Tilda's Bundle of Twigs

It's been a while since I made a card using a Magnolia stamp, so I dug into some of my older stamps and found this sweetie pie. You know what I noticed with the older Tilda images? She has smaller eyes. The newer Magnolia Tilda and Edwins have larger eyes. They're both cute, but for some reason I like the smaller eyes better!

I remember seeing someone use this SU Autumn Vines DSP a while back, and of course--it's retired! I am so far behind with SU products, lol! I always start liking something after it's been retired. So I searched Ebay, Splitcoast Stampers Buy/Sell/Trade forum, no luck. Then I thought of Craigslist, and BINGO! I scored two brand new unopened packs from someone in Wisconsin unloading a bunch of their SU stuff. I love this paper, and I matched Tilda's dress with the colors from the paper.

Today my kids went back to school, and I forgot how hectic it can get in the AM with them getting ready for school, and me getting ready for work! So I didn't get a chance to edit a bunch of pics until much later. I think I'm going to have to start getting up earlier in the morning....uugghh.

Anyway, thanks for looking, and thanks for all the sweet comments! It does my heart so much good!

Stamps: Magnolia, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, Distress, Adirondack

Paper: PTI, SU!, Bazzill, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Nestabilities, Fiskars edge punch, silk ribbon, Liquid Glass, colored pencils, OMS, Copics

Pull Toys Baby Card

These sweet pull toy images from Eat Cake Graphics have been in my stash for a while, I just love them! They're pretty small so I decided to color three of them for this card. You can never have too many baby cards, seems like every month someone in the extended family is getting pregnant, lol! I like to be prepared.

Oh, and I have some great news to share, I was asked to be a permanent member of the Impression Obsession design team! I've been enjoying my three month term very much, LOVE all the new stuff they've been coming out with, so it's pretty much a no-brainer. I said YES!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend everyone!

Stamps: Eat Cake Graphics

Ink: Memento

Paper: K & CO. , PTI, Bazzill, Prism, Bristol Vellum

Accessories: Nestabilities, silk ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch, colored pencils, OMS

Peaceful Wishes

Here's another card I made using the polymer clay texture plate in my Big Kick. I love this berry vine background, even though it's called 'Spring branches' or something like that. They look more like berry branches to me, lol!
I ran a Distress ink pad over the embossed areas then added little glittery 'berries' with red Stickles. It's so pretty IRL.

I took a bit of advice someone on SCS gave about lubricating your tough edge punches with Graphite powder. I had just gotten the EK Success Fleur-de-lis punch and it was giving me the hardest time punching through anything! It got so I couldn't punch anything completely through any weight paper. Well, the Graphite powder helped enormously! I wouldn't say it's easy to punch through paper now, but at least I can use it at all.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: SU, PTI

Ink: Ancient Page, Distress

Paper: PTI, The Paper Company, Stardream

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels die, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, fancy brad, silk ribbon, Studio polymer clay texture plate, Scribbles 3D paint, Stickles, EK Success edge punch

Pitcher of Leaves

I have something interesting to tell you about this card. See the embossed paper on the top? I did that with a polymer clay texture plate. I saw these a long time ago when they first appeared on the market, and that was the first thing I thought of, can I use those to emboss paper with? I even bought them and tried it, but it didn't work. My Big Kick was a fairly new addition to my craft table, so I couldn't figure out how to get them to work at the time. I returned them to the store.
Recently, I've been searching for an embossing folder with a berry vine motif, but couldn't find one anywhere. I remembered the Studio Clay texture plates for polymer clay had a beautiful vine pattern, and figured let me try again.
I used the leaf pattern for this card (there are two different textures in each package) and this is the sandwich I used in my Big Kick. It took a lot of trial and error to get it right, but I was finally very happy with the result!
From the bottom up:
-Multipurpose platform with all sections down,
-Two pieces of chipboard
-Texture plate, pattern side up
-Paper (mist lightly with water, if you spray too much it will buckle)
-Wizard Tan embossing mat
-Clear spacer plate

You may have to play around a bit to get the right sandwich, as your chipboard/cardstock may be thicker/thinner than mine. I only have a Big Kick, so I do not know how to make this work in any other machine.

Hope it inspires!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Distress
Paper: PTI, The Paper Company
Accessories: Martha Stewart loopy punch, PTI ribbon/button, May Arts ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Spellbinders Labels die, Stickles

Earth Becomes a Colored Quilt...

I now have three out of the four season D. Morgan stamps from Stamps Happen. My plan was to get all four and make a wall calender, that's how much I love these stamps! I'll have to get the summer one soon and get to work on my calender!
In the meantime, here's a card with the Autumn stamp, how GORGEOUS is this image?! It's so big, it hardly fits on a 5" x 7" card, but I love it regardless.

