Sabby Chic #8

Hi and welcome to my blog! The saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers." Today I made my shabby chic card with lots of flowers. I really love the month of May. Here in South Carolina, May is our best "summer" month because it is warm and not so humid as later in the summer.

I found the white frame in my stash cut from a Spellbinders die. I tore several different patterned papers and adhered them behind the frame. I used a Tim Holtz die to cut out the left corner of the card and then I added some of the designs back in a few areas. The Tim Holtz bird was also in my stash and I pop dotted it to the card. I added flowers and Heartfelt Creations stamped leaves. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Stampendous.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Cardmakers:  Birthdays #210

Crafty Hazelnut:  Patterned Paper

Inspiration Destination: Anything Goes/Real Stamp #148

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Flower Power

Altered Dies #19

Hi Everyone. I hope you are enjoying your day. I have another altered die card to show you. I love using die shapes on my cards and here is an easy way to dress them up a bit. I started with the Crisscross Spellbinders background die, adhered it over green card stock and cut it out all at once using the Sizzix Fancy Labels die. Now I have a fancy look to my shape!


Step 1.

Step 2.

Here is the card!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this simple way to add flair to your die shapes!

Challenges entered:

ABC Challenge: Q = Quick
Great Impressions:  Anything Goes

Oldie Goldies

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Memorial day weekend! I want to show you a card I made using all old items from my stash. I have been stamping for about 21 years so I have a lot of old things to work with. The House Mouse stamp is at least 8-10 years old. I use this stamp a lot for birthdays. I stamped and colored the mouse using my Spectrum Noir markers that I have had for about three years. I stamped him again on some background paper I colored with Twinkling H2Os. Remember those? I have had them forever! I paper pieced the "icing" onto the doughnut with the H2Os paper. I also added Sparkle N Sprinkle Diamond Dust loose glitter to the doughnut to look like sugar. You can see shine of the H20s and the glitter here.

I used the Cheery Lynn Mega Italian Flourish Doily die behind the image. I have had that die about 5 years and the round Spellbinders die I used to cut out the image is about 7 years old. The yellow border was made using a Martha Stewart corner and border punch that I have had about 6 years too.

The silk flowers are about 10 years old. My dear stamping friend and I went to a warehouse store one day and found that they had the silk flower bushes on clearance for 90% off! We loaded up a cart full and divided them between us. I remember sitting watching television and pulling off the flowers for many days! I still have a lot left!

Also the little "glass" beads I used, we purchased at Michaels about 6-7 years ago or more.  They were clear. So we colored them by putting a few drops of alcohol inks in a zip lock bag and shaking the beads around in the inks. I still have plenty of them too!

I used a cuttlebug dotted swiss embossing folder on the patterned paper. Both of which are about 7 years old as are the card stocks I used.

The ribbon is seam binding I purchased 2-3 years ago on a large spool and dyed using my Faded Jeans Distress ink that I have had about 4 years. Even my glue I used to put it all together is about 2 years old.

I had fun making my "oldies" card. It brought back memories of when and how the items were purchased. Maybe this will inspire you to look in your stash to see what old things you have forgotten and can use to seem like new again!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my ramblings. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Cherry Lynn:  Lots of Layers - die

House Mouse and Friends:  Something Old - Nothing New

Pastels

Hi and welcome to my blog. I am so glad you stopped by today! Here is a card I made using a cute House Mouse stamp. I fussy cut the three mice and cut them apart to fit in my umbrella die that I cut from patterned paper. I then patted the umbrella with Versa Mark ink, added Sparkle embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle and heat set it. I do not use pastel colors a lot, so it was fun working with them on this card.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Frilly & Funkie;  Make It A Trio

House Mouse:  Pastels

Really Reasonable Ribbon:  Welcome Spring

Sparkle N Sprinkle: Anything Goes With/loose glitter, embossing powder, flocking

Sweet Bunny

Hi Everyone, I can't believe Easter is right around the corner! I want to show you a card I made using a sweet little bunny and saying from Just For Fun stamps. I stamped the bunny on patterned paper and fussy cut him. I used a flower cuttlebug embossing folder on the background and added little gems to the flower centers. The fence is a Memory Box die.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Just For Fun:  Spring

Scrapy Land: Anything Goes

Rainbow Colors

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I still have decorations to take down and then get ready for 2016! I made a birthday card today using rainbow colors. I used Color Bursts for the cake "icing" and paper pieced it to the image. I used the Dianza w/ Angel Wing Cheery Lynn die behind the mouse.

