Tea Time

A few months ago, Susan Trask from smARTworks, sent me my last package of stamps for design work. In that package she had used a page of beautiful paper. Not sure what kind of paper it was, whether it was some designer paper or not as there was no form of identification on the paper. But it was so beautiful I couldn't help but use it on a card.

I cut the paper into these long strips and sewed them with some zig zag stitching. I added this great tea cup image that was watercolored. A bit of wide grosgrain ribbon finished off the card.

Thanks for dropping in again!

Donelda

Paper Doily #3 and Color Combo Challenge

So these paper doilies (labeled tags by Martha Stewart and found at Michaels) has totally re-inspired me and my mojo is working overtime!!!

This time I combined using one with the new Color Combos Galore Challenge #144. The colors are so yummy!!!

I also realized that I didn't have to always use white doilies but I could change them to any color I wanted by sponging on my desired color! That is exactly what I did here and I can't wait to try some other colors.

This card actually has me perplexed. I like it and yet I don't. I think it is because the base of the card is soft and elegant while the blues and pinks are quite bright so I think the looks contrast too much. Maybe if I had changed up the combination of colors on my doily it would have blended in better with the card base. My attempts to 'connect' the 2 elements was to do some distressing on all items by sponging some Antique Linen and then some Chocolate Chip. Maybe I should have given it dimensional but I didn't because the ribbon and button was doing a good job of that.

What do you think??? I'd love your input!! Have you run out to get some of these doilies yet??? I hear from Christine Middlecamp (who has started a project with them that has totally inspired me) that they are hard to find.

Oh yeah, and when I was sponging on the turquoise color, I saw that it was leaving a beautiful mask on the scratch paper on my desk so I quickly slipped a piece of what cardstock underneath it and was able to create this card with it!! I don't have a whole sheet of tempting turquoise cardstock left so I sponged around the edge of a white card to create a card base. The sentiment says "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams". Eleanor Roosevelt

Supplies:

Celebrate Card

Stamps - Giga Guide Lines, Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink), circle (g studio); Paper - Kraft, Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla (all Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Anna Griffin); Ink - Antique Linen (distress ink by Ranger), Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!); other - paper doily (called 'tags' on package by Martha Stewart), starburst punch (Martha Stewart), circle and scallop circle nestabilities (Spellbinders), vintage cream satin ribbon {I used the back side} (Papertrey Ink), button (my own collection), hemp cord (Darice), sponge, sewing machine.

Future Card:

Stamps - Meausre of Life (Stampin' Up! retired); Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!), Jet Black (Ranger); Paper - Whisper White; Other - sponge, paper doily for mask (Martha Stewart), dimensionals.

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!! Leave me some commenting love :-)

Donelda

Decorative Doily and Kristina Werner color challenge #2

So for any of you who frequent here once in a while you probably know that I'm usually a 2 color girl ... sometimes I get crazy and throw in a 3rd color but only when I'm feeling dangerous!! LOL! So, you can only imagine my distress when I saw 6 colors on Kristina Werner's latest Reader's Choice Color Inspiration #2!! Gasp, oh my, how could anyone put so many colors together on one card???!!! But then I remembered that it is supposed to be a challenge....right??!! So I dove right in!! Of course it helped a lot having recently checked out Christine Middlecamp's blog and her amazing Martha Stewart paper doily project. Here creations are simply out of this world ... so much so that I ran to Michaels' today in the rain just to get some!! I also picked up the Martha Stewart starburst punch (you can see it under the flower and leaf) just because Christine used it on one of her doilies. I just couldn't resist. And just a note, other than the card base and the doily, all of the paper used on this card are from my scrap bins. You see, I am totally fasinated with Amy Heller's 1 hour challenge idea where she takes all her scraps and sees what she can create in exactly one hour. Reading about it has gotten me itching to use up some of my scraps again. Supplies: Stamps - sentiment from Autumn Abundance (Papertrey Ink), Borders & Corners (Papertrey Ink), Turning a New Leaf (Papertrey Ink), stitching is from Of a Feather (Memory Box); Ink - Archival Jet Black (Ranger), Tea Dye (Ranger distress ink); Paper - all scraps from my bin; Other - paper doily called "tags" on package (Martha Stewart), 1 1/2" circle punch (Stampin' Up!), starburst punch (Martha Stewart), flower punch (EK Success), yellow rhinstone (Me & My Big Ideas). You totally know that I will be creating more of these wonderful paper doily creations!! I can't wait! I think I might have to remember to stop long enough to eat this weekend!! Now I'm off to see what everyone else did with Kristina's wonderful colors!! Thanks for dropping into my little corner of the blogging world. So glad you could join me!! Donelda

