Sunday, April 28, 2013

Thinking of You



I have 2 Penny Black designers to thank for inspiring this card:  Elizabeth & Alexandra.  I printed off Elizabeth's tutorial the first day I read it as I was drawn to the unique design that wasn't complicated to do--just cut & score following her instructions.  The second designer is Alexandra who makes such wonderful backgrounds using Gelatos--the first example I saw HERE, but she has many others as well.  I've had some Gelatos for several months & never used them.  Finally last night I had no mojo to make anything, so just started playing with the Gelatos.  I used 2 shades of pink (being inspired by the current PDCC colors) directly onto Penny Black pointille & spritzed with Ink Potion #9 & stamped onto watercolor paper.  I repeated the process, turning the stamp opposite directions, until the piece was covered.  Collage is not my strength, but I did feel comfortable white embossing the Penny Black simple scroll in 2 of the corners.  At that point I wanted to add a bit of the green, so used my waterbrush with Distress Ink mowed lawn & let some drops fall onto the panel.  I blew on them & blotted them.  At first I thought I'd ruined it, but when it dried I decided I actually liked it.  Now I had to figure out how to make a card with my background, which I really didn't want to cover up.  
I saw Elizabeth's instructions sitting on my table--perfect for this!  I cut a 12x12 sheet of white cardstock following the tutorial & just glued my panel to the front.  It was so nice to know exactly where & how big to make the cut--I'd have taken forever to figure that out--LOL!  The butterfly, Penny Black wings, already looks watercolored to me so was a good fit for the style I wanted to create.  I used the darker pink Gelato directly on the rubber, spritzed, stamped on white cardstock & fussy cut.  I added the lighter pink on top, but you can't really tell.  I attached it with foam tape only in the center & bent the wings up a bit & added tiny green pearls.  The colored flap is done with the same Gelatos, watercolored, & the sentiment from Penny Black illuminations is stamped in the mowed lawn ink.  Sometimes mojo comes just by starting to create even when you don't have the end result in mind.  I'm entering my card into the PDCC and the Wonder of Watercolor in the Moxie Fab World.  Thanks for coming along on my journey.  I love to hear what you think.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Party Time

Blog-hop-inspirationI always try to participate in the monthly PTI Blog Hops.  My tilted elements are the background diamonds & the little tag.  I stamped an old bg stamp I'd forgotten about in Versamark ink & then rubbed on brown chalk & inked the edges with Distress Ink tea dye.  A strip of burlap was attached with some threads (also at an angle) removed from each end. The flower from Rosie Posie is stamped in Versamark & then rubbed with Pearl Ex Salmon Pink.  Then I stamped the image from RP Step 2 & rubbed it with Pearl Ex Brilliant Yellow.  The same method is used for the center of the flower.  The stem is done with Pearl Ex Spring Green.  Spellbinders Labels 18 was just the right shape.  The little tag & sentiment are from Tiny Tags, which I'd never inked.  The flower & background panel are mounted with foam tape.  I'm entering this card into PTI MIMDie Cut Divas & Passion for Papertrey challenges.  Back to work today, but I'll be checking everyone's cards soon.  Enjoy the hop!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Do Not Worry

Inspiration Card by Virginia
I wasn't completely satisfied with the card  in my last post finished in under 10 minutes.  This post contains the final version which I'm entering into the MUSE Challenge and the ODBD Challenge (nature & a scripture.)  I used Virginia's cheerful floral inspiration card for my basic lay-out.  I didn't want to stamp my flowers quite so close together, so using a masked space for the sentiment didn't work.  Instead I die cut an oval in the panel stamped with a blossom from ODBD Sweet William-Small using Memento Grape Jelly & Lilac Posies.  The verse is from ODBD Don't Worry! & is stamped using Memento Cottage Ivy.  I made 3 changes to the card as it was at the end of 9 minutes & 23 seconds.  First I lightly colored the flowers with the same inks using a Tsukineko Fantastix. Then I added Stickles--I do love sparkle!  The last step was to carefully remove the panel from the card front, cut around the verse, add a lot more foam tape to the flower panel & then attach it over the verse onto a green panel & onto the card front.  Now that I look at pictures of both cards, there I things I like about each.  Feel free to let me know which version you prefer.  I'm happy you stopped by today.


Nine Minutes & Twenty-three Seconds!