For sparkle I used Diamond Dust glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle on the "icing" and circles on the die. The image was pop dotted to the middle of the die.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!


Challenges entered:

Cheery Lynn:  Anything Goes/Cheery Lynn Dies
House Mouse and Friends:  Rainbow Colors
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Make It Sparkle
We Love 2 Create #26:  Anything Goes Creative/Mixed Media

Oh Christmas Tree

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am happy you stopped by today! I want to show you a Christmas card I made using the Christmas tree stamp from the Just Believe stamp set by Stamper's Anonymous. I made my own background by using a gingham background stamp, stamping with Fired Brick Distress ink and stamping on kraft card stock.

The theme for my Christmas tree at my house is "outdoors". I have all kinds of animals and outdoor ornaments on my tree. For this tree on my card I added White Liquid Applique to the branches along with Clear Rock Candy Distress glitter to add sparkle.

To add some interest to the deer I used a snowflake embossing folder.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

ABC Christmas:  S is for Silent

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra:  Anything Goes/Christmas

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: No Designer Paper

Sweet Stampin':  Emboss It

The 12 Months of Christmas: Oh Christmas Tree

Hot Days of Summer

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog. I hope you are enjoying your day. These August days sure are hot and I am so looking forward to Fall! I want to share a card I made using hot simmering colors of Summer. I used my new Color Burst powders and made the red flowers free hand for the background.

I cut the cute hedgehog by Penny Black using the Spellbinders Labels 4 die. The butterfly is from the Exotic Butterfly die set by Cheery Lynn.

I love using these shiny polymer glue dots to add interest to my cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a lovely day!

Challenges entered:

Cheery Lynn:  Anything Goes/dies

Dies R Us:  The Great Outdoors

Penny Black:  Hot Summer Colors

Stamping Sensations:  Anything Goes With a Stamp and a Die

Sweet Stampin':  Spots and/or Stripes

Stencil Play

Hi and welcome to my blog. I hope you are having a good day. It is so hot and humid here. I trust you are staying cool. First I want to give a thanks to Nancy Dynes who joined my blog recently! Now to show you a card I made using a stencil. I must give credit to my good friend for teaching me this technique she saw online. I love techniques and I made quite a few backgrounds with this this one!

This is what I did. I chose a leaf stencil, dabbed 3 colors of Distress stains all over it and spritzed the stains with water. I turned over the stencil and pressed it lightly on watercolor paper. You end up with a blotchy background. Now while the stencil was still wet, I inked up a script stamp and stamped it on the wet stencil and pressed the stencil onto the paper again. You do not really see the script, but it adds some interest to the background. 

I now had the open spaces of the leaves left, so I outlined the leaves with a fine point Sharpie marker and colored the leaves using Distress inks and my water pen.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Love To Scrap:  Anything Goes

Mod Squad:  The Wing's The Thing

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  No Ordinary Paper

What's Moo?

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog. I want to show you a summer card I made using the Color Bursts. It is sweltering here and I would love to be in the water like this little guy! For the background I stamped a background stamp onto watercolor paper and embossed with clear embossing powder. I spritzed the background real well with water and tapped my Color Burst powders over it. I tilted the paper some so the colors would run and blend.

I added three bling dots above the cow and Princess Elsa Frost loose glitter, by Sparkle N Sprinkle, on the waves. TIP: When applying loose glitter to small areas, use a glue pen. You can control where the glitter goes better.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are keeping cool. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Love To Scrap:  It's A Triple Play

Paper Take Weekly:  Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Furry Friends

Sparkle N Sprinkle: Anything Goes With Loose Glitter/Embossing Powder

Top Tip Tuesday:  Summer Fun

Bubbles

Hi Everyone! I have had so much fun blowing bubbles! I have been like a kid. I saw this technique on face book and I just had to try it for some backgrounds for cards.

Supplies needed:

small plastic or paper cups

Dawn liquid detergent

food coloring or reinkers ( I used 4 colors of reinkers )

straws

white glossy and/or matte card stock

craft mat for the mess

paper towel for the mess

Put about 2 drops of Dawn in the cups. Gently pour 1/3 of the cup with water. Add about 12 drops of reinkers to each cup.

