Year of Flowers....Violet

Can you tell I love Papertrey's Year of Flowers? I'm a little behind with this one, the Violet. I actually didn't realize I wanted the whole series of stamps until the Sweet Pea and Daffodil stamp sets came out. Once I got those, I said to myself might as well get the whole YOF sets. They're just going to get more and more beautiful, lol!

I colored the Violet with Copics, which wasn't really that easy, to be perfectly honest. Lots of large open areas to color in and blend smoothly. Takes a looooong time. I used some pretty Memory Box papers with lovely blue-violet, lavender and spring greens. The blue-violet reminds me of the color of my favorite kind of hydrangeas. I love that particular color so much, but have a really, really hard time recreating it with any sort of media. It's a cross between lavender and blue-violet that I have no name for, but just takes my breath away when I see it. Oh well, I'll keep trying till I get it!

Hope you like it, thanks for visiting my little world!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match
Paper: PTI, Memory Box, Core'dinations
Accessories: EK Success edge punch, silk ribbon, Copics, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Spellbinders Labels 1

Count the waves...

I love nautical themed stamps. I especially love lighthouses, and have a little collection of them from various stamp companies. Impression Obsession started my collection, then Stamps Happen, and now this set of stamps from JustRite. I especially love this sentiment- If you want to know how much I love you... count the waves. My sweetheart and I have always played this corny little game where we have to describe how much we love the other. Something like- how much do I love you? Ohhhh, more than all the grains of sand on the entire planet earth. Or- More than all the stars in the entire universe. LOL. Yeah I know it's sappy, but it's  gotten to be a little contest between us, who can top the last one and it's fun. So this sentiment is going into my arsenal!
Anyway, I colored this beautiful beach scene with some Copics and used lots of blue and green papers from a Memory Box collection. I even added a little jute twine and brads to simulate nautical rope.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

Stamps: JustRite
Ink: Memento
Paper: Memory Box, Heavenly White, SU, Core'dinations
Accessories: Martha Stewart edge punch, jute, brads, Copics, Nestabilities, brown grosgrain ribbon

This Sunday is Mother's Day!

This is the Mother's Day card my sweetheart chose for his Mom. I took a picture of it quickly before he sends it out. He always begs me to fill out his cards for him, claiming his handwriting stinks, but I refuse! A card is not personal unless it's filled out personally! I'm sure his mother won't care about his chicken scratch, lol!

I used this gorgeous wild rose stamp from the Just Rite stamp collection for the focal point, colored with some Copics. I stamped the flowers and borders on separate pieces of paper so I could cut them out with my Nesties individually and layer them. I love the medallion effect it creates.
I used some coordinating papers from Memory Box, I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they have matching solid color cardstock to go with their patterned papers. I wish ALL companies did this! I spend more time trying to find matching colors of Bazzill to go with my fave patterned papers that it ends up taking me soooo much longer to make cards than it really should! Maybe if they kept their Matchmaker site updated more often, I'd be able to use that as a resource and save time. But, they don't, so I really like using Memory Box, PTI and SU.

Well, I've got to get this card ready for mailing, and I better take pics of my Mom's 'card' so I can share it with you. But it'll have to wait till after Sunday, because I suspect she might check my blog every now and again...

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Just Rite, PTI

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Heavenly White, Memory Box, vellum

Accessories: Martha Stewart Quilted edge punch, Nestabilities, Fancy Tags, Copics, Stickles, pink satin ribbon

Garden Fairy

I colored another one of Mo's beautiful digital fairy images. This time I used a shimmery paper to print on, and I quickly embossed it right out of the printer. It's a really beautiful effect, just like a real stamp! Since I couldn't use my colored pencils on this paper, I colored it with Copics. And let me tell you I love the way Copics work on this paper! It's a bit different from regular paper because it doesn't require as much blending. BUT, the result is a lot different too. If you click on the pictures you can see what I mean. It's more of a water color-y and textured look because the Copics 'push' the previously laid down color a little rather than blend totally into each other. It's kind of hard to describe, but it's a fun experiment to try something new.
I really love the look of it though, and since embossing printed images is easiest on shimmery paper, I suspect I'll be using this technique quite a bit.

The paper is from the new Memory Box 'Enchanted' collection (perfect for a magical fairy).

Hope you like it, thanks for dropping by!

Stamps: Digi from Mo's Digital Pencil

Paper: Shimmer paper, Memory Box

Accessories: Martha Stewart edge punch, twill ribbon, Copics, Stickles

Pretty Pony

Love the way this card came out, with all the soft pastel colors in Memory Box's Gossamer collection. I love pastel colors, soft blues, pinks and greens are my absolute favorites.

