Knotty Card

I made this card for a SCS challenge. We were asked to use knots on our cards. Lots of stampers knotted their ribbon which I never even though of, sheesh!! When I read the challenge, I knew I wanted to do somethingg with french knots.

I stamped the Maya Road flower with a craft ink and then used clear embossing powder. I then layered my elements and decided where I would pierce the many holes for the french knots. I used DCM floss in yellow, green and brown. The brad is a Build a Brad from Stampin' Up. I stamped more polka dots on vanilla for the top of the brad. The dots on the edges are hand drawn with a black marker.

I see my counter is increasing...and I have blog candy waiting...but I'll be away for a few weeks on holiday so I'll be missing in action for a few weeks. I'll see you as soon as I am home =)

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Teacher Cards

This card was totally inspired and cased from Alli Miles' card that you can see HERE. If you haven't visited Alli's blog, you definately should poke around there for a while. She is an amazing card maker!!

One big difference is that I don't own a great apple stamp like hers so I had to make my apples. To make these apples, I cut a 1 1/4" circle out of So Saffron cardstock. Then I used my scissors to cut a slight dent in the top. I used a sponge dauber to rub on Ruby Red ink leaving some of the yellow showing through for the apple's highlight. The stem and leaves are also hand cut. The letters are stamped with versamark and embossed with white embossing powder!!

To the card, I added some apple soap and an apple shaped note pad for an end of year thank you gift! I hope the teachers liked it!!

Supplies: Cardstock-Kraft, Basic Black, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi (all Stampin' Up!),lined designer paper (unknown); Ink-Ruby Red, Basic Black, Versamark (all Stampin' Up!); Stamps-Trajan Monogram Ed, Limitless Labels (both Papertrey Ink); Other: white embossing powder, sponge dauber.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

June Blog Hop with Papertrey Ink!

Yeah, it is Blog Hop time again!! This is such a fun event where Nichole from Papertrey Ink gives us a challenge. Then we all upload them on our blog or PTI gallery and spend the evening getting inspiration from everyone!! It is so much fun.


This month, the challenge was to use acetate or transparencies in our creations!



I had so much fun creating this trio of cards. I let Heather (pine is here) inspire me this time. Not only did I use her favorite cardstock color (Kraft) but I used paint on my stamps. Here's the story.....


You see, I bought the Aqua Mist twill tape because it looked so yummy but the ink was out of stock....so, I had this awesome twill but nothing to "match" it colorwise. But I decided not to let that stop me. I pulled out my acrylic paints and started experimenting to see if I could come up with a color to match my twill. And I did!! I used a lot of white, a little green (that I bought to match SU! Mellow Moss) and a small little bit of a royal blue color. Voila, Aqua Mist paint! You can check out Heather's blog HERE for a great demo on using paint and your stamps.


I love the end results! I love the color combination! Where is the acetate??? Well, that little butterfly on the front left is acetate. On the front right card, the leaf is stamped on acetate with Versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder. Then I painted my Aqua Mist paint on the back and attached it to the card with dimensionals. Although I was going to trim the painted part to be straight, I really liked the "loose feel" that the uneven painted edges gave the card, so I left it. The card in the back has the most acetate. I stamped the butterfly on acetate using StazOn Jet Black. Then, when it was dry, I turned it over and painted my Aqua Mist paint onto the back. I even made a darker tint to paint onto the back wings (looks great in real life, you probably can't really tell in the photos). Then, I cut it out and set it aside. Next, I stamped the flowers onto another sheet of acetate. I attached this sheet to my Kraft cardstock using some eyelets which I had in my stash that are almost a perfect match to the Aqua Mist color as well. Then, I attached the butterfly to the flower acetate layer by using dimensionals. Here is a close-up!


Here are the 3 cards individually so you can see some of the other details. Yes, I used the same home-made Aqua Mist paint on my Polka Dot stamps for some of the backgrounds and also the leaf stamp from Beautiful Blooms (I love that leaf stamp!!).




Well, I hope that my cards inspire you some. I am off to check out all the other blogs and get more great inspiration!!

Supplies: Cardstock-Kraft, Basic Black, Whisper White (all SU!); Stamps-large butterfly (All Night Media), small butterfly (Rubber Stampede), Beautiful Blooms, Polka Dot Basics, Green Thumb, Text Boxed, Simple Little Things (all Papertrey Ink!); Ink - Versamark, Basic Black (SU!); Other- Aqua Mist Twill (Papertrey Ink), acetate (unknown), white embossing powder, acrylic paint, sponge brush, eyelets (unknown).

Thanks for visiting.
Donelda

Exhausted !