CD_16I was inspired with entries I saw in Blogland for Paulina's Ten Minute Craft Dash challenge.  I participated in one previous challenge, but needed a better way to time myself.  Finally, it dawned on me that I could use the oven timer.  I planned out my card in much more detail than last time & it really made a difference.  The stamps are ODBD and the inks are Memento Cottage Ivy, Grape Jelly & Lilac Posies.  I like to cut my foam tape with scissors, but when I heard the 1 minute warning beep, figured I better just tear it.  Heart racing (does that make up for no aerobic exercise?!) but done with 37 seconds to spare!  My thought was to make this card work for 2 other challenges, as well--MUSE & ODBD. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with the card, so you'll have to check my next post to see the final version for the other 2 challenges.  Thank you for coming by--love hearing from you.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sympathy Card

Unfortunately, I had to make a sympathy card for hubby's granddaughter. We're so grateful she made the trip when she did even though the baby was so young as I know it's helping her work through the grieving process.  I want my sympathy cards to be simple but beautiful--not at all showy.  As I was looking for inspiration, I came across these cards done by Elizabeth Allen that I had in my Flickr Favorites.  My card is nothing like these, but they did inspire me to use a small watercolored background with a dark image on top going beyond the colored area.  I began by brushing plain water onto the watercolor paper.  I tapped Distress Inks bundled sage, pumice stone & weathered wood onto an acrylic block & used my water brush to add them to the paper.  The floral image is from Penny Black's Illumination set & is stamped in Versafine Smokey Gray. I added a thin green mat & mounted it to a card made from PTI Vintage Cream cardstock.  The sentiment is from PTI Through The Trees.  On the inside I used this Verses stamp of Flavia's quote.  I bought this stamp as soon as I saw it knowing it's one I would use.  I loved Flavia years ago & even had checks with her quotes.  This will be another entry in The Wonder of Watercolor Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. Hope you're having a lovely day.
  

Monday, April 22, 2013

Happy Birthday with Sparkle!


cfc99



I know a lot of you craft in the evenings so you can probably relate to this.  I do have a true color light, which helps, but this morning when I looked at the card I made last night I saw that the yellow was not "lightening yellow" at all.  Funny thing is, if I'd looked behind me at the stack of papers not put away, I'd have seen a sheet of the color I needed.  That'll teach me for putting off cleaning up my space--not that it won't happen again--LOL!  Anyway, this morning my cold is much better & since it's my day off I re-made the card which I'm entering into the challenges for PDCC & Cas-ual Fridays.  It just so happens that CFS is sponsoring the PDCC this week.  I love the CFS Casual Elegance set I recently picked out as my random drawing prize & knew I wanted to use it for both challenges for a chance to get some more stamp sets.  My supplies are: Lifetime Crafts circle dies, Memento Rose Bud & Gray Flannel, COPIC Y02, Mark Richards crystal stickers.  The glitter is a large bottle labeled "sample" that cost me a whole 75 cents years ago at a stamp convention.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen to apply the glitter.  It works perfectly every time--never clogs--definitely worth keeping on hand.  Thanks so much for choosing to spend some of your time checking my blog--I appreciate every one of you.  Have a great week.
First Version Made At Night



Saturday, April 20, 2013

A Rainbow of Flowers

The current Impression Obsession challenge is Flowers for You.  I knew I wanted to use the Petite Flowers 1, CL179.  My first idea was a flop & couldn't be saved.  Next I decided to emboss several images & color them.  For some reason I grabbed the white embossing powder instead of black, so on to Plan C--LOL!  Actually, I'm glad it happened since I really like distress resist.  I added a bit of Stickles for some sparkle.  The quote is from Follow Your Heart, CL407. 
I only allow myself 1 cold per year, so not sure how I got a second one--ugh!  Trying not to breathe on anyone as it's my w/e to work & you just don't call in sick on a weekend.  My hands are raw from washing them every other minute & it's going to take a lot of make-up to cover the red nose!  At least I have some days off after tomorrow, the sun is supposed to shine, & this will pass.  Hope you're avoiding the bugs & have a great week.