I colored the sweet little girl visiting her pony image with my colored pencils.
Of course I had to add some glitter to the flowers to sparkle things up a a bit. I even added some clear glaze with my pen to the apple to make it nice and shiny. It's the little details like this that really add the final touch to a card for me. I'm not very into adding tons of flowers or other embellishments, I like a little, but not too much. An edge punch, a bow, maybe a few pearls and glitter is all I need!

Thanks for looking...

Stamps: Lili of the Valley

Ink: Memento

Paper: Heavenly White card base, Memory Box, Bristol vellum

Accessories: EK Success edge punch, half pearls, satin ribbon, Stickles, Glaze pen, colored pencils, OMS

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

Peonies

Just popping in really quick before I head out to work to share this Peony card I made with the new Justrite garden oval stampers. Peonies are one of my favorite flowers, I used to have tons of them growing in front of my old house. Sadly, the only gardening I do anymore is container gardening on our front and back decks, the deer chomp up any and everything else planted in the yard.
I thought this would be perfect for a Mother's birthday card, or Mother's Day of course. But I intentionally left off any reference to the holiday so it could be used as a birthday card. My mom's birthday is in May too, and I don't want to be left unprepared in case I get distracted and don't make another card specifically for her.

I love this Martha Stewart Lattice punch around the page set. So delicate and pretty!

Hope you like it, come back soon!

Stamps: Justrite, Papertrey Ink sentiment

Ink: Brilliance, Memento

Paper: Heavenly White, Bristol vellum, Memory Box, Incandescent cardstock

Accessories: Martha Stewart edge/corner punches, sheer ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Nestabilities, clear embossing powder

Spread your Wings....

I was random blog hopping through some of my favorite stamp/paper makers last week, when I had sudden inspiration from the Memory Box blog to make a card like this. I loved the two stamps (tree and bird) and I wanted to stamp them right onto the patterned paper, and color them in. I knew if I stamped it onto regular paper, cutting out the tree branch would be torturous. Then I thought I would stamp it onto vellum and cut it out. Didn't like that at all. I thought and thought, how to color onto a pattern paper without being too dark? Then suddenly it hit me. A little while ago I did a technique called Black Magic, where you stamp a solid image in white pigment ink onto a dark cardstock, then color in the white areas with colored pencils. Maybe I could use a similar concept with this card. I stamped the images directly onto the DP, then embossed with Ranger Espresso EP. I then took a bit of Gesso, watered down a little bit and colored in all the areas of the tree branch and bird with a tiny paintbrush. Because I had embossed the images, I didn't have to worry about going outside the lines.
Then it was just a matter of waiting for it to dry a bit, and I colored it in with my colored pencils like usual. I love the effect! This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for me! I'll definitely be trying this technique again soon.

Hope it inspires!

Stamps: Memory Box, Papertrey Ink sentiment

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Memory Box, Heavenly White, PTI, vellum

Accessories: Martha Stewart deep edge punch, SU taffeta ribbon, Gesso, Embossing Powder, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, Tiny flower punch from The Punch Bunch, pearls

Creepy Ketto

I always thought the Ketto's from Stamping Bella looked a little 'goth' to me, so naturally they're perfect for Halloween cards! I think it's the striped stockings, LOL!
But isn't she cute?! I love the Twilight paper from Memory box too, the Halloween colors are much more subtle than your typical scream-in-you-face Halloween colors.

I was digging through my stash for a suitable sentiment, though, but nothing seemed right. I wanted something about Gypsies, or something to that effect, because this little Ketto also reminds me a bit of one. I seem to remember a quote about the Gypsy Harvest somewhere, I guess I'll have to do a search for it. Maybe I'll print something out for this card, out of ALL the stamps I have, not one sentiment is right?! How could that be? Maybe I need more stamps?

Stamps: Stamping Bella

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Bristol vellum, Memory Box, PTI, Bazzill

Accessories: Nestabilties, rhinestones, Martha Stewart spider web punch, plaid ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Copic Spica pens, 3D paint

Open if you dare...

Isn't this card eerie?! I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I decided to make it a recessed window card to really showcase that glorously creepy haunted house. I made a litle background paper using Adirondack reinkers on wet watercolor paper. The colors bled into each other creating really cool patterns. Then I just stamped/embossed right on top of that.

Stephen King would be proud of this one... LOL!

Hope you like it, thanks for looking, have a great weekend everyone!

