Classic Celebration Card

I'm back again with another simple and pretty card! Let's get down to it...

Today, I just had an urge to ink up this awesome Sheena, Mystery Author stamp with some nice juicy ink, Versafine in Onyx Black, and I heat embossed it to make it pop. The sheen reminds me of the old school shiny, black typewriters. I'd love to get one eventually!! I used watercolor cardstock to give it an old school feel. I then stamped the "let's celebrate!" sentiment from the Bebunni Floral Collection, Bunches of Love, in Delicata, Silvery Shimmer. I then fussy cut the entire image out and set aside.

For my card base, I chose a nice salmon linen stock this time. I cut and scored to 4.25x5.5. I pulled some fun papers in to go behind my typewriter. I used a black and white stripe and an orange and cream graph paper. Onto that, I inked up the Shenna, Simply Scripty with the Memento Ink in Cantaloupe. It's VERY subtle, but it looks so pretty in person.

I glued those papers down to the base alternating the position to make it fun! I took the typewriter image and glued down with some thicker foam adhesive. To give some sparkle, I added several black sequins to the card. Totally simple, but classic. Makes a beautiful birthday card for someone older that can appreciate the nostalgia of the typewriter!

Check out all the great Sheena stamp sets over at Crafter's Companion!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Good morning everyone! Thanks for stopping by to see what I have created for you today. Since it's summer (or supposed to be - Chicagoland area is having cooler than normal temps right now!), I decided to use the Sheena, Kite stamp for my card today. I love it! It really does remind you of a nice summer day!

 This card was simple to create. I started off taking a piece of blue patterned paper and used my Die'Sire Circle Doilies dies with it. To me the soft curves of the die and the blue paper reminded me of clouds. Perfect for placing my kite onto! I stamped a few of the kites onto the paper with some grey ink. Very subtle.

I took my Sheena, Kite stamp and inked it up with Memento, Tuxedo Black onto my Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock and colored it in with my Spectrum Noir Markers (PL1, PL3, TB1, TB3, BT3, BT5, LG1, LG3, LG5, GB6) and fussy cut it out.

For the card, I simply cut my cardbase and scored it to 4.25x5.5 and rounded the bottom left corner. I then glued on my doilie die cut. I let it hang off the card and just trimmed off the excess. For some fun, I took the Textures, Basket and Burlap set and inked up the dotted swirl stamp with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and the other element in the upper left of the card with grey ink. After I stamped those, I used some spray mists and flicked on color in a soft greenish blue and black.

I used foam adhesive on the back of the kite and glued that to the diecut shape. I snuck in the sentiment (it's actually an acetate piece from my stash and I simply backed it with a piece of white cardstock so you could see the wording better) and pulled the one kite string to the front of it.

For some shine, I added several light blue sequins to the card.

I hope you enjoyed this card. Check out Crafter's Companion for so many fun stamp sets, quality markers and more!

Lawnscaping Challenge #109

Good morning everyone! We have a fun new challenge up today for Lawnscaping Challenges - Sparkle and Shine! So, add bling, Glossy Accents, glitter, or whatever else sparkles and shines. Have fun with this one ;)

The wonderful, fabulous Ellen Hutson! is sponsoring this challenge!!! If you aren't familiar with her and her store, a little bit about the store in her own words:

Ellen Hutson, LLC began their adventure in November 2006 as an online web store committed to bringing you the finest paper crafting products and related product education. They are always looking to provide their customers with quality products, excellent customer service, and education and inspiration for the products they carry. You can shop with Ellen by clicking HERE. As well please join them to be inspired and learn some fun techniques in the CLASSroom, or stay up-to-date on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and/orPinterest.

Ellen Hutson has generously offered up a $25 gift certificate to the online store! 

Shopping spree time!  Thank you Ellen and gang!!!

Here is my take on this challenge: 

It's summertime!!! That means there are fireflies out at night, so I was inspired by them for my take on this challenge. I stepped out everything below with supplies included in the steps as well. I hope you enjoyed it and you join us for this Lawnscaping Challenge!