Strawberry Wish

Well, here is one last strawberry card. This one all started out with that rectangle of white. It is actually a rectangle of grungeboard painted with white acrylic paint. When I stamped the strawberry with ink it came out molted-like and looked vintage. So I tried to go with a vintage look. I even used one of the doily's I bought a while ago.

So I've decided that I just don't "do" vintage very well!!! I tried!! Some of the things I did to try to make it vintage-y is stitching around the red polka dots, sponging around the edge of the red with some with craft ink, the doily, and the paint(which looks kinda crackly).

Well, I hope you enjoyed my strawberry week. I hear that Dina did a strawberry card - she hasn't posted it yet (she's been a bit busy) but I'm going to keep checking because I'm sure it will be spectacular!! Did you get the strawberry fever and make a card???? I'd love to see it. Leave a link!!

Have a great weekend.

Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge #68 - Summer Sunshine

So I am interrupting my strawberry week with this bright and cheery card. I will have my last strawberry card post tomorrow (Saturday). Make sure you pop back in to see it!!

But today's card is for the Clean and Simple challenge on SCS. This week the challenge is a theme: Summer. I can hardly wait for it ... summer that is! We have had a very cold and wet spring so far. In fact, I just sat through a very wet and cold soccer game and it is supposed to snow on Saturday! Are you kidding me???!!!

So, I really enjoyed making this card, even though I'm not sure how Clean and Simple it is. I cut 2 pieces of green designer paper from my scrap bin with pinking sheers. Then I glued them onto the card and added the yellow polka dot ribbon (which I won from Fika's blog candy). Then I added the sun, which is actually a flower from Beautiful Blossoms (Papertrey Ink). Next, I sponged on the rays by using large post it notes. Finally, I added a small bit of yellow paper for the middle of the sun and stamped the sentiment along the hills (from Around and About from Papertrey Ink). The seniment placement is my favorite part of the whole card!! Well, I do like those sunny rays too!!

Remember, drop back in tomorrow to see my very last strawberry card!!

Have a great day.

Donelda

Pink Berry Thank You

This is the 4th card for my Strawberry Inspiration week. Make sure you go back and check out Mon., Tues., and Wed. posts for more strawberry inspiration!!!

I found this delicious paper on sale at a local stamping store. I only bought one sheet at the time I was there but I might go back and pick up a few more sheets! I love it!! Not sure you can see it in the photo but there is just a bit of glitter added tot he seed side of those pink berries. And, to make the paper even better, the color is a perfect match to Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink).

Supplies: Stamps - Fruitful, Green Thumb (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White (SU!), sorry but I don`t know the name of the designer paper, it is probably on the back of the paper on this card - when I get more I`ll edit this post to let you know; Ink - Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink), Green Galore and Gable Green (Stampin`Up! - why are they retiring these colors?); Other - Berry Sorbet satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Labels 1 die (Spellbinders), dimensionals, sewing machine and thread.

See, I told you I was on a bit of a strawberry kick!!! LOL!! I challenge you to create something with strawberries!! Leave me a link so I can check it out!!!

Donelda

Bright Berry Thanks

So today is my 3rd day of Strawberry inspiration week!

For this card I wanted something bright and summery! I started out with this gingham strip background. You all know how much I love gingham.

Then I added the berries, a sentiment (from Remember, Papertrey Ink) and a bit of blue ribbon. Such a bright and shiny card!!

