You're a Blessing

My stint **sniff, sniff** with the Splitcoast CAS team has come to a close.  The three months went by so quickly and was such an enjoyable experience.  It was so much fun to work on creating truly clean and simple cards and I loved getting to the point where I was able to create cards quickly.  Much different than my normal 'one hour per card' time frame!

Today was the first day for the new winter team but I thought I'd play along anyway.  This week's challenge was based on being inspired by fabric.  I was a bit literal with my card design, as this looks almost identical to the fabric...but I really liked the pattern! :-)

I started by embossing the flowers with clear embossing powder, then I used a blending tool and grey ink to cover the entire card. Next I stamped the leaves in grey and brown. Added my sentiment and red rhinestones to the flower middles. Loving these colors together and it was fun to pull out a stamp set I haven't touched in years!  This is a combination of two sets from Papertreyink.  I think the flowers are from one of the very first sets Nicole released.  Fun to play with some of the first acrylic stamps I purchased!

Enjoy!

A Dream is a Wish

Not to get all philosophical about quotes from stamp sets, but I do think that the statement on this card, from the Dream Big (Sweet 'n Sassy) stamp set, is a true one.  When we have a dream about life changes, it is a thought or wish that begins in the heart.  Then we should use our minds, and in my case, much prayer to determine if that wish, that dream, can become a reality.  These days, this type of sentiment, really resonates with me. :-)

The other big reality in my life these days is that I love this new hexagon craze that's going on in the craft world right now!  Love, love, love it!  I love it so much that I went out a purchased the new hexagon die from Papertreyink!  What a great way to showcase designer papers!  This is new paper from Authentique...another one of my latest loves.  The fun thing about this die is that it cuts out the frame so it's a cinch to add the individual paper pieces, all spaced perfectly.

Want to know my trick for attaching all of those small hexagons?  I used a sheet of Wonder Tape!  I first put the hexagon grid on to the Wonder Tape (removing only one side of the tape) and then I got to work on adding the hexagons.  Once the entire grid was filled, I removed the back of the Wonder Tape and secured it to my card base.  Fun stuff!!  And this paper is so pretty I couldn't cover it up so I just added a sentiment. 

And guess what?  I'm not the only one with this idea...Look what Debbie posted today...Is it ok to say that great minds thinks alike when I created something similar on the same day as one of my stamping idols? **wink**

Enjoy!

Live for Today

Hi there everyone and happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing a card that I created a few weeks ago. This was for a CAS challenge, to create a card with a nature them and that offered a word of encouragement. I opted to go with this great tree image from Papertreyink. (I'm also partial to the great sentiment!) For the leaves I used three different Distress Inks to create the multiple colors. The sentiment just went over a portion of the tree in black ink and I punched out a half circle for a spot to hold my button (also from PTI). The background of the card was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

How about a total change of pace today! A KSS card created with a sweet (or should I say tweet) bird set from Papertreyink. Lately I've realized that many of my stamps haven't been used in ages so I'm trying to use some of them more frequently and since I had a sicky kiddo at home this week, I had a little bit of free time to just play. This card was created using the Bird Watching set from PTI. This set was designed by Melissa Bickford, who was one of our teaching at the Stamping Around NH event. Papertrey and Melissa were amazingly generous and raffled off a ton of free stamp sets. I'm pretty sure that everyone in attendance went home with a free set! This is the one that I received...love it!! I simply stamped the bird image four times, in four different colors, and layered the stamped image on to matching cardstock. Then a few strips of October Afternoon paper is all that was needed to finish this card! Oh, and a tweet sentiment!! Enjoy!

Papertreyink - 2010 Review

Have you guys seen the amazing contest that Nichole is holding on her blog? A prize of over $700 in fabulous Papertreyink products!! Fantastic! You can read about the rules and how to enter here. One way to enter is to post your favorite product from 2010, using PTI stamps. First things first, I realized that I didn't purchase enough PTI stamp sets in 2010! LOL! On to more shopping in 2011! And second, this is by far one of my favorite stamp sets from PTI, Through the Trees. I used this stamp set numerous times last year but this is my favorite project, a card I created for a SALT DT challenge. I used a direct to paper technique for this project; sweeping my ink pads across the paper to create the background. I also used the rock 'n roll technique for the tree leaves so I could have two greens on the leaf image. The background is a combination of a few strips of dry embossed cardstock. The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy. Stop by Nichole's blog to read all about the contest and to enter!! Enjoy!

