Graceful Garden

Here is another card I made that I wanted to share.  When I first saw this stamp set, Graceful Garden, in the new annual catalog, I thought it was so lovely and I knew it was going on my must have list.  I am not sure why I waited this long to make anything with it.  It comes with the option of a suite of items that go along with it and they are so lovely.  When I decided to get my inks out I opted to do some watercoloring with my Aqua Painter and used Rose Red and Sweet Sugarplum.  When finished, I looked at the pretty papers that are in the suite and realized that they were made up of entirely different colors.  I didn't want to start over, so I instead used some of the gorgeous paper from the Bundle of Love paper set and came up with this!  What do you think?

I cute the rose and the leaves off of the stem and then popped them up a bit to give some dimension to the card.  Underneath of that is a doily and some vellum.   I used the new Pretty Label punch to make a label in gold foil and the Stitched Shapes framelit for the sentiment.

I finished everything off with some of the new Iridescent Sequins.

It's just a pretty card.  It makes me happy.  And it was very therapeutic to sit with my Aqua Painter and layer the different colors over the top of the image.  The line drawings are beautiful enough that anyone can feel like an artist when they are finished.

Heartland

Today I decided to showcase a traditional stamp set that I found very beautiful. Heartland contains those detailed line drawings that allow the stamp to do all the work for you.  No fancy coloring or technique is necessary as the beauty is in the simple one stamp details.

Using Very Vanilla card stock, I stamped a background image using the Hardwood stamp, and then inked the edges with a sponge to get the wood look.  The image of the boy with the geese was heat embossed with copper and then cut into the oval shape with the layering ovals framelit die set.  I layered everything onto a doily.  Simple and sweet.

In This World

I have had this stamp set for quite some time, as it came out in last years Annual Catalog.  When I ordered it, I accidentally ordered it mounted on wood blocks, which was in error, as I never choose that form as I prefer to use the clear mount stamps.  They use the clear acrylic blocks and take up much less space.  Plus, they are more inexpensive.   So, I longingly looked at this set, imagining what I could do with it, but not wanting to break it out and deal with the set up on blocks...and really, just not committing to even owning it.  Today, I broke it out and I am so glad!  What a beautiful set.  I can't even begin to do justice with it's potential, but I wanted to give it a try.

The set lends itself to an architectural style and I loved the vintage feel of it all.  I decided to build the images up in a collage style to showcase them all, and then chose one image, the butterfly, to emboss in copper.  I used the colors Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso.  I used some different ribbons to try and build some texture as well.  I will add the supplies used at the end of this post so it is easier to visualize what was used.

I would love to hear your opinions on my cards.  I do believe I waited to long to give this one a try and already have some other ideas cooking around in my mind that I could build off of.  Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Celebration Time!

Hey everyone!  I have another fun project to share with you today.  Who doesn't love a birthday?  Or any celebration to be more accurate?  I know I do.  When I saw this stamp set and matching die set, I knew I wanted to have it because the possibilities were endless.  My examples here are only the tip of the iceberg,  because I didn't even make a card to share.   Also, the dies are so much fun!  There are banners and 3-tier cakes, bows and candles and of course all the cuts you see here with the tags to assemble and party hats.  It's a fun-o-rama!

 I used some of the foam adhesive strips to assemble these adorable tags and created some fun shakers with the new Iridescent Sequin Assortment.  So much fun!  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and the cute factor was well worth the effort.

 I also used some of the new Bermuda Bay Mini Chevron Ribbon.  This ribbon is so nice and soft and easy to work with.  I don't like ribbons that are pretty but bulky when trying to tie a bow.  This one did not bulk up on me, which is a bonus, because tying a bow isn't my forte.

And what about this cute little gift bag?  This was created with the Gift Bag Punch Board.  It allows us to create 3 different sized bags, 2" deep, and up to 3-5/8 wide.  These can be from 4" to 10" tall.

So, what do you think of this fun set?  I really love it!

Text Ya Later

I thought I would share a fun little card I put together that showcases a whimsical little stamp set called Text Ya Later.  In this day and age, who wouldn't get a kick out of this set?  I think this would be equally fun to use on a scrapbook layout, planner or journal.  I also used the new designer series paper Naturally Eclectic.  It showcases so many bright and colorful colors with a fun watercolor effect.  

I made a bunch of these cards to share in a swap this month.  They made up really quickly, which was good since I needed 19 of them to share!  It's not easy to tell in the photo but the little emoji text fits perfectly in a standard hole punch, so I was able to add it on with a glue dot.

