Has it really been that long?!

Lordy! How can it possibly have been that long since I've posted? Oh, yeah, Christmas...! Besides the usual hustle and bustle of the season (two-almost-three year old!) and my procrastinator tendencies, my grandmother hasn't been doing very well. Sadly, she's in a nursing home about 800 miles away - makes for a difficult visit. According to the nursing staff she *is* doing a little better now, but the added stress was hell on the season. I've been pestering the staff everyday but it's hard to be this far away during the holidays.

Since Christmas is over, and I know that many of you are on Christmas card overload, I'll just make a quick post of some more cards that have been sent. There is something exciting - a new (??) technique that I haven't seen anywhere else. I *might* have found something all my own! :)

This first card is the *new* technique! I don't have time to write up what I did just yet - but I will! My very first tutorial - won't that be fun? Pay extra close attention to the deer... why yes, I do believe there is some dimension there! :) I think the card in general is pretty self explanatory, Martha Stewart punch on several layers (even the base), some glitter, some acrylic paint (yes, that was a hint!) and a little glitter pen.

The second card doesn't show the glimmer - but it's there! This was done using some Basic Grey paper in not-so-traditional colors with inks to match. Again, glitter pen (in the red snowflakes on the base), some piercing and a glimmery look on the sentiment panel. The gold/brown ribbon is also pretty shimmery and is quickly becoming my favorite. I'll have to get up to Fort Collins soon to get some more!

This final card is also on some Basic Grey holiday paper. This time I used some adhesive rubons and coated them with white flock. After they were all coated I realized that you couldn't see the white flock against the background... bummer! So I dusted the flock with Perfect Pearls to make the 'snowflakes' stand out. Those flakes were actually flowers, but I like them my way better! A nestie tag, sentiment (dusted with more pp) and velvet ribbon completed the look. Well... then I just *had* to add some more of my new favorite ribbon over the velvet. I *love* the look of stacked ribbon. Yes, I even stack ribbon on Christmas presents! (I'm sick, I know - but I wrap beeyoootiful prezzies!)

Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed my final (??) post of Christmas cards. Come back soon to see my very first tutorial!

Christmas cards galore!

I'm baaaack! :)

I've been crafting Christmas cards like a crazy woman. I know, I know. Most people have already made and sent theirs... I like to 'age' mine first! :D

I do have some more in process (one is actually done but no pic yet) but I figured I better put these up before January... or later....

First up, a funny/cute card I made a while ago. It's a shaker card with a bunch of different glitters in the shaker part. Some Martha, some from Wally world - just a hodge podge. After I was done sticking it all together I wished that I had put less stuff in there - it's difficult to get it out of the way to read the 'funny'. Oh well, I don't make them very often so I tend to forget that less is more! The 'funny' says 'May Santa grant you the serenity to accept the gifts you can't return, the courage to exchange the ones you can, and the receipts to know the difference!' - which I think is hysterical! Ho, Ho, Ho! was stamped with an alphabet set from Hero Arts. Papers are from one of those scrapbook paper sets you could get at Michaels ( but I think they're either on clearance or all gone by now). Can you tell that I drew over the 'ribbons' with a glitter pen? Hey, Christmas is about BLING! :D

Up next is one made with one of those cheapie felt stocking shapes from Hobby Lobby (like ten in a package for about 2 dollars? this set came with white, red and green ones). I painted it with a silver paint dauber (from Ranger) and then dunked it in glitter. After it was dry I glued it to the background paper that I made using Tim's wrinkle free distress technique and cut it out. The aqua panel is edged with the same silver dauber, then raised off the navy panel which I ran through the cuttlebug swirl folder. Ribbon is from Target (in the wedding/invitation section). Since the folders don't reach all the way to the edges (grrrr) I used a silver pen to dot around the border - double dots on the bottom since I can't seem to line everything up 'just so'. (another grrrr!)

