Happy Father's Day

Good morning friends, let's make sure to make the Fathers in our lives feel extra special today! My own father is far away in NC, but I've already sent him a card and hopefully he got it!

This card was so, so simple to make. I'm almost embarrassed, LOL. My kids gave it to Jim, who they consider their stepdad.

Most of the work has been done by the background paper, it's a printed design from Raspberry Road Designs 'The Old Tacklebox'. I also printed the sentiment right along with the background.

Then I simply stamped some of the large pine trees on the left side in black using Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card stamp. 

I added the deer from SU's Nature Silhouettes, sponged in some 'grass' along the bottom, and it was finished. 

I told you, too simple!


Have a great day!

Tessatina

So I have this current obsession with quatrefoil patterns and other similar designs. I seem to be collecting them. I have several Silhouette Store cut files already, but then I saw that Memory box has this very delicate Tessatina die that has a similar pattern. Had to get it. I just saw a Hero Arts background stamp with the same pattern, got it. (Saw Jennifer McGuire's project using it with Distress Markers and bought the stamp in 5 seconds flat!). Now I may need Distress markers... I tried the same project with Distress ink pads, and.... not so easy!

What is it about this hobby that obsesses us so much? When does it stop?

Ha! I hope never.

So I was playing around with the Tessatina die, and came up with several backgrounds using it. One of them was this one. Here's how it was done:
I picked a pretty piece of patterned paper I wanted to use and stuck a sheet of double sided adhesive over it. Then I cut four or five strips with the die and stuck those on the double sided tape too. Then I sprinkled a bunch of ultrafine glitter all over it and burnished it down.

LOVE the result! 
The stamps, ribbons and papers are from SU.

Thanks for visiting!

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

A Spooky Day

Good morning everyone! I have the weekend off and there's no kids and no significant other, so I am enjoyin' the peace and quiet! After work last night I settled down on the couch, and watched about 4 episodes of 'The Tudors' on Netflix, I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been able to do absolutely nothing! 

Well, I'm up bright and early (had to place my Papertrey Ink order nice and early before everything sold out, lol!) and I have another Halloween card to share. Now, to be perfectly honest, I don't really give out Halloween cards. Sometimes I sell them, or stash them in a box in case I might need it, or on the very rare occasion, give it along with a Halloween treat to someone special. I just love making them, I don't care about the 'What do I do with it?'. Cards are a miniature art form to me, the process is what makes me happy, it's my therapy!

So, how about some details... I found this gorgeous landscape background digital stamp from Motivet some time ago and just knew I had to color it. I don't do these types of cards very often, but sometimes I just have the urge to color up a whole scene. Problem was, after I colored the background, I couldn't find a cute little matching witch that was in the right proportion. I wasn't about to reprint and recolor the background so I set it aside. I find if I set something aside, eventually something will turn up that will work perfectly. Sure enough, this little cutie from SU's Greeting Card Kids was the answer.

I even made a matching postcard to go with the vintage card theme, it's kind of tucked in the back, a lot of it covered up. Oh well, the cool spider stamp is visible and that's the best part! This card was a lot of fun to make...


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


Stamps: SU, Motivet digital stamp, Catslife Press, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Distress, Adirondack, Versafine
Paper: PTI, Hammermill, Basic Grey
Tools & Accessories: Postage stamp die from PTI, striped grosgrain ribbon, Baker's twine, Copics, Spellbinders rectangle Fleur de Lis die, Stickles

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!

Old World Christmas

Hello blog friends! I came across a gorgeous digital scrapbook kit called 'Christmas Past' from Scrap Matters and fell in love with the plaid and ticking patterns. I love old world Christmas style, and this kit would be perfect for the Pines & Poinsettias set from SU. Lots of lace, gold papers, and chunky glass glitter was what I envisioned. Here's the end result...

I used SU markers to ink all the individual elements, then spritzed the stamp lightly with a Mini Mister to moisten the ink. This works much better for me than 'huffing' on the stamp as I used to do. It gets rid of the stroke marks from the markers too. 

The gold ruffle on the bottom edge of the image is just a strip of Waffle paper pleated behind it.  


It's hard to see the glass glitter on the pinecones, but it looks so cool IRL. Just like ice crystals have formed after a particularly freezing night. 


