It’s getting close to the love day celebration

Did the Hippies invent valentine’s day??  Anyway, I just wanted to jump into the spirit of things.  I’m not much of one for obligatory holidays but I do enjoy the creative process wrapped around them.   

By the way, to all my fans, I think I am finally on the mend with this second go round of antibiotics.  I feel normal today.  Actually feel I may want to clean the house.  And the SUN!!!!  It’s still there.  We haven’t seen it in forever.  Go away low hanging gray skies.  I see me some SUNSHINE!!! That’ll make any gal feel better.

Entering this into Simon’s Have a Heart Wednesday challenge.   I used a Whimsy heart die ( I love all the dies I won from HYCCT)  love them!! Then using a Simon banner and Simon Hand Written sentiments.  I knew those would be a favorite.  LOVE them! I set those atop a die cut doily from Top Dog Dies.   Wink of Stella is used on the large heart and then again on the hearts where the paper is folded back.  It looks kind of mess in the photo but IRL that striped heart just shimmers and doesn’t look messy at all. 

Technorati Tags: Valentine,Simon,TDD

singing simon says

I love Simon stuff.  Yes I do.  That falling snow stencil.  mmmmm.  I used it to emboss my back ground on this Coredinations paper and then lightly sanded the little raised bumps so it looks like snow!  I used the same stencil on the tag with some Dream Weavers original embossing paste.  More snow.  I used the MFT curvy die cut to make me some snow (also available at Simon).  Didn’t this make just the nicest background for my little hand cut GKD Christmas house image? 

The sentiment die is from Whimsy. I cut it out twice.  I used my Wink of Stella brush to pick up some Tim Holtz salty ocean color and painted one layer.   It looks so shimmery, gilttery, Christmasy!  Then I barely offset that onto the second layer to give it a bit of a highlight.  ( I have fallen in love with my Elmer’s spray Craft Bond for these kinds of chores)  you can get it at Dollar General priced much better than craft stores. I sponged a bit of distress ink to fade down on the tag.

It was pretty as it was but I wanted to add a bit of color and of course Simon Says heart is always a fun addition.

I am entering this into Merry Monday Christmas challenge to use a house and also Simon Says Monday Winter challenge.   This stamp from my stash has already been used so I no number for it. 

Technorati Tags: Winter,Christmas,Whimsy,Simon,Stencils

Same Same or Different Stamps #434 and 435

I’ve been wanting to play more with  water colors this year and I had fun doing these two cards.  While they both have the same image and both are water colored it was fun to see how both evolved into two completely different looks.
On the one I used multiple colors in a small area and the blue one is all one color in a large area.   It surely was a fun experiment.  All images are MFT.   I used the argyle back ground stamp on the one with a sparkly embossing powder before laying down the color.  I used water color papers for both images.
I accomplished a few things here.  I made CAS cards.  I used NBUS (never been used schtuff).  I used a stencil. I used translucent embossing powder.  I water colored.  I used dies. I used up stuff from my stash.  Those snowflakes so want to get all used up.    I used flower soft.  Images are colored with Staedler water color pencils and blended with water brush and on the blue one with a blender pen.

Technorati Tags: MFT,Winter,Girls,Friendship

I think I’m gonna make it Stamps 432 & 433

today is the first day in forever that if feel almost normal.  Whew, what a ride.  I made this card a week or so ago when Princess Judy mentioned Merry Monday on her blog.   It is a weekly Christmas card challenge and the week I made this the challenge was Cute Critters.  Well I missed the cut off date for posting it but I will post it here.  It was a fun little card to make.  I used my little gift stamp and cut it out several times to show the exuberance of the happy bear child.  I think I will really like this idea of having my cards all done before the season hits.  If I play in this one and in ABC challenge I will have a nice stash come November.   I’m getting a lot of mileage out of my Simon Says Double Stitched dies. I will enter this in Simon’s Monday Winter Inspired challenge, since Christmas is in Winter in our part of the country.

Technorati Tags: Christmas,DCRS,Simon Double Stitched Dies

how do you say goodbye

Making this card for my friend was the most difficult one to make.  How do you say good-bye?  How do you plan you life from here?  I loved the quote that said  “I didn’t know that grief was described as fear”.  Where do you turn, how do you handle it all?  This man was involved in so many different benevolences.  So many community things.  It’s not a simple death as mine will be.  There is so much complication.  I feel so for her, my friend, who must deal with all these legal things.  I found this card today and wanted to CASE it.  It seemed the perfect one.  And now I am satisfied.

You can’t see the detail in the picture.  The top layer is popped up with the entire back covered with foam tape.  in the square on top of the water colored back ground I cut the same Tattered lace die and glued it down.  then the top tie rests over it inside the frame and is adhered to the front of the card.  it has a lot of dimension.