This next card was made with a clear set I bought at Wally world for *cheap*. And yes, you get what you pay for! :) I dig this angel tho, so I was willing to put up with (ahem) less than perfect. You probably can't tell, but the angel is on a piece of the same background that I glued to the stocking on the previous card. This little piece gives you a better idea of what it looks like IRL - and BTW, those gorgeous flourishes are from Bea at Katzelkraft. I *LOVE* those flourishes. The sentiment took a turn for the worse when I tried to stamp it in gold (you couldn't see it!), then went over it with a black glaze pen, then decided it looked too stark - so I brushed it with gold perfect pearls. Hmpf. It does look better IRL, sorta looks like a hot mess in the picture though. The stars on the angel's dress are colored over with a gold pen. The little stars near the top are leftovers from the Martha Stewart snowflake border (the style matched perfectly!) that I glued on.

This final one is something I've seen versions of all over. The top panel is shimmery white c/s run through the cuttlebug folder then cut with a small nestie. The inner card is also cut with a nestie so you can see the sentiment through the window. The ribbon is sandwiched between the layers and bling added to the ribbon. Since the bling didn't have anything to relate to, I went over the sentiment with a glitter pen (it says 'Peace' and is also from the cheapie Wally world set). That makes them look like they belong together - color and bling wise.

Since I'm putting up so many cards in this single post, I hope you'll forgive me for not listing the recipe like I usually do. If you have ANY questions about supplies or techniques, please leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP! Thanks for visiting!

A square card

Can you believe how fast time is moving? These last few weeks seem to move like lightning! Between shopping and being crafty - well I just can't believe we're so far into December already. It must be true that the older you get, the faster time moves! lol

I do have some Christmas cards to share, but not today! (read: I can't find the bloody camera) I usually make cards in the 'regular' size. Mostly because it's easy to cut c/s, or if you're even more crunched for time, buy the appropriate size. Today I used a premade blank that measures about 5 1/2 inches square. I think I've had the package for at least five years... what does that tell you? (HA! It should tell you that I have *way, way too much paper*.)

The panel itself was just me slapping some color on some white cardstock. All Distress Inks (yum, I do love me some distress inks!) in greens, blues, purple and orange over a base of the new VersaMark Dazzle Frost. The VM gave it a nice shimmer, very understated. [ed. note: I have bought the VM champagne color also but haven't tried it yet. I didn't really see any difference between using this VM or another shimmery ink like Opalites. I don't think I'd buy it again, I have too many other inks that basically do the same thing.] I liked the background enough that I didn't want to cut it down to fit on a regular card - hence the square size.

First I stamped the birds in a platinum color, but you really couldn't see them. So I over stamped the birds (and the flourish) in Brilliance Lightning Black which makes them look a lot closer to the color of the base IRL.

Here you can get a closer look at those bead type thingys (yes, very technical!). I'm not sure who makes them, I know I bought several packs at Hobby Lobby when they were on clearance. I *think* they might have originally be for decorating tee shirts? They aren't black, more of a hematite color, which bridged the gap between the c/s and the deep black of that sticky back felt swirl.

And, can I just say, that sticky back felt is the very *devil* to work with?! Trust me, that stuff STICKS. To everything. Including your hands while you're trying (really, really hard) to keep your temper! lol It's just as well that I didn't buy a whole lot of it... dh would have to bring the jaws of life and an enormous bottle of Undo to get me free. Wouldn't that be a pretty picture! :D

Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit me, I truly appreciate it!

Recipe: square card base from Stampendous, Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Dried Marigold, VersaMark Dazzle in Frost, Brilliance Lightning Black & Graphite Black, sticky back felt from Queen & Co, beady thingys from Hobby Lobby, gorgeous Flourish from Katzelkraft, Birds from Inkadinkado, sentiment from Hampton Art, Glossy Accents

Another Christmas card

Hi there! Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I can say that we *have*, just... not the really important gifts. You know, the ones for your nearest and dearest? :)

I spent time making a couple more Christmas cards, but I think I'll only post one today. Today's card uses the awesome clear set from Inkadinkado that I've been dying to find. I've been hunting this set for a while now and *finally* managed to get the VERY LAST ONE! I was so excited that I had to come home and play with it immediately!

