BLD - Boys R Us!

If you are able to, we would invite you to play along with our By Lori Designs colour challenge!!! Please use code BLDC11 when you upload so we can find your creations and leave you a comment. Here is this week's colour combination;

It is challenge team A's turn at the challenge this week, so head over to the By Lori Designs challenge blog for their gorgeous creations!

Since I have this week off, I decided to use the colours from this week's Splitcoaststampers and the Mojo Monday sketch for my project.

I coloured my Boys R Us image using my favourite copic markers. Such a sweet image, I think!!! Here's the colours I used;

older boy t-shirt and pants; W00, W1, W3
skin; E00, E01, E11, E13, R02
hair and shoes; E42, E44, E47
jeans and blue shirt; B41, B45, B97
green shirt and wheels; G20, G21, G85
skateboard; R24, R29, R59
background; B0000, B000, B00, B01
ground; T1, T3, T5

stamps; boys R us & sentiment (by lori designs)
paper; skate shop (basic grey), x-press it (copic), coconut swirl, blackberry swirl, green tea (bazzill)
accessories; bracket border punch (ek success), lg deckle rectangle (spellbinders), celery twill ribbon (SU!), buttons (basic grey)

mojo monday #184
SCS colour challenge CC316 - misty celery breeze
gingerloft #14 - dies and punches
Wee Memories #49 - anything goes
Happy Monday Challenge - kids need love too!

Heartfelt Creations Dutch Iris Frame

I've been using my copic markers so much lately that I decided to give them the day off! *grin*  For my Heartfelt Creations project today, I watercoloured my image.

I love the softness of this card. I have some old 7gypsies paper and I chose my colours from it.

First, I stamped my image Dutch Iris Frame using Versamark and heat embossing it with super fine detail silver embossing powder. I used a colour wash on my image by using reinkers and my aqua painter and being very generous with water in the ink. Once an area was dry, I went back over it with an almost dry brush tip and ink to add some detail. Loverly!!

I used vellum to punch out butterflies adding another soft spring touch to this card and embellished them with pearls. I love the soft glow pearls have which made them a must have for this card.

Check out the Heartfelt Creations blog for more papercrafting inspiration!

stamps; dutch iris frame (heartfelt creations)
paper; harrow (7gypsies), eskimo kisses (basic grey0, leapfrog, walnut creme (bazzill), cold press watercolor paper (unknown), duck egg blue vellum flora & fauna specialty pad (K&Co), light weight white vellum (paper accents)
ink; black soot distress ink, lemonade, pool, lettuce adirondack reinkers (ranger), versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; super fine detail silver embossing powder (ranger), labels 4, sm and lg oval nestabilities dies (spellbinders), ivory ribbon (offray), adhesive backed pearls (kaiser), silver painty pen (zig), all butterfly punches (martha stewart), 

BLDC10 Ella's Umbrella

It's a terrific day for a By Lori Designs colour challenge!!!

For today's by Lori Designs colour challenge I used Ella's Umbrella. I chose to keep the main colours of the card to orange and red, but check out her little boots and Ella's darling little froggie friend! Yup, there's the pink and green, echoed in the rhinestones as well. I think this image is DIVINE and I love the Umbrella Sentiments collection that are so perfect for this image!

Ella was coloured using these copic markers;

water; B41, B45
background; B000, B00, B12
dress; C0, C2, C4, C6, YR16, R29
frog; G24, G40, G82
boots; R81, R83, R85
umbrella; R20, R22, R24, R29, R59, YR12, YR16, YR18
skin; E000, E00, E01, E30
hair; E33, E35, E37, E59

stamps; ella's umbrella, umbrella sentiments (by lori designs)
paper; mabel pad by stella and rose (MME), white canvas, pomegranate (bazzill), x-press it (copic)
ink; dried marigold distress ink (ranger)
accessories; sm & lg circles, big scallop circle lg nestabilities (spellbinders), green and pink rhinestones (heidi swapp), copic markers

creative cottage - spring 
paper pretties - spring
creative card crew - no stamps
my time to craft - ladies day
paper take weekly - mom thing/girlie
scrap-creations - spring has sprung

Dutch Iris Sympathy Card

I am thrilled that I have another sympathy card to add to my stash! This card has a lot more bling on it than I would normally have for a sympathy card, but it's softly coloured so I think it works well for its purpose. The directions to make this card are posted on the Heartfelt Creations blog.