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Independence Day to everyone!  I thought I would share a fun little project that I made to  gift to my team at work.  These are similar to the holiday crackers, not so common in the USA, but more so in Europe.  This isn't a "real" cracker, as there is no "pop" to it, but it's cute like one!  And, inside are chocolates!  Yummy!

My dilemma was that I didn't have any patriotic patterned paper that was current in our new catalog.  That is, until I used my imagination a little bit and found something special over in the Eastern Palace Collection.  This lovely Dapper Denim paper mixed with some foil accents made the look a little extra special.  The tag was made with Large Number Framelits and the star from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits.  The Mini Sequin Trim added just another level of fun.

How did I create the cracker candy box?  Well, this is where it gets trickier.  A few years ago I bought a punch board like the one here, and that is how I constructed these.  I used a paper that was 4"x7".  However, there are numerous youtube videos showing how to make a candy box cracker from the Envelope Punch Board, so if you want to get creative, you can look that up.

I needed to make a whole lot of these and didn't have enough of the Designer Series Paper from our current catalog, so I went into my old paper stacks to use up some that is no longer available to purchase.  Don't we all have pretty paper that we hoarded and never got the opportunity to use?  I know I sure do!  And here is a view of them.  I used Night of Navy for my blue, and Cherry Cobbler for the 2" circle.

Here is a close up of the little cracker.  

And here is a whole basket of crackers, ready to give out to my team.  Happy 4th of July!!

Craft Room Tour

On this nice Monday morning, I thought it might be fun to share my crafting space with you.   Recently, I moved from my small office downstairs, where everything was always in a jumble to such an extreme, I couldn't concentrate enough to feel any creativity, to an unused bedroom in my upstairs.  My husband and I had been systematically working through each room giving them a nice fresh coat of paint, and I mentioned it would be nice to have more room and so he had me plan it all out.  It took quite a few weeks for me to get it the way I liked it, but I finally feel ready to have my reveal now.

TA-DA!

Where it all happens!  Here is my desk, surrounded by all my favorite things.

This work table is where I do my die cutting and heat embossing.  I love the peg board where many items are available and within reach.  The table has some built in shelves that can't be viewed from this shot, but they store more items, such as older dies and embossing folders, along with binding equipment and other such tools.

A view from my doorway.  I sit with my back to the window and enjoy a lot of natural light.  A beautiful tree is outside my window and I can hear the birds singing all day.  I honestly would be happy to spend days in here.

Another angle from my desk.  I love this desk so much.  It's long enough that I can make a nice mess while I am working on a project, but still find some reason to the chaos.  In the past, it wouldn't matter how hard I tried to keep up with the clutter, I would lose all inspiration because of the mess everywhere!

All the many, many bins.  I have filled them with all the supplies I have acquired over the years from design teams as well as Stamping' Up!  I have labeled them for easy reference.  Now everything has a place to go.

Another view of my work table.  I love my Ikea cart too.

It's a lovely creative space.  I feel very blessed.

And last but not least...my little sitting nook.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my craft room.  Come visit me and we can craft together!

Making Room in Your Heart

This card is a total case from another person's blog.  Usually, I will get inspiration from other's ideas and make them my own.  However, I loved everything about this design and copied!  I love the pinks and browns and the way they go together so well.

It's a funny thing, but the Jar of Love stamp set and matching dies were ones I couldn't wait to get my hands on when they came out in last year's annual catalog.  I never popped them out of their box, however, and then some time went by and I stopped playing with paper and ink while I spent many months going through some health related issues.  I am now healthy again and feeling crafty, so I came back to this set.  When I found this card idea, I had no idea that these flowery images were part of this stamp set because I had been mainly focused on the jars.  What a surprise!  And what a versatile set because this card doesn't feature a single jar!  LOL. Oh, how I love this flowers in a soft meadow look.  I hope you like it too!

The sentiment is also from one of last years stamp sets Layering Love.  I am grateful that there are still so many stamp sets that I had never used that carried over to our new annual catalog that was just released earlier this month. 

I also love the layering and gold embossing touches here and there on this card.  I knew it was going to be one of those cards that takes some time because of all the extra steps that add all the special touches.  So, in cases like that, it's just as easy to make 4 than it is to make just 1.  This way, I can give some away and keep one for myself.  I love to keep one for myself so I can look at it again and again.  *sigh...so pretty!