There isn't too much that isn't self explanatory, except maybe the ribbon. Yes, I folded the ribbon over a couple of times to create more of a 'present' look. Then I just needed to add a little bling. I know the picture doesn't show the color of the crystals very well, but they are *RED* in real life and match the Basic Grey paper very well. A little touch of gold on either side and it was good to go. Those are gold snaps (not brads) so I used my Crop A Dile to put the holes through the ribbon & set them. Good thing you can't see the backs... am I the only one that can't use the CAD and make the setting in the back look good?!? Sheesh, what a mangled mess!

Oh, and the other thing you may not be able to see well is the glitter. I sprayed both the bird panel and the BG panel with Pearl Glimmer Mist and let dry overnight. Then I used my Sakura glitter pen to go over some of the white parts in the bird and around the embossed edge of the panel. Gives just a little glimmer IRL.

I hope you like it!

Recipe: Stamp from Inkadinkado, Warm Red Chalk Ink, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, Sakura glitter pen, SU! ticket corner punch, Basic Grey paper, Bazzil c/s, red Swarovski crystals, gold snaps, Cuttlebug & Nestabilities, pop dots

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! To me, finally, we're allowed to look forward to Christmas. Yes, I'm one of those people that get irritated when Christmas music starts playing two months early... mostly because those songs get stuck in my head! :)

Now I can feel good about posting Christmas cards, which is my intention today. I have to say that I didn't come up with this idea myself, I CASEd it from Beate (here). This is actually pretty unusual for me, I don't generally *like* to CASE, but this time I just fell in LOVE with the look she achieved. I made two versions, but I think I like them both the same amount - very unusual!

For this first one I used a tree from a set that I bought from Stamp Oasis (part of Rubbernecker now). I've always loved the SU! set Lovely As A Tree but I just can't justify buying it. I think this tree does a great job instead. And yes, those trees in the background also came in the same set from SO. I think the Peace and Joy sentiment also came from Stamp Oasis, but that would have been waaaay back in the day - long before Rubbernecker bought them.

There was a certain amount of 'technique' (if you want to call it that! ROFL) to getting this glitter on. First I squeezed glue (MS glitter glue) along the tops of the branches, thoroughly glittered, then smushed and dragged it downward so it would look more like snow on branches. Instead of piles of glitter! :)

For the second one I used a branch from Third Coast. Again, I think this does an excellent job of taking over for the SU! set. Both cards have Martha Stewart glitter in Carrara Marble on the branches but it's a lot thicker on this one. I wanted to add the piercing that Beate did on this one, I think it adds to the overall feeling. I forgot that I wanted to add background trees to this one too, hence the background snowflakes. They're very light IRL, I think they look just as nice as the trees in the first one.

Here's a closer look at the snowflake and glitter. You can really see all the dimension that the glitter has. I had to use the Martha Stewart glitter glue; it just seemed to hold the glitter better than the others that I tried. I used my Cuttlebug to cut out the snowflake from plastic packaging (one of the embossing folder covers) then coated it with Stickles. The stickles had a pinkish cast (?!?) so I dumped a bunch of the Carrara glitter on the wet stickles and 'smushed' it. That's right, I *smushed* this too! lol

As always, I appreciate your visit!

Recipe for 1st card: natural and bronze c/s, Distress ink Vintage Photo, Chalk ink Warm Green, London Fog Memento, Adirondack Snow Cap, VersaColor Sky Gray, white Gelly Roll pen, MS glitter and glue, Stamp Oasis trees and sentiment

Recipe for 2nd card: natural and evergreen c/s, Ancient Page Pine, Adirondack Snow Cap, Versa Color Sky Gray, white Gelly Roll pen, MS glitter and glue, Cuttlebug & snowflake die, Stickles, Glossy Accents, piercing template & paper piercing tool, branch from Third Coast, 'Silent Night' is a partial imprint from a Hero Arts stamp that says Silent Night, Holy Night

Double mask

Hello again! I'm never sure which is better, two posts or a post with two cards? Today I chose to post two cards - mostly because they're so similar. Well, kinda!

