Hurray for Holly

Over at Splitcoast today, it's our Queen for the Day Challenge; and today we honor queen Holly.  Holly's work is absolutely exquisite!  I've taken the general layout from one of her cards to CASE today.

I started out with my usual card base in an A2 size.  Next comes a layer of deeper colored card stock, followed by a slightly smaller piece of designer paper that's been distressed and sponged with both Pear Pizzazz and Soft Suede.  I love this designer paper from Prima...such gorgeous designs and colors!

Two smaller pieces of designer paper, both matted onto the deeper colored card stock come next.  Again, these strips have been distressed and sponged.  Then I placed two pieces of ribbon down the left side of the card.  Next, for a little bling...some black adhesive rhinestones in a cool swirl pattern that I think mimics the flight of the butterflies.

I used a couple of different sized nesties to make the round piece that tops the card.  This has been sponged also.  And finally, the sentiment simply stamped on the lower right corner of the card.

Here's what I used today:
Paper:  SU Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede and Prima Sun Kiss
Ink:  SU Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede and Versafine in Onyx Black
Stamps:  Impression Obsession (butterfly) and My Sentiments Exactly (sentiment)
Accessories:  Big Shot Pro, large and small circle nesties, ribbon from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, sponges, distressing tool, Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones, adhesive

Have a fabulous Friday!

Hello Friend

Good morning, everyone!

I've created this card using the sketch from the Viva la Verve April week four challenge.  The card base is a standard A2  (4.25" x 5.5").  Over top of that is a piece of Melissa Frances designer paper that's been distressed and inked.

Next comes some chevrons that have been dry embossed for a little texture.  The flower has been made with a coordinating designer paper using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  It's been scrunched, inked, and sprayed with glimmer must (which sadly doesn't show up in my picture).  Behind it is some tulle ribbon, a couple of pins and a canvas tag.  The canvas tag was also inked and sprayed with glimmer mist and then stamped with the sentiment.

Here's what I used today:
Paper:  SU Pink Pirouette and Melissa Frances 5th Avenue
Ink:  SU Pink Pirouette and Pool Party, Versafine in Black Onyx
Stamps:  Verve Hope Blooms
Accessories:  Big Shot Pro, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals, Frost Glimmer Mist, misc. stick pins, distressing tool, sponges, tulle, SU Lattice embossing folder, Maya Road mini tag canvas pieces, glue, SU retired brad

Have a wonderful day!

Butterfly Tag

Good morning everyone!

Over at Splitcoast today it's the color challenge:  More Mustard, Early Espresso and Pool Party.  And, I've also used the Viva la Verve April week two layout but turned the design on its side.

The card base is a standard A2.  Next comes a couple of different pieces of designer paper from the same collection that have been layered on SU Early Espresso.  The edges of the designer paper have all been inked with SU More Mustard. 

Next comes another piece of the card stock used for the base.  I stamped off the butterfly image before stamping the card stock and then ran it through my Big Shot Pro with a embossing folder.  Then, it was also inked with More Mustard.  Another piece of the yellow designed paper has been stamped with the Verve butterfly, stamped with the sentiment, inked with More Mustard and placed over a Lacy Ovals die cut.  I inked some ruffle-edged ribbon with my Early Espresso as the color wasn't quite as deep as I'd like.  It was wrapped around the ivory card stock.  Then I stuck two star pins through the ribbon and taped them on the back of the piece of card stock. 

I used a Tim Holtz accoutrement and colored it with my Copics, then it was glued over top of the butterfly tag.

Here's what I used today:
Paper:  SU Naturals in Ivory, Early Espresso and Cosmo Cricket Baby Jane
Ink:  SU Early Espresso and More Mustard
Stamps:  Verve Beautiful You and All Aflutter
Accessories:  Big Shot Pro, Couture Creations Tied Together embossing folder, Spellbinder's Lacy Ovals and Small Ovals dies, Verve All Aflutter A Cut Above die, Tim Holtz Accoutrements - Classic, star pins, ruffled ribbon, embroidery thread, sponges, and Glossy Accents.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

So Happy For You

Today, I'm combining multiple challenges, Viva la Verve April week 1, the Free for All using mix 'n match designer papers and I'm saluting the queen for the day, Suen.

My card base is the standard A2 (4.25" x 5.5"). Next comes a layer of beautiful designer paper from Basic Grey. Then I've layered some matching paper over another piece of plain card stock, then yet another layer of different coordinating paper over another piece of card stock. I've used a Spellbinder's die for the round piece and stamped the Verve sentiment on it.

Then three different Verve stamps were used for the flowers and leaves. Each was die cut with a coordinating die from Verve. There's lots of distressing on each layer and lots of sponging too. The flowers and leaves have been shaped a bit and popped up on dimensionals for a little more interest. The only embellishments used are a couple of large rhinestones.

