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Friday, January 27, 2012

So Tweet

Hello everyone! I am loving these adorable Wryn images from Tiddly Inks, I even love her name, so perfect! I went with a bit of paper landscaping for this card. I'm not sure what it's really called, but whenever I see someone else make rolling hills, or clouds or sky using patterned papers, I love the look of it. Not to mention I had to give this new Memory Box tree and house die a try after weeks sitting on my desk unused. 


So I pulled out my favorite little spring colored paper pad from Prima, Fairy Flora. LOVE this collection, I really stocked up in case they decide to discontinue it, hmmph! I used the Memory Box die for the most distant hill, then hand cut another hill from another pattern. I added some hand stitching to give them some texture.



Little Wryn was colored with Copics and cut out so I could make her a part of the landscape. The little bird she was holding reminded me of the sweet birds from a Papertrey Ink set, so I stamped a tree and added some birds all around. I even stitched in some 'cherry blossoms' on the tree. 
I cut out the word 'tweet' on my Gazelle and cannibalized some words from another PTI set (yes, I cut my stamps apart, eeek!) to complete the sentiment. I know, cheesy, but a little girl would love this, right? I think so....


Thanks for taking a peek, have a great weekend!


Stamps: digital image from Tiddly Inks, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Adirondack
Paper: Memory Box, Prima, Hammermill
Tools & Accessories: Copics, Little Bitty Bird die from PTI, Memory Box trees die, embroidery floss, Gazelle, PTI ribbon

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

'Hoppy' Spring

Well it almost felt like spring today, it was mild and sunny out, and it made me yearn for warm breezes! I know, I know, we still have a good two months of cold weather, but a girl can dream can't she?! Anyhow, I'm feeling like spring colors and fuzzy little bunnies when it comes to my cards, and I pulled out this adorable image from a Flourishes stamp set. 


I colored the image with very light Copics, and once again I used a light colored ink pad to stamp this one.



I made those sweet little rolled felt roses again, when you have fuzzy bunnies, you've got to have soft fuzzy wool roses, lol! I did some hand stitching and beading for some additional texture and embellishment, takes a long time, but oh how I love the look of it!


I think I'm going to frame this one and hang it by my work area so I can look at it when it's freezing cold outside, as a reminder that spring will soon be here. Sooner, rather than later please.


Thanks for visiting, have a great day!


Stamps: Flourishes
Ink: Adirondack, Distress
Paper: Hammermill, Pink Paislee, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Cheery Lynn doily die, twill ribbon, wool felt, seed beads, embroidery floss, Copics, Stickles, SU scallop punch, MFT rolled rose die, Spellbinders Labels die, Adirondack dimensional paint

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Together Forever

Good morning blog friends, it's a stay-at-home kind of day with our second snow storm of the winter. Which is not bad considering we're half way through January already. Which is why it's high time I get those Valentine's Day cards finished up! This one is one of my favorites so far, I fell in love with the Kaisercraft Sweet Nothings paper pad, so shabby and chic and vintage all wrapped up in one. 


The stamp is 'Together Forever' from Lili of the Valley and it comes with the sentiment. I used very light colored Copics to color this in, as well as light colored ink to stamp it, Adirondack Latte. I love the softness you can achieve with the lighter ink.



I really glammed this card up with embellishments, felt rolled roses, some pearl and rhinestone swirls, more pearls around the main image, and some hand stitching. I also tied a little pewter heart charm around the bow, I stocked up on a bunch of them from an Etsy shop I found a while back.


Thanks for stopping by, stay warm!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Adirondack, Distress
Paper: Hammermill, Kraft Core'dinations, Kaisercraft, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders labels, Nestabling, wool felt, seed pearls, embroidery floss, twill ribbon, Prima pearl/rhinestone flourish, McGill label punch, Copics, heart charm, EK Success tiny scallop punch, fancy corner punch (unknown manufacturer from ages and ages ago)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

Hello blog friends! Want to see some color? This card has got COLOR, lol. I think it's got every color under the sun, thanks to this Indie Bloom paper pad. I don't often use such bold colors, but when I do it makes me happy.
This card features a purple cupcake (grape icing, maybe?) which I personally have never seen, but think someone should make one! I used the 'Never too old for Cupcakes' stamp, colored with Copics and colored pencils. 


