Autumn Bounty

Well now that the cooler weather is upon us, I am thinking all things Autumn. The trees are already showing the slightest signs of turning colors, which makes me feel excited and a bit sad at the same time. In a couple of weeks I plan on just taking a scenic drive with maybe a picnic lunch and drive the country roads until I find a beautiful spot to enjoy the colors. 

In the meantime, I've created a card to reflect my mood...

I love the way the embossed background came out, it almost looks like tooled leather. This was done using an impression plate rather than an embossing folder. Lighter impression but much finer lines and detail.

Thanks for peeking in on my blog, have a great weekend!

Autumn Roses

Hello friends! I think I'm going to be slowing down on the blogging for a while, I'm feeling a bit burnt out. It's been almost 4.5 years of faithful blogging and it's getting harder and harder to do it regularly. I'm going to take it easy for a while, see what happens.

I haven't felt like coloring much either lately, so it's back to simple color stamping for me. I like these multi step roses from Papertrey Ink.

Rust colored roses and Autumn colors. I love Autumn colors!

I know most of you are here to see my colored cards, and I will keep posting my Lili of the Valley projects, but I'm also doing other things that I love. Which could be a CAS card, or a 'no coloring' card. This hobby is something I do to make me happy, help me relax, and release some of my creative energy, and I share what I love to do. I hope you'll stick with me, but if not, I understand.

Take care!

WANTED: Missing Mojo

Good morning friends! It is time once again, for my mojo to go on vacation. Ms. Mojo never tells me when, or were she will go, it's always a surprise. I am left feeling bereft and unfulfilled and uncreative. Blah...

It's a good thing I don't blog all the cards I make, I can save them for days such as these. I don't usually share these kinds of cards because I feel like I'm better at coloring. I actually struggle with 'stamped only' cards, LOL! But I love making these kinds of cards too, so here it is...

A simple brayered background, stamped over it with Hero Arts lattice background, a die cut border with Memory Box Tessatina die to tie in the quatrefoil theme.

Some pretty stamped leaves and a lovely sentiment, and I have a card I love with no coloring. 


But if someone happens to see Ms. Mojo somewhere, on the beach, at the amusement park, tell her to get her butt back home. I get bored easily and need to resume making my cards! 


Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Rainbow Bouquet

I can't tell you how many cards I've made using this Rosie Posie stamp set that I just was NOT happy with! I love the images in this set so much, but I just was not having any luck putting together a card I actually liked using it. I'm not used to stamping solid images I guess, I'm always coloring them instead, maybe that has something to do with it. 

But, I kept trying, and after 4 or 5 attempts, here's one I'm happy with.

I chose some of my new Fresh Ink pigment inks from Impress Stamps to use, because they are DIVINE! The colors are so crisp, the coverage is fabulous and they dry fairly quickly for pigment inks. I have quite a collection of colors already, and plan on acquiring more.

I was even able to add some 'shading' with Copic markers over the ink once dry, with no smudging or ruining the marker tips. Definitely my new favorite inks.


Thanks for taking a look, have a great day!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Inks
Paper: PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, PTI ribbon/flower dies/impression plate, Stickles, Martha Stewart edge punch, Copics

Vintage Seed Packet

Good morning blog friends! We are getting ready to drive down to our family reunion in North Carolina this Sunday, we'll be spending a week on the Outer Banks with many, many of our relatives from near and far. It's an exciting time that we've been looking forward to for over a year! It will be wonderful spending time with cousins, aunts and uncles that I haven't seen in ages. We used to be a very close extended family as children, but as everyone grew older, married and moved all over the country and even overseas. 

So there will be no crafting for me next week, and this will be my last card for a while. Maybe I'll post pictures of the beach while I'm there though. 

Also, a little while ago I posted that I was going to be relocating to North Carolina sometime this summer, however, plans have changed again. We're not moving unfortunately. It's a bittersweet decision, I was looking forward to being closer to my brothers as well as my parents who just recently moved there but it just wasn't meant to be I guess. I'm relieved that there won't be a long, tiresome move, new job hunting, etc., etc. but a little sad as well.

Oh well, enough personal news... here's a card I made a couple of weeks ago. I was sorely tempted again to buy the new companion set that was released to this seed packet stamp set from PTI recently, but I thought to myself- I haven't even used the old set! How could I justify buying another if I haven't even used the one I have! I have really tried to curtail how many stamps I buy, especially if I already have one that is similar. So, I cracked open a couple of stamps I've never used.

