Bunnies in Love

Good morning folks! Today is my day on the Ideas to Inspire Blog, we're showcasing everyone's cards using previously released stamp sets all about love. This one is 'Bunnies in Love'. I loved this stamp when it first came out and I love it just as much now!

Bunnies are colored with Copics. The papers are from a retired Stampin Up collection. 

I made the paper flowers using EK Success flower punches in two sizes. I just shaped them with a shaping tool and added the 'stamens' to the center to resemble cherry blossoms. They're simply tiny strips of paper that I fringed with scissors, rolled up and dipped the ends in yellow acrylic paint. 


Thanks for looking!


Supplies used:

Stamps: LOTV Bunnies in Love, Papertrey Ink sentiment

Ink: SU

Papers: SU, PTI

Tools & Accessories: Copics, Stickles, EK Success flower punches, Martha Stewart leaf punch, EK Success tiny scallop edge punch, SU edge punch, Oval Nestablities, striped twill ribbon, Maya Road heart stick pins, PTI Tiny Tags die, baker's twine, Crystal Lacquer

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)

Angelic Harpist

Well I'm back in the groove again! It's easy to stamp when I don't have to work, go places, run errands, etc. Having a weekend off really gets the creativity into gear. 

Our power has been out since around noon Sunday, I had a very scary experience when I had to run out and pick up my son from his friend's house. I was driving along nervously, amazed at all the downed trees, raging creeks and lakes in our area, grateful that things weren't worse. As I pull up to an intersection, there was a pickup truck in front of me making a right turn when a HUGE tree slowly starts falling over not 100 yards away. It crashed down over the entire road, bringing power lines down with it. I sat in my car shocked, watching the other power lines swaying dangerously right overhead. If I had been going that way, or if the truck in front of me had gone through 30 seconds sooner, well- I don't even want to think what would've happened. Thank God no one was under that tree at that moment. 

At the time I'm writing this, everyone else still has no power, but fortunately we have a generator and have most electrical conveniences available. No washing machine, dryer or oven, but hey! Who wants to cook and do laundry if you don't have to, hee hee!

Enough drama, here's another peek at one of the new stamps LOTV is releasing soon. This one is called Angelic Harp. Beautiful isn't it?

I'm finally getting the hang of using my Gazelle, and this card base was one of the first things I downloaded from Paperthreads when I got it. I have a snowflake addiction I admit. I have more snowflake punches than I could count, and while browsing the many, many free cut files available  on the web, I downloaded many more. I just can't get enough of them! 

I colored the angel with pale Copic colors, I wanted to keep everything very light and delicate, like snowflakes. I even added a little silver bell to the satin bow (Wild Orchid Crafts) for a little jingle. 


Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Glimmer Mist
Paper: PTI shimmer c/s, Hammermill, Stardream, PTI 
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, satin ribbon, Swarovski crystal, Gazelle cutter, Viva Decor Pearl Pen, Copics, lace, Prima pearl/rhinestone flourish

Father's Day 2011

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. Dad, you're someone to look up to no matter how tall I've grown.


Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies out there! Here's a final Father's Day card I have to share with you all using an older SU set called 'Pheasant Thoughts'. I knew I had to hunt down this set and finally found one used but in great shape on Ebay. Jimmy is a huge fan of all things hunting, and I have even gone Pheasant hunting several times with him and our two English Springers. I don't hunt, I just go along for the nature walk, lol. It's an amazing thing to see hunting dogs at work, they are tireless! 

I did some simple water coloring on this image using my Tombow markers. I colored and cut out a couple of feathers as an embellishment too. 

I opted to use simple textured papers for this card, rather than patterns. I brayered some darker colored ink over some Bazzill paper to bring out the weave texture, and used a piece of faux leather paper I made a while ago from my stash. 

Now ladies go spoil the fathers of your children and do something special for your Dad if you're nearby! 

Thanks for visiting!

Sailing away

How's this for a masculine card? Pretty easy with Stampin' Up's digital stamps and papers, which I love. I am so glad they're offering digital products now, last minute cards? No problem. Inexpensive, immediate download, print, and you're ready to get creative. Now that's my idea of 21st century crafting, lol! 

This is probably one of the most digital cards I've ever made, the patterned papers and the images are printed right from my computer. I colored the ship fairly quickly with Copics, then decided it needed a little something extra. I opted for the cracked glass technique to make it a little antique looking. 

I did a little sailor's knot with waxed twine and threaded the anchor through it for a little embellishment. The sentiment is from an older SU set 'Pheasant Thoughts'.


This one's in tomorrow's mail for my Dad!


