Thank You Tulips

No snow last night (weatherman was wrong, again) ... but we definitely have "snow sky" ... you know what I mean, the sky is solid gray and it looks like it could snow at any minute.  The weatherman is predicting a huge snowfall sometime tonight / tomorrow morning.  We'll see if they are right this time.  For now, there is still snow on the ground and it's quite cold, so it will be sticking around.  I'd rather stay home when the weather is like this and not chance being out on the icy roads.  That means more time in the art studio and you've probably noticed that I have been making a LOT of cards.

Late yesterday I worked on a Thank You card for the SCS January Fan Club Challenge ... this month's theme is "Mind Your Manners" ... make Thank You cards.  I had fun making the card and tried to get away from my CAS focus this time.  I used Stampin' Write markers to color in the bunch of tulips (stamp from Rubber-Art Stamps), and used yellow gingham, some twine and a button to make a "country-themed" card.  Hope you like.

"Thank You Tulips"

Stamps: Tulips (Rubber-Art Stamps); Silhouette Sentiments (SU!)

Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White (SU!); yellow gingham (unknown)

Ink:  Early Espresso; Stampin' Write markers: Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Always Artichoke (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Clear embossing powder, heat tool, Spellbinders Ovals, Big Shot, sponge, scalloped edge punch, Mandarin twine (the Twinery), wooden button, sticky strips and adhesives

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I stamped the tulip image in Early Espresso ink onto Whisper White cardstock and heat embossed in clear.  I used my Stampin' Write markers to color in the image and then lightly sponged Daffodil Delight in the background (in hindsight, I could have sponged first).

I layered the front of the Daffodil Delight card base with yellow gingham DP and ran it through my Big Shot, using the largest oval die-cut.  I ran another large piece of Daffodil Delight through the Big Shot with the second largest oval die-cut and that became the frame for in front of my tulips.

I mounted all the pieces as shown in the picture above, adding twine and a button around the bottom border pieces.

I struggled with the sentiment ... I didn't want it to take focus away from the tulips, so in the end I stamped a very small "Thank You" in Tangerine Tango ink right onto the yellow gingham DP.

Be Mine and Stitched with Love cards

Today's TLC (Technique Lover's Challenge) 360 is - Twine it up!  Of course, I love twine, so I had to make a card for the challenge - well, two actually! :)

Here are two CAS Valentine's Day cards using twine to stitch the hearts.  Both are made the same way, just changing up the colors and adding an extra layer to the Cherry Cobbler version.  Hope you like.

"Be Mine"

"Stitched with Love"

Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts, Outlined Occasions (I {Heart} Hearts, Field Flowers) (SU!)

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White (Melon Mambo, Whisper White) (SU!)

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler (Melon Mambo) (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Maraschino (Pink Sorbet) Twine - The Twinery, paper piercing tool, embroidery needle, pencil, temporary adhesive, sticky strips

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I stamped the "woodgrain" heart from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set onto a scrap piece of paper (I liked the shape of the heart).  Using a pencil, I marked where I wanted to pierce around the outline of the heart, making sure there was a corresponding pierce at both the top and bottom of the heart.  Using temporary adhesive, I attached the stamped heart overtop of my card front.  I used the paper piercing tool to pierce through both pieces of cardstock and once I had pierced all around the outline of the heart, I removed the scrap piece from on top and discarded.

I used an embroidery needle and twine to stitch through the piercing, creating a grid by stitching first vertically and then horizontally.  Finally I stitched along the outline of the heart.

I added the sentiment and mounted all the pieces as shown in the pictures above.

Inspired Silhouette and Silhouette Spray cards

Another snowfall overnight leaves us with about 1" of fresh snow this morning. Not much, just enough to cover and make everything look fresh and bright. I love how the snow looks on all the trees in our backyard - it's like a winter wonderland.

I have made two cards for this week's CAS Challenge (CAS153) - Sketch by Loll Thompson (that's me!). I'm having so much fun being on the Design Team and coming up with cards that I hope will inspire others to join in the challenge ... that I can't seem to limit myself to making just one sample card. As it is, I have to control myself to just make two :)

For this sketch challenge, I made the original card back on Nov. 1, 2011. I used my Nestabilities Rectangles to cut out three different sized rectangles and then used the cut-outs to create overlapping color blocks by reverse masking. Tip: sponge the lightest ink color block first and end with the darkest color ink block. I finished the card by adding a simple silhouette on top of the color blocks. Very quick and easy card

I used the same technique (reverse masking) to create color blocks for today's first sample. The second sample card is completely different with the color blocks paper-pieced and the silhouette embossed overtop. Hope you like.

