Roses in kraft

Look at this pretty daisy stamp. Another wonderful image from JustRite's latest release. I do love daisies! You can't see the coloring very well in this picture, I was having a the devil of a time trying to get a decent shot. But I used two contrasting colors, a reddish violet and a pale, creamy yellow. I really should try and keep track of the colors I use, but I just keep forgetting. Besides, by the time I'm finished coloring, there are PILES of pencils all over my work area!
Anyway, I really wanted a fuzzy textured flower center, but of course, didn't have Flower Soft or flocking in the right color. So here's what I did; I took a pinch of my Polar White Flower Soft, dumped it in a plastic baggie, added a couple of drops of Adirondack reinker, a pinch of glitter, and spread it out on some paper to dry. Once it dried, I glued it on as usual. Pretty cool, huh? Necessity is the mother of all invention, I always say!

Thanks for dropping in!

Stamps: JustRite, PTI sentiment

Ink: Memento, Adirondack, Distress

Paper: PTI, My Mind's Eye, SU

Accessories: Martha Stewart lattice punch, Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, Flower Soft, PTI ribbon, McGill Label punch, pearls

Homework- Feel Better

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments during the JustRite Blog Hop! I loved reading them all. Don't forget to keep checking the JustRite blog for daily winners, there are some huge prizes you don't want to miss out on!

Now onto some sweetness:

Hard to believe, but I actually made a small card, lol! This is an A2 sized card. I know I don't usually put the size of my cards, but they are usually 5" x 7" or 6" square. I like 'em big, more room for pretty paper to show through, and big bows, buttons, punches, etc. But this one ended up small because I was too lazy to stamp a larger piece of the red background paper. I couldn't believe I didn't have any apple themed patterned paper, so I set about stamping my own with PTI's Fruitful apple stamps.
In order to get a really solid, matte black finish to the blackboard to make it look like a real one, I used acrylic paint and a paint brush. I think it was Delta Charcoal paint, and it covered in one quick coat. It dries in just a few minutes and I stamped the 'Feel Better' sentiment with Fresh Snow ink. I colored everything else with my beloved colored pencils.

This little cutie is sure to make anyone feel better! Thanks for looking...

Stamps: Pure Innocence from MFT

Ink: Memento, PTI

Paper: PTI, SU, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Fiskars floral border punch, PTI twill/button, colored pencils, OMS, acrylic paint, paintbrush, Sakura black glaze pen

JustRite Blog Hop Day 3

It's day 3 of the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop and I've been invited to participate! How could I refuse, I love JustRite stamps! I've been posting cards with their newest flower stamps for a while now, but I have something new to share today using their Stitched with Love Borders and Centers set. I'm not too much of a seamstress, although I used to do quite a bit of it in the old days, but I do use buttons a lot on my cards and projects. I've been trying to think of a way to store my threads, needle threader, pins, odd buttons and other little things I use daily when I ran across this genius pin cushion jar on Martha Stewart's web site. It was a cinch to put together, very useful as well as adorable!
This would make a nice gift for a fellow crafter too, stuffed with some pretty buttons, ribbons, lace and other decorative bits. I'm keeping mine though! I used one of heart centers to make a little tag for the jar, colored with my pencils and blended with OMS.
For the coordinating card I paper pieced the quilted flower center with various papers from Basic Grey's new collection 'Kioshi'. I also added a strip of 'quilt' blocks across the bottom of the card too, to tie in with the sewing theme. And what a perfect card to use Papertrey Ink's new ric rac die for a pretty felt border. LOVE it! I had a lot of fun making this cute little set, and I hope you enjoyed it too. If you haven't been following along with the three day Blog Hop event, you really should. There are TONS of amazing projects and inspiration from the most talented designers out there. I am honored to be among them!

