Smile...

It's another watercolor day here on the blog, and in contrast to Monday's technique and photo-heavy post, today's is clean and simple, like the card I'm sharing.

I had a couple different Unity Stamp Co. stamps that I wanted to combine and once they were finished, I realized I had the perfect Penny Black die to complement the sentiment...

I played with the flower centers by adding a tiny touch of Heather Flower Soft, then finishing the center accents with Yellow Stickles and a colored gem...

Supplies:

Stamps:   Unity Stamp Co. "As We Go Along" and "Summertime Bouquet"

Dies:   Penny Black "Heartfelt" ("smile")

Color Mediums:   Grumbacher transparent watercolors;   Faber Castell Polychromos pencils;  "yellow" Stickles

Miscellaneous:   "Heather" Flower Soft,  small colored gems

Thank you for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

LLLC - A Dream is a Wish...

Good Morning, all! I took a few days for a break, but I'm back today with another La-La Land Crafts  Diecut Wednesday card to share with you.

Our challenge inspiration this week is "Hidden Extra"...and that led to all sorts of ideas spinning in my head. In the end, I decided on a softly-colored shabby chic card in rose and pale taupe, with a hidden extra message...

The "hidden extra" message is on a tag attached to the Lattice Border die cut at the top of the card. I used foam tape to adhere the patterned papers to the front of the card base, allowing lots of room for the hidden sentiment "tag" to slide in behind them...

The inspirational quote on the tag is from LLLC's Beautiful Day Sentiments stamp set...

The deep burgundy roses are surrounded by cherry blossoms made using LLLC's Cherry Blossom Flowers die set - they're sitting on a "bed" of leaves made using LLLC's Berry Flourish  die...

This cute little tag die is from the Stitched Elements die set. I stamped it with a little dotted heart and a tiny little word in the center, pressing a bit harder on the right side of the heart stamp to give the image an "ombre" look...

The front sentiment, again from LLLC's Beautiful Day Sentiments, is stamped onto another die cut shape from LLLC's Stitched Elements set. Down in the corner beneath it, you can see the Filigree Corner Die ...

I love the beautiful lines on the Fancy Butterfly Die. I left it in the taupe cardstock without further coloring, and added some cream colored pearls for just a touch of embellishment...

Supplies:

LLLC Dies:   Cherry Blossom Flowers,  Lattice Border,  Filigree Corner,  Fancy Butterfly, 

 Berry Flourish,  Stitched Elements

LLLC Stamps:   Beautiful Day Sentiments

Patterned papers:   Maja Design Vintage Autumn Basics

Other Dies:   Papertrey Ink Heart Prints

Other stamps:   Unity Stamps "empowered words" ("trust your heart");   Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags

Roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts         Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth,  hemp cording 

You can see the rest of the team's beautiful projects on the La-La Land Crafts blog.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

The Twinery - Brighter Than The Stars...

Happy Friday, everyone! It's week three of my Guest Designer honor over at The Twinery blog, and I'm back to share one of my "fully loaded shabby chic" cards.

Very often, I design a card, then try to find a sentiment that fits with the theme of the design, whether it's the papers or embellishments. For today's card, I found the sentiment first, then designed a card to fit the sentiment...

Stars were the order of the day, and I opted to make some shabby ones from some corrugated chipboard, adding layers of paint, crackle medium, ink, and Distress Stains. I wrapped them with twines (Cappuccino, Cappuccino Stripe, and Strawberry Solid), added pearls and mini roses, and scattered them down the left side...

And finally, beneath the floral cluster, I added more loopy bows with Blossom Solid and Strawberry Solid twines...

Supplies:

Twines:   The Twinery - Cappuccino, Cappuccino Stripe, Blossom Solid, Strawberry Solid

Patterned papers:   Glitz Design Pretty in Pink

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp Co.            Die:  Sizzix Stars #2            Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections            Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Thanks for visiting today...here's hoping you have a fabulous weekend!

Be...

It's watercolor day here in the Korner - so that means a short-and-sweet post. :)

Once again, I couldn't resist the temptation to play around with adding texture to the background, just for fun. This is a 4" x 6" card...