Does it happen to you?? You are exhausted after a weekend of camping, come home on Sunday night, get a good night sleep in your own dry, warm, bed and then feel even more tired the NEXT night?? Well, that is exactly where I am ..... exhausted :-)

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you with our little friend who visited us while we were camping. He really enjoyed the peanuts we brought for snacking!

Have a good evening.
Donelda

Yoga Tea Anyone???

My friend has a new job and is moving to Edmonton. For a farewell present, I decided to buy her some of her favorite tea that she buys when we go out for lunch -- Yoga Tea. Since it came in this boring brown paper bag, I obviously HAD to dress it up a bit, right ;-) As well, Sharon, over on her blog No Time To Stamp? has given a challenge to use "hot or cold" in a card. Well, it isn't a card but it uses a "HOT" :-) I hope this counts!! I know with Sharon it is all about having fun so I know it will be fine. Head over and see her card, it is amazing!!!

This little mouse is a stamp I got from my SU! demo, it didn't come with a name but I think it is one of the promotional stamps that demo's get for giving away... I think.

Anyway, I stamped him with black ink, then watercolored him in with Purely Pomegrante and Chocolate Chip classic inks. I also added a bit of black for the shading on the saucer and in the teacup. I matted this onto a piece of Purely Pomegranate cardstock and then onto a large scallop circle (thanks for sharing your Marvy punch Robin !!). I used the individual small polka dot stamp from Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink) to make the dots around the scallops. I added some Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon around the whole bag. Finally, I finished it off by using some letter stamps to spell out "yoga tea" and matted it on a bit of PP cardstock.

I added this little gift to a basket of "tea things" and hope my friend will like them all!

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Wet and Tired!!

Well, we are back from camping and it poured today!! We managed to get packed up in the rain and made it home. I am exhausted, turns out I don't sleep at all when camping. It was after 3:00 am both nights before I was able to fall asleep and then up at about 7:00 am both mornings!! That is not enough sleep for me. I'm going to take a small nap this afternoon and I'll probably hit the hay early tonight so no stamping from me today. Maybe I'll get a little something done on Monday night :-) Enjoy your Sunday evening everyone!! P.S. Don't forget to keep checking back. I am watching my counter and getting ready to announce some Blog Candy soon!! Donelda

Good Bye to a Friend and Coworker

We are going camping this weekend so I'll see you all on Mon.

My friend and co-worker is leaving to go on to bigger and better things!! We got her a gift certificate for one of her favorite shops. I was asked to make a card for it to fit into.

Since it was square, I decided to use one of my new 4 1/4 " square envelopes as a size guide. I made this square card with a gate fold. The main image is only attached to the left side of the card and it opens there.

I love this tree from the Lovely as a Tree set (Stampin' Up). I've longed for this set and decided I'd better get it before this catty retires...you just never know. I watercolored the tree using my ink pads. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages).


On the inside, I made a pocket for the gift certificate to slip into! It was a simple but fun card to make. I hope she likes it and the gift certificate!!


Supplies: Cardstock-Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Old World Stack (Die Cuts with a View), Watercolor paper; Ink- Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Garden Green, Basic Black,(SU!), Black (Archivers); Stamps- Lovely As A Tree (SU!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Other- watercolor brush.

Thanks for visiting!
Donelda

Farewell Boss

Hi to anyone out there who might still be reading my blog. I know I've not been posting much lately. June is such a busy month with soccer practice, a bunch of birthdays, Father's Day, the end of the school year events, work is really busy this time of year...... what can I say??!! As well, we are going camping this coming weekend so I won't be able to make anything new. Perhaps next week things will slow down enough to get more stamping time in. I hope you all keep coming back :-)

My boss is leaving to go work in a neighboring school division. We got her a gift certificate from one of her favorite tack shops. The gift certificate is really long and comes in a really big and long envelope. So, I was asked to make a "western" style card to put the gift certificate in.


I borrowed the horse image from Chris (thanks again Chris!!). Stamped it on vanilla cardstock with chocolate chip ink. Then I stitched around the vanilla with brown thread. I lightly sponged around the edge with chocolate chip ink. Then I added some brown hemp and a few brass brads. Next, I stamped the Riveting sentiment onto vanilla cardstock with versamark and embossed it with copper embossing powder. I attached that to a copper vellum tag and added it to the other end of the card for balance. I added the brown designer paper and stamped the paisly image from Stampin' Up using versamark to get a subtle look on the background.


When I looked at the finished card, the horses looked like they were floating so I used my sponge dauber and put a little bit of chocolate chip under thier hoofs.....ground for them to run on!!!


Thanks for looking,
Donelda

Father's Day Tree

I love the new Father Knows Best stamp set from Papertrey Ink (well, it's not new anymore since I think there have been 2 releases but it is from my newest bunch of stamps ordered from Papertrey Ink!). This tree is fantastic!!!