Supplies:

Stamps: JustRite Stitched with Love Borders & Centers

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Heavenly White card base, Basic Grey, PTI

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels/circles dies, PTI ric rac die, wool felt, sewing machine, PTI buttons, colored pencils, OMS, Sharpie white poster paint pen, rayon seam binding, mason jar, fiber fill, hot glue, chipboard

Now for the fun details: 30 designers, FIVE shopping sprees each day. No one knows where the prizes will be! Each day of the hop JustRite will have five Mystery Blog Candy Prizes hidden along the hop with a total retail value of $600. JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. For your chance to win, simply leave a little love (a comment) on each designer’s blog including the JustRite blog. The more designers you leave comments with, the better your chances of winning. Each day’s comments will remain open for three days. A winner from each of the mystery blogs’ comments will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Consult the listing of designers at the JustRite blog each day (each day’s designers will be different) and start out on your way! Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of all the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog. Good luck to everyone and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Today during the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop (Day Three) JustRite and its sponsors will be giving away the following five prizes:

· $200 JustRite Shopping Spree
· $100 Spellbinders Shopping Spree
· $100 Copic Prize Package, and
· Two additional $100 JustRite Shopping Sprees!

Blog comments for Day Three will be open until Saturday at 6pm EST. On Sunday, JustRite will announce on their blog which five blogs have the mystery candy for Day Three. You will need to go to the JustRite blog to determine where you need to go to find out if you are one of the five lucky winners.

Now, get hopping and leave your comments for your chance to win some fabulous prizes! Good luck!

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Debbie Olson
Sherrie Siemens
Beate Johns
Heidi Blankenship
Kathy Jones
Karen Hunsaker
Peet Roeven
Michele Kovack
Cheryl Nelson
Anja Curvers
Kay Sibley
Katarina Menzies (You are here)
Holly McMillen
Tammy Hershberger
Angela Barkhouse
Heidi Van Laar
Jerri Jimenez
Sarah Parker
Jennie Black
Laura Davis
Ashley Newell
Tanis Giesbrecht
Alice Wertz
Shanna Vineyard
Rae Barthel
Ryann Salamon
Terre Fry
Mona Pendleton
Lisa Silver
Kim Moreno

Easter Basket

Now that I finally have all the gorgeous background stamps I've been wanting from Waltzingmouse Stamps, I'm in heaven making my own DP. This particular zig-zag one has been on my wish list for a long time. I used PTI's Ocean Tides and Spring Moss color scheme for this card. I colored the basket and eggs with my colored pencils and used a white glaze pen for some polka dot accents.
Thanks for all the lovely comments, I truly enjoy reading them! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Papertrey Ink

Accessories: Martha Stewart lattice punch, satin ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Sakura Glaze pen

While I was away...

Hi everyone! We're back from gorgeous Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where we had a wonderful time! It was way too short a vacation, but it was so rejuvenating to my winter weary soul I am grateful to have had it at all! Take a look at a few of these gorgeous pictures:

The beach of course, was stunning. Crystal clear aquamarine water, soft tropical breezes and gentle swells felt so good in the sun.
Me and my sweetheart Jimmy, posing in front of the resort 'shops' doing a little shopping. We really had a fantastic time.

BUT, I did miss my hobby! One of the first things I did when we got there was to make sure we had internet access from our room, so I could make sure to place my order on Papertrey Ink's new release night! How obsessed is that?! I had gotten a gift certificate for my birthday the week before, so I had money burning a hole in my proverbial pocket. While I didn't miss the PTI party, I did miss out on Waltzingmouse Stamps blog hop. :-( I totally forgot to take pictures of my card so I could join in on the hop from Punta Cana. But, I am so fond of the card, and of course I couldn't resist Claire's beautiful shamrock digital drawing, so I'm sharing it with you all now.
Basic Grey's Origins collection was perfect for the St. Patrick's Day theme. I used quite a bit of Kraft cardstock to tone down all the green too. It's a very strong color.
I colored the image with my colored pencils, blended with some OMS, added some Stickles to sparkle things up a bit.

Hope you like it, thanks for visiting!

Stamps: WMS digital stamps

Ink: SU

Paper: Basic Grey, Heavenly White, PTI

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 10/ovals dies, McGill punch, PTI scallop die, colored pencils, OMS, green pearls, twill ribbon, sheer polka dot ribbon, Stickles

Easter Wishes

This will be my last post for a while. We are leaving for our little vacation to Dominican Republic tomorrow morning. I won't be back till Thursday night, probably sunburned, and cranky from all the traveling! LOL.

