2011 April » fresh & fun

Beautiful day

CAS, Challenge, Die-namics, My Favorite Things 17 Responses »

Apr 212011

I created this card back in March for a Way to Use it Challenge on Splitcoast. The challenge was to use Felt on your project.

I started by cutting two pieces of white felt with the Rolled Roses Die-namics die. A Daisy and leaves were cut out of yellow and green felt with the Upsy Daisy Die-namics dies. For the sentiment panel I cut a piece of Cork with the biggest of the Layered label Die-namics die. With the smallest of those label dies a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock was cut. That smaller label was stamped with a sentiment from the Framed Greetings stamp set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. Small light green Hero Arts Pearls were adhered underneath the sentiment.

The card base is a 4″ x 12″ piece of Kraft cardstock folded in half. The bottom corners were rounded before a 1/4″ smaller piece of Echo Park Springtime paper was stitched to it. After the label and flowers were adhered to the card base, a white Pearl swirl was adhered above the sentiment panel to finish off the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!
Hugs and smiles

Video tutorial - Stamping with Bleach

Crafty Secrets, Nestabilities, Video Tutorial 17 Responses »

Apr 202011

Today’s tutorial on Splitcoast is written by the wonderful Joanne Basile and it’s for a Paper bag book. I didn’t have time before leaving on vacation to make one, but I hope you check it out. I hope to make one when I get back from Florida with new beach pictures!

For the “From the Archives” section I decided to shoot the video for the Stamping with Bleach tutorial. I had just gotten the new Crafty Secrets Love You Mother stamp set in the mail. I love this set and decided to use the Mother/child image for the technique.

I started by cutting a piece of Kraft cardstock with Classic Circle Nestabilities dies. The background stamp was stamped in Frayed Burlap Distress ink all over the Circle, while the die was still on the cardstock. Next the circle was sponged with the same ink. The mother/child image was inked with bleach and stamped in the center of the circle. I cleaned the stamp right away after stamping with bleach. I was wondering if I could use clear stamps for this technique and was a little worried about using this darling image. But it worked out great.

The circle was stitched to a piece of Canyon Brown cardstock, cut and embossed with the new Spellbinders Parisian Motifs die. Blush Kaisercraft Pearls were were adhered to the left and right to Recollection flowers.

a 4 3/4″ piece of Vanilla cardstock was cut and embossed with one of the Parisian Accent dies and adhered under a 2 3/4″ x 4 3/4″ piece of Once Upon a Springtime Graphic 45 paper. The layers were adhered to a 4 3/4″ square out of the Baby 2 Bride Graphic 45 collection. The layers were stitched to a 3/16″ bigger piece of Canyon Brown cardstock.

Another piece of Brown cardstock was cut and embossed with the corner die from Parisian Accents and adhered to the upper right cover. May Arts Silk ribbon was tied around the horizontal layer before the layers were adhered to a card base, a 5 1/4″ x 10 1/2″ piece of Textured Vanilla cardstock.

The image layers were adhered to the card base with dimensionals and a few more Blush Kaisercraft pearls were added to the corner die cut to finish off the card.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!
Hugs and smiles

Happy Little Gnome

Borderabilities and Pendants, Challenge, Copics, Meljen's Designs, Nestabilities, SCS - Sketch Challenge, Whimsy Stamps 24 Responses »

Apr 192011

I created this card in March for a Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast. I started out with printing out the Happy Little Gnome on Neenah Solar White cardstock, cut it with a Small Label Nestabilities die and colored it with Copic Markers (Skin: E50, E51, E53, pants and hat: BG11, BG32, BG45, Shirt and Patch: Y32, Y17, YR15, YR18, hearts: R02, R05, Socks (E23, E25, E27, E29, Sky: B0000, B000, grass: YG11, YG13, YG17).

The image was layered on a piece of Canyon Brown cardstock that had been cut and embossed with a Jumbo Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities die. The edges of the image were paper pierced.

All the patterned paper used on this card are from the Fine and Dandy True Blue My Mind’s Eye Paper. The diagonally strip is 2 1/2″ wide. Two white strips were cut and embossed with the Eyelet Borderabilities die and adhered under the diagonal strip. The strip was adhered to a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of the same paper pack. The lower corners were rounded before decorative stitching was added.

