on SCS is to make a non-traditional valentine with some pretty tough limitations. I knew I was going to have to do some thinking. So I started looking through my stamps to see what I could come up with and this is the result - a valentine cow!
I almost went just black and white, but decided I wanted a bit of color for some pop, so I added some polka dot paper, which also makes this card work for the ways to use it challenge -- double good, wouldn't you say? I think the card is pretty self-explanatory, except the sentiment was done with magnetic alphabet stamps and I trimmed the ends of that piece in my key tag punch.

Supplies:
stamps: cow (Cornish Heritage Farms), sentiment (Making Memories magnetic letters - rummage)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: basic black, whisper white, dp (unknown)
other: key tag punch, ticket corner punch, crop-a-dile, ribbon (Michael's), mat pack, piercing tool, mounting tape

I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a wonderful day.

butterfly bowl

Hi, everyone. It finally stopped snowing some time after 8:00 p.m. I'm so glad I didn't need to go out today.

My post today is one of those projects that seems to take forever. I made it for the technique challenge on Splitcoast this week. There is no stamping on this.

The bottom is made from one folded piece of dp. The post in the center is a piece of copy paper rolled up tight and glued. I used a butterfly punch and all the butterflies have a black bottom layer and red on top. The butterflies on the bowl were punched from dp. Then I cut the wings off and glued them to punched black butterflies. The others are only glued at the body. There are red stickles on the wings and bodies, and the butterflies are attached with mini glue dots. To stabilize the center post, I used empty ribbon spools and card stock circles cut with my nestabilities. I used the color spritzer to add color to the white areas.

Supplies:
stamps: none
ink: real red marker
paper: basic black, real red, dp (from a big stack - not sure which)
other: white rick rack, butterfly punch (EK Success), red stickles, ribbon spool, cuttlebug, nestabilities

I'm so glad you stopped by. I hope the remainder of your week is wonderful.

Sparkly Dahlia

Happy Sunday to you. The card I have to show you today just sorta happened. I had a stamped base layer in wasabi and pixie pink, with the sentiment in pomegranate, but I had set it aside, because I didn't like the color combination. But, since I had a half done card, I decided to finish it. I stamped the dahlia from fabulous flowers in pomegranate ink and cut it out. When I laid it on the card, I knew that the pink was going to have to go, so I stamped right over the pink flowers with pomegranate. I didn't use my stamp-a-ma-jig, so you can still see a shadow of the pink, but I kinda like that look. I added a few extra flowers, too. Sooooo much better with the new color. I mounted the dahlia on mounting tape and added diamond stickles around all the petals and in the small flower centers. I thought the upper left corner was too bare, so I punched a pomegranate flower with my boho blossoms punch, glued in on the corner and trimmed off the extra. Then I added some more stickles and I was done. It's not one of my better cards, but pretty easy and I like it.

Supplies:
stamps: fabulous flowers, baroque motifs
ink: wild wasabi, pixie pink, purely pomegranate
paper: naturals white, whisper white, purely pomegranate
other: diamond stickles, mounting tape, boho blossoms punch

I'm so glad you stopped by.

More Black Magic

Oh, I really love this technique. I've been playing with a bunch of images, but haven't made them into cards yet. I did make another chipboard photo holder similar to the one on yesterday's post, but the big flower is turquoise and is double layered. But the card I'm going to show you today, I made for Wednesday's sketch challenge on SCS. I finally was able to get to it this evening. The big dahlia is done in the black magic technique, but is made up of four graduated layers that are cut out and raised on circles of card stock (3 between each layer of the flower. This gives so much dimension to the flower. The colors of pure color pencils that were used are orange and rust, which I thought looked like copper, so I used some copper accents on this card. The groovy guava card base is stamped with boho backgrounds and the teal layer is stamped with priceless. I punched holes along the back backing on the copper strip and threaded copper cord through, criss-crossing it along the strip and then I added black brads in between.

Supplies:
stamps: fabulous flowers, priceless, boho backgrounds (SU)
ink: basic black, white craft, really rust
paper: groovy guava, taken with teal, basic black, brushed copper
other: heat tool, pure color pencils, white gel pen, copper cord, black brads, 1/16" punch, mounting tape

I'm so glad you stopped by. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Black Magic

Well, it has certainly been a busy week for me without much time to stamp. SU's Sale-a-bration starts today, which means in the next few weeks, I have more classes and workshops than normal. Who doesn't like a great sale? On top of that, I had to work today. I have a job where I am part-time on-call, so I don't put in a lot of hours, but every now and then I have to go in and work.

A few days ago as I was browsing in the Splitcoast gallery, I happened on a very fun technique called black magic. No, it has nothing to do with witchcraft. Check out this card by Karen Barber. It's done on black card stock and the final step makes the color pop as if by magic.

Here is a simple explanation of the technique:

Stamp your image on black card stock with white craft ink. Dry thoroughly. A heat tool will speed up the process. Next, use colored pencils to color your image. Color right on top of the dried ink. And finally, outline your image with white gel pen. It's really very simple, although it can be time consuming if you have a lot of coloring to do, like I did on this project. I'm really happy with how this turned out. If you try this technique, link your card here, so I can see what you've done.

Supplies:
stamps: fabulous flowers (SU)
ink: white craft, jet black stazon
paper: basic black, purely pomegranate, whisper white
other: chipboard coasters, white gel pen, heat tool, crop-a-dile, black organdy ribbon, jewel brad, clothespin

I'm so glad you stopped by.