Graduation Card

Our oldest nephew graduated high school yesterday, and this is the card I made for him. The image is from Paperbag Studios; there are actually some words on the bottom right corner, but I omitted them when I inked up the stamp. The verse was computer generated. I used a glimmer screen on the card base with denim blue gm - it's quite subtle on the gray, but still a nice touch. I sponged some black ink onto the white panel, and then added a grungeboard arrow (coated with silver brilliance ink, and then run through a CB emb folder).

And best of all, our nephew deemed it "cool" :)

Simple Thank You

Just wanted to share the simple TY notes I made for our son's 5th birthday. We had a bit of a jungle theme going on, plus we've always called him our "little monkey," so this just seemed appropriate. The monkey and vine images are from Paper Salon, and the thank you is from Impression Obsession. And yes, there is glimmer mist on that mustard layer - I just had to glitz 'em up somehow! :)

Make every hour count

I realized that I had one last project from my cardmaking marathon that I hadn't shared. This little card (4 1/2" square) features another of the new images from smARTworks (clock collage) I stamped the main image with brilliance ink (love that bit of shimmer!), then layered it with BasicGrey Boxer paper. I layered it onto a card base made from rust cardstock, but it looked a bit too stark, so I stamped the script (One Smile) with versamagic wheat ink. Perfect way to break up the solid color without detracting from the focal image!

Tea & Cookies

This smARTworks' Tea Party was hosted by the owner herself, Susan, and she provided this great sketch. I played around with a few ideas and ended up going with some rather somber colors this time around. I know, I know - it's spring time and we're surrounded by bright, happy colors, but we've had plenty of gray, rainy days lately, too!

Anyway, I stamped the flower (Wonder) with palette metallic silky obsidian onto some speckly white cardstock, then matted it with bazzill bling. I stamped the sentiment using the same ink onto a strip of gray (same as the card base). I texturized some black cardstock for the other layer, and then punched a couple circles from the bazzill to use as embellishments, then anchored them with silver brads.

I ended up doing one other project - inspired by Susan's recent postings of Artist Trading Cards - and this one comes with a little confession. Somewhere way down deep, I actually sort of like cutesy, country stuff. In *SMALL* doses. So a cute little ATC seemed appropriate :) I stamped the pitcher (Country Bitties) onto a scrap of watercolor paper, then added color with wc crayons and a waterbrush. I stamped the phrase (partially inked, from Lilac Blessing) and added a couple buttons to complete the country ensemble. It might be cutesy, but it still has a bit of "grunginess" courtesy of the BasicGrey paper!

So how 'bout checking out what the other smART cookies have created at In the Works, Mama Dini's Stamperia & Sweet Somethings!

Blessed

I played along with Mercy's Sketch challenge today - I really love sketches with clean lines! I wanted to create something with the "Whatever" set (Clear Dollar Stamps). I decided to make a 5x7 card, allowing myself a nice, large surface. I pulled the patterned paper from my BasicGrey Sugared pad, and then accented with some Bazzill. I also decided to go a little crazy and use one of my big, fancy prima flowers (score 1 for the "do not hoard" pledge!) So I now had all my elements, and I just stamped and assembled. I ended up misting the flower with gold glimmer mist, going over all the edges with old paper distress ink, and adding a couple K&Co pearls along the bottom. When it was all done, I realized there was no way I'd be giving it to someone else, so I pulled out a simple frame I had and voila ~ something new for the wall in our living room! It's still a full card, though, so if I do decide to part with it, it will be ready to go :)

More fun with glimmer screens

So are you geting tired of the glimmer mist and/or glimmer screen creations yet? I promise these will be the last for at least a couple days :)

Both of these card use the "screen leftovers" (flip the screen and use it after you've sprayed over the first project). The first one uses pink taffy gm, and then I trimmed the panel down and accented it with some gray ink. I stamped the sentiment (Sweet & Simple) with Palette silky obsidian metallic ink, so there's double shimmer going on with this card. I attached the prima with three eyelets, and then filled them in with stardust stickles (still not sure about that particular effect).

The second card was created with deep plum & honeydew mist gm's, and I paired it up with some long-retired SU magenta ink & cardstock. I stamped the sentiment (Butterflies) and attached a couple primas.

Hope you all have a shiny, happy weekend :)

Dream - Live

I hadn't been able to play along with Mercy's sketch challenge these past few weeks, but I took some time this morning to make this quick card. It's a great sketch - no shapes or fancy cutting required! I used a DCWV card base and BasicGrey sugared paper. I stamped the sentiment (Heidi Grace) with brilliance pearlescent crimson ink, then added some primas (dotted with mushroom dimensional pearls) to dress it up a bit. Finished card is 4 1/4" square