New Beginnings

Good morning everyone!

I needed to make a wedding card for someone who loves Dogwoods so I went on a hunt for a digital stamp. That's the awesome thing about digis, you can almost find any image you need and no waiting for the mailman to bring it to you! Just print and color. This gorgeous Dogwood stem is from Stitchy Bear. 

I like to occasionally color my images with Copics on shimmery paper. It creates a slightly mottled, water color look, and the colors stay a lot lighter than on regular paper. Not to mention the shimmer shows through the Copics because they're transparent. 

I used some white Pearl Linen cardstock from The Paper Temptress for this card. Because it's shimmery, it's easier to emboss the images right from the printer if you act quickly. However, I learned the hard way not to use a textured paper for embossing. A lot of excess EP sticks to the texture and I had to do a lot of cleaning up with a tiny paintbrush before heating it. But it is absolutely gorgeous in real life, and perfect for a wedding card.

The fancy tag was cut out using a thin sheet of silver foil I got from the craft store. It's real metal and looks absolutely rich. Simple and elegant, I think, just like a wedding should be!

Hope you like it, thanks for dropping by!

Stamps: Digital image from Stitchy Bear, sentiment from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento
Paper: White Pearl Linen, water color paper, SU
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders fancy tags, metal foil, SU ribbon, Copics, black embossing powder, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Mushroom House

Hello everyone! I have a fun, whimsical card to share with you today using this amazing digital stamp from Make it Crafty. Ever since I was a kid, I've loved fairies, hobbits, gnomes and all things magical. This mushroom house brings me back to all those imaginary worlds I used to read and dream about. 

When I really got serious about card making/paper crafting I was always on the look out for the best quality papers and art tools to really make my cards special. I experimented with a lot of different supplies before I found my favorites that will always be in my permanent stash. Cardstock that was sturdy enough for the 6" x 6" cards I preferred to make was very difficult to find. After much frustration, I decided to email Patricia who own The Paper Temptress if there was any way I could get 12" x 12" heavy duty cardstock from anywhere. Sure enough, she told me about Heavenly White 120 lb. cardstock that she carried in her store already in 8.5 x 11 and could get it in the larger size as well. I decided to try it, and am so glad I did! It is really thick, smooth and perfect for large card bases. I've been a happy customer ever since. She recently asked me to be a guest designer for the month of March to which I gladly said yes, and sent me a wide variety of papers to play with. While admiring all the different textures and specialty effects I came across this Ruche paper and immediately thought about this Mushroom house digi. Sometimes all it takes is a piece of paper to inspire an entire project.

The crinkly texture of the Cocoa Ruche reminded me of tree bark and was perfect for this card. I printed the digital image on Kraft paper and colored it with my colored pencils. I love this look, the colors really 'pop' on the light brown background. I chose the earthy patterns and colors from Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg paper pad to match the mushroom roof.

Well, I'm off to relax and spend the day stamping and coloring. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Digital image from Make it Crafty, Circle sentiment seal from Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento
Paper: Cocoa Ruche, Core'dinations, PTI
Tools & Accessories: Colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, polka dot ribbon, Nestabilities, Sakura Glaze pen, EK Success edge punch