Feature the main image

On Sunday I featured a Sweet Pea image from Paper Jewels.  Today I have another one, the first one I coloured of this stamp line.  It was so fun to colour, I knew I'd have to make more!!  You can see I had fun blending lots of different colours and the results are stunning (especially in real life).  More importantly, the image was surprisingly easy to colour, and that always makes me happy :-)

The image is a Sweet Pea called Purple Woods.  I loved the image so much that I wanted to make a card that would totally feature it and where there were no distractions, so Voila!  Here we go:

This card was so simple and easy to make, stunningly beautiful (I think) and guess what?  That thing we never talk about.....it was CHEAP to make!  Focusing on the main image and using simple papers to accent it is FRUGAL since all those embellishments we normally layer on are usually the things we pay the most for.  Got to love it {grin}.

Photo Inspiration

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today we have another fun challenge at Paper Sundaes, this one is a photo inspiration challenge.  Our sponsor this week is Paper Jewels.  I'm happy to showcase one of the fabulous Sweet Pea stamps that Paper Jewels now carries.

Isn't she gorgeous?!  

Anyway, back to our challenge: I was given the below picture and asked to use that as inspiration for my card:

I had fun with this challenge, the field of flowers and the soft colours and feel of it appealed to me, so this is what I wound up making:

So I chose the image because of the butterfly--looking at that field of flowers made me think of butterflies.  Then, to keep going with the idea of the inspiration challenge, used colours from the picture to guide the colouring.  

At this point I had a great main image, but what next?  Dug through my stash of DP till I found this SU Tea Party DP with a floral background in similar colours--perfect!  Next, decided that some swaying grass in the background went well with the idea of the field of wildflowers, so stamp that on an acetate sheet and layered that overtop of the DP.  

Next, layered the main image, but it still was missing something, so overlayed it with velum and to tie into the swirls in her hair added a flourish overtop of the velum.  

It is so beautiful in real life, one of those cards I'm going to have trouble giving away as I love the finished effect.  The only thing I would do different is not adhered the velum at both top and bottom, because when you look at it you want to lift the sheet and look underneath, and you can't.

What do you think?

I hope you'll join us with this inspiration challenge at Paper Sundaes this week, I'd love to see how you interpret the challenge and what you come up with, and you'll get  a chance to win a Sweet Pea stamp of your own to play with too :-)

Get Well Kitty

Here's a card I made a while back.  I had been putting together a gift pack of cards for my Niece who is in University, and this card was made to go with it.  Her favorite colour combo, as I recall, is yellow purple and green, so I wanted to use at least two of them.

The image is a House Mouse one, and so sweet!  When I was little I was always so jealous of the other kids because they got casts and everyone would sign them.  Now I'm happy I never had one, and got to keep my bones intact LOL!  Funny how our ideas change with age :-)

Here's a close up of the main image:

It's coloured using copics, and the DP is SU.  The pretty ribbon is some I got on clearance a while back, not sure of the brand.

I figure this image works if someone is sick or if their kitty cat is sick LOL!  Talk about versatile.  The perfect item to include in a gift pack of cards for a university student.

Speaking of useful cards, my poll on the sidebar is still ongoing, and I'm looking for feedback and comments (you can leave a comment on any of my posts) telling me what type of cards you use (give, not hoard) and how many in a year.  If you donate to retirement homes or to our soldiers abroad, or give gift packs like this to friends and relatives, those all count.  I'm interested in seeing what the trends are and what you are doing in your home with your cards, so please share some ideas with us.

Easter's coming up soon!

Hi folks, only a week to easter and most of us are looking forward to the first stat holiday in the year since New Years....Yay!!!  I always like having an extra day off to spend crafting, especially when I'm still getting paid :-)

Well, I've got a chicky for you, another digi from Sugar Creek Hollow.

The chicky, of course, wound up on a card front, and I used this weeks Sugar Creek Hollow Sketch Challenge.

Lots of work on this card--faux stitching, distressing of the background and the main image, tearing and ripping the paper, which is harder than you expect (EVERY time I do an SU order I look at that ruler for making a ripped looking edge, and every time I think it's a waste of money and don't buy it....it's got to be almost the only non-stamp thing in that catalogue I don't have, one of these days I will have to break down and buy it!)

I used a cuttlebug folder that was in my cupboard and still in it's plastic packaging.  I didn't have any Prima's or flowers small enough to fit on the edge, as per the sketch, so I substituted brads.  It's been so long since I used a brad it seems I forgot how to put them on and they wound up a bit crooked, oh well, it's handmade at least LOL!

