Back 2 School with CI Paints

Good morning and many happy hellos to you:)

Today's card...I mean project was inspired by this week's Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge - Back to School. Our boys are grown, but I remember how expensive the cool folders, notebooks, etc..were when we went shopping for school supplies. With that said, I wanted to alter something that was very inexpensive by giving it a super quick facelift. Of course, I don't think our sons would appreciate a butterfly folder; but then again, they honestly didn't care what they put their papers in ;) I grabbed an el-cheapo folder (cost 5 cents), a Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist stencil, some painter's tape, a stencil brush and some Creative Inspirations Paint in Onyx and Antique Silver. Once the butterfly stencil and border dried, I simply added some Silver pearls with a Viva Decor Pearl Pen and four metal photo corners from my stash. To wrap things up, I also took a super cheap, standard pencil and painted stripes using Creative Inspirations Paint in Onyx and Rustic Red. I know it is nothing fabulous; but it is a one-of-a-kind:) I also hope I was able to show how a little bit of paint can take something plain and give it a bit of pizzazz...and you won't feel as bad when this folder and pencil needs to be replaced...the total cost was less than 50 cents.

I hope you have found a bit of creative inspiration here today:) We look forward to seeing your wonderful Back to School Creations in this week's challenge!! Have a wonderfully blessed Wednesday!!!

Hugs,

Carolyn

Clean & Simply Inspired

Hello!!!! I hope your Wednesday is off the a beautiful start!! Today's card was clean and simply inspired by this week's Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge:o) A long while back...I won't share exactly how long back, but it was before embossing folders hit the market...YIKES...I purchased a set of DCWV embossed cards. Really, I couldn't pass it up...I have a weakness for a good sale! You heard of the Frugal Gourmet...well, I am his long, lost sister the Frugal Papercrafter;o) So, when I saw this week's Clean and Simple Challenge, I knew where to start...time to dust off those embossed cards and get busy.

The darling image I chose is Hydrangea Hugs by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD Stamp Co. Isn't she a doll baby? I thought this precious image would be the perfect accompaniment with the embossed baby card. I colored the image with Prismacolor markers...added teeny dots to the centers of each hydrangea blossom with my Viva Decor Pearl Pen (White)...and the bow received a dusting of Fairy Dust Creative Inspirations Paint. Actually, there is some Fairy Dust sprinkled in the hydrangea centers too...but my camera didn't capture the shimmer very well. Don't you love how I blamed the camera...it couldn't be me...the unskilled photographer could it? ;o) I used my large circle Nestabilities to cut out my image, then hand-stitched the circle to a doily I colored purple...and the purples are really much closer to the same color in real life...again, it's all my camera's fault hehehe. I'll also let you in on a little secret...I used a stencil from Crafter's Workshop (Mini Dots All Around) as my piercing guide to do the stitching. Finally, I added some flowers and pearl leaves to finish it off. Yeppers! Easy peezy, lemon sqeezey!

I hope you will join us in this week's Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge!!! I am also thinking and praying for all my fellow East Coasters as Hurricane Irene approaches...please stay safe; and for all my friends in and around Virginia, I am praying and hoping all is well with you...we felt the aftershock of yesterday's earthquake and we live hours away. I can only imagine what it felt like for those of you living right there.

Blessings and Hugs!!

Carolyn

Pamper Yourself :)

Happy Hump Day!!!! I hope your week is going FABULOUSLY!!! :) Today, I have a simple card for ya using a new stamp I recently received from SCACD. I'm not really known as a girly-girl, but one "girly" thing I do is collect Blue Willow porcelain. I just love the clean and crisp look it adds to my kitchen and dining room...makes it feel so homey:) So, when I got my inky paws on this beautiful stamp, I knew I wanted to emulate my fave china by using a royal blue and white color palette.

The white portion of the perfume bottle was painted with Winter Frost Creative Inspirations Paint...wish you could see how beautifully it shimmers...unfortunately, the Diamond Glaze I added to it masks it in the photos:o( I also used Sapphire and Antique Gold Creative Inspirations Paint. I also sponged Sapphire Creative Inspirations Paint all over a white doily to further complement the card base and the image, as well as painting around the embossed edge of the circle in Antique Gold.

Like I said, it's a VERY simple card...but I thoroughly enjoyed creating it:) I hope your Wednesday is FABULOUS and the rest of your week holds even more pleasant happenings and smiles!!!