Both cards were made with the new Tim Holtz masks, which I *love*, and major quantities of distress inks. These masks are BIG, much bigger than I would've thought optimal, but they also give you a lot of area to play with. Make sure you take time to watch Tim's video on how to prep them before use. As always, his video is packed with great info!

This first one was made with the ornate fence looking set, although I didn't follow his directions exactly. On the left side you can see the positive, on the right I used the negative (I couldn't bear to throw it away!). First I laid down some Weathered Wood and covered it with the positive mask. Then I added greens, blues and browns around and over the mask. After that had dried a little I place the negative on the right edge and used a dark brown for better contrast/coverage. After I peeled up the negative mask I spritzed the whole piece with Pearl Glimmer Mist (the positive mask was still in place) and allowed to dry. Finally, I peeled up the positive mask, stamped over the bottom with a script stamp and stamped the dragonfly at the top. Since I thought it needed something extra I had to dig (literally!) around in my fibers until I found some that worked well. Hmmm, I think the tag came from Target's dollar spot?

For this next one I used the new flourish mask and the wrinkle free distress technique (also from Tim). Reds were the dominant color to begin with, then I added lots of brown over the mask - it's really amazing IRL!

Sadly, both cards use stamps that I don't know where came from! The Japanese Maple on this one (it actually says Japanese Maple on it - I just didn't ink that part) and the Dragonfly on the other one are mysteries. I know I bought the dragonfly at a show several years ago but there is no name on it. As for the maple, well, I swear I haven't had it that long but I can't find it in the catalogs of companies I usually shop. Trust me, I've looked! Maybe someone out there has seen them before? I'd love to know the source!

As always, I appreciate your visit! Come back soon! :)

Recipe for first card: Tim Holtz masks, various Distress Inks, Brilliance Graphite black, Pearl Glimmer Mist, fibers from The Artist's Nook and my stash, Dragonfly from ??, French writing from Hero Arts, metal tag from Target

Recipe for second card: Tim Holtz mask, various Distress Inks, Brilliance Lightning Black, Versafine Onyx black, Japanese Maple from ??, sentiment from Club Scrap, Dew Drops from Cowboy asst, ribbon, piercing template

A little scrappy...

Once again, I've been sidetracked! I promise I'll get back to trying things out with the Fantasy Film (soon! I have a cool idea for earrings!) but for today I have a scrappy card. What's a scrappy card? Well... I used a lot of designer paper - you know, stuff from the scrapbook aisle. Gorgeous paper, sooo sparkly! :)

There were a lot of steps to this card. Wasn't until I sat down to write out my supply list that I realized just how many. Sheesh, no wonder all my cards are one of a kind! Yes, ALL of my cards are one of a kind, even Christmas cards. Only in *very* rare instances will I redo something. Guess I just loose interest once I've mastered the challenge! *lol*

Both the paper at the bottom and the paper in the nestie circle are the designer paper, both are from My Minds Eye (Laundry Line) - aren't they beautiful? I just love the colors. That butterfly is coated in Holographic EP from Ranger. The glitter seems to change color just like the glitter on the paper. When you move the card around you get glints of blue, green, yellow, purple - you name it! I think the hardest part was stamping the sentiment. You can't really tell from this picture, but there are *thick* lines of glitter/glue over the lines - guess what, ink doesn't stick well to glue! Brown pen to the rescue! Hope it lasts....

Here's a close up of the butterfly. I don't think you can really see it but there's a pattern (flourishes of course!) on the left wing that doesn't get inked. I painted that area and the body with Brass Rail Radiant Pearls to match the lighter tone of brown on the DSP (and it matches the skinny Martha Stewart ribbon too).

Even though it's not my usual style (*gasp* no black!) I really like how it came out. Everything from the glitter to the dew drops makes me feel all girly! :) Hope you like it too!