This card is pretty straight forward. It is the card I gave my wonderful husband to remind him how great a father he really is. You can't see them very well, but there are 3 glass seed beads attached in the bottom right corner of the card!

As well, I'm giving him this too. It is inspired by THIS one that Debbie Olson made! I love it and so did my husband.

Card Supplies: Cardstock-Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (SU!); Designer paper (K&Co.); Stamps- Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink), Ink-Creamy Caramel, Chocolate chip (SU!); Other-twine (from a friend - thanks Carol!)

Frame Supplies: Paper-Basic Grey; Stamps-Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip (SU!); Other- coasters (unknown), hinges and metal photo corners (Making Memories).

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Father's Day and Popsicle Sticks

Keep checking in...I'm watching my counter.......blog candy is being gathered!!!

I made these cards for Father's Day. It is based on the wonderful card made by Molly B that Nichole Heady gave an honorable mention to on her blog from the May Guest Star Stamper contest (scroll down to the last one...the rest are great to check out along the way too!).

I love the simplicity. The card on the left has "spatters" of brown on the main image (made with some ink and water on the top of the ink pad and a toothbrush!). The card on the right is more simple, but see that popsicle stick --- that was fun to make. I sprayed it with varnish and then stamped the sentiment - the vanish was used to keep the ink from spreading, then I cut the stick to be the right length! I really like the look -- feels masculine!!

Supplies: paper-River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Whispter White (SU!), Ink-River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Versamark (SU!); Stamps-Pond Life (Papertrey Ink); Other - Popsicle Stick, varnish, toothbrush.

Thanks for stopping in.

Donelda

Faux Cloisonne Technique

This is a very interesting technique. I saw it on SCS for the Try a New Technique challenge #159



The technique is called Faux Cloisonne and what you do is stamp a line image onto a piece of magazine with an interesting design. For my flower, I found a silver watch that had pink gems in the band. I strategically placed my inked up flower image. Voila!!



I added the flower onto some light cardstock and then attached it all to this grungeboard leaf die-cut! The color of the grungeboard was perfect so I didn't do anything to it.



Added all this to some pink cardstock matted with black. On some grey cardstock, I randomly stamped the smaller version of the bigger flower. A sentiment and some grey satin ribbon and voila, a card for someone who needs a "pick me up".



All cardstock and ink is Stampin' Up, Stamps are Papertrey Ink, ribbon is from Michael's $1.50 bin.



Thanks for dropping in. Don't forget I am gathering some blog candy............

Donelda

Grad Cards 08

I had a request for a grad card so I made a few. I generally like to give my customers some options, especially when they make a special request.



It was for a young man who was graduating from University....



So, which one do you like the best?? I really like the cranberry square card.... and the many word card. I'm not sold on the grey card but....who knows.




Supplies:




Many Words card: Cardstock-Sahara Sand, Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White (SU!); Ink - Buckaroo Blue, Basic Black (SU!); Stamps - Sketch an Event (SU!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Other - watercolor brush, black cord, stickers (EK Success).



Cranberry Square card: Cardstock-Cranberry Crisp, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!); Ink- Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp (SU!); Stamps-Sketch an Event (SU!), Congrats (Studio g); Other-sticker (EK Success).





Grey card- Cardstock-Going Grey, Basic Grey,

Whisper White (SU!); Ink-Basic Black, Versamark (SU!); Stamps-Sketch an Event (SU!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Other-silver cord (unknown), black embossing powder, black marker (Zig), photo corner epoxy sticker (unknown).





Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Hubby's Birthday Card

Keep checking back, I'm gathering some goodies for blog candy to be offered soon..........

Yup, my hubby turns 39 today. So, of course, I had to make him a great card.

He is an Elvis fan so when I saw a great card on SCS with this image on it, I sent her a message and wondered if she would exchange some images with me. She gladly said "yes" -- thanks Laura V. -- and soon some great E images arrived in the mail. I've looked and I've looked but I can't seem to find this image so I can't let you know what company he is from. If I find out, I'll edit in the information.

I decided to use this famous picture of Elvis as my inspiration. But I certianly didn't want to use dots to
spell the word behind him like in the photo. So, instead, I used strips of cardstock.

Of course I had to add a little "bling" - I mean, come on, we are talking Elvis here!!

I am totally sure he will love this card. :-)

And here is the card that my son made for him .... he is so creative. He wanted the card to be a "book" so built the pages inside to fold up so it looked like a book. And he used some foam stickers for the binding -- they are actually sattelites but he thought they could look like the binding on old books. Wow!! Dad loved this card too, of course.

