Flower Girl

Well, this week has definitely not gone the way that I'd planned, but I finally got some time to stamp. I pulled out the smARTworks' Flower Girl set - one that I've been dying to ink up! I just love the sweet little girl, and there are some great images for collage with the set, too. I kept it pretty simple here; the layout was definitely influenced by the sketch challenge I did earlier in the week, but I think I switched it up enough that I'm safe to call it my own :) All the papers are from the BasicGrey LilyKate collection (full size, not the 6x6 pad). I love the green print that I used as the card base, but it was just a bit too bright so I covered it with versamagic white ink (I do that pretty frequently, and I must say that my poor pad is looking awfully grungy!). I then cut a few scraps from three other prints - they now blended in a bit too well with the "softened" card base, so I spritzed them with a bit of coffee shop glimmer mist. I stamped the girl onto yet another paper from the collection, matted with a very soft pink print, then mounted it over the three strips. I stamped the sentiment, but it still needed something more, so I grabbed the little buckle from a WeRMemoryKeepers hardware set and tied on a ribbon scrap. Beauteous!

Relax

Super quick post today - I didn't have much time, but I made this card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. I jotted the sketch down on a sticky note this morning, but my drawing wasn't accurate so my main panel isn't quite where it's supposed to be :)

I grabbed one of my neglected bellas for this card, then made the sentiment with a studio g alphabet set ($1 bin at Michael's); it's a bit swirly, but it's OK, I guess. I added a bit of color with prismacolor pencils, and punched along the top and bottom edges of the paper strips with a Martha Stewart border punch. Paper is all from BasicGrey LilyKate collection. Final touch: some faux stitching.

Definitely not my best work, but still fun! I have some things I'm planning to work on tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be back with more soon...

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

What do you see?

I'm always drawn to images of children, and Looking collage is right up my alley! This time, I stamped it onto faintly patterned paper (BasicGrey, of course!), then added color with chalks. They're the sparkley ones (Pebbles), so there's even a bit of shimmer. I did add just a bit of detail with prismacolor pencils, then wrapped the mesh ribbon (AMM), and added the sentiment panel. Another quick creation, and a great reminder that it's all about your perspective...

Butterflies...

Another card made using the glimmer screens - this is the original I was working with (and then I flipped the screens over to use on the card I posted yesterday - you'll notice the colors are a bit more subdued with the second impression as they'd already started to dry a bit). Anyhoo, this is white cardstock sprayed with denim blue & latte glimmer mists. I then overstamped it with the butterfly image (Soar) and the sentiment (Butterflies), then added a couple dew drops for a bit of dimension. The colors are a bit more subdued than usual, but I find them quite soothing. If only I hadn't used such a "girly" image, it would make a great guy card! Oh well, next time :)

The hand of a friend...

I've been playing around with glimmer mist and the glimmer screens (which are basically plastic templates that you use as masks - you can see more about them here warning: there's music on that blog, so you may want to turn your speakers down) I had made a couple backgrounds using latte & denim blue mists, and then I flipped the screen over onto the white cardstock and "stamped" off the excess. I love the effect it gives, and I thought it made a nice background for this image, too. I stamped the Hands Collage, then added the sentiment and accented with a couple dew drops. I matted it, and after playing around with layout, I eventually settled on this z-fold. I layered some BasicGrey Boxer paper onto the right panel, and it's all done!

Time for Tea!

I must admit that I'm actually not much of a tea drinker - only fruity herbal stuff (with lemon and sugar, too) please! But I still love the idea of tea time... and this Teapot Trio is absolutely adorable!

I stamped the teapot with palette seascape (which is a very light color indeed!), brilliance pearlescent sky blue, and versamagic sahara sand. I added the sentiment (versafine sepia), then matted the panel and dirtied it up a bit with Distress Old Paper. I then layered it with papers from the BasicGrey LilyKate collection. Love the soft, soothing colors!

Everything's coming up roses!

I had a lot of fun with the Rose Trio #2 set, playing around with inks to see what emerged...

I'm "in the pink" with this first one :) Inks used: palette doudoir blush (stamped off once), palette toile pink, then versamagic pink petunia. I stamped the leaves (Stem Duo) with versamagic tea leaves; this set also has two layers, but I only used one here. I finished off the card by adding the sentiment (Grow Friends), adding some rick rack, and layering with BasicGrey Sultry paper. I generally am not a big fan of pink, but pair it up with brown and you've got me (plus I love the touches of yellow in the paper...)






For this second card, I wanted to use the sentiment that accompanies the set, so I pulled out my reds. The final rose is SU Rose Red, Palette Moulin Rouge & L'Amour Red, then versamagic hint of pesto for the leaves. After I'd stamped it all, I sprayed it down with latte & snowfall glimmer mists just to soften the bright white plus add shimmer. I tied on black grosgrain ribbon (I cut an opening with my x-acto knife), then matted with black and finished it out with a red base. Clean and sophisticated!

Back with another "trio" tomorrow!

Tea & Cookies

Time for another "Tea Party" with the smART Cookies; Donna was our hostess this week, and challenged us to make a card without adhesives. Fun challenge!

I considered just going for a simple no-layers card, but decided that I wanted just a bit of dimension, so started playing around. I started by stamping the flowers (Sweet & Simple) onto white cardstock with black versafine ink, then adding pink & green with prismacolor pencils. I then misted it down with glimmer mist (pink taffy) - I love the shimmer that stuff gives! I then stamped the sentiment (Opportunity Trio) onto a scrap of white, and punched it with the keytag punch (SU) and added a tiny hole. I wrapped some pink chenille yarn around the card, then tied on the tag. Simple, and perfect for spring!

Want to see what the other smART cookies have created? Then head to In the Works, Mama Dini's Stamperia, Dee's Studio, & Sweet Somethings!

Happy Mother's Day!

Two simple Mother's Day cards to share today - both using patterned paper and a single sentiment (Art by Moonlight).

The first one features BasicGrey Two Scoops collection paper. I trimmed along the flower, and then mounted it onto the pink. The flower has also been traced over with a spica glitter pen, so there's a nice shimmer to it.

This second one has this lovely vellum from Over the Moon press (from the prize basket I won on Saturday!), and I mounted it to the card base with white mini brads. Stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of white, then added a prima flower accented with silver liquid pearls.

Both super simple, but I know the grandmas will like the flowers.

I'll be back tomorrow for the smARTworks' Tea Party - no glue allowed this time around!

Cards for my kiddos

Our kids have definitely inherited my love of all things crafty, and when our son realized that I was going to be gone all day Saturday (stamping!!) he asked if I could make him a special card - and well, little sister was quick to make the same request. How on earth could I say no to those pleading brown eyes?! This one is my daughter's, and she was soooo excited to have her own "diamond flower." :) BasicGrey paper, and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.


Our son is really into all things space-related these days, so I knew he'd love this rocket card. No fancy layers or anything (although the flames are accented with glitter) - the camera flash really picked up on the waxy prismacolor pencils, so let me assure you that the main compartment is plain old red (not the funky effect seen here). I'd take another pic, but the card is already pretty rumpled from a certain enthusiastic 5 yr old! (Stamps from Skipping Stones designs)

Back with some grown-up fun tomorrow!

Great day!

Well. I had a great time at the crop yesterday. Nearly everyone else was scrapbooking while I was "the card girl." Works for me! :) It really was a ball, and I even won a very nice basket with cool alpha charms, ribbon, paper and other goodies.

Here's one card I made, utilizing the Mug Trio set. I actually only used the first two layers of the mug, though (SU brocade blue stamped off once, then bordering blue) and then paired it with papers from Making Memories. I split the sentiment up with my stamp-a-ma-jig, and was delighted to see how well it fit on the mug.

Back with more later!

Forever Friend

I started packing for my weekend crop last night, but ran across this image ("Hugs" by Paperbag Studios, stamped crookedly on a card front) and this scrap of 7gypsies paper, so felt the need to bring them together. I added a sentiment (Hero Arts), trimmed, tied on a bit of ribbon, matted, and glued. Once again, super fast!

Now back to packing... I always have a hard time deciding what to bring along (because inevitably I'm going to be wishing for stuff I have here). Oh well, I know I'll still have a ball.

Have a great weekend!

The thing with feathers

I've always liked this poem by Emily Dickinson, and now that birds are so popular it seems I've been seeing it more and more. I thought the bird and branch (Technique Tuesday) went nicely with the words (The Stampin' Place), and I threw in a bit of BasicGrey paper (Sugared collection) just to pull it all together. I added a couple dew drops on the right, but they're barely noticeable in the photo.

I'm keeping it short today as I have quite a bit to get done, including packing up for a 12 hour crop I'm heading to on Saturday. You can be sure I'll have lots to share next week!! :)