LOTV Thursday Challenge 'New Beginnings'

I'm a day late for the LOTV challenge, but I figured I'd post anyway, because I just had to share this card with you all.

These two adorable bunnies just tied the knot, and that is my idea of a 'new beginning', lol! 

I used my most favorite bath tile technique that I've learned from Mel McCarthy (that lady does some amazing stuff with paper, let me tell you!) I used lots of iridescent seed beads and mini Dew Drops for lots of bubbles.

The bunnies were colored with my Copics and completely cut out so I could apply them directly on the 'tile' background.

The papers are from an old Cosmo Cricket collection, but the name escapes me at the moment.   

For those of you ringing in the New Year tonight, have fun and be safe! I will probably be asleep by the time midnight rolls around, although I may take a nap after work so I can stay up late, lol! It will be a quiet evening for us though. 

See you next year!

Sugar Sugar

Good morning everyone, I hope everyone is alive and well today, it sure was quiet yesterday! Maybe it's the after Christmas Blues? Maybe you live in the North like I do and have had to deal with the incessant wind the past few days? It's driving me batty, it just won't stop! We got lucky as far as snow here in NE Pennsylvania, only about 6-8 inches, but further south, in parts of NJ got up to 30" of the evil white stuff! Yuck! Poor kids, I'm sure they're wishing it had snowed during school NOT vacation, LOL!

Anyway, here's another Lovey Dovey card, using a Pure Innocence stamp from MFT. I paper pieced her dress using some retired SU designer papers from a scrapping kit. I cut out a bunch of little hearts to fill up her wagon using an old, old punch from my stash. 

I love these papers, my favorite for V day. Here's a close up so you can see the grass I drew in using Copics. First time for me, I've only ever done it before with colored pencils. Came out pretty good though, even if I couldn't get as fine a line with the brush tip.

Hope you like her, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: My Favorite Things, Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento
Paper: Heavenly White, SU
Tools & Accessories: Fiskars edge punch, Nestabilities, unknown folk heart punch, Copics, Viva Decor pen, Glamour Dust glitter, red grosgrain ribbon, XF Sharpie poster pen

Snowman of Love

Good morning friends! Finally, things around the house and work have settled back into their normal routine so that I can continue creating & sharing my cards! I sure have missed it, I can't tell you how many times I tried to sit down and complete a card or even just color an image, but it just wasn't happening! Too many distractions. Plus, I seemed to be in that confused state 'between' holidays. It seems to happen in between every major holiday. So I was done creating Christmas cards, but I wasn't quite ready to start with Valentine's Day, or even all occasion cards = Mixed up Mojo, lol! Finally I forced myself to do an 'in between' card. I used this holiday snowman from Heather Ellis, but with a Valentine's Day theme. Perfect compromise.

The stripes on this snowman's heart inspired the rick rack pattern in different colors of wool felt on the label die cut. I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, but just couldn't apply it to a card design until I saw this snowman. So I just cut a bunch of different strips and stuck them to a piece of cardstock, then cut out the label shape as usual. The snowman was colored with Copics and cut out to layer onto the label shape.

Notice the little 'fringe' on her scarf? Another thing I've been wanting to try. Easy as pie, I just used a bit of Scor tape to adhere bits of embroidery floss to the back, then trimmed them and 'fluffed' them out.
The little roses on her hat were made with scraps of rick rack felt strips left over, I just rolled them into rosebud shapes and stitched them in place.

Thanks for stopping by, stay warm!

Stamps: Digital stamp from Heather Ellis, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Perfect Match
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Hammermill color copy
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels & Nestabilities, Papertrey Ink ribbon/Rick-rack die/button, home dyed wool felt, seed beads, pearl heart stickers, Copics

Peace...be still

Good morning everyone, I have one more Christmas card to share with you all, not sure how many more I'm going to be making before I move on to the next holiday. Trust me, I'm ready to move on!

This stamp is an older one from Sunshine Designs, one of the first stamps I ordered when I resumed stamping several years ago. It's one of my favorite Poinsettia stamps of all time. 

I stamped it three times on good sturdy water color paper and heat embossed it in gold. I pulled out my beloved Twinkling H2O's to color this beauty up and cut out three separate layers.

The flourishes are from Papertrey Ink's Silent Night set (which I cut up into two separate stamps for added flexibility) and also gold embossed those. I do that occasionally to my stamp sets, when I know it's a keeper and I want to be able to get more use out of certain stamps. Don't be afraid to cut them up to suit your tastes!

The card base and the Label diecut were also cut from the same water color paper, it lends such an elegant, rich look to a card. I love to use it when I know I'm going to be using white on white.
The sentiment is from PTI's Peace be still set (obviously, lol).

Well I really should go send out my Christmas cards, hopefully in time for Christmas. I am such a procrastinator!

Thanks for visiting!

Impression Obsession Metallic Challenge

Good morning everyone! It's time for Impression Obsession's Thursday challenge: All that glistens is gold. I knew this one would be fun, I love metallic papers and embossing. I pulled out an oldie but goodie from my stash, Park Fence. I love this image, whimsical yet elegant at the same time. 

I embossed it in gold embossing powder on shimmer paper and colored it with my Copics. Using Copics on shimmery paper is a bit different from regular paper, when you blend colors it creates a kind of texture from the stroke marks. I like it, it reminds me of the Impressionist paintings. 

I used one of the new Sizzix/Basic Grey embossing folders to emboss a piece of gold Stardream cardstock, it is gorgeous! The dark blue background was stamped in white ink with the Gradation Cover-a-Card background stamp, so it looks like falling snow.
I added some dimension with some of my Sakura Glaze pens to the fence posts and Christmas tree balls, and Stickles on all the stars. This is probably the most sparkly card I've ever created, LOL!