This is my second set of strawberry images I own. These are from the Green Thumb set (Papertrey Ink) and still one of my all time favorite PTI sets!!! If you don't own it you should buy it, totally worth every penny!!!

Well, another strawberry card tomorrow. If you have been inspired to create something with a strawberry on it I'd love to see it! Leave me a link!!!

Have a great day.

Donelda

Home-Made Strawberry Embellishments

Hey everyone. I told you I was on a bit of a strawberry kick!! This is Day 2 of my Strawberry Inspiration week. Make sure you check out yesterday's strawberry post too!!

These strawberries are home-made and easy to do!! You simply punch out a 1" circle (or whatever size you want or need) of pink cardstock. Then, trim out the sides to make the shape of a strawberry. Then simply sponge on red ink making sure to leave a hightlight of the pink where you want it. Finally, I used some yellow puffy t-shirt paint to make my seeds. Add some hand-cut green hulls that are also sponged and you get a strawberry!

The card is pretty straight forward. Any questions, just ask!!

Supplies: Stamps - sentiment is from Green Thumb (Papertrey Ink).

You will be seeing a similar card to this soon (after Strawberry Inspiration week is over), except I`ve used apples intead of strawberries!! Stay tuned!! See you tomorrow with yet another strawberry card!!

Donelda

Sleeping with Strawberries with Bookmark

I have been on a totally Strawberry kick the last few days so I thought I would bring you a week of Strawberry Inspiration!! Each day this week I have a strawberry card. You should see all the different styles that I have in store!! This is a wonderful project to do with large images like the big House Mouse Stamps. I started out by stamping the image twice. I colored one in full using my colored pencils and 'gamsol'. On the other image, I only colored in the main part of the image. I created the card with the full image. Then the fun part. I cut the partially colored image, matted it onto a piece of cardstock that was folded in half. I adhered magnets inside the 2 bottom parts of the folded cardstock so that it becomes a bookmark. When mailing it to the recipient the bookmark stays on the card. Upon recieving the card they can use the bookmark! My 'strawberry kick' started with the creating of this card for the Cards Blog challenge last week (which didn't get picked for). Strawberries are one of my very favorite summer time treats and I think they are beautiful images to create with!! Do you love strawberries too??? Thanks for dropping in for a visit today! Make sure you drop back in the rest of the week to see all the other strawberry cards!! Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge - #93 - Felt - Teacher Apple

It's that time of year, when school is winding down and time to think about thanking our teachers for all the work they did with our children. So, when I saw that the Loonie Challenge this week was to use felt I decided to try punching a piece of red felt.

I heat embossed the apple outline onto black paper. Then I added the blue strip of paper that was punched with my Bind It All (Zutter). I punched a circle out of some grid paper (no name on the paper, sorry) to hold my focal. The apple was punched (Martha Stewart) out of some red felt. The little button came from a set of square buttons (Making Memories I think). Finally, the sentiment - simple and straight forward!!

Stamps Used: Teacher's Apple (Papertrey Ink).

I can't wait to see what the Loonie Girls did with their felt ...

Jewels, Dee, Char, Regan, Wendy, Maria

Thanks for dropping in ... again!!

Donelda

Lucy`s Challenge /10 - Digital - Airplane Birthday

(note - second post for the day!)

Lucy is such an amazing crafter!! I love her clean and simple cards. And lately, she`s been throwing out challenges. This time, it is a challenge to use digital, something she is very good at. I, however, am not so good at that!! But I wanted to try!

A few weeks ago I purchased some stuff at my local scrapbook store and had spent enough to pick something out of the bucket for free. I saw a digital scrapbook memories CD that was called Oh Boy and had tons of sport images and papers on it so I picked it. I decided to try it out for Lucy`s challenge.

Here is the end result. I`m not totally sold on the card itself but I love the images. The clouds are a great turquoise gingham pattern - love them!! I chose the 3 clouds, resized them to what I wanted and printed them out. Then I picked the cute airplane, resized it, and printed it out. I cut all 4 items and adhered them to the card using dimensional foam for the plane and one cloud. A sentiment was added and some sponging. Voila, a digital card!