Stir the colors with the straws and blow gently into the straw to form lots of bubbles. Make sure you do not suck in on the straw! LOL! OR  don't do this - I was not looking and started to blow from the end that had been in the soapy water!

Take the card stock and tap it over the bubbles. Do not squish it down on top of the cup. I did this several times with each color I wanted to use on the card. I liked how it turned out better on the glossy card stock. With the matte, the water soaks in and does not leave as a clear of a design as the glossy. But they both look good depending on how you want to use it. I used a piece of glossy on my card above.

Here is how it looks on matte card stock.

Here is the look on glossy.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have as much fun playing as I did! Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Penny's Paper Crafty:  Anything But a Square

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes

Spring

Hi Everyone and welcome to my blog. Here is a tag I made with a Spring theme. I am so ready for Spring as I know most of you are. As most of my stamping friends know, I love birds and birds remind me of Spring so I had to use them on my tag.

I smooshed my background using acrylic paints and spritzs of water. I added music and bird washi tape randomly on the tag. I stamped the image and used black embossing powder to accent it more. I used Tim Holtz's Bubble stencil and white matte stencil paste over some areas of the tag. Sparkle embossing powder (courtesy of Sparkle N Sprinkle) was sprinkled over the stencil spots and heat set.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: B is For ( Bird, Butterfly )

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Things That Fly

Stamp & Create: Is It Spring Yet?

Tim Holtz:  12 Tags of 2015 March

Oldies Technique #3 -- Crayon Resist

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to the Oldies techniques that I will be showing every first and third Thursdays of each month. I want to show you an easy one today called Crayon Resist. I like how it adds a little pizazz to a project.

Here are the supplies you will need:

white glossy card stock

black permanent ink

crayon  (any color)

solid stamp

paper towel

dye based inks

sponge or brayer

Stamp your image on the glossy card stock using permanent black ink.

Take your crayon and color around the edges of the image. This stamp is great for doing this since it already has a border around the edges of the swirls. A lot of people think that you have to use a white crayon, but any color works because it is the wax that resists and then will be wiped off to leave white around the edges. I like using a color so that I can see where I am coloring.

Here is a closer look so you can see some of the pink around the edges.

Now take your sponge and sponge colors randomly over the whole card stock.

Next take the paper towel to wipe off any extra ink and you see the white border around the image.

On this piece I stamped and colored inside the butterfly with my crayon.

You can also highlight areas of the image to look like light is hitting it. I used my crayon on certain areas of this image, using a thin line of color.

I hope you enjoyed the technique today. Come back for another Oldie on March 5th!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Dreaming of Spring

Hi Everyone! I hope you are having a good day. I am so glad to see the sunshine after many days of damp and cloudy weather. So this card has me dreaming of Spring! I am entering this into Penny Black's challenge -- NEW. With this card I have used my new vagabond machine to cut the dies, used my new gelli plate to make the background and the background is a new technique! I just love this cute hedgehog from the Penny Black stamp set Wonderful Day.

I pop dotted the center die to give the card some more dimension. 

The black embossing powder and glitter are compliments of Sparkle N Sprinkle. I also used Diamond Glaze over the glittered flower.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Challenge entered:  Penny Black -- New

( used new vagabond, new gelli plate, new background technique)

Cheery and Bright

Hi Everyone! I hope you have most of your cards and shopping finished! I know it must be a mad house out there today. I am staying in where it is warm and cozy. Our weather here turned cold and rainy today. I want to share a Christmas card I made. I still might need several more before it is all said and done!

I am a true layer person when it comes to cards and it is hard for me to keep everything flat for mailing, but I am trying! The reindeer is popped up though, but should be able to be mailed okay.

I stamped the reindeer using brown ink. I then colored over it with my Versa Marker and added Brown Fizz embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle. All the other dies were cut from white glitter card stock. I used an embossing folder on the brown piece and inked the raised areas with Versa mark ink to enhance the design.

Here is a closer look where you can see more of the sparkle on the white glitter card stock.

Dies Used:

Create A Flake Five -- Spellbinders
Fancy Tags -- Spellbinders
Debutante Frame Base -- Die-Versions
Orchard Tree Frame -- Die-Versions


Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!


Challenges entered:

Scrappy Land:  Holidays
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Winter Inspiration