Big Wish

Hello Friends! For today's card, I used the Viva la Verve September Week 2 sketch, turned on it's side, and the CR84FN38 color challenge colors of bright pink, black, and gray. 

My favorite card making technique is distressing. I love ripping, crumpling, sponging and smearing ink, and generally just aging paper. When I first started making cards, I think I used that technique a lot to cover up my mistakes. Now that I *NEVER* make mistakes, ;oD I just do it because it's fun! Well, I had a ball with this card--I used paint--something I hadn't done before. Check this out! 

As with most of my cards, I didn't start out with this idea. In this case, I felt like the pink Fair Isle border needed a dark frame behind it. I didn't want just a rectangle, so I decided to paint a swipe of black on the background. Because the bg cardstock is slightly textured, the areas that are painted thinly look a little like netting to me. I like the effect.

For the flower, I used Verve stamps, but they didn't seem big enough here, so I tore apart a silk flower and used two of the layers behind the stamped flowers. The butterflies are actually a dark burgundy color, but for some reason, I couldn't get them to come out any color but red in the photo.

The entire time I was making this card, I kept thinking, "this isn't going to work," but once I was finished, I really liked it. Hope you do, too.

And that's it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by!
 

 

Stamps: Sunny Days, Tag Time, Blue Skies (Verve)

Paper: Elegance (Creative Imagination); Sweet Threads (Basic Grey)

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Staz-On; Colorbox

Dies: Peony, Fair Isle Border Petites (Spellbinders); Tiny Sweets Scallop (Verve)

Accessories: Classic Butterfly punch (Martha Stewart); embossing powder (Zing); ribbon (Michael's); acrylic paint (Ceramcoat); colored pencils (Primacolor); Enamel Accents (Inkssentials); flower; twine (Twinery); glitter (Martha Stewart); button; Liquid Pearls; foam dots

Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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BOO!

Good Sunday morning! I hope you've had a fabulous weekend! We went with friends to see the new Spy Kids movie and it was so funny! I'd see it again just for the dog, Argonaut. Mutts tend to be so adorable--especially one with a sardonic sense of humor. ;D

But, on to my card....

I am loving Flourishes' Witching You a Happy Halloween stamp set. The images have great detail and are a little more sophisticated than a lot of Halloween images. Not that I don't like cute Halloween--I do--I just don't seem to "do" cute very well, myself. I have more of a Flannery O'Connor-esque mindset.

For this card, I used the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #146, turning it on it's side. This card is only 4-1/4" square, so I didn't have much room to work with in those three little squares, so I decided to stamp my images on one strip of cardstock, then cut the squares and see what happened. I like the witch's boot and stocking being split up. Can you tell that the witch's boot has a red heel? I was thinking that a witch might like fashion just as much as the next girl, so I gave her a red heel, à la Christian Louboutin's red-soled shoes. I've always wondered if people really walk in those shoes or if they just sit around with their legs crossed so you can tell they've spent a fortune on their feet. Have you ever noticed on tv or in a movie that the soles never have one single scratch on them???  ;)

The Crazy 4 Challenges theme challenge this week (C4C105) is to create a card or project with a pumpkin on it in some form, hence the pumpkin in the top square and the pumpkin dp strip behind the squares.

I dyed the seam binding with Forest Moss reinker and spritzed the flower with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist to give it a dingy look. The rhinestones started out gold and I colored them with a Copic marker.

Thinking of Halloween, I am suddenly reminded that my daughter wants to go as Pandora for Halloween this year. I'd better get busy on that. She's going to need a box for all those evils!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!!!

 

Stamps: Witching You a Happy Halloween (Flourishes)

Paper: Midnight Magic (Recollections); Faith Paper Pack (Paper Studio) 

Ink: Memento; Copic Markers, Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Reinker

Accessories: Binding Edge Edger (EK Success); seam binding (Hug Snug); rhinestones; flower (Recollections); sewing thread, foam dots

Size: 4-1/4" square

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Coneflower Birthday

Hello there! I've got a card today that is for two challenges: Flourishes Colors of Fall Challenge and the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #134. Aren't those fall colors yummy! I only needed to use one of the colors for the challenge, but I liked them so much, I went five: deep teal, cedar, phlox, coffee liquor, and quarry.

I inked up the coneflower stamp, from Flourishes' With Gratitude set, with Memento ink in Bamboo and colored the flowers with Copics, leaving the centers of the flowers alone.

See that blue background behind the flowers??? I finally got my gizmo! It's going to take a lot of practice (I ended up having to redo this image three times to get it even close to okay), but I can already tell that my Copic airbrush is going to get some use. I love it!

I followed the sketch almost exactly except I added a second velvet ribbon over the striped one and added an oval sentiment tag. Oh, and I promised my daughter that I would mention that the buttons came from her stash. Thanks, Sweetie! ;D

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

 

Stamps: With Gratitude, Kids Play, Moments in Time (Flourishes)
Paper: Tim Coffey-Cottage Garden (K&Co); Life's Journey (K&Co); So-So-Sweet (Paper Studio)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Memento; Copic Markers
Dies: Curved Rectangles, Fair Isle Border Petites; Classic Ovals; Fleur de Lis Motifs, Labels Sixteen (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Striped Ribbon (American Crafts-Elements); Velvet Ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs); Pearl Brads (Recollections); Buttons; Foam Dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Witching You...