Three buttons were stitched to the lower left of the layers before they were adhered to a card base, a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Kraft cardstock, folded in half.

The sentiment is from Whimsy Treasured Moments Tickets. It was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on a piece of Solar White cardstock, cut and embossed with Petite Oval Nestabilities and colored with Copic Markers YR30 and YR31. A small Cappuccino Twine bow on the side of the sentiment panel finish of the card.

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

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge

Challenge, Copics, Nestabilities, Penny Black 28 Responses »

Apr 182011

For Saturday’s Sweet Stop sketch I decided to use this darling image from Penny Black’s Tiny Wishes Stamp set. The hedgehog was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Solar White cardstock. The image was cut out with Classic Square Nestabilities dies and the Out of the Box Technique.

The image was colored with Copic Markers ( Hedgehog: E40, E41, E43, E44, E47, E49 Mushrooms: T0, T1, T4, E01, E02, E04 Ladybug: R27, R59 Grass: G24, G28 Sky: B0000, B000, B01) and layered on a piece of Canyon Brown cardstock, cut and embossed with a Beaded Square Nestabilities die. The edges of the image layer were paper pierced.

A 2 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ piece of Stella & Rose Hazel Paper was adhered to a 4 3/4″ square from the same paper pack. Melissa Frances white lace was adhered on the bottom of the horizontal strip before the layers were stitched to a 3/16″ bigger piece of Canyon Brown cardstock. Brown May Arts Organdy ribbon was tied above the lace.

The edges of a 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ piece of Hazel and a 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ piece of Stella & Rose Hattie Paper were stitched before they were adhered to the center of the layers along with the image layers. All the layers were adhered to the card base, a 5 1/4″ x 10 1/2″ piece of Kraft cardstock folded in half.

A sentiment from the set was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Neenah White cardstock which had been cut and embossed with a Spellbinders die. The embossed part was colored with Copic Marker B0000. Recollections flowers as well as Champagne Kaisercraft Pearls finish off the card.

I hope you have time to try out the sketch. Having “crooked” layers is hard for me, but it was fun. Always nice to be pushed out of the comfort zone.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day.
Hugs and smiles

All Things Unity - A Sketch

CAS, Unity Challenge, Unity Stamps 19 Responses »

Apr 172011

Today’s ATU challenge is a sketch! I used the sketch and the colors from this weeks Tuesday Trigger (check blog post below for image) to create my card. For my sample I used stamps from last May Kit of the Month stamp set. I started by rounding the bottom corners of a 3 3/4″ x 5″ piece of Solar White cardstock.

The background label was stamped three times on the lower bottom of the layer with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. A sentiment from the kit was stamped on the lower right hand side with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.

On the upper half of the layer I stamped the banner in black ink. The banner was stamped again on three different pattern of October Afternoon’s Fly A Kite paper and the banner pieces were paper pieced to the main layer. Caribbean Twine was adhered over the banner.

The layer was stitched to the card base, a 4″ x 10 1/2″ piece of Kraft cardstock folded in half. The bottom corners were rounded as well. A button from Buttons Galore and More was threaded with Lemon Drop Twine and adhered over the sentiment to finish off the card.

I hope you have time to play! It’s a fun sketch. Check out the other challenge blog team members for more inspiration:

Have a great weekend!
Hugs and smiles

Waltzingmouse Sketch and Tuesday Trigger inspiration

Nestabilities, Tuesday Trigger, Waltzingmouse, Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 38 Responses »

Apr 162011

I love this weeks Tuesday Trigger image. LOVE the colors and love that gorgeous mirror. So far I have created two cards for it and I am thinking there might be more. LOL

For this weeks sketch, the mirror was my main inspiration! I had just received my Fancy Tag Three dies and had to use them right away. I cut Real Red cardstock with one of the dies and sponged it with Fired Brick Distress Ink.

To top it I cut and embossed Solar White cardstock with a Classic Oval Nestabilities die. A sentiment from Fancy Phrases was stamped in the oval with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. The edges of the oval were sponged with Antique Linen Distress ink.