It's a Sketch Challenge

WooHoo!! Sweet 'n Sassy is once again the sponsor of this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge and I'm thrilled that I get to participate! You can find the challenge post here. I decided to give you a little peek at a soon-t0-be-released image...ohhhh...Have you seen SNSS's monthly flower stamps? They are wonderful! Next month (available on Novewmber 1), we'll have this beauty, the Chrysanthemum. The set will come with the flower image and five sentiments (you can see one of them on the bottom of my card).

I paired my image with some bright designer paper from s.e.i. (I confess it was nice to play with summery papers again! I already miss summer!!) and satin ribbon from Papertreyink. I also added a bit of glitz to the oval by applying a few sprays of gold Glimmer Mist over the image once I finished coloring. Rhinestones and a hat pin from Little Yellow Bicycle were the finishing touches! Enjoy and hop over to SCS to play along with the challenge!

Halloween Step Card

Greetings all! I should start this post with apologizes that I didn't get a photo of the side of this card as it's not easy to see the "steps" in my card from just the front...humm...have to work on that! This is another card from my class a few weeks ago and while I'm not a big halloween person, I couldn't resist these glittery pumpkins and ghost stickers that arrived in the store earlier this month. Aren't they fabulous? (We have sparkly snowflakes and snowmen too!) My step card is covered with numbers from SU! (a retired set), background stamps, birds, crowns, and sentiments from Tim Holtz, and darling glitzy paper from (I think) Imaginisce. The middle panel is showcasing some fabulous swirls from Papertreyink. And how to do you like my choose of sentiment? Funny, right? Hopes, fears, halloween...Oh, I'm just so clever! LOL! Want to know how to create a step card? It's super easy, just follow these directions: Start with a card base of 11” x 5.5 “ Score at 2.25”, 5”, 7”, 9”, & 10” Accordion fold the card to create the “steps” Decorate each step How is that for quick! The hardest part of this card...deciding what fun embellies to use to decorate! It's going to be a busy week on the blog over the next two weeks...good news for those of you who are following Paperie Petals! :-) The SALT challenge post will be live on Thursday and next week is the new Tiffany Doodles challenge! Stay tuned.... Enjoy!

Using Vellum

It's another card from my class last week! Seems that's about all I've been stamping lately but that's ok...all of my cards have included fabulous stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy and this card is no exception! The image on this card is from the August Gladiola set, which includes this beautiful flower image and five sentiments. And did you know that SNSS has a flower stamp set for each month of the year? Fun stuff! This was a technique called parchment paper and is created using a piece of vellum cardstock and white ink. To create this look, first stamp your image in white ink (I used PTI's white ink because it's the best!) on a piece of vellum. Once your ink is dry, turn the vellum over and use the small end of an embossing tool to retrace the stamped image. This is important...you'll need to do the tracing on top of an soft or mouse pad so that the image ends up being embossed. (Trace carefully as vellum tears easily) Once you've outlined the image, use Copic markers to color the image. Again, you're working on the back of the vellum, the side opposite from where you stamped. Once your image is colored, you can add other plain embossed elements or piercing to the vellum...whatever suits your design style! I went with an oval frame for these pretty flowers. I keep the card design fairly simple and only added a stamped image on the outside of the frame (a background stamp from SU!), some white polka dots, added with a white gel pen, and a sweet bright yellow butterfly. The sentiment is from the same SNSS stamp set as the gladiola stamp. Enjoy!