Now that I've created a card using the seed packet set, I sort of don't feel the urge to get the new one, because it is so similar. I'm happy with this one. I did a simple window for the seed packet layer, and water colored the sweet peas for the bottom layer. 

Well, I'm off to start packing, lots to do before we leave! Thanks for peeking in, be back in a week with some exciting news!


Most supplies from PTI.

New Beginnings

Good morning everyone! I feel spring coming our way, it was almost too warm today if you can believe it! I saw the first signs of spring driving to work today, the bright yellows of Forsythia, and Daffodils! Actually here in PA, we are a few weeks behind and everything is still gray and brown. But a mere 40 miles away (where I work) is where I am already seeing signs of life. So, to celebrate these early signs of spring, I have an appropriate card to share with you all today. One of my all time favorite colors is Papertrey Ink's Aqua Mist and SU's Soft Sky (retired, poo!) and I decided to feature that color on this card.

I did a lot of masking to create this jar full of speckled eggs and colored them with my Copics BG000 and BG72. I embossed the jar lid with silver embossing powder and layered it over the cute ruffled 'skirt' around the mouth of the jar. 

Then I added some sprigs of wildflowers from the 'Life' stamp set tied with a bow. I matted the whole thing on a Spellbinders Label stamped with Gina K's stamp set. 
I'm not sure what occasion this card would be for, maybe a new baby, or a wedding maybe? The sentiment 'New Beginnings' could be appropriate for a few things, I guess. We'll see....


I hope spring is coming your way too and thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Gina K
Ink: Adirondack, Versamark, Perfect Match, A-Muse Studios
Paper: Papertrey Ink
Tools & Accessories: PTI Life dies, white & silver embossing powder, Spellbinders Labels, PTI twill ribbon, Copics, Martha Stewart corner punch, white pearl

Serenity

Good morning friends, are you excited that it's Friday? I sure am, I am looking forward to an entire weekend of uninterrupted crafting. I have some sick folk in the house though, my son and dear Jimmy, so hopefully I won't be running around nursing them both, lol! We all know how men get when they have a little cold, HA!

Onto my card.. no coloring on this one. One of the nice ladies Jimmy and I know from work was in need of a sympathy card, so I had to come up with one on the fly. 

I used PTI's anniversary set Pretty Peonies again, can I just say I LOVELOVE this set!? I stamped the peony image several times with two colors of inks, then did some fussy cutting so I could layer the petals. 

I finally caved in and got SU's Hello Doily stamp. I just couldn't resist it's beauty anymore. I'm not really too compulsive a stamp buyer, sometimes it takes me months to buy something I've been keeping my eye on. This is one of them. I went for the popular technique of embossing in white and sponging some color around it to really make those intricate details pop.


Hope you like it, thanks for visiting!

Stamps: PTI, SU
Ink: Versamark, Fresh Ink, Distress
Paper: PTI
Tools & Accessories: PTI dies, white EP, PTI ribbon, clear EP, Glaze pen

Pretty Peony Wedding Card

Good morning! Can you believe it's March already?! Where is the time going? Before we know it, spring will be here. Then summer, and we will be moving. Yes, after a little more than 5 years in Pennsylvania we will finally be heading down to North Carolina. This was supposed to happen quite some time ago, but this happened, then that happened and it kept getting postponed. Well Jimmy finally got the official word, and he will be transferring with the company we work for down to Greensboro. We're not planning to live in Greensboro, we'll actually live temporarily in Winston-Salem, but hope to find a house somewhere in between. I'm glad we're finally moving, and I can be closer to my brothers and parents, but I am dreading the moving process.

OK, enough drama, let's take a peek at what I've been up to...

I was so happy with Papertrey Ink's Anniversary set this year, I love Nicole Heady's floral designs and this one hit it out of the park! Peonies are one of my favorite flowers, I had a fabulous peony border a long time ago and hopefully will have one again in our new home! I have all kinds of plans for a garden, I miss it so much. Impossible here unless they are in containers and out of the deer's reach.

I colored the peony with Copics, cut out and popped up some of the petals for dimension. I added some butterflies, also from a new PTI set. This is my first butterfly stamp set, I can't believe I never got one before now! I stamped them on two layers, one on white cardstock, and again on vellum.


Well, that's all for today, thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Amuse, Versamagic, Perfect Match
Paper: Kaisercraft, Core'dinations
Tools & Accessories: PTI Mat Stack 4/butterfly dies, Stickles, Copics, crushed silk ribbon, Souffle pen, Copper leaf pen

All Aboard!

Good morning blog friends! How about a birthday card for a little boy today? I may be one of the very few card makers out there who actually enjoy making cards for boys, lol. I admit I don't do them often, but when I do, it's a lot of fun for me. 