Here's what I used:
Paper: SU Baja Breeze and Basic Grey Plumeria
Ink: SU Concord Crush and Distress Ink in Victorian Velvet
Stamps: Verve Bloom and Grow, Verve Hope Blooms
Accessories: Big Shot Pro, Spellbinder's Picot Edged Circles, Verve A Cut Above dies, sponges, dimensionals, Glossy Accents, McGill Paper Blossoms Molding Mat and Tool Kit, distressing tool

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!

Enjoy Today

It's sketch challenge time over at Splitcoast today. And, I've taken a little liberty with the sketch but that's what it's all about isn't it? Using a sketch to spark your creativity, to stretch your brain, just using it as a jumping off point for your card.

I've used a standard A2 card base in Crumb Cake. The next layer is some designer paper that's been dry embossed and distressed. The tab shaped piece is another piece of paper from the same collection that's also been distressed. My flowers and leaves are made with coordinating designer papers from the same collection and made with the Spellbinder's Bitty Blossoms dies. I embossed the leaves and inked them, then they were just shaped a little with my fingers. A couple of pearls pins, a quick sentiment and done! To save the recipient's fingers from being stabbed with the pins, I stuck them into the tab shaped piece so that the ends were well hidden. I think they'll appreciate that don't you?

Here's what I used:
Paper: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake and Echo Park This & That
Ink: Stampin' Up! Calypso Coral and Distress Ink in Evergreen Bough
Stamp: Verve
Accessories: Big Shot Pro, Tim Holtz embossing folder, Spellbinder's Bitty Blossoms, pearl pins, sponges, distressing tool, Ranger Glossy Accents

That's it for today! Have a wonderful evening!

It's about time!

After a very long absence, I'm back. My postings may be sporadic but I'm trying. My blog has been very neglected, along with a lot of other things, due to illness. Starting to feel like myself again and this is my first card in a very long time.

The color challenge over at Splitcoast calls for neutrals today: Whisper White, Basic Gray and Sahara Sand. So no, this is not a black and white photo LOL! And, our dessert option for today is stripes.

I stamped the LaBlanche image in Basic Gray and then proceeded to use my waterbrush and my Sahara Sand stamp pad to lightly color the image. Next I used my Sahara Sand marker to add more depth. The shading on the card was done both with the waterbrush and the marker. Then using a Stardust Gelly Roll pen, I added some highlights. My choice to add the dessert option was simply stamping a striped image down the right inside part of the card. And, finally, the sentiment was stamped in Basic Gray.

Here's what I used:

Paper: Gina K. Heavyweight cardstock in white

Ink: Stampin' Up! Basic Gray and Sahara Sand

Stamps: LaBlanche (image); Verve (sentiment) and Stampin' Up! (stripes)

Accessories: Niji waterbrush, SU Sahara Sand marker, SAMJ, Stardust Gelly Roll pen

That's it for today! Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!

Imagine...

Simple layout today for the Sketch Challenge over at Splitcoast. This has a lot of possibilities...you can make a very clean and simple look (CAS) or add lots of texture and color like I did.

The background to my card was created by stamping the large background stamp from Tim Holtz's Papillon set. Next I used a ink blending tool with Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and Bundled Sage to ink the entire background. Then I cut a piece of Composer Tissue Wrap slightly larger than my background paper and scrunched it up. Next, it was glued to the background piece with Glue 'n Seal. It was dried with the heat gun and then inked a little bit with the DTP method (direct to paper) with the same two inks. Then the edges were all distressed with a distressing tool and inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I ripped pieces away from the edges, curled some back and sanded some off with a sanding tool for a more distressed look. Then a little bit more Walnut Stain Distress Ink was added in a few areas for some depth.

For the next layer, dry embossed a piece of Kraft-Core, sanded it, distressed the edges with the distressing tool and more Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Once that was done, it was dried with the heat gun again. Next, I inked it with Distress Embossing Ink and heat embossed it with Antiquities Frosted Crystal embossing powder and adhered it to the background.

The sentiment has been stamped with Archival Ink in Jet Black on a piece of Kraft Resist. It too was distressed with the distressing tool and more Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I used a couple of long fasteners, washers and sprocket gears as embellishments. Then the entire piece was added to a card base from SU's Naturals Ivory card stock.

Recipe:
Paper: Stampin' Up Naturals Ivory, Tim Holtz Paper Stash - Kraft Resist and Tim Holtz Kraft-Core
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black, Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage and Walnut Stain
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection: Papillon and Stuff to Say
Accessories: Big Shot Pro, Tim Holtz Texture Fades - Clock & Steampunk set embossing folders, Tim Holtz Composer Tissue Wrap, ink blending tool, distressing tool, Glue 'n Seal, Antiquities Frosted Crystal embossing powder, heat gun, Tim Holtz long fasteners, Tim Holtz washers and Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears, ATG

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!