Coloring it is always a bit of a challenge, however, as the lines are pretty freeform and sometimes I really have to study the area I'm getting ready to color to figure out what's what! But the end result is always spectacular, and so worth it!

The rest of the card I kept super simple, just some ribbon with a button, I don't want any of the papers or embellishments to compete with the image. Gets too distracting.

Anyway, hope you like it, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Fiskars edge punch, Colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, Sakura glaze pen, PTI ribbon/twine, wooden button

Fall Treat Bag & Card

I felt like making something 3 dimensional, but nothing too complicated, so I decided to make a little treat bag with a matching card. This is the 2-5-7-10 box template from SCS. Very simple! I love the little pumpkins from Papertrey Ink's new Autumn Tags Set, so I decided to start with that. I inked them up with Adirondack's Ginger, Rust & Pesto ink pads then cut them out for layering.
The background paper was stamped in Vintage Cream ink onto Chocolate cardstock using the First Fruits and Floral Fusion stamp sets, then I aged the edges with some Walnut Distress ink.
I'm thinking a little bag of pumpkin spice coffee, or maple caramels and this is a perfect little gift for someone special.
I can't wait for fall weather to take away this terrible heat and humidity we've been having lately. It's like July weather has come really late to northeast Pennsylvania, it's just been so muggy and sticky. Yuck! Bring on the cool, crisp fall days!

Anyway, hope you like it, and thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Adirondack, Distress, Memento
Paper: PTI
Accessories: Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Simple Scallop punch, PTI ribbon

Pitcher of Mums

I am pretty proud of the way this card turned out. I seem to have the best luck working with Cosmo Cricket papers, especially discontinued lines of CC paper, like this one from the Gretel collection. This is my last scrap of the 'Butterflies' paper, boo hoo... At least I think they are discontinued, very hard to find them anywhere.

The blue BG paper is not Cosmo Cricket, though. I wanted to use my huge tapestry background stamp from Impression Obsession again ('cause it's beeeautiful!) so I created my own DP using Corduroy Distress Ink on Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink) cardstock. And I must say, I love the way it looks!

I colored the pitcher of mums with colored pencils (and very, very tiny stumps), outlined the entire image with a Copic, distressed/aged all the edges, did some sewing, and TA DA! A lovely harvest colored card.

I hope you like it as much as I do, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Impression Obsession

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: PTI, Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill

Accessories: Nestabilities, Fiskars edge punch, half pearls, colored pencils, OMS, Copic marker, Rust grosgrain ribbon, PTI button/twine, sewing machine

Sitting Willow

I've resisted starting with Whiff of Joy stamps because I think they are very similar to other stamps of children that I actually prefer. I don't want to start collecting a whole new line if they look too similar to ones I already have. This little girl is so sweet though, isn't she? She'll be the only one though, I promise that to myself!

How about this DP though, it's Amy Butler's from K & Co. Gorgeous! I had to get the whole paper pad, because each paper was more beautiful than the last.

I colored Willow with Copics and and colored pencils, cut her out so she's sitting on the 'edge' of the fancy window.

I've started organizing my stamp area, and have realized exactly how much STUFF I have. It's actually very scary, lol. My sweetie's brother works for an eyeglass company and he gave us a couple of eyeglass frame display carts they were getting rid of. They're about waist high, with 15 wide, narrow drawers with dividers. Perfect for stamping stuff! So, I'm reorganizing and sorting everything, hoping to make my area more productive. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Whiff of Joy, Papertrey Ink, SU

Ink: Memento, Adirondack, Perfect Match

Paper: PTI, K & Co., Prism

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels dies, Fiskars embossing punch, silk ribbon, PTI button/twine, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, SU Curly Label punch

Impression Obsession DT Challenge~Halloween!

Impression Obsession is doing another challenge! I love doing these, so much fun! If you want to know more about the challenge, or how you could be on the IO blog, click here. So whip out your IO Halloween stamps and join in!
I used Spooky Cakes for my card today. I colored them with my colored pencils, and a LOT of bling! lol... These babies have Stickles, Liquid Pearls, Sakura Glaze pens, Copic Spica, they are sparkly!
Here's a closer look so you can see the shimmer:

Halloween cards are FUN, fun! Check out the rest of the DT's blogs for more inspiration!

Daniela Dobson
Laura Fulcher
Jenny Gropp
Julie Koerber
Dina Kowal
Shirley Ross
Jeanne Streiff

Stamps: Impression Obsession, Papertry Ink
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match, Distress
Paper: Georgia Pacific, Bazzill, Cosmo Cricket, Prism, PTI
Accessories: Colored pencils, OMS, Nestabilities, Spellbinders Labels die, Fiskars texture plate, May Arts ribbon, PTI button/twine, Martha Stewart web punch, Stickles, Adirondack Dimensional Pearls, Sakura Glaze pen, Copic Spica pen

If Snowballs were Kisses...

