Blue Bird

Yes, another "birdie" post. Yes I will say it again, I just love the birds! This was perfect for today's monochromatic challenge on SCS. I pulled out this "old world" DCWV paper that I have loved and fell in love with it's tapestry look. I needed a realistic bird for this kind of paper so out came my set of birds by Cavalinni stamps.

The ribbon detail was really fun, I wanted it to look like a birds' tail feathers. I cut a few strips of blue sheer ribbon and then used my scissors to curl the ribbon.I tacked them all in place with a prima that I colored to match and a blue jewel brad. I also did my sewing in blue thread.

I wanted the sentiment to stand out (since it's so cute) so I stamped that in black palette ink. I'm sure you have noticed all the nestabilities I have been using...love these things. Muddied up the edges to match the old world feel of the paper and I am done.

I know everyone is so busy this time of year but I still really enjoy the crafting moments I have to get away from the hustle bustle. Hope you find time for it too!
Happy Stamping!

Love Notes, Shabby Style!

Thanks go to Julia for making a wonderful challenge to get me going this morning on SCS. We were challenged to use spirals. You can see my spiral paper and clip to go with this theme. One of the fond things I remember from school is passing notes, usually with a torn out page of spiral paper....so I went with the notes theme and created "love notes". One of my favorite styles is to dirty things up and go vintage so this card was so fun to create.

I need to send special thanks to Lisa Strahl (mona lisa) for the wonderful gifts she gave me the other day. This card wouldn't have happened without her! Mwah to you Lisa!


Here is a close up of the puffy panel I created. I was remembering those fun touch and feel books I had as a child. They often had these soft panels to feel. I wanted to create this with the wonderful cotton scrap panels that Crafty Secrets have. I used my colluzle to cut my oval opening and I placed my flower panel underneath. I also cut an oval piece of cotton batting to give my Puff factor. I backed with another piece of cs then I sewed around the oval and the frame to secure my image. This was a lot of fun and I am so happy with the results! I'll have to fill it with some Love Notes for my hubby!

Sketch Challenge

Here is my card for today's challenge on SCS. I just love sketch challenges and if you want to play along HERE is the link. I broke out my new Christmas set from crafty secrets. I just love the vintage flavour to them and it suited the yummy dp I bought (be good by Cosmo Cricket). I used my copics to color. I loved that this image I could color the background of the santa and there was a clear line that I could color the outside of the circle with a different color. I used Burnt Umber and Moulin Rouge Palette inks. I love tying in my colors on my stickpins.

Tip: I colored beads with my copics then placed them on, being sure to add glue into the last bead on the string. Take care to slide your beads only far enough on to cover the sharp end of the pin (so you won't make anyone bleed when they open your card)!

I am sure you are all watching Nichole's countdown to her new Papertrey releases....I can't wait! If you aren't click on her link "capture the moment" on my sidebar.
Looking forward to showing you my samples with MFT....it will be here soon!
Happy Stamping!

Color Challenge

This is for today's color challenge over on SCS. There were a few things I wanted to accomplish with this card. I wanted to create a flow with my steam with the flourish (Rhonna Farrer) as well as with my text. I have had my nose in my brother's graphic arts books. I thought it would be cool to frame it all with my rows of beans. I drew intersecting lines in pencil first, then inked the beans, trying to make them look uniform. I colored the image with my copics and shaded with the W-1 marker (warm gray) to anchor my image as well as my beans. You really need to try stamping on Nichole's Papertrey white cs....it is just dreamy!
The stamps are all Crafty Secrets, love their vintage flavor!

I'm stamping like a mad woman these days, getting ready for My Favorite Things big release on October 1st! They are releasing 5 sets! One of them for a very good charity! Be sure to check back for my sneak peeks! Have a happy stamping day!

No Patterned Paper!

Shocking I know, it has been a little while since I haven't used patterned paper but today felt like a stampy day to me. This fun little pocket card I made for Julia's pocket challenge today over on SCS. I enjoyed all the different stamping that I did. I wanted more of a fall looking card so the colors I chose were Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp and More Mustard.


Here is a photo so you can see the little insert. I liked playing with the aquapainter for a change from copics. It is nice to have variety in coloring techniques. It definitely needed some "bling" to make it pop so I added glitter with my pen to the bouquet of flowers and a heidi swap jewel to my large flower. The sentiment is Flourishes and the other stamps are from Fancy Pants (in the garden) set. Have a great day!