Thanks for visiting!

Whale Cove

Good morning everyone! I missed out on Impression Obsession's Thursday challenge last week but thought I'd share the card I was working on for it. I had the image all colored up, but just couldn't find the time or energy to finish the whole card while working FT and taking care of a convalescing Jimmy at home. Fortunately, he's on the mend and getting around on his own much more. 

I went back to an oldie but for-sure-goody from Impression Obsession's incredible selection of nautical stamp images called 'Whale Cove'. Perfect for a Father's Day card.

I water colored it with an assortment of inks, Distress, Tombow markers, SU markers and even went back with some colored pencil for the tiny areas like the flag, flowers and lighthouse door. I find it easier to get into those tiny areas with a sharp pencil instead of a small paintbrush.

The papers are from We are Memory Keepers winter collection, there are some perfect masculine patterns in that set!


I stamped the sentiment from IO's Sentiments II clear set on a die cut PTI banner, then scored and folded it up for dimension. 


So do you all have your Father's Day cards ready? I think I have enough in my stash, but I'm not sure which one I will give my Dad. I may still do one more that I think will suit him more. I have to think on it...


Thanks for visiting!

All you need is love...

Good morning everyone, I know it's been a while since I posted but I had some deadlines to meet last week and it's been rush, rush, rush! This is my last month as a Splitcoast Dirty Girl and it's been a fun ride! The past 6 months I'm sure some of you may have noticed how sparse my postings would get the first two weeks of the month while I immersed myself in making cards for the new Dirty Dozen gallery. Well, I can truthfully say I am not going to be taking on any more design team work, I am happy with the two I belong to now. Any more and it becomes too much of a burden and stamping is not so much fun. This has always been what stamping is for me, fun, a hobby, a creative outlet with no pressure. When it stops being that, I have to stop and reevaluate what's going on. 

Anyway, enough rambling, here's a card I made a few days ago using Stampin Up's gorgeous rose from Fifth Avenue Floral. I embossed it in gold and colored it in with colored pencils. 

I really wanted a vintage Valentine look to this card, so out came the lace, pearls, stick pins and seam binding. Seam binding has become so HOT lately, thankfully I've had a ton of the stuff in my stash from ages ago. When I first started stamping several years ago, I was on a very limited budget and always looking for thrifty alternatives (still do actually) and I ran across seam binding in loads of colors on Etsy for a lot less money than ribbon. So I stocked up on every color under the sun. I also dye my own when I just can't find a close match. Anyway, I'm glad it's become the latest trend because I need to use all of mine up, lol!

Tomorrow I'll have a LOTV card for the Thursday challenge, based on a sketch, so I'll see you all back here in the AM.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Stampin Up, Papertrey Ink, Impression Obsession sentiment

Ink: Versamark, Distress

Paper: Fancy Pants, Papertrey Ink, Gina K

Tools & Accessories: Gold Filigree embossing powder, Crop-a-dile, cotton crochet thread, seam binding, Leaf & Heart stick pins, colored pencils, OMS, Tonic corner rounder

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

Witch's Laundry Night

This week is CHA and Impression Obsession is there releasing a fabulous new collection of stamps. So we've decided to give you all a peek at some of the new designs coming out. There are soooo many wonderful Fall, Halloween and Christmas stamps coming out soon, I had a heck of a time trying to decided which one I'd do for the Sneak Peek! But you can also see peeks of more stamps by going to the IO blog. From there, you will be able to see some of the other ladies on the DT showing off their cards using the new stamps.

This one is called Laundry Night (J2378). I LOVE the whimsical witch clothes! I actually tried coloring this stamp three different ways, and was not happy with the first two. First I tried embossing and watercoloring, then I tried Copic coloring, but just did not like the results. So it was back to my old stand by, my trusty colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. 

The night sky took FOREVER to color and blend! (Which is why I had tried to watercolor it at first, I figured I could wet the background and just let the color bleed over the entire sky area--NOT!) Anyway, I like the way this came out, the slight swirly pattern from blending the pencils kind of reminds me of an impressionist painting.

Here's a closer look:

The sentiment is also a new stamp- A3532 Wicked. I chose to use very gothic looking punches and dies. The Martha Stewart iron gate punch was perfect for a spooky card, as well as the fancy tags die for the sentiment. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Impression Obsession

Ink: Memento

Paper: Papertrey Ink, Graphic 45, Prism, Core'dinations

Accessories: Martha Stewart edge punch, Spellbinders Fancy Tags, striped ribbon, antique brad, Stickles, colored pencils, OMS, tiny pearls

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone is enjoying a fun and safe holiday weekend! During the course of your day, take the time to reflect on how blessed we are to be living in an independent country. Free to choose our own paths through life. We are truly fortunate to be living in the United States of America! 

