You Are a Treasure

Hello there...again! Didja miss me? My photo editing didn't take nearly as long as I expected, so without further ado, here is my last card for the day:

I stamped the sentiment first, then masked it and stamped one of the flowers. I then masked that flower and stamped another flower. I colored the flowers a little bit with Copics and used Mustard Seed and Vintage Photo inks along the edges of the sentiment panel.




















The sketch is the Viva la Verve February 2012 Week 3 sketch, and the color palette is CR84FN49.

The sentiment panel, flower, and leafy sprigs are all raised up with foam dots.

Eyelets on the vertical flag. The paint peeled a little bit, but I like the look on this card.

I stamped the flower once in Vintage Photo ink, then again in Mustard Seed, slightly offsetting the second stamping, then cut it out with a Scalloped Circle Nestie. Then, I adhered the button to the flower with hot glue, using just a little more than necessary so it would form the little nubs in the holes. 

I decided not to add a sentiment to the inside of the card, instead just decorating it with the same flowers I used on the front. I just loved coloring them. For the edges of the white panel, I used a deckle-edged ruler and moistened the paper just a little bit before tearing. I then sponged Mustard Seed Distress Ink along the edge of the paper and followed that with a light swiping of Vintage Photo. I can't believe I've had these stamps so long and haven't used them like this before. They are really pretty grouped together.

Well, that's all I have to share with you today. Looks like I may actually get to bed before midnight tonight! :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Tag Time, Sunny Days (Verve)
Paper: Little Black Dress (Basic Grey); Watercolor Bouquet (K&Co)
Ink: Distress Ink
Dies: Leafy Sprigs, Curvy Bookplate (Verve); Classic Scalloped Circles Lg, Floral Doily Accents, Floral Doily Motifs (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Eyelets; Paper Lace II embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Offray); Distress Stickles; Liquid Pearls; Enamel Accents; button; foam dots; deckle edge ruler
Size: A2 (4.25" 5.5")

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Keep Fighting

Hello Friends! Hope you've had a good day. I had an appointment this morning that ended up lasting until lunchtime, but was still able to get a couple of cards made, so I'd call this an excellent day! I've been asked to make a beach-themed wedding card for next month, and while I'm waiting on the stamps I ordered for it, I decided to try out a beachy color palette.

Have you seen the blog, Design Seeds? I LOVE IT! Not only are there tons of color palettes to drool over, you can use these little slider things to do a palette search or you can simply search by theme. Very cool. For this card I went to "The Sea" theme and scrolled until I found one I liked. It's called "Beached Tones." Aren't they gorgeous!



I used the Viva la Verve February 2012 Week 4 sketch. It looks like a simple sketch, but, for me, these type sketches just about make me break out in hives!!! I'll take lots of busy layers any day over CAS!




So, here's the card I came up with using the VLV sketch and a beach palette:

The bg paper is one that I found at a half-price scrapbook store awhile back. It's beautiful paper, but it's 12x12, so the design is huge, and since I don't do scrapbook pages, I was thinking I'd never get around to using it, but the colors were perfect for this particular color palette, so I decided to try it anyway. I didn't realize, until I edited the photos of the card that the lace design on the paper actually looks a little like sea foam. When I am making that beach wedding card next week, I may have to pull this paper out again!

The sentiment on the front of the card, and on the inside are from two different Verve stamp sets, but they go together so well.

And...that's it's for this card. I said in the beginning of the post that I'd made two cards. I did, but I still have to edit the photos of the second card, so I'll be back a little later with that one.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, and I'll see you in a few! :)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Words of Wisdom, Blue Skies(Verve)
Paper: Roses & Lace (Paperwhite)
Ink: Distress Ink; Colorbox
Dies: Floral Doily Motifs, Bird Flourishes (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Classic Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart); Script Texture embossing folder (Cuttlebug); pearls, Enamel Accents; Stickles; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #135: What???

Hi Blog Friends! Can you believe it's already Tuesday again? Wow, the days really fly by, don't they? But, I love Tuesdays because it means we have another sketch for you at Tuesday Morning Sketches! I can't wait to show you the card I made with this week's awesome sketch, created by our own Melissa.

Digi Doodle Shop is sponsoring the challenge this week, and I used the most adorable Digi Doodle image for my card. It's called Twitty Diddle. He's a bird, maybe a pelican, and he appears to be just a little surprised, or maybe worried. Whatever he is, I love his expression. I colored him with Copics and used Glossy Accents on his eyes.


And, here's how I interpreted that deer-in-the-headlights look:

Whaaat?!? Don't you know that's what he's thinking? I had such fun with this card! I sewed all the layers down, cut the Fancy Tag out of chipboard, coated it with Mod Podge, then sprinkled it heavily with glitter and sprayed it with a clear gloss to keep the glitter from flaking off. I put Liquid Pearl dots on the perimeter of the image and popped it up onto the glittered tag, then popped the entire thing up on the card.

For the sentiment, I cut the letters with my Alpha Bubbles dies, colored them with a Martha Stewart glitter marker, then adhered them to the card with glue.

