Still crankin' out the Easter cards . . .

Easter cards are so much fun for me to create! I just love the colors, the themes, the flowers, and . . . well, the candy {sheepish grin}. Making these cards was a blast!

I can't decide which design I like better--so tell me which one is your favorite!

That pink subway-art style panel is the Easter Noteblock from Purple Onion Designs. I just LOVE their noteblocks and recently acquired a stack. I think I'll have every holiday/season covered now! I just noticed that Purple Onion has a spring sale going on right now--20% off stamps ordered through March 31. That's a great deal!

That adorable cottontail rabbit is from Repeat Impressions and has been in my stash for quite a while now. I embossed him in bronze on chocolate chip cardstock. I was hoping that he would turn out looking like a chocolate Easter rabbit. I don't know--did I succeed?

The yummy jelly beans are from a long-retired Mason jar stamp set from the now-defunct Angel Company.

The daisy patterned paper is from the SEI Vanilla Sunshine collection and the plaid paper is from an old DCWV butterflies stack I found in my stash. I just realized that both background papers are glittered, so there is all kinds of texture going on in these two cards!

I'm playing along with these challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Easter/Spring
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #213: Grab Some Thread (if you look closely, you'll see that I added machine stitching around the edges of both cards.)

The rest of my week is going to be super busy! We have dentist appointments today, orthodontist appointments tomorrow (plus lots of errands for me), after-school activities on Thursday (plus a lunch date with friends for me), an early release day for the kids on Friday (we've re-scheduled the outing-with-friends for a free IMAX movie at the Museum of Science in Boston; the one we had to cancel because of snow at the beginning of the month), plus Holy Week services. I'm not sure when I'll be able to catch my breath next!!! But it's all good :)

Thanks for stopping by to share a little slice of bliss with me!
Emily

A Flock of Flap Cards

Happy Saturday to all of you!! Yesterday's Free for All challenge on Splitcoast Stampers was to make a card that incorporates a flap in some way. I've never made a card with a flap before, so I cruised the SCS tutorials and found instructions for making an awesome flap card. I couldn't believe how easy these are! I was inspired to make a whole flock of these fun flap cards. I am hosting the SCS Gallery Comment Contest again this month and in just a little over a week will be sending out prize packages to the winners. I will need enclosure cards to send with the prizes and discovered that these will be perfect for that. And I won't even need envelopes for them since I've found ways to secure the flaps!!

Green Sparrow Flap Card

The SCS tutorial suggested using magnetic snaps as the closure for a flap card. Having nothing like this, I devised a little string clasp closure using baker's twine instead. I watercolored this adorable bird image from a Mark's Finest Papers stamp set called Speedy the Cat's Friends. I'm entering this in the Caardvarks challenge to create a new stamped card that is decorated inside and out! I paid special attention ;) to the inside of this flap card. The color combo comes from this week's Off the Wall Craftiness challenge.

Tangerine Kite Flap Card

This flying-high flap card takes its colors from one of the two current ColourQ #55 palettes and its layout from the current Repeat Impressions' What If Wednesday sketch. That cute little kite image is from Repeat Impressions. I decided to use a photo turn as my flap closure for this card.

Pink and Black Fleur de Lis Flap Card

This girly pink and black card takes its colors from the second of the two ColourQ #55 palettes. I used another little photo turn for securing the flap on this. That sweet fleur de lis image comes from the Mark's Finest Papers Regal & Proud set. This is the first time I've used this fleur de lis but it won't be the last. I love it!! I can't believe how detailed it is.

After all this crafting fun yesterday, I was ready to cap off the day with some autumn fun. After school, the kids and I visited a local orchard as a treat. Once DD and DS had each chosen a small Halloween pumpkin, we picked up a half dozen apple cider donuts and a gallon jug of orchard-made apple cider. It was quite chilly, so we couldn't have our snack at the picnic tables near the orchard (without freezing off our fingers!), so we sat in the car to munch our donuts with swigs of fresh apple cider. The kids saved the rest of the donuts (plus one for Dad!) for breakfast this morning. Fun!