Now head on over to the rest of the DT's blogs to see more gorgeousness, then you can enter your own card for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the IO store.

Thanks for dropping by!

Dina
Jeanne
Daniela
Jenny
Kelli
Deb
Laura

Stamps: Impression Obsession- Park Fence J2350, Cover-a-Card Gradation CC015, sentiment from The Miracle of Christmas clear set CL282 
Ink: Versamark, Perfect Match Snow White
Paper: Stardream gold cardstock, white shimmer paper, Papertrey Ink, Gina K
Tools & Accessories: Filigree gold embossing powder, silk ribbon, Copics, Sakura Glaze pens, Stickles, Sizzix/Basic Grey embossing folder

Sneak Peek.. New LOTV

Hold on to your hats Lili of the Valley addicts, prepare to get your socks knocked off! I've got a card to share with you with a new stamp coming out in January '11, and it is a stunner! Actually, they are ALL stunning, I was dancing with joy when I saw them. I am so grateful to be a part of this company's team, I just adore each and every stamp! Take a look at this darling image...

 Yes, since Christmas is nearly here, and I'm sure you all have gotten all your holiday projects done and mailed out (ahhhhhh!!) it is time to start planning for Valentine's Day. Well, actually I'm a bit relieved to take a break from Christmas cards, this card was a joy to create.

I colored this sweet image with Copics, and used some of my older Cosmo Cricket 'Everafter' papers. Haven't used them nearly enough and I am trying to refrain from buying more papers until I've used up some of my stash. Easier said than done, but I am making a real effort!

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for these sweeties, I'll let you all know when I find out the actual release date. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Distress
Paper: PTI, Core'dinations, SU
Tools & Accessories: Fiskars heart edge punch, pearl heart stick pins, red grosgrain ribbon, SU embossing folder, Copics, Spica pens, Spellbinders Labels, Stickles

LOTV Thursday Sketch Challenge

We have a pretty sketch this week by Dena for the Lili of the Valley challenge. Take a look at it here. I decided to take a break from the Christmas cards for a moment and came up with this colorful creation. 

 I paper pieced the little dress on Rosie with Cake, and added a bit of shading with some pencils. The paper is from SU, I can't remember what it's called, but I love the colors. So bright and cheery.

I am still hooked on these sentiment seals, they are so awesome! There is one for absolutely every occasion and I even found a McGIll circle punch that fits them perfectly. I layered this one on a piece of pink wool felt that I cut with the large scallop die. I went around each 'petal' with a drop of white Viva Decor pearl paint.
Hope you like it, now head on over to the LOTV blog to take a gander at the gorgeousness the other DT ladies have created. Then you can enter for a chance to win some LOTV bucks with your own card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match
Paper: Papertrey Ink, SU, Gina K
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, Viva Decor pearl paint pen, McGill circle punch, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, pink polka dot grosgrain ribbon, PTI buttons, Stickles, Liquid Glass

A Winter Day...

I can't believe I've never inked this adorable snow guy 'Twigs' from Whipper Snapper! I came across him when I was sorting through my stamps and immediately put him to paper. A little bit of coloring with my colored pencils, some red Viva Decor berries and Stickles and he's gorgeous!

 I tried something different with my stitching around the paper edges too. I've seen some people alternate between a straight stitch and a Zig Zag stitch and I think it looks so cute!

The little mitten brad is from Oriental Trading, I think. I've had it forever. I thought it went perfectly with this card's theme.

Thanks for peeking in, see you soon!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Catslife Press
Ink: Memento, Distress
Paper: PTI, Core'dinations, We R Memory Keepers
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels/Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, Viva Decor, Stickles, mitten brad from Oriental Trading, snowflake charm, sewing machine

Under the Mistletoe

Good morning everyone! I thought I'd share this card with you all today, using this adorable Pure Innocence digital stamp from Heather Ellis. These images are so simple yet sweet, I just love them!

 I colored it with my colored pencils in very soft, subtle shades to coordinate with the patterned papers from We R Memory Keepers 'Merry January' collection. I recently got a giant paper pad of the whole collection so you'll be seeing a lot of these patterns! I really wish all scrapbook paper manufacturers would make papers in smaller sizes for card makers too, I love the papers, but I just don't think I'll ever use them all!

Well I'm off to try and get warm, we've got this awful cold/windy front that came in a few days ago and my toes have been frozen for days! Maybe I need to put some warm fuzzy socks on my Christmas list this year, lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Digital image from Heather Ellis, PTI sentiment
Ink: Fluid Chalk
Paper: Papertrey Ink, W R Memory Keepers
Tools & Accessories: Martha Stewart pine branch punch, gingham ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Copics, Stickles, Sakura Glaze pens

LOTV Challenge Card My Favorite Things

Good morning everyone! I didn't get a chance to post my LOTV challenge card yesterday, but here it is in case you missed it on LOTV blog. The theme was My Favorite Things, and I literally pulled an idea from the song-- Whiskers on kittens.

I used Christmas Cats for this one, colored them with my colored pencils. I decided to use Liquid Applique for the Santa hat since I haven't used that in a while. Gives a nice bumpy fur look.

 I even went ahead and used these tiny jingle bells attached to the bow. They WERE brads, lol, but I altered them a bit so I could attach them to the bow with jump rings. I also used some Copic markers to color one green and red. Worked really well!

If you haven't seen all the other gorgeous cards from the rest of the DT head on over to the challenge blog. You can enter your own card for a chance to win LOTV bucks!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento
Paper: Basic Grey, PTI, Core'dinations
Tools & Accessories: gingham ribbon, bells, jump rings, colored pencils, OMS, Liquid Applique, EK Success edge punch, Liquid Glass