This spring, K&Co release this fabulous specialty paper pad designed by Tim Coffey called Cottage Garden and it has several different sparkly iris papers in it. How stinkin' perfect for this Dutch Iris March Release for Heartfelt Creations, eh?!!! My irises were inspired by the paper I used for my card. Too, too perfect! I love this paper!!

I used 3 stamp sets for the front of this card; Vintage Life Background stamp, the Dutch Iris Oval Set and the Dutch Iris Medley set. I know it's quite the boatload of stamps but, sometimes it just takes this much to get the results I picture in my head. This is an easy look to achieve. I stamped the oval iris image, coloured it, sponged the edges, then cut the smaller oval out of the center. I cut the smaller brown oval not only to frame the main iris image, but to camouflage where I cut it from! A totally cheater pants way of accomplishing a very complex look.

The other lickety split technique I used was to cut a vellum oval 1" larger than the iris image oval. I used the loopy corner punch to punch out the 12-3-6-9 'numbers' places that would appear on a clock face. After, I went back and evenly punch the remaining 'number' places. It was quick to do and the look is lovely!

I didn't use as many copics on this card as I seem to be using lately.  Here's the break down;

Leaves; G82, G85, G99
Upper portion of the blossom; E33, Y0000, Y00, Y11, Y15, Y18, Y21, Y23
Lower portion of the blossom; V000, V01, V04, V05, V06, V09

The inside of the card is simple and I love the look of this Sympathy Sentiment placed a little off center.

There is a great deal more inspiration on the Heartfelt Creations blog, so take a peek and enjoy!

stamps; vintage life background stamp, sympathy sentiment, dutch iris oval, dutch iris medley (heartfelt creations)
paper; cottage garden specialty (K&Co), hershey, walnut creme (bazzill), vellum (paper accents)
ink; espresso adirondack, pumice stone distress ink (ranger)
accessories; decorative dutch iris die (heartfelt creations), sm & lg classic oval nestabilities dies (spellbinders), loopy corner and border punch (martha stewart), brown brads (bo bunny), rhinestones (heidi swapp), ribbon (unknown), copic markers 

a spoon full of sugar #144- flowers, ribbon and pearls
the shabby tearoom #54 - BINGO - gems, flowers, punch 
my grafico - anything goes 
paper cutz - anything goes 
sugarcreek hollow - anything goes anniversary celebration 
stamp with fun #103 - spring! 
stamps R us - spring 
the kraft journal - spring 
aly's sunday #38 - spring 
inspiration ave - spring 
Mami doodles #22 - spring 
stamping vacation - punches and nestabilities 

Teal Happy Birthday

I had the time and inclination to make another CAS (clean and simple) birthday card using Encompassed Grace by Unity stamps.

I used some old (seriously, 5+ years old) ribbon from American Craft Elements to provide my colour inspiration. I made this card the same as the previous 2 cards with a similar CAS look and using the same Unity set. If you would like to see them, please click on the Unity label at the bottom of the post and you will find them there. I used some pearlized teal card stock to frame the main panel and embossed a clean white frame around the sentiment and ribbon using my Scor-Pal.

I am trying to make a real effort to name my favourite behind the scenes tools. It's harder than I thought it would be because they are so invisible to my creative process. I used my bow easy on this card too - big surprise there, I bet! *wink*

I hope you have a blessed week!

stamps; encompassed grace (unity)
paper; splash pearlized card stock (paper accents), canvas white (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress, pool adirondack (ranger)
accessories; ribbon (american craft elements), teal opaline adhesive pearls (basic grey)

Pink Baby Mine

I have this darling baby sentiment that I bought about 4 years ago, proudly brought it home put it in my little stamp tub, and promptly forgot about. Yoish! Not a good habit to get into, and I'm making a concentrated effort to get using my older supplies.