As always, thanks for dropping by!

Recipe: Butterfly from Paper Studio, Dream from Serendipity Stamps, Bazzil Pinecone & Moss solid c/s, My Minds Eye Laundry Line DSP, Twill ribbon, Martha Stewart self adhesive ribbon, Radiant pearls in Brass Rail & Eucalyptus, Dew Drops from Cowboy asst, scalloped circle Nestibilities, Cuttlebug, Holographic embossing powder from Ranger, Versamark, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Zig marker in Cola, Glossy Accents - WOW what a list! :)

Inspired by Zeb

Zeb is an uber artistic woman that belongs to several of the groups that I lurk on. :) She is multi talented, always helpful and amazingly kind. Lately she's been on a Fantasy Film kick... and, Oh MY! What lovely things she has created (go visit her blog!) to share lately.

I had some FF that I bought a while ago. I guess it seemed like I always bought the wrong color because I could never get it to look right. That must be why I put it away and rarely even *looked* in that drawer! Well, after Zeb inspired me, I went and bought a bottle of Crackle Accents by Ranger. While it wasn't exactly the colors I was looking for - I'm diggin' the results! lol

Really, the technique was pretty simple. First I stamped in black (on plain white c/s) then used gel medium to stick various colors of FF down to the images. After they were dry, I cut them out and applied Crackle Medium to some, Glossy Accents to others and GA and iridescent confetti to others. You can see the variety of the different petals in this close up shot. The 2nd and 4th petals are both covered with the same yellow FF, isn't the color variation amazing?!

So here's a shot of the completed card. I tried to keep it understated, there's no reason (or way) to compete with that flower! I think I would've preferred the sentiment to say 'fleur' or 'beauty' or something similar. Sadly, I discovered a distinct *lack* of stamps that say that!

Must. Go. Shop.

Cover for me, will ya? :)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Recipe: flowers from Impression Obsession, Love from Rubber Soul, Glossy Accents, Crackle Accents, Fantasy Film, iridescent confetti, clear rhinestones, black velvet & patterned papers, green metallic base from Paper Cut, black Glaze pen, Scor It board

Mom's birthday card

Hi there! Today I thought I'd post the birthday card I made for my mom. Don't worry, she got it already (even though it was late - very late). I think I inherited my aversion to the post office from her! lol

I thought I'd start by showing you the first version. While I love the image panel, the card came out *ugh*. As much as I *wish* I didn't make any mistakes, I'd really rather keep it real. I mean, I make ugly things (doesn't everyone?) but I do TRY to go back & fix it. You just got invited along to see how.... :)


I just love this stamp from Third Coast (well, they are one of my very favorite companies) she looks so purposeful and mysterious. This card just didn't look purposeful - OR mysterious! lol I think I was trying not to use too much black, thankfully I've passed that phase. I can tell you that I worked really, really hard making the base card the right color, choosing the accent stamp & coloring it and making the placement *just so*. Yuck.

Sorry to burn your eyeballs out like that... how 'bout this instead? Oh, much better! Once I got past my aversion to black (really, how could I be averse to black?!) things started to fall into place. By changing the orientation of the image piece and using basic tone on tone stamping I brought life back to the important parts!

You may be wondering about that panel. It's not actually a difficult technique, I just sponged Lumieres on a piece of watercolor paper until I liked the way it came together.

The woman was chosen long after the background was done. I think she was waiting for the perfect background. Eh, it's what I do. Stamp by the seat of my pants, that is!

Thanks for dropping by!

Recipe: Woman from Third Coast, corner from Bo Bunny, Halo Blue Green & Gold Lumiere paint, watercolor paper, Charcoal chalk ink, Brilliance Graphite Black, gold gel pen, black & gold c/s, pop dots

Back already?!?

Why, yes! I *am* back already! *lol*

I just finished making this card last night, took me until tonight to get a pic & 'prepare' it for my blog. When I saw this stamp in Mike's I knew I had to have it. I already had several ideas for cards, and I've made two of them. Soon I'll make some more... hope family & friends like it as much as I do!

