Paper Cuts

Time for another “Just for Fun” challenge with my friend, Carole!  This is the challenge where one of us sends the other some patterned paper and once it’s in transit, the other picks the image (without having yet seen the paper).  This time I sent Carole this Magnolia paper by My Mind’s Eye and she chose Winobella by Stamping Bella. 

Here’s to You

As I often do, I chose to paper-piece this Bella’s outfit.  I like the perfect color match and sometimes I just can’t get that with a marker or ink.   And I love to pull pattern from the paper into my image.  Of course, this does not always work (i.e. some patterns just aren’t appropriate for such small areas), but for the most part, I love the result.

I used an old sketch challenge from SCS as inspiration for the layout.  I have a printout of most of the SCS sketch challenges (I’m a bit behind on updating this), but I often refer to them when nothing “comes to me” …which lately has been more often than not.    (Summer vacation is fun but it’s draining–of time, energy and creativity.) 

Another great spot for layout ideas is Card Positioning Systems.  They post new sketches weekly and always have fantastic samples with some amazing interpretation.  I love to see how others take a sketch and twist it around to make it their own.

Be sure to check out Carole’s blog to see what she did with the same paper and image!  I’m sure it’s fabulous and I look forward to our next challenge!!  By the way, did you know Carole is one of SCS’s newest Dirty Girls?  Yep, she’s dirty, dirty, dirty!  Big congrats, my friend!!  Here’s to you!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Cardstock: Prism Birchtone Dark, Natural Smooth   Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye Magnolia   Stamps:  Winobella by Stamping Bella; sentiment by Inkadinkado  Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black   Accessories:  Copic markers, Toasty Tin extra large eyelets by We R Memory Keepers, sewing machine, pop dots.  Card size 5” x 5”.

Hi, everyone!   Thanks so much for your comments on my previous post.  I’m glad you enjoyed my the alien’s story.  I’m happy to report that things have improved (for the moment, anyway). 

This week Cornish Heritage Farms has five new releases…two new Scrapblocks™ available Tuesday, July 1st, two new Kim Hughes Christmas sets on Thursday, July 3rd and a new Sandra Kuck image on Friday, July 4th.  Today I have samples using Kim’s Christmas Critters and both Scrapblocks™.

For a Deer Friend

Although Christmas Critters is, obviously, a Christmas set, here I’ve used it more generally.  The background is the new Scroll Scrapblock™.  (Not until I was typing this did I realize that I had adhered the design on the bag up and the on the card down.  Oh well.  That’s what happens when I’m up before the rooster.)  The deer and deer sentiment are from the Christmas Critters set, the little bird from Pretty Birds and the “for you” from The Landing Pad.

Season’s Greetings

Here, I’ve used the same basic layout as above and the penguin Christmas Critter.  The penguin’s one little wing/flipper-thing is hanging outside of the box on the one side…much more noticeable in real life.  Here it almost looks like I chopped it off.

The background is the new Daisy Chain Scrapblock™ stamped onto Prism Super Smooth White cardstock using Cranberry Adirondack ink.  The holly is colored with Copic markers and I added two Stampendous Class A’ Peel red Dot Sparkler stickers for the berries.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll be back soon with samples from Kim’s other new set as well as another “Just for Fun” challenge with my friend, Carole.  Have a great day!!

I really was hoping to have something else to post today, but that apparently was not to be.  I’ve had a very aggravating day, way too much time in the heat and challenging children.  So I thought I’d share this card, quite appropriate under the circumstances.  

Bad Mood (Sorry)

(We’ll assume this is a ’she’ since ’she’ has little heart-shaped lips.) 

I think she’s had a bad day. 

It probably started when she was making her daughter’s bed to find that her darling child had used a black ball-point pen to add smiley faces inside all the flower centers on her Pottery Barn quilt. 

I’m guessing she was at the pool far longer than she wanted to be, her children probably wouldn’t get out of the water when it was time to go, and she was not wearing a bathing suit so she couldn’t jump in and drag them out by the ears.  So instead she probably had to stand at the edge, her expression a sign to everyone around that if those darling children didn’t get out of the pool at that very instant, she would be going “over the edge” afterall. 

Once they were finally home, dried and changed, and as a reward to herself for sweating for five + hours while those lovely children splashed, practiced and played, she made a little trip to Starbucks to get the caffeine she should have had coursing through her body hours earlier.  While there, her children probably spotted one of the biggest chocolate chip cookies they’d ever seen and threw a big fit in the hopes of coming home with one.  (I’m sure it didn’t work.)

