Relax and Have a Happy Anniversary

This card reminds me of elementary school diorama days.  I love the dimension.  For the daffodils I used tiny little leftovers from Spellbinders dies--just added a dot of yellow in the middle.  The lace valance is also a leftover from my heirloom garment days.  I figured why continue to save bits and bobs.  Use them!  and then buy more ;-)

The Details:  Memory Box small Madison window dies set, Marianne dies grass, Spellbinders dies (flowers, yellow valance, interior rectangle), Flourishes chair stamp, PTI sentiments and white cardstock, Simon Says banner die, lace from old stash, paper scraps, Bazzill cardstock, DCWV Cafe Mediterranean 4.5x6.5 cardstock stack (striped paper), Spectrum Noirs, foam dots, Paper Studio brick embossing folder

I'm entering this in City Crafter #199 Flowers & Lace, Simon Wednesday Wedding or Anniversary, Daring Cardmakers Old but not Forgotten, Paperminutes #309 Decorate the Inside, Crafty Creations #257 CAS, Shopping Our Stash #139 Embellish Me, Alphabet Challenge A for Always & Forever, Fab 'n' Funky #204 Spots or Stripes.

Flower Focus

These notecards are made old school.   I used brass templates (remember those?) to emboss glossy cardstock using a lightbox.  You heard right.  Give me some time and I'll go even older school--I found some mulberry paper in the old stash!

The flowers are portions of photos I took in my old neighborhood where I lived next to a public rose garden.  I got to enjoy the flowers without maintaining them.  Those were the days! I cropped parts of the photos then mounted them on top of the embossed squares.  The sentiments are words that reminded me of the photos.  For instance, the middle one was this scrubby little plant that managed to survive on what little dirt there was around a light pole--thus, spirit.  The one on the left is passion and the other youth.

These are CAS but give the illusion of more layers due to the faux frames.  I am so loving the glossy paper!

I'm entering these in The Card Concept #4 Use a Floral.

Live Your Bliss

House Mouse designs are my guilty pleasure.  There, I've come clean and feel a better person for it.  LOL. They're my kid sister's absolute fav so I couldn't resist coloring this up for her.  She's undergoing some life challenges right now and totally deserves to take a moment or two or five for herself.  It will be so good to see her this weekend!

Since I'll be out of town (although hopefully still being crafty at her house),  few posts the next couple of weeks but I will definitely be reading my Feedly updates and very much looking forward to seeing what everyone has been making while I soak up the sun. :)

The Details:  House Mouse Sleeping with Strawberries, Spectrum Noir markers, Memento Tuxedo Black, Rose Bud (the dark pink banner) and Pear Tart, Paper Studio Uptown Flair 12x12 designer papers, pink card stock from old stash, PTI sentiment, MFT Pierced Circle and Rectangle Dies, Lifestyle Crafts Circle Die, Rubber Stampede Strawberries stamp

I'm entering this in Papertake Weekly Lovely Layers, Whoopsi Daisy Use 2+ Diecuts, Sweet Stampin' Sketch, Paperminutes #309 Decorate the Inside, Simply Create Too #55 Use Green (or St. Patrick's Day)    

I Want to Ride My Bicyle, I Want to Ride My Bike

 I like:

• the vintage colors of the MME stickers then discovering I had purchased a similar MME 6x6 paper pack a ways back
• how the diagonal of the banner striping goes along with the diagonal of the dots and that the dots give a sense of movement to the bicycle
• the partial fence also makes your eye follow to the right in anticipation of the rest of the fence (psych!)
• the tiny birthday in the corner
• the bike silhouette 
• Queen

Things I don't like:  Starting a repair on a crack in the ceiling and uncovering more than I ever wanted to know about how our house was built.  Needless to say, few cards, lots of ceiling.

The Details:  PTI kraft and white cardstock, KaiserCraft Birthday stamp,  Esse Texture Espresso cover stock, My Mind's Eye My Favorite Things 6x6 patterned cardstock and The Sweetest Thing banner sticker, Memento Rich Cocoa and Desert Sand (for vintaging up the fence), brown hemp twine, Marianne bicycle & fence die

I'm entering this in Simon Wednesday Get Krafty, Cardz for Guys #6 CAS, Shopping Our Stash #139 Embellish Me, Papertake Weekly Lovely Layers, Less is More #159 Masculine, Seize the Birthday (without Heart topping), Whoopsi Daisy Use 2+ Diecuts, Just Add Ink #202 Just Add Stripes 

Spattered

Found the flower paper sifting through my scraps so paired it with my ink spattered kraft experiment and random do-bobs.  I thought it would be cool to Doppler the paper so cut it into random width strips and spread them out.  The flower paper extends to the back for added interest there.