I made this card using Urban Prairie paper from Basic Grey. It is so bright and cheerful and it's a favourite of mine for baby cards. I admit I like making girl baby cards more than boy baby cards. It is directly tied to my ribbon and bow obsession, I suspect! I love the look of the kind of bows I make using my bow easy and so they seem to make their way on to every card.

Thanks so much for popping by today! You really make my day shine.

stamps; baby love (stampendous)
paper; urban prairie (basic grey), coconut swirl, canvas white (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; white satin ribbon (offray), pretty in pink satin ribbon (SU!), border punch (martha stewart)

Rust Unity Birthday Card

I am trying to do more clean and simple (CAS) cards since I need to get so many made every week.

I love the look of the flourishes from Encompassed Grace from i {heart} papers stamped on textured card stock. It makes it a little earthy gritty which I really love since it looks distressed without the work! Okay, really? Stamping as work? My bad! *grin*

I love the colour combination of rust and pink in this ribbon and that is where my inspiration started. Simple. Clean. Elegant!

stamps; encompassed grace (unity)
paper; hayley, canvas white (bazzill)
ink; really rust (SU!), black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; ribbon (american craft elements), pink rhinestones (kaiser), petite oval & petite scallop oval nestabilities (spellbinders)

IHP - I Love Spring

I love spring. It's my favourite season, hands down. I love the fresh, moist air after winter's freezing sterility. My favourite couple of days are when the trees develop a pale green haze as their leaves begin to open. We can't predict when it will happen, usually in May, and it never lasts more than a day or two, but it always makes me feel like I have been kissed by heaven.

I wanted to catch the emotion I feel in spring in my card - a pretty tall order, eh? I used Stampavie's My Little Lamb for this fresh spring card. Graphic45 has released a terrific paper pack aptly named Once Upon a Springtime. It's such a lovely paper collection and many of the papers are covered in darling and beautiful fairies! It's hard to get more whimsical than fairies in spring!

I went over the top colouring this image. Considering this image is 2 1/2"x3" I admit I may have used too many copic markers, but honestly, is that really possible?!! There were so many copics used in the colouring of this image, I had to split it into 2 pictures;

This is where they were used;

dress and pink flowers; R00, R01, R02, R14, R17, R20, R21, R22
hat and yellow flowers; Y0000, Y00, Y02, Y04, Y15, Y21, Y23, Y26
sky; B0000, B00, B21
grass and foliage; YG03, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97
lamb; W0, W2, W4, W6, W8
hair and skin; E0000, E00, E30, E31, E41, E42, E43, E44, E47, E49, E55

Then, since I am trying to remember to do the card insides more, I grabbed a brand new Technique Tuesday stamp set, Loving Words by Ali Edwards to stamp a sentiment on the inside. I used scraps from making the front of the card for the inside. I decided the inside needed a little burst of spring happiness too, so I punched a few butterflies and gave them a bit of a pearl trail. Loverly!

Yup, a little bit of spring happiness in my studio considering we've had 128 straight days of snow cover in my neck of the woods. I'm really excited about spring bringing more sunshine and warmth and some new colours (any colour!) to the landscape outside my studio window!

stamps; my little lamb (stampavie), loving words by ali edwards (technique tuesday)
paper; once upon a springtime (graphic 45), walnut creme (bazzill), x-press it blending card (copics), old olive (SU!)
ink; black soot distress (ranger)
accessories; sm rectangle nestabilities (spellbinders), border punch (ek success), trio butterfly punch (martha stewart), pearl flourish (zva), adhesive pearls (hero arts), copic markers, ivory ribbon (offray)

Unity Masculine Birthday Card

I have been pawing through a lot of my older paper crafting supplies lately. I have a lot of older supplies and I'm starting to think that should I never buy another scrap of paper and use what I have everyday for the rest of my life, I will still have so much paper that when I die I will still not have used it all!