The October Gallery Comment Contest is still going strong--right up until 11:59 p.m. on October 31. Anyone is welcome to join in at any time!! I'd love for you to play along. You can find all of the details right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!! I love to see you here. :)

Card Details:
Green Sparrow Flap Card
Stamps: MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends, MFP Tweet Blessings (sentiment)
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers spring leaft CS, SU chocolate chip CS, SU DP, Canson watercolor paper
Ink: Palette burnt umber
Accessories: SU scallop circle punch, EK 1.5" circle punch, SU scallop trim border punch, SU scallop border punch, CM petal multi-maker, watercolor brush, brad, button baker's twine, rhinestones
Techniques: watercolor painting

Tangerine Kite Flap Card
Stamps: Repeat Impressions
Paper: SU DP, SU basic black, assorted CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: SU scallop circle punch, EK 1.5" circle punch, SU scallop border punch, brad, photo turn, fibers, scissors
Techniques: paper piecing

Pink Fleur de Lis Card
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Regal & Proud
Paper: SU regal rose, Su pretty in pink, SU basic black, SU whisper white, Miss Elizabeth's DP
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: SU scallop circle punch, EK 1.5" circle punch, EK 1.25" circle punch, SU 1" circle punch, EK chain of hearts punch, CM corner rounder punch, brad, photo turn, pink grograin ribbon, Bow-Easy

A Pair of Masculine Cards (and a SNEAK PEEK)

Up until about four months ago, I had never done any watercolor painting. Oh, sure, I had those cheap-o little eight-pot watercolor sets in elementary school, but in retrospect I hardly think that counts. So in March I did my first post-grade-school watercoloring for (what else?) a card challenge. This challenge was for using any kind of paint. Well, aside from poster paint, which hardly belongs on a card, the only kind of paint I had in the house, was--guess what?--a cheap eight-pot watercolor set that belongs to one of my kids. So I used it and rather liked the result, but noticed that the cheap kid watercolor paints are--surprise!--not that great. Plus, painting on regular cardstock is the pits: water soaks in too quickly, the color doesn't soak in uniformly, the paper warps horribly, and the colors don't mix well. So I started asking some questions and two SCS friends with lots of watercolor painting experience came to my aid. I discovered that there actually is paper designed specifically for watercolor painting (watercolor paper, who knew??) and that you could watercolor paint using dye inks (which is great because that I already have, in abundance, and wouldn't require yet another cash outlay for stocking up on all my must-have colors in yet another medium). So I bought a pad of good quality watercolor paper and some sable brushes, and ever since I've been dabbling in the joys of watercoloring.

And I truly mean dabble--I have absolutely no training in this art; I'm just making it up as I go along. I do try to pick up technique tips, mostly by studying the (accomplished) work of others. I need lots of practice, and I'm learning through trial and error. But I've never had such joy in figuring something out as I go along. I am addicted to watercolor painting! It is so relaxing and calming. Every time I watercolor an image, everything else melts away, and I have this deep feeling of satisfaction. Because watercoloring is sort of inexact, it's also rather forgiving. Going "outside the lines" and leaving gaps in the color are part its charm. It goes quickly, looks so artsy, and gives me such a sense of accomplishment. I am in love!

One drawback that I've found with watercolor painting on stamped images, though, is that because good-quality watercolor paper is often highly textured, it can be difficult to get a clean impression on watercolor paper. I've found that deeply etched rubber images usually work best. It's not as easy to get a decent impression with clear photopolymer stamps. It's possible, but sometimes it takes me several stampings to get one that looks good (and I hate to waste expensive watercolor paper!). So I don't watercolor as often as I'd like, but today I figured I was due some watercoloring bliss and indulged in two cards. Woo-hoo!