Stamp: Inkadinkado, Papertrey Ink sentiment, Studio G

Ink: Brilliance, Distress, Adirondack

Paper: Memory Box, Papertrey Ink, watercolor paper

Accessories: SU modern label punch, Black embossing powder, Stickles, brown, black and orange glitter, SU Heat n Stick powder, striped grosgrain ribbon, brad

Jeweled Hummingbird

I love Hummingbirds. Whenever I have petunias planted in our deck boxes out back, this gorgeous iridescent emerald hummingbird comes by for some nectar all summer. So when I saw someone use this stamp from Inkadinkado on SCS, I knew I had to have it! He's so fun to color with all the patterns and little details.

The flowers are from Magnolia, which I popped up and layered. I also stamped the hummingbird on vellum, then colored on the back of the wings, cut them out and glued them on to the main image. It kind of looks like he is really flying, because if you've ever seen a real hummingbird, you know you can't even see the wings! They are a blur because they're moving so fast. That's the effect the vellum kind of has.

Hope you like it!

Stamps: Inkadinkado, Magnolia

Ink: Palette, Distress

Paper: PTI, Memory Box

Accessories: Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, MS Lace border punch, MS Moire ribbon

CPS116 Sketch Challenge

The new sketch challenge over at CPS' blog was sponsered by Stamping Bella, so I had to join in for a chance to win! Plus it was a really cool sketch!
Bittybloom is colored with colored pencils to match the Memory Box papers. Love that Sprout collection that is unfortunately discontinued! Soooo sad! I also love the 'Aerial' collection, and that too is discontinued. Pssst...if anyone has an extra pack of Aerial laying around that they don't want, let me know please! I need more of that paper!

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette
Paper: Memory Box, PTI, Bristol vellum
Accessories: Stickles, colored pencils, OMS, pink sueded ribbon, Prima flower, brads

My Mom's Birthday Card

Dug through some of my older stamps and came across this lovely Hydrangea bucket by Debbie Mumm. My mom loves flowers and frills, the prettier, the better! This has it all, lace, pearls, bows, scallops...

I love making large cards like this. Almost 6" square! There's plenty of room for all sorts of embellishments and large images.

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful comments you've been leaving me, it's what keeps me blogging! And I don't mind anyone CASE'ing my cards, I'm flattered that anyone wants to!

Stamps: Stampington, Verve Visual

Ink: Palette

Paper: Bristol vellum, Memory Box, Strathmore water color paper

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels die, Fiskars border punch, self stick pearls, colored pencils, OMS, blue satin ribbon, PTI button, Stickles, Sakura Glaze pen, SU scallop oval & oval punches

Playing Catch Up!

I actually made this card a while ago, but the picture I took of it was so awful, I couldn't post it. I tried again today, it was actually sunny outside, so the picture is a lot better. I am going to look for one of those 'daylight' bulbs as recommended by someone who left me a comment (thanks!) and see how that works.
This card just oozes spring!

From the image, to the flowers and the soft spring colors in the Memory Box papers. I even took a clear Sakura glaze pen and added some highlights to the pond, can't see it in the picture, but it is an awesome effect, like real water! I love how it came out. I think I will send it to someone very special, who I know will appreciate it.

I have lots of cards to post, still working on some editing to sharpen them up a bit, but I'll have them coming fairly regularly. AND, I'm done with some more Magnolia design team cards. Adorable spring images!

Stay tuned!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Palette

Paper: Bristol vellum, Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Corner rounder punch, Prima flowers, self stick pearls, colored pencils, OMS, sheer pink ribbon, Sakura glaze pen, Stickles

Fairy Flower

It's almost 60 degrees today, and I am stamping flowers and more flowers! There's no sign of flowers around here yet, but in my paper crafting haven, they're everywhere!
I've had this stamp from Sunshine Designs for a long time. I think it's one of the first stamps I purchased, right at the beginning of my stamping hobby a couple of years ago. I love their designs, but unfortunately, they're hard to find around here. I used my favorite colors on this one, a combination of periwinkle, pale violet and lime greens. I wish I had a little fairy stamp, because it looks like it should be the home to a tiny little fairy! LOL.

Colored with my Prismacolors and Polychromos & OMS. Added some glittery sparkle as well.

Thanks for looking, come back soon!

Stamps: Sunshine Designs

Ink: Palette

Paper: Bristol, Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Stickles, self stick pearls, Liquid Pearls, colored pencils/OMS, Stickles, MS scallop punch, PTI ribbon

Another Hydrangea Card

I made a smaller version of this card a while back when I discovered how beautiful punched flowers look when 'embossed' and shaped. Unfortunately, it disappeared on me. It was my most favorite card ever, and it's gone! So I had to make another, but the original was still better!