After numerous other instances, I’m certain that at this moment, those children are sleeping soundly in their beds, looking like little angels.  And she’s down on the couch having a really big glass of wine.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll be back soon…at least that’s my plan.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (white), Stampin’ Up Real Red, Black   Patterned Paper:  Imaginisce Black Tie Optional   Stamp:  Inkadinkado   Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black   Accessories:  brads (American Crafts)   Card size: 4 ¼” x 4 ¼”

Another super-quick post from me…probably shorter than the last.  I hope to return to a more “somewhat” normal schedule soon. 

Paradise Found

Paradise Found is back on the shelves at Cornish Heritage Farms.  (You can find it here.)  What a great little vacation/travel set.  This little board is one of my favorite images from the set. 

I had a scrap of this “Plumeria Purple” patterned paper by Paper Adventures left over from another project and thought it would be perfect for a vacation card.  I colored the image with Copic markers and added the Prima flower (from the “Baby Girl” set).   The scalloped edge was made using a scallop blade in my Fiskars Rotary Trimmer.

I hate to be SO brief, but I really am limited on time today.  Guess where I’m going….again…?

     (ugh) 

.

Thanks so much for stopping by!   Have a great day!

Hi!  As promised, here’s Part 2 of my previous post.   I wanted to use the same image but show a much easier design.

Streams of Living Water — Monochromatic

Once again I’ve used the new Thomas Kinkade image, Streams of Living Water, from Cornish Heritage Farms (to be released tomorrow, June 24th).

I stamped the image using Eggplant Adirondack ink onto Natural Smooth Prism cardstock.  After trimming the image, I cut out thin strips forming a “frame” on the sides and top.  (If you just make one cut on each side, the image will look stretched, so I actually made two cuts on each side and removed the thin strips.)

The sentiment (from Friend Centers by Mona Lisa Moments for CHF) was stamped using Pitch Black Adirondack on another strip of Natural Smooth cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment again onto a Post-it Note, tore around the words and aligned the stamped/torn Post-it over the sentiment on the Natural cardstock.  I then inked the bottom portion of the large Thomas Kinkade stamp and stamped over the Post-it note.  Next, I trimmed the sentiment piece to the same width as the image and cut out the thin strips as before, aligning the cut lines.  The pieced/matted image is raised on pop dots.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a marvelous Monday!   (And yes, that’s a CHF backgrounder on yesterday’s card.) 

Cardstock:  Prism Majestic Purple Dark, Natural Smooth   Stamps: CHF  “Streams of Living Water” (Thomas Kinkade), CHF “Friend Centers” (Mona Lisa Moments)   Ink:  Adirondack Eggplant and Pitch Black by Ranger   Accessories:  Pop dots.  Card size:  5 ½” x 5 ½”

Hi everyone!  I hope you’re all having a great weekend!  Our nice weather has ended and we’ve gone back to the nasty hot/nasty humid weather that is more typical for us this time of year.  This will be a short post as I’ve been up since 5 a.m. and out in the heat from 6-noon.  I see a very early bedtime in my future.  **yawn**

Streams of Living Water — Colored

On Tuesday, Cornish Heritage Farms will release two new Thomas Kinkade images, Streams of Living Water and a vignette of the same, along with this sentiment, Still Waters.

I used Copic markers to color the image, coloring over the areas I felt were too bright with a gray marker.  I think it worked great for “toning things down.” 

Either tomorrow or Monday I’ll have a monochromatic sample using this image.  I *love* TK images when done monochromatically…plus it’s quick and easy!  :)  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Prism Crabapple Dark, Natural Smooth   Stamps:  Cornish Heritage Farms “Streams of Living Water” (Thomas Kinkade) and “Still Waters”, CHF ”Dots and Circles” Backgrounder   Ink:  Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black, Espresso and Cranberry   Accessories:  Copic markers, slot punch (EK Success), ribbon.  Card size 5 ½” x 5 ½”.

Hello!  Sorry about the lag in posts.  I’ve been super-busy hopping from one swim practice to another plus getting ready for company.  I’m hoping things will slow down in the next couple days so I can relax…and stamp!

 Celebrate Freedom

Since July 4th is just around the corner (can that really be?), I thought I’d share this card I made a while ago using Cornish Heritage Farms‘ Proud Eagle, Freedom and America the Beautiful.

I used Copic markers to color the eagle, outlining his head with an E50 (Eggshell) marker.  That’s the color I always reach for when I want to add just a bit of emphasis to an ivory or white area.  

The patterned paper is double-sided so I took advantage of the ease of matching by using both sides.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hopefully I’ll be back soon.  Have a great day!

Cardstock:  Prism Stormy Dark, Natural Smooth   Patterned Paper:  Rusty Pickle “Uncle Sam’s Britches”  Stamps:  Cornish Heritage Farms “Proud Eagle,” “Freedom” and “America the Beautiful”   Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black and Latte by Ranger   Accessories:  Copic markers, Making Memories star brads, sewing machine, sponge, pop dot.  Card size 4 ¼” x 4 ¼”.