There are a couple of things you should know about making this card. First is that the base is from Archiver's (called Polarized) back when they still sold 'normal' size bases. I haven't even bothered to pick up any more base cards from them since the change, can't seem to get excited about their new line. I'm sure that you can still get this card stock, maybe I've seen it from the Paper Cut? Oh, yup, linked it there for you. Anyway, it is white, but it also has a gold shimmer to it. Impossible to tell from the pic but absolutely there.

Second is that since my white stamping looked so flat (with the polarized cs) that I went over some of it with Golden Mist Opalite ink. Just a touch (used a blending stump cause it was handy!) so you can't see that in the pic either! :(

And third is that I had the *hardest* time trying to get those red flowers, well, RED. I wanted a nice deep, rich red. Not pink or purple - but RED. First I used prismacolor pencils. Ish. Then I tried ink, Distress & chalk. Still no go. I even bought a vial of ink (for calligraphy) and tried that! That white pigment ink just would not give up! Finally I used the dark red Glaze pen. Success! But just so you know, I did not use the pen by itself - the final piece is over pencil and calligraphy ink (your mileage may vary). You can see the dimension it added in this close up pic. I think for these flowers I liked the shiny effect of the Glaze pens, ties the crystals in with the flowers I think. And in case you can't tell, I used the same glaze pen all around the red layer to make the colors match. Even though I started with a red paper for the layer, the match looks great!

Finally, I know the ribbon looks crooked. It's not IRL, just appears that way because the glue under the crystals stuck the ribbon down too. Maybe someday I'll figure out better photo taking techniques... nah, too much stampin to do! :D

Thanks for visiting with me again! Hope you try some stamping on black!

Recipe: Flower by Hero Arts, Love by Rubber Soul, Ranger Snow Cap, Memento Rhubarb Stalk, Opalites Golden Mist (also Distress Ink Brick Red), various prismacolor pencils, red calligraphy ink, Glaze pen in dark red, Satin edged organza ribbon, red swarovski crystals, pop dots, Glossy Accents, Polarized base

I'm back, with the Lovely Tree again!

I swear to you, I will *never* get enough of this tree! I love, perhaps even LOVE, this tree! *lol* I admit that this was one of the first Katzelkraft stamps I fell in love with, not THE first - but that's a whole 'nother post.

This was actually done a while ago, well, almost done. After I let it sit for a week or so I decided to add some extra bling. That finally 'finished' it for me. Not only is it the very first Christmas card of the year (boy, am I behind or what?) but I also got to use a bunch of Katzelkraft stamps on it. Yes, the snowflakes & the flourish also came from Bea.

Sometime in the last year or so I saw the idea to place the circle off center. I hadn't tried it yet but the idea was still cooking around in the back of my head. I still think it could use a ribbon, but nothing came out right so I left it off. The tricky thing was to get the dots spaced right around the circle. Once again, I got major inspiration from my Yahoo group girls! I found a circular piece of plastic canvas stuff - it's in the needlepoint(?) section, near the floss & stuff. At least that's where it was in my Hobby Lobby. :) This thing has evenly spaced holes all through it (there were square pieces too) so I just lined up the edges & tried to center my pen in each hole. Worked like a charm and cost less than a buck!

I know you can't really see the bling I added, so here's a close up shot of what they look like. I didn't want to put crystals in every snowflake (although I could've) so I just spaced them out and kept adding until I thought it looked good. I used my good Swarovski crystals (they have amazing color and fire) but they seem to be harder to find lately. Wonder why?

Thanks for visiting! Promise I'll have more black next time! :D

Recipe: Ranger Perfect Pearls, Swarovski crystals, Gelly roll glitter pen (stardust?), Cuttlebug & Nestibilities, Tree, snowflakes & flourish by Katzelkraft, Tis the Season by Northwoods, Distress Ink in Weathered Wood, Snow Cap White Pigment Ink from Ranger, Stamp A Ma Jig

My (oh so) lovely Katzelkraft tree!