Speaking of freezing... it got COLD here a couple of nights ago! One day it's steaming hot and muggy, the next the temp drops down to the low forties overnight! What a shock to my system. I had to start digging out sweatshirts and cozy blankets to wrap up in. Well, that's the weather here in the Poconos!


Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stampin Up
Ink: Distress, SU markers
Paper: PTI, SU, Scrap Matters digital collection
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Label die, satin ribbon, glass glitter, Crystal Lacquer, Prima lace, Sizzix embossing folder, EK Success tiny scallop punch

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!

Warm cup of tea...

Hello Everyone! I needed another thank you card-- this time for my SIL who is a fellow tea lover. THIS is why I have several different tea themed stamp sets, lol! You just never know. I decided to go with an easel card because I love this retired paper from SU (can't remember the name of it) and wanted to really showcase it. Plus the sentiment I wanted to use was very long and I knew I would have a hard time fitting it on the front of the card. 

I also wanted to send her a little bit of my current favorite tea-- (Pineapple Black loose leaf tea, YUM) so I used a Waltzingmouse rubber band box template to package it in. LOVE that box! Especially because there are two sizes included in the template. It's a bit complicated to cut out (I reallllly need a digital cutter!) but so worth it!

I used the gorgeous Italian doily die from Cheery Lynn designs behind all the layers, isn't it just stunning?! For some reason, I like cutting my own doilies from my choice of papers rather than store bought ones, I don't know why. Maybe it's the paper they use for mass produced doilies, not crazy about it. I always pick them up to admire them, but never end up buying any. 

Well thanks for taking a peek, I'll be back on Thursday for the new Lili of the Valley Challenge. 

Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Waltzingmouse

Ink: SU, Versamark

Paper: PTI, SU

Tools & Accessories: PTI tea pot die, Mat Stack die, Cheery Lynn Designs doily die, white elastic, Scor Pal, clear EP, silk ribbon, eyelets, Crop-a-dile

Sweet Angel

Isn't this little girl just like a little angel? Look at that face! I am so in love with these images from Wee Stamps. I have a feeling this artist is going to be in serious demand and we will soon be seeing many of her designs in rubber!

I chose these pretty Stampin Up papers in soft feminine colors, but NOT pink, lol! I do tend to overdo it with the pink. I colored the sweetie with my colored pencils, her skin with Copics.

I love using the stamps that coordinate with Spellbinders labels, I wish there were more available. This one is from Gina K. The sentiment is from PTI though.

Hope your week is off to a good start, I'll be back soon with another project, and don't forget the Lili of the Valley Thursday challenge is coming up! I have something different planned for that.

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Digi Stamp from Wee Stamps, Gina K, PTI
Ink: SU
Paper: Stampin Up, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders labels, EK Success lace edge punch, SU ribbon

Vintage Posies

Good morning everyone! I've got a no-coloring card to show you today. I find myself doing these types of cards less and less now a days, but every once in a while I have to take a break from doing the same thing. 

How about that gorgeous lace doily? No, it didn't come from the kitchen department, it's cut from  SU Vanilla paper using a Cheery Lynn doily die. It's gorgeous!

I had a heck of a time trying to do the two-step flower stamping, I finally learned how to use a Stamp-a-ma-Jig properly. I love the vintage effect I get with these though. Reminds me of grandma's curtains, lol!

Well, that's all for now, thanks for visiting me!

Stamps: Stampin Up, PTI sentiment
Ink: Distress, SU, Palette
Paper: SU, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Stickles, wool felt, tiny safety pin, SU jewelry tag/seam binding, Prima lace, Cheery Lynn doily die, Nestabilities, pearls

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

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

Jingle all the way

Here's another Forever Friends bear card. I love this little guy in his stocking. I paper pieced the stocking to match the rest of the SU paper. I used all different coloring markers and pencils. The bear is in colored pencil, the shading around the stocking and the stocking itself in Copics, but the bow is colored with an SU marker. I can't find any color that comes close to Baja Breeze in CP or Copic, so I had to make the marker work. Normally I would just water color with it, but the paper was too smooth for that. So I just colored the whole bow, then went back with a Tombow blender to 'highlight' certain areas by actually removing some color. Worked pretty well, I think. 

