Glitter Die Cuts

PTI MIM HERE is to glitter your diecuts.  Gave me a good excuse to get out my new Sizzix Flowers & Vines #3 that I got on sale & hadn't used.  I like spray adhesive to cover large areas to be glittered & it worked great for these flowers.  The embossing folder is Sizzix argyle & I used the debossed side.  The greeting is from PTI Lovely Leaves set & is such a true saying.  My stamping friends have really helped me through difficult times the past year & I so appreciate all of you!  Hope you have a great week.

Going Green

It's almost Friday & I survived another week of training.  I can finally say I've learned a couple things, so it isn't all a mystery.  Hopefully things will be clicking faster & faster & I'll discover I really can do this job!  Can't wait to move to my 1/2 time schedule.
ODBD Shining The Light Challenge HERE is to use mostly green or something recycled.  I knew I wanted to use my new stamp of Robert Frost's poem from Quote Collection 1, but took awhile to figure out what to do to make it into a card.  I inked the stamp with Memento markers Cottage Ivy & Rich Cocoa.  They stayed wet enough to clear emboss the image.  Then I added more green to the trees.  I scribbled the marker on an acrylic block & used a sponge to add the color to the edges.  Finally I decided to use 2 of the printed papers from American Crafts Botanical collection with a strip of white satin ribbon & lace.  The layers are mounted with foam tape & the card is finished off with the buttons.  Just realized this card qualifies for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge this week HERE, since I used the diagonal elements of buttons, ribbon & emboss.  I'd love to hear what you think.  Thanks for coming by.

It's a glorious day!--plus a card

Amazing April weather--feels like summer!  We took the doggies for a day trip to check out the lake where we boat.  The docks are in water & the marina will open very soon.  The 2 open loops at the campground had a lot of people & we were surprised by how many boats were in the lake.  The water would be freezing, but guess they were fishing.  Thought you might like to see a picture of me with Blitz & Keesha.  You can see the top of snow-covered Mount Jefferson in the background.

Now for my card.  I used the vibrant colors from PDCC128 HERE to make my Flourishes TT card where the challenge HERE is to use your favorite stamp set.  Not sure I can say I have a favorite from Fourishes, but the Medallion Motif ranks way up there!  It's one of the stamps I knew I wanted as soon as I saw it in the pre-release post.  The image is colored with COPICS RV19 & YR04 after being embossed in black.  The same markers color the butterfly from the Butterflies & Blossoms set.  The butterfly is covered with Distress Rock Candy Stickles.  The Recollections hard molded flowers are also edged with the same markers & Stickles.  I haven't used this All Night Media punch in ages, but glad I didn't get rid of it now.  The center dies are Spellbinders Labels 9 & a circle.  I had to trace & cut the Flamingo Pink one by hand for the size I needed.  The gems are also colored with RV19--love being able to do that!  Foam tape is used to attach the Medallion panel & die cuts & tiny pearls finish off the card.  I appreciate your visiting & leaving me a comment.  Wishing you a great week.

S-P-R-I-N-G

ODBD challenge HERE this week is to use 3 of the letters in the word "Spring" for embellishments, materials or the image.  Yes, I do know it's Spring & I'm not sure why I seem to be into using black right now.  Oh well, here's my entry using
S--Song, Satin ribbon, Stickles
P--Pink, Pearls, Punch
R--Ribbon
N--Nestie
G--Gray, Gems
My first ODBD stamp is Friends.  I've always loved this song.  I embossed it with black on gray cs & used Spellbinders Labels 9 to make the pink frame.  The border punch is MS.  The focus piece is mounted with foam tape, as are 2 of the flowers.  The pink flower has a little Stickles for sparkle.  Thanks for stopping by & letting me know what you think.  Almost the weekend & it's supposed to be near 70 degrees at least one day.  We all have cabin fever, so may take the doggies & go for a drive to the beach or the lake.  Hope things are going well wherever you are.

Pears

I used to do a lot of gold embossing & now it's been awhile, so decided to go with black & gold for my Flourishes TT entry this week HERE.  I'm using the Pears set & I embossed the complete pear image again, cut it out, brushed on Shimmer Spritz Sparkle & attached it over the base image with foam tape.  The background doesn't show in the picture, but the blossom image is embossed with clear ep on the gold glimmer paper & then sponged with Distress Ink antique linen.  The punch is MS.  After the gold & white trim is added, the panel is attached with foam tape to the card front.  Running out of time, so I'll keep this post short.  Thanks for stopping by & hope you have a great week.

