Sing Praise!

Here is another card using the brand new (released to non-club members today) set, Praise4Him from the {stamps} of Life. Both of the patterned papers I used are actually Christmas papers...the music is the flip side of a print from The Girls' Paperie, and the soft teal is from Kaiser Craft, all sponged with Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink.  I used a Nestabilities label to cut/emboss the sentiment, adding ric rac, a soft twinkle ribbon bow, flower and pearls. 

Flower Soft Sprinkle Challenge!

It's Ash Wednesday, and today's Flower Soft Sprinkle challenge is all about Easter!  For many of you Spring might still seem far away, and I'm hoping these cheerful images will bring some sunshine and warmth your way!

Here in Florida Spring is in the midst of arriving!  The redbud trees are covered with pink, the dogwood blossoms have just finished opening into bright white reminders that Easter is not far away, and the azaleas are covered with buds ready to burst into a profusion of fuchsia.  It is one of my favorite times of year.  I love the symbol of redemption that it portrays, that God is able (and it's His heart's desire) to bring Life and Light out of cold, dark emptiness.  Easter is the ultimate witness to His power and the intention of His love.

My card for today features a sweet little Easter chick from Flower Soft's Easter Fun kit.  These are designed to be used with our oval aperture cards and display globes, but I chose to use mine as a card front cut and embossed with a nestabilities label.  I used some We R Memory Keepers scraps and Card Patterns sketch 105 layout.

This kit comes with multiples of four different adorable designs...each sheet is printed with several images of that design so that they can be cut and layered to give incredible dimension to your project.  There are extra images to use for embellishing your card inside and out.

It's easy to add some texture to the images with some traditional Flower Soft...here I used some citrus crush ultrafine with Flower Soft glue for the flowers in the focal image and also (with a pop-up glue dot) for the center of a punched sunflower embellishment.

I hope you'll play along with our challenge...remember to use keywords FSC24 and flowersoft when you upload to SCS.  Check out this thread to see how you can have three chances to win some prizes!

CPS #208

This week's CPS sketch is being sponsored by the {stamps} of Life. We've just had a new release, with another private release to our club members. The latest stamps will be available to non-club members on the 11th, just a few days away!

Notes:
Stamps:  the {stamps} of Life
Designer paper:  SEI Moonrise
Ink:  Memento, Tim Holtz tea-dye distress ink
Ribbon:  May Arts
Other:  button, Zva dimensional dots

More Cyber-Stampin'!

I bumped into Beate on Facebook again and we decided to do the GKD sketch spotlight "together." It is so much fun to stamp and chat!  I only wish we could stamp together IRL.  Lydia joined us in the challenge and we all uploaded our cards to FB.  (I thought for a minute that I wasn't gonna get to upload mine, my desktop computer was giving me so much trouble!)

My card uses Asela's set, Sew Pretty, along with some October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper.  All of the edges of the paper were inked with tea dye distress ink.  The lines of the layout are emphasized by the contrast of the distress ink against the ivory background, which really draws the eye to the focal image.  Love this set, because it reminds me of learning to sew.  My mom was such a patient teacher!  Love you, Mom!

I love this sunny color palette!  These colors aren't direct opposites on the color wheel but I'm still hoping that this card is an appropriate entry for the current Copic Creations Challenge, to use complementary colors.  If not, the challenge police don't live too far away!  ;)

No Happy Mail Here Either!

If I had to define my style of stamping I would have a hard time, because I love lots of different looks and enjoy playing in lots of different sandboxes, so-to-speak!  Sometimes it's clean and simple, sometimes shabby-chic, and today, sorta country homespun!  Usually, though, my style isn't very  PaperCraftsy.  I really didn't expect this card to make the cut, but I still thought it was worth the try!  I would definitely love to be published and will certainly keep submitting, although I admit that I won't be putting all my eggs in one basket!  ;)

This is sketch #84 , using a Lizzie Anne Designs image and sentiment from the mix set, Sweet and Spooky, along with some Basic Grey Hopscotch paper, a scrap of lace, and some sheer ribbon.  I colored the image with Copic markers, shading around the outside edges of each button with warm gray, keeping the colors soft and transparent.

I still like it and think it will be a sweet card to send, even if it isn't publication-worthy...and the other sketches will make a great resource for the future!

Cyber-stampin' with friends!