The Details:  Kraft card stock from old stash, mystery patterned paper, tulle from sewing stash, Heidi Grace epoxy sticker, K&Company Flora and Fauna round epoxy sticker, PTI stamped sentiments, Memento Tuxedo Black and Love Letter, Fiskars corner punch

I was inspired by a Daring Cardmakers photo but I missed the deadline.  I'll blame it on yesterday's sunshine!

I'm entering this in Simon Wednesday Get Krafty, Seize the Birthday, Just Add Ink #202 Just Add Stripes, Shopping Our Stash #138 Oh, Shiny!, The Friday Mashup! FM147 Avery's Feeling Spritzy

Ticket to be Creative

I made these at the rather last minute--darn that mega sale on conversation hearts! I covered the boxes in a really heavy weight card stock, a doily, heart sequin banner, a paper rose and two love tickets.  Then each received a somewhat random assortment of this and that.  What a great way to use up stash.  Love!

My new technique/product for this round:  gold leaf.   I stamped glue hearts on some of the boxes and leafed them.  Man, that stuff gets everywhere.  I do have a cool concept for a card using the stuff in the background but that's for another day.

The Details:  Sweetheart boxes of hearts, Ciao Bella 12x12 cardstock pack, BoBunny doilies, Whimsy Stamps The Fun Life Tickets stamps, Just the Ticket stamps, My Moments paper roses, Pine Cone Press heart sequins, Craft Medley cup sequins, Hero Arts Shadow Tide Pool, Memento Tuxedo Black, Brilliance Galaxy Gold, stash ribbon

I'm entering this in Cute Card Thursday #307 Lots of Love, Whoopsi Daisy Include a Sentiment, Penny Black Make it Sparkle, Simon Says Wednesday Have a Heart, Sweet Stampin' Sentiments Only, The Pink Elephant #237 Happy Valentine's Day, Jellypark Lots of Love, Shopping Our Stash #138 Oh Shiny, Make My Monday Love is in the Air, Paperminutes #308 Love is in the Air, Crafting For All Seasons #70 Show Us Some Romance

Die As Mask Experiment

 

So this time I wanted to try using a die as a mask.  I really liked how easy that was and how it turned out.  You can tell that I sponged outside the die first using the pinky colors then did the inner greens--notice the slight bleeding of green along the outside edges?  I like that effect a lot.  The flowers were made from scrap designer paper and a Spellbinder binder.  I didn't try to shape these with a stylus or anything like that.  I'll put flower shaping on my list of things to try.

As for the sentiment, I used Adobe Illustrator then printed before die-cutting.  This particular design  could have been done in Microsoft Powerpoint (not as ideal) or Publisher.  The latter has more fine-tuning options.

The Details:  Spellbinders dies, button from stash, burlap ribbon, Memento Pear Tart, Angel Pink, Cantaloupe and New Sprout, PTI white cardstock

I'm entering this in Sweet Stampin' Sentiments Only, House of Cards February #1 Color Shabby, Just Us Girls #227 Inked Diecuts, Simply Create Too #54 For a Female and Seize the Birthday Without Chevons Topping, Totally Gorjuss #222 Sentiment as Main Focus  

Also entering in Dynamic Duos #89 Pistachio Pudding and Blushing Bride.

Iris Folded Hearts

 

I am all about the techniques right now.  This time:  iris-folding.  Not hard at all.  Lots of adhesive.  The b/w card was my first attempt. I found the heart pattern via Google images.

The Details:  PTI white cardstock, Pop Tone Black Licorice cardstock, Hero Arts Operation Write Home (card 1) and You & Me (card 2), heart brads, Memento Tuxedo Black and Rose Bud, Colorbox Frost White pigment ink, various paper scraps, raspberry cotton coverstock from my old stash

I'm entering Card 1 in Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT For the One I Love, Pink Elephant Challenge TPE 236 Photo, Simon Says Wednesday Have a Heart, The Male Room Valentine,  Sweet Stampin' Love/Valentines,  Stampin' Royalty #213 All About Love, Shopping Our Stash #137 Love Me Tender

 Card 2 in Fusion #3 Photo, Fab n' Funky #202 Calling All Brads! 

You and Me Sitting in a Tree

Toni and Allen sitting in a tree.  K.I.S.S.I.N.G.  First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Toni with a baby carriage.  LOL.  I am so channeling my childhood with this fun one. 

The Details:  PTI white cardstock and tree stamp, Hero Arts Letters and Operation Write Home (heart), Stampin' Up Forest Friends, MFT Contempo Cage music note, Inkadinkado masking paper, Memento Love Letter and Tuxedo Black, Stazon Jet Black

I'm entering this in The Male Room Valentine, Sweet Stampin' Love/Valentines, Stampin' Royalty #213 All About Love, Allsorts #244 Love is in the Air, Shopping Our Stash #137 Love Me Tender, Simon Wednesday Have a Heart, Addicted to CAS #31 Love, Casology #81 And, One-Layer Simplicity #2 Can You Repeat That, City Crafter #197 Color Splash

The Sun Always Shines on TV

This past weekend I went to a massive scrapbooker's destash.  I want you to close your eyes and picture gallon Ziploc bags filled with stamps for $1.  Not $1 each stamp but $1 each bag.  Oh, yes.  I came home with so much stuff, including a fun TV stamp set. 