Sooo, here's a gorgeous Easter image from Sugar Nellie that I snapped up when Funky Kits had a sale on them. I did a bit of paper piecing for her dress this time, because I love, love love Papertrey's Easter papers.
Most of the rest of the image was colored with Copics or colored pencils, I am starting to use them all together most of the time.

I decided to get a bunch of the Ranger crackle paints that came out a while ago, I've been eyeing them up for a while. I love the look of crackled paint. So I cut out some label shapes from chipboard and painted them. Very shabby chic! So easy to use, too!

I made the rose from crepe paper, it came out a bit bigger than I wanted, but so pretty I stuck it on there anyway. The leaves were cut out of green crepe paper, no pattern, I just folded a piece of it in half and cut out a leaf shape.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back later next week with some more to share!

Stamps: Sugar Nellie, PTI sentiment

Ink: Memento, Versamark

Paper: Papertrey Ink, chipboard, Heavenly White, crepe paper

Accessories: PTI ribbon, White embossing powder, Copics, colored pencils, OMS, Ranger Crackle Paint, Sakura Glaze pen, Spellbinders labels/ovals dies.

Sweet Dreams

Here's another card I made using those adorable Fairy Doodle stamps from Buzzcraft. I also used last months new background stamp from Papertrey Ink to create this fun polka dot patterned paper. I love the simple tone on tone color. I just used Fresh Snow ink on Ocean Tides cardstock, one of my most favorite PTI colors!
Circles were the theme for this card (inspired by a sketch from Mojo Monday). I made the flower using Spellbinders petite scalloped circle dies, distressing the edges to give it some dimension and texture.

Hope you like it, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Buzzcraft, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Martha Stewart edger punch, colored pencils, OMS, Stardust Stickles, PTI button/ribbon, Spellbinders classic circle/scalloped circle dies.

Bubble your troubles away...

I love the pretty soft colors in this new Spearmint collection from Memory Box. Reminded me of bubble baths and sweet smelling soaps, so this adorable digi stamp from Heather Ellis was a perfect fit. I used one of Impression Obsession's Shake it pouches so I could put a bunch of clear beads and Dew Drops to surround the bath tub. I made a scalloped frame to cover the edges of the self-stick Shake it pouch using square Nestabilities.
The image was very simple to color, with the lightest of Copics (B0000, BG0000, BG10), and of course my favorite flesh tones (E0000, E00, E11). I didn't have a coordinating sentiment, so I made my own using Photoshop. I just printed it out and cut it out with some circle Nesties. I made the crepe paper rose for the center of the circle embellishment. I found this video on You Tube that shows how to make gorgeous roses from crepe paper. They're really simple!

Hope you like it, come visit me again soon!

Stamps: Heather Ellis digital stamp

Paper: Heavenly White, Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Impression Obsession Shake it Pouch, tafetta ribbon, Spellbinders square/scalloped square & circle Nestabilities, Copics, seed beads, Dew Drops, Liquid Glass

Best Friends

This beautiful stamp is also from the UK company called Buzzcraft. There's a whole line of adorable images of these little boys and girls called Oliver's Orchard. I fell in love with them a long time ago and finally purchased a couple of sets. There's a lot to color with these stamps. Takes a bit of time, but the end result is to die for!
Since the image is reminiscent of the lazy days of summer, I used Basic Grey's Lemonade papers and bright pink ribbon to tie it all together. You can't see it in the picture, but I also added some accents to the water with a clear glaze pen.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Buzzcraft

Ink: Memento

Paper: Heavenly White, Basic Grey, SU

Accessories: colored pencils, OMS, PTI ribbon, Sakura glaze pen, Spica pens

Spring Bunny

How about a perfect spring/Easter card? If this doesn't make you long for the warmth of the sun, I don't know what will! This is another older Penny Black stamp that I found on the PB Stamps web site. If you're ever on the lookout for what you think is a discontinued Penny Black stamp, look at this store first. More than likely, Dick can still get it for you!
I stamped the pretty lavender background paper with one Papertrey Ink's newer background stamps, then embossed it with white embossing powder. The other patterned paper strip behind the twill ribbon is also PTI, from their new Easter paper collection. I can't get enough of PTI, they just keep coming out with more deliciousness every month! And I just saw a sneak peek of their new floral set coming out later this month, and ohh, ahhhh... I think I'm in trouble. LOL!