Supplies: Stamps - Birthday Basics, Simple Alphabet (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin`Up!); Ink - Tempting Turquoise (Stampin Up!); Other - Oh Boy CD (Digital Scrapbook Memories), dimensionals.

I am going to continue to play around with digital but I love the feel of playing with paper and embellishments that I doubt I will ever become a true digital crafter! But I love the options of what digital can provide in a hybrid kind of way. I just need more practice!!!

Off to see what everyone else did for Lucy`s challenge.

Thanks for visiting today!!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge - # 91 - Butterflies and Ribbon

I know I'm very very late with this. This is the Loonie Stamper's Challenge from a few weeks ago (obviously, it was to make a mother's day card). And honestly, it was actually done in time but I never got a chance to photograph and upload it on time. And, no, I didn't make a mother's day card because at the time the challenge was issued I had already made all the mother's day cards that I needed.

Simple card, stamped butterflies and sentiment. Colored butterflies with 1 Copic marker doubling up on the color near the inside (more obvious IRL). Added a strip of cardstock and this yummy satin Kraft ribbon.

Supplies: Stamps - Butterflies (smARTworks), sentiment from Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Ripe Avacado (Papertrey Ink); Other - satin Kraft ribbon (Stampin' Up!).

And I am totally behind on all the other Loonie Challenges as well. Maybe I'll play a bit today!!!

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

CAS Christmas branch

Nothing like creating a bit of 'christmas joy' when it finally starts to get warm here!!

I totally got my inspiration for this from Julie Ebersole. This branch is the small branch from Turning a New Leaf. The 'berries' are actually half pearls that were colored in using my Copic marker. The sentiment is from Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink).

I might need to make some more of these as Christmas gets closer!!

Have a great weekend!!

Donelda

Faux Embellishment Stamps - OLW#5

So Susan has done it again! She has issued a GREAT challenge that is really going to make us think outside of our typical creative 'box'.

This time, she wanted us to use faux embellishment stamps that we have. Well, my first thought was to use Faux Ribbon by Papertrey Ink. However, then I remembered this stamp set by Close to My Heart that I received from a friend. It has a number of these photo turns, photo corners, hinges, and buckles in it - PERFECT!!!!

I used a piece of transparency to sponge the circle with blue ink. Then, I added the photo clip stamping it with Versamark and embossing it with black. Finally, the sentiment and stars were added with black ink!

(the sentiment says "To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world ~ Jennifer Billings)

Supplies: Stamps - Accents, etc. (Close to My Heart), Out on a Limb and Out on a Limb Additions (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!), Black, Versamark; Other - transparency, black embossing powder, sponge, corner chomper (We R Memory Keepers).

So I am totally going to keep checking back to Susan's post to see what everyone does with this challenge!!

Donelda

Pretty Scraps

I love making cards using up all the scraps I collect! I hate throwing away paper, especially bits of Papertrey Ink paper (it costs soooo much money to order it when you live in Canada. You have to make every bit count!!).

This card is made entirely from scraps of paper (with the exception of the card base). I love the little bit of glitter that is added to the pink strip of paper on the focal image.

Stamps - Life, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)

Enjoy your day!!

Donelda

Challenged to use Kraft

A few weeks ago, Susan and Mary Dawn had a fun time using Kraft in making Clean and Simple cards. It was a lot of fun watching Mary Dawn stretch Susan out of her comfort zone. And the results were amazing!! I loved Susan's first challenge card - masculine - so I had to make my own card using it as inspiration!!

Here is the end results.

The main card base has been 'spattered' with Chocolate Chip. All stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

Gotta love Kraft cardstock!! Have you made anything with it lately??

Donelda

Scrap Polka Dot Flowers

So I saw the funky cool flowers with square petals on the Kioshi papers from BasicGrey and knew I had to recreate them.

I stamped this leaf image (Turning a New Leaf-Papertrey Ink) with black onto some designer paper (Creative Memories). Then, I punched out the squares and adhered them to the leaves. I added one of these metallic thing-a-ma-bobbers (Hero Arts) to the center of each flower and some green and black dotty paper!