SALT Challenge - Something New

Welcome to another SALT challenge! Have you had a chance to play along with our challenges? To do so, just visit the SALT blog, create a card or scrapbook page based on the weekly challenges, and leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or online gallery. This week it was Hazel's turn to set the challenge and she chose "Something New", which is a fantastic theme! Stop by the SALT blog to read her lovely write up and see her scrapbook page, dedicated to her Father...beautiful! When I think of new beginnings the first thing that came to mind is having a new life in Christ. My ATC reflects the verse that I immediately thought of when I heard the challenge, it's from 2 Corinthians 5:17. I believe this is the greatest promise of the Gospel, that by trusting in Christ, you will be transformed. Matthew Henry shared these helpful comments on this verse..."The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man who formerly saw no beauty in the Saviour that he should desire him, now loves him above all things. Peace has been made by the cross, God beseeches sinners to lay aside their enmity, and accept the salvation he offers. Christ knew no sin. He was made Sin; not a sinner, but Sin, a Sin-offering, a Sacrifice for sin. The end and design of all this was, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, might be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." For me, nothing seems quite as glorious as knowing that my formerly pride-filled heart has been changed. And that change did not come through my own will (for I never knew I was that way!) but only by the work of the Holy Spirit who opened my eyes and made me see my need...Praise be to God alone! My quick little ATC was created using stamps, ribbon, and ink from Papertreyink. Please stop by the SALT blog to see the rest of the design team's lovely creations!

Birdie Centerpieces

Remember my post from a week or so ago where I shared a photo of some flowers and birds? Did you guess what I was making? Centerpieces!! Our Pastor's daughter got married this past weekend and I helped her soon-to-be Mother-in-law create the table centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner. They opted to go for a catered BBQ dinner (yum!!) so we wanted to create a fun, outdoors, picnic feeling centerpiece. I did a bit of searching on Splitcoast for ideas and came across a few projects that included paper flowers and metal buckets...perfect for a BBQ!

We started our project by pulling paper, punches, die cuts, and embellishments out of my office...you should have seen the kitchen table - covered!! Turns out I had some pink and brown paper from Papertreyink stashed in my cabinet that I hadn't used in ages. (The wedding party were dressed in pink and black but we went with pink and brown for the dinner) We got busy using a Tim Holtz die to cut out all of the flowers and my Bertie friend got quite a workout cranking out tons of flowers with the Big Shot! Once those were done we also punched out a few glitter 3/4" circles for the flower centers. To create the flowers, we used wooden sticks (painted green with Copic markers) and attached flowers to both sides of the stick so each side would be decorated. A glue gun was required to get the flowers to adhere to the stick. Bertie came up with the great idea to use green ribbon on a few of the flowers to act as leaves. We also covered just one chipboard flower with paper and a big 'ol rhinestone to add a smaller flower to the mix. Here's a picture of the almost finished piece... Cute huh? We also covered a chipboard bird (from SU!) with paper that had been run through a polka dot embossing folder. We added a rhinestone for the eye, colored his legs with Distress Ink, and added a bit of aging to the entire bird. The bride and groom's names were printed on cardstock and attached to a piece of chipboard, along with a chipboard heart. And how about that butterfly?? We used a Martha punch to punch out two butterflies and then used the glue gun to attach them back-to-back on a wire. Since the wire was thin, the butterfly had great movement. Very fun!!

Here's the completed piece at the rehearsal dinner....Bertie found these great little tags that she added in the middle of the bucket. Oh, I should add that we used floral foam to hold everything and loose moss to fill in the bucket. We also had two birds facing left and two facing right...Fun stuff!! We even covered Hershey candy bars with coordinating paper and the happy couple's names. It was a blast!! Now if I could just find someone to watch my kids and homeschool them so I can sit around and create fun projects with paper all day long...LOL! And here's a shot of the very (emphasis on very) happy couple!! Their wedding was such a joyful and blessed event. Maybe because I've known both of them since they were little....ahhh...it was like watching my own kids get married. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. It was fabulous!! And here's a shot of my most handsome son, the ring bearer, with this flower girl sweetheart. :-) Little Ms. Flower Girl was born just two weeks before my son. These two? They make the perfect pair....They play together really well and their personalities are well suited to each other. They had a blast walking down the aisle together...they were beaming! hee hee Overall, it was an amazing event and we were thrilled to be a part of the special day!! Enjoy!!

