Loonie Stamper Challenge #16 - with sympathy

Another Loonie Stamper Challenge set by Regan this week. Wow, look at these colors!! Are they great or what??!!

If you know me, you will know that I have trouble using more than one or two colors in a card. So, when I see 4 colors...I pale a bit, panic for a minute...but then I figure that it is a challenge, right??!! So I jumped in with both feet! I did, however, keep it simple!

The card is pretty straight foward. My friend has requested a few sympathy cards so I figured this might be a good opportunity to create one.

And look ... while I was playing around trying to come up with a card, I had started with some different elements. Well, I liked them so much I decided to make a second card with them and it also fits the challenge colors!! And the first time using my Spiral Bouquet which I just bought in September!!

You gotta go see the Loonie Girls' work: Jewels, Dee, Char, Wendy, Maria

Supplies: Stamps - Simple Little Things, Spiral Bouquet, Borders & Corners {Circles}, Flower Garden (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Kraft, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Old Olive, Blue Bayou (Stampin' Up! -- I don't have the newest PTI colors yet); Ink - Old Olive, Blue Bayou (Stampin' Up!); Other - Blue Bayou ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Scallop scissors (Provo Craft), flowers (Michael's), 1 1/4" circle punch (Stampin' Up!).

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

smARTworks - Sunflowers on Dark

I was dying to try coloring these sunflowers from smARTworks in with my prismacolored pencil crayons when it was stamped on a darker color cardstock (not white or vanilla). I decided to go with the lighter of the 2 greys from Stampin' Up. When you stamp and color on a darker cardstock, you use a lot of white to create the highlights. You can see some previous cards I did with this technique HERE and HERE. I often feel like the edges of my image panel needs something to finish it off and for this one, I decided to do some paper piercing all the way around it. The rest of the card is pretty simple. A little stitching wth my sewing machine down the yellow strip for some dimension and a little sentiment! Thanks for dropping in for a visit. Donelda

Glitter Leaves for the American Thanksgiving

I made this a while ago but now I wish I'd have used a "thankful" sentiment since it would have made a great card for my American friends as they celebrate thanksgiving!! The strip along the bottom is actually a piece of Sookwang two-sided tape. I used my hobby knife to slice off a bit from the top and bottom and covered that with some cinnamon colored glitter. Then I peeled off the larger middle section ... but carefully put on some punched out leaf shapes so that when I added the dark brown glitter, it went around the leaves. Finally, I added the copper glitter to the leaves after pulling off the leaf masks. I really liked the results!! I added this band to a card base of Creamy Caramel that was stamped with Versamark ink. I finished it off with a sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink. So I hope all my American friends have a great Thanksgiving with lots of yummy food and great company!! Supplies: Stampsp-Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Paper-Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up!); Other- 2 sided tape (Sookwang), fine glitter (Jewel Glitter Ritz), hobby knife. Thanks for dropping in! Leave me a comment and let me know how you are celebrating your thanksgiving!! Donelda

Pink and Olive Birthday

This is just a simple happy birthday card. I inked up the image with a pink ink pad and olive marker. Then I misted it with water and stamped onto watercolor paper. I love that look! Finished the card off with some K&Co. designer paper and 2 kinds of ribbon! A little sentiment on a small die cut tag and, voila, a great girly birthday card!! Supplies: Stamps-Petal Prints (Stampin' Up!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Pixie Pink, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Paper-Very Vanilla, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!), K&Co. background paper; Other-Vanilla wide grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Olive grosgrain ribbon, hemp, sponge, small die cut and machine (Cuttlebug).

Thanks for dropping in. Have a great day!!

Donelda

November Blog Hop - Flower Embellishments

It is time for another Blog Hop by Papertrey Ink!! It is so much fun!! Nicole sets a challenge and then we all post our projects on the 25th of the month and hop around visiting everyone's blogs (or gallery!!) to see what everyone came up with.

Well, this month, Nicole asked us to build our own floral embellishment for a card or 3D item. Wow, this is my cup of tea!! You see, I hate spending money on all those awesome embellishments you see in the hobby stores!! I like to go and look and then come home and try to duplicate them on my own!! So I knew I'd want to participate in this challenge. Unfortunately, I was extrememly busy at work over the last few weeks so my attempts are pretty weak! But I'm here to play anyway with what I have!! I made 2 different floral embellishments. I have taken a picture of each embellishment I created and also a picture of it on a card that I made using the embelishment!!

