Feeling a Bit Peckish?!

Happy Spring, everyone!  For some of you, such a greeting may seem like a bad April Fool's Day joke!  You may not feel like Spring has really arrived if you're digging out from under a blanket of snow, but here in Florida we have been covered with a blanket of pollen which, for many of my friends, has brought a myriad of allergy symptoms to go along with it.  That's what prompted this country, farm-style get-well card.

For the card front, I used scraps of designer paper in Americana colors and a little lace along with some asymmetrically placed chicken brads...makes me think of the flannel-backed plastic tablecloths my grandma used on her farm house dining table when all of us grandkids came to visit.  

Couldn't resist decorating the inside with a hexagon "chicken wire" designer paper print, this vintage eggs ad and some egg brads, which went along perfectly with the country theme and the sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas.

Have a happy April Fool's Day!  I hope, if you get pranked, that it's a fun one!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter from our family to yours on this blessed morning! I'm sharing a cute Easter bunny card complete with a basket and some brightly colored eggs, hoping to make you smile and to bring warm memories to mind.  The Easter Bunny still makes a pit stop at our house because it's something that I believe one can never outgrow, but it's gonna be a while before the treasure is discovered since my 22 year old "boy" is sleeping in.  ;)

Here's what I used on my card:

• The Cat's Pajamas stamp, Sugar Sugar
• Memento ink
• Copic markers
• We R Memory Keepers designer paper
• mini stitched flower brad
• bunny washi tape
• colored egg brads
• SU small and large tag punches
• May Arts ribbon

Of course, the *real* Easter is not about the bunny, but ALL about the Lamb.  I have been reflecting all week on those events that happened so long ago that changed the world forever.  "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).  I'm so grateful that He loved us that much!

He is risen indeed!  It is my prayer that we will realize His resurrection power in our everyday lives.    Every. Single. Day.

Have a very blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Hoot Hoot Hooray!

When my box of goodies arrived from the Eyelet Outlet, I found myself digging through my stash of papers and stamps with a fresh perspective.  It's so fun to have new "toys" to play with, but it's nice to revisit the old stuff too...besides, it's "green" for the earth and for the pocketbook!  

I made this simple card using designer paper from an old designer paper pad and some cute new pastel owl brads.  The washi tape greeting on the front was fast and simple to put together and, with a border of striped paper, was framed perfectly by the design of the layer underneath.  

The inside is just as cute as the outside, too! The banner was die-cut with some My Favorite Things dies; the sentiment is from The Stamps of Life.

I hope I've inspired you to take a look through the Eyelet Outlet store and then through your stash to see what new ideas come to mind!

New Eyelet Outlet Color Challenge

Hello stampers!  It's time for a new color challenge at the Eyelet Outlet.  Just look at this gorgeous Springy palette!

My card is a double pocket card for tags.  I simply layered several My Mind's Eye "Happier" designer paper prints of varying heights, leaving the tops open to form pockets.  For one layer, I spliced two prints together onto some card stock (didn't have enough of either paper!) and trimmed the top into a curved shape.  The splice is hidden by the sentiment panel.

I stamped a sentiment and some little stems (stamps from The Stamps of Life) and added some mini bright flower brads.  The tags are embellished with even tinier tags cut with a die from My Favorite Things,  with cute little pastel rabbit brads to give an extra pop of color.

Visit The Eyelet Outlet blog for more inspiration and to play along!

You're Just My Type!

There are only a couple of days left to play in The Eyelet Outlet's current Color Challenge!  These colors immediately made me think of my Doodlebug Designs Sweet Things designer paper, which includes some cute "Just My Type" designs.   

My first card was a quick design with no stamping.  I simply cut the little sentiments from the designer paper, snipped the ends into a banner shape, and attached them to the card with sticky back hearts and a typewriter brad, finishing with a big red bow.

My second card includes a Gourmet Rubber Stamps typewriter and sentiment.  I love the way the sticky backed hearts lead the eye to the phrase, "You Rock!" which is another one of the prefabs from the Doodlebug paper.   

I hope you'll join us for the challenge!  You have until Sunday, the 28th, at midnight Pacific time to enter.  The winner will be announced the next day, when our new challenge colors will be posted.  

Happy Mardi Gras!

Happy Mardi Gras!  I hope you've had a wonderful day celebrating sweet things like pancakes and King cake!  I certainly did!  

I'm excited to say that I've recently joined the Eyelet Outlet design team.  My first shipment of goodies arrived a day or so ago, and I couldn't resist making a Mardi Gras card with some gold patterned glitter washi tape and gold glitter enamel adhesive dots.  For the background I sprayed some Dylusions sprays on watercolor paper, then spritzed again with water...it came out looking just like the icing on a King cake!  The sentiment is from Flourishes.

Enjoy the rest of your day! I'm enjoying a warm fire and a movie! It's supposed to freeze overnight in Florida so we're making the most of it!

Challenge Chicks' January Challenge

It's The Challenge Chicks' first challenge of the New Year, and Bev has challenged us to a "Snowy, Frosty, or Glitsy" card.  I used one of my all-time favorite snowman stamp sets, Paper Smooches' Swanky Snowdudes, for a stand-up card with snowbanks made from Tim Holtz's sparkly adhesive-backed glitter paper.  Its flurry-filled sky was sponged using a scalloped circle for a mask, and I added a few trees made from scraps of white card stock colored with Copics to match the snowman images.   It's a fast, simple card made from a 5 1/2 x 12 piece of card stock that when folded still fits in a standard sized envelope.   Here's what it looks like closed...

Join us on Facebook, or see the challenge gallery on Splitcoaststampers under keyword CHXJAN16.