Tiffany Doodles Challenge - TD02

It's time for another Tiffany Doodles challenge!! Did you participate in the first challenge last month? Did you know that you have an opportunity to win oodles of free digis if you play along with our challenges? And you get to visit our design team's blogs to see their lovely creations...What's not to love!! This month our theme is "birds and windows" so you'll need to create a card using a bird and a window, however you interpret that to be!! You may use any stamp you like for these challenges but Tiffany does have all kinds of bird and window stamps if you'd like to download a Tiffany Doodles digi for your card! She also has tons of freebies for inspiration! Here are the rules of the challenge: Start date: Today, July 7 End date: July 31, Midnight EST Winners Announced: August 1 You have 3 weeks & 3 days! GO! Don't forget to add your card to the Tiffany Doodles Flickr Gallery! Tagged with: TD02 The Prizes! You have 4 chances to win up to 7 digis of your choice from Tiffany Doodles! 1st place - 7 digis 2nd place - 5 digis 3rd place - 3 digis 1 Random - 3 digis And now for the details on my card....I used this sweet Bluebird image, available for $2.50, for the challenge. I printed out the image onto kraft cardstock and then colored the bird with Copic markers. I created my "window" by cutting out a frame using Nestibilities dies. I then ran the window frame through one of the new wood grain embossing folders from Tim Holtz. I also cut out a piece of acetate to act as the front of the window. I also stamped a swirl, from Papertreyink, onto the acetate.

The window frame was attached on top of the Bluebird image using foam tape. My designer paper is from my stash and I confess that I'm not sure of the manufacturer. For my sentiment, I grabbed an acrylic one from Papertreyink and bent it so that it followed the line of the frame. The blue rhinestones are from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Want to see what the rest of the team came up with? You're in for a treat, their designs are amazing! For details on any of the team cards just click on their name to visit their blog! Tiffany Cammy Cindy Deirdre Donna Julie Lindsay Peet Ruby Shannon Vanessa Virginia Enjoy and be sure to stop by the Tiffany Doodles site to enter your card into the prize drawing!!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Welcome to another Keep it Simple post! Today I'm sharing a card I created a few weeks ago for a sketch challenge contest....Didn't win but I did get a fun CAS (clean and simple) card out of it! And that's more fun than winning! Yeah! This card was super easy to create!! I embossed the black background piece of card stock, using an embossing folder. I then punched the circles from a black and cream piece of striped paper from Crate. For a little visual interest, I attached the circles, alternating which way the stripes were facing. I also used a little foam tape to pop them up. The paper ribbon is showcasing a sweet sentiment from Papertryink and my butterfly is from a Maaaartha punch. Enjoy!!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC 3

I can't stop myself...I had to play along with the Waltzingmouse sketch challenge again this week! I love the Sewing Box Hugs set!! Let's see...I've used the bird image, the flower image, and now I'm onto the heart image...I've got weeks of challenges left before I've gone through the entire set - yeah!! Humm....maybe I could order more sets...oh, now that sounds like a very fun idea!! Claire, Get ready for my order!! :-) In addition to the sweet heart image and sentiment from the Waltzingmouse set, my card features some fabulous paper from Creative Imaginations. This paper has one side that is actually geared towards babies but the other side...oh, my...it's so bohemian! Love it! Ribbon, little button, and twine is from Papertreyink. Enjoy and head on over to the WSMC sketch challenge to participate, you have until tomorrow!!

New Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Guess what? Sweet 'n Sassy is going to be releasing stamps on a weekly basis! Wow! Isn't that amazing! We'll have fun, new sets to share on a regular basis...I can't wait! Today, I'm sharing the Psalm 23 stamp set, which is actually just one big 'ol stamp with a lovely version of Psalm 23 that includes statements about what each verse means. This would be a great stamp for scrapbookers as well since the image is the perfect size for a page. I decided to create a background for the stamp, using Distress Inks and cut outs like the circle shape and a grass shape, which is just visible in the green background. Since this is a large image I decided to create a 5x7 card, a size I've been playing around with lately...love it! It's almost like creating a mini scrapbook page. It's a great size for larger images or if you really want to lay on the embellishments and layers! I opted to go with a acetate card, and forgive me for taking a photo on a white background as it's a bit difficult to see the card. It looked good on my camera last night...I kept the front of the card very simple, just the verse and a ribbon, from Papertryink.

I then had a grand 'ol time decorating the inside of the card, which is partially visible on the outside....being that the card is clear and all. **wink** I used the same size die cut for the sentiment, which is also from another soon to be released set, Amazing Grace. (This set is also available as a digi set for only $4.00!) This yummy paper is from a new line from Ruby Rock-It that just arrived in the store last week....love it! I created a decorative strip using a Martha punch and then just added a few rhinestones for a tiny bit of bling. Enjoy and be sure to check out the Sweet 'n Sassy site to see all of their new releases!