To my credit, a lot of people are liking my cards and purchasing them through my church so my daughter and I can fund our Mexico Mission Trip this coming summer. I keep running out of baby cards and masculine cards of any description. I love making baby cards and I'm trying to get a couple per gender and do an occasional unisex card every week to fill the need but, I am struggling to get masculine cards made because I seem to always land a bow and rhinestones on my cards and I have occasionally ruined a perfectly good masculine card by adding a bow and some bling!

I pulled out an older Unity stamp for this card that I got from Kate at i {heart} papers and the set this sentiment is from wasn't in packaging, so I'm not sure what set it is, but I think it's fabulous. I paired it up with some older Christmas paper to make this masculine birthday card. No bows! No bling! I dirtied it up using my favourite (discontinued *grrr*) texture stamp from 'Itty Bitty Backgrounds' by Stampin' Up! I also pulled out a notebook that I bought 3 years ago because I loved the shapes of the pages by Making Memories to stamp the sentiment on.

I really am determined to make a dent in my stash this year. All you people who know me and have seen my studio can stop laughing now and then pick your jaw up off the floor! I really will get through a lot of my supplies by summer. An impoverish Mexican community is calling our names and we need to get there some how!

stamps; sentiment unknown (unity), itty bitty backgrounds (SU!)
paper; spiral journaling notebook (making memories), figgy pudding (basic grey), brown, parakeet, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; tea dye, black soot, pumice stone distress ink (ranger)
accessories; border punch (martha stewart), hemp twine (unknown), mini paper clip, word tag (T Holtz idea-ology), brushed pewter brads (making memories)

Brotherly Love - Henry & Landon

It By Lori Designs challenge day today! Check out the very St. Patrick's Day inspired colour challenge combo for today over on the By Lori Designs Challenge blog.  Brilliant! There is so much inspiration there and I would invite you to take a peek!

For my card, I used the new release Brotherly Love - Henry & Landon. This is a Special Edition image is a merge of 2 Puddle Jumper images by Mercy Kerin. I just love it and, since I am terribly tech not savvy, I am in awe of anyone who can do this kind of image editing.

I used a very old Basic Grey paper line called Vagabond that has recently been re-released as a Basic Grey Vintage line. I also cheated a little and used a sentiment from All About You by Verve stamps.

I used colours inspired by the pattern paper and I used the following copics;

background; B0000, B00, B12
little shirt; B91, B93, B95
button down shirt; YG91, YG93, YG95
white t-shirt, tires and ground; T1, T3, T5, T7
hair; Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28
wagon; E04, E07, E09, E79
skin; E000, E00, E30
pants and shoes; E31, E33, E35, E37, E59

stamps; brotherly love (by lori designs), all about you (verve)
paper; vagabond (basic grey), butter dotted swiss, powder blue, oxford (bazzill), x-press blending cardstock (copic)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; labels 12, lg & sm square nestabilities, big scallop border petite, tags (spellbinders), silver brads (making memories)

HC Sympathy

I have difficulty making sympathy cards. My heart is very tender and I never know what to say. As a result and knowing that this is an area in which I must grow I've been paying close attention to a wonderful woman in my church to whom many people turn in their grief. I have admired her ability to offer uncompromising sympathy without the awkwardness that so often tongue ties me. The March Release from Heartfelt Creations has given me excellent sentiment and images to work with so I can increase my ability to minister to others in their time of grief.

I used the Sympathy Sentiment set for this card. I will make another very soon, using With Sympathy on the interior and this sentiment featured on the interior of the card. I stamped the large iris from Dutch Iris Medley behind the sentiment to give the focal point a little depth. The green flourish was made using the Decorative Dutch Iris dies. I'm never sure if sympathy cards are best with a simple or more extravagant layout. I think I missed the mark both ways here, but I'll use these lovely sets more to increase the number of sympathy cards I have on hand!!

The rest of the design team has more inspiration for you on the Heartfelt Creations blog!

stamps; sympathy sentiment, dutch iris medley (heartfelt creations)
paper; flora & fauna specialty paper (K&Co), white canvas, sprout (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink, slate adirondack ink (ranger)
accessories; decorative dutch iris dies (heartfelt creations), labels 4 nestabilities (spellbinders), celery ribbon (SU!), pearls (kaiser)

So many NEW goodies!!!