This card uses Papertrey Ink's train set that has never been inked.

I decided to go with water coloring on this cute choo choo, using Tombow markers. I like embossing images that I'm going to water color so I don't have to be super careful about staying 'in the lines'. That's one of the things that drives me batty about water coloring!

The papers are from an old Cosmo Cricket collection, Biography 101 Little Boys which is not available anymore, BUT I was happy to see the downloadable kit available at Jessica Sprague.com. I think the papers from that set are just about the best little boy patterns I've ever seen.
Hope you like it and thanks for dropping by!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark, Distress, Perfect Match
Paper: PTI, SU, water color paper, Cosmo Cricket
Tools & Accessories: PTI Train and banner dies, Memory Box Village die, paper piercer, Souffle pen, wool felt, Tombow markers, Aqua brush, baker's twine

Cranberries and pine

Good morning everyone!

This is another fast, easy to crank out Christmas card, with no coloring involved. (Well, it's fast for me).

The background was created using Waltzingmouse Stamps' chevron from 'Offbeat Backgrounds' in Scarlet Jewel and Avocado. Such a pretty, yet different Christmas color combo.
I embossed a piece of gold mirror cardstock with a Sizzix folder, LOVE the way this looks, it's almost like a sheet of metal.

The wreath was stamped several times, to make it look more full of cranberries, and I embossed the top layer with clear. 
Sounds like a lot of steps, but it went pretty quickly.


How are you all doing with your Christmas cards this year? All done and mailed out?


Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Little Elf

Hello again! How adorable is this little guy swinging from a shiny red ornament?! He looks a bit mischievous doesn't he? He knows he's so cute he can get away with almost anything...lol. He's 'Little Elf Finn' from Mo's Digital Pencil. 

I had a heck of a time coloring that red ornament, it's a pretty large area and hard to get a smooth blend. Perseverance is the name of the game! Eventually, it looked like a shiny red ball, lol!

The papers are from PTI's newest release, and I have to say, I like it a lot. If it's got snowflakes, I  love it!! Plus the colors are really awesome.


Well, I'm off, the weekend's over and it's time to go back to work...poo!


Have a great day!

Stamps: Digital image from Mo's Digital Pencil, sentiment from PTI
Ink: Memento
Paper: PTI, Hammermill, Heavenly White
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, Lacey Circles, PTI scallop die, PTI ribbon, Martha Stewart Snowflake punches, PTI Button, baker's twine, PTI Winterberry Die, Copics, Crystal Lacquer, self stick pearls, SU Heat n Stick powder, Glitter

My new Christmas car dangle/air freshener

Hello blog friends, finally a weekend off from work for me. I came home from work yesterday so tired, the first thing I did was lay down on the couch and take a long nap! I didn't have to worry that I wasn't going to be able to go to sleep at night, and not be able to get up early in the AM. That felt good! It also felt good to sleep till 9 AM, lol.

Anyway, I needed a new car dangle for my rear view mirror, the Autumn one I still had in my car was doing nothing for my Christmas spirit, soooo-- here it is:

I 'stepped it up' this time (according to my 14 year old daughter) and made it as a car freshener as well. I first did this a while ago in this post here. The scent doesn't last that long, but for a few weeks, it smells wonderful. Since I change the dangles in my car for every season, this doesn't matter to me. Or, I could always add more scent.

I took a lot of time with this project, and I have to say it was worth it. I'm obsessed with stitching seed beads to everything, as well as hand stitching with embroidery floss. This project might look a bit familiar if you've been following my blog for a while, I made a card using similar techniques a long time ago. (See here.) Because that card was my all time most favorite card I ever made, I had to use it for inspiration on this project. 

The background papers were all stamped using a white ink resist technique I learned from Pine is here. LOVE this technique, it is one of my faves. I first stamped a piece of Aqua Mist cardstock with Impression Obsession's sheet music cover-a-card in Ocean Tides. Then I stamped random snowflakes from Peace Be Still in white ink. When that dried, I brayered over it with Soft Sky (SU) ink. I cut it out with a Spellbinders label die, spritzed it lightly with Glimmer Mist and ran it through the Big Kick again to emboss it with an impression plate. Pheww!

A lot of work, but so worth it to create beautiful patterned papers in your favorite color combinations. 


The beads are all Swarovski crystals, oh-- and some pretty little jingle bells. Maybe all the pot holes won't be so bad when I hear a little jingle every time, ha ha!!


