You're a Llama Fun!

During July, while the Tour de France race is being run, the Tour de Fleece is also happening!  Spinners, crocheters and knitters participate in this annual challenge, and as a spinner, I joined three teams this year (for my Turkish spindle, my Trindle, and my wheel, for those who are curious).  :)

When I saw this llama set in Orlando at the Scrap Expo, I just had to have it!  And yay, it is the perfect companion for Eyelet Outlet's llama brads!  

I sponged in a cloudy sky and colored a desert landscape with Copic markers, adding a sun and cloud brad to help set the scene.

I inked only part of the sentiment, filling in the word llama with a llama brad instead.  "You're a llama fun!"  He's so cute!  My fiber-loving friends would appreciate a card like this one!   

Eventually I am gonna get around to processing and spinning some llama fiber!  I have some in my stash! 

Thank You for Caring Coneflower

Hello friends!  I am back with my second post for the day for Stamp Simply's Summer Release.

Coneflowers are another favorite of mine, and this one is simply gorgeous!  I decided to keep everything about this card subtle and let that beautiful coneflower steal the show.  You'll laugh when you find out where this elegant background is from!  It is part of KaiserCraft's Outdoor Trail designer paper pad, which is mostly masculine landscapes and fishing images.  :)

To bring a little subtle color to the focal image panel, I splashed it with diluted distress inks in Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves.  

I brought a little color and pattern to the background too, with a subtly stenciled torn paper strip. 

And here's a view of the inside.  

Here are links for this lovely stamp set, and all of the supplies for my card:

• Stamp Simply Coneflower Combo (stamp set and dies)
• KaiserCraft Outdoor Trail designer paper
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Copic markers
• Clear Wink of Stella marker
• distress inks in Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves. 
• rhinestones in Lilac and Split Pea
• Tim Holtz Mesh layering stencil
• blending tool
• Tombow Mono Multi liquid adhesive
• self-adhesive foam squares

Sunflower Season

I am excited to be sharing two cards with you today (one in this post, with another post this evening) for Stamp Simply's New Summer Release!  I *love* these stamp sets!  The images are absolutely gorgeous, and the sentiments are wonderful scriptures or encouraging words that coordinate perfectly.  The dies make cutting these images so easy!

My teammate Darsie has made a video showcasing the stamps and dies in this release.  I know you'll enjoy watching!

Sunflowers just make me happy!  This stamp makes a beautiful focal point for a card that POPS with all those sunny yellows and rich golden browns!  I added a little bit of sparkle with some Wink of Stella to the seeds in the center.  If you look closely you can see that the designer paper text says "from little things, big things grow."  I thought that went so perfectly with this image!

Here you can see the coordinating verse for the inside which completes the rest of the verse that was stamped on the card front.  I just love this verse from Ecclesiastes!  (I have to admit that I have a hard time just reading it...every time I have to sing it because the song by the Byrds starts playing in my head!)

Here are the links to this gorgeous set, and to the supplies I used to make my cards:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps Sunflower Season Combo (stamps and dies)
• KaiserCraft Limelight designer paper
• Coredinations heavyweight smooth card stock
• Spellbinders Standard Circles Large dies
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Mimosa seam binding
• burlap string
• Copic markers
• Clear Wink of Stella marker
• Tombow Mono Multi liquid adhesive
• self-adhesive foam squares

I'll be back tonight at 8 with my second card for our Summer Release, so I hope you'll join me!

Create ART!

I just love it when "serendipity" comes into play and something fun and unexpected happens.  That's how I happened upon my card for today.  I have had a little stack of stamps that have never seen ink gathered together and wanted to use one of them for a card. I've been doing various projects all week and my desk has been a mess so before I could start something new I had to clear some space.  There were also a few stamps that needed cleaning stuck on the corner of my craft mat.  Somehow these bricks and this artist girl got stuck together and this idea fell into place! 

The torn edges of the decorative washi tape frame the top and bottom of this brick graffiti wall, and the pink matte finish enamel dots echo the only other color in the focal image.  It is simple but fun design!

I hope you have plenty of opportunity to create ART this weekend! I plan to!  Have a great weekend!

Reap a Harvest

Fall is one of my favorite seasons for stamping!  These colors!  I love them so much!  I saw a photo of a vibrant leaf against a bright blue sky, and that inspired the color scheme for today's Stamp Simply project, a one-sheet box with a tag tucked inside.  The box is constructed of beautiful, lustrous metallic card stock.  

Here's a close-up of the leaf, which was colored with Copics and then given some sparkle with clear Wink of Stella.  These are sets that we've had for a while, but the coordinating dies are new!  The blue background is from Graphic 45's Artisan Style designer paper.

I just yesterday said good-bye to a young friend who is going on a year-long mission, so this scripture about doing good and reaping a harvest really grabbed my attention.  She will certainly be in my prayers!