I used Caran D'ache watercolor crayons to randomly color a piece of watercolor paper with three or four colors. I then punched out a bunch of flowers using the two sizes of the Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch. Embossed them on the reverse side of each flower, and arranged them onto an oval. And of course, everything using my favorite colors!

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Paper Salon

Paper: Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Martha Stewart's Hydrangea & scallop punches, Spellbinders labels trio, PTI ribbon, sheer ribbon, Nestabilities, Liquid Pearls

Springtime Tilda w/ Wool Brooch

Isn't this color just heavenly?! The perfect tint of blue violet. It is without a doubt, one of my most favorite colors. The Memory Box 'Sprout' collection of papers is the only one that incorporates it into their patterned paper. I wish, wish, wish they would make single sheets of papers (maybe 12 x 12) so I could stock up on this one paper!
Anyway, the unique thing about this card is the wool felt brooch attached to the ribbon in the upper right corner. Instead of leaving it as an embellishment permanently attached to the card, I thought maybe a removable pin might be a better idea! I dyed a bunch of wool felt last year, with cake icing colors if you can believe it, and one of the blues came out perfect. It was variegated from a pale baby blue to the lightest of lavenders, really beautiful! It reminded me of Hydrangeas. SO that's what I decided to make with it. Now get this: I punched one of the Hydrangea flowers with my Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch! Dont' get all excited yet, it wasn't easy--and far from perfect! I probably won't do it again. Too rough of a cut, I had to trim all the edges, they were fuzzy and uneven. I ended up cutting the two smaller flowers by hand.

After some decorative stitching around the edges, I attached it to a self stick pin backing, with a bit of extra red liner tape to make sure it doesn't fall off.

Till later!

Stamps: Magnolia, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Palette, Paper Salon

Paper: W/C paper, Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Spellbinders die, Rhinestones, Wool felt, Liquid Pearls, Martha Stewart tag punch, PTI stitched ribbon, Embroidery floss, pin back, markers

Joy to the World

I have been waiting for these label dies from Spellbinders to become available since forever! Now finally I have my hands on some! I just love them, I have another set coming and I can't wait. They are such a refreshing change from circles, squares, ovals and rectangles, LOL. Sometimes you just have to have variety! It's hard to tell in the picture, but the mint green background paper was embossing with a shimmery EP in a berry pattern stamp that I have, matches the berry tree branch beautifully.
Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Posh Impressions
Ink: Versamark, Distress
Paper: Memory Box, PTI, EK Success
Accessories: Stickles, Spellbinders labels die, Chipboard coasters, Frosted EP, Black EP, Green/Gold ribbon from Michael's

Votive Candle Cover

I have many, many candles. But I'm not really crazy about any of the candle jars. So, I was on a mission to make 'covers' for them. Sort of like a luminaria. I set to work using some chipboard coasters to make into a open box that slips right over the candle. It was pretty easy, actually. The coaster for the front of the candle cover has a square cut out with Nestabilities to create a frame. I stamped on a piece of iridescent vellum, decorated it with lots of glittery Stickles and 3D paint and attached it to the inside of the frame. I attached DP to all of the coasters, inside and out. I used shimmery Stardream paper for the inside so when the candle is lit it sparkles and shines beautifully. To attach all the sides I simply cut out strips of constrasting DP, scored them in half and used them as a 'hinge', gluing one side to one coaster and the other half of the strip to the other coaster. Pretty straightforward, just a little time consuming. Well worth it though, when there's a candle lit in it (or one of those battery operated faux tea lights) the effect is stunning! I need to make a whole bunch of these! They would make awesome gifts too, with a beautiful scented candle to go with it. Hope you like!
Stamps: Verve Visual, Impression Obsession
Ink: Versamark, Distress
Paper: Memory Box, Stardream, Iridescent vellum
Accessories: Nestabilities, Coasters, Stickles, Copper EP, Scribbles 3D paint, Copper brads, Copic Spica pens

Picture Frame Wall Hanging

I wanted to make something nice for my mother, but more than a card, so I put together this wall hanging out of three chipboard coasters. I covered the coasters with Memory Box paper from the 'Grove' collection, then cut out a scalloped rectangle with my Nestabilities. When I glued the rectangle on to the coaster, I only applied glue around the edges, so I could slide a photo into it. I punches some holes to set some eyelets in, and threaded some violet grosgrain ribbon through both pieces to connect them. Of course, I had to decorate it with a bunch of flowers! I hope she likes it!
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Perfect Match, CTMH
Paper: Memory Box, Arches watercolor paper
Accessories: Nestabilites, Liquid Pearls, Tombow markers, Grosgrain ribbon, eyelets, Assorted flower punches from The Punch Bunch