Well, hope you like it, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Penny Black, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, Versamark

Paper: Papertrey Ink

Accessories: Martha Stewart scallop punch, SU scallop punch, PTI ribbon, Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, white embossing powder

Flying by to say hi...

I have a Fairy Doodles card to share with you today, love these little characters! The mushroom reminded me that I had this Cosmo Cricket paper that I haven't used very much, also with a mushroom pattern on it. Pretty, earthy colors that I incorporated into my coloring.
I did some faux stitching around the edges of the Spellbinders Label with an extra fine Sharpie poster paint pen. I have trouble making complicated curves with my sewing machine, so I chose to simulate stitching instead, lol! Sometimes that's all it takes to tie a whole card together.

Hope the little fairy makes you smile, thanks for flying by!

Stamps: Buzzcraft, PTI sentiment

Ink: Memento

Paper: Bristol vellum, Cosmo Cricket, Core'dinations, PTI

Accessories: Martha Stewart edger punch, polka dot ribbon, PTI button, Spellbinders Labels die, Sharpie pen, Stickles, white Sakura glaze pen

Impression Obsession Easter/Basket Challenge

This week over on the Impression Obsession blog there's another challenge happening. This time it's an Easter challenge. I really wanted to make a pretty basket using beautiful papers, so I decided not to do a colored stamped image to compete with patterned papers. Instead, I chose to emboss this beautiful gate image with a cream colored embossing powder directly onto the paper.
I love this spring image, with the sweet little bunnies on the left side of the gate. The whole stamp set is gorgeous, it's called 'Sweet Delights'. The basket is actually the bottom part of a shaker box template from Papertrey Ink. Instead of making a top for it, I made a lattice handle using one of Martha Stewart's border punches. Just big enough for one or two softly colored eggs to nestle inside. The tag was cut using one of the new Spellbinders Labels dies, and I stamped the Happy Easter words from the IO 'Sentiments II' clear set.

Play along with us for this challenge, then enter it to win a chance at a $25 gift certificate for IO stamps. Read about all the details here.

Need more inspiration? Check out the other IO design team ladies' cards!

Daniela

Dina

Kelli

Jeanne

Jenny

Julie

Tina

Laura

Rosemary

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Impression Obsession

Ink: Versamark, Perfect Match

Paper: SU, K & Co.

Accessories: Vanilla EP, Martha Stewart lattice punch, SU brads, pink taffeta ribbon, Spellbinders Labels die

Easter Chicky

I did not know that the artist (Heather Ellis) who creates the designs for MFT's Pure Innocence stamps also has an Etsy shop where she has more Pure Innocence designs available in digital format! I really wish I had known because I would rather have had some of those stamps as digital rather than clear. Not only easier on the pocketbook, but you get them instantly! Well, anyway, I now have a bunch of her digital designs and here's one of them.
She's got her pretty Easter hat on, and her little chicky just hatched, how sweet! I just love that pure, innocent little expression on her face, it just makes me smile!

She's been colored with colored pencils (except for her skin, I always do skin tones with Copics, usually E0000, E000 and E11). The gorgeous papers are from a Brenda Walton paper pad made by K & Co. The scallop borders are done with a Martha Stewart lace doily punch.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Heather Ellis

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

Accessories: Martha Stewart punch, seam binding ribbon, Stickles, colored pencils

Pretty Baby

I haven't water colored in a while. This sweet baby was water colored with SU markers and a blending pen. I went back and deepened the shading with my colored pencils after it was dry, though. This is another stamp from Lili of the Valley.

I wanted a lot of pretty pastel colors for this card, so I used the Tea Party DSP from Stampin Up. I pierced some holes around the scallops framing the image, a little tag attached to the bow, and I call it done!

Hope you like it, thanks for visiting!
Stamps: Lili of the Vally, PTI sentiment

Ink: Memento, SU

Paper: SU, PTI, water color paper

Accessories: Fiskars apron lace punch, Nestabilities, SU markers, Tombow blender pen, colored pencils, Sakura glaze pens, SU striped ribbon