Warm Heart

  

It's been a nice, quiet and crafty Sunday.  My first post is all about warmth and love.  I just love those mittens!  The third and fourth mittens I punched hearts out and used the "negative" to lay over bottom layers to create "windows" for some added depth.  The mittens with blue, I scored the blue sections for added depth.   I submitted this card to The Shabby Tea Room, Moxie Fab World and The Pink Elephant challenges (see links below).

SPIES:
Stamps:  Girl, Sentiment (My Favorite Things).
Paper:  White, Red, light blue cardstock; DP - Love Me (My Mind's Eye).
Ink: Tuxedo Black; Copics.
Extras:  Lace circle nestabilities; mitten die (Taylored Expressions); heart punch; teal blue twine; red heart buttons; mini closepins.

Moxie Fab - Challenge #60 - Card with a Window

Shabby Tea Room #151 - Cute as a Button

 

#184 -Hearts

LOVE...All U Need

Happy Groundhog's Day!  So, the word is out --- early Spring! YEA!  Not that we have had much of a winter here in the Triangle region of North Carolina, but we've had our share of 20s overnight/early morning!  I'm just so ready to see leaves back on the trees and flowers popping up.  The cold I can handle, the drab, dark, dank, dead look of everything just, well, blech.

Maybe that's why we have Valentine's Day in the middle of February --- to put a little color and luuuuv into the air!  LOL  I do have to admit that I think Valentine's Day is fast becoming my favorite holiday to craft for more than Christmas now.  All the hearts, cutesy pun lines,  reds and pinks, flowers and of course, the chocolates!  Although, after receiving 2 lbs of chocolates from my dad over Christmas, chocolates is the LAST thing the Hubs better get me!  And, he has been warned!  hahaha

Actually, we are going on a little romantic getaway that weekend --- back to our alma mater where it all began -- 26-1/2 years ago!  Yep, back to the scene of the crime one may say, to good ole George Mason University.  It's their Homecoming weekend and so I got us tickets for the basketball game and a nice room at a lovely inn -- on campus, no less.  Basketball?  College campus?  To some it may not seem too romantic, but, to us it will be, to return to where we began.  I can't wait!

But I digress, a valentine card here using the chalkboard technique.  This is becoming a popular card making technique these days and there are lots of good tutorials out there, if you want to learn it.  It's very easy peasy!  I used this tutorial for my card below, which I am posting for the challenge at Addicted to CAS.  I'm going to have to make some more chalkboard cards I believe.  I like the effect. 

After I applied the chalkboard effect to the black cardstock, I stamped two hearts in Versamark,  embossed them with red emboss powder, cut them out and adhered one to the background.  The other one I rolled the edges with a pencil and then layered atop the other heart for a more 3D look and added the pearls.

Stamps:  Heart (Recollections).  Flourishes (Autumn Leaves).  Sentiment (Craft Smart).
Paper:  White and black cardstock.
Ink:  Versamark, Cloud White Chalk Ink (VersaMagic), white emboss powder, red emboss powder.
Extras:  White water color pencil, red pearlized gems.


XXXOOO...

Hearts on a String

Another kraft card tonight.  I guess you could say I'm in a "krafty" mood!  LOL!  I just couldn't resist that one!  Seriously though, several of the cards I've done today have been with kraft paper and several of the challenges have required them also, like this one for ColourQ.

I started out with a completely different idea involving those hearts, which I liked a little better, but I went with this instead and they are now growing on me.  I knew I wanted to string them together in a creative way and wracked my brain til it hit me --- I haven't used my Croc bite eyelt thingy in a very long time and so I grabbed it off my peg board and refreshed my memory on how to use it.  Forty-five eyelets, 20 minutes and three tantrums later --- this is what I came up with!  Actually there wasn't a tantrum and it really only took me 3 eyelets practicing, so I kind of impressed myself. 

SPIES:
Stamps:  Big Heart & Sentiment -(Taylored Expressions); small hearts - (Recollections); text (behind sentiment)- (Inkadinkadoo).
Paper:  Kraft; white and light pink cardstock; DP -from stash.
Ink: Tangelo, Desert Sand, Angel Pink (Memento); orange yellow (Hampton Art).
Extras:  Scallop square nestabilities; orange eyelets; kraft string.

Preserved Love

So I'm finally organized enough get some stamping and cards done!  I recently purchased this adorable jar stamp and die set from Taylored Expressions and have been dying to use it.  Isn't it just so cute? The stamp set also came with a heart stamp for hearts in the jar, but I decided to use some shiny heart stickers instead.  So, I first stamped the jar on vellum with black archival ink.  Then, I used the jar die cut and cut it out, then cut out another jar with the die out of craft plastic.  I stuck the hearts on top of the vellum jar, added one large glitter heart and then glued the plastic jar on top.  The ribbon I thought gave the card more of a country feel to it.  It has to be one of the oldest ribbons in my stash that I maybe have used one other time.  So thanks to the SOS challenge, I pulled it out, dusted it off and used it!

This card is for the following challenges:

The Pink Elephant #184 - Hearts

 

Shopping Our Stash #86 -Use Your Oldest Ribbon

Freshly Made Sketches

SPIES:
Stamps:  Jar, sentiment (Taylored Expressions).
Paper:  Kraft; DP - Love (Recollections)
Ink:  Jet Black (Staz On); Chianti (Colorbox)
Extras:  Heart stickers; red paisley ribbon; red gems; jar die; embossed folder (Sizzix).

Beary Special!

Happy Sunday!

It's been quite cold and crisp here in NC with an ice storm on Friday afternoon and now at the close of the weekend, more frozen rain overnight!  Looks like more slipping and sliding on Monday! 