Hey, Hey, It's Digi Day!

Hey there!! Only one more day until Friday, whose ready for the weekend? I am!! It's been a busy week and I'm looking forward to a few days of rest. Whose with me?? :-) Well before we get to the weekend, we get to enjoy another Sweet 'n Sassy digi day over at SNR and PCP. Today's challenge is to create a masculine card and with Father's Day just around the corner, it's the perfect time to pull out those manly cards. I created a card for my Dad (gee, hope he's not ready the blog today...close your eyes Dad!) using a retired acrylic stamp set from SNSS. I love lighthouse images and think they're a perfect choice for masculine cards. Instead of coloring in the entire image I decided to create a color background, using Distress Inks. I used a blending tool to add the ink after stamping the image. The edges of the cardstock have been pierced and distressed. (Whole lotta distressing going on!) The striped paper is a new line from Ruby Rock-it that I picked up at Wholly Scrap. The sentiment is from Papertreyink, as are the buttons. And I included a Happy Father's Day sentiment inside my card along with a few paper scraps! Be sure to check out the SNR and PCP pages for the full challenge details and to be entered into the drawing for free digis! Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

How about a reverse masking technique for today's KISS project? It's a great way to create a quick and easy card! I used a Nestibilities die to cut out a rectangle shape from a piece of scrap paper. I then used the left over part as a stencil, which was placed another piece of pre-cut cardstock. A blending tool and Distress Inks added the color inside the stencil. All that was left to do was add this cute flower and sentiment in black ink. The flower stamp and designer paper from from Imaginisce and the sentiment is from Papertreyink. No bows or other embellies...now that is how to keep it simple! Enjoy!!

Keep it Simple Sunday

I have a sweet little card to share with you today...(it's really Sat. night but heck, it's almost Sunday!). This is a card that I'll be demonstrating at Wholly Scrap in a few weeks. It's another beginner stamping class so we keep things very simple. During the class we're using a new line from Imaginsce, called To Love & Cherish. It's a stunning line of all black & white papers and some darling little single stamps. For the cards we'll create during our class, I'm bringing in just a touch of pink. On this card, my pink is in the rolled flower and a decorative floral stamp behind the sentiment, which is from Papertreyink. Super cute and super simple! Enjoy and wishing you all a lovely Memorial Day!!

Be Berry Thankful

Greetings all! Today's card featuring this darling image from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps, called Berry Sweet Cocoa, isn't he (or is Cocoa a she?) adorable? This card is posted over on the SNSS digi blog today and you can check out all of the details on that site. I'd also like to mention that this month Erika Martin and Tanis Geisbrecht are the guest designers on the SNSS digi blog...They've already posted some great stuff...check it out!! PS - And a huge thank you to those of you who do comment and read...I really do appreciate your responses, even though it's been really quiet lately...is anyone still out there?? LOL!

Happy Mother's Day!

Greetings all! I'm passing on a Keep it Simple card today in honor of Mother's Day! Wishing everyone out there who is a Mom a very happy day! My card features a beautiful image drawn by Deedee Anderson, who designs for Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. This week Deedee will be sharing an exciting annoucement...check back on Friday for those details! The bottom of my card base has been embossed with an embossing folder, the top was left plain. The DP is a sweet design from Basic Gray (purchased at Wholly Scrap). The ribbon is from Papertreyink, as is the button and twine. The image was colored with Copic markers and the butterfly has been cut out and popped up with foam tape. Enjoy!!

CAS (Clean and Simple) Challenge

I found out last night that my good friend Julie is one of the guest designers for this week's CAS Challenge over on Splitcoast. Well how could I not participate! The challenge was Mother's Day or May Flowers and I decided to combine the two and great a Mother's Day card with flowers! :-) Flower stamp, sentiment, and buttons are from Papertreyink. Punched the square in the center of the card was created with a Nestabilities die. The flower image was stamped on the inside of the card; outside was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Edges of my cardstock were aged with a blending tool and distress ink because all kraft cardstock needs a little bit of distress ink on the edges... Enjoy!!