Here's a look at the popped up layers.

For the inside, I printed the sentiment, in a dark brown, onto a transparency and rubbed it onto white cs. I colored in the letters with Copics, in a gradient pattern of three shades of blue, then added Diamond Stickles for sparkle. I attached a scrap of dp left over from the front of the card and added Liquid Pearls to the motifs. The yellow doodling just above the dp is hand drawn with a fine tip marker. On a piece of blue cs, I scored lines along the edges, adhered the sentiment panel to it, then glued it into the card.

I can think of a dozen occasions for which I could send this card, for everything from encouragement to congratulations--even for a birthday! And, little Twitty Diddle is so stinking cute, I know he'd add a smile to someone's day.

So, will you join us for the sketch challenge? I sure hope so! You have until Sunday at 8:00 PM (EST) to link your creation, and one lucky winner will win a gift certificate to the Digi Doodle Shop! All the details are on the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog, and you can get more inspiration from the rest of the design team there, too.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a creative week!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Twitty Diddle--digital stamp (Digi Doodle Shop)
Paper: Hattie Papers (My Mind's Eye); Circa 1934 (Cosmo Cricket); Splendid (Authentique); chipboard
Ink: Copic markers; Distress Ink; glitter marker (Martha Stewart)
Dies: Labels Fourteen, Fancy Tags Two (Spellbinders); Alpha Bubbles (Sizzix)
Accessories: Seeing Spots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); rhinestones; sewing thread; glitter; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Liquid Pearls; foam dots; transparency (for making rub on letters)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Another Corner Bookmark: Butterfly

Hi Friends! Another corner bookmark, another quick post. And, like the previous bookmark, I'll be entering this in the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #157: Create a Corner Bookmark. I'm not going to go into details, as it's a pretty simple design, but if you want any information about what I did, just leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

The front:

The back:

See...quick, wasn't it? :)

Note to Mom...DD decided she wants this bookmark instead, so the silhouette bookmark is all yours, if you still want it. :D

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fantastic week!

~Hugs!

 

Stamps: In Flight (Our Craft Lounge); Grape Floral Background (Stamp Camp)
Paper: Mariposa Stack (DCWV
Ink: Distress Ink, Sharpie marker, Memento
Dies: Bird Flourishes, Labels Fourteen (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot edge punch (Martha Stewart); clear embossing powder; ribbon; sewing thread; Stickles; Enamel Accents
Size: 4"

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FTTC157: Corner Bookmark

Hello Friends! Quick post here today. The challenge this week for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday is to create a corner bookmark--yet another project I've never made, but I can't imagine why not. It was easy, and fun.










My color palette is from the Color Throwdown #180 challenge. This is such a nice, soothing palette.





Here's my bookmark:

I used Beate's SCS video tutorial as a guide to making the bookmark. I sewed dp to the bookmark base before folding the edges down in the back, then added ribbon, Liquid Pearls, and Stickles.

I used a silhouette from Flourishes' Sweet Days of Summer stamp set for my image. I love that it's a girl reading, and the tree fit into the circle die cut perfectly. It's embossed with Chocolate embossing powder, then I sponged Distress Ink for the ground and sky, and used Flower Soft for the grass and flowers in the tree, and Sparkly Fluff for the ground under the tree.

The sentiment on the back of the bookmark is from the same stamp set as the silhouette.

My DD saw this and immediately called dibs on it. :) My entire family are readers, but, even at seven years old, my DD is the most avid reader, so she probably would have gotten this anyway, but I'm glad she liked it so much she requested it herself.

And, that'll do it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Sweet Days of Summer (Flourishes)
Paper: Just Chillin' (Making Memories)
Ink: Memento; Distress Ink, clear embossing ink
Dies: Std. Circles Lg, Classic Scalloped Circles Lg, Classic Ric Rac Edgebilities (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot border punch (Martha Stewart); Zing embossing powder; Offray ribbon; sewing thread; Sparkly Fluff; Stickles; Liquid Pearls; Flower Soft
Size: 4" 

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TESC153: Just Sittin' Here

Happy Friday, Friends! I hope you've had a good week and have a wonderful weekend planned. I also hope you've got some crafting time budgeted because it's time for the new Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge (TESC153), and this week's amazing sketch was designed by the super-talented Sankari Wegman. For my colors for this card, I used the TCPTues198 color challenge palette.

I am thrilled to be Taylor's very first "Top Chef" (did you see my new Top Chef blinkie in my sidebar?), but I have to tell you, I was feelin' the pressure to make another card worthy of that honor. :) I had a lot of different ideas for those little bitty squares, but in the end, I decided to use the spotlighting technique (my first attempt at this technique) and created a park scene. I hope you like it.

Normally, I think, when doing spotlighting, you leave the main image uncolored and only color the spotlighted areas, but for this, I colored the entire image very lightly, then colored the spotlighted areas darker. I always like a little sparkle on my cards, when I can, so I added crystal Stickles to the background, and used light blue Stickles on the spotlighted areas.