Today I thought I might show you 2 versions of a card that I made. Yes, I made two of the same(ish) thing. I made the first one (on the blue background) and had to, *ahem*, adjust it a tad. (Many thanks to the girls in my Yahoo group for their excellent suggestions!) There were some things that I didn't like very much, so I thought I'd remake it - fixing the things that I didn't like. Hmmm, neither is exactly what I wanted! You can't really tell from the pics but both backgrounds were made with Adirondack inks just slapped on paper & brayered until it looked OK. Then I went in and sprayed Glimmer Mist over the top & brayered again. You can't really see the shine, but trust me, it's there.

So, number one.... I didn't get the best image when I stamped (operator error!) and I didn't feel confident enough to use the Stamp A Ma Jig to realign the stamp. Instead I went over the tree with a black Glaze pen. Once it dried I realized that I didn't like it! The black was just too black and shiny, KWIM? It made the ribbon look off, although it looks better in a pic than in person. The dimension of the glaze pen didn't do it for me either. I really liked the sentiment stamp, it seemed like a great choice for this gorgeous tree. But again, it wasn't perfect - I should've centered it better.

Then, number two.... I didn't get as much blue in this background which made it look bad on the blue cardstock. *sigh* I finally found some nice cardstock for the base (and my image looked great) but then I had to go and change the sentiment. D'oh!

In the end I guess I like them both, but if I could just take the best parts of each to make one card.... Oh well, guess you can't have everything! I did learn one important thing from this experiment. I honestly didn't like the backgrounds when I made them. It was just an experiment to get color on paper (for a trial run) and make it shiny with the Glimmer Mist. Strangely, the first attempt looked much better than the second, probably because I was over thinking the process. After it was allowed to dry, and I was able to choose the best looking piece to stamp on, I was amazed at how much I liked the result. Lesson: let it dry and stamp on it before tossing it! :)

Thanks for visiting, hope you come back soon to see another version of this lovely tree!

Recipe: Tree by Katzelkraft, Woods by PSX, Heart by Stamp Oasis, Adirondack ink in Currant, Denim & Eggplant, satin & velvet ribbon, Pearl Glimmer Mist, Black Glaze pen, Gelly Roll pen in white, Gelly roll glitter pen, piercer & (home made) template

Not a speck of black in sight...

Hello again!

I tried and tried to get a good pic of this card... alas, the blue layers are shiny/metallic and throw the camera off every single time! So, the colors won't look as good in a picture - you'll just have to trust me that they match IRL! :) If you saw this in person you would know that both blue layers are the same paper. Does that give you an idea of the trouble I had? And since there was such trouble balancing the blue, you can't even see that the stem extends down on the lined paper. Sheesh. I didn't realize that I would need a degree in PSE to start a blog!

I don't do enough with this dandelion stamp, I really like it (read: HAD TO HAVE IT! lol) and always seem to forget it when I'm looking for a more delicate image. Oh well, I used it this time! Hope you enjoy and thanks for visiting!


Recipe: blue scrapbook paper, lined scrapbook paper, tan C/S & ribbon, flower from Penny Black, sentiment from B Line Designs, white ep, tan ink

Something mellow

Hello again!

Today I have something a little more mellow - no black! A little amazing, no?

I *love* this stamp from Third Coast, but then I love all the stamps I get from Val. If you've never gone to see her offerings - do!
Once again I was lured by the Distress Inks, they are very easy to blend using Tim's blender. The only problem I have is remembering not to put the edge down first - I'm working on it. Some days are better than others, this time I didn't get any hard edges (woohoo!).

Thanks for visiting!


Recipe: Bamboo Post stamp from Third Coast, background paper from DCWV, ribbon from my stash, Distress Inks & blender, white embossing powder, 'Journey' is from another stamp by Rubber Stampede (partially inked)

Another TJ technique

Hello! I'm stopping in today to post a picture that doesn't look great on screen, but has *mucho* shimmer IRL. This was called Opalite Smoosh (heh, I think it was!) and uses the opalite pad under the regular inks to give it gorgeous shine. There is no way to really give you a hint, but if you've played with opalite inks you can picture the golden/rusty shimmer coming through the distress inks. I hope you like it!