The first flower is made using the sample of Chocolate Remix paper that Nicole offered. Although it is created in Dark Chocolate I made it Plum Pudding instead (much more floral-like, right??!!). After printing off the sample page onto Stamper Select white cardstock, I used my Fiskars stencil to trace a bunch of swirly paisley shapes. Then, I cut them each out and used my pencil to "shape" each "petal". Next, I poked a hole in the small end of each petal and attached them to a piece of wire, using some adhesive to attach each petal to the one next to it until I had a pretty flower. To make the center of the flower, I threaded silver sead beads onto a piece of silver wire and then curled it! I glued it in place with some Tombo Mono Multi Liquid Glue (great stuff!).

Supplies: Stamps-Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink); Paper- Stampers Select (Papertrey Ink), Elegant Eggplant (Stampin' Up! - I'm out of Plum Pudding!!), Chocolate Remix sample (altered to be Plum Pudding); Ink - Plum Pudding (Papertrey Ink); Other-paisley template (Fiskars), wire, silver glass seed beads (Mill Hill); paper piercer, white gel pen (Signo), Pampered Chef scraper (to make the score lines around the purple square).

Next, I made a flower using some wide grosgrain ribbon! I tried it using some of the thinner ribbon from PTI but it was too tiny to work with for me (but could be done with those of you who have more patience than I have!!). After making each of the petals form a 3" piece of ribbon, I attached them to a circular piece of what cardstock. Then, I cut a circle of white felt, and did some stitching with brown embrodery floss. I attached this to the flower petals with some Mono Multi Liquid Glue. Next, I used the leaf image from First Fruits to add leaves to my flower! I love the look of this embellishment and love it even more when it is added to the card I created!!

Supplies: Stamps-First Fruits, Mixed Messages, Wedding Day (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Select White, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink), Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Other - wide grosgrain ribbon (Michael's), felt (unknown), floss (DCM), scallop scissors (Provo Craft).

Well, now I'm off to see what everyone else made!! Thanks for dropping in for a visit!!

Donelda

Rooster Congratulations

I made this a while ago! It was a ton of fun! That rooster is a die cut from Martha Stewart!! I covered him with some of that red gingham paper and sponged around the edges. The circle that he is on is popped up with dimensional so the hemp would fit nicely under it. The sentiment is a little hard to read in the picture but reads "congratulations". The stitching around the various panels are done with my sewing machine and is a dark brown thread. I also sewed around the circle, which was actually quite a task!! Supplies: Stamps-Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), red (Bazzill), designer paper (unknown); Other - hemp, thread, coluzzle, sponge.

Thanks for dropping in tonight. Check in tomorrow night as it is Blog Hop night!!! And don't forget to work on your Christmas ornament for the smARTworks tea party on Dec. 3rd.

Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge #15 - Silver Tree

This week's Loonie Stampers Challenge #15 is courtesy of Char. And I LOVE the color combo she chose!! White with Pure Poppy is the "must have" and an optional color of silver! (see I read the instructions this week!! LOL).

About a month ago I got ready to start making Christmas "stuff" by going through all my embellishments, paper and other supplies that are related to Christmas and put them all in a box. That way, when I want to make something for Christmas I just need to look through the box for inspiration and ideas!! It came in really handy today when I set out to make this challenge card. came across this awesome silver Christmas tree that I bought last year in the bargain bins at Michael's. As well, I found this cute little red "flower" and I knew I could make it into a pointsettia. It started out with a yellow center but I didn't want that color in my card so I used my white gel pen to cover over the yellow ... perfect!! A little sentiment and some twill and voila, a perfect christmas card!!

Now you need to go check out the Loonie gals to see what they created!

Jewels, Dee, Regan, Maria, Wendy

ETA -- Chris' Blogaversary is in just 8 days and she is giving away a sweet envelope of candy!! You have to go and give her a shout to be considered!!

Supplies: Stamps-Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Paper-Select White (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Other-silver tree (Michael's), flower (unknown - I've had them for YEARS and finally got around to using one of them!!), Pure Poppy twill (Papertrey Ink).

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!!