Hugs and Blessings!!!

Carolyn

Time for Cake!

Hello and a happy Wednesday to you!!! I hope your week has been off to a wonderful start:) Our youngest son graduated from high school Friday and the festivities came to a close on Monday...so today is the day to take some time to chill and maybe get in some crafty time:) Okay...about today's card...I absolutely ADORE this image:) Don't I remember these days...my sons' have left many fingerprints in the frosting of many cakes and cupcakes:) Of course, they never owned up to it...I suppose that's the joy of having a sibling...someone else to point a finger at and/or a partner in crime;) You would think...now that they're older (18 and 23)...the infamous fingerprints in the frosting would cease...NOPE...uh-uh...not a chance...and still passing the buck...and now Dad's in on it;) Come to think of it...he's probably been in on it all along;) Sorry...I digress.

This scrumptious image is called "Sweet Mischief".  Isn't she a cutie? I love how she is on a stool and is still having to stand on her tippy-toes:) Too stinkin' CUTE!!!! She is colored with Prismacolor markers, and ALL the shimmery sparkle is from Fairy Dust Creative Inspirations Paint. I also added some Diamond Glaze to the counter-top, and the frosting was made with dimensional paints. I love that it looks like real, chocolate frosting:)Yummmmmmm!

Okay...I have babbled enough! Thank you for dropping by!!! I hope you have a wonderfully blessed Wednesday!!!

Hugs!!

Carolyn

Inspired by Friendship:)

Good morning and Happy Wednesday!!!! Can you believe we are now into June? WOO! HOO! A few more weeks, and our son will be ending his tour in Iraq:)  Today's card was inspired by this week's Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge..."Friends":)  I don't have many friends, but the friends I do have are truly gifts from God...and I would be lost without them!!! We laugh together...Cry together...and...We keep one another as sane as possible:) I know these amazing ladies are always there for me...and I hope they know I am always there for them. I think the hardest thing is...we all live in different states (NC...SC...WI...CA), so what we share is typically over the phone or via the internet. One day, I hope to win the lottery and have them all move to rural NC:) A girl can dream right? Anyhoo! When it came to making a card that signifies friendship, I immediately thought of marathon phone calls and laughter!!! It doesn't matter why we call (to vent, to cry, to complain, etc...) at some point, it all leads to laughter:) So, this is how today's card came about.

There is no "real" patterned paper on this card...but there is recycled paper.  Can you tell what it is? If you guessed a page from an old phone book, you are correct! I went to the "L" section, and chose the page that contained the last name of "Love" cuz I got a lotta love for my BFFs (if you look at the upper right hand corner of the top panel, you can kinda make it out). For privacy purposes, I also tried to conceal names and numbers...you can see one or the other, but not both. I sponged Tutu Pink CI Paint over the entire page, don't you just love all that sparkle and shine? It took a drab looking page from a phone book and jazzed it right up!! I tell ya...I simply cannot get enough of this awesome paint!!  For the phone, I colored it first with Prismacolor markers, then painted a coat of Tutu Pink over the pink areas. I don't know if you can see it (my photography skills leave much to be desired), but the dots on the phone dial, the top layer of the stamped doily, and the edge of the circle have shimmer from Antique Silver CI Paint. I really wish I could have captured the shine and shimmer better!

I hope you will be able to play along with us in this week's Friendship Inspired Challenge at Creative Inspirations Paint!!! We love admiring your beautiful creations, AND it's the last challenge of the month, so you know what that means, right?!?! Next week, one lucky winner will be drawn from all of this month's challenge participants!! That means you could win some awesome Creative Inspirations Paint to try out for yourself! BUT...you gotta be in it to win it;) We'll be looking for you!!!

Have a super blessed day!!!

HUGS & SMILES!!!

Carolyn

(:For a detailed listing of card supplies, please stop by my blog:)

Spread Your Wings and Fly!

(You can click on the pics for a better view of the shimmer)

Good morning:) Sure hope your week has been FABULOUS!!!! My card for today was inspired by this week's Creative Inspirations Paint Challenge...it's all about Butterflies!! AND, I love anything butterfly themed:) I don't know why, but they always make me smile...like daisies and sunflowers:) Don't you just love those wonderful gifts from God that touch your heart and bring joy into your day?

