Feeling Fresh

I know I haven't been around much - life has been hectic, and unfortunately I haven't much time to stamp (waaaaaahh!). I did want to share this card I made for this month's smART-word challenge - fresh!

I love all the "blocky silhouette" images that I've been seeing lately, but the last thing I need is to buy more stamps... I have plenty already, so I can improvise, right?! Anyway, I pulled out these gorgeous flowers (from the Botanicals sheet), masked off a rectangle with sticky notes, stamped & embossed the image, then sponged the color on (a long-neglected SU ink)before removing the sticky notes. I love the final result, and it definitely feels fresh to me. The phrase is from the "Blessings" set (which can be found on the first sheet here, along with a lot of other great sentiments).

I also want to share my first run at this design, which didn't work out quite as I had envisioned. I sponged on Palette ink... and well, the resist didn't exactly work. I love using the hybrid ink, and had overlooked the fact that it can be used on non-porous surfaces! Oops! It's still a nice result, just much softer. I went ahead and finished the card out with a sentiment (from the same Botanicals sheet), but didn't like the way the phrase fell (which is also why I shifted the image portion to the right on the final card).

Well, I'm off and running again - hopefully you're now feeling reFRESHed and wanting to make a card of your own! You have until April 27 to post a link for a chance to win some lovely mother-themed images.

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!

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...

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!!

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!

Live The Moment

Two cards in a row with lace and pink?! I'm shocking even myself!

I stamped the smARTworks' dragonfly image (Rossetti) onto a scrap of pink paper (BasicGrey Bittersweet) and roughed the edges up a bit. I layered it onto one of the prints and fiddled around with embellishments until settling on these flowers and a scrap of lace. I used Bazzill for the base (love that texture), and stamped a sentiment from To Life! to finish it off.

Time for me to live a few more moments straightening up my clutter :)

Simple Joys & Happy Times

Time to share my glittery contribution to this month's smART-word challenge... I started out by stamping the plant silhouette from the Cookie Botanicals Plate, and then added the lovely dragonfly from Rossetti. I filled the dragonfly in with 2 different types of stickles - distress rock candy for the wings, and tiara glitz for the body. Definitely an eye-catcher in person! The sentiment is from the latest "cookie" plate, Vintage Variety. I love the single-layer layout (which I'm always drawn to but have a hard time actually producing) - and hey, it could even work for a guy! :)

Fish'n you were here

Time for another smARTworks Designer Challenge - this time featuring the Swimmin' set. After playing around with it a bit, I ended up using the fishbowl image and then coating the water portion with gem-tac (I was originally going to use glossy accents, but in this case wanted something a bit cloudier as opposed to the clear shine) Anyway, I then trimmed it out and layered it with some paper I stamped with the Accents #1 set; I pulled my blo-pens out of deep storage to add the orange splatters :)

So would you like to see more? Hop over to Susan's blog for a peek at what the other cookies did, plus a chance to win a set for yourself!

Valentine Kitty

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I used the CardPatterns sketch to make this cute little card. I stamped the kitty (from Barrow Buds) and then paper pieced it with BasicGrey Sugared papers. I punched a strip with a Martha Stewart scallop border punch along the top and bottom, and then used my Coluzzle to cut both the main panel and the layers. I pulled out the Combo Sentiments set to add "for you" down in the corner - perfect!

Bird-Day Wishes

I sat down this morning with the Mojo Monday sketch and the Feathered Friends set. I then proceeded to waste a good amount of time - and materials - trying to come up with a card... just not feelin' it today, I guess. Anyway, I was finally able to come up with this cutie. Don't you love that scalloped circle piece? I love that it's only 1 layer! Yep, that circle is also part of the stamp set, and it's a great building block. I punched it with the Marvy scalloped circle Marvy (pink one - can never remember whether it's mego or jumbo), and broke up the sentiment with the help of my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig. The bird portion was colored with prismacolor pencils, and the hat is topped with a bit of purple stickles just for fun. The card base is a printed card base (DCWV).

A bit of enabling: this stamp set is one of the full sheets o' rubber available from smARTworks, which means that it's 25% off this month. You're welcome ;)

Glittery {heart} Day

Can't believe it's February already! And a new month means it's time for a new smART-word: glitter! You can see some great examples (and get details about playing along) here. Also, smARTworks is back up and running! Get caught up on the news here.

For my card, I started with a dictionary I picked up from the Dollar Store. I ripped out the page that included "love," then masked off that entry and painted over the remainder with white acrylic. I used the words from Combo Sentiments, and grabbed a punched heart that's been floating around in my scrap box. A coating of ruby red stickles definitely added some punch!

On a funny note, when I was looking at the photo, I suddenly started cracking up and my daughter came running in to see what was so funny... somehow I couldn't bring myself to explain that I was laughing at the word "booty" on my Valentine's card. I'm thinking that a bit more white paint may be needed before this gets mailed out :)

Just thinking...