Donelda

smARTworks - Birdie and Buttons

Another smARTworks image! This cute little birdie attracted me to this set! The focal image of this card was made by stamping the image with black ink and then used my pastel chalks to color in the bird, flowers, and leaves. The chalks kept the look softer than if I'd colored it in with inks or markers! Then, I cut out an oval with my coluzzle making sure to not cut where the branches went down. I cut those out with scissors. Then, I added the little sentiment and a bit of black doodling across to top half of the oval. I finished off the oval with some buttons that were tied with white floss. The card was made using Pretty In Pink cardstock and Versamark ink. I used some of the stripes from Faux Ribbon and versamark ink to make the bottom part of the card. The top was stamped with the little leaf from the Borders & Corners {square} set, again with versamark ink. I love that look -- it is just subtle enough without distracting from the main focus of the card. I had a little bit of thin white twill that I used across the middle of the card. As well, I used my small scallop scissors to cut across the bottom of the card to show some of the white card base. Supplies: Stamps-Spring #1, WD-60 (smARTworks), Faux Ribbon, Borders & Corners {square} (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Paper - Pretty In Pink, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other - white twill (unknown), scallop scissors (Provo Craft), black marker (Zig), pastel chalks (Stampin' Up!), vintage buttons (from Grandma Mary's stash), white floss (DCM), coluzzle, dimensionals. Thanks for dropping in this evening!! Donelda

smARTworks Tea Party #7

The next tea party for smARTworks has been announced by Dina!! She wants us to create a Christmas ornament!! This will be a lot of fun!! So, if you want to play along you should!! Just create a Christmas ornament. Then, when any of the smARTworks design team members post their creations on DEC. 3, you can leave a link to your ornament in the comment section of this or any member's blog and we will create a link to your project!! If you are uploading to a gallery, be sure to use the SCTP7 so we can find it!! Go, create, enjoy!!! Donelda

smARTworks - Clover Thanks

I love clover!! I remember being a kid and sitting on the lawn looking for 4 leaf clovers!! What a great way to waste away the day!! Anyway, I love this stamp set from smARTworks!! It was easy to pull together this card using it. I used Garden Green to stamp the clover onto white card stock. I used the opposite end of the clover flower stem to add some grass along the bottom of the card. Then, I used my Stampin' Up markers to color in the clover flower. Garden Green for the stem and Cameo Coral for the flower. Just before stamping the flowers, I smudged off the middle section of the flower using a Q-tip. I love the result, it makes the flowers look more realistic. Finished it off with some sponging along the bottom edge and a sentiment. Supplies: Stamps-Clover, smARTworks, Remember (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Garden Green, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Garden Green, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up!); Other - sponge, Q-tip.

Thanks for dropping in for a visit.

Donelda

smARTworks - It's Your Birday

Well, I needed a birthday card for my nephew...and FAST!! So, what do you think?? I think it is hilarious!! I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to repeat "It's Your Birday" over and over using Buckaroo Blue. Then I used this awesome bird from smARTworks (desinged by Dina Kowal - Mama Dini!!)!! See the little "splotch" under him...well, I used a piece of extra rubber that was left over from cutting the set apart and cute an oval-like shape. I inked it up with the same color, stamped it off once on scrap paper and then stamped it under the bird for a shadow. It grounds the image nicely!! Now that I look at it, I probably could have used some twine or something across the background....but it's too late, and to be honest, my nephew was probably more excited about the gift certificate tucked inside anyway LOL :-) ... as he should be!!! Supplies: Stamps-Birdie Fun, Birday (smARTworks); Ink-Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!); Paper-Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other - left over rubber to make shadow oval, Stamp-a-ma-jig. Thanks for dropping in for a visit!! Donelda

smARTworks - Birthday Wishes

I heard it was a specail day for Susan Trask, owner of smARTworks stamps a while ago. Her birthday was at the end of October, so I decided to make and send her some birthday wishes!!

I stamped this teapot from the Teapot Trio set onto watercolor paper with Archivers black ink so that I could watercolor it. I used Rose Red ink to color the hearts and Wild Wasabi for the edge of the plate, teapot and napkin. I did some shading with Buckaroo Blue and River Rock. This image was a LOT OF FUN to paint.

I decided to use my coluzzle to cut out the image and then made a few spots to feed some black organdy ribbon through. I used a piece of this amazing paper from Basic Grey! I love it and it matches the Wild Wasabi perfectly. Finally, I decided to make a different sentiment. See those letters...they are a great Dollar Store find!! Yup, just one little ole dollar and I use them all the time!! Anyway, I stamped the letters, cut them, and attached them around the circle edge.