Here are the products I used, all from Stamp Simply:

• Luxury Pearlescent Metallic Copper card stock
• Graphic 45 Artisan Style designer paper
• Memento Tuxedo Black ink
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamp Sets Combo Offer--Autumn
• Harvest dies
• Give Thanks dies
• Copic markers
• Clear Wink of Stella
• Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
• Spellbinders Small Classic Oval dies
• Spellbinders Large Classic Oval dies
• Spellbinders Creative Page Tab dies
• Orange seam binding
• Orange rhinestones
• Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue
• self-adhesive foam squares
• Cropadile
• ScorPal

It's Your Day!

I really love these box cards but until now I had never tried one!  It was really fun and easy, especially since this particular one is a set of dies so all you really have to do is  glue things together.  I love that it folds flat for mailing. These flowers were perfect for embellishing with Eyelet Outlet brads and enamel dots.  

Here's a closer shot of the flowers and their different sized enamel dots centers, which come conveniently in one package.  I used a cute little funky bee brad for one of the flower centers and backed some of the die cut flowers with scrunched up Eyelet Outlet paper flowers just to add a little variety.

Have a great weekend!  

Come Near to God

Hello and happy Thursday!  I hope you're having a great week!  

I had to reach for this Stamp Simply scripture stamp for today's card because it was one of the scriptures we studied this week for our women's Bible study.  (We are a little over half-way through Lysa TerKeurst's "Finding I Am" and it has been wonderful so far.  I really like her down-to-earth writing style.)  The designer paper that I used in the background has the definition of "devotion" which really seemed to go perfectly with the idea of drawing near. There's even a book in the corner of the other print, and while it isn't a Bible, at first glance one might think that it is.     

In some of the art challenges I have been completing lately, I have been painting and splattering everything, and so I decided to try it on a card.  I squished and scribbled out some Spun Sugar distress ink and Earl Grey gelatos onto my craft mat, spritzed them generously with a mini mister, and then used the gelatos paintbrush to flick color onto the finished card.  I also used the Earl Grey to lightly tint the edges of the designer paper.  It made the paper a little crinkly and warped, so I stitched around the edges to help flatten it again.  I'm just really lovin' that crinkly, splattered look!

Here's a closer look so you can see the detail of the flowers and tulle, some of those splatters, and the shimmer of the silver ink.  

Inside is also lightly splashed and splattered.  I used the gelatos stamp as a corner accent with a single pink rhinestone.  

All of the supplies I used are from Stamp Simply:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamp Set--Words of Encouragement
• Silvery Shimmer Delicata ink
• Spun Sugar distress ink
• Gelatos Colors and Clear Stamp--Neutral
• Ranger Non-Stick Craft Mat
• Mini Misters
• Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
• KaiserCraft PS I Love You designer paper
• Spellbinders large circles die
• Spellbinders small circles die
• Spellbinders Crosses 2 die
• 1.25 inch variegated silk ribbon--pink/champagne
• tulle
• KaiserCraft Fairy Floss flowers
• KaiserCraft Dusty Pink flowers
• light pink rhinestones
• Tombo Mono Multi liquid glue
• glue dots
• adhesive foam squares

Sweet Little Sailor!

I have had so many fun Summery papers strewn across my desk lately that I keep coming up with ideas for these Eyelet Outlet anchor brads!  Today's is a cute onesie card.  There is probably a cut file for something similar somewhere if you have a machine, but mine was made with a few circle and square dies, some washi tape and a brad.  

It's very easy to adapt these for either a boy or a girl by changing the colors, prints, collar shape, and embellishments.  It is also a lot of fun to personalize them to fit the characteristics and interests of the parents-to-be, so when it comes to the washi tape and brads that you could use, the sky is really the limit!  Here I chose some skinny glitter washi tape and a single silver anchor brad.  

I hope you'll try one of these fun shaped cards when you need a cute greeting for a baby shower!  

Have a great weekend!

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled!

Happy Thursday!  Because of the holiday this week has flown by! If you're like me, you're already ready for another weekend!  

I'm here today with an elegant, encouraging card using two Stamp Simply sentiments, lovely papers and embellishments.

This color combo is one of my all-time favorites!  It is so classy and is especially beautiful when paired with lace, pearls and tulle.  The black accents give it that extra POP!

Here's a close-up of those little torn bits of tulle tucked between the flowers and seam binding.

Here's a peek at the inside.

And here's a list of the Stamp Simply supplies I used:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps Thinking of You Rose
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps Blessings/Beatitudes 1
• Memento Tuxedo Black ink
• Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink
• Ranger mini ink blending tool
• Graphic 45 Artisan Style designer paper
• Spellbinders Classic Ovals small die
• Spellbinders Classic Ovals large dies
• Spellbinders 5 x 7 Matting Basics A die
• Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tag die
• Melissa Frances cream pearls
• Petaloo Bontanica Baby Blooms white
• ivory tulle
• Black seam binding
• Venise Lace Valentina Ivory
• black adhesive foam squares
• Mono Multi liquid glue
• glue dots