I love this quote, and after I stamped it to the paper, realized I had the perfect word die to cut, and just enough room left to place it above the sentiment...

I added just a bit of white doodling to the watercolored flowers...just for fun...

And beneath the flowers, some modeling paste speckles were stenciled on. To keep them from looking like snow, I colored over them lightly with a Marvy aqua-grey watercolor pen that blended with the background colors...

Supplies:

Image stamp:   Unity Stamp Co., "Poppy Background"

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp Co., "Empowered Words"

Die:   Simon Says Stamp "be"            Stencil:   Tim Holtz Speckles

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors,  Uni Posca white paint pen,  modeling paste

Thanks for popping in for a visit today!

Happy...Take Two...

It's the start of a new week...happy Monday, all! Today's shabby chic card is just for fun, so that's why the sentiment just says, "happy." :)

I started with a background of neutral medium gray woodgrain paper, added a couple pieces of turquoise patterned papers, shabbied all the edges, then played with a white ink pen, a stencil, and a bit of splattering.   It started out as just a background to make and put aside for later when I needed to make up a card quickly, but ended up getting made up now because I had an idea, and went with it...

I decided to die cut a golden yellow doily, and accent the card with yellow, green, and white to add some more brightness to the dark background colors. The bit of pink on the edges of the yellow gardenia adds a nice touch of fun...

Instead of stamping a sentiment in the lower corner, I die cut the word "happy" - I couldn't choose between the black word or the white, so I chose both! I backed the white with the black to add dimension, and nestled it into the flowers...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Bramble Rose (doily);   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/On the Bright Side Two (aqua dot);   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Dilly Dally (teal and woodgrain)

Dies:   Prima Eyelet Doily #1;   My Favorite Things Leaf-filled Flourish;   Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background;   

Simon Says Stamp "happy"

Stencil:   Memory Box Rings & Puddles            Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts           

Yellow stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy            Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   white hemp cording, Uni Posca white paint pen

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

The Twinery - Stronger Than Anyone...

TGIF...Happy Friday! I'm back with another card made as August Guest Designer at The Twinery.

Today, I'm ending the week the way I started it - with a clean and simple post sharing a CAS watercolor card. I've used a stamp image & sentiment set from Unity Stamp Co, and accented it with several colorful twines from The Twinery...

Once the watercoloring was complete, I die cut a heart to the left, covered a piece of chipboard with "stripes" of twine to complement the colors used for the image, and adhered it behind the heart cutout.  (I used Red Shimmer, Maraschino Solid, Blue Shimmer, Denim Solid, Honeydew Stripe, and Honeydew Solid twines for the heart and tassel). It still wasn't quite enough for the "fully loaded" embellisher in me, so I took a cue from the tied bracelet on the girl's wrist in the image, made a small tassel with the same twines, and finished off the knot with a few bright gems for fun...

Supplies:

Twines:  The Twinery - Red Shimmer, Maraschino Solid, Blue Shimmer, Denim Solid, Honeydew Stripe, Honeydew Solid

Stamps:   Unity Stamp Co.,  "Stronger Than Anyone-Jessica Girl"

Die:   Xyron ShapeZ by Spellbinders / Heart

Gems:   Recollections           Watercolors:   Sakura Koi

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit...I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

You Are Awesome...

Happy Monday! I'm starting the week with a short and sweet post sharing a clean and simple watercolor card (well, as close to clean and simple as I can get...LOL).

As soon as I saw this stamp, I knew I had to have it. I was so taken with the long, vertical sentiment - it opens up so many design options. For this 4" x 6" card, I used the flower stamp that came with the sentiment, and added a different stamp, and die cut, for the accompanying sentiment at the bottom. I realize I might have jeopardized the true "CAS" label with the tear-outs and cheesecloth inserts, but I fell to the temptation once again...

Here are a few closeup shots around the front...