Last weekend I was stamping with the laptop open to FaceBook on the desk in front of me, and I bumped into Beate and Jenn, who were stamping for the CR84FN color challenge.  They invited me to join in, and this is the card I came up with.  I'm sad that I didn't link my card before the collection closed, but I still had a great time stamping with friends and I know that someone will enjoy receiving this completely girlie concoction!  I just adore this little fairy and think she is so fun, in sparkling pink and green!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge Fairy Dust is a Must! (on sale now!)
Cosmo Cricket DeLovely designer paper
Nestabilities oval, fancy tag
Copic markers and Spica glitter pen
SU border punch
silk ribbon
flowers
Kaiser Craft pearls

ihp and OCL

It's time for another OCL challenge, and this week the i {heart} papers team is joining in on the fun!  We are CASEing cards!   CASE=Copy And Share Everything!  Your card should be based on another card using OCL stamps, but using a different stamp set.

For my card, I kinda bent the rules a little bit...I combined elements from several different cards that I love.  I looked at cards usng OCL sets made by a variety of artists in lots of different styles, and then also looked at cards made using the set I knew I wanted to use, Drake the Dragon.   I wanted my card to be girlie and frou frou even though the set I used could be interpreted as more boyish!  I love the way it turned out!

Look at this card by Denise...I love the girlie colors, the layers, and the way the colorful sentiment catches your eye in the top right corner.  And this one by Chelle, all boyish colors but with some bejewelled tulle (this is the layout I followed, but with his tail "out of the box").  What about this one by Cambria with its fun color combo and unexpected twist of theme?!  

  

I used some My Mind's Eye Abbey Road Whirlybird Blossom paper to paper-piece part of Drake, coloring in the rest of the image with pale pink Copic markers inspired by Cambria's color combo.  The dots kind of look like scales, don't you think?!  I kept the layout along the same lines as Chelle's, but extended the sentiment beyond the oval as inspired by Denise.  The overall effect is a fun combination of frilly-girlie, in spite of the boyish image.  

Here are the supplies I used for my card:  

Drake the Dragon OCL stamp set

Whirlybird/Blossom two-sided designer paper

Memento ink

Copic markers

Nestabilities oval, scalloped oval dies

tulle

button

pearls

Zva dimensional dots

jute thread

Here are the i {heart} papers designers that are participating...

• Carolyn
• Gretchen
• Kendra
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

and you should check out the OCL blog too!  Hope you've had fun CASEing with us!

CPS and Kraftin' Kimmie

Here's Rainy Day Miles walkin' in his wellies somewhere over the rainbow!  ;)  (I have that song on my mind because I'm learning to play it on my ukulele!)  When I saw this new 3bugsinarug Rain Boots paper I just had to have it because of Miles!

I pressed three squares out of a strip of the flip side, a rainbow stripe, but then decided to use the negative that was left to make a frame for the boots, following the CPS 207 sketch.

Miles was stamped with Memento ink on blending paper, colored with Copic markers,  and cut out.  His umbrella was paper pieced from a tiny scrap of another designer print paper, and shaded with markers to give it a more rounded look.

The sky is a scrap of Basic Grey designer paper.  A little black stitching and a black mat underneath gave some definition to the design and made the colors seem brighter, especially the sweet mango card base!  Of course, to feel finished, it needed a bow "cloud and sun," some buttons and bling!

Hopefully this card will bring some sunshine to someone's day!

Lizzie Anne Singles!

Today Lizzie Anne Designs is sharing two new singles stamps, Hope, and Ageless.  I absolutely love this quote, and LAD has several bird stamps that go really great with it!  Here it is combined with the bird from Treasured Trinkets and the music score from It's Good to be Queen, but last night I submitted a card to PC using the sweet wee birdie from Life is Good.  If I don't hear good news from them, I'll be sharing it with you soon!

I stamped the and bird using Memento ink...I used the same ink to stamp the music score, but stamped it off once so that it was softer and lighter, making the bird the focus.  I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of ivory card stock, cut and embossed it with Spellbinders long rectangle die, and mounted it on dimensional dots.

The natural elements "corsage" on this card is made with a Petaloo magnolia and berries pick, some sheer gold ribbon, and jeweled stick pins.  It makes this a very elegant, classic card.  I hope you like it!

Be sure to visit the blogs of my Lizzie Anne design team mates to see what they've done with these brand new singles.  They're listed on the sidebar to the right.

TSOL Release!

The first of the month means a new club set at the {stamps} of Life. This month's set, cake2build, is one that will see lots of ink because it is perfect for birthdays and also for weddings, baby showers, and lots of other occasions!  I stamped the cake image with Memento ink, colored it with Copic markers, and paired it with this fun SEI paper and May Arts gingham ribbon for a cute party card.  Visit the cake2build gallery to see what the rest of our designers are doing with this fun set!