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match
Paper: PTI
Accessories: EK Success scallop edge punch, PTI linen weave texture plate, Copic Spica pens, PTI ribbon, Spellbinders Labels

The depth of your love...

Happy Mother's Day! I'm having a windy, COLD day unfortunately, but oh well, the sun is still shining.

Here's the 'Card' I made for my Mom. Hopefully she got it already, so I won't be spoiling the surprise.

I put card in quotes, because it's not really a card-card. The image I colored was waaaaay too pretty to crop, I had to use the whole thing, so it ended up being very LARGE with the sentiment, DP's, etc. I never mounted the entire thing to a card base at all, instead, I decorated the back, too, with a cream colored die cut so I could write a little message for her. I figured she could hang it on the wall, so I attached a bit of ribbon to the top as a hanger.
I've been after this Stampin Up set 'Riot of Petals' for a long, long time. It goes for ridiculously high price on Ebay, but I finally scored one for less money on the Splitcoast selling forum.

I stamped/embossed the image onto sturdy water color paper, then water colored the entire thing with Distress inks. I love the way this came out!

The sentiments are from Papertrey's Mother set.

Gotta run, we're off to NJ to visit my Mom! Enjoy your day Mothers!

Stamps: Stampin Up, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Memento, Versamark, Perfect Match, Distress

Paper: Fabriano water color paper, K & Co., SU

Accessories: Martha Stewart corner punch, Stickles, seam binding, eyelets

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

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.

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

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

Easter Shaker Boxes

I was thrilled when I saw the new template Papertrey Ink put out for these stacking shaker boxes. I LOVE shaker boxes! I love making 3D projects from paper, but I especially love projects that are not only decorative but useful as well. These would look beautiful on a shelf as well as make a beautiful gift for someone.
The insides are just as pretty as the outside, I used Papertrey's Pretty Pastel patterned papers (wow, say that three times fast, LOL!) to line them.

Now, I have to say, these boxes are NOT the simplest things to make. My first set is far from perfect. I'm hoping the more I make them, the better they'll turn out. There is a lot of cutting by hand, I couldn't really use a trimmer, and no Scor Pal for scoring easy lines. I cut most of it with a ruler and Exacto knife. Not exactly hard, but definitely time consuming. I would say the hardest part for me was making sure the liner for the sides of the box was lined up evenly with the top edge. I seemed to have the most trouble with that.
One word of advice for those of you that haven't tried these yet, and want to; READ Nichole's directions very carefully and follow them in the order she does them. There is a reason you're supposed to make the bottom first, then the top.

I wanted a pretty pastel flower to match the Aqua Mist cardstock and ribbon for the smallest box, so I went about making my own. I've been seeing these crinkly, tissue paper flowers a lot lately, which seemed perfect for my project, so I went about making my own. I assumed they were made using a scallop circle punch, or die and it was pretty easy to figure out from there. I actually used a coffee filter, instead of colored tissue, so I could watercolor it with my Twinkling H2O's. I used my scalloped circle Nesties to cut three sizes from the coffee filter, then simply painted them with a little bit of Twinks. After they dried , I crinkled them up then opened them up again, smoothing them a bit. I glued the layers together, added some pearls for the center, and that's all there is to it. Pretty, huh?

Thanks for stopping by!

Ribbon, cardstock, buttons, ink, stamps from Papertrey Ink.

Coffee filter, Nestabilities, Twinkling H2O's, pearls, silver brads, Distress Ink.

The most adorable bunny I've ever seen...

...and sure enough it's a Penny Black (1033E) stamp! When it comes to adorable critters, PB is KING, lol! I didn't have much in the way of Easter/Spring stamps, particularly bunnies, so I went browsing through the old Penny Black catalogs Dick from PB Stamps has on his web site. I had to use a LOT of restraint when doing this, because I could easily buy up hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of cuteness from there! I settled for a few bunny stamps (three if you can believe it!) and this is one of them.
I colored him very, very softly with Prismacolor pencils. I had to use a very light touch so he would look like a fluffy white bunny. I sponged some SU Soft Sky ink around him for a little bit of a background.

The patterned paper and circle stamp are from Papertrey Ink.

Hope he makes you smile, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Penny Black, PTI

Ink: Memento, SU, Perfect Match

Paper: Heavenly White, The Paper Co., Bristol vellum

Accessories: Nestabilities, polka dot ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, sewing machine