This month, the i {heart} papers design team has been challenged to used something NEW from CHA. Oh my goodness - be still my beating heart! This can't really be a challenge, now can it?!! I found much of the product released at the most recent CHA was quite stunning. Kate started carrying many new lines and personally, I'm thrilled!

This sentiment was created using a line of stamps that Kate is now carrying; Technique Tuesday. *gasp* I nearly had a heart attack when she told us she would now be carrying this line. I LOVE THEM! For my project, I used a stamp set called, Monsters Ink. Doesn't look like monsters, does it?!! I KNOW! I really love this set. Kate had it featured on her last newsletter, and my jaw dropped when I saw the cutie pie little monsters AND I adore all the sentiments! Enough gushing.

I used the new Hazel paper pad from the Stella and Rose line by My Mind's Eye. I have to admit, I got three of the four 6x6 pads in this collection because I think they are absolutely d'lish! The instructions for this 6 pack holder I have made can be found on the Scor-Pal site and Kate carries the new and improved Scor-Pal. I must say that I can't papercraft without this tool. It's one of the things I use every time I sit at my desk to craft, but I never mention it. I find it to be one of my top 10 tools that I can't live without. Another one of those tools is my bow easy. I rarely mention it either because it's like my paper cutter or piercer or glue gun. I use it for almost every project I make and rarely remember to mention it.

I asked my oldest daughter (the one that's healthy right now) to sort through a bag of Cadbury mini eggs to colour coordinate my tubes of yummyness. This plastic tubes are fabulous containers that can hold any old thing you want to doll up and give away. DIVINE! Again, done gushing. love them though...

Check out the projects by the rest of the i {heart} papers design team and I hope you find a little bit of 'must have' along the way! If you can play along with us, please use the code ihp0311 so we can find your project and leave you a comment.

• **Kate Baldwin** owner
• Carolyn
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Kendra
• Lori
• Lynn
• Megan
• Tracy

stamps; monsters ink (technique tuesday)
paper; hazel by stella and rose (ME), walnut creme, elephant (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; petite oval lg & sm nestabilities, floral accents (spellbinders), ivory ribbon (offray), BG0000, BG000, BG01 (copic markers), plastic tubes

It's a sketch challenge!

It's my turn to post the sketch challenge for Paper Craft Planet today. I sometimes get overwhelmed by uploading other places than my comfy cozy little blog. Susanna stepped in for me and did my challenge upload and I appreciate it SO MUCH!!! She did a great job, and she even made a video for me so next month will go smoother, I hope.

Here's the sketch;

And my totally rocker girl birthday card;

I used 'Playful Alphabet' from Kitchen Sink Stamps for my letter and, since I don't have numbers that 'go' with that alphabet, I used 'Ashlyn's Alphabet' cartridge to cut out my black 2. This hot pink pattern paper is from Die Cuts with a View, Street Lace. Very cool paper!!!

I'm not sure if I'll hang on to this card or not for a certain sweet girl's Sweet 16 coming up or not. I can always do another one, or softer coloured, or lime green, or... It's anyone's guess!

If you can play along with this sketch challenge, use code sk031211 so we can find your work and leave a comment for you and we would love it if you would link it up on Paper Craft Planet so you can really show off your fabulous work!

Have a wonderful weekend!

stamps; playful alphabet (kitchen sink stamps), define your life (SU!)
paper; street lace (DCWV), canvas white, blackberry swirl (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; ashlyn's alphabet (provo), long classic rectangles lg, sm classic squares nestabilities (spellbinders), pin (T. Holtz idea-ology), jump ring, heart charm (blue moon beads), border punch (ek success), rhinestones (heidi swapp), silver painty pen (zig)

By Lori Designs Colour Challenge

 

Hi there, friends. It's Thursday and that means a colour challenge from By Lori Designs and the challenge team. While this colour challenge initially made me think boy image, I thought about my youngest daughter whose room is painted blue and green, similar to the lighter colours of today's challenge. I thought about her on a fresh spring day playing outside in her favourite pair of denim shorts under a cloudless sky and in doing so, planned out this card;

I love the sweetness of Lori's images. They are innocent and everything I want my kids to have and be in their childhood. I used Marjolaine pattern paper from Basic Grey for this card and once I decided on the paper I chose my copic colours. I used this week's Mojo Monday #181 sketch for my card layout.