Summer Bouquet

What are some of your favorite things about summer? Mine has to be the flowers and sprays of color that the summer months bring! I wanted to create a tapestry of flowers for today's SCS limited supply challenge. This is a spray of many different stamp companies that I colored with my copics. I love the difference in scale on this card between the flowers and the little (A Muse) girl picking them.
Here is a quick picture of some of the supplies I used. I picked all these stamps up this summer and love em' all! It is so fun to color them any color I see in my mind's eye. If I haven't sold you on copics yet you really need to take a close look at these fabulous markers, I haven't had artistic training, they just require a little practice and then they are really easy to use! Check at the awesome sets at My Favorite Things! Take time to smell the summer flowers today!

Dirty Dare!

We have been challenged by the "Dirty Girls" past and present over on SCS to join in on the creating. This was a challenge hosted by the wonderful Anna AKA Sweet Miss Daisy. We were challenged to do a pet card. I love this set by MFT and it was the perfect opportunity to ink it up again.... I colored it with my copics. Adding some grass and flowers by Technique Tuesday. The DP is basic grey (infuse). I did some sewing with RED thread, no room for mistakes! Hodgepodge hardware and some Martha Stewart ribbon. The "wish big" sentiment is Savvy, and the paw prints are Great Impressions. If you are not in this fan club....sign up now on SCS and join in the fun!

I have all MFT samples ready to show you! I'll start the fun on Friday and introduce you to a new set! They have 4 being released! OH THE FUN!

Flourishing Bird

I had my adorable neice and nephew here this morning so today's inspiration challenge on SCS is quick and simple. I managed to come up with this after they left. I love both bird and flourish images. I wanted a clean simple look for a change of pace. Bird stamps are Cavalinni. Flourishes are Rhonna Farrer. Sentiment is A Muse. The little beads are by Robin's Egg (I thought quite fitting). I colored them with my copic pen to match my cs. The ribbon is Martha Stewart and that is all there is to it! Enjoy your weekend!

Late Night Challenge

Now I don't usually stay up and do late night stamping but my hubby went to watch the BC Lions game so I figured I could squeeze in tomorrow's challenge tonight! This was a toughie! We were challenged to make a monochromatic card without embellishments. No Ribbon?? No Brads??? Ack! Well this was my attempt. The wonderful flourishes are by Fancy Pants and the Love stamps are SU. I did faux stitching and paper piercing and some glaze. This was my result...now time for some shut eye! Night!

Acetate Fun

This is for today's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS. We were challenged to dress up our corners. I thought this would work perfectly with acetate since it takes some creativity to stick the corners without seeing the adhesive. My butterfly anchors one corner and the corner punch is the other anchor with a black microbrad. The side is very secure with my row of microbrads. I also stamped the frame on white cs and then cut out the area where my image of flowers would appear and mounted this under the acetate....then I took my palette noir ink and stamped the frame on top of the acetate to line up over my image....you can only do this with clear stamps.
All images are My Favorite Things. The scalloped edge (setting the stage) and the bottom corner are embossed in white ep. The fun polka dot DP is from Martha Stewart (picnic). Ribbon from my stash.

I went to Staples last night to buy a few sheets of acetate and ended up with a package of 100! I think I'll be doing a few acetate cards! LOL!

Italian Sand and Tutorial

Grab a java, this post is a little lengthy.... What a fun card! My starting point was the SCS sketch challenge today and I really wanted to use all these adorable images from MFT! I colored all these fun images with my copics to match the ribbon I used for towels on this card. To me they reminded me of those rattan mats you buy to go to the beach. I found the ribbon in the discount bin at M's (Bonus!)
Sand Tutorial

This came to me this morning. I have this wonderful Italian sand I scooped off the beach myself. It felt a little funny packing sand in my suitcase. I was really wanting the true sand texture and dimension for this card so I mixed it with some Ultra Thick EP. I used my Glue pad to moisten a piece of cardstock and then spread this over the entire piece. I repeated this process twice just to get it nice and thick.
As you can see my original ribbon (bottom image) was not quite wide enough to be towels for my beach beauties. I sliced off the border and joined the two halves with scotch tape. It is on the backside no one will see.

Lastly a quick tip on my ribbon (towel) placement. I took my heat gun and reheated the areas where I wanted to set my towel. While the EP is still warm I smooshed the towels into the sand and they stuck wonderfully. I know this is a longer post today but I just wanted to share the fun process! Have a good one!

Welcome Baby

This is my card for today's SCS color challenge. Love the richness of this color combo. The colors are Mellow Moss, Not Quite Navy, and my neutral is Chocolate Chip. I used some new goodies from My Favorite Things. The main image and sentiment are from "she's having a baby" set and the scallops are from "setting the stage". I used my Copics to color. Love that I can color my cheap ribbon to match! If you get a chance today you should try this color combo, I think it works with almost anything!