I did some hand stitching around the borders of both label die cuts. I think it adds just the right finishing touch!



How about those tiny little sentiment tags? I've seen this idea used many times, but was always too chicken to try it myself. Kind of neat though, and not as hard I thought it might be. 


The week is almost over, phew! Just two more days to go till the weekend. Thanks for dropping by!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento
Paper: Basic Grey, Core'dinations, Hammermill, Heavenly White card base
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, PTI Bloom Builders dies/button, ribbon, Copic Sketch & Spica markers, embroidery floss 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

All our dreams....

Good morning everyone! I found myself needing to restock my baby card stash and Lili of the Valley just happens to have lots of adorable baby stamps. I used 'All Our Dreams' for this CAS card. Well, some might not consider it CAS, but it is for me! The sentiment is included with this stamp, which is always nice. 


I colored the sweet baby in his little hammock with my Copics in lots of light greens to go with the dp. It's from an old K & Co. mat pad of papers.


I used a Souffle pen to add the aqua polka dots, love those pens, it's so easy to add opaque bits of color over anything. I don't have to worry about trying to color around the dots, I just go over it all and then go back and add the dots with the pen. 


I cut out the frame using a Spellbinders Labels die, then cut out the oval. I didn't want to leave it white, so with the dies taped in place I sponged on some light color using a dauber. It leaves a nice white border, which is almost like having multiple layers, but way easier!


Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Adirondack
Paper: Hammermill, water color paper, K & Co. mat pad, Memory Box, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, SU punch, PTI ribbon, Souffle pen, Copics

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Cheery Wryn

Good morning everyone, hope your week is going by quickly and without too much stress. The weekend will soon be here! Hang in there...

I came across these adorable digital images from Tiddly Inks last week while searching for some new Valentine stuff to play with. Little Wryn is absolutely adorable, I got the whole collection right away. Super easy to color with my Copics too!


I opted to use the super fresh, super bright Piccadilly papers from Basic Grey and just added a lot of red accents to make it more in line with a Valentine card


The circle heart frame around the sentiment seal was cut on my Gazelle, I neglect that machine way too much. I'm not 100% in love with it though, rather disappointed actually. I expected more I guess.


So there you go, hope you like it, and thanks for dropping by!


Stamps: Digital image from Tiddly Inks, Catslife Press sentiment seal
Ink: Memento
Papers: Hammermill (for digital image), Basic Grey, Memory Box
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, Cheery Lynn doily die, seam binding, Copic sketch and Spica markers, Fiskars edge punch, Stickles, Gazelle

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Vintage Valentine Car Dangle

Good morning everyone! Well now that Christmas is over, it's time to change out the bling in my car. I worked on this dangle over the weekend for Valentine's Day. There isn't much stamping, I really wanted the vintage Valentine look so I went searching for some clip art on Etsy. After many hours trying to decided which I wanted (for this project and others, lol) I chose a collage sheet of various old cards and quickly printed out my favorite. 


From there it was fairly simple to move along with the project. Some stitched-on seed beads around the perimeter of the image, a little Rock Candy Stickles for the wings, a silver embossed sentiment from PTI, a pretty little rose from Wild Orchid Crafts that I dyed with Glimmer Mist.


The back has to look pretty too, because it dangles, sways and spins from my rear view mirror. I used another printed collage sheet and silver embossed a sentiment from Impression Obsession. I love this quote...

When you arise
in the morning, think of
what a precious
privilege it is
to be alive---
to breathe, to think,
to enjoy, to love!

So true! Here's a close look at the Swarovski Crystals I used for the actual dangle;


I get most of my bead supplies from Fusion Beads, they have free shipping on everything, love that store! These beads are the Crystal Magma color and are such an unusual shade of red, a little different from the bold, eye popping red usual for Valentine's. 


I hope you like it, and thanks for peeking in! Have a wonderful day!



Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sweet Violets

Good morning friends, I have a pretty floral card to share with you all today. I was inspired by some vintage perfume bottles to try and recreate some of the elements on a card. I started out with water colored image from Flourishes. I used Tombow markers and a water brush to color in the gold embossed image. 


I wanted a fancy scrolled frame around the flowers so I layered a bunch of the Marianne Creatables frame dies with gold paper around the oval cut panel. 



I added some Prima lace and some Violet satin ribbon to the left side and made up a simple Swarovski crystal stick pin to attach to the bow. Now the recipient gets a pretty card as well as a detachable stick pin to wear. Gotta love double duty cards!


Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Flourishes
Ink: Versamark, Palette
Paper: Memory Box, Core'dinations, gold paper, Fabriano water color paper, Heavenly White card base
Tools & Accessories: Oval Nestabilities, Marianne Creatables die, satin ribbon, Prima lace, gold stick pin, Swarovski crystals, gold beads, Filigree gold detail embossing powder

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Love & hugs

Good morning! I've been laid up at home for the past few days, unable to do much of anything. I felt my lower back getting a bit sore and weak all last week, and sure enough on Monday it finally decided to give out at work. I should've gone to the Dr. right from work, but I was hoping it would ease up and I could avoid the whole thing, but it just got progressively worse. So every move I make is very painful and worst of all, I can't sit and stamp or color. Devastating, I know.

I do have a somewhat clean and simple card to share though. When I finished the card to this point, I wanted to add something more to it, as is my nature, flowers perhaps. But I was very pleased with the clean lines and the soft colors of the papers that I opted to leave it as is.


This is the first time I've colored up one of the newest characters from Lili of the Valley's latest release, 'Summer- My Best Friend'. Although I liked the Summer series of stamps, I needed some time to get used to them I guess, I kept going back to the familiar ones. 




This stamp comes with the 'Love & Hugs' sentiment, which is nice. I colored Summer with mostly Copics, but did go back and add the shading in her hair with my colored pencils. It's much easier to get those fine, wispy strokes with a sharp pencil to add some nice texture to hair. Also, I stamped her in a lighter ink than I usually do, 'Latte' from Adirondack. It's got a much softer effect, and very pretty. I didn't know until recently that Adirondack dye inks were smear proof with Copics! Sweet!


The papers are from a digital collection from an Etsy seller 'Digital Potpourri'. I have to be careful, I am seriously going overboard with digital papers! There are just so many! And so much more affordable!


Thanks for peeking in, have a great day.


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Adirondack
Paper: Hammermill, SU
Tools & Accessories: striped twill ribbon, PTI banner die, Copics, colored pencils, Tonic Duo corner rounder punch, sewing machine, Spica pens

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Love and Chocolate

Happy New Year everyone! It's time for a fresh start, and although I don't make any resolutions I do try to change little things here and there. It's never too late to change old habits and start some new, and the beginning of a new year is as good a time as any. 
We had a wonderful time last night over at our next door neighbor's. Lots of food, wine and dessert with good friends is my idea of a great New Year's Eve celebration. 

So, let's move on shall we? What's next on the agenda.... Valentine's Day! I sometimes find myself having a hard time with this Hallmark holiday, all those reds and pinks is enough to make my teeth hurt, lol! Not that crazy about traditional Valentine's Day colors, but I did come across this pretty digital paper collection from Ginger Scraps. It does have red and pink aplenty, but I found myself drawn to it because of the other complimentary colors, blue greens and rich, chocolaty browns. MUCH better!


The adorable stamp is LOTV's Mice are Nice collection, called 'The Chocolate Factory'. It's colored with mostly Copics, but I went back with some colored pencils to add some shading to the very tiny mice and other details. I find colored pencils are easier to blend and shade with in tiny areas because I can really control the color with a sharp point. 



The sentiment was printed from my computer on to one of the Ginger Scraps label embellishments included in the kit. 


Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, SU
Paper: Hammermill, SU, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders heart border, Marvy Uchida scalloped heart punch, PTI button, baker's twine, Copic sketch & Spica pens, Sakura Glaze pen, Heart Doily from Little Yellow Bicycle, PTI ribbon