Joy

I'm so happy to be Jo's Guest Elf at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge.  The theme is right up my alley:  Glitter, Sparkle & Shine!   I began by using Jennifer McGuire's stencil wreath technique.

The MFT stencil reminded me of retro Christmas ornaments.  I used Distress Inks barn door & worn lipstick through the stencil & blended on a scrap I die cut with a circle.  Fell in love with the MFT Joy die when a friend used it on the Christmas card she sent to me.  I've actually had it in my stash for over a year & finally used it!

I stacked several die cuts & then covered the top one with Nuvo Silver Moondust Glitter Drops.  I can't seem to make drops with this product, but it works great used like Stickles & has tons of sparkle.  The little sentiment strip is from Winnie & Walter's In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals.  Hope you'll head over to the challenge blog & see what inspiration Jo has for you.  Why not add a Christmas card to your stash & join in the challenge?

I'm entering Virginia's Show & Share.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Big Butterfly

I'm finally making some progress cleaning out & organizing.  Still a long way to go, but I'm feeling less overwhelmed.  As I was going through my stamps, I came across an old Penny Black clear set called Butterfly Symphony.  Not sure I've ever stamped the large butterfly image & thought it might work to enter the nature challenge at Time Out.

My sister loves butterflies & the color blue, so that was my inspiration.  I stamped the butterfly & the Altenew Painted Greetings sentiment in Delicata Sapphire Blue & heat embossed in Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder.  I did a couple layers for the sentiment to make it stand out a bit more.  The sparkle & shine is so beautiful in person as you can maybe see in this close up shot taken at an angle.

For just a bit more blue & definition, I watercolored the openings on the outer edge of the wings using the same ink.  I die cut the card front with the largest rectangle in the Lil' Inker set as it just does the stitching.  Love having that option for a one layer card.  Finished off with little blue splatters & Pico Embellisher Wedding Dress dots.  I'm also entering PB&M, SSS Work It Wednesday & Die Cut Divas.


Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Couple Cards

I love a lot of Reverse Confetti products, but don't have many in my stash yet.  I'll be entering all the monthly challenges I can & luckily the June Stock Your Stash theme is Hello/Just Because.  Next to Christmas cards, they're my favorite to make.  Tall Blooms is the beautiful stamp set in my stash & it happens to include a sentiment perfect for the challenge.

I have a whole drawer of embossing powders as I loved heat embossing the first time I was introduced to it.  Most of the bottles are nearly full & still work great.  I pulled out 2 from JudiKins:  Malachite & Metallic Bronze.  First I stamped on white cardstock, but the powder didn't show up very well using these outline images.  I switched to kraft & that made all the difference.

Originally I planned to put a sentiment strip over the images, but I really didn't want to cover up any of that beautiful heat embossing.  Ended up with a traditional layout that always seems to work.

Next is my entry for AAA Cards Challenge: One Layer with Optional Twist only Black & White.  I had lots of ideas running through my head & this wasn't one of them--haha!  However, I pulled out Winnie & Walter's In A Word: Thanks stamp set--one of my newest & a favorite.

I decided to just stamp the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.  I used my Mini MISTI, but one inking is all it took.  Sure sign of the quality of the stamps & inks.  This set includes 4 large words, companion words & 5 small images.  I took out the little branch & thought it would be fun to add it to one of the letters.  Wasn't sure I could make it work, but it's only paper.  I held my breath & stamped.  Gotta say--I love the result!  Both of these cards are already in the mail & I hope the recipients enjoy them.
Edited to add: Also entering Virginia's Show & Share.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Got It!

I've added a lot of products to my sale pages, so you might want to check them out.

Happy Day--I have a new laptop!  So far no big problems, although I have a bit more set up to do.
I have been making cards, so here they are.
First is an entry for the Altenew Monthly Inspiration Challenge.  Finally opened the beautiful Flower Vine set.  I gold embossed an image & colored it with Zigs--mixing a purple & red to get close to the color in the photo.

I was making a one layer card, but didn't like the tiny sentiment I stamped.  Decided to save my colored image by using the coordinating die to cut it out, even though I had stamped off the edge.

I die cut a second one from the ruined card, glued the 2 together & trimmed them to fit the corner just like I had originally stamped.  Actually, I like it better with a bit of dimension.  The flower centers have Champagne Stickles for some sparkle.  I gold embossed the sentiment from Painted Greetings & added splatters with Distress Stain tarnished brass.  This is for my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground & SSS Monday.