Well, I hope it brought nice birthday wishes to Susan!!

Supplies: Stamps-Teapot Trio (smARTworks), letters (Dollar Store); Ink-Black (Archivers), Wild Wasabi, Ruby Red, Buckaroo Blue, River Rock (Stampin' Up!), Paper - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Green (Basic Grey), Watercolor paper; Other - black ribbon, coluzzle, watercolor brush, corner rounder, 1/8" circle punch.

Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

Twinkling H2O cards

So, my friend Deb was showing me a great link to use Twinkling H2Os on watercolor paper to make great backgrounds. It was from the Memory Box blog and you can watch it yourself HERE. I had to give it a try. Here are 2 of the end results! I love it. And, as usual, the pictures just don't do it justice!! It just doesn't pick up the shimmer that is really there!! The images are simply stamped with black StazOn ink and mounted on some colorful paper.

Supplies: Stamps - Watch Trio, I've Gone Fishin' (smARTworks), Birds of a Feather (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Jet Black (StazOn); Paper-Very Vanilla, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (unknown), colored paper (creative expressions); Other - Twinkling H2Os, watercolor brush.

Thanks for dropping by.

Donelda

Scrap Card Fun!!

Susan over at smARTworks has listed the newest releases! You HAVE to go over and check them out!! Go to the on line catelog and check out pages 154 - 166. I am so excited and can hardly wait to put in an order!!! Now, on to the card. My friend Juanita sent me more scraps to play with!! If you haven't read about our Scrap Card Exchange game, read HERE. You can also read on Kristina Werner's blog HERE where she and her roomate also swap Scraps!! Anyway, I always mean to take pictures of the scraps before I use them and as I am pulling my project together this afternoon, I remembered that I had forgotten!! Sheesh!! Well, Juanita sent me this sentiment stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and already matted on some Really Rust cardstock. As well, she included the scallop circle in So Saffron and that little circle too, but it was a different color (maybe Sahara Sand??). So, I decided to make one of these Gift Card holders. You can get the template from Kristina Werner on Two Peas HERE (can you tell I love her blog, LOL). And HERE are some gift cards she made using the template. I started out by coloring the small circle in with Really Rust. Then I cut the gift card holder out and stamped it with the little flower. I added some Really Rust cardstock on the bottom and colored in the flowers and the letters on the sentiment. I pulled it all together as you can see!! Supplies: In addition to the scrap pieces that Juanita sent... Stamps-Fun With Shapes (Stampin' UP!); Paper-Sahara Sand, Really Rust (Stampin' Up!); Ink- Really Rust (Stampin' Up!), yellow (Color Box); Other - gift card template (Kristina Werner), paint brush, sponge, velcro (holds the gift card holder together). Thanks for dropping in for a visit. You should go see what you can do with 3 pieces of scrap from your scap pile!! :-) Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge #14 - Thank You Postcard

Today Jewels picked the colors for the Loonie Stamper Challenge #14. And, man, was she ever mean (*wink*). The colors are all very beautiful, but if you follow my blog at all, you will know that I tend to use 2 colors most of the time...and even have trouble using 3 colors...but 6...YIKES!!!

Well, I decided that it is a challenge, afterall...so I decided to "go for it". Actually, I laid in bed all night wondering what to do, going through different techniques, or thinking of different layouts that could incorporate 6 colors!! Then, as I sat down this morning at my craft table, this idea came to me!!

I decided to make a Postcard card. It doesn't open but I put some vanilla cardstock on the back to write on. And while I like the end result, I realize that I didn't actually follow the challenge!! You see, Jewels asked us to use a vellum or acetate cardbase and as you can see....I don't even have a cardbase!! How could I actually forget one of the main points of the challenge...sheesh!! And, also, as you can see, I also used a Vintage Cream color (althought it happens to be Very Vanilla) which was not part of the challenge. I sure did screw this one up, hey!! Well, I'm going to post this one and if I have more time today, I'll try it again!!! ETA- Okay, after reading a few of the Loonie Girls' blogs, I might have done even more wrong with this challenge. Now, I think we were supposed to pick one or both the the family colors...or something like that...sheesh, I have to read a little more carefully!!!

