More Quickies

A couple weeks ago I had posted a number of cards that I'd made using scraps - I said that it was going to be a "go-to" layout for me, and here's proof that I wasn't kidding :)

I just love how quickly these come together. On this one, I used some Memory Box paper as the base, then layered on a sentiment and a punched strip. Another little tip: I cut a tiny strip of that sage cardstock to thread through the button rather than leaving it "naked."

On this card, I did add a bit of patterned paper along the spine to break things up a bit... The bottom of the peachy panel was also masked off and hit with glimmer mist - couldn't capture it in the photo, but I promise it's gorgeous. A trio of collage printed Prima flowers, a sentiment, and it's good to go.

Hope you're having a fabulous week ~ I probably won't be back until Monday or Tuesday as my son has early release from school these next 2 days, plus we'll be celebrating his birthday this weekend. Lots of things pulling me in all directions!

Happy Spring!

As I was emptying the memory stick this weekend, I came across a few images that I had yet to share... and this seemed like a good springtime card :)

I pieced together some scraps of pale cardstock (just glued them down to some lightweight copy paper), then stamped the silhouette repeatedly to create the sense of movement. Isn't that a great image?! I was thinking about how kids can make virtually any situation fun, which is why I paired it up with this sentiment (also from smARTworks). It really is all about attitude!

Have a great day!

Simple Dragonfly

Another simple card to share today... The dragonfly and sentiment are both from smARTworks. I stamped the images with versafine ink onto white cardstock, then painted the dragonfly wings with twinkling H2Os. After they were dry, I cut around the edges with an exacto knife and popped them up a bit - love that effect! It needed just a little something else, so I added some pierced lines. Beauteous!

Excited for you

Yes, it's a second post! This card is for this week's 2S4Y sketch (with a fabulous prize up for grabs from Starving Artistamps, I must add!)

We've just learned that some good friends of ours are expecting another little blessing, so I wanted to make a card to celebrate the occasion. I used BasicGrey LilyKate papers - great baby colors and I tried to keep it mostly gender neutral. I stamped the sentiment (Verve) onto a Heidi Swapp resist piece, and then spritzed the whole thing with a couple colors of glimmer mist. I let it dry, and then traced around the resist area with a silver spica pen just to help it pop a bit more. I picked my patterns, cut a few strips, and layered everything up. Nothing phenomenal, but perfect for our friends!

Chocolate Sings

I couldn't let another week go by without doing at least one challenge, so managed to get this card done for CPS Sketch #158. No patterned paper at all here. Remember those wheels that were so popular a few years ago? Well, these truffles were too cute to resist... but then I never actually used them. I dug out the handle and ink cartridge, rolled away, and then added some color with prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is from Hampton Art, and I accented it with some hardware. Yep, more hoarded goods being used :) Now I just have to pass it along to a friend (along with some chocolate, of course!!)

Happy Anniversary

I truly didn't mean to disappear for a week, but things have been a bit crazy around our house. Our son is off for spring break -- as is pretty much all of Texas, it seems. Our niece is attending college in Dallas so drove down along with a few friends and we're playing host parents... It's been so much fun having them around! It's definitely bringing back some fun memories (which makes me feel young and carefree) but also making me realize I have definitely crossed over to the Mom side :) Yep, I'm old and I'm OK with that!! And then there's the fact that since we pretty much live in Spring Break party central (near South Padre) every place is busy, so even my mundane tasks like grocery shopping are taking much longer. Anyway, enough with the stories and on to a card!

I made this fun monochromatic card for this month's smART-word challenge (there's still a week left for you to play along!) The images are all from the Feathered Friends sheet. I really like the solid circle and oval that come with that set, and here I decided to ink it up with a couple different brilliance inks to set the tone for the card. I overstamped the leaf outline, added a sentiment, matted, and added a bit o' bling to balance out the design. I love these colors for anniversary cards - soft and romantic but not overly feminine.

Hope you're having a great week. Things should be calming down very soon and I'll be getting inky again...

It's all about the paper...

A couple quick cards to share - basically I just took some beautiful paper, stamped a sentiment, and added minor embellishment. There are so many gorgeous papers on the market... problem is that I often buy them and then hoard them because they're so pretty - or I try to use them but can't decide how to handle the bold designs.

For the first card, I paired the Memory Box Paper with the fabulous sentiment from Wordsworth. I layered on a scrap of coordinating paper and a couple flowers. All done!

On the second one, I pulled out my BasicGrey 12x12 Periphery pack, and created the card base from one of the patterns (and love that the inside is still white!), and layered on one of the coordinating tags. I stamped the sentiment (Unity Birdie Inspiration), added a bit of bling to the "o" and glued on some dark lace (yet another thing I've been hoarding :)

Two cards done in less than twenty minutes. Love that!

Happy Mail Day

WAHOO!!

Singing birds & Sunshine

I shared a simple dragonfly card a couple weeks ago. Giddy from the success of actually managing a decent single layer card, I sat down with the smARTworks Vintage Variety plate and challenged myself to create a few more.

For this first one, I stamped the image with gray versafine ink and then added soft color with prismacolor pencils. Muted but not dull - another success!





I'm not as pleased with this second one, and would love some feedback on how you think I should spiff it up. It's small - only 4 1/4" square. I stamped the sun with gold brilliance ink (so in my defense, there is a lovely sheen IRL) and then added the wonderful quote from Helen Keller. Thoughts?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!!

A song in the air...

I picked up this Tim Holtz stamp when we were out in Arizona for Christmas. Let me tell you, it was hard to pick only one! ;) I inked it up with a variety of brilliance and versamagic petal points, and then added the sentiment (Studio G). I layered it with 7Gypsies paper, a dictionary page, and the cool printed flower. Love how quickly this came together!

Owls and some smARTworks news

First off, a card to share. These cute owlies are from the Feathered Friends set - and don't you just love that sentiment?! I stamped the owls first, masked off their feet & then stamped the branch. I colored it all with prismacolor pencils, and then trimmed the panel, leaving a bit of the branches sticking out. I layered it with some old BasicGrey paper to finish it off.

And have you been over to the smARTworks site lately? BIG changes! Rather than individual sets, the images will now be sold in standard sheet increments (with an online shopping cart - hooray!). In the meantime,though, you can score some serious deals as the remaining "singles" are 50% off. You can check them out here.

Also, this month's smART-word has been posted - and we're going monochromatic. Make a card and link up here for a chance to win!