I coloured this Girl with Kite with a smaller assortment of copics than I have in the recent past so she would have a more whimsical feel to her. And I just love that her kite is escaping!!

I used these copics;

skin; E0000, E00, E31
hair; E41, E43, E47
shirt; YG03, YG13, YG17
shorts; B93, B95, B97
shoes; B95, B97, B99
grass; YG03, YG25, YG63, YG97
sky; B0000, B00, B21
kite; YG03, YG13, B93, B95

Do check out the projects by the rest of the design team for some more sweet inspiration!

stamps; girl with kite digital stamp (by Lori designs)
paper; marjolaine (basic grey), not quite navy (SU!), canvas white, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; botanical border punch (martha stewart), mini scallop border punch (ek success), stylized silver hardware(SU!), sm & lg circles, sm scallop circle nestabilities (spellbinders), white satin ribbon (offray), copic markers

Heartfelt Creations Dutch Iris Collection Release Day

Linda from Heartfelt Creations has done a magnificent job of illustrating another gorgeous spring stamp set. This month, they are releasing a new collection called the Dutch Iris Collection. There are lovely sympathy sentiments, a new die set and beautiful iris sets that will please any botanical enthusiast.

For my project I've used Flora Grande 1 & 2 which coordinate with Spellbinders new release Blossoms 3 die set.

This is a very simple project that has significant wow!!! I stamped the largest 4 Flora Grande stamps using versmark on pattern paper. I embossed them using silver detail ep and I cut them out by hand simply because I don't have the new dies yet. (Dagnabbit!) I cut the petals apart to make it easier to distress each petal separately for a more realistic look. *gasp* So gorgeous and rich looking!

I glued the floral layers together and made a hole in the center to put the rhinestone button shank through. I set it aside to allow the glue to set. While I was waiting, I took my little black gift box and decorated it with a bit of coordinating pattern paper. I used my Zig painty pen to edge the pattern paper so it would echo the silver on the blossom and have a more unified look. I took some wide grey ribbon (don't ask, I haven't seen it around for a year or two) and wrapped it around the box. It occurs to me that if I were going to use this as a gift box I'd adhere the ribbon around the lid only so it would come off easily. This box is eye candy only.

I found some chipboard butterflies that were a screamin' in yer face fuchsia so I painted them lightly with some brushed pewter crackle paint. Once they were dry, I layered the butterflies and added some rhinestones and adhered it to my box using dimensionals as necessary to make it look balanced and natural. (As natural as you can get with cardboard and silver paint *grin*)

I invite you to pop over to the Heartfelt Creations blog for some fabby inspiration by the rest of the design team. Also, if you missed it, we had a blog hop on Saturday to celebrate the time we have been together on the Heartfelt Creations design team as the time for some of us comes to an end and another group of amazing artists joins the Spring Heartfelt Creations Design team.

stamps; Flora Grande 1 & 2)
paper; flora & fauna specialty pad (K&Co)
ink; versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; silver detail ep, brushed pewter crackle paint (ranger), vintage charlotte button (bazzill), silver painty pen (zig), chipboard butterflies (K&Co), ribbon (may arts?), adhesive rhinestones (heidi swapp), 

A little Monday inspiration

I made this card with a different image in mind than I have used here. I coloured a sweet little spring image and when I placed it where it would go on this card, all I could think was, 'Eeewwww!!!' The base I like. The darling little spring girl image I like. The  image and base together, not so much.