Supplies: Stamps-Remember (Papertrey Ink); Paper-Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate (all Papertrey Ink), Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Other-Pure Poppy twill (Papertrey Ink), leaf punch (Punch Bunch).

Now you have to go see what the Loonie Girls did with this challenge: Dee, Char, Regan, Maria, Wendy.

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!! Give this real challenge a try yourself, and leave a link if you do!!! Donelda

Baby Card Set

I don't make baby cards very often but I found these cute little 3D stickers at Dollarama and knew I wanted to make some cute little cards with them! Didn't they turn out adorable!!

See the square blocking behind each of the stickers....I got that inspiration from the amazingly talented Nichole Heady and THIS card she made recently. Those squares are actually ticking me off. You see, when I was just starting out stamping I bought this big container (like 1000s of them) of square pieces of cardstock in multiple colors! Man, what a bad decision that was. Their colors don't match any of the ink I have and they don't even accept ink very well anyway. I see that big plastic container sitting there and I feel guilty about it so I try to use them every once in a while! Did a good job tonight!!

A few other details, see the circle behind each animal...I used my home-made cloud template to create the clouds (I love doing that!). As well, I stamped small images on each colored square with Versamark. Hard to see in the photos (click to enlarge each image) but it adds nice detail in real life. Finally, I made these cards to fit inside the medium sized glassine bags that Papertrey Ink sells.

Supplies: Stamps-Borders & Corners {square} and {circle}, Limitless Lables (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Paper-Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Squares of cardstock (Colorbox); Other - home-made cloud template, coluzzle, animal 3D stickers (Dollarama -- yup, all of these for just one dollar!!).

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!! Keep coming back!

Donelda

smARTworks Tea Party #6 - Circles

Yeah, it is time for the 6th smARTworks Tea Party Challenge. This time it was my turn to set the challenge. I wanted to do something a little different so I picked Circles!! The challenge was to make a card using circles in some way.... a circle card, circle images, circle embellishments, whatever, just as long as the card involves one or many circles in some way!!

Well, if any of you know me, I love circles and once I start using circles, I get "stuck" on circles LOL.

So, to celebrate the tea party, I made this card using Dina's awesome three step stamp called Daisy Trio #2. I love it! and to pay tribute to one of my favorite "Dina techniques", I added this scrap strip bottom to my card.

Of course, once I started making "circles" I couldn't stop so here are a few other cards I made that incorporated circles in some way!

I LOVE this fishing stamp set!! I wanted to try using it with a monochromatic card and also with a sponged "sunset" card too! I'm not sure which I like better!!

Finally, I made this

circle card. Notice the vellum used in the middle of the card, I have "colored" it much like Susan did last week on her card HERE. Instead of using ink pads, I like to color my vellum using oil pastels and an oil. You just scribble on the oil pastel color of your choice (I used a sky blue here) and then put some of the oil (I use Japanese Mint Oil) onto a cotton ball and spread the color all over the piece of vellum. It is so much fun making your vellum a color that fits with the theme of your card.

You have to go see what the other Design Team Members did:

Susan

Dina

Trish

Giovana

And Jessica played along too!! Check out her card HERE.

Don't forget to play along. Make a card that uses Circles in some way and then just leave any team member a comment with a link to your card!! Have fun!!

Supplies:

Special Flower Card: Stamps-Daisy Trio #3 (smARTworks); Paper-Whisper White, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!), various designer paper; Ink-Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Other-Coluzzle (love my coluzzle), white ribbon (Michael's).

Fishin' Cards: Stamps-WD-151 A Fishin', FL-18 (smARTworks); Paper-Whisper White, Really Rust (Stampin' Up!), blue (Bazzill); Ink-Basic Black, Night of Navy, Buckaroo Blue, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Other-black marker (Zig), sponge, sticky note (Post It Note), black cord (unknown).

Circle Pine Card: Stamps-Snowy Pines (smARTworks); Paper-Whisper White, Handsome Hunter, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Ink-Handsome Hunter, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Other-Coluzzle, paper piercer, green ribbon (Michaels'), oil pastels, cotton ball, oil, scallop scissors (Provo Craft).

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Donelda

smARTworks - Butterflies Just for You

Butterflies have to be one of the most beautiful things to use when paper crating!! I love coloring them in so many beautiful colors! These two butterflies are stamped on watercolor paper with StazOn ink and then colored them in with a watercolor brush and ink. To add some sparkle, I used some 2-way glue and added black glitter to the edges of the wings. I cut them out and bent their wings so that there was dimension!! It made

them look like they were kind of flying off the card!