Hubby gave me a great compliment.  He knows I've never figured out how to use the big fancy sewing machine he bought for me a few (many!) years ago, and he looked at it and asked if I'd hand stitched it!  I was so happy, it looked like real sewing to him, even though it's just my paper piercing and markers at work.

If you haven't filled in my Poll, this week I'm looking to find out what type of cards you use (not make and hoard, but actually give to people) and how many of them in a year you give away.  Leave a comment and tell us about your card giving habits.

Technical problems fixed

Despite technical problems earlier today you should now be able to post on my blog.  Thank you to Marlene  for letting me know!  Luckily I visited her site last night and after laughing hilariously for a while left her a message and she was kindly trying to return the favor, you may want to check out her blog if you are looking for entertainment:   http://disguisedasagrownup.blogspot.com/
In the meanwhile, please feel free to browse here and leave some comments :-)

By the way, if any of you have found a good non fussy 3 column template for your blog that works well (not the pretty background, but the template thing) would you share the link with me?  For now we've had to switch back to 2 columns....

CPS Sketch 159

It's my day off today and I've been happily crafting away.  I decided to use this weeks CPS sketch 159 with an image from Sugar Creek Hollow that I've been wanting to play with.  Here's a couple of photo's at different angles.

And then at an angle so you can see the overlay better:

The sketch required a swirly on the edge, and while I've been drooling over the Spellbinders flourish die cuts, I haven't bought one yet.  Then I remembered I had this flourish stamp and decided an Acetate overlay would work well.  The image is stamped using Staz on White ink.  There's a touch of liquid pearls in the centre of each flower, and I used distressing techniques on the main image to add a bit of extra "flavour".

I think this card will be useful, we all need encouragement from time to time.  I've got a Poll on this week, as shown on my Side Bar, and would love it if you'd participate there AND leave me a comment on what types of cards you use (ie write on and give to someone, not hoard in a drawer LOL!) and how many of them you use (ie. give away) in a year....I'm going to compile some stats and then report back to you all on this in a few weeks, so please share your experience.

Peace Within

Cuddling my kitty cat this evening I realized I'd made a card recently featuring a furry friend that hadn't been posted, so dug it out to share with you.

I used some wonderful paper I'd gotten in a swap with this darling image from Mo's and sentiment from SU.  Coloured, as usual, with copics.

It's easy to make pretty cards, but much harder to make useful cards, which is always my goal.  I thought this one would be a nice thinking of you card.  With all the cards I make, I do manage to use most of them, or give them away to folks in gift sets that I hope they can use easily.

What type of cards do use (not look at, but actually write in and give away) and how many in a year?  I'd love to see your responses and compile some mini stats. so please leave a comments and let us know 1.  what type of cards (birthday, thank you, christmas, etc) and how many of each you use in a year.

Paper Jewels Tuesday

Tuesday is here again, and I'm happy to feature a Bildmalarna image on a card I made a few weeks back but hadn't posted yet.  Talk about a happy snow day!

The main image here is a Bildmalarna image called Mimo Ice Christmas. You can find the image at the Paper Jewels website.

The background is enhanced with Tattered Angels Glimmer mist, and the main image coloured with copics.  The snowflakes were coloured using my copic airgun to get the colour coordination. What do you think?

Lucky birthday

Today's card is one I made on the weekend for my nephews birthday.  He's a young man in his twenties and his b'day is on St. Patricks, so I wanted something masculine, and with some lucky clover.  I used the Week #95 sketch from Sketch Saturday.

The lighting/photo doesn't do it justice, the colours are all a bit off in the photo.  It looks great in real life, and I don't think it's too girly, which is a good thing!

Paper Sundae Challenge - Piecing

Happy Sunday!

Another Sunday has come and with it another challenge at Paper Sundae's.  This week the challenge is Paper Piecing.  This was my first time doing it, take a look (it's the blanket and kleenex box which are layered):

I stamped the image on the main card stock, and then stamped it on another piece of white and also on a piece of patterned paper.  I coloured the main image.  I cut out the blanket from the DP and glued that on to my main one.  I cut out the kleenex box from the last one and glued it over the top of it all.  Then I used the same DP to coordinate in the background.

If you feel like trying your hand at this technique make sure you link your card back to Paper Sundaes to be entered into a random draw this week for a gift certificate from this weeks sponsor, Simon Says.