STEPS:

1. Cut white cardstock base and score in the center. Fold to 4.25x5.5.

2. Cut patterned paper (My Mind's Eye 6x6 Pad, Oxford Lane) to 3x5.5. Adhere to the white card base.

3. Cut strip of patterned paper (this is the pattern on the back of the blue cross x's in step 2) and freehand a pennant shape on one end. This is roughly 0.5x4.125. 

4. I took kraft cardstock and used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Labels Lawn Cuts and cut out the oval shape. I stamped "thanks" from the Lawn Fawn Love You A Latte set in Memento, Tuxedo Black. I did curve the stamp just a little bit to fit the oval shape. Best part of clear stamps!

5. I cut a piece of watercolor paper to about 4x4. I dabbed some Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and Spiced Marmalade onto a clear acrylic block and spritzed with water. Taking my watercolor paper, I pressed that onto the block itself and gently lifted it up. I dabbed the excess ink off with a paper towel. 

6. With the Lawn Fawn Heart Lawn Cuts, I kept them all together as they came packaged, and diecut them out of a scrap piece of heavy cardstock to use as a stencil. I then used a finger dauber and stenciled on hearts in various sizes that I had cut out with Brilliance, Platinum Planet.  

7. I stamped the jar and firefly from the Lawn Fawn Bugs & Kisses set onto some ultra smooth premium white cardstock and cut them out. For the jar, I used a Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen in Silver to color the lid. Inside the jar, I used Twinkling H20's to create the yellow "glow" from the firefly's light. I also applied some green glitter glue to give it a little more sparkle! For the firefly, I also used Twinkling H20's to color him in and then applied Glossy Accents just to his wings. After everything dried, I glued the firefly to the jar with some foam adhesive and then adhered the jar to the watercolor background with more foam adhesive. 

8. I then glued the watercolor backdrop with the jar and firefly to the card, centered at the top of the card. I took my patterned strip that I cut and my sentiment in the oval diecut and glued that to the bottom of the watercolor panel. 

PLEASE READ the rules in the sidebar on the Lawnscaping blog in order to be eligible for the prize!!!!!

• You have until Wednesday, July 15th, 2015 to submit your entries!

Don't forget to keep checking the Lawnscaping Challenges Facebook page, where our Facebook Inspiration Team will be sharing projects throughout the challenge!

Crafter's Companion HSN Show Blog Hop

Good morning! Thanks for joining me today in the super fun blog hop to get ready for Sara Davies’ shows on HSN! Sara will be part of the HSN 24-hour Day of Crafts on July 1st. Please check the Crafter's Companion US Facebook page for times! 

And what's a hop without amazing prizes up for the giving? All of my teammates are giving away stamps or dies...make sure you hop along to everyone’s blog, and leave comments to win their fabulous prizes! And be sure not to miss the huge prize packs on the Crafter’s Companion US blog and over on Sara Davies’ blog! We will be selecting the winners by July 2nd. ALL winners will be responsible for contacting prizes@crafterscompanion.com with their address and prize they won. Have fun along the hop! The list for the hop participants is below. 

Now, on to my project! I've created a beautiful, bright card today with the Sheena, A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set, Tropical Nectar. I have stamped this image onto my Ultra Smooth White Premium Cardstock with Memento in Tuxedo Black. I colored it in with my Spectrum Noir Markers (GT1, GT2, JG1, TB1, TB2, TB3, TB4, BT3, BT4, BT5, GB3, HB1, HB3, LG4, LG5, IB1, CT1, CT4, CR3, CR6, FS5, FS9, Blender).

For the pop of pink on the bottom, I used the Shimmering Cardstock in Rose Pearl with the Embossalicious Lattice folder. I rounded all the corners on the colored piece and embossed cardstock and glued the two together. The sentiment is also from the Tropical Nectar set as well. I simply stamped and diecut that with the Die'Sire Essentials, Rectangles die. I rounded 3 of the corners. For some fun pops of colors, I colored three enamel dots with my Spectrum Noir Markers to match the hummingbird's feathers. 