Hope I've been able to inspire you a bit to make your own car pretties, if you have I'd love to see what you come up with! Just leave a link with your comment so I can take a peek!


Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Impression Obsession
Ink: Perfect Match, SU
Paper: PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, PTI Impression plate, seed beads, self stick pearls, embroidery floss, wool felt, Swarovski crystals, silver bead cap/spacer beads, jingle bells, PTI ribbon, eyelet, Crop-a-dile, invisible thread

Brrrr....Frosty!

Hi all! Guess what? I can make normal sized cards, lol! Of course, I find myself making too few of these small A2 cards, but when I need a lot of them, quickly, these are the ones I end up making. They're so cute though, almost miniature compared to my favorite 6" square!

I used the adorable little snowman from PTI's Tremendous Treats set, I decided to stamp him in a light color for the 'no lines' effect. Quickly colored with some Copics, a couple of layered circles...

I ran across an awesome resource for sheet music you can print out, Free Scores.com. You can find tons of sheet music for any kind of song, which is cool because I wanted 'Jingle Bells', and print it out to use on your projects. And you don't have to feel guilty for cutting up the real thing. There are some really cool old, aged looking ones too for those vintage cards. 


The background paper was an experiment with the 'shadow stamping'. I've never tried it until now, but I love it. I'm pretty sure it's not called shadow stamping, but that's what it looks like to me and I can't remember the official name of the technique. I stamped all over the paper with dye ink slightly darker than the cardstock color, then went over it with white ink, slightly off center. That's what makes it look like a shadow, or embossing. Maybe it's called Faux Embossing?? I don't know...


Anyway, that's all for today, thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Adirondack, SU, Perfect Match
Paper: Hammermill, SU, Stardream
Tools & Accessories: SU Northern Frost Die, jingle bells, Baker's Twine, snow trim from Webster's Pages, Copics, Stickles, Nestabilities

Old Thyme Christmas

Hello everyone! I had a nice long weekend to get caught up on lots of stuff at home, managed to get some stamping/coloring time in too! I'm furiously trying to put a dent in the ole Christmas cards for family/friends pile. This is one of my favorite older PTI sets, Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers. I love all the little fillers you can use to put in the jar, candies, snowmen, snowflakes...

I used this gorgeous vintage collage patterned paper from Summertime Designs 'Old Fashioned Christmas'. I just love antique Christmas images, I wish I I had a collection of old postcards, calendars and greeting cards. The art was just incredible, and there's just something about the colors that were popular back then....

The candy cane jar was colored with Copics, added a little white highlight along the tops with a Sharpie Poster pen to make them look shiny. A twill bow, some tea dyed bakers twine and little colored jingle bells tied around them finishes it off nicely.


The sentiment seal is from Catslife Press, layered over some Giga snowflake punches. 


Thanks for visiting!


Stamps: PTI, Catslife Press
Ink: Adirondack, Distress
Paper: PTI, Stardream, Hammermill
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities circles, Tonic ticket corner punch, Marvy/Uchida giga snowflake punch, Stickles, Copics, Sharpie Poster pen, gingham ribbon, PTI impression plate, twill ribbon, baker's twine, jingle bells

Dashing through the snow....

 Good morning folks! It's Friday-ay-ay! (I've got the weekend off, so I'm excited, lol!) 
I've got another explosion box posted on the LOTV Inspire blog, take a peek if you've got a minute! 
I don't think I've ever made a clear card using acetate for the card base, but I've always admired them. I decided it was time to try.

It didn't come out quite perfect, clear cards require a lot more planning and forethought, which is really not the way I normally work, but for a first attempt it's OK. I used PTI's In the Meadow stamp set again.

I did not have a white permanent ink to use on the acetate, so I tried using an Adirondack paint dabber. It stamped really well, nice and opaque. I'm not sure how well it holds up though, I'll have to keep an eye on it to see if the paint scrapes off after drying for a while. 

I realized after I completed the card, of course, that there is no where to sign the card inside. The patterned paper 'hills' were supposed to be in the inside of the card, but I had already adhered the pine tree down and there was no way I would be able to remove it to put in the hills first. So I had to adhere them to the back of the card. Oh well, I'll know better next time!


Another episode in the adventures of paper crafting has come to an end for now...until next time!


Take care....


Stamps and dies from PTI, Verve & Basic Grey
Papers and ribbon from SU
Palette inks
Adirondack paint daubers
Glitter Ritz glitter and Sookwang double sided adhesive

Warm 'n Cozy

Here's something totally different for me. I've seen a few cards with actual knitted items on them and LOVED them, I knew I'd have to try it sometime. I don't knit, but my mother does so I asked her to whip up a bunch of mini scarves for me. She was happy to oblige!