Here's my original sketch:

Here's the first sample card for the CAS153 Challenge: (second sample is below instructions).

"Inspired Silhouette"

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, En Francais (SU!)
Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso (SU!)
Accessories & Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities Rectangles, Big Shot, sponges, Stamp-a-ma-jig, and adhesives

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I cut out the three rectangles from acetate so that I could place them and be able to see exactly how they overlapped, etc. (scrap cardstock will work too ... just a little more measuring to make sure the rectangles are parallel).

On a Whisper White card front, I used the largest rectangle mask first and sponged Crumb Cake in the middle of the cardstock, but off to the left side. Leaving the mask in place, I inked the En Francais stamp with Soft Suede ink and stamped on top of the Crumb Cake sponging. I wanted the script to be the second focal point (behind the silhouette) so needed to do that square first.

I then masked and sponged the other two squares, one at the top with Sahara Sand ink and the one at the bottom with Soft Suede ink.

I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement and stamped the smallest coneflower from the Inspired by Nature stamp in Early Espresso ink.

I mounted the stamped card front onto a card base of Early Espresso cardstock. Quick and easy card.

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"Silhouette Spray"

Stamp: Silhouette Spray (Hero Arts)
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DP (retired); Rich Razzleberry DP (retired) (SU!)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories & Tools: White embossing powder, heat tool, and adhesives

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I cut three different sizes of squares from Cottage Wall DP and Rich Razzleberry DP (polka-dot). I mounted them onto a card front of Whisper White cardstock. I inked my stamp with Versamark, stamped onto the DP and embossed with white embossing powder. I mounted the card front onto a card base of Rich Razzleberry cardstock. Super easy and fun card that only took about 10 minutes to make!

New Technique - Frosted Window

Today the crafty girls were scheduled to come over for a day of twine card-making ... but we had our first big snowfall of the year and the roads weren't in the best shape this morning so we decided to cancel. That left me with a "free" day so hubby and I headed out to our son's place to see a new kitchen island that he just installed - it's awesome!

After a few other errands, we headed home and I looked at the latest tutorial on SCS - Frosted Window. I love this technique and wanted to give it a try. I read the tutorial by Holly and also watched the video tutorial (click here to see the tutorial). I loved both sample cards from the tutorials, but was really intrigued by Beate's embellishment of a scalloped ring to accent the main image. She had added rhinestones to the ring to give it a lot of bling and I really liked the look, so used the same idea on my card. This is a 5 1/2" square card. Hope you like.

"Frosted Daisies"

Stamps: Daisy Thanks (Stampendous)
Paper: Basic Black, So Saffron, Whisper White (SU!); vellum
Ink: Pink Piroutte, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Basic Black (SU!)
Accessories & Tools: Sizzix large scalloped circle die-cut, Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles, Big Shot, large half-pearls, adhesives and dimensionals

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I stamped the image onto Whisper White cardstock and also onto vellum. I colored in the image on the Whisper White cardstock with the darker shades of Stampin' Write markers (Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Old Olive, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight). I colored the back of the vellum in lighter shades (Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, So Saffron).

I mounted the vellum on top of the cardstock image, popping it up with dimensionals to add depth between the two images, but making sure to carefully line them up. I mounted the image onto a piece of So Saffron cardstock. With a second piece of So Saffron, I used my Big Shot and Nestabilities circle to cut a circle in the middle. I mounted the top cardstock with the circle cut-out overtop of the image, again popping it up with dimensionals to add more depth.

I cut a large scallop circle from Basic Black cardstock. I ran the scallop circle through my Big Shot again, cutting out the middle with a smaller circle die-cut (same size as the circle cut from the So Saffron cardstock. I now had a scalloped ring of black. I placed large half-pearls in each scallop and then glued the ring onto the front of my card.

I mounted the whole main image onto a card base of Basic Black.

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On another subject, I'm going to include a couple of pictures from Christmas.  This is my grand-doggie, Penny (with Jer) ... it's her first Christmas with the family.  She is so adorable and funny.  I couldn't get over how she crossed her back legs when Jer was holding her ... take a look.

Isn't she precious??!!