I'm realizing I have yet to post several of the last batch of cards for the smARTworks DT... This darling image is from the Happy Silhouettes sheet, and I wanted to keep the card pretty simple. After I stamped the initial image onto some speckled white paper, I colored in the water and then trimmed it out - definitely easy! I wanted to layer in some dark blue paper somehow, but couldn't find anything appropriate in my stash (shocking!)... stamps to the rescue! This is actually the same paper as the rest of the card, just repeatedly inked, stamped, and smudged. I used the swirly image from the set, which provides some nice texture. I used a variety of Brilliance inks, so it shimmers nicely, too. A bit of glue and a sentiment, and it was all done - simple can be very good!

Ice in Texas?!

As I'd mentioned a few weeks ago, the smART-word for January is ice. Now this is my first January in South Texas (after 14 years in Pennsylvania!) -- and I must admit that icy inspiration is lacking. Rather than bundling up in a warm sweater and sipping cocoa, I'm playing outside with my kids... but only after taking allergy pills and applying mosquito repellant. Crazy! Anyway, after many false starts, this is what I came up with.

I repeatedly stamped the branch image (everything is from the Botanicals plate) with blue & silver Brilliance inks for a frosty feel. Everything is pretty straightforward - the final touch was a couple "icy" rhinestones.

I do want to share one other card I made a couple years ago, using the Winter Days set. I love the icy look that the Dazzle Dust gives here. And hey, you can win this set for yourself by playing along with the challenge - you have until Tuesday night to post a link.

So in the meantime, stay warm and keep stamping :)

Sing!

I had such grand plans for the past 2 weeks... but nothing went the way I had envisioned. Anyway, I am now stealing a few moments to share a card I made back in December with the Happy Silhouettes set. I wanted to do something fun with the bird, and decided to pull out a pad of softly colored vintage paper (K&Co) and play around. I stamped the bird onto one that had script all over it, then embossed and went over it with black ink. I layered it with some other papers, added a few punched flowers, and created a small tag for the sentiment (Alpha-02). Nothing fancy-schmancy, but I like the overall effect.

Here's hoping I can find some additional "fun crafty time" soon! :)

Getting Lovey-Dovey

I know that Christmas is looming large on the horizon, but Valentine's isn't all that far off, right? Anyway, that's the excuse I'm offering for this card :)

I used this week's layout from Card Patterns - fun layout to combine patterned papers. The images are from smARTworks' Happy Silhouettes and the paper is from Memory Box. Everything is pretty straightforward - I made the card base from dark purple cardstock, which you see right below the ribbon. I really love the sentiment: Forever. For always. No matter what. Definitely going to use that for my hubby's card this year (he won't be receiving this particular one!)

Hope you're having a great week!

Christmas Blessings

Well, things are back to semi-normal around here and I wanted to share this card I made for the Christmas challenge. When I sat down to create something, I wanted to keep it simple so it could be mass-produced, and also flat to minimize mailing costs. In other words: practical for the craziness of the Christmas season :)

I started with the holly label from Addy Keepers Fancy, and then added a greeting from Little Things. I colored in the holly with prismacolor pencils, and then went around the frame with stickles - simple but very pretty! Matted the panel with black, and scored around the edge on the red layer just to add a bit more interest.

Have you been busy making Christmas cards? You have until Dec 22 to post a link over at the smART-Word challenge. Hope you can join in the fun!

Fannie Mae

No, I'm not talking about mortgages - today is the reveal for the challenge from smARTworks featuring the Victorian lady herself!

The images in this set are elegant and exquisitely detailed. As I was playing around with it, I often felt my ideas came off looking too busy due to those details... and then inspiration struck! She has a strong profile, and I decided to create a silhouette by simply coloring her in. I think I've finally discovered a coloring technique I'm good at :) Anyway, with the blacked-out image, the card came together much more easily, and I finished it off with the sentiment (partially inked, from Together).

I used gray Versafine ink and a black Prismacolor pencil on this - and I think it's kind of neat that when you tilt the card just right you can actually still see the details underneath.

So would you like to see what the other smART cookies made? You can see all the creations here. And be sure to click over to Susan's blog, too, for a chance to win a set of your very own.

You're A Blessing

For this month's smART-word challenge of gratitude, I initially sat down to make a simple "thank you" card, but after pondering it a bit more, I pulled out this sentiment from the Frames set. I wanted to send a card to a new friend who has really encouraged me, and telling her what a blessing she has been more fully expressed my gratitude.

I used printed papers from Making Memories, but found I wanted some soft color to balance things - so I stamped the flourish from Happy Silhouettes onto some pale yellow cardstock. I stapled a snippet of ribbon and added a few gems to finish it off.

So how would you express gratitude? You have until November 24 to play along with us here.

smARTworks Info

It's new release time - and I can't wait to get my hands on this rubber! There are some gorgeous sets designed by Dina (shown here), Christmas images, and as always, fabulous sentiments. Click on over to the online catty and check them all out for yourself, starting at page 179.

And I've also just realized that I've neglected to mention this month's smART-word: gratitude.

You have until November 24 to create a card of your own - hope you can play along!