For that sweet little bench, I stamped the image on blue woodgrain dp, did a little shading with a Copic marker, added Pearl Pen dots for the hardware, fussy cut it, then popped it up with foam dots.

I stamped the sentiment on white cs, then cut it out with a leaf die from the Flower Creations Three Spellbinders set. I used Distress Inks to give it some color.

I had fun with the inside, too. I punched the Enchanted Woods border, then used Distress Inks to color it. I used Peeled Paint on the bottom, then Crushed Olive, then Worn Lipstick along the top edge. Then, using Vintage Photo Distress Ink, I inked the bottom edge of a piece of white cs so it would show behind the die cut trees. Finally, I sponged Tumbled Glass Distress Ink above that, for sky, and glued the tree border to the bottom of the cs. Just to give it some definition, I sponged Worn Lipstick along the edges of the entire piece of cs before gluing it to the inside of the card.

So, that's my interpretation of the newest TESC sketch. For more inspiration, check out the rest of the Design Team:

• Cheryl Lea, Featured Top Chef (That's ME!)
• Cassie Trask
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Margie Cortina
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Tracy Clemente
• Taylor VanBruggen  <---- get all the details here 

Remember, Taylor has a random drawing for a gift certificate, and she also chooses a new Top Chef with every challenge. Will it be you??? I can't wait to see what you create!


Have a spectacular weekend!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: In the Park (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: The Green Stack (DCWV); Best of K&Co
Ink: Copic markers; Memento; Distress Ink
Dies: Std. Circles Lg, Flower Creations Three (Spellbinders)
Accessories: 3/4" circle punch (EK Success); Enchanted Woods Multi-Shaper; Gridlock embossing folder (Sizzix); ribbon (Ellen Hutson); pearls; sewing thread; foam dots; Stickles; Pearl Pen
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #134: A Magical Day

Hello Friends, and Happy Tuesday! You are going to love the sketch this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Kathy designed a square card with diagonals--FUN! And, if you haven't played along with us at TMS before, now's the time to get started. Our sponsor this week is Pixie Dust Studio, and you should check out the digi stamps there. Too, too cute!!!








I used Lily Pad's Virginia's View Challenge #2 as my inspiration for the colors and part of the design. I couldn't resist when I saw all those dots. Liquid Pearls and Stickles are two of my best friends lately! :)

The image is a Pixie Dust Studio digital stamp called Laurel Wings. Isn't she sweet? I had such fun coloring her with my Copics and adding Stickles to her wings and flowers. And, take a look at all those dots!!!

The inside is simple, but still feminine: 

So, will you play along with us this week? I hope so. You have until Sunday at 8PM EST to link your creation. The rest of the design team has lots more inspiration for you to feast your eyes on at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog, and all the details for the challenge are there, too. I can't wait to see your project! Thanks for stopping by!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Laurel Wings (Pixie Dust Studio); Proud as a Peacock, In Flight (Our Craft Lounge); In the Park (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: The Whimsy Matstack (DCWV)
Ink: Copic markers; Distress; Memento
Dies: Classic Rectangles Sm, Classic Scalloped Rectangles Sm (Spellbinders); Tiny Sweet Scallop (Verve)
Accessories: Clear embossing powder; seam binding (Hug Snug); rhinestones; eyelet; button; flowers (Recollections); foam dots; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Liquid Pearls; Enamel Accents; Shimmer Spritz
Size: 4.25" square

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African-Themed Wedding Card

Happy Thursday, Friends! I'll be brief today. My SIL is going to an African-themed wedding soon, and asked me to make a wedding card for it. I used the February 2012 Week 2 Viva la Verve sketch, and turned it on it's side:

Here's the result:

I did a lot of distressing on the edges with my Distrezzer and also by inking some of the edges then wetting and curling them up. I zigzagged the main panel and used a straight decorative stitch on either side of the yellow zigzag pattern on the long narrow rectangle layer at the top of the card.

The sentiment was stamped on vellum in Staz-on ink, then I tore and inked the edges with Distress Ink.

Here's a close up shot of the wild animal cs. Can you see the "sand" I added to the tan areas? That's ultra fine Flower Soft. 

For the flower, using the two smaller dies in the Daisy Heads Spellbinders set, I cut two each, inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then curled the petals up with a stylus. I stacked the layers, gluing only the center of each one, then spritzed the entire flower with a light mist of gold Shimmer Spritz. The center is made of gold colored beads, which I coated in Glossy Accents.

I made the layer directly behind the white sentiment panel by stamping a burlap background stamp in Tea Dye, then Forest Moss Distress Inks.

So there you have it, my non-traditional African-themed wedding card. I hope my SIL likes it! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great night!

~Hugs, 

 

Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve); Wedded Bliss (Jen Martin); Tag Lines (Flourishes); Burlap (Stamp Camp)
Paper: Safari Chic (DCWV)
Ink: Distress Ink; Staz-On
Dies: Daisy Heads, Foliage (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Twine; rhinestones; beads; eyelets; sewing thread; Glossy Accents; Flower Soft; Shimmer Spritz
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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