Thinking of you

Going thru some of my scrapbook/card ideas I found this idea for pattern paper that is busy.  By breaking up the pattern with a little bit of solid color it really does do wonders.  Noticed when I was editing the photo that my spacing was a little off between the strips (hey that is what makes things homemade so unique right?).

The card is a standard 5.5x4.25 inch card, with the fold on top, all of the supplies except the sentiment/embossing powder are from the Simon Says Stamp February 2014 Card kit (these kits sell out fast and sneak peaks at up coming kits are released on the 14th of each month).  The sentiment is from Stampin Up Sincere Salutation set, I love this set because it has a lot of everyday sentiments.

Almost forgot to mention that I used my new Wink of Stella pens on the flowers for a bit of shimmer. 

Hope you enjoyed this card and until next time Happy Crafting.

Homemade sponge daubers and homework for class

Hi everybody,

I want to throw a great big thank you to the Frugal Crafter (you can find a link to her page on the right side of this blog).  She did a video some months back on how to make spray mists and sponge daubers.  So I set out this week asking a friend of mine to keep all of her pop bottle caps for me and then headed to the dollar store to pick up make-up sponges.  Holy cow these were really easy to make and work wonders on your crafts (not to mention being way less expensive).

Here is a shot of all the daubers I made in about 15 minutes, 28 in all. 

 

Each dauber will get a number that corresponds to the individual ink pad that will be used with it.  They hold and transfer the color just like you get with the higher more expensive daubers.

 

Now when you tear the sponges apart you get that little ridge that you see down the middle of the above picture.  It will not affect your project and will eventually fall off. 

Now on for the fun part - I am taking a class on Stenciling.  Jennifer McGuire is one of the teachers.  She talked about different ways to get more out of your stencils - one of them is to turn your stencil over and continue the pattern.

I have this cute stencil from Heidi Swap, the diagonal stencil is the one that I used along with four different stamp pads from Stampin-Up (Pretty in Pink, Summer Sun, Lavender Lace and Ballet Blue), the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp ( Very Special).

Here is what I made for my homework assignment for day one (the colors on the 2nd card are a little lighter because of the lighting). 

 

Hope you learned a little something today, until next time - Happy Crafting.

 

Smiling

OK, I am looking at this New Year's resolution a little like my exercise routine - every time I post it becomes a little easier and way more fun.  So here we go

I recently signed up to take a Stenciled class with some great designers (Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Laura Bassen, Shari Carrol, Julie Ebersole and Debby Hughes).  Nothing could be easier—or more satisfying—than seeing a beautiful design magically appear when you lift away a stencil. In this class, you’ll learn sixteen exciting new techniques for this inexpensive and popular tool, including embossing paste, layering, masking, embossing, and more!

While I would love to purchase all of the new stencils that I am finding, it just isn't feasible.  One of my new sayings is - Use what you see, so that you can use what you have to create fun, beautiful new designs. 

I copied the sentiment from my stamp and made it larger (hence another way to use your stamps).  After stenciling this heart I just followed the design and cut it out. The light caught just right so you can see the embossing gloss on the heart.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting, hope you can use this design to create your own beautiful creation.  Until next time - Happy Crafting.

for this card I used BAZZIL 2-253 Peppermint paper, pink and white card stock. The stamp set is Simon Says Very Special, Hearts where made from a stencil set found at Michael's crafts, 3D Gloss Enamels RED, Classic Stampin Up Rose Red ink, and Gelly Roll Glitter Pen.

New Year, New Resolutions plus LOVE is in the air

Happy New Year!  Man its hard to believe that 2013 is now in the yearbooks and that we have a brand new year ahead of us!

Normally my new years resolutions are to Listen more - talk less, spend time with the family, and do what's best for my health.  To these resolutions I am adding one more this year - to craft more and keep up with my blog at least once a week (OK I realize that really is TWO more items to my resolutions but I choose to look at them as one)  :P.  The part about updating my blog has been an issue because of family, commitments and general everyday life.  To this I say -its time that I let my creative side come out and let more people see what I've been up to.

With that being said . . .

I signed up to receive the beautiful Simon Says Stamp - monthly card kit.  Holy cow batman January's kit was stocked full of things that can be used for Valentines day items but also could be used for other things like a scrapbook page for a dear friend of his very first grand baby. 

For the next couple of weeks I will be featuring items created with that kit.  Here is a Valentine's Day card that uses a few other things from Simon Says Stamp but you get the general idea.

 

The background was created using this and this, the pups and sentiment where created using this Stamp. 

 

Here is another view plus the sentiment for inside the card.

What you really can't see in any of these pictures is that the enamel hearts have this great shine to them.  Hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed crafting them - until next time Happy Crafting.

Here come the holidays. . .

Here we are 321 days into the year, 44 days left for 2013 and only 37 days 3 hours and 20 minutes until Christmas YIKES!  Where has the year gone?

Many of the blogs that I follow have been talking about holiday cards now for a few weeks - Vicky P over at Clips-N-Cuts did this cute card with stamps from Penny Black.  As you all know I love to use what I have so here is my take on "NOEL".  Happy crafting until next time

Supplies used:  Garden Green, Handsome Hunter and Ruby Red ink (Stampin-up), Snowflakes Embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Whimsy Caps (CTMH); various snowflakes (Hero Arts) and Red Baker's Twine (EK Success). 

Inspiration

The other day I got an email asking me to verify that I own my website.  Wow - then I got to thinking when was the last time that I posted???  Yeah its been awhile. 

One of my favorite websites is Paper Crafter's Library (PCL).  Now you might be wondering what that it well its a huge online library of video tutorials created by their experienced designers/educators, with new videos added daily. Whether your interest is in stamping, card making, scrapbooking, creating 3D items or altered art – you’ll find all the resources you need to navigate the world of paper crafting in ONE place, organized and indexed so that it’s quick and easy to find.

The other day they where showing how to use the Wonderfall, Lots of Thanks (Stampin’ Up!) Stamp set and came up with this card:



while I am all for new product - I definitely want to use what I have - so this is what I came up with:

 

This stamp set was found at a yard sale with no tags - so I can't tell you who made it.  Ink:  Really Rust (Stampin' Up), 1438 Gold Rush (Close to My Heart), 800 Rich Cocoa (Memento Dew Drop); Stamp:  DUDE! - Kelly Purkey 

Thanks for visiting, happy crafting!  See you again soon.