Journal 52 week 2

BE or Just Be or Being was the journal prompt for our week at Journal 52.  My friends Angie, JoAnn and Rebekah and I have all decided to join in on this fun experience.  I have been wanting to Art Journal for quite a while but just kept putting it off.  I made three pages last year. 

This year I decided to commit to this journey and we will all encourage each other.  Here’s my Inky BackGround  for Simon Says Monday Challenge.  I used distress inks and a water brush to create my background grass. I used my DreamWeaver Stencil on the butterfly and then randomly laid it on different portions for a bit of texture and to use up the remaining ink on it.  I used Ranger distress dauber inks for that.  Then I took a bit of that ink and mixed it into some alcohol very diluted to spray my sky.    I used acrylic ink direct to a stamp to create my sunflower head and then drew in the leaves.

I have really enjoyed my two weeks so far.     Thanks for looking.

Sympathy Faux laser cut

Bob loved winter.  He loved the cold.  He was hot blooded and would be in short sleeves all winter. In summer he had a fan going on him ALL the time.  he even carried a personal fan with him to keep him cool.  It wasn’t just something he thought, he was always sweating, profusely. His daughter is like him.  I think this card will be for her.   I learned this technique from Jennifer McGuire. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VhLHrT-Xpo

 

Technorati Tags: Frostyville Border die,Memory Box,Spellbinders,GKD,SNSS,Sympathy

It’s sympathy time again

Needing many sympathy cards.  Our hearts are saddened by the loss of my husbands long time friend from his teen years.  They have been very close through the years because of working, playing and worshipping together.   How does one begin to put your feelings into paper creations.  But it is cathartic and rewarding to see what love brings out.   Here is my first one.  The funeral will be Saturday.  I am still feeling the effects of this pneumonia and haven’t been able to create with my hands though my heart has been wanting to.   The idea came from this video.

https://lostinpaper.wordpress.com/2015/01/15/glittery-die-cuts-at-scrapbook-boutique-video/  thank you for stopping by. 

Technorati Tags: sympathy,butterfly,die cut,simon says stamp butterfly

This is it

This is it, my last post for PPRS Guest Designer.  It’s been a fun experience and I learned a bit about how to work with limited dies available and still try to make things look different.  I’m such a die cut fanatic I had to really stretch to give a different look to each card.  I hope I have been successful with this.  I have surely enjoyed working with the wonderfully cute images that Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps has.  If you want to spend some of your Christmas money on high quality images with a soft vintage feel stop by their web site.  You’ll be glad you did.
For this last posting I chose the Love Owls with Valentine’s day in mind.  Aren’t they cute?  I used the sketch challenge SC521 from Split Coast Stampers.  At first it looked like an odd sketch and then I went searching and these sweet owls with the moon behind them were perfect for this sketch.
I am adding a photo of a portion of the back ground paper I used and how I made it work.  I wanted those two images in the corners to be on my card but I didn’t want to cut the card stock.  IDEA!!   Why not score the card stock and make a fold in it and add a bit of punched scallop border.  I left the flap unglued for a bit of dimension.  I like how it turned out.  And so I say good-bye and wish for you the best crafting experience ever this year.  Try something new, play a little different and enjoy the journey.  Janeen

CAS sentiment

Well I am adhering to my plan to use more DP on my cards however, I am not using up my stamps.  So my count is down.  No matter.  Creating is fun and doing something different is fun.  I am having fun with my dies and DP and that was my goal. 

sometimes it just works.

I have been wanting to use that back ground paper from GKD and then I had this Celebrate die cut left over from something and a scrap of Simon die.  Well two scraps.  the main base is a scrap too.  the BG paper is glued to the thing frame which is folded from the 4.25 x 5.5 base piece.  So that “hole” would normally have been the card front but I used a die on that and that’s what’s left.

I’m babbling.  Does that make any sense at all.  It’s the drugs, those anti-pneumatic drugs make me spacy.  I hope this goes away SOON.

MFT dies

Simon Says Dies.  I am entering this into the Simon Says Wednesday challenge use Something new.

MFT Sketch Challenge

First of the year fun with MFT and their Sketch Challenge #210.  I used all MFT dies and then a button from a clearance purchase.  nice and bright to go to a Florida recipient. There you have it.  (I’ve been wanting to use that DP for a long time.  For the banner I just used the fish tail banner in my big shot but turned it around so both ends got fish tailed. 

ABC Christmas Challenge

Well I started this last year and never kept it up past week three, I don’t think.  Let’s give ‘er the good ol’ Heave Ho and try it again this year.  I love the concept.  This year I stored all my Christmas stuff together so that should make it easier.  We will see if that helps.

Here’s the first card, Anything Goes with Antlers as an optional extra.  Click on the link if you would love to have a BIG head start on your cards for the end of the year.

