Running With Scissors...

Flower in Vase

 

I found all the parts for this card tucked away in a box of unfinished projects.  I guess I got just so far and then had to move on to something else.  This was part of a spree of get well stamping – cards for my “for sale” basket at work.  The flower vase is from an old Hero Arts set and the sentiment from JustRite.  I was making a point of using all the stamps in this set, as well as using up some older supplies (the felt flower and a scrap of designer paper).  This is the only card from the group I photographed.

 

 

I don’t like leaving loose ends, though you’d never know it judging by all the images I’ve stamped or printed which are still awaiting color.  Over the weekend I moved them all to one folder and it is stuffed full.  I’m going to make an effort to work my way through them, but my stamping is subject to both need and whim, if you know what I mean.  Good thing it’s all fun, right?  Card details can be found in the recipe, below.  I’m so glad you could stop by.  Have a super day!

 

Stamps:  Hero Arts Flowers and Vases, JustRite Just Because  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White, red, BasicGray Urban Prairie designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers for coloring  Accessories:  Felt flower, Black Diamond Stickles glitter glue, scallop punch, Stampin’ Up! Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants

Birthday Vases

My stamp drawers are full of Hero Arts because for a time, years ago, I was able to purchase them at 25% above wholesale.  Heck of a deal!  That’s not the only reason for purchasing them, of course.  I did simply love them.  Still do.  This one is called Glass Vases and, chances are, is no longer available.  I don’t feel the image is dated, though.  I love this type of illustration and thought it would be nice for one of the March birthdays I’ll be stamping for.

I did some very simple watercoloring with Stampin’ Up! inks on 90 lb hot press watercolor paper.  I used So Saffron, Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie for the flowers.  Old Olive for the leaves, and Bashful Blue for the water.  The shading around the image was done with Apricot Appeal.  I rummaged around in the scrap drawer and brought out some old, but still pretty Chatterbox papers for the layout.  A little stitching, a sentiment (also Hero Arts), a couple of rhinestones, and it’s done.  Simple and sweet.

Time to put my feet up and cuddle with the doggies for a while.  I’ll see you again soon.  Thanks so much for your visit!

Stamps:  Glass Vases, Wishing a Happy Day sentiment (Hero Arts)  Paper:  90 lb hot press watercolor, Flourishes Classic White, Chatterbox designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir, Stampin’ Up! inks as listed above for watercoloring  Accessories:  Stampin’ Up! Modern Label punch, rhinestones, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

More Simple Sympathy Cards

There’s not much to these cards, but when I don’t have a lot of time to stamp I can’t get too detailed.  That’s when I like to go clean and simple and fall back on my solid image stamps.

I used a new-to-me Hero Arts set called So Sorry.  I love the leafy branch as well as the sentiments.  I also brought out some old Hero Arts shadow stamps to set off the image.  The shadow stamps on each card are stamped in Soft Wheat.  I don’t know if Hero Arts still sells these inks.  They were formulated to be especially light yet pure in color.  The first card has an Old Olive (Stampin’ Up!) inked branch and a Chocolate Chip sentiment.  The designer paper is Kaiser Kraft Hunt and Gather.

The second card has a little more to it, but not much.  I actually prefer the first, simpler card.  Thought I’d make one masculine and one feminine card.  The second card uses True Thyme and Bravo Burgundy inks and retired BasicGrey Perhaps designer paper.

The score lines on each card add a teensy bit to the design, but their primary purpose is to aid in perfectly straight and quick placement of the designer paper borders.  I cut the designer paper slightly larger than needed, align it at the score line, and trim off the excess.

I’m heading to the couch now for a little down time.  The babies are sleeping and with LuLu cuddled up beside me I won’t have to worry about any potty issues.  Don’t you just love a sleeping baby?  Have a wonderful day!

Very Simple Christmas Cards

I hope you aren’t blinded by the white on these cards.  I was in a mood, I guess.  I sat down one day and made six cards along these lines thinking, “just get a few done and I’ll have time to do some of those warm, colorful cards later”.   Perhaps I won’t send out as many cards this year.  Perhaps I’ll even buy some cards (gasp!).  The only real plan I have this year is to not worry about it.

For both cards I’ve used glossy cardstock, though the gloss doesn’t show in the photos.  It embossed deeply and gave the cards a nice quality finish.  Very clean and simple.

Stamps:  Stampin’ Up! Heard From the Heart  Paper:  Glossy white  Ink:  Cherry Cobbler  Accessories:  Prima Poinsettia Flower, Petals A’Plenty Sizzix embossing folder (Stampin’ Up!)

I added a stamped border and ribbon to the second card.

Stamps:  Hero Arts greeting, Stampin’ Up! All in a Row (retired)  Paper:  Glossy white  Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke  Accessories:  Ribbon, Prima flower, Sizzix Petals A’Plenty embossing folder (Stampin’ Up!)

