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 :)