Sensational Saturday Sketch

The weather has been sunny and warm and there are tons of flowers blooming here, it made me want to play with flower stamps.  Luckily there's a brand new stamp release from Sugar Creek Hollow with just the thing.  I've used the sketch challenge they just posted SSSC01.

I had lunch with an old friend yesterday and she was telling me about one of the colour schemes she'd used recently in a scrapbook of Tuscan colours....my mind started visualizing, and after she left, Voila!  I put this together.

This new image is part of a set called Behold I Stand.  It has a really neat door too, which I have an idea for a Christmas card using (surely not what Tracy had in mind LOL!  shhh....).

I modified the sketch a bit as I didn't want to cover the birds in the embossing folder, aren't they cool!

Faux stitching challenge - Sundae Birthday

Today is Fabulous Friday at Sugar Creek Hollow.   This week we were challenged to make a card using Stitching of Faux Stitching.  While I have two sewing machines, I can't figure out how to use either of them!  I broke the one the first time I tried to use it and haven't gotten around to bringing it in to get fixed.  Luckily I have a piercing tool and white gel pen, which do a great job of faux stitching!


Without further ado, here is my quick and simple card:

Our Sugar Creek Hollow design team has some other great examples of stitching and faux stitching.  Take  amoment and see what everyone else has done.

 Cheri ♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan

Joseline ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah 

Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥

March Guest Designer

Kelly

CPS Sketch 158

Happy Tuesday!  For today's creation I decided to go with a clean cut and simple card, something easy to mail without big bumps in the envelope, so I followed CPS sketch # 158 and came up with this:

The main image here is a Bildmalarna image called Lovely Day. You can find the image at the Paper Jewels website. It's coloured with copics.

Al in all this was a super quick and easy card, and I love the crisp feeling of it--I'm sure it'll find a home pretty soon!

Just My Sketches March 15th challenge

Happy Monday!


Today we have a new sketch and inspiration challenge from Just My Sketches.  For this challenge we pick one of five songs provided and use that as inspiration for the card we make, and use the sketch provided too.  This is my favorite challenge that I participate in, as I think it's the most creative.  


So this month, as usual, I did a google search on each of the songs to get the lyrics and then listen to it.  I chose this song:     MORE BEAUTIFUL YOU   -  Jonny Diaz
which I'd never heard before, and which I think is really great.  It talks about being happy with who you are and how you look, and makes reference to the challenges young girls and women have with eating disorders.  You should go listen to it.


So when I listened to this song and started thinking about what kind of card I wanted to make I thought of Tilda, and how she represents the beautiful women that don't need to be skinny.  This made me think of Renoir paintings, which are all beautiful, and don't depict really skinny women.  To refresh your memory, here are a couple of Renoirs paintings:

       

And here is the card I made based on this inspiration:

The blue cardstock in the back is SU, the image is a Tilda one I got in a swap, and the background was made using the copic airbrush system.  The shell was made using a Spellbinder die cut.  

Paper Sundae's Challenge #9

Happy Sunday!

This week's challenge at Paper Sundaes is a Fancy Fold card.  There are all kinds of fancy fold cards, and so I went through the tutorials at Splitcoast and picked this one.  You can find the tutorial at this link:   http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/camis_trifold_card/

Here's the outside of the card:

And here's the inside of the card:

The images are from Sugar Creek Hollow--I just love this little chick, so cute and also quick and easy to colour.  The sentiment is a freebie available now at the SCH site.

Paper and ribbon is SU, and colouring is all with Copics.  The flowers are miscellaneous one from my stash, and I put Kaiser Pearls in the center of each, which you can now buy at Paper Jewels.

What do you think?

Danish Birthday cake

I made this card last month for a birthday card for my niece, and I've been waiting to post it as I wanted to share with you the inspiration.

The image is a free digi I got from Phindy's Place group at PCP.  As soon as I saw it I thought of the Danish Birthday cakes that my mother and sister in law make for each of our family birthdays.  They are wonderful, light and fluffy with whipping cream on top and jam filling, just like I coloured above!

It's a wonderful cake, here's the recipe from my mother in law, who has kindly shared it and says it's ok to post:

• 6 egg----1 cup sugar-----1 tsp.baking powder---1/2 cup potato flower..
• Whip egg yolk with half the sugar till it's fluffy..then mix in baking powder and flour...
• Whip the whites very stiff and mix in the rest of the sugar, whip till the sugar is gone..and mix gently into the egg yolk mixture.
• Divide in 3 round cake pans..9 in. diameter.. Bake in 350 Fahrenheit  oven..for 12 - 15 min...
• Turn them onto wax paper sprinkle with sugar and cool ..
• For filling use vanilla mouse..and raspberry jam..
• Decorate with whipping cream..