I think I’m going to have a very merry Christmas this year, and I hope you will, too.  Take care, and enjoy your weekend!

Stamper’s Dream Blog Hop

Hello!  Today I’m happy to be taking part in a little blog hop fun with the Stamper’s Dream gals and friends.  Michelle has stocked a lot of new goodies in the store and she just couldn’t wait to show you some fabulous samples!  I went on a little shopping trip, myself, the other day – too recently to have received my package yet – but I do have a card to share.

I’ve used Hero Arts Earth Flowers and Just Find Me (Smile).  I stamped the branchy image in Versamark ink on glossy white cardstock, then rubbed green, pink, and yellow inks onto the panel.  I finished by stamping the branch again, this time in green, slightly offset from the Versamark image.  The Versamark branch appears to be white.  I like this method for a soft and dreamy look.  I used my Spellbinders Nested Frame Dies and tiny pearls for the sentiment.

Now, I should tell you a little secret. . .  There are two separate candy packages hidden along the hop.  Here’s Package #1:

It contains:

• Epiphany Crafts Heart Punch and Epoxy Bubble Caps Stickers
• A LaBlanche Rubber Stamp
• The Rubber Café stamp
• Webster’s Pages designer vellum pack
• Webster’s Pages Sentiment Sheet
• Mini 3-D Puzzle
• Cosmo Cricket Togetherness Paper Pad

And here’s Package #2:

It contains:

• Stampavie Rubber Stamp (new release) by Gillian Roberts
• Stickles Tropical Tangerine (new color) 
• Basic Grey Wander 6 x 6 Paper Pad
• La-La Land Crafts Panda rubber stamp
• Stampendous Clear Stamp Set
• Sassafras Lass felties puddle jumpers
• Mini 3-D Puzzle
• Webster’s Pages designer vellum pack
• Webster’s Pages Sentiment Sheet
• Handmade heart pin from Fabscraps

Good stuff!  If you’d like a chance to win one of the candy packages, you’ll need to leave a little love in the form of a comment on each of the Stamper’s Dream Blog Hop posts.  Who knows where that candy is hidden?  Take a chance!  You’ll see some pretties along the way:

• Michelle
• Becca
• Jerri Kay
• Amy
• Tosh
• Mariana
• Cindy
• Kim
• Teresa
• Lea
• Christina

Happy hopping, and have a wonderful day!

Three Songbirds

Hello, and happy holidays to you!  We're in the post-Christmas haze at my house -- still enjoying some family time, more than enough chocolate around, and best of all, I don't have to go back to work till after the first of the year.  The time will go too fast, so I aim to appreciate every moment of it.

I plan to focus on some of my many bird stamps this week.  I accumulate more of them all the time and could post a month of Sundays in bird cards, but I'll share just a few this week.  Today, I've used a Hero Arts stamp called Three Songbirds.  I don't know how new it is, but it's new to me.  It's a happy image, so I made a birthday card:

 

I colored with Copics, including the Prima flowers, and matched everything up with my BasicGrey Sugar Rush papers.  The retired Stampin' Up! sentiment is nested in the new Spellbinders custom made for JustRite, which, in this case, was just right for my skinny SU! sentiment.   The sentiment Nestie matched the Eyelet Borderabilities, too, so I used that along the lower edge of the image.

And that's it for today!  I hope to be back with more birds soon.  Have a happy, joyful day!

Stamps:  Three Songbirds (Hero Arts), Small Sayings (Stampin' Up!)  Paper:  Certainly Celery textured, Apricot Appeal, Flourishes Classic White, BasicGrey Sugar Rush designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Rose Red, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Brads, Prima flowers, Spellbinders JustRite Nested Sentiment Custom Frames and Eyelet Borderabilities

A Change of Scenery

This particular pattern of my beloved Prima Fairy Flora paper was begging to be paired with this Hero Arts flower, so I gave it what it wanted and stepped away from the Christmas and Fall cards for a moment.

You may have guessed I was loathe to cover any of the paper.  For this 5 1/4" square card I've created a 2 1/4" square image.  This is the first time I've ever truly wished I could wallpaper a room with designer paper... sigh...

The flower is stamped in Versamark ink and colored with soft chalks using a foam applicator .  My favorite foam applicators are make up brushes as they usually have a very soft tip.  This method of coloring solid images with chalks has been referred to as Poppin' Pastels.  The Versamark ink is nearly invisible, but when you touch the stamped area with your chalked applicator the image begins to emerge like magic.