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you had a nice weekend and a happy Father’s Day.  If you weren’t able to spend the day with your dad, I hope you were able to have a nice chat on the phone or to revisit happy memories in your heart. 

As for our swim meet, we didn’t win, but that’s ok.  (The other team was unbelievable!)  My son did cut time from two of his three events so we were very proud!  It was a lot of fun!

Hello, Friend 

Today’s challenge at Cornish Heritage Farms is to use scented embossing powders or heat.   I chose to heat my organdy ribbon.  Careful heating adds just a tad of a vintage look to organdy, but you do need to use caution.  If you heat too long in one spot, you can end up with a little shriveled wad of something that doesn’t at all resemble ribbon.  As soon as I see that the ribbon is changing, I quickly pull the heat away or direct it to a different area. 

The designer paper I chose is from a new double-sided line by Webster’s Pages called “Feather Your Nest.”   I used the back side of  Robin’s Nest, lightly stamping CHF’s French Script backgrounder at an angle using Cloudy Blue Adirondack ink.  The flowers (Silhouette Blooms I) and sentiment (Friend Centers) were stamped using Adirondack Espresso and all edges were sponged with Ranger Walnut Stain Distress ink.  I lightly distressed the edges, used a slot punch to pull the ribbon through and tie, added the random stitching and adhered the panel to a base of Prism Natural Smooth cardstock.

Be sure to check out the blogs of these other CHF designers to see how they brought on the heat!

Kim Hughes

Julie Campbell

Play along if you want to!  I’ll add a direct link once the challenge is posted.  And by the way, those scented embossing powders are on sale at CHF this week.  (I *love* “Coffee on the Rocks.”  Mmmmm.)

And….here are the winners!!!

Give-away #1:  61 - Jessie/Knightrone

Give-away #2:  216 - Emily D

Congrats, ladies!!  I’ll be emailing you for your addresses!  Thanks so much to everyone for commenting!  Have a great day!

TGIF! And it’s the last day of school with an early release.  My kids are ECSTATIC.   They’ve been ready for summer break for at least three weeks. :)  The only plan we have for the summer is a trip to Chicago next month.  We’ll visit relatives along with CHA for me.  I’m looking forward to both!  Can’t wait!!!

Celebrate

I made this card a couple weeks ago for a good friend for her birthday.  I love these Calendar Chicks by Stampendous.  They’re so much fun! (I got mine here.)

I colored the image using Copic markers, then added a tiny white brad in the center of each flower on the gifts.  The white dots across the brown strip were made using a white gel pen and the scalloped edge was cut using my Fiskars Rotary Trimmer.  The sentiment is from the Birthday Centers set from Mona Lisa Moments (at Cornish Heritage Farms).  And the patterned paper is Basic Grey Sultry (which you might be able to win by commenting here.)

I’m off to get as much done as I can before school.  I want to enjoy my last three hours of peace and quiet.  (I may not even turn on the radio…I want to enjoy the quiet blowing of the fan while I can hear it.)  :)  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day! 

m.

Hi!!  It’s almost the weekend!  I’m especially excited because my son will have his first swim meet of the season on Saturday.  I’ll be yawning and bleary-eyed at the pool by 5:45 (yes, a.m.) but oh so proud!  Since we were undefeated last year, we’ve actually moved up two divisions so it’ll be interesting to see how well we do.  I can’t wait!

Inspire

There’s a new sentiment set available at Cornish Heritage Farms today (6/12).

“Inspire” is one of six big chunky words from the Big Inspiration set.   I love the distressed style of this font.  I’ve paired it with Nature Silhouettes from the Kim Hughes Collection.

I’m not used to making cards without some kind of doo-dad(s) so I had a bit of a time deciding what to do with the image once it was stamped.  In the end, I decided to add some wonky stitching around three of the sides and the little strip of zig-zag in the one corner. 

One of the things I like to do when I have a big image that seems to take up most of the card front is to offset some of the layers (as opposed to having equal borders).  It adds just a bit of difference but more interest, I think.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day! 

If you haven’t already done so, please comment on the post below for a chance to win one of my two give-aways!

Cardstock:  Prism Papaya Puree Medium, Suede Brown Dark, Natural Smooth   Stamps:  Cornish Heritage Farms “Nature Silhouettes (Kim Hughes Collection), “Big Inspiration” (Mona Lisa Moments)   Ink:  Ranger Brushed Corduroy and Dried Marigold Distress   Accessories:  Sewing machine, sponge.  Card size 5 ½” x 4 ¼”.