DeNami Design Ravishing Ribbons Blog Hop

My first DeNami Blog Hop & I'm so happy you've come by.  I couldn't resist participating with the theme being ribbon--one of my favorite embellishments!  I knew I wanted to make a woven ribbon background since I hadn't used that on a card in a long time.  I also wanted you to see one of the butterflies in the new cling stamp set Fancy Flutters.  I stamped 3 times on white cs & 3 times on vellum using Color Box Sky Blue, Fresh Green & a combo of Apricot & Canary to make the peach color.  I just added pearls & stickles after they were attached to the ribbon.  The card is finished off with the beige ribbon tied in a bow & the DeNami greeting stamped at the bottom in VersaFine Onxy Black with 2 more pearls.

If you got here from Annette's blog HERE you're right on track.  
Next you'll want to see what the fabulous DT member Dana has for you HERE. 
If you get lost just head to the DeNami Design Blog HERE.

• You have until April 16, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).
• DeNami is giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to their website! One gift certificate will go to a random participant (DT members not eligible) plus there will be TWO gift certificates awarded to TWO people who comment along the hop!

Have a great Sunday and enjoy the hop!

Flower from a heart & a butterfly

Started my PTI MIM (here) card at the first of the week.  Finally I put all the pieces together into a card today.  The challenge is to make a diecut flower without using a flower die.  I used the large heart die by Memory Box for the first layer by cutting the hearts in 1/2 & mounting them into a circle (not in the order they were cut, if that makes sense).  The small solid butterfly die by Cuttlebug is used for the top layer of the flower.  This double-sided pp is by Colorbok, as is the matching diecut border.  I got them in a close-out for almost nothing!  The PTI greeting is from the Year of Flowers Collection.  Thanks for visiting--it means a lot to me.  Don't forget to check out the DeNami Ravishing Ribbons Blog Hop tomorrow.  I'll give you a hint--my card has ribbon used in a way you've never seen on any of my cards.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Mother's Day

I don't have a mom or grandma, but my sister does infant foster care & has for many years--truly a "baby person"!  She loves to get cards from me so I'll send this to her.  I'm brain dead from trying to learn a new job, but decided to see if the other side of my brain could come up with something so I didn't miss ODBD Shining The Light Challenge HERE.  This week's theme is new life & that can be represented by flowers.  I finally made a card with the flower image from Don't Worry.  It's colored with Distress Ink milled lavender & some green & brown markers.  The Fancy Labels image is stamped with VersaMagic Ocean Depth & cut out with the compatible Spellbinders Label 17 die.  The pp is Chatterbox I've had for a long time. Pearls, gems, lace & ribbon are added for this feminine card.  The greeting is a new DeNami cling stamp that I masked so I could stamp each word separately.  I appreciate your stopping by & I'll catch up on visiting all of you this weekend.

Day 1

Vacation is over & I made it through day 1 of orientation for my new job.  My brain is on overload!  Since I haven't oriented in 17 years it's a bit stressful.  I know things will begin to make sense over time.
I was able to get my DeNami 1 layer card done last night for the current challenge HERE.  I knew I wanted to use this older flower stamp & mask the area to be colored.  I discovered that temporary adhesive becomes permanent pretty quickly, so this is the second one I did as the mask tore my card the first time around.  Live & learn!  The Distress inks I used are tumbled glass, spun sugar & milled lavender.  I scored a couple lines above & below, stamped a newer DeNami greeting & added pearls.  I very seldom make a 1 layer card, but I plan to try some more.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope your week is going well.  By the way, Sunday is the next DeNami blog hop & I'm participating.  Check it out if you can--Ribbon is the theme.

Happy Easter

When I began stamping over 15 years ago, I started buying Penny Black stamps.  I have quite a collection which continues to grow, as they are one of my favorite companies.  I recently discovered the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Blog HERE & hope to regularly participate.  This week the challenge is to CASE this gorgeous card by Helen:  

"He arose, He arose, Hallelujah Christ arose!"  I love the old songs from when I was a kid.  Wishing all of you a blessed Easter.








I love everything about this card, including the colors, water-colored image & dry embossing.  I'd never embossed 2 sheets at the same time--it works great!--& in this case it means the images automatically are lined up.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Yes, I know daffodils are generally yellow, but one of the things I love about this craft is that you can use any colors you want for any image.  This is Penny Black O March! colored with Distress Markers concord grape & sage green.  When it was dry I over-stamped without spritzing & added some Distress Stickles in the same color.  The torn edges are swiped with PTI Vintage Cream & the card & twill are the same.  I just added the pearls in one corner & mounted the flower piece with foam tape to finish it off.

Thanks for taking time to stop by.  I always appreciate your comments.