Supplies: Cardstock - Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Only Orange, Summer Sun (all Stampin' Up), Light yellow (unknown); Ink - Basic Black (SU!); Stamps - Elvis (unknown), Father Knows Best (Papertrey Ink); Other- rhinstones (unknown).

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Wildlife Inchies

Another Father's Day card, this time incorporating "inchies" into the card. I stamped these new images I have onto very vanilla cardstock and colored them with my prismacolor pencil crayons. Then I matted them with the brown cardstock. Added some pine to the background and that awesome sentiment from Papertrey Ink -- I just love how the words are enclosed in the box!! Finished off the sentiment focal point with some green hemp.

I usually leave the insides of my cards plain to allow for a handwritten sentiment but this time, I added one of the great sayins from the Father Knows Best set from Papertrey Ink. It says, "The love of a FATHER is one of life's greatest MASTERPIECES".

Supplies: Stamps-Wildlife Reserve, Fantastic Foilage (SU!), Father Knows Best , Borders & Corners {square}(Papertrey Ink); Cardstock-Dark Green and brown (Bazzil), White, Always Artichoke (SU!); Ink-Black, Chocolate Chip, Versamark (SU!); Other-Prismacolor pencil crayons, odorless thinner, green hemp, dauber, dimensionals.

Thanks for visiting,

Donelda

Quick post

I received this blogging award from my friend Chris. She just said the nicest things on her blog about me and my blog. It is amazing how wonderful this crazy craft is....I have met some of the nicest people through Splitcoaststamper and blogging. And also some very creative people. You must check out Chris' blog as she has become addicted to Tilda's these days and has some incredible coloring on her cards!!

Thanks Chris and thanks everyone for visiting.

Oh, and I am gathering some yummy items for some Blog Candy...coming soon :-) so come back and visit often~~

Donelda

Raspberry Wishes

I made this a bit ago for the Ways to Use it challenge 168 on Splitcoaststampers. Beth challenged us to do some embossed watercoloring. That is where you emboss an image, and then watercolor it in (obviously).

Well, I recently bought this set called Fruit Stand from Stampin' Up specifically to watercolor....so I pulled it out and used it for the first time!

Although I'm not sold on the tearing I did, I do really like the color combination that I ended up using.

Supplies: Paper-watercolor paper (unknown), Buckaroo Blue, Real Red, Whisper White (all SU!); Ink-Versamark, Basic Black, Real Red, Gable Green, Green Galore, Wild Wasabi, Buckaroo Blue (all SU!), Stamps-Fruit Stand (SU!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Other-ginham red ribbon (SU!), black embossing powder, aqua brush.

Thanks for stopping in.

Donelda

Local High School Grad card

I totally cased this idea from SmilynStef !!! Of course I changed the school name. I saw her card and loved it. I don't actaully know anyone who is graduating from our local high school but I do have a co-worker who's son is graduating so I gave it to her and told her she could use it if she wanted to :-) She seemed to like it!!

The background is made on my computer. I printed the school name and symbols and then cut the paper so it was on a slant when I added it to the card. I have no idea if this is how Stephanie did it but that's how I did it! The rest of the card is pretty straight forward.

Supplies: Cardstock-Whisper White, Brilliant Blue (Stampin' Up!); Ink-Brilliant Blue, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Stamps-Sketch an Event (Stampin' Up!), Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink); Other-Computer (which is how I made the background paper).

Thanks for visiting. Donelda

Father's Day Round Duck card

This was one of my very first cards made with the Pond Life stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I love that set. The ideas are just popping out of my mind when I think about the possibilities.

I loved how Debbie Olson used multi colors on the duck image. I checked out pictures of mallards and when with those colors for my duck.

Supplies: paper-Close to Cocoa, Whisper White (SU!); Ink-Wild Wasabi, Close to Cocoa, Summer sun, Blue Bayou (SU!); Stamps-Pond Life (Papertrey Ink); Ohter-black cord, circle coluzzle, paint brush, dimensionals.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Dusk Sympathy

I have really enjoyed Michelle Zindorf's blog since the day she started it. She has such a wonderful style of card making. You must go check her blog out!!



I used her brayering technique on this sympathy card. Started with summer sun along the bottom, then added pumpkin pie across the top and finished off with really rust at the very top and corners. And some close to cocoa and chocolate chip sponged across the bottome. The setting sun was made from a post it note!! Simple!!


Supplies: Cardstock-brown (Bazzill), Apricot Appeal, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Stamps-Pond Life, Simple Little Things (both Papertrey Ink), Of a Feather (Memory Box); Ink-Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (all Stampin' Up!), StazOn Jet Black; Other-brayer, post it note, versamark pen, clear embossing powder, sponge.

Thanks for visiting.
Donelda