The background paper is from the Once Upon a Time mat pack from DCWV. I just realized it was in there....and I LOVE it!!! I sponged around

the edge of it with Close to Cocoa ink.

An added sentiment and voila, a great 3 x 3" card to share with a friend.

Supplies: Stamps - BF-01 Cone Flowers, WD-60 (smARTworks); Ink-Jet Black (StazOn), Ballet Blue, Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Once Upon a Time (Die Cut With a View), watercolor paper (unknown); Other - black glitter, sponge.

Thanks for visiting! Come back tomorrow to see what I created for the smARTworks Tea Party #6 -- Circles, circles, circles. Make sure you leave a comment and a link to your tea party creation here or on any Design Team member's blog!! I can't wait to see what you have created!!

Donelda

Faux Watercolor Branch - Take 2

Here is another one take on the faux watercolred branch. This is my favorite of the two cards. See the other one HERE. To see more details on the technique check out that cards blog entry! Wehn I stamped the branches, I stamped them all over one sheet of watercolor paper. Then, I cut out pieces to fit the card size I was looking for. I love how this branch hangs down and the sentiment is off to the right!! Supplies: Stamps-Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink), Ink-Summer Sun, Garden Green, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black *(Stampin' Up!); Paper-Very Vanilla, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (unknown); Other - ribbon (Making Memories), paint brush, water spray bottle.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!! Don't forget to join the smARTworks Tea Party by making a card that incorporates a circle in some way!!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper Challenge #13

It's that time again, another Loonie Stamper Challenge!! This time, it was Wendy who chose the colors and a great combo it is!!

It is the first time Silver Shimmer has been thrown in the mix! I would have never thought of using that color with these other! It looks great together!! Unfortunatly, I don't acutally own any of the Silver Shimmer from Papertrey Ink but I luckily just picked up a few pieces of silver cardstock at my LSS just a few days ago. Am I psychic or what??!!

This little bird it from the Believe stamp set released last year by Papertrey Ink. I certainly have not used this little bird and, in fact, I don't think I even knew he was in there until I saw this post from Becky Oehlers. I wasn't even sure what little bird she was talking about, I had to pull my set out and low and behold, that cute little bird was sitting right there...waiting to be used!! So I did. I stamped him and then colored him in with my white gel pen. Then I colored his wing in with my Surkura Gellyroll pen making it silver. I also added some silver to his back end and used a Q-tip to blend the silver into the white. I love the results!! I'm stuck on CIRCLES and INCHIES these days so I, of course, had to add both to my card :-) The finished size of this card is 3x3.

You should go check out all the creations by the Loonie girls:

Jewels, Dee, Char, Regan, Wendy, and Maria

They are all talented ladies who love Papertrey Ink as much as I do!!

Supplies: Stamps - Belive (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Jet Black (Archivers); Paper-Select White, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink), silver (unknown); Other-white gel pen, stardust Jellyroll pen (Suraka), 1"circle punch, black marker (Zig), Spring Moss twill (Papertrey Ink).

Thanks for visiting!

Donelda

Faux Watercolor Branches - Take 1

I love this faux watercolor technique! To create this card I stamped the branch using Chocolate Chip ink onto watercolor paper. Next, I used the leaf stamp and inked up the leaves with various colors of ink including Summer Sun, Really Rust, and Garden Green. Then, I misted the stamp before stamping onto the watercolor paper. This makes the colors run together and make the leaves look as though you have painted them onto the canvas.

Here is a close up so you can see the leaves a little better.

To add some drama, I did some piercing, distressed the edge of the focal image, and splattered a bit of ink onto the image as well. To do this, I stamped some of the color I want to splatter onto the top of a clam shell stamp box and spray some water with it to make a wet color (note I do this because I don't own any reinkers yet). I picked up as much of the wet color as I could with a stiff paint brush (an old toothbrush works too) and then using my finger, I pulled at the bristles so that the wet color made the splattering onto the image. I love this effect!! (click on the image so you can really see the splatters and watercolor effect!).

Finally, I finished the focal piece off by adding a sentiment on the corner. I actually stamped it over some of the leaves which I really like. It is a sentiment from the Out On a Limb stamp set from Papertrey Ink and reads, "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars" Martin Luther. It is a lovely sentiment and very fitting for the image.