But for now, a warm and loving card here for the challenge at The Pink Elephant Challenge.  Last Week I was an "Unforgettable" with my card for Pink Elephant.  It was such a surprise and a thrill! 

I've been trying to get  my Valentines started and I love this sweet little bear!  He is so adorable and lovable!  The hearts kind of evolved from just originally just a thin border line of a few to a bed of heart trios.  Some of them I popped up along with the larger heart trio in the top left corner, which I discovered in a different stamp set I had and it was like this card was meant to be!

SPIES:
Stamps:  Bear, sentiment, and small heart trio (Taylored Expressions); Large heart trio (Recollections).
Paper:  White cardstock.
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento);  Walnut, Sand, Dull Ivory, Carmine, Light Rouge, Begonia Pink and Hollyhock(Copics).

Extras:  Pop dots.   

Challenge:

The Pink Elephant Challenge #183

Be safe and warm!

Best of 2012

Catered Crop

Well, I've been procrastinating AGAIN, but only with posting and blogging!  I've been busy behind the scenes, so to speak.  I've been wanting to join the Catered Crop's Top 12 in 2012 and so now's as good as time as any before there is no more time!  LOL

You can click on either the Month or the picture of each project and it will take you to the original post done in that month of 2012.  It wasn't so difficult since during the first part of the year I wasn't all that crafty.  You may also notice a few months missing totally -- May, July, and August.  I didn't make anything those months.  My excuse -- two surgeries in eight months with one month of travel lumped between July and August (which might have something to do with one of the surgeries, since it happened 2 weeks after I came home)!  So, I added a couple faves for a few of the months to compensate for the lost ones.  

JANUARY

Just For Me -- A "cheat sheet" I made for myself

FEBRUARY

Grey Wolf - Birthday card for my oldest son

MARCH

A personal journal I use for doodling and jotting down my craft and artsy ideas.

I had just gotten the chevron stamp, which is still a fave of mine.

APRIL

Got to love those whiskers!

JUNE

Graduation card and gift bag for future daughter inlaw.

SEPTEMBER

A new technique I tried from Cardmaker magazine.

OCTOBER

 

 Homemade paper (the purple) from Dylusions paints and moon made from Glimmer Mists.

I had been wanting to use my scrabble letters and paper,

thanks to a Moxie Fab challenge I finally did it.

NOVEMBER

I made five of these for our Thanksgiving feast. 

An easel card --- I love the pink tulle smoke!

DECEMBER

I loved the monochromatic look of Christmas cards, so very elegant and vintage!

I must add that it is pretty humbling to look back at one's work from a year past!  And then again, it's also an inspiration to do better in the year to come.  Definitely a much better New Year resolution than many others that come to mind!

To New Beginnings  ---

Friendly Snow Flowers

 

Good Evening!  It's been a busy day in my craft room today.  So now I've got lots of posts to make.  First up is a card for the Winter White Challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow, another blog I stumbled upon this week and trying out for the first time.  I had the flower pot sitting in a stash of unused die cuts and thought it would be perfect.  Actually it was a leftover white ornament die from Christmas cards, but I cut off the bottom and top and made it a flower vase.  I used floral wire for the stems and painted them white.  The embossed background of the card was made using vellum paper that I embossed.  I cut a piece of lace DP paper to adhere to the top of the label die for more texture and shabbiness to compliment the embossed flower vase. 

SPIES:
Stamps:  Sentiment (Taylored Expressions).
Paper:  White cardstock.  DP - lace embossed (The Paper Company); Silk embossed on vase(The Paper Company); vellum.
Ink:  London Fog(Memento).  White acrylic paint (flowers stems).
Extras:  Ornament die (Sizzix); Label die (Sizzix).  Emboss folder(Sizzix); lace ribbon; pearl string; floral wire; snowflake buttons; heart punch; pearl gems; satin flower.

More to come shortly!  Come back and see!

My Sunshine

A bright and cheery card this afternoon for to compliment the sunny day we are having in the Triangle today.  I've had the sun stamps since I first began stamping about four or five years ago and just haven't used them very much.  So, in fitting with my New Year's resolution to use more of my old things and try new things and challenges, here they are.  Now, I have played with The Paper Players before, but not for a very long time, until today.  Loved the color challenge they had this week.

SPIES:
Stamps: Sun stamps from stash. Sentiment (Hampton Arts).
Paper: White, grey, bright blue, yellow cardstock.  DP Journey (Authentique).
Ink: Versamark; Azure (Staz On).  Yellow emboss powder.
Extras: Tag.; Emboss folder (Lifestyle Crafts); banner border (Shapeabilities by Spellbinders); heart medallion die (Spellbinders); silver buttons; aqua gems.

Tu-Tu Cute!

TGIF Everyone!  A quick post for a challenge at Send A Smile 4 Kids, a great blog I stumbled upon recently where they sponsor card challenges, only the cards must all be made for kids and then you can send your cards out to the blog sponsors to be delivered to some specific hospitals around the country, so nurses can hand them out to their child patients.  This week is Valentines.  I used the sketch from last week's Tuesday Mornings challenge. And, I am also submitting it to The Pink Elephant Challenge, which is a color challenge this week.

Tuesday Morning Sketches

 The Pink Elephant Challenge #182 - Pink, Red, White

SPIES:
Stamps: Mouse and sentiment (My Favorite Things).
Paper: White cardstock.
Ink: Jet Black (Staz On).  Copics.
Extras:  Red heart button.  Heart emboss folder.  Scallop Lace Circle(Spellbinders). Washi tape.