Recently, I received some beautiful Prima butterflies from the Farfalla Collection. I have been wanting to play with these beauties for quite some time now, but wasn't sure exactly what kind of card I wanted to create. Once I saw this week's Creative Inspirations Challenge theme...I new exactly what I wanted to do...paint them up:)  I painted the butterfly's body with Ivory CI Paint and its wings with Fairy Dust CI Paint...can you see all the lovely shimmer it added? It also made the original colors *pop* a bit more:) I also used the Ivory CI Paint on the white blossoms. Man, I love these paints!!!!

Did you notice the doily? Can you believe it was originally a plain, white doily? Don't get me wrong...I love my white doilies, but every now and then...I wish they were a different color to better match my card. So, I painted on a coat of Beige CI Paint to help it match the colors I selected...and I must say, I really like how it turned out:) I also used this paint to "ink" around the edges of my patterned paper and card stock. I tell ya...these paints are a paper crafter's dream!!!

Here is the card's interior. I opted to keep it VERY simple. Can you see the sparkle? It was created with Maya Mists and CI Paints:)  I was hoping to make a variety of my own mists using these awesome paints, but didn't have the spritzers on-hand to do them:( Mental note: add empty spritzers to my "to buy" list. I know you are probably tired of hearing me say this, but I don't know what I did before being introduced to Creative Inspirations Paints!

Okay...have you fallen asleep at the keyboard from this mega long post? Sorry for blabbing away! I hope your Wednesday is filled with blessings and all things beautiful:) Thank you for stopping by!!!!

HAPPY HUGS!!!

Carolyn

Beautiful You

This week's Creative Inspirations Paints Challenge is all about MOM or a Special Lady in your life:) So, I thought it would be nice to make a Mother's Day card using one of my Mom's favorite colors and incorporating one of her favorite things...flowers. She is an avid gardener and loves all things bright and cheerful. The floral background was created by sponging Rose Quartz CI paint over a Dreamweaver stencil, then cut out using a Nesties Curved Rectangles die. The large blossom was made using the scraps from the background and another Nesties die...Dahlia. I love how the CI paint adds such a soft shimmer:) It isn't overpowering; and it adds that perfect touch of elegance. I just love that! If you look closely, you will see that the bow also has a hint of shimmer. Yup...you guessed it...it started out a simple, white ribbon...but got the star treatment by simply adding a beautiful frosting of Rose Quartz CI paint:) I hope you found a bit of creative inspiration today. Thank you for dropping by and sharing a portion of your day with us here at CI Paints!!!! I hope your day is filled with happiness and overflowing with blessings!!!

HUGS!!!

Carolyn

Spring Is In the Air!

Hello!!! My name is Carolyn, and I am extremely excited to be one of the newest additions to the Creative Inspirations DT Family:o) I was first introduced to these incredible paints about a year ago, and it was love at first sight! As a papercrafter/card maker, shimmer and sparkle are an absolute must-have in my creative arsenal...so, these paints find much love on my projects...for me, they are a necessity. If you have never tried them, you truly do not know what you are missing!!!  They are beautiful...easy to use...incredibly versatile (just check out all the fab tutorials)...and quite inexpensive.

For today's card, I was inspired by this week's Creative Inspirations Challenge- "Spring". I don't know about you, but when I think of springtime, I envision butterflies fluttering about:) I thought about what I would like to create and opted to dust off some crafty goodies that have been sorely neglected...a Dreamweaver's brass stencil, an embossing stylus and a light box. Do you remember using these before embossing folders hit store shelves?  The stencil used on this project is very narrow...perfect for a bookmark, but not so great for a card...so, I embossed three panels to create my background. I painted over the raised images with Tutu Pink CI Paint to add a touch of color and to give it tons of sparkle. Since I am not a skilled photographer, I had a bit of difficulty capturing its true beauty, but hopefully you can get an idea from the image above. 

For the butterfly above, I inked up one of my butterfly stamps and painted it with more Tutu Pink CI Paint. I just love all the shimmer it added!! Since the stamped image was too big for the bow, I pulled out my trusty MS butterfly punch and let it do its work...now, it fit on the bow perfectly:) Then, I added the dots and the body with some Viva Decor Pearl Pens.

This was a really fun card to make, and it felt really good showing some of my neglected goodies some much needed love.  I hope you found a little creative inspiration today, and look forward to seeing your Springtime creations in this week's challenge:o) Thanks for dropping by, and have a beautifully blessed day!!!!

(You can find a detailed listing of the supplies used in today's card, HERE.)

Happy {{HUGS}}!!!

Carolyn