Friday, April 19, 2013

DREAM

Simple card that took several tries to get it right!  Does that happen to you?  I'm entering the current CASology & PTI MIM challenges.  My rainbow is made using PTI Watercolor Wonder stamped in several colors of VersaMagic which works great on clear stamps.  The alphabet dies are an old Sizzix set I got in close-out & had never used.  The letters are cut from black cardstock & embossed with clear ep.  Putting foam tape onto the letters was really the hardest part of the card!  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoy the weekend.  Sun is predicted here so being at work will be especially hard, but more money for stamps--LOL!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Best Wishes with Felt

MUSE card by Marion
When I first saw Marion's MUSE card for the current challenge, all I could think of was exactly what she had done--love the look of her card!  Decided to walk away & work on something else.  Today my card came together.  It's completely different than Marion's, but I was inspired by her elements of white space, 2 main colors & a simple sentiment.  Pinwheels make me think of Spring & I had so much fun making them a few months back.  I stuck with pink & purple but very different shades using these fun bright felts from MFT.  I cut the squares by hand & used the MFT rolled roses smallest die.  The open bracket border is also a die from MFT.  The simple sentiment is by Stampendous! & is stamped with my favorite black ink--Versafine Onyx Black.  I stamped on the textured cardstock perfectly the first time!  May save this for hubby's college age granddaughter as I think she'd enjoy it.  Since this will be a birthday card & includes the die cuts, I'm entering the Die Cut Divas challenge. Back to work tomorrow & for the weekend--don't know how I did full-time all those years--LOL!  Hope you have some sunshine--in your heart if not outside.  Thanks for taking time to stop by my blog.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Junk Mail Treasure

I'm the one at our house with the job of going through junk mail to shred the personal info before putting it in the recycle.  A few days ago one of the envelopes included this hard plastic "drill gauge."  I immediately thought it would make a great stencil--bet a lot of you would have thought the same thing!  This week I wanted to try a new challenge called CAS on Sunday & the theme is circles--how perfect is that?!  I used a sponge to ink a rainbow of Distress inks in 6 of the circles & then die cut them with MFT Fishtail Flags.  A couple more flags were cut from plain white cardstock.  I also added Stickles to each dot, as I'm always inclined to do no matter what the image--I'm a glitter girl for sure!  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Find Joy--maybe my most used HA set--nice variety of sentiments with lovely fonts.  I very carefully added some of the same Stickles to the thick parts of the letters in the word "Sparkle."  Very simple card, but really fun to make.  CAS-ual Fridays current challenge is All That Glitters, so this card will be my entry.  

Monday, April 15, 2013

Blissful

The current PDCC colors of Midnight, Aqua & Terra Cotta grabbed my attention as I don't think I've ever used them together.  Many of you probably know my favorite style is elegant & that's what I decided to do for my entry.  I started by inking Penny Black's wonderful floral background stamp called "blissful" with VersaMagic Night Sky.  Then I used sponge daubers to color the blooms with VersaMagic Turquoise Gem & the leaves with VersaMagic Red Brick.  I like the sort of artsy effect it gives--not worrying about staying in the lines.  Then I covered it with Shimmer Spritz Bronze & added dots of Stickles. The panel is attached to a navy card with a bow & pearls to complete the look. The color of the ribbon actually blends with the leaves in real life.
I'm happy to report that a few doses of antibiotics have our Keesha furbaby looking like her old self again.  Thanks for all the well-wishes.  Hope your week is off to a good start & thanks for taking time to stop by my blog.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Happy Birthday water color style

Ever since Betsy's PTI MIM video on April 1, I've been playing with watercolor techniques & loving it.  Now the current MIM video by Heather is on watercoloring embossed images including a background.  I'd never tried that, so had to play along with some PTI stamps.  I randomly white embossed an image from Year of Flowers Collection all over a light yellowish cream cardstock scrap.  I tapped my Distress Inks pumice stone & frayed burlap onto an acrylic block & painted with a waterbrush focusing on the edges. I really love the depth it adds.  I embossed 2 more of the images, fussy cut the smaller blooms & colored them the same way using Distress Inks spun sugar & picked raspberry.  I had a die cut of the little leaf cluster from The Sweet Life lying on my table, so stamped it in Simply Chartreuse, first stamping off with the solid image & then full strength with the detail image.  I inked half of the Boutique Borders: Birthday image with Versafine Vintage Sepia & stamped on a white scrap.  The sentiment from the same set is stamped in picked reaspbery.  Passion For Papertrey's current challenge is to use texture on your card & I love the look of burlap with kraft & white.  The flowers are mounted with foam tape & tiny brown pearls are attached to their centers.  Hope you're having a nice weekend.  Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.  ETA: I'm entering this card in the Moxie Fab World Wonder of Watercolor Challenge.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Adding to my Christmas cards