Since Papertrey Ink was featuring a challenge which was right up my alley, multi stamp background building, I figured I'd join in! I love using PTI background stamps, they make it easy to build gorgeous patterned papers. 

I used the Twinkle set as well as a snowflake from Peace Be Still in Scarlet Jewel, Ocean Tides and Antique Linen. I love rustic holiday colors.

I used my favorite Vineyard impression plate to create the Ocean Tides layer and made my own 'label-look' with a Martha Stewart edge punch and a corner rounder. The sentiment is from Snowfall.


Thanks for stopping by!

Warmest of wishes...

Good morning folks, I'm putting a pretty good dent in the Christmas card pile, and it's still nice and early so I should be good in time for Christmas. How's it going for you?

This is a very traditional style card, which I love, using a variety of stamps. 

The Poinsettia is from Papertrey Ink, embossed in pearl white and water colored with Peerless w/c's. I did three separate layers and cut them out for more dimension. 
The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley's clear sentiment set and the gorgeous frame embossed in gold around the label die cut is from Waltzingmouse Stamps. 


The papers were printed from a digital kit from Raspberry Road Designs, 'Christmas Remembered'. 


Thanks for stopping by!

Shimmering Foliage

Good morning everyone, this is my second attempt to write up a post. Blogger completely went kaput and didn't save a single thing on my last attempt. I'm going to be smart and save my work as I go along this time. Nothing like repeating myself over and over, lol...

Anyway, do any of you ever get stumped for card ideas? Sit there for hours trying to come up with a good card design? I know I do and with Christmas coming up quicker than you can blink, I know I need to get on the roll. So a couple of months ago I was perusing a catalog at work for custom personalized holiday cards. There were a lot of really nice cards in there and I thought to myself, I could replicate some of these with the supplies I already have! I saved the catalog and brought it home. This card is a direct result of inspiration from that catalog. 

Can you believe the pearl white embossing powder I used to stamp the background of this card is about 15 years old?! It's from the now out of business PSX company, that's how long I've had it. Still worked beautifully though! I used it to stamp a bunch of foliage from SU's Peaceful Wishes and PTI's Leaf Prints all over the card stock.

I then used some chalk inks to stamp a pinecone cluster that I cut out and popped up with foam tape over the background. A pretty red gingham bow and a little Christmas sentiment in the corner, and another card for the Christmas stash is done!


So if you're in a rut, start perusing through mass produced cards, guaranteed you'll find some inspiration there!


Thanks for stopping by!

Indian Summer

Hello everyone! My weekend was too short, and here it is time to go back to work again. Not a happy time, lol. But I did get some stamping done and I have some cards to share with you. 

This one was made using PTI's new Harvest Berries set, a must have for me. I love the shape of Ginkgo leaves. They're so unique! I've only seen real Ginkgo trees a few times, they're not really common around here, but they are absolutely beautiful.  

I stamped these in two colors, Cranberry and Caramel Adirondack inks. It goes perfectly with the Indian Summer papers from Basic Grey.

The doily die is from Cheery Lynn. I cut it in half so more of it would show behind the Spellbinders Label die cut. Those dies are so beautiful it's hard to cover them up at all, hee hee!


Well I'm off! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: PTI, Gina K
Ink: Adirondack, Memento, Versamark
Paper: PTI, Basic Grey
Tools & Accessories: PTI satin ribbon, Martha Stewart tag punch, Spellbinders Label, Cheery Lynn doily die, brown EP, Stickles, PTI Harvest Berries die

Harvest Time

Hello everyone! I wanted to share this harvest themed card with you all, with one of my favorite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink. I LOVE pumpkins! Pumpkins for Halloween, snowflakes for Christmas, can't get enough of them. 

I left the Copics alone and opted to color these beauties on kraft paper with colored pencils. I really love the look of colored pencils on kraft. I've done it a few times before, I should do it more often. Maybe try other neutral colors of c/s too, like grey. 

I have no idea who makes this paper, I wish I did so I could order more. I love it! It might be older Bo Bunny, but I'm not sure. I'll have to do a bit of searching. If anyone knows who makes this paper, please let me know!

Here's last year's Halloween dangly. Click on the pictures to make them bigger. I have a new one planned for this year using bits from an old necklace. I'll share it as soon as it's finished. 

 

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink 
Ink: Memento
Paper: PTI, unknown patterned paper
Tools & Accessories: seam binding, colored pencils, OMS, Martha Stewart Tag punch