I tied some twine around the card and snuck in the sentiment behind that and adhered everything with the Extra Strong Permanent Tape Runner to the black cardstock base (folded to 4.25x5.5). I hope you enjoyed my project today and have a ton of fun hopping along to see what my the other design team members have created today for this special hop. 













Hop Participants: 
Crafter’s Companion US - http://crafterscompanion.blogspot.com/
Sara Davies - http://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/blog/saradaviesblog/
Lori Barnett - http://www.loribarnett.blogspot.com/
Laine Webb - http://dreamlaine.blogspot.co.uk/
Chrissie Tobas - http://harvestmoonpapiere.blogspot.com/Liz Walker - http://veritycards.blogspot.co.uk/
Gini Cagle - http://www.ginicagle.blogspot.com/
Kendra Wietstock - http://kendrawietstock.blogspot.com/
Roxanne O’Brien - http://projectorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/ <<<<YOU ARE HERE!>>>>
Giovana Smith - http://giovana-believe.blogspot.com/
Jodi Clark - https://clarkscraftycorner.wordpress.com/
Rosemary Shaner-Bridges - http://rosemaryscreations.blogspot.com/
Tenia Nelson - http://jazzypaper.blogspot.com/
Vera Yates - http://lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Taylor Usry - http://taylorusry.blogspot.com/

Floral Thanks

Today I have a card that's very simple and no coloring! I know, crazy. You know I love to color for my cards, but today, I challenged myself and didn't use a stamp as a focal point. And you know what? I kind of like that! (Don't worry, I am a girl who loves to color always, so fret not.)

I used Shimmering Cardstock in Green Envy for the background. I stamped the flourish from the Textures EZMount Journal Jottings set with Memento Luxe in Wedding Dress. I used a clear embossing powder and I heat set that. It helps to pop the design off the card, especially when using a subtle color like white over a shimmery, darker colored cardstock. 

I picked some fun and pretty elements out of my stash like the little file folder and other elements on the right hand side. I wanted a thank you card, so I diecut the THANKS letters using the Die'Sire Alphabet Uppercase, 1-inch dies out of dark brown cardstock in my stash. I used the small Xyron I have to apply the adhesive to the smaller letters and stuck those to my card. 

I assembled the cluster of elements on the right and used some enamel dots in a cream color for the center of the butterfly and around the card as well. Definitely a clean and simple design today. 

Check out all the amazing dies Crafter's Companion has to offer. Makes card making a cinch!

Holly Jolly Christmas

I know, it's not nearly time to think about the holidays. But I wanted to make a card using holiday-themed items anyway! I was just in the mood to. But shhh, don't tell! Just pin the card and save it away for a rainy day this fall :)

I'll list out the steps below for the card I created and the links will be there for the products as well. Enjoy and fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

1. Cut kraft cardstock base and score, and fold to 5.5x4.25. (Went landscape with this card due to the tag.)

2. Chose a holiday themed patterned paper and used a border die to give the edge a fun look. 

3. Adhere diecut holiday theme paper to base. Cut and glue a strip of dark brown cardstock above the diecut element. 

4. For my tag, I stamped the sentiment from Sentimentals, Mistletoe Kisses with Versamark and applied a white embossing powder over it. I then heat set the sentiment.

5. I stamped Distress Inks in Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries and Tea Dye onto an acrylic block and spritzed with water. I then pressed the tag onto the block and blotted off the excess color. 

6. For the spots of white you see, I used a white opaque paint flicked on. When it hits the distress ink, it spreads like melted snow :) 

7. I used a simple doily-like ribbon to tie through the tag's hole, and glued the tag to the base with foam adhesive.

8. The holly leaves are from the Stamp-It Australia Twinkle, Joy and Spirit set. I stamped that not Spectrum Aqua Watercolor Cardstock in Onyx Black/Versafine ink. I colored it in with my Spectrum Aqua Markers in Evergreen, Bud Green and Crimson and adhered with foam adhesive. 

And here is one more angle of the card to show the dimension. Check out Crafter's Companion for all your holiday (and non-holiday too!) project needs. SO much to choose from!!