With my Fancy Tag dies, I also received the new Foliage dies. I cut and embossed Wild Wasabi cardstock with two of the dies and sponged them with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. The leaves were adhered under the frame and three aqua Recollections flowers were added.

Two corners of a 3 3/4″ x 5″ piece of October Afternoon Thrift Store paper were rounded. The paper was stitched to a 3/16″ bigger piece of Kraft cardstock after a piece of white Melissa Frances ribbon was adhered across the layers.

The layers were adhered to the card base, a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Solar White cardstock folded in half. The frame was adhered to the card base with dimensionals.

I hope you have time to play one or both of the challenges. I LOVE the sketch and the inspiration piece.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs and smiles

Video tutorial - Bleached out Images

Copics, Crafty Secrets, Grand Nestabilities, Video Tutorial 33 Responses »

Apr 142011

For last Wednesday’s Newsletter I updated the Bleached out Image Tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. For the new sample I used one of my favorite Crafty Secrets stamps, the Roses.

I stamped the image in Black Soot Distress ink on Kraft cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder. Next I used a brush to apply bleach over the image. The bleached cardstock turned a light yellow.

Once the bleach dried, the image was colored with Copic Markers (Y21, Y32, G21, G24, G28). The cardstock was cut with a Grand Circle Nestabilities die and stitched on a piece of Vanilla cardstock, cut and embossed with a Grand Scallop Circle Nestabilities die.

A 3″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Hometown October Afternoon Paper was adhered to a 5 1/4″ square of the same patterned paper (other side). The layer were stitched to a 3/16″ bigger piece of Vanilla cardstock. May Arts Ivory Silk Ribbon was tied around the horizontal paper strip.

The layers were adhered to the card base, a 5 3/4″ x 11 1/2″ piece of Kraft cardstock, folded in half. The image layers were adhered to the card base with dimensionals. Latte Kaisercraft Pearls finish off the card front.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!
Hugs and smiles

P.S.: I am not sure if I get a post ready for tomorrow. The last few days I have been prepping like crazy for my next class at Simply Scrapbooks this Saturday. I am also trying to work ahead for next week! We are going back to Florida for a week during the kids spring break! We can’t wait! To be warm without a space heater or lots of layers of clothing…..To feel the sun warming your skin while lounging on the beach…..HEAVEN!

Whimsy April Rubber Stamp Release

Copics, Grand Nestabilities, Special Fold Card, Whimsy Stamps 78 Responses »

Apr 132011

It’s time for the new Whimsy Rubber stamp release. The Whimsy Stamps DT have been sneak peeking these fabulous stamps for the past 5 days, so if you missed them be sure to hop on over to the Whimsy Inspirations Blog for some more inspiration!

This month there are 13 fabulous new Whimsy Stamps plus 2 new wonderful dies to show to you today! These new goodies are available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favorites.

If you would like to participate in the hop and you didn’t arrive here from Debbie ‘s blog, please CLICK HERE to return to the beginning of the hop at Annika’s blog.

The hop starts today (Wednesday April 13th at noon EST) and ends on Wednesday April 20th at noon EST.

For this hop we have 6 different prize draws! We have not one but TWO grand prize draws, so two lucky hoppers will win a large selection of new release stamps. Grand Prize 1 will be for those who help us advertise the hop, and Grand Prize 2 will be for those who hop along with us. Also, we have 4 mini candy stops throughout the hop where you can enter to win a new release stamp! I’m not going to tell you where they are, so if you haven’t found them you’ll just have go back to the beginning and start hopping!

For my card I used the image Come Fly With Me created by Crissy Armstrong. It was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored with Copic Markers (Turtle Shell: E81, YG93, E87 Skin:YG21, YG23, YG63 Ribbon: YR00, YR12, YR15, YR18 Hat: colors of band plus Y02, Y06, Y08).

The balloon of the image was stamped again on Echo Park Playground paper. It was colored with Copic Markers (YR00, YR12, YR15), cut out and adhered to the main image.

The image was cut with a Grand Circle Nestabilities die. A few clouds were cut with the cloud Die-namics die out of Tim’s Mask sheet and adhered over the cardstock circle. The Nestabilities die was placed back over the cardstock and the circle was airbrushed with Copic Marker B02.