Recipe: stamp from Of the Heart, Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters & Fired Brick, Opalite inks in Golden Mist & Autumn Rust, Graphite Black ink, Mat from DCWV, black & white c/s, green ribbon & asian coin from my stash.

Just stopping by!

Hi again. I am still in NM and I don't know exactly when I'll be returning home. My grandpa took his last breath on Friday; it wasn't a surprise, but it's never expected. KWIM? I wish that I could post something especially for him, but that will have to wait until I return home to all my stuffies - I only brought the bare minimum with me this time.

Actually, I took time to write a post last night - can't tell, can ya? I was trying to use Windows Live Writer (for the very first time!) and the dang thing froze my entire system! Of course it waited until I had finished writing everything, added a photo and went to hit 'post' before it crashed. Grrrr. On the upside, I wasn't all that fond of the pic that I had to go along with that post anyway!

So, here is something that I hadn't intended to post yet - but will! Like I said, I'm not at home, so this will have to be an approximation of what went into the card. I think the stamp is from Inkadinkado (Hobby Lobby at any rate) and I'm fairly certain that the background is one of the Ranger multi color pads. After that had dried I sprayed some pearly Glimmer Mist on it & brayered it for an even looking coverage. There are some flourishes on the card itself (which is blue) but it was nearly impossible to get a picture of black flourishes on dark blue cardstock! Guess I need to work on my photography a bit more. Oh, and I found some clear plastic-y ribbon that was printed with flourishes too - that's what is on the corners of the panel. I'm not sure that I like them but they're stuck down now, quite permanently! I can't (for the life of me) remember who the greeting stamp is from... if you want to know, leave me a comment & I'll check as soon as I get home.

Thanks for visiting!

Finally working again!

Yay! Finally this crazy laptop is working again! I have an all new OS installed and am working on adding all the 'extra' programs that make life easier on the computer. However, my posting will still be a little sketchy. My grandpa is in the ICU down in southern New Mexico. So... dh, ds & I will be in the car tomorrow on our way down. I will have connection, but, well, you just never know....

So anyway, I thought I'd drop a little eye candy here while I'm able. :) Here's a card I made by accident. It was not at all what I intended, but I don't really think I had much intention when I started - just kinda slapped things together that I thought looked good.

When I look back at the things that I've posted I notice a lot of black. Hmmm, guess it seems like the perfect pair of shoes to me! :) I just like how it makes rich color *POP*, makes it seem more finished somehow.

I hope you enjoy. See you soon!

Recipe: Black & white c/s, fibers from Fibers by the Yard, blue Perfect Pearls by Ranger, Brilliance black ink, Gold Opalite ink, Waterfall ink pad from Ranger, Heart & Swirls bkgrd from Stampin Up, music from Club Stamp, squares from Stampabilities, and I can't even FIND my dancer stamp... think a little boy got to it?! *lol*

Joseph's Coat

Hi all! Today is special for two reasons: first, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day (isn't that awesome?) and second, it's DH's birthday! Happy birthday husband, and many, many more! *mwah*

You, of course, are not here to talk like a pirate or hear about DH's birthday... so how 'bout a card instead?

I happen to really like this card even though it took a lot of trial and error. This is my take on Joseph's Coat - although I did tweak it a little. The actual technique calls for glossy paper and permanent ink on top. I found that I got better results on regular card stock, and used Black Soot Distress Ink instead of permanent ink. I used a multi color dye ink pad for both the base of the piece and for the flower cut out (it's the same stamp). I cut and matted the rectangles before adding some ribbon. A little glitter for the center of the flower and voila!

I hope you like it!

Recipe: black and white card stock, brayer, ribbon, flower stamp from Stampabilities, glitter, clear ep, Black Soot Distress Ink, Calypso Kaleidacolor pad