Next is my Eclipse card for the ModSquad challenge.  I finally opened my Hero Arts liquid Metallic inks.

I added a drop of each ink, one at a time, on a wc panel, spritzed with very little water & used an airbrush tool to move the ink.  The shimmery inks are really beautiful in person.

W&W In a Word: Hello was die cut from the panel & from black fun foam to make an eclipse card.  The little word is made with Tim Holtz alpha stickers.  I think this would work for a guy or a gal.  I'm also entering Inkspirational & SSS Wednesday.

I haven't had much time on the computer without a laptop, but I did watch Jennifer McGuire's video using the Wreath Builder template with stencils.  It looked like something I could actually do, so pulled out an old MFT stencil & Distress Inks abandoned coral, twisted citron & pumice stone.

Gotta say, what a fun technique!  I used a darker gray cardstock for the mat & MFT die cut letters which I stacked 4 high & covered with Nuvo Glaze & Pico Embellisher Shimmer.

Can't wait to try other stencils & colors.  I'm entering MFT Color Challenge & WAW.


Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you as soon as I can.

Framed Sentiment

Well, my laptop bit the dust for good.  Naturally it was after I paid for the repair.  Not a big deal when you see all the trouble in the world.  It does mean I'm again limited on computer time until I get my new one.
When I saw the theme for ITP LFF was framed sentiments, it made me think of the PTI set called Fancy Foliage.  Each sentiment comes framed with little leaves.

I used the Happy Birthday to make a very CAS, one layer card using a PTI die cut scalloped card sent to me by a friend.  I stamped in Ocean Tides several times for a deep color & then in Versamark so I could heat emboss with HA Sparkle powder--so pretty in real life.

I also brushed on Ocean Tides in the center, getting lighter toward the edges.  Not quite enough sparkle to suit me, so I used a clear sparkle pen on all the leaves.  I'm also entering AAA & SSS Wednesday


Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you as soon as I can.

Birthday Birdie

As soon as I saw the IO Challenge theme is Feathered Friends, I knew I wanted to use IO Spring Chickadee--a gift from my sweet friend, Maria.  I gold embossed the bird & sentiment (IO It's Your Birthday) trying to position them to look like the bird is chirping the sentiment.  What do you think--did I succeed?

I used Bristol paper so I could add some color with my Zigs.  The body of the bird is "colored" with a clear sparkle pen.

I made a debossed frame using my Score Pal & attached the panel to a white card using Fun Foam.  There was a time I would never have layered 2 different shades of white, but then I saw Jennifer McGuire say it was a good idea & I agree!  I'm also entering AAA Cards, CAS on Friday, SSS Monday & SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Birthday Cards

            I keep adding items to my sale pages, so you might want to take a look.

For some reason I'm having a terrible time getting good pictures of my cards.  Hopefully you can still get an idea of what they look like.
I made this card for my Time Out Challenges GD reminder post.  After about 50 tries to get a picture that didn't look blurry, I gave up & made a new card using the rest of my smooshed DO glossy panel.  The original card looked fine in person & it's now made it to the recipient.  Decided I may as well post it to enter some challenges.  The DO colors are squeezed lemonade, cracked pistachio, candied apple, picked raspberry & broken china.

This was my first time to use the Distress Glaze to wipe off some of the milky look of the oxides.  SSS Painted Happy Birthday die was stacked several high & the top layer was covered with Art Institute Banana Glitter which is so sparkly & pretty in person.  I used a textured yellow cardstock scrap for the mat & added yellow sequins.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 124, SSS Wednesday & The Snippets Playground.

I had an idea for a second card to enter the Altenew May Inspiration Challenge & finally last night I got it made.  This one is for my cousin who is turning 70.  We're just 2 years apart & are close in spite of living across the country from each other most of our lives.  I was born in Indianapolis where he still lives.  Recently I came across one of my favorite family pictures--my grandfather, cousin & me.

We were the first 2 grandchildren of my dad's parents.  Just wish there was a similar picture with my grandmother, but I've never seen one.  My card uses a Magenta brick stencil I'd never opened along with Altenew Layered Laurel & Painted Greetings.

I used a brush with DI pumice stone for the lightly stenciled background & stamped the laurels in Altenew Forest Glades & Frayed Leaf.  By stamping each color once for an image & twice for another image, I got 4 shades from the 2 ink pads.  I'd already cut apart the sentiment words & they're stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  I found a very old piece of patterned paper that was just what I needed to finish it off.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.