What was I thinking when I made this? Chevrons = tv waves (used Spectrum Noir in airbrush), filmstrip is self-explanatory, double stamping = shadow images on my dad's b/w tv, silver sequins = tin foil.  The b/w striping on the tv = static.  A fortuitous dropping and not quite save of the ink pad gave me that idea. Yellow = yellow leather chair we currently own (love it!) but also love that color with b/w plus BIC photo inspiration and that song "The Sun Always Shines on TV" by A-ha.

The Details:  Stamps of Life tv2stamp, Stazon, Memento Dandelion and London Fog, Spectrum Noir IG2 & True Black, Fiskars filmstrip, silver sequins, PTI white cardstock, Pop Tone Black Licorice cardstock, mystery yellow cardstock, foam tape, Martha Stewart corner rounder

I'm entering this in Be Inspired Challenge #47 Photo, City Crafter #197 Color Splash, Addicted to Stamps & More! #81 Anything Goes, Cute Card Thursday #306 Something New, Crafter's Companion CAS   

Peaceful Sunset

I saw a tutorial--I want to say on SCS but not sure--about the creation of a sunset lake scene.  Since we went to Deception Pass a couple of weekend's ago on one of our rare sunny winter days, I was keen to capture that on paper.  I cannot tell you how many times I attempted to replicate it.  A dozen maybe.  I finally figured out that I needed to go much lighter on my sponging.  Less mash, more brush and swirl. Ding, ding, ding.  After that my head picture became a card picture!

The Details:  Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Angel Pink, Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Danube Blue; Hero Arts Shadow Ink Passion Flower, Soft Sky; PTI kraft cardstock, Pop Tone Black Licorice cardstock, Sheena Sheltering Tree, Crafty Individuals CI-209 (birds), Stampin' Up pine trees, TPC Studio Playful Expressions sentiment, post-it notes

I'm entering this in Crafting by Designs Think Warm Thoughts, Alphabet Challenge Blog Z for Zesty Colours, Totally Gorjuss #221 Sunny Colors, Sweet Sunday Sketch #205, CAS-ual Fridays CFC127 Over the Edge, Crafty Cardmakers and More #109 Man's World 

Update:  I found the tutorial I checked out when making this card. Check it out!

The Great Gnome Experiment

Card 1:  I have seen some really well done coloring on kraft so gave it a go.  I learned that the colors had to be a step or two above my normal (e.g. DR5 instead of DR3).   I ran white chalk ink over the wood grain background and used a cotton swab to fill in his beard and eyebrows.  It still seemed on the drab side until I got to work with the pigment pen to add details.  The dots of the die make it a bit more interesting too.  For the "tree" I punched out a bunch of Martha Stewart medium branches.

Card 2:  I decided to use the colors from Card 1 on my usual white background to compare the difference.  Um, wow.  The blue in particular screams BLUE now, doesn't it?  I also tried my hand at creating a masked scene with the fencing.  Like.  I went bolder and darker with the wood grain to balance the boldness of the gnomey. For the grass of both cards I practiced flicking the marker so it tapered at the end (sometimes!).

I'm entering Card 1 in  Totally Papercrafts #204 CAS, Dream Valley #74 No Designer Paper, CAS-ual Fridays CFC127 Over the Edge, The Crafting Cafe Embossing, Cute Card Thursday #306 Something New (Technique) 

Card 1 Details:  PTI kraft cardstock, Hero Arts Everyday Sayings, Sakura Gelly Roll white pen, Spectrum Noir markers, Recollections gnome, MFT pierced rectangle dies, Martha Stewart medium branch punch, Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, VersaMagic Cloud White, gold Smooch (buckle), Memory Box butterflies die, Paper Studio embossing folder

Card 2 Details:  PTI white cardstock and "feel better" sentiment, Sakura Gelly Roll white pen, Spectrum Noir markers, Recollections gnome & fence, MFT pierced rectangle die, Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, gold Smooch (buckle), Memory Box butterflies die, Cuttlebug Woodgrain embossing folder

Square Heart

Did you realize Valentine's Day is practically tomorrow?  January flew by and now I find myself in a tizzy trying to make some Val cards.  There are just not enough crafting hours in the day!

This card is cool because I cut out the heart with my Cameo then used it as a mask here but will be using the actual mask in another card.  Clear as mud?

The Details:  PTI white cardstock and square stamps, heart cut with my Cameo, Memento Rose Bud

I'm entering this in:  Tuesday Throwdown OLC, One Layer Simplicity #2 Can You Repeat That?, Keep It Simple #32 Square, Addicted to CAS #31 Love, Sweet Stampin' Love/Valentines