With my first card, I used a wonderful Repeat Impressions image that I bought recently with a $25 gift certificate I won in the RI What If? Wednesday sketch challenge in May. It shows the Portland Head Light in Maine. We visited this lighthouse two summers ago, and I have a bunch of photos of my parents and kids standing in front of it. I knew this image would be perfect for watercoloring, and since we've actually seen it in person, I had to have it! Recently one of my best friends suggested that if I needed an idea for a birthday card for her son's upcoming ninth birthday, he loves lighthouses. Perfect! So today's card will go to him. I used the current RI What If? Wednesday sketch for this card. I also used this Embellish Magazine challenge:

Now for my second card, I am sneak peeking a Mark's Finest Papers set called Regal & Proud, which will be released in August. Both the mountain image and sentiment come from the Regal & Proud set. I made this masculine congratulations card for today's SCS sketch challenge. Can you believe that I used only one challenge in the making of this card? I know, so very uncharacteristic of me. But I seem to have gotten so wrapped up in making the sketch work with this mountain image I wanted to use, that I forgot about all other possible challenges that I could possibly work in!

I had so much fun with my watercolor painting today. I love how both cards turned out!! My mom loves all things lighthouse, so I'm thinking of [MOM SPOILER ALERT!!] making her a set of lighthouse note cards for Christmas using this RI stamp. I think that will be a lot of fun, and I know it's something she would love, especially if it features a lighthouse she's seen in person!!

Thanks for dropping by today and reading this looooooooooooooooooooong post of mine! If you would like more details about the supplies I used in these cards, please click here for the lighthouse card and here for the Mark's Finest Papers card. See you back here again soon!

Sweet Lamb Congratulations

We have been having the most awful heat this past week and have spent a lot of time hiding indoors in the air-conditioning. It's been too hot for the kids to play outside, and I know they've missed it. They were asking all week if we could go to a nearby park that we haven't visited in quite a while. It was supposed to be cooler today, so I took them to their requested park right after breakfast. We had it almost to ourselves for a while, and it was great to see them run and play after being cooped up for so long. Arriving early has its benefits; the park was nearly completely shaded and there was a light breeze. It felt so good to be outside without melting! I was able to sit on a bench in the shade--feeling the breeze, smelling the pine trees, and reading a magazine--while the kids had a ball. Heavenly!

For my creating fun yesterday, I had a go at combining several challenges in one card. One challenge was to make an aperture, or window, card. I also used the colors for the 100th Color Throwdown Challenge:
and the sketch from Limelight Papercrafts Challenge #51:

I had fun coming up with this card using a new lamb rubber stamp from Repeat Impressions and a previously unused double sunflower punch from EK Success. On the way to the park this morning, we swung by the post office and sent this card off to congratulate a friend whose first granddaughter was born earlier this week. I know she is on Cloud 9!

For the supplies used in this card project, please click here.

Soaring By

We're havin' a heat wave {OK, sing along with me now}, a tropical heat wave . . . While I do not enjoy the high temperatures we've been having, I do get a secret little kick out of extreme weather conditions and setting new records and such. Our little digital indoor/outdoor thermometer has a sensor in the shade on our north-facing front porch, and a little while ago it read 101F. That's the first time since we've had this thermometer that it's registered a three-digit temperature reading! It's not an official record or anything but it gives me a good excuse to stay inside in the cool air-conditioning and do a little something that makes me happy.

After the bustle of end-of-school-year activities and "honeymoon" period of summer vacation with the kids, I'm trying to settle back into a routine that includes the Splitcoaststampers daily challenges and others whenever possible. I enjoy them so much and it allows me a little bit of happy time each day! One of today's challenges was a color challenge to use these three colors.

It struck me as an odd combination at first, but I'm glad I tried it because I love the result! I also used this sketch challenge from Card Patterns.

And finally, I needed to decide on a theme for my card. Last month, I won a $25 gift certificate to Repeat Impressions in their WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge. I had so much fun picking out and buying new rubber stamps from their website with my winnings and couldn't wait to use one of my new RI stamps, a cute kite stamp. Using a little pennant banner in cards or scrapbook layouts is really hot right now, and I challenged myself to try one those today, too. Here's the final result. I love how it turned out!

For supplies in this card project, please click here.