I had to find a something to fit in the space I had for that girl. I pulled out Words of Wisdom and the flourish from Rescue Remedies Additions by Waltzingmouse Stamps to use in place of the image I had coloured.  It looks like I had planned it to be this way all along! For this bow, I layered up 2 ribbons; a cream satin and an iridescent, sheer antique gold twinkle. I really love the look since it gives the sheer ribbon more weight and presence on the card.

I dolled up the inside on this card. I'm stretching myself here, but I do like the end product and I am trying to do this more often as I have time.

Have a wonderful week, Friend!

stamps; words of wisdom, rescue remedies additions (waltzingmouse stamps)
paper; curio (basic grey), raven, walnut creme (bazzill)
ink; tea dye, vintage photo, tattered rose, black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; plaque & postage die,  damask and regal emboss folders (t holtz sizzix), ivory ribbon (offray), antique gold sheer twinkle, black crochet trim (may arts), lattice pendant, labels 17 & 4, lg petite oval, lg scallop petite oval, beetle black brads (bazzill), black rhinestones (heidi swapp)

Thank-you Heartfelt Creations

 

It's a happy Saturday and the ladies on the Heartfelt Creations Design Team have put together a blog hop featuring the theme 'Thank-You'. If you have arrived here from Dee Jackson's blog, you are in the right place and Welcome! If you just popped by to see what my crafty self was up to today, *wave* and I'm so glad you are here. If you want to do the whole hop right from the beginning, start at Linda Payne's blog and work your way back here.

We are a thankful group, truly. Linda and Emma Lou at Heartfelt Creations are absolutely wonderful - Linda is so very talented and Emma Lou is a joy to work with. My time with Heartfelt Creations has been such a joy and their stamps inspire me in a very unique way. Their images are elegant and oh so lovely!

I chose the very simple and elegant 'Thank You Script' sentiment for my project. Sometimes simplicity is the most effective way to use a stamp. This Thank-you stamp is such a classic font that it is good for either masculine or feminine cards. I decided to use the butterfly die from the Flourish, Border, Butterfly Die set for a touch of feminine whimsy.

I pulled out my Capella paper for this card because I think it is the most elegant pattern paper I've ever seen and I love it! I distressed and sponged the edges for a vintage feel and added some black crochet trim. I used the largest 3 of the 5 dies from labels 14 to layer and then I mucked about with a border punch to created the striped base. I used my Xacto knife to trim it up in a way that I found artistically pleasing and cut nice straight edges with the aid of my metal ruler. I like the look of it and might just muck about more in the upcoming weeks!

To finish up our thankful hop, carry on to Cheryl's blog.

I hope you have a wonderful, inspired weekend, friends!

stamps; thank you script (heartfelt creations)
paper; capella (basic grey), raven (bazzill)
ink; pumice stone, brushed corduroy, black soot distress inks (ranger)
accessories; labels 14, sm petite oval nestabilities, fancy tags (spellbinders), flourish, border, butterfly dies (heartfelt creations), black crochet trim (may arts), black rhinestones (heidi swapp), unknown border punch (martha stewart)

So Thoughtful Blue!

My youngest daughter got into my paper scrap files and didn't clean up after herself when she was done - bless her little crafty heart! Two of the scraps she left on my desk were big enough for a card base and a little left over. I kept looking at this gorgeous blue and deep brown together thinking that they were stunning together and what pattern paper do I have that went with both?

I started flipping through paper pads and came across this sparkly beauty in my Mango Frost pad. I love the circular motif and that provided the inspiration for the rest of the card. I chose to soften the pattern on the paper by over layering thin vellum and attaching it using vanilla brads. I finally dove into my Lavish Trimmings and used the elasticized tulle here. To hide the elastic, I layered thin brown satin ribbon and tied on a little vanilla ribbon slider. I used some older K&Co gems echoing the circular design on the paper.