I'm making an even more concerted effort this year than usual to have a lot of my Christmas cards made before the holiday season begins.  When I saw the current Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge to use an item found around the house, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Years ago I saw a cinnamon stick used on a card (can't remember exactly how) & have wanted to incorporate that idea ever since.  I never quite got to it last year & I didn't make any cards with the wonderful Flourishes Peace & Joy set.  Determined to remedy that situation, I did get a card made. The ornament is watercolored with Memento inks after being gold embossed.  A Cuttlebug folder is used for the card front & Spellbinders dies for the circles.  The sentiment is from another Flourishes set called A Gift For You--beautiful font!  Crystal Laquer worked great to glue on my cinnamon stick.  Last chance to win the new Flourishes release, so fingers crossed!  

Our 14 1/2 yr old puppy dog, Keesha, has an infection--a rough Friday, but she seems better today.  Thankfully I have the weekend off as hubby really thinks the nurse in the family should be available whenever someone is sick--LOL!  We never expected to have her this long so are thankful for every day, but it's still so hard to think of loosing her. I know some of you will understand.

Thanks for coming by today & hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Summer Lovin'

SummerLovinChallengeLast minute entry for the Flourishes Summer Lovin' challenge with the prize being the new release.  I love pink & green so that was the inspiration I took from the picture.  This sweet image from Flourishes Botanical Bookplates was stamped & embossed in white & then sponged with pink & green inks.  I brushed Shimmer Spritz Frost onto the flowers giving them a lovely sheen.  The dies are Spellbinders.  Thanks for stopping by--I love reading your comments.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Smile

Just realized as I'm getting ready for work that I'll miss the CAS-ual Fridays challenge deadline if I post this after work--gotta pay more attention!  So, quick post with my card using my first CF stamp set--Casual Elegance & Penny Black Puzzle Parts.  The rolled felt roses are MFT, the frame is made with a Spellbinders die & my inks are Versafine Smokey Gray & Memento Dandelion.  The challenge is to have chevrons & flowers on your project--yellow grass anyone?  Since flowers qualifies, I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp challenge.  Hope you're having a great day & thanks for stopping by.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Dreams

My first card using an image from the CAS-ual Fridays stamp set I recently won along with a sentiment from a Wordsworth set I'd never inked.  Don't you love entering challenges where you can use any products you want?  I'm hoping glitter is allowed for a CAS card as this is my entry for the current CASology challenge with the cue word "travel."  I won't tell you how many times it took to get the vine stamped correctly on my flag (MFT die) & the card front, but let's just say it's a good thing I bought the white cardstock on sale--LOL!  Determination paid off & finally today the card came together as I'd envisioned--yah! The inks are PTI Ocean Tides & Versafine Smokey Gray.  I always enjoy your comments--thanks for taking the time.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Spring Card and Babies!

Here's my card for the Impression Obsession Springtime Fun challenge.  Spring means flowers adding color again to the world.  I used Five Roses, J2441 for the first time & tried out a new technique.  I love watercolor so started by inking the stamp with Memento Grape Jelly, Sweet Plum, Lilac Posies, Pistachio & PTI Simply Chartreuse, then spritzed & stamped on watercolor paper.  Next I over-stamped slightly off the image & embossed in white.  Using a brush, I colored the blossoms with the inks using a circular motion & not trying to stay in the lines.  I also added color for the stems & leaves--again, not staying in the lines.  The panel was cut into 3 pieces, matted, wrapped with ribbon & mounted with foam tape to the card.  I punched a MS butterfly from some printed paper in the same colors, inked the edges & added pearls.  Hope you like it.
Last month hubby's oldest granddaughter had her first child & Sunday we got to meet Declan.  They live in Texas so we hadn't expected to see him for quite awhile.  Unfortunately they were here because of an illness in one of her relatives, but we were happy there was a good side to it.  We weren't the only ones seeing him for the first time.  With grandma, auntie & great grandma taking turns holding him, doubt he will want to sleep in his bed for a month!  We also met the other new baby at the house, Harvey--10 wk old puppy.  It was such a fun day!  Thought you might enjoy a few pictures.  Thanks for stopping by.  ETA: I'm entering this card in the Moxie Fab World Wonder of Watercolor Challenge.
Momma & Declan
Gr Grandma Greta (GGG) & Declan
Four Generations
Granddaughter & Harvey