This ended up not being my typical style...at all!! Not sure if I like it or not. What I do like are the flowers so I will probably make them again.

Thanks for visiting.

Donelda

Friendship Quilt

This card is made out of all scraps!!! I have had all that gingham papers sitting around my scrap bin for a very long time.

And this might be the first time I did zigzag stitching on a card.

Thanks for visiting

Donelda

Shiny Leaves

(Edited - Beastybunny asked a great question - what is the paper called and where did I get it? Well, I couldn't remember and the scrap of paper left did not have the manufacturer name on it (of course) - however, it did have the name 'poppy' on it. Then, just like a bolt of lightening, I thought of S E I, and sure enough, when I looked it is by them called Palmetto. I bought mine at my local hobby store, but I see that S E I is selling it for half price if you are interested!!)

I bought this totally cool shiny leaf paper and then for weeks I dreamed .. or was that had nightmares ... about trying to use it

... it totally had me stumped!!

I pulled it out and finally did something with it!! I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to pull off any cards using it but I think these turned out okay. What do you think????

Donelda

Bright yellow with white daisys

Here is a great summery card!! I love daisy's and I think the green gingham goes great with them.

This card is created totally out of scraps!! Yee ha!! Still making good on my New Year's resolution!!

Supplies: stamps - Vintage Picnic (Papertrey Ink); all other supplies are scraps .. even that little bit of brown floss!!

Hope you have a flowery day!!

Donelda

Mothers are the stitches

Happy Mother's Day! Here is my Mother In Law's Mother's Day card. It was so much fun to make! I made it especially for her and here is why ... she is a big seamstress so I used a piece of Stella Ruby paper from BasicGrey because it has the sewing pattern images on the beautiful papers. I also used the Quilter's Sampler stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I had so much fun hand stitching some yellow floss (DCM) coming from the needle. Finally, see those buttons ... they belong to Great Grandma Mary, my MIL's mother who passed away a fwe years ago. I have a special jar filled with her buttons (she collected lots of them) and use them on family cards!! I know that my MIL will appreciate these small little bits!! Thanks for visiting my small world of blogland!! Donelda

Butterfly on wood background

Here is a card using more of that backgrund I created. I randomly sponged various colors onto some white cardstock (Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Lavendar Moon, and Aqua Mist) and then stamped over it with my Designer Woodgrain stamp (Hero Arts). I added this awesome Hero Arts butterfly on top of the background with dimensionals. Have a colorful day! Donelda

One Layer Wednesday - Punctuation

(this is the second post for today - make sure you scroll down to see what I made with Halls throat losenge wrappers ....)

Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenge this week is to use those punctuation stamps that you get in alphabet sets. I don't have very many alphabet sets so I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to participate. But it made me look through my 'stuff' and I found this great set of foam alphabets that I bought from Michael's a while ago! and there were some great punctuation marks in the set.

Here is what I did with it! I like it!!

Supplies: stamps - some foam alphabet set (Michaels); Ink - Soft Rain (Papertrey Ink), Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin' Up!).

Do you have any cool punctuation marks you could use on a card??? Let's see them!!!

Donelda

I can use anything to make a card!

Remember my card yesterday and how I created a card out of a piece of kleenex box. I told you how I tend to keep everything, just in case. You never know when you will be able to make something out of it ..right!! Well, my husband and son make fun of me all the time. A few weeks ago, my husband was sucking on a Halls and jokingly asked if I wanted to keep the wrapper "in case you can make something out of it" with a big laugh! So I took it and vowed to make something with it!

In the end, I used 2 of the same wrappers, cut different sizes of flowers out using some Cuttlebug flower dies, and then crumpled them up to create this awesome flower!! You will also see that background strip. I created it by coloring in various "spaces" of ink onto white cardstock (Lemon Tart, Melon Berry, and Spring Moss - all Papertrey Ink) and then stamped over it with my Designer Woodgrain stamp (Hero Arts). The sentiment is a piece of the birthday stamp form Around and About (Papertrey Ink). See, I CAN make somehting out of ANYTHING!!!! Can you???? Donelda