With Love Lilies

Good morning! I have a really soft and soothing card today up that I actually created for a friend who is dealing with a loss in her life. I think sympathy cards should be just that - soft and soothing to look at. After all, any loss is difficult and little pretty card in the mail that makes you smile just a little when you open it is just what that person needs. 

I used the Sheena A Little Bit Floral Lily set today. I stamped it onto the Spectrum Aqua Watercolor Cardstock in Versafine ink in Onyx Black. I then started to color my lilies with Spectrum Aqua Markers in just four colors - Wildflower, Magenta and Blossom. I used Aquamarine around them to give them just a pop of soft color like the sky. 

For the sentiment, I also used the Watercolor Cardstock and the With Love from Me to You is from the Bebunni Floral, Sweet Friend set. I used a bit of the same Aquamarine to match and cut it into a pennant shape. I used a Gold Sharpie on the end of it to match the stamen inside the flowers I had colored as well. I used some foam adhesive behind it to pop it off the card. 

I chose a very subtle patterend paper to glue to my base and then rounded just one corner of my watercolored lilies panel and glued that down with the Extra Strong Permanent Tape Runner. I love using this with any watercoloring I do because even with thicker cardstock and adding water to it, it's going to warp it a bit. The strong adhesive definitely helps with making it nice and flat! This is one adhesive you don't want to be without. 

Lawnscaping Challenge 108: Stars and/or Stripes

Hi there! I'm back today with another fun challenge over at Lawnscaping Challenges. Today, here is our newest one...

Our sponsor for this challenge is none other than the amazing Lawn Fawn! 

Here is my take on the challenge!

I wanted to make a non-card project for this challenge. And I realized I don't have a lot of patriotic decorations, so my goal this summer is to create more of my own! It's more fun anyway :) This little piece will sit on the acrylic base on my china cabinet. 

For this, I took a piece of dark navy cardstock from my stash and cut it down. It's roughly 5x7. Then I took a piece of watercolor paper and used my Spectrum Aqua Markers on an acrylic block and applied water to the block. Then I pressed my watercolor paper onto the block. I love the look this gives!! 

I took the stars from the Lawn Fawn Trim the Tree and Hello Baby sets and used Brilliance Ink in Platinum Planet to stamp onto the watercolored background. It's subtle, but still gives a nice shimmer (in person). I did them in random places on the background. 

For the buntings, I diecut them out with my Die'Sire Classiques Traditional Bunting die out of white cardstock. I wanted them to have a fun patriotic feel, so I took the dotted lines from the Hello Baby set and the wavy line from the Beep Boop Birthday set and used Memento in Nautical Blue and Memento Luxe in Love Letter and stamped them. For the lighter blue lines, I used one of my Spectrum Noir Markers to draw that in. I wanted a little pop of color so I chose the Trim the Tree Lawn Cuts star die and cut out a handful from the 6x6 Let's Polka Petite Paper Pack. 

The sentiment was spelled out with Milo's ABC's in Memento Tuxedo Black stamped onto the watercolor background. I used some smaller letter stickers I had in my stash to spell out BRAVE for a pop of color. 

I glued my watercolor background paper to a piece of chipboard I had saved from packaging and I trimmed it down. I wanted to give it stability to stand up in the acrylic holder, so this really helped. 

I used foam adhesive to glue down the buntings and then I used the same to adhere the small die cut stars to the bunting as well. 

I hope you play along with our current challenge! Get patriotic! :)

Lucky To Have You

Good morning! I have a fun little card here today to share with you. I'll list the products below. I've included several photos to show you all the details and coloring/shading.

1. Cut white cardstock to 4.25x11. Score at 5.5 and fold.

2. Gold paper is cut to 4x5.25 and the corners are rounded. Adhere with Crafter's Companion Extra Strong Permanent Tape Runner.

3. I used a patterened paper from my stash and used the Darice Embossing Folder, Flowers & Vines and ran through my machine. It gives it more texture! I also rounded the corners and adhered to the gold paper.