The rest of the card is obviously easy to put together!! I kept it clean as I wanted all the focus to be on the watercolored branches!!

Supplies: Stamps-Out On A Limb (Papertrey Ink); Paper-Chocolate Chip, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (unknown); Ink-Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Summer Sun, Really Rust (Stampin' Up!); Other-ribbon (unknown).

Thanks for dropping in! If you try this technique I'd love to see the results of your project! Leave me a link!!

Donelda

smARTworks - Twinkling Tulips

I love tulips in the spring! Well, it is far from spring around here but I still love these tulips!! They are from Spring #1 stamp set by smARTworks. I stamped the image and heat embossed with black embossing powder. Then, I used my Twinkling H2Os to color them in. I love how they shimmer in real life. It is kind of hard

to tell in these pictures but it might be more sparkly if you click on the image to make it larger.

I did some doodling around the oval and added the sentiment, again heat embossing with black. I put the image onto a white card base, covered with this awesome black with white polkadot paper by Making Memories and a bit of Lemon Tart paper on either side. To finish the card off, I used some Lemon Tart satin ribbon, such a great tying ribbon by Papertrey Ink.

Don't forget to think "circles" for the smARTworks Tea Challenge #6!!

Supplies: Stamps-Spring #1 (smARTworks); Ink-Versamark; Paper - Whisper White (Stampin Up!), Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), polka dots (Making Memories); Other - Lemon Tart satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Coluzzle, Twinkling H2Os (copper penny, sunburst, mallard green), black marker (Zig), black embossing powder.

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

The next smARTworks Tea Party Challenge is....

Well, it is my turn to issue the next smARTworks Tea Party Challenge #6. The tea parties are lots of fun. Someone from the smARTworks design team issues a challenge. It can be an inspiration piece, a sketch to follow, or anything! The following week, the design team members will post their creations on their blogs and you are welcome to play along! We would love to see what you do with the challenge. All you have to do is leave a comment on any design team member's blog with a link to your project. If you post to a gallery, please use the keyword SCTP6. Our party will be on Wed. Nov. 12, so make sure you come back to post a link to your creation!!

We've had some inspiration pieces and some sketches to follow so I am going to do something a little different!!

Circles, circles, circles!! I love incorporating circles into my cards. So that is what I challenge you to do. You can make a circle card, use a circle shaped image on your card, include circle embellishments on your card, use circle punches...anything you want, as long as it incorporates circles in some way!!

Go and have some circlular fun :-). Don't forget to come back on Nov. 12 and see what the design team comes up with, and post your own creation!!

ETA- please note that I am working on adding all the smARTworks Design Team Members on the side bar of my blog. I got a bit of a start on this task this morning but now I have to go to work (drat, work always gets in the way of my fun!!). I will continue to work on this tonight!!

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Brown Polka Dots and Butterfly

I love brown!! And I love polka dots too!! And butterflies are pretty cool too!!! Can you tell from this card... Hey, don't forget to come back tomorrow to check out the next smARTworks tea party challenge!! I get to decide what the challenge is and I think you might like it!!! Supplies: Stamps-Polka Dot Basics, Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink), French Script background (Stampin' Up, retired), Build a Flourish (Gel a Tins); Paper - Chocolate Chip, Kraft (Stampin' Up!), rose background paper (unknown); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Other-butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), sponge, clear embossing powder. Thanks for dropping in tonight. Donelda

Cute Dinosaur Card and Sketch Challenge

I don't usually use stickers on my cards but when I was at my local scrapbooking store, I just couldn't make myself walk by these guys! they were just too darn cute!!

I used Lauren's weekly sketch challenge #2 although I did move the circle to be on the other side of the main panel for balance purposes.

The light blue in the card is actually blue vellum placed over white cardstock. I used it because it was a perfect match to the WINGS on the dinosaurs back -- see it in the close-up! That is one of the things I loved the most about these cute little guys!!

Supplies: Paper-Marigold Morning, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Light blue vellum (unknown); Stamps - Faux Ribbon, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Bayou Blue, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up), Versamark; Other - home-made cloud template, sponge dauber, stickers (Sandylion), 1 1/4" circle punch.

Do you use stickers on your cards?? I'd love to see your work. Maybe it will inspire me to use them more often. Please leave a link if you'd like to share.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda