Late to my own party!

Yesterday was the smART Cookies' Tea Party, and I was the hostess... and then I didn't even show up! Our life is really crazy around here right now, and to top it off we're currently having computer issues. I had drafted this post last week, but unfortunately our internet access was down nearly all day - the Verizon trucks have now left the neighborhood and it seems that all is well again...

Anyway, I presented a simple sketch with a challenge to incorporate something metallic on the card. For my card, I used the set "Hello" and some papers from BasicGrey. I started by stamping the flower image with white ink onto the dark paper, then went over it with prismacolor pencils. I've always admired artwork done this way, and I finally tried it myself! :) For the metallic element, I pulled out a long-neglected metal frame (WeRMemoryKeepers) which fit perfectly with the sentiment.

I'm sure the other cookies have created some gorgeous artwork, so check out: Susan, Dina, Giovana, Donelda & Donna. OK, off to do that myself :)

Sketchy Tea Party

Well, it's my turn to host the Tea Party this time around, and I decided to go with a simple layout.. but then of course I had to add just one little twist: incorporate something metallic. Embossing, gold-leafing, tie a charm onto some ribbon, whatever!

Hope to see ya at the party next week!

Blissful!

The smARTworks design team is sent a "challenge" set every other month. It's always fun to open that envelope - sometimes I have ideas forming immediately, and sometimes the sets are truly, well, challenging as I'm forced to use something I wouldn't normally be drawn to. This time around, I was thrilled the Bliss set, which includes this large butterfly and a simple phrase. I had a number of ideas, but chose to do some paper piecing. For starters, I knew I wanted to use more than one b-fly, so decided to make a 5x7 card to give myself more working room. I started by stamping the b-fly onto white cardstock 3 times - my placement was now set, and I didn't have to worry about trimming the antennae (a tip I picked up from Dina at some point). I then stamped it onto three different papers from Memory Box - I chose subtle prints as I didn't want to detract from the detailed veining of the image itself. I cut the butterflies out; I knew which print I wanted where, so I didn't have to cut out the entire image, but I did make sure to trim a bit extra for the edges. I matted the white panel with black, then adhered the butterflies and trimmed them flush with the black layer. After mounting it on the card base, I then added the sentiment, which was stamped onto a 4th coordinating paper. I trimmed it into a banner type shape, and mounted it with a few "waves" for added dimension. Blissful! :)

Susan is offering up one of these sets - head over for your chance to win! And you can see what each of the other cookies made with this set here.

Monochromatic Tea Party

Susan is our hostess this week, and she challenged us to go mono. I really like this look, but don't tend to do it very often. My card is made with white cardstock, a single ink (Brilliance pearlescent purple) and minimal accessories... doesn't get much more "back to basics" than that!

I started with a scrap of white cardstock (3 1/2" square), and I repeatedly stamped the floral image from the Cookie Plate Botanicals. I then went around the edge with the ink*, then adhered it to a white card base. The phrase is from Little Things - isn't that a great sentiment for a birthday? The final touch was line of pearls (Kaisercraft). I love the final result - definitely simple, but it still has a sense of richness to it.

Click over to see what Susan, Dina, Giovana, Donelda & Donna have created for this challenge. Ooh, did you notice that the list is a bit longer this week? Yep, former cookie Donna has returned to the jar :)

*Brilliance pearlescent inks are so gorgeous - fabulous coverage and a beautiful shimmer; if you haven't tried them out, then I'd highly encourage you to pick up a couple to play around with. I love the Dew Drop size, too, as it makes it easy to ink small areas of a stamp or edges as I've done here. These can be purchased from smARTworks as well as most chain craft stores.

Time...

Time. I don't seem to have much of it these days - instead of having ink on my hands, it's paint. Ah, the joys of getting a house ready to sell! :) But enough blathering - on to the crafty stuff!

This card was made with the In Hand set, with the background script from One Smile. I started by randomly stamping the hand image onto a piece of the kids' drawing paper, then aged it up with a variety of scrunching, inking, and scraping. I then stamped the script onto a plain old white card base, and then browned it up through a mix of ink and twinkling H2Os (yes, it does have just a bit of shimmer to it). I then mounted the page onto the base, with the little bullnose clip to add interest. The final step was stamping the sentiment onto some scrap paper, then trimming out the words individually and adhering. Simple and fun!

So what else is going on? Well, Susan (yep, the smARTworks guru herself :) is hosting our next Tea Party and we're all going monochromatic. We'd love to have you join in the fun - the party is next Wednesday, Feb 11, so get stamping!! Susan has also launched a fabulous smART Bucks incentive program through which you can earn discounts or "purchase" this gorgeous Botanicals sheet. The images are stunning, and hopefully I can share some of my creations soon. And lastly, have you checked out From the Cookie Jar lately? I'm telling you, the ladies have been cranking out some beautiful cards lately.

Well, I'm off and running again. Hope you're all having a great week!