4. The image is the Bebunni Floral EZ Mount Stamp Set, Lucky You. I stamped it with Memento  in Tuxedo Black onto the White Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock. I colored him in with my Spectrum Noir Markers in BG2, BG5, BG1, BG10, CR2, CR3, GB5, GB7, GB8, JG1, LG4, LG5, CT2, IG2 and Blender. I then cut him out and set aside.

5. The sentiment is also from the Lucky You set. I used the Die'Sire Essentials, Scalloped Circles to cut out the patterened scallop. I used the Die'Sire Essentials, Circles dies to cut out the sentiment and adhered that to the scalloped circle. I used some rhinestones for the swirled parts of the letters in the word LUCKY. I also used one in the center of the shamrock.

6. I used foam adhesive squares to adhere the sentiment circles and then Bebunni. I snuck his foot behind the sentiment.

I hope you enjoyed my card today! Please visit Crafter's Companion for more Bebunni sets and other amazing products!

Lawnscaping Challenge 107 - Calling All Critters sponsored by Ellen Hutson

Hi there! I have a cute card today to share with you for the new Lawnscaping Challenge. This challenge is CALLING ALL CRITTERS. There were so many critters in my stamp sets I had a hard time deciding which to use! I'll dive into the details in a minute, but let's get the challenge badge and challenge details and the prize up for grabs this time:

The fabulous Ellen Hutson is sponsoring this challenge with a $25 gift certificate to the online store!

Here is my take on the Calling All Critters challenge: 

I decided to use squirrels for my critters. They are actually from two different sets. I encourage everyone to look at their sets in different ways and showing you that you can definitely pair separate sets up together. The two squirrels are the same height, so this worked perfectly! I love that they have different facial expressions and different tails. 

The boy squirrel is from Lawn Fawn's Love You S'more set, and the girlie squirrel is from the Critters in Costume set. You'll recognize her from that set wearing wings and a halo! I just trimmed those off and you have a completely every day squirrel to use. I stamped them both onto watercolor cardstock with my Versafine ink in Onyx Black. I colored them in with my Spectrum Aqua Markers and a water brush pen. 

The heart between the squirrels is from the Lawn Fawn Woodgrain Backdrops. I stamped that onto white cardstock with Memento Luxe ink in Love Letter. I just cut out around it and left a little bit of white space. You can definitely use the coordinating dies for this set as well! 

I added the sentiment, i love you, from the Love You S'more set stamped onto kraft cardstock in Memento, Rich Cocoa. The die I used is from Die'Sire, Essentials, Just the Ticket. 

To make the squirrels pop off the card, I placed them on a fun background that I created using Versamark, clear embossing powder, and the woodgrain stamp from Woodgrain Backdrops. 

I scattered some wood veneer leaves from Lawn Fawn on the card to give it a pop of color. I simply colored them in with my Spectrum Aqua markers and my water brush pen.

For the white background, I used a Darice Dandelion embossing folder. I just cut the panel 1/4" smaller all the way around and glued to my white cardstock.

I hope you play along with our current challenge. Be sure to check the Lawnscaping Challenge blog for all the rules and details to enter and to leave your link! Happy crafting! 

Monarch Birthday

Good morning! Summer is fast approaching and that always makes me think of butterflies. They're just gorgeous. Our local zoo has a special butterfly exhibit that I'm definitely going to be hitting up this summer to photograph. Hey, I'm a photographer, that's how I think! 

But for now, I've created a stunning card for a birthday using the Sheena, Monarch Butterfly stamp. I colored it in with my Spectrum Noir Markers in GB4, GB6, OR1, OR2, OR3, and DR1. I fussy cut that out and used a simple black card base. I used a large dot embossing folder to give that some interest. For the floral paper you see, I've had that FOREVER in my stash. It's a little spiral bound book of pretty diecut papers. I used that with the Toreads, Flora set for the sentiment. It's simple and perfect for this card. I then stuck down the butterfly with some foam adhesive and scattered some coordinating sequins around the card for some sparkle.

Perfectly summery and simple! Check out all the amazing Sheena sets to create stunning projects and more by Crafter's Companion!