Happy Wednesday! Hope yours was a good one. My card today is pretty much self-explanatory, so this won't take much of your time.

I used the sketch from today's Flourishes Noon Time Challenge and decided to break out my new Witching You a Happy Halloween set. I've used Stickles for the cat's collar, stars, swirls, and witch's hat band. I colored the broom and hat band with Copics, but I don't have enough gray markers to color something black yet, so I used Prismacolor pencils for the hat.  

I have started using a different method to pop some of my layers up. When I only want my layer popped up a little bit, I found that I could use a piece of cardstock that I've run though a paper crimper. I usually use two layers, with the crimps going in opposite directions to give just a little more lift and stability. I like using this method for two reasons: first, it makes the entire layer sturdier, unlike foam dots, and second, I can precisely control the height I lift a layer. I know that if the layer is pressed on, it will collapse, which doesn't happen with foam dots, but I don't see that happening very often. And, if it did, the layer just wouldn't be lifted anymore. I can live with that.

And, that's it for this card.

Oh, one more thing...I love my new ink blender blocks! 

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week!

 

Stamps: Witching You a Happy Halloween (Flourishes)
Paper: Midnight Magic (Recollections)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Staz-on; Memento; Copic markers
Accessories: Arch Lattice edge punch (Martha Stewart); Bird Call embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Michael's); Enamel Accents (Inkssentials); color pencils (Prismacolor); rhinestones; twine (The Twinery); Stickles; sewing thread; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
 

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Blue Willow Anniversary Challenge

Hello Friends! I've been working on a unique challenge the past few days and I'm finally ready to share it with you.

One of my dearest friends is celebrating her ninth anniversary soon. She and her husband always try to incorporate the traditional anniversary gifts into their anniversary somehow and she asked me to do that in an anniversary card for her. The traditional gifts for the 9th year are willow and pottery, with leather as the modern gift. I also discovered that Lapis Lazuli is also a modern jewel for this anniversary. So, I took this as my personal challenge. Honestly, I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but I'm pleased with the finished card.

I tried several different sketches, and settled on the Viva la Verve September 2011 Week 1 sketch for this card. The Blue Willow Inn Restaurant is near here, and I think they are going to go there for an anniversary dinner, and the Blue Willow china pattern is usually blue and white, so blue was a natural color. As it's for a man, I used browns, too. I found the Blue Willow plate stamp at Hanko Designs. I stamped the plate, cut it out, then covered it in Glossy Accents to give it a ceramic look. It is mounted to a Parisian Accent medallion that I sprayed with a Perfect Pearls mist to give it a metallic look. That covered the willow and pottery elements of the challenge. For leather, I used suede cording behind the plate and a leather button on each of the sentiment panels. The buttons were originally very shiny and dark, so I just sanded them until most of that was gone and they were good to go. These were the smallest leather buttons I could find, so I added the bit of twine to them so they wouldn't look like giant blobs just stuck on the card. I used a gold opaque calligraphy pen to edge the white accent panels behind the sentiments. For the Lapis Lazuli I colored two light blue rhinestones with a dark blue Copic and adhered them to the center panel.

I love the bg paper I used on this card. It's a digital image from www.lostandtaken.com, the Vandelay Premier set. I think it's a photo of a cracked and stained road. Nice "man" paper, I think. ;) 

Did you know there is a legend behind the Blue Willow pattern? I didn't. But, it's very romantic, so I typed a shortened version and printed it in blue on white paper and inked the edges, then adhered it to more of that man-paper. When you open the card, it's on the top half.

The bottom half of the inside is a simple sentiment that I created in Word and printed on white paper. The stamp, which came with the plate stamp, is of the doves in the Blue Willow pattern. I inked the edges of this panel heavily, adhered it to another Lost and Taken image from the New Grunge set, then adhered those to navy cardstock. I'm glad she's not going to be mailing this card--all that cardstock made for a heavy card!

This was one of the toughest challenges I've ever worked on, and it really stretched my imagination, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Jessica and Mike, I'd say something like, "You're the most perfect couple I've ever known," but I wouldn't want to jinx you, or anything *~D , so I'll just say "Happy Anniversary!" You are a fabulous couple!!!

Before you go, check out my new blog badge over in my side bar. Doesn't it look nice sitting over there? I was in the top four for The Beauty of CAS Bring Back Beautiful challenge with my Peas to Meet You card. 

Also, Linda, over at Paper Boutique gave me another shout out in her Fab Five Friday for my Tomato Soup card! Thanks, again, Linda!

And, thank YOU for stopping by today. Have a fantastic week!

 

Stamps: Blue Willow Plate & Doves (Kodomo Inc); Quietfire
Paper: Bazzill Basics; Vandelay Premier & New Grunge (Lost and Taken)

Ink: Colorbox; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Calligraphy Pen (Marvy); Copic marker

Dies: Parisian Accents, Classic Ovals Lg, Labels Thirteen (Spellbinders); Curvy Bookplate Die (Verve)

Accessories: 1-3/4" circle punch (EK Success); ribbon (Offray); rhinestones; household twine; Glossy Accents; Perfect Pearls; leather buttons (LaMode); suede cording (Darice); foam dots

Size: 3.5" x 6.5"

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