Always....

"Always" is the most recent stamp set that I've purchased and I just love it. I went to the Splitcoaststampers Web site for some inspiration and I was pleasantly surprised. The four cards shown here are CASE'd from various stampers in the Always gallery. I wanted to make a set so I tried to limit the colors to River Rock, Very Vanilla, Almost Artichoke,and Groovy Guava but then I added Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. Limiting is really hard!!!

I wanted to focus on a different stamp from the set for each card and that worked out pretty well. The DSP that I used is from the Secret Garden Simple Scrappin Kit - I sure loved that kit. Not so much the one in this catalog though.... I also used Baroque Backgrounds which is also retired. Seems like i have a problem using DSP unless it is retired - I'll have to think about my hoarding tendencies.

Various ribbons came into play - even there I couldn't limit myself to just one or two... and the embellishments came from the Pretties Kit and Hodgepodge Hardware. So I ONLY used four punches for these four cards.

Hmmm... I tried making a set but do these cards even really go together????

So I am not sure I really accomplished my goal. Maybe I need to rethink it. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy these cards, wrap them up together, and pretend they're a set!

Thanks for visiting and stop by again soon!

Elegant Buds

Last night I decided to try out Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper challenge. They pick a stamper and challenge you to go to their gallery and copy a card but you have to change at least two things. So I participated in FS59 and this is my card. The Featured Stamper is Amy who's blog is Pickled Paper Designs. See list at right for a link.

I pulled out the Bud Basics stamp set which I haven't used in ages and stamed the large flower 3 times, then cut out and layered together. I used Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White inks; Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Old Olive cardstock; Certainly Celery DSP; White taffetta ribbon and a rhinestone brad. The sentiment at the top is from the One of a Kind set.

You can see from this close-up photo that I curled the flower petals up to give it some dimension.

On a personal note, my daughter Lilly is back from California, which I am happy about. Luckily she left about half of her attitude behind, so things are much better. The melodrama with her boyfriend is mellowing out. Teenagers - who invented them???? I want my little sweet girl back!

Thanks for visiting!

How time flies....

Wow, time has really gotten the best of me... I have been neglecting my blog and not doing a whole lot of creative stuff lately. This Spring Break has been an interesting one. My oldest daughter, Lilly, is with her dad while my youngest daughter, Emily, is here with me. em and i have so much fun together. Last night we went to the movies and saw "The Other Boleyn Girl".

As for crafting, it's taken a back seat to the "Romeo and Juliet"-like melodrama that has unfolded with Lilly and her boyfriend - hence her visit to California. I really needed a break! Earlier this week, one of my co-workers asked me to make a card for his nephew's 2nd birthday and all I could think was: YAY! All I needed was a little kick start!

I made these three cards so he'd have a variety to choose from and was it ever great to work on a little something!!!

The first card is Blue Bayou with Only Orange and Whisper White. I used a Cosmo Cricket paper for the background. Then I covered the 2 from the Simon Onboard chipboard letters, dabbed on versamark ink with a sponge and embossed it to give it some texture. I finished off with "you're" from the Amazing to Zany stamp set and punched it out wth the 3/4" circle and then layered it onto a 1" circle. A little added touch are the buttons from Fresh Favorites and linen thread. This is my favorite of the three cards.

The second card uses Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, and Friends and Flowers DSP from a long time ago. I used Whimsical Alpha stamps and a "2" stamp from another company. The balloons are from the Eat Cake set. I stamped and embossed them. This was a pretty simple card.

The last card I created with the Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories sets. Aren't the little doggies cute? The color pallette is YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Real Red. I used watercolor paper an embossed the truck in black, then watercolored with watercolor crayons. For a change I took my time and I like how it turned out. I am using watercoloring more and more often. I stamped the background in Creamy Caramel (which I stamped off) and the Print Patterns background. Embellishments are Real Red brads and Real Red ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!