Added some white sparkle snowflakes to the stocking with an XF Sharpie poster pen then some Polar White Flower Soft to the fuzzy part of the stocking.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Forever Friends, Papertrey Ink sentiment
Ink: Memento
Paper: SU, Heavenly White card base
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, SU scallop edge punch, SU ribbon, Flower Soft, Sharpie white XF poster pen, SU marker, Copics, colored pencils, OMS, SU designer label & word window punches

A Traditional Christmas Card

So I'm searching for some very traditional, classic type Christmas papers the other day, especially digital ones for that instant gratification, when in my Google search results I get a link to Stampin Up's store. I soon find out that they have digital kits available for sale, with papers and stamps from their current catalog! And you don't need their digital software to use them! I've had my eye on this particular set, Deck the Halls because I loved the classic, vintage looking papers but never got around to ordering them. Well, I chose the digital option instead. Faster, cheaper, and I have an unlimited supply! I do love digital stuff almost as much as the real thing...

Anyway, here's what I came up with:

All the patterned papers, the Poinsettia and the sentiment are printed from my computer. So this is what you would call a digital hybrid card, I think. I colored three copies of the Poinsettia with Copics and cut them out to layer the bracts. I added some glass glitter to some of parts of the flower for that vintage sparkly effect.
OH, and an FYI for you Copic lovers- one thing I hated about Copics was the horrible bleeding I would get, especially with certain colors. Like Reds! So I didn't use them much, although I liked the look of them. Well, somewhere in my internet travels I remember watching a video of someone using Copics to color a drawing (not stamping related) and I was stunned that she got absolutely NO bleeding, and the blending seemed much easier and smoother. (I'm sorry I didn't save the video, I can't remember how I found it). Apparently she used some inexpensive Hammermill color copy paper, so I decided to find some and try it. I wasn't prepared to pay the exorbitant price for the new Xpress it blending cardstock that supposedly did the same thing. Well, I'm happy to say that I am extremely pleased with this paper! It's a bit thinner than I would like, even though it's the 'Cover' weight paper, but supposedly this is what makes it easier to blend on. If you click on the picture for a close up, you will see NO bleeding with the reds at all. I'm a happy camper!

A little bit of gold dimensional paint for the flower centers, some highlights with Copic Spica pen on the pine branches,  lots of shimmer and shine on this card!
Pretty neat for an almost all digital card, huh? Amazing what technology allows us to do nowadays.

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Digital brush from SU
Ink: Distress
Paper: SU Deck the Halls digital kit, Hammermill color copy paper, Gina K, Stardream metallic gold card, Heavenly White
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, glass glitter, Copics, Adirondack dimensional paint, seam binding

The House on the Hill...

When it comes to Halloween, I love making really eerie scenes. I love the cutesy stuff too, but the Gothic creepiness is what I really love! Here's a perfect example of what I mean:

I wanted to make a really old looking, distressed frame for this haunted house image, something that could be hanging on the walls inside it. To do this I simply cut some strips of paper and mitered the corners like a real picture frame. I painted them with black crackle paint before putting it together. I also did some sanding to age it a bit more and bring out the base color through the crackle. 

The main image was stamped and embossed on some Memory Box patterned paper. I wanted the full moon to be lighter than the rest of the scene so I masked it with a post it and did some light sponging in black. 

The damask background paper was also stamped with a resist technique, using PTI's Damask Designs stamps.

Thanks for dropping by!

Stamps: Stampin' Up, PTI
Ink: Versamark, Distress
Paper: PTI, Memory Box, Stardream silver shimmer
Accessories: SU striped ribbon, black embossing powder, EK Success bat chain punch, dimensional paint, Crackle paint, clear embossing powder, brayer

Colorful Petals

So while digging through my stash of stamps, I happened to find this cutie-pie from Stamping Bella. I went through a phase a while ago using a bunch of the Ketto's and Bittyblooms, then kind of forgot about them. Well, I know a stamp is a keeper if I use it more than once, especially after a long time has passed! This one is just adorable and I had to ink her up again.

Instead of doing a lot of coloring, I decided to paper piece all the pretty layers of her dress and floral hat. I did add some light shading with a couple of Copics though. 