I brushed the entire image with pale yellow first, then added a brighter yellow to certain areas, and finally finished off the petals with a little pink.  It's easy to apply layers of color with this method, as long as you start with the lighter colors.  I used two shades of green on the flower center, and shaded the remainder of the image panel with blue and green.  You really need to seal Poppin' Pastels with spray matte sealer or the image will feel tacky.  It's all very quick and easy.

The flower is from a set called Real Flowers, and it can be found here at Stamper's Dream.  Any of the Hero Arts flowers in this style are perfect for Poppin' Pastels.

I must run now.  I'm off to meet the work week.  I hope you have a very good day!
 

Stamps:  Hero Arts Real Flowers  Paper:  Pale green Bazzill, PTI Sweet Blush, Flourishes Classic White, Prima Fairy Flora desigher paper  Ink:  Versamark  Accessories:  Ribbon, crochet trim, Kaiser flat backed pearls, Stampin' Up' soft chalks for coloring, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Ruby Tuesday: Just a Simple Smile

Hello, friends!  I have a simple card to share today.  I’ve been coloring up a storm for the rest of the week and it did feel good to take a little break with something clean and simple.  I’ve used Hero Arts sets from Stamper’s Dream, and a sketch from Becky Fleck’s September Card Maps.  Heck, it seems most of the work was done for me.  Now, that’s what I call simple!

It’s a good sketch for using some of the few scraps of Stella Ruby I have left.  She’s dwindling and nearly gone, but there always seems to be one more card in her.  My stamps are Real Garden Petals, and a sentiment from Just Find Me.  Inside it says “Wishing you all things wonderful”, another sentiment from the Just Find Me set.  This combo of outside/inside sentiments makes this card suitable for a number of occasions – thank you, birthday, just because – to name a few.   A good card to have on hand.

Tomorrow I’ll have two posts.  It’s not something I do often, but it’s just the way it worked out.   It’s the beginning of Flourishes new release previews plus a JustRite Christmas Blog Hop.  I surely do hope you’ll join me.  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Hero Arts Real Garden and Just Find Me  Paper:  Vanilla textured, BasicGrey Ruby Tuesday designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, olive  Accessories:  Glazed brad

Minimalist Me

Hello, and happy Monday to all!  Today, I’m sharing something a little different from my usual.  I’d say something about stepping out of my comfort zone, but this actually feels very comfortable to me.  I like it way more than I thought I would, and it takes me back to the days when I was quite happy with simple, earthy cards.  It took only minutes to make.  If I didn’t enjoy coloring so much, I’d be doing this more often.  Maybe I will, anyway.

All the stamps are Hero Arts, and they’re all from Stamper’s Dream.  I started with a background stamp called Aged Print Frame, then added the branchy Earth Flowers, and finished with a sentiment from Just Find Me.  The red burlap string gives it just a bit of color and keeps the card suitable for a masculine card-giving occasion, something I’m rarely prepared for.  It seemed like I should be adding some hardware somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn’t see where it would look right.  When I realized how much time I’d spent fretting over the issue, I thought “sometimes you just have to let go”, and called it done.

Just one more thing I'd like to mention:  If you'd like to know how you can receive notice of coupon codes for special discounts at Stamper's Dream, please read Michelle's post here.  Thank you!

It’s going to be another full week on the blog.  I’ll be back with Ruby Tuesday tomorrow.  Hope to see you then!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Aged Print Frame, Earth Flowers, Just Find Me (all Hero Arts)  Paper:  Espresso, ivory  Ink:  Ranger Distress Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain  Accessories:  Red burlap string

Ruby Tuesday: Summertime Stella

Happy Ruby Tuesday!  Back to the work week for me.  One thing I like about three day weekends is that they’re followed by a shortened work week.

The card I’m sharing today is one of Stella’s simpler cards, but it might be one of my favorites.  I suspect the ease with which a card comes together has a lot to do with how much I like it in the end.  You’d think with everything I have in my stamp room I could just pluck something from here and there and fit it all together – no fuss, no muss.  Not so!  But today I was in the mood to be easily satisfied, I guess.

I sat down with my morning coffee and stamped this little panel of flowers – Hero Arts Real Flowers – masking and all, in a matter of minutes.  I’d planned on using only a panel of green Stella, so the flower colors didn’t matter so much.  I simply put together a combo I liked, then – surprise! – look how closely they coordinate with Stella, herself.  Okay… new plan.  I laid out some scraps and stitched up the sides, added sheer ribbon and a button tied with red string.  The tag was turned upward like a smile, and chocolate Bazzill gave it a nice, neutral base.  Plenty of time left over to take Wally for a run on the bay!

I hope you had a beautiful weekend.  As always, may your Tuesday be Ruby!

Stamps:  Hero Arts Real Flowers, Hero Arts sentiment  Paper:  Chocolate and coral textured, white, BasicGrey Stella Ruby   Ink:  Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up!)  Accesories:  Ribbon, burlap string, button