I LOVE this little card! Look at that chubby little snowman, isn't she just darling?! I love snowmen, all shapes and sizes, so this card was so fun to make. Especially because I used the new Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly papers, in very untraditional colors. Using pink and blues for Christmas cards? How fun is that!

Little Snow Baby was colored with Copics and colored pencils. The snowflake is a die cut covered in glass glitter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Impression Obsession

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Papertrey Ink, SU!, Cosmo Cricket, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Nestabilities, Sizzix snowflakes die, Stickles, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, Martha Stewart Loopy punch, PTI button, rayon ribbon, glass glitter

August Guest Star Stamper card

I made this card for my sister-in-law, and it happened to coincide with Papertrey Ink's GSS contest, so I decided to enter it. If ever there was a stamp set that was so easy to create elegant images with, this is it.

I colored it with Copics, cut out three seperate layers for the large flower and popped them up with foam tape. I love this stamp set, just can't go wrong with it!

And I LOVE the silk ribbon I used to make the bow, it is wonderful to work with! I got it from Stamp Simply.

Wish me luck, I hope I win!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, SU

Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper, SU, PTI, Prism

Accessories: Spellbinders labels dies, Copics, Martha Stewart tag punch, silk ribbon, Cuttlebug EF, half pearls

I've been asked how I get such a narrow border with my second layer of the Labels die several times, so I'll edit this post to add the info.

It's actually very simple. I trace around the outside of the die with a pencil and cut it out by hand! That's all there is to it! It's kind of a pain, but I like the effect so much better. Attn: Spellbinders! We want nesting Labels! lol

Hope this helps, and thanks for the congrats everyone! I'm so happy I finally won something!

Gorjuss Poppy Fields

I bought some Spellbinders Impressabilities a while ago, and was very disappointed when I couldn't get the paper embossed very deeply. I love the patterns that are available, but just wasn't getting the results I wanted. I searched the web for different 'sandwiches' to use, tried a couple of them, but still wasn't getting the crisp, clear impression I was used to getting with Cuttlebug folders. Needless to say I was very upset! I decided to try again a few days ago, Googled again for more directions--and found this set of directions.
This FINALLY worked! Misting the paper with water is especially effective, I think, and I made this card with the result.

The little poppy flowers in the image reminded me of buttons, so I decided to continue the theme and make some poppies from buttons. I used Papertrey Ink buttons in various sizes, threaded them with some Lime green thin cord, leaving some extra for a 'stem', and glued them down on the card with tacky glue. They needed leaves of course, out came my Martha Stewart punch, decorated them with some white 'stitching' with a white Signo pen and glued them down as well.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Sugar Nellie

Ink: Memento

Paper: Bristol vellum, Basic Grey, PTI, SU

Accessories: Nestabilities, Impressabilities, PTI buttons, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, Sakura glaze pen, aqua grosgrain ribbon, Bow Easy, Martha Stewart loops & leaf branch punches

Wishing you Sunshine

Cosmo Cricket has some new papers out, more adorable than ever. I used the Earth Love collection for this card. Their colors are so muted, and subtle, the patterns sweet and whimsical. They suit me to a tee! How perfect are they for this Eat Cake Graphics stamp, Girl at Window? I love when I can choose papers and colors easily to go with a particular stamp!

This could easily have been a baby card, as well, I thought about it, but then remembered the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's 'Scattered Showers' and just couldn't resisit using the sunshine saying instead.

No work this weekend, I get to lounge around and stamp, woo hoo!

Have a great Saturday!

Stamps: Eat Cake Graphics, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, CTMH, DIstress

Paper: Bristol vellum, SU, PTI, Cosmo Cricket

Accessories: Nestabilities, Spellbinders small labels die, Brads, Stickles, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, PTI stitched ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch

Mouse in a Nutboat

I've been an admirer of Tina Wenke's artwork for a while. I always check out the latest clipart she has available on Pcrafter, hoping that there would be some B & W line art to use as digital stamps. No luck though. So, Stampavie decides to go and make some clear stamps with her drawings, woohoo! That's more like it!

I just love this little scene, so adorable! I colored it with my colored pencils, picking up the colors from the DP. The flower is a die cut using SU's daisies die, sponged with some ink, embossed for some dimension and layered with a button.

I really wanted to add a sentiment to this card, but couldn't decide what. New baby? Birthday? I have a really hard time with sentiments sometimes....

Oh well, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Stampavie

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Bristol vellum, SU, K & Co., PTI, Bazzill

Accessories: SU Daisies die, yellow grosgrain ribbon, PTI button/twine, colored pencils, OMS, Copic Spica pen, SU scallop punch

Recessed Window Harvest Basket

I was very impressed with Splitcoast Stamper's new tutorial on a recessed window card, so I had to give it a go. Very simple technique, with very dramatic results. The simplest image becomes a stunning focal point in the window. Try it, it's a lot of fun to make, and not very hard at all.