Isn't she bloomin' beauuuuutiful?!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stampin Bella, PTI sentiment
Ink: Memento, SU
Paper: SU, PTI
Accessories: Spellbinders flower dies, pearl, colored pencils, Copics, Stickles, McGill Label punch, Tonic corner rounder, Sakura glaze pen, polka dot ribbon

Every Moment is wonderful

Good morning everyone! I have a card made with all SU products today. While browsing through the newest catalog recently I saw their little color swatches for the new paper collections and my eyes fell on the Soft Subtles. Particularly the blues and greens. I thought they looked so beautiful together that I wanted to create a card with all the colors. I think they were Celery, Wasabi, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue and Marina Mist. That's a lot of colors, I know! But this is what I came up with and I love it!

I've also always admired card makers who decorate the inside of their cards as well as the fronts, so I had to try it. It does make a HUGE difference, so beautiful!

I colored the image with my colored pencils, added an extra layer to the butterfly and Stickled her wings. Such a pretty image...

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stampin Up
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match, SU, Versamark
Paper: SU
Accessories: Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, SU ribbon

Rose Garden

What can I say? I just love simple outline flower stamps. So simple and clean, just waiting to be colored a million different ways. I chose to gold emboss this trio of flowers, because I loved Michelle Wooderson's gold Larkspurs featured on her blog yesterday, and wanted to try it myself with these. Admittedly, my gold embossing powder is VERY old, and I suppose it does go bad over such a long period of time. It did not want to emboss very easily, and I almost burned the paper! Time to add new gold embossing powder to my next shopping trip, in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

I colored the flowers in with my colored pencils, and one thing I learned about coloring/blending with colored pencils recently is that the smoother the paper I use, the lighter the colors appear. I usually use Bristol vellum, which has a tiny bit of 'tooth' to it, so I can really build up the colors in as many layers as I want, which I can't do easily on smooth paper.

I figured this out because I always tried to print my digi stamps on Neenah or Heavenly White heavy white cardstock, but the paper did NOT want to go through my printer. I would have try over and over to get it to feed through, and eventually I'd get lucky and it would finally print. Well, this was a huge waste of time, so I opted to get the lighter weight Heavenly White cardstock to print my digi's on. Worked beautifully. So I was printing some digi's a couple of weeks ago, thinking I would color them with Copics, but changed my mind at the last minute and opted for my colored pencils. I didn't think it would work very well, but surprisingly, I liked it. The colors blended much more smoothly and were much lighter. Actually it was kind of hard to get really deep shading, so I have to keep that in mind. But for soft, pale colors, it was perfect.

See, I do learn something new all the time in my rubber stamping adventures, despite how long I've been doing this! It's why I always try to remember to experiment. Despite what I've been taught by the many tutorials and lessons available out there, if there's something I wonder about, I just have to try it and see. Sometimes, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Stamps: Stampin Up
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Heavenly White, Basic Grey, Memory Box, SU, Stardream
Accessories: Martha Stewart edge punch & ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, gold embossing powder, Spellbinders Labels

Be still...

Good morning everyone! I'm still foggy headed, trying to clear the weekend cobwebs this Monday morning, coffee is not working fast enough, might have to insert an IV. LOL.

I've got a beauty of a card to share with you all, at least I think it is. I'm particularly fond of this color combo, one of  my faves as a matter of fact. I love blue-greens and greens together. The paper is SU's Green Tea and the colors are perfect!

I stamped the tree with Versamark and white embossed it. The using some sponge daubers, I added soft color all around it with Baja Breeze and Celery. 

I was going to add a sentiment, but thought this would be better as one of those all purpose cards. It seems whenever I need a card I go through my stash and find one that works only to discover the sentiment is wrong for the occasion. I don't know why this happens to me all the time , but it's very frustrating. So, I may have to leave a bunch of cards blank from now on. 


Sorry if this post doesn't make much sense, I really am incredibly sleepy this AM, LOL! Thanks for stopping by, be back soon!


Stamps: SU
Ink: Versamark, SU
Paper: SU, PTI
Accessories: Nestabilities, Spellbinders fancy tags, Fiskars edge punch, SU ribbon, daubers, White EP