  

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Life is Sweet

Some of you know I have many rose bushes--my dad & I shared our love of them.  Naturally, when I saw the PTI Sweet Life stamp set I knew I had to have it.  My sister who's in another state recently commissioned me to make a wedding card for the daughter of her friend.  She didn't know the wedding colors, so we decided to use their dishes since I could look at them on-line.  I had a couple more of the roses stamped from practicing, so decided to make a card for my sister with one.  She will be so surprised when she sees it--fun!  This card is a little different than the one for the couple since I wanted to try the negative die cut technique with the leaves.  The cutting is easy enough, but there must be a better way to figure out how to get your stamping in the right place.  Close enough--probably just need more practice.  This is my entry for the Passion for Papertrey challenge that fortunately was extended!  Big day planned tomorrow & hopefully I'll have some pictures to share.  Thank you for stopping by--I always appreciate it.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Best Wishes


I loved Laurie's card for this week's Muse challenge when I saw it on Monday.  The first thing that caught my eye was the script on the panel. I have an old stamp I "splurged" on years ago & it just sits in the drawer.  I also loved the idea of the sentiment showing through a negative die cut.  Actually, I loved everything about the card & couldn't think of anything to do but copy it--LOL!  During my lunch break today, I went through various ideas.  I thought maybe something with kraft & white, but before I started I checked the current PDCC colors & that did it--love those neutrals!  I immediately thought of my K&Co paper pad I bought in clearance--one of my best purchases--& finally I do have a card to post.  Thanks for coming by--your visits are always appreciated.  Enjoy the weekend & stop by Muse if you'd like to vote on the winning cards.  Also entering Simon Says Stamp Challenge for a birthday/celebration card in honor of their 4th birthday.
IMG_9515_edited-1
Laurie's Muse Inspiration Card

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

What's Up? and an honor


Another try at a CAS card--this time for PDCC & CASology.  Most 3rd graders can color better than me, but today I actually used my COPICs (Y21 & BV00) to color this cute little Hero Arts butterfly--yah--simple is good!  The sentiment is from the same older clear set called Happy Hello.  I think this is the first time I've used these 2 stamps.  Yellows are not really my color, but I have to say I love the PDCC color combo.  At first I expected to use mostly the Lavender, but I'm actually really happy I decided to use my textured Buttercream colored cardstock for my "white space"--what do you think?  I punched out the butterfly & matted it with a scrap cut with the smallest Spellbinders Lacey Circles die.  Being CAS, I resisted the urge to add embellishments except for a spot of lavender Stickles on the antennas.





I had a wonderful surprise & honor on Saturday when Sally (Abbey's Attic) nominated me for my second Liebster award. This award was designed to promote blogs which have less than 200 followers. Once the award is accepted, the idea is to pay it forward to five other blogs you enjoy, encouraging others to visit, leave comments, and hopefully follow. 
To accept the award:Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog. Post the award on your blog. Give the award to five other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  
Write a comment on their blog letting them know they have been nominated. 
I hope you'll check out Sally's wonderful work & her cute kitty cats as well as these 5 inspiring blogs with less than 100 followers: 

Stacy, Sweethearts & Sweet Tarts--A fellow Oregonian (we gotta meet one of these days!) who shares heartwarming "mommy" stories, her wonderful decorating, views of our neck of the woods AND terrific crafting projects. 
Jessi, OneCraftyMama--A fairly new friend I met through the new Muse Blog.  She makes beautiful cards & took time to enter my 1 yr Blogiversary Challenge with a fabulous kraft canvas butterfly card.
Kristie, Kreative Kristie--Another blog I discovered through Muse. She nails every challenge she enters--"Kreative" is the perfect name for her blog.
Kim, Inky Kim Craft--Not sure how we found each other, but we seemed to just connect.  She lives in England, her style is completely different than mine & I love seeing what she comes up with--lots of gorgeous elements.
Martha, Martha's Creations--We met through Flickr & now both have blogs.  Anytime you need a little inspiration, just check out her fabulous tag cards--so professional no matter what style she chooses.

So many wonderful blogs--can't see them all, but maybe you can take time to check out these 5 ladies--you won't be disappointed!