Almost all of the supplies I used are Papertrey Ink. I colored the pumpkins with Distress inks and my blender pen. The basket was stamped on some textured cardstock, a few shadows added with a couple of Copics, then cut out.

Pretty simple, I love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Distress, Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: PTI, SU!, Prism

Accessories: SU punches, Martha Stewart Lattice punch, PTI button/twine, Strano Designs ribbon, Copics, Tombow blender pen, Scor Pal

Halloween Window

This new stamp from Impression Obsession is so awesome, I love it! Lots of fun to color. I used Adirondack and Distress inks to color everything except the window frame/box/shutters. Just used my handy dandy Tombow blender pen, dipped it into a bit of ink and colored away. I used to use this technique a lot in the past, but kind of changed over to colored pencils for the most part. I love the watercolor effect with the blender pen and inks though, I may be using it more often in the future.

This close up picture is not that great, but I wanted everyone to see the 'glass' effect on the windows using Liquid Glass. I also used a glaze pen on the berries and the pumpkin eyes, they're not actually glowing, it's just a glare. Kind of neat though, isn't it?

The background I created with an older IO background stamp. I stamped it with cream ink onto dark chocolate cardstock, then added some shading inside the leaves and pumpkins with my blender pen and Distress Ink. I love creating my own decorative background papers. I can always customize it exactly how I want it.

Besides Christmas, Halloween is one of my fave holidays, so you'll be seeing quite a few Halloween cards till then!

Hope it inspires, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Impression Obsession

Ink: Memento, Adirondack, Distress, Perfect Match

Paper: Papertrey Ink, SU

Accessories: Tombow blender pen, colored pencils, OMS, Sakura glaze pen, Liquid glass, Dew Drops, Rust grosgrain ribbon, PTI striped green ribbon, Copis Spica pen

By the Seashore

This is a BIG card, it measures almost 6" square. The stamp was very big, so I had to make the card a lot bigger. And since I can't find heavy 12" x 12" cardstock anywhere (if you know of a source, you must let me know!) I used watercolor paper instead.

I was thinking of water coloring the image, it's been a long time since I did, but decided against it. I think I have much more control with colored pencils, and since my mojo has just gotten back from vacation, I didn't want to push it. Simple is better for now. I did use some Copics for the girl's dress and the water, though. Just can't find a muted blue green like it in my vast collection of colored pencils.

The paper is 'Dutch Girl' from an older Cosmo Cricket collection. It just totally reminded me of the seashore, absolutely perfect for this card.

I am very pleased with the way this card turned out, thanks for coming back mojo! lol

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento

Paper: Strathmore w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, SU, Bristol vellum

Accessories: colored pencils, OMS, Copics, Liquid Pearls, Copic Spics pen, Wrights satin ribbon, half pearls, Fiskars apron lace punch

Dancing Ketto Princess

Check out this dancing diva, she's as funky as the papers I paired her with! I normally have a very hard time using black in any card design that's not Halloween, LOL! But I forced myself to use this polka dot pattern from the new Basic Grey collection, as a challenge to myself.

I can't say I would make a card like this again, the bold colors just aren't me. But sometimes you just gotta work outside your comfort zone, shake things up a bit, to make it interesting, KWIM? And at least I have a different card in my stash for when I need it for a very different person ;-)

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Stamping Bella

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Bristol, PTI, Basic Grey, Prism

Accessories: Nestabilities, Prima flower, PTI button, colored pencils, OMS, Strano Designs ribbon, Liquid Pearls, Copic Spica pens

Christmas Park

Well, vacationing is done for the year, we just got back from visiting my brothers in North Carolina, so it's time to get back in the old routine. My mojo is taking it's sweet old time coming back from vacation, too, so bear with me while my creative gears are having a tune up, lol!

This is one of the new stamps Impression Obsession just released. Their designs are just simply gorgeous! Each one is better than the last! I'm not just saying that because I'm a guest designer, I was a customer looooong before that.

It was a lot of fun to color with my colored pencils. Lots of little details that were perfect for Liquid Pearls, and Stickles for added dimension. The background paper is SU's Baja Breeze stamped with a snowflake stamp in white ink. The main image is so impressive though, I didn't want to get too busy with a complex patterned paper. The little strip of striped paper was all it needed just to bring some Christmas color to the whole layout.

Hope you like it, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Impression Obsession, SU

Ink: Memento, SU

Paper: SU, PTI, Bristol vellum, Stardream metallic

Accessories: SU Hodgepodge Hardware, crystal rhinestone, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Martha Stewart scallop & flourish punches, colored pencils, OMS