And to compare, here's a pic of one of these cakes:

A big thanks to my mother in law for the recipe, picture, and of course for making these for us on our birthdays!

We interrupt our regular programming....

Hi folks,

I wanted to say thank you for all your kind comments the last few weeks while I've been on vacation--I had set up posts in advance but have not been online to comment on any of your cards, so my apologies for the silence!  It's been great to come home and read all your nice words about my cards and I'm so reinspired to get crafting again.

So I'm going to interrupt our regular programing of cards to share some pics from our recent vacation, hopefully these will inspire you too.

Gentler Times

Here's another card I made using one of the Sugar Creek Hollow images.  This flower is one of my favorites, so versatile and fun to colour too.

It's a pretty easy card, black base, Basic Grey rhinestones, some lace from the fabric store, and Spellbinders die cuts.  The image is coloured using Copics, and the distressing is done with a sponge and ink.

Got to love quick and easy cards like these!

This weeks challenge was to use buttons, however I was away and wasn't able to join in.  However you'll surely be impressed by the cards the other DT ladies have put together, and today is also Fabulous Friday with a Freebie over at Sugar Creek Hollow.  

Here's the link to visit the other DT gals

Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan ♥Joseline  ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah  Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥ Kelly

Remember to pick up your freebie over at Sugar Creek Hollow, too!

Summer days

Well, at this time of year we start looking forward to the warmth of summer days.  This card was made with that in mind.

The main image here is called Mimosa on Fence. You can find the image at the Paper Jewels website.  It's coloured with copics, and I experimented with colouring the background, both the sky and ground, with the airgun.  I was trying to see if I could get a sunny sky.  It's not exactly as I envisioned it, so I'll have to keep experimenting.

It's dressed up with some Basic Grey rhinestones and a flower and ribbon...not much room for anything else!

Paper Jewels March inspiration challenge

Here's an interesting challenge from the Paper Jewels blog for you to try your hand at:  select a piece of jewelry from this website:  Gotta Have Bling
and then use that as inspiration for your card.


So first of all, before I show you my card, here is the item I used for inspiration:  

It reminds me of a necklace my mother had when I was a child that I particularly liked....the bold colours and the whimsical style combined, that's what I wanted to capture in my card.  And here's the card that resulted:

I wanted it not only to be bold and whimsical, but dreamy too.  What is she thinking about, you wonder when you look at this.  The image is a Bildmalarna one available from Paper Jewels, and coloured in with copics.  The rhinestones are Basic Grey and flowers a gift from Christmas.  The whipping cream on the beverage is fussed up with liquid pearls.


So, what do you think?

SCH Colour Challenge

Today I've got a card to share with you following a colour challenge from Sugar Creek Hollow.  The colour challenge is to use 4 (yes, FOUR!) colours:  Baha Blue, Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip.  I don't usually mix this many colours on a card, so it was a real challenge for me.

The main image is a digi stamp from Sugar Creek Hollow.  It's coloured with copics.  For this card I left room at the bottom to add a sentiment later--the image is pretty multi purpose, so I'll wait and see if it's a thank you or thinking of you card I need :-)

My Journal

Happy Tuesday!  It's Paper Jewels day for me, and I have to say this is one of my favoritest cards I've made in a while.

The main image here is called Mimosa's Book, by Bildmalarna. You can find the image at the Paper Jewels website.  I used the coffee staining technique for the journal paper in the background, and dug out my super favorite ribbon from StampingBella.  The main image is coloured with copics, as usual, and the sky background was done with the airgun.

Sugar Creek Hollow Grand Opening

Today is the official grand opening for Sugar Creek Hollow, a new digi stamp company.  You've probably seen a few previews here on my blog over the past month as the ramp up to Grand Opening came up.

Here is one of my favorite and easiest cards made so far using the SCH images:

The images were layed out in Word and then printed, and after cutting out I distressed the image with a sponge and Creamy Caramel ink.  Then out came the Glossy Glaze for the hearts.  After that it was just a matter of layering the papers and adding a bit of lace.

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Also, today is March 1st, which means that Just my Sketches has a new inspiration and sketch challenge for us to play with, check it out here:  Just my sketches challenge blog link
I'll be playing in this one too, so check back here to see what I come up with in the next couple weeks.