Challenge Chicks' October Challenge

I just LOVE October!  There's so much to love about it, but I especially love that it signals that Fall has officially arrived and Halloween is just around the corner!  Bright, happy colors make Halloween one of the funnest for stamping and decorating.

I've seen lots of cute witch's boots on blogs, Pinterest, and Splitcoast Stampers (this one was my favorite!).  Most of them were cut with a Cricut or Silhouette, but I decided to try drawing my own template.  The whole idea started with some Heidi Swapp papers I got for 50% off at Michael's.  The purple and white pinstripe just reminded me of a pair of boots with a stacked wooden heel... and I thought I could make it work for this month's Challenge Chicks' 3-2-1 challenge.

• 3 layers
• 2 embellishments 
• 1 sentiment
• optional "twist"--pink

Card stock forms the base for a second paper-pieced layer made from the various patterned paper sections of the boot.  The third layer is the sparkly trim, including the scallops made using a circle punch, and the narrow glittery strips that frame the boot shaft.

I cut three more boot shapes (one from card stock, another from patterned paper, and a third, reversed, also from patterned paper) to form the back side of the card.  It would have been fine to use card stock only, but the patterned papers were cute, they make the project look more finished inside and out, and they're thin enough that they aren't too bulky.  Once they were all glued together, I scored about 1 1/2 inches from the top, and glued the finished card front to the top of the finished card back.  I used a crop-a-dile to punch holes for the lacing...the top two holes go through all the layers, and the rest go through the front only, so that the card can still flip open.

I had a sheet of long-ago stamped sentiments and images from an old SU set (I think it is called Fright Night?!) so I just used my tag punches to punch them out, adding patterned and glittery paper accents to dress it up a little.  Finished it off with some twisted ribbon and a blingy button, my two favorite embellishments.

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's projects!  We'd love for you to play along!

• Anna Wight
• Dawn Lusk
• Diane Zechman
• Jeanne Streiff
• Kelli Jo Hull
• Kelly Schirmer
• Kittie Caracciolo
• Lydia Fiedler
• Vicki Garrett

Surprise!

Hello, friends!  So happy to see you!  Lookie!  I'm stamping again!  :)

I took a nice, long, much-needed break from blogging and the pressure of deadlines, and spent some time just crafting for fun.  I even set aside stamping altogether to try some other hobbies like spinning and knitting, painting and mixed media.  The art and Bible journaling brought me full-circle right back to stamping, so when I was invited to join The Challenge Chicks, I was happy to say yes.

This month's challenge is hosted by Jeanne, and the theme is watercolor or ink splats!  I recently got some new water-based Dylusions paints, so I did a little test-run on a tag to see how I like 'em.  It's fun to experiment on a smaller, less intimidating project before jumping into a larger journal-bound page.

I used a paint brush to lay down the first layer of paint in London Blue, then finger-painted a swash of White Linen and Vibrant Turquoise to create an interesting blend of colors.  I added some texture with Faber-Castelle Whipped Spackle and a Tim Holtz stencil, repeating the finger-painting process with diluted paint so that the colors were more transparent.  Spraying with a mister and creating "splats" with a drippy paintbrush, then blotting the puddles with a paper towel to lift the color helped bring out some really interesting patterns that look like the deep blue-greens of the ocean.

The sea turtle images are from a Gina K stamp set, Under the Sea, stamped with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers.  The sentiment is from another Gina K set, Gifts from the Sea.  A little Donna Salazar Mixed Media ink in honey softened the edges and tied the colors together.  A few rhinestone "bubbles" and a ruffly ribbon and it's finished.

The Challenge Chicks:
Anna Wight
Bev Gerard
Holly McMillan
Lydia Fiedler
Kelly Schirmer
Kittie Caracciolo
Jeanne Streiff
Diane Zechman
Vicki Garrett

I'm taking some Jane Davenport art journal drawing classes, and have a few pages in progress, so I'll share those when they're finished.  Might even give you a peek at some fibery goodness every once in a while too!  All of these things have been part of my healing journey after the loss of first my mom (August 2014) and then my dad (March 31).  I am very grateful for the crafts themselves and for the communities and supportive friendships that go along with them.

Thanks for visiting!  Until next time!  xo

Deb

Paper Smooches Special Blog Hop

Kate (owner of i {heart} papers) suggested an idea to Paper Smooches' Kim Hughes to create some stamps and dies to support our rescued furry friends. They worked together to create some really fun dog rescue products! A portion of the sales will be donated to Home for Good. Kim asked us to share these fun products with you, through our projects.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering a prize!

• TWO winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs.
• The prize:  A Lucky Dog stamp set, Paws for a Cause stamp set and Dog Icons dies.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed for your chance to win! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify, but it increases your chances) 
• You have until midnight MT on Wednesday, December 18th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the IHP Blog on Friday, December 20th to see if you are one of the TWO lucky winners.

My card for today celebrates the unconditional love that exists between a dog owner and "man's best friend!"  The heart-shaped paw print, heart printed designer paper, and heart sentiment inspired a heart-shaped cut-out to frame the design.  I stamped some doggie bones on a chalkboard print from Authentique's Irresistible paper pad to make a coordinating background paper.  A grosgrain bow, pleated satin trim and a rhinestone doggie collar add some bright red Valentine color.  

Notes:

Paper Smooches Paws for a Cause and Lucky Dog stamps

Authentique Irresistible designer paper

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Hero Arts Unicorn ink

pleated satin trim

satin-edged grosgrain ribbon

Kaisercraft rhinestones 

dimensional adhesives

Spellbinders heart and scalloped heart dies

Blog Hop Participants:

• Kate, owner of IHP
• Sarah Gough
• Lori Tecler
• Judy Rozema
• Deb Felts--you are here!
• Vera Yates
• Wida Miller
• Stacey Schafer
• Lindsay Armenia