A Spring Birthday Card

This week's Flourishes TT Challenge "here" is to create a birthday card.  I pulled out one of the March release stamp sets that I was lucky enough to win--Botanical Bookmarks.  The background is another one made with COPICS (see the inspiration here) using Y02, Y21, V12, V17, G02, G07.  I stamped the flowers with VersaFine Black Onyx, brushed them with Shimmer Spritz & cut the piece with Spellbinders Labels Nine.  It's matted with a piece of light yellow cardstock cut with the largest die & then embossed with TH Stripes folder.  The same flowers are stamped on the green textured cardstock using VersaMark.  The diecut piece is attached with foam tape & the gems are colored with Y02.  I've liked cards using parts of a diecut, so decided to do that here.  The greeting is from Flourishes Tag Lines--a super versatile word set.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.  Thanks for stopping by--I love hearing from you.

Friday Fun!

My time off between jobs is coming to an end, so today hubby & I went out to brunch (yummy!) & then I headed out to shop.  Wanted a pair of pearl earrings--just Monet brand--not expensive.  I'm one of the few people in the world who doesn't have pierced ears & I have been known to loose an earring or 2--LOL!  I found some & they were supposed to be 25% off, but when she rang them up it was 60%!  I got 2 pairs for less than $12, so if I loose one I'll still have a pair!  Then off to my LSS where I had a completed buyer's card which means a credit.  I love just looking at all the stamps & products--finally narrowed down my choices.  At checkout, she had 1 plastic egg left giving a percent off or a free item & it was 30% off one item--not bad!  I left with quite a few goodies and spent under $6!  Of course, I also put in an order for a few things, but I'll be back working before I have to pay for those--& besides, I like to support a local small business--good justification, don't you think?!
Now for my card--this is for PTI MIM using generational stamping--a technique I really like.  I used my Rosie Posie set (so glad I finally got it) & stamped with VersaMagic Malted Mauve & Aloe Vera.  The edges are sponged with Distress Ink old paper.  The greeting is from Lovely Leaves & is stamped in VersaFine Vintage Sepia.  The bg paper is ChatterBox I've had forever & just love.  I can't begin to make cards like Peet "here" but she has inspired me to try & use my pp.  I also used my Sew Easy for the stitching.  The greeting banner & the flower panel are mounted with foam tape.

Thanks for taking time to visit & let me know your thoughts.  Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend.

Cards for Friends

For some reason I always think I have plenty of time to make Easter cards after Valentine's Day & then I never get as many done as I intend to!  A couple made it to the recipients, so I'm sharing them today.
The first one uses my favorite Penny Black stamp called christmas star.  After watching Elizabeth Allan's coloring video "here" (she should be a teacher!) I used a coupon to get a package of the Brushstix and gave it a try.  Coloring is not my forte, (at all!) but even I was able to use her technique.  The inks are Brilliance Pearlescent Crimson, Pearlescent Beige & VersaMagic Pink Petunia.  I finished by brushing on Shimmer Spritz.  Penny Black simple scroll is stamped on the background & the embossing folder is Sizzix for SU.

The second card was the first one made with my new Memory Box Easter egg die.  I used some old glitter paper & at first I threw out the little pieces.  Then I realized I could mix & match them, so I went through the wastebasket (all it has are pieces from diecuts (LOTS of little pieces of paper!) & found all but one--amazing!  The colors aren't very good in the photo, but it is bright pink with green & blue with purple.  The spellbinder die always reminds me of an Easter basket so I used it along with the Penny Black simple scroll (instead of grass).  The greeting is TPC Studio.

Wishing all of you a blessed Easter weekend with family & friends.  Thanks for visiting.

Black & White with a Splash

The current Shining the Light Challenge is to use your favorite ODBD stamp set "here".  It's hard to pick my favorite, but I do love the Vintage Border Background which was one of my first purchases.  This time I stamped it in white & embossed with clear EP on this great frame my friend Sue (scrumplescrunch) sent to me.  My Little Things set is another favorite, so I popped up the frame over the quote stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black.  Decided to make it into a "splash of color" card & used the smallest blossom from the Sweet William-small set to make the 2 panels that are stitched using my Sew Easy.  The butterfly is my newest MS punch & the clear dots are colored with COPICS RV09 to match the bright pink cardstock.  Tiny black pearls on the butterfly finish it off.
We're having typical Spring weather--sun, clouds, rain, hail--all within an hour!  In between showers I saw the first 2 bright yellow goldfinches at my feeder.  I love all the birds, but especially the goldfinches.  Hope you've had something to bring a bit of joy to you today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Easter Card

Computer was gone again, so didn't make the Flourishes TT challenge "here", but I needed another Easter card & even though I was rushing I like how it turned out.  I used the new Magnolias set with a Stampendous! greeting. The images are colored using Brushstix with VersaMagic Pink Petunia and Aloe Vera.  The flower is painted with Shimmer Spritz for a lovely shine. Thanks for stopping by & hope you're having a great week.