Supplies:

Image stamp:   Unity Stamp Co., "Bloom & Simplify"

Sentiment stamps:   Unity Stamp Co./"Bloom & Simplify";   Winnie & Walter/"The Big, The Bold, and You"

Sentiment die:   Simon Says Stamp ("you")

Stencil:    Tim Holtz Speckles            Gems:   Kaisercraft

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Uni Posca white pen, Studio 490 Translucent Embossing Paste, 

cheesecloth, drywall tape

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful...

Happy Monday, all! Today I'm sharing a shabby-chic little number with a sentiment that could be appropriate for any occasion when you want to send a little pick-me-up message. :)

I always find it a bit difficult to photograph cards using the colors used here...a very pale taupe - not white or cream, just very muted - with a dusty grey-green, and a dusty pink.  And I always wonder how it looks on different monitors...LOL  So here it is...

Inside the white clay frame I added a piece from another patterned paper with basically the same colors, and put a cluster of pearls in the corner...

The flower cluster is also made up of dusty pastels...pink, grey, green...with just a couple brighter pink roses for fun...

The sentiment is stamped onto a small piece of the mauve patterned paper, treated with a punched edge...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Die:   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves            Frame:   Martha Stewart mold & air dry clay

Flowers & stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearls:   Recollections

Twine:   The Twinery/Natural Solid            Punch:   Martha Stewart Beaded Ruffle

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp Co. / Imperfection is Beauty

Miscellaneous:   Wilton doily, ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

LOTV - We Are All Special...

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm starting this week off with the "twin" to last week's LOTV card. Both are watercolored roses, both done in pretty much the same colors, but with just a slight twist to make them individual in nature. Today's card uses the single rose from Set 66, Grunge Elements (along with just the top of the leafy branch in the same set) and pairs it with one of the quotes from  Inspirational Sentiments ...

I used patterned papers from several different LOTV paper pads...the black dot is from Father Knows Best, the green solid from Pressed in Time, and the pretty pink is from Heartfelt.

Here are a few detail shots around the front...

The small sentiment stamped and embossed onto a strip of vellum over the crocheted lace is from LOTV's Set 25, Handwritten Phrases ...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   LOTV Father Knows Best, Pressed in Time, and Heartfelt

Stamps:   LOTV Set 66/Grunge Elements,  Set 25/Handwritten Phrases,  and Inspirational Sentiments

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts           Pink stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy

Die:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves            Pearls:   Recollections            Crocheted Lace:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, twine, clear embossing powder, vellum

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

LOTV - Dare to Dream

Hello, there! A little "summer break" is over now, and I'm getting back in my craft room to turn out some finished projects again. :)  I made this card up a bit ago, but with some recent distractions, almost forgot that I hadn't posted it yet.

It's a center-step card, made with graduations in mind, using an encouraging quote/sentiment from LOTV's Quotables / Go For It set, patterned papers from the Bear Necessities pad, and a second, smaller sentiment from the Inspirational Sentiments stamp set...

The floral cluster starts with a large orange rose, surrounded by smaller roses, punched branches, a cluster of stamens, and large dyed seam binding bows loosely draped in the opposite corner. The whole cluster anchors the bottom of a large die cut oval frame. One frame was die cut from tan cardstock and slightly offset from the top white die cut frame, adding some dimension with a light shadow effect...

Once I had the floral cluster finished, I thought the upper corners needed something to counteract the "weight" of the large florals. But the corner die cuts I had weren't working for me...so to the "tool chest" I went...and in one of the drawers I found a couple of these (so glad I didn't purge them in my "great winter cleanout" of my supplies!)...

I cut it in half diagonally using my Tim Holtz Tonic shears...then used Vintaj Patinas and Caramel Alcohol Ink to get the pieces to just the right combination of color and shabbiness before gluing them to the corners of the card using Glossy Accents...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Lili of the Valley Bear Necessities paper pad

Stamps:   Lili of the Valley Set 63, Quotables/Go For It;  and Inspirational Sentiments

Die:   Memory Box Tiffany Frame

Punch:   Punch Bunch Large Fern          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Flowers and stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts              Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   Hug Snug seam binding, craft store metal corner, Vintaj Patinas and Caramel Alcohol Ink

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope your week is going well!