My little dumplin' came back and cleaned up the rest of her scraps and told me I had used the papers she had wanted. Oops! My bad! And I think it turned out pretty good!!!

stamps; rescue remedies additions (waltzingmouse stamps)
paper; mango frost (DCWV), tropical breeze, geneva (bazzill),
ink; pearlescent chocolate brilliance (tsukineko)
accessories; fancy tags, sm & lg squares nestabilities (spellbinders), lavish trimmings (ranger), adhesive gems (K&Co), very vanilla hardware (SU!), brown satin ribbon (offray)

By Lori Designs - Rylee

I'm over the moon thrilled to announce that I have joined a new Challenge Design Team for my friend, Lori Boyd because I really love her darling images. I will have posts every Thursday for By Lori Designs and every other week (next week for me) I will have the BLD colour challenge right here for your inspiration.

This week, I get to just play with these terrific digital images and for my inaugural project, I chose Rylee from Lori's Puddle Jumper image collection.

I coloured Rylee using copic markers and then dolled her up with some super sweet papers - Thrift Store from October Afternoon.

I used stardust stickles around this little cutie patootie, because you can't be this adorable without a little sparkle glow following everywhere!!!

I used these copics in the following places;

Hair & Shoes; E30, E33, E35, E37
Skin; E000, E11, E13, E93
Shirt; R29, R30, R32, R46
Pants; BG10, BG11, BG15, Y00, Y02, Y08
Grass; YG0000, YG00, YG93, YG97
Glow; Y0000, Y000, Y08, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17

Take a peek at the By Lori Designs Challenge Blog and see what the other half of the team is up too! You might just be Lori's Top Lollipop or one of the Sweet Five!

stamps; Rylee Puddle Jumpers (by lori designs)
paper; thrift store (october afternoon), white canvas, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; antique linen, tea dye distress ink (ranger)
accessories; crochet trim (may arts), yellow ribbon (fleuriste by cosmo cricket), aqua opaline adhesive pearls, buttons (basic grey), corner rounder (ek success), copic markers

Heartfelt Easter

I'm using the last of the new sets of the New Life Release from Heartfelt Creations.

These darling little eggs are from Egg-Citing Day, the sentiment is from Wrought Iron Cross and I used Stained Glass Background on my base pattern paper. When my kids were younger, we would sit around our kitchen table near Easter and they would sketch and colour on copy paper what they wanted their egg to look like and I would take their requests and draw using melted wax on the eggs we had hard boiled earlier in the day. We would then dunk the eggs in the dye and continue the wax and dye dipping process. It is such a fun childhood memory that they have, which I treasure in my heart.  There is a great website with instructions for Ukranian Egg decorating with the meaning of traditional symbols and colours.

There are many more lovely samples on the Heartfelt Creations Blog for your inspiration.Thanks for coming by today!!!

stamps; wrought iron cross, egg-citing day, stained glass background (heartfelt creations)
paper; ambrosia (basic grey), blackberry swirl, daffodil, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger), versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; iron gate punch (martha stewart), detail clear and black embossing powder (ranger), sm classic ovals nestabilities (spellbinders), pumpkin pie ribbon (SU!), copic markers

IHP Simple Thank-you

I'm trying to get a whack load of simple cards made for a fund raising venture I am involved in. My oldest daughter and I are going to Mexico in July to offer aid to an impoverished community there with our church youth group. I have permission to sell my cards after our worship services and the funds go to our trip. I need more simple cards because I need many more cards. I sold out of baby cards last Sunday and so you'll see many more welcome baby cards in the next few weeks. Oh! And masculine cards. I need more masculine cards and some get wells. Many more cards needed!!

I made this card in no time flat. I used Bazzill Basics Canvas White card stock so the white field of this card had interesting texture. I embossed a square nestabilities die on the smaller white panel and stamped the green frame from Unity stamps Encompassed Grace that I have from i {heart} papers. I stamped the Thank You sentiment from this same set and cut it out using a circle die and mounted it popping it up with a pop dot. The bow was tied using the Bow Easy tool that I used so often I forget to list it as an accessory, much like I forget to list my stamp cleaner! A few rhinestones added to bling up the gorgeous frame, and it's done!

stamps; encompassed grace (unity)
paper; canvas white, parakeet (bazzill)
ink; peeled paint, black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; sm classic square, sm classic circles nestabilities (spellbinders), green bling it (basic grey), old olive satin ribbon (SU!), bow easy