I am also entering this into Simon Says Use something NEW challenge.  I am using my new “stag” die from Whimsy that I won for HYCCT on SCS and also my new Memory Box Birch trees which I love. (you can purchase these at Simon Says)

Edited to add:  after looking at this for a bit I decided it needed a sentiment.  I had tried to add this die cut sentiment earlier but just couldn’t get the right placement.  I think it enchances the card now.  True color is more like the first card.

Susan and Simon

Susan Louise image and Simon Says double stitched rectangles.  What a marriage.  I love how this turned out.  So simple.  So effective.  To me it looks like a painting you would find hanging in a cottage on the lake.  All canvas like.  Ah, can’t wait for those days again.   It’s for my brothers birthday. 

I am entering this into Simons Says NEW Wednesday challenge.  I am having so much fun with both of these new products.  Another new product for me is the Friendship Messages with Kristina Werner's calligraphy style sentiments.  OMW, I LOVE them.  When stamped it looks just like you did that calligraphy yourself.  Isn’t it pretty???

Happy New Year

Okay, so I’m a week late with that greeting.  I had to get all my Christmas schtuffs put away first.  It doesn’t make the greeting any less sincere, though.
Isn’t this such a sweet image?  Prickley Pear’s rubber stamp appropriately called BABY.  I cut her out and paper pieced her diaper and colored her with distress inks that I scribbled on my craft mat and used a water brush with.  I am so behind on baby cards and I think she will get used a lot over the next few days.  Everyone is having girls.  I have four nieces that have had or are expecting girls.  My two other young friends are having girls.  I better get busy.
I used two of the Nesting Scallop Circle Dies to layer her and added a fancy punched layer with a Martha Stewart punch.  I gave the little rectangle a run through the embossing machine with a play pen like embossing folder for a bit of texture.  I thought the sentiment from the Scalloped Circle and Oval stamps was perfect for a little hand cut add on tag. A bit of ribbon and some of my go to Viva pearls and she’s all ready for the mail.  Here's a close up of the detail.

Door County Kids #431

She’s such a sweetie.  ALL the Door County Rubber Stamps have so much character.  I paper pieced her sweater and her face.  As I was water coloring I got some of the blue on her eye and it looked like she had fallen and received a black eye.  I can fix that.  Also a SCS sketch card.

playing with inlaids Stamps: Inkadinkadoo #429 & 430

the technique to use your die cut to cut a sentiment and then fill the holes with coordinating color is really fun.  I love the look and feel of this IRL.  Here are two cards I did for the SCS color challenge.  I will send these out to my girls for all the goodies they brought us on Christmas day.   They really are the same color cardstock but it shows up so gray on the one picture.  oh well, it’s pretty even if it was gray.  LOL   I am entering this into Simon’s Monday Challenge something old and something new.  The technique is NEW to me and the stamps are very very old. 

 

getting’ my groove on

Sometimes after a prolonged absence from the stamping room, you just have to start with Clean and Simple (CAS)  Such is the case with this sweet baby card.  I’m getting them all done, yes, I am.  So many babies, so little time.  This was another rummage sale stamp that has gotten tons of use over the past five years.  So simple because it holds it’s own w/o any embellies or extras.  Stamp it blue, purple, pink,  (yellow doesn’t work so well) it’s equally cute for a boy card.  I have dressed it up in the past with layers and ribbons and embellishments but it doesn’t HAVE to be that detailed and still gets the message across.  I’m happy for you and your new little one.    I used a large retired SU lace stamp and taped a large oval die cut into the middle of the card stock before stamping the lace.  Then remove the die cut and there is a beautiful white spot to stamp the shoes.  Voila` simple as can be.

I go in streaks I guess

Another bambino card for you.  This uses Prickley Pears image and My Favorite Things Blue Prints 6 dies and layout.  I do love the convenience of the pre-designed sketches that come with these and my goal this year is to try and incorporate more patterned paper into my work.  it’s a big stretch for me.  I have lots of it, I love it, I always get stuck when I want to use it.  My PPRS image has already been used so no number count for it.  Aren’t they sweet, these little duckies.  Yep, another girl in the clan.

First post for the New Year #427

A vintage stamp from who knows when, purchased at a rummage many many moons ago.  Still cute as the dickens.  I still have several baby cards to make from this past summer.  People shouldn’t have their wee ones in the summer when I am out fishing and enjoying the sunshine, but they do, and then I feel badly because I still haven’t made cards for them.  Ay-yi. 

Using the Blue Prints 1 from My Favorite Things I took their sketch but used my own embellies and not their dies for the ribbon and flower.  LOVE how it turned out.  I can almost forgive them for having summer babies I like it so much. –JoAnn C.  if you are reading this, I used that envelope made from home made paper that you sent that sweet card to me in for the yellow scalloped piece.  It made a wonderfully soft blanket like addition to this card.