The image was adhered to a piece of textured Soft Suede cardstock and it was hand cut into a bit bigger circle layer. The edge of the image layer was paper pierced.

The image was adhered to a round circle easel card base, cut and embossed out of Imperial Core’dinations cardstock.

The inside of the card was decorated to match the card front. I cut the same size white cardstock circle, layered it on Soft Suede cardstock and added Echo Park Playground paper on the bottom half of the circle.

The upper edge of the playground paper was cut with the Grass Die-namics die. May Arts Gingham ribbon was tied around the layers before they were adhered to the inside of the card.

A sentiment from the new Party Mini Letter Seals was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored with Copic Markers. It was cut and embossed with Circle Nestabilities and adhered underneath the bow.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Next on the blog hop is Donna.

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs and smiles

Painted Fragments

CAS, IE Monthly challenge, Nestabilities, Stampers Anonymous 25 Responses »

Apr 122011

This is one of the cards I made for the new Inspiration Emporium Challenge, which is to use fragments on your project.

For this sample I used a round fragment (which are unfortunately retired), stamped an image from Tim’s Urban Chic stamp set in Jet Black Archival ink and let it dry. Next I turned it over and added paint from Adirondack Acrylic Paint Aqua, Red Pepper and Sunset Orange. Once that was dry I used it as focal point of my card.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Solar White cardstock folded in half. The corners were rounded and the card front was embossed with Cuttlebug’s Brocade Embossing folder.

A 2″ x 4 1/4″ piece of Playground Echo Park paper as adhered over a piece of black cardstock, that had been cut and embossed with the new Rectangle Lattice Nestabilities. It was adhered to the lower half of the card base. White organdy Ribbon was tied around the strip and a Muse Token was attached to the ribbon with iridescent curling ribbon.

I hope you have time to play. You could win a $50 shopping spree at Inspiration Emporium.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

Whimsy Sneak peek with Sweet Stop Sketch

Copics, Meljen's Designs, Nestabilities, Whimsy Stamps 19 Responses »

Apr 112011

Today is the Sneak peek day for Meljen’s new rubber stamp release with Whimsy Stamps. Melanie created some gorgeous fairies as rubber stamps. I think her fairies are darling and I am so excited to have some as actual stamps now!

The Sweet Stop sketch is one with lots of layers, including circular ones. I LOVE that!

I started by stamping the Little Fairy Friend in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock. It was cut out with a Classic Rectangle Nestabilities die and the Out of the Box technique. The fairy was colored with Copic Markers (Dress: YG11, YG13, YG17, G24, G28, G29 Hair: Y17, YR15, E08 Skin: E000, E01, E02 Wings: BG10, BG11, BG13 Sky: B0000, B000, B12 Ladybug: R08, R24, R29)

It was adhered to a piece of Kraft cardstock that had been cut and embossed with a Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities die and the edge of the image was paper pierced.

Two pieces of yellow Echo Park Springtime paper were stitched to slightly bigger pieces of Kraft cardstock. The layers were embossed with Tim’s Retro Circles Embossing Folder. A small circle was punched with a 1 3/8″ circle punch out of Echo Park Playground paper and stamped with a sentiment from Treasured Moment Tickets in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. The circle was adhered partially under the main image layers on the right hand side.

A bigger circle was cut and embossed out of the same paper with a circle Nestabilities die and adhered under the left corner of the image layers. All layers were adhered to a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Little Boy Echo Park paper, which was adhered to the card base, a 4 1/2″ x 11 1/2″ piece of Textured white cardstock from Stampin’ Up!

Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestones were added to the circular layers. A white organdy ribbon bow as adhered to the lower right corner of the image. Glossy Accents over the ladybug and Stardust Stickles over the fairy wings finish off the card front.

Because Whisper White cardstock from Stampin’ Up! is rather thin and my card front has a lot of layers, I had to ad a layer to the inside of the card to “stiffen” it up a bit. It’s just a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Kraft cardstock layered with a 2″ wide strip of Echo Park Springtime paper.

I hope you have time to participate in the sketch challenge. It’s a fun one! Get that patterned paper out and cut it up! Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Hugs and smiles