Create Art

Today's challenge on SCS was to put our sentiment inside the flower. Perfect timing, I wanted to "dust off" my pollen dust set(groan). This is all done using that Fancy Pants acrylic set. I used that old SU color (still one of my fav's) Rose Romance and did the rock and roll technique into close to cocoa ink. I stamped the sentiment with chocolate chip and then masked the flower and stamped the large flourish. Love the oversized ribbon and sewed that on. I didn't have any RR paper to match so I sponged on white to create the bottom scalloped edge. Fun Challenge.....now off to see what others did with this challenge! Have a great weekend!

Ribbon Card Binding

The challenge today on SCS was to do something creative using ribbon. I thought it would be neat to bind a card similar to how you bind a book. I think it added an interesting touch. I used my Rubber Romance lady and colored her with my copics. The sentiment is by Papertrey. I added a little ribbon under the sentiment. Julee had sent me a card with this image and finished hers this way and I loved it! I am also loving the stack of Amy Butler DP! Hop on over to SCS and join in on the ribbon fun!

Summer Mum

Here is the new stamp I told you about yesterday....I just love it! It is by Savvy, who does some wonderful flowers. This one I thought complimented my Amy Butler paper very well. I colored the image with copics and even the brads to match. This sketch is based on one of Amy's super Sunday Sketches, I used this to play along with Julee's Blogger Bingo. I am no where near bingo but it is a lot of fun! I realized today's color challenge on SCS was Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. Wouldn't you know it, this qualifies and I love this color combo. You can see details to this challenge HERE. I used the WW punch to anchor my corners. I love to stitch, my sewing machine is set up right across from my work table, very convenient! The "thanks" sentiment is Impress.
Someone loves the lazy summer days! Think she could lay on the nice manicured lawn? No...... she needs to lay in the middle of my flowers! She's so cute, it's hard to be mad.

Fresh Roasted

This card was inspired by today's challenge over on SCS. We were challenged to use something "unexpected" on our card. This fresh roasted tag is my unexpected item. I just love coloring with my new copics so I used MFT "hot stuff" image to go with my little tag. I also thought she should have some fun flowers on her dress to go with the DP I chose.
This is a little detail shot of the tag I used from my starbucks bag of beans. I inked the top with Chocolate chip craft ink and heat set to match the cardstock. The ribbon bow I tied and then glued it on the top, this way getting the perfect shaped bow I wanted.

Glad to be home from a fabulous weekend of fun. I did manage to pick up a wonderful stamp that I have been looking for.....I'll debut it tomorrow! MFT (link on my sidebar) also has the new little bios of the new design team members....hop on over and check it out! Happy Canada Day Weekend!

Scallops

Today's challenge on SCS was scallops! I love to use these and I wanted the chance to play with an image that I could gain a little more practice with my copics. I tried the shading and blending with these markers, I was very pleased with the results. The main trick is to do all the light coloring and highlights first then blend over with darker colors to hide the seams. I added to the scallops with the cute Paper Salon frame and sentiment.

On another "note"....I am going to see Norah Jones tonight! Any other Jazz buffs out there? Should be interesting, don't quite know what I think of her new album, it is slowly growing on me.

Thanks for all the congrats on my new design spot, you are all so sweet with your comments and I love to hear from you. Have a great stampin' day!

Color challenge

The colors you can see on my card were the color challenges today on SCS. Cool Carribean, Marigold Morning, and Pretty in Pink. Quite a springy color palette. Love my ruffled flower by Stampendous!

Details:
Stampendous flower
B-Line Design polka dot BG
Impress BG
Oval, ribbon slot punches SU
Giga scallop punch Marvvy
"heartfelt" SU
"thanks" Impress
May Arts ribbon
SEI button
Colored with my copics

The sweetest flower

This is my card for today's SCS challenge. We were challenged to make a tall card with a discontinued SU set. I love the "art of life" set and will continue to use it. It has such a nice elegance about it. I cut strips of white cs and stamped the background on it, then distressed the edges to look like an old fence. The clouds were made using A Muse scallop stamp and I dirtied up the card using Tim Holtz (vintage photo) distress ink. The sentiment is from Papertrey.

Longing for those beautiful summer days, we've seen a lot of rain here in June!

Featured Stamper

This weekend's feature stamper on SCS is Cambria. She has the most wonderful gallery to choose from. I chose to mimic her layout on THIS CARD.
I was playing with my copics and my new stamp sets. They are My Favorite Things. I added some ribbon and paper piercing. The brads are Heidi Swap. Distressed with Tim Holtz (vintage photo). Thanks Cambria for the inspiration!