Thursday, January 31, 2008

Imaginesce Valentines





I love and hoard this black and white paper from Imaginesce. I bought several sheets of the polka dots and the stripes so I can use it and still have it ; ) The stamps are mostly from Michael's $1 bin. The scribble heart may be SU . . . I unmounted a bunch a while back and stored them by catagory vs set.



Thanks for stopping by today!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Love You


This is a total case, even the colors. I tried different color combinations, but preferred these. I apologize, but I cannot remember where I got this. I made several cards to send to Beate to forward to our service men overseas, and this was one.

Thanks for looking today.

Hugs!
Edited: So now the image is larger . . . and what a mess on the side. Sorry, I don't seem to be able to fix it.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Hugs 'n' Kisses


Here is another card using the Basic Grey Blush 6"x6" pad. The flower is from Whipper Snapper, but I created my own bloom from various punches and nesties to more imitate the flower in the paper. The sentiment is from Denami.
I think I'll make the photo larger today. Let me know if you like it that way or not. Edited: Well, I changed the setting, but it doesn't look any larger. Go figure.
I appreciate you stopping by today. I think I'll do something with fewer layers for tomorrow. Hugs.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Three Dancing Hearts


I'm making a few valentines and love this Hero Arts stamp and the Basic Grey Blush 6x6 papers. This card came together fairly easy. I initially planned to follow Debbie Olson's sketch from a few days ago, but that designer paper just begged to be layered and I obliged = D

Thank you for taking time to visit today.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sending My Love


If you don't look too closely, this card looks pretty good. My attempt at diagonal embossing using a paper trimmer produced less than stellar results, but I just can't justify a Scor-Pal when I own the Score-it (which I love). The chickadee(?) stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and the cards stock is Basic Gray and Black from Stampin' UP! I added a little coloring with a black Spica and a sentiment from a Studio G $1 stamp before before punching the image and scallop with my Marvy punches and adding the 5/8ths" black gingham ribbon. Anyone else think 1/4" ribbon looks so narrow now? And I used to add that to everything!

Thank you for stopping by my blog.
Edited to add: The idea for the diagonally embossed background was cased from Debbie Olson's card here. It just occurred to me that I didn't credit Debbie with this . . . my bad, sorry Debbie. She has a tutorial for coloring and another on embossing on her blog. Here is a link. Great stuff!

Hugs to You


First, a big hug and "thank you" to my dear friend Carol for letting me know of the problem with the comments. Whatever it was, it appears fixed. Please let me know if it is not.

Do you recognize the "designer paper" used in today's card? It was made from scraps of the Stampin' UP wrapping paper "Blizzard" that was available in the holiday mini. One thing I can tell you for sure . . . it is not made for card making. But I was determined, so here it is. The sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp. After stamping, I used my Cuttlebug folder to emboss a "stitched" circle around it, then punched that out and adhered it to a Marvy scallop punch. There was a flower in the center that I covered with a "Stickled" snowflake punch. The satin ribbon is from the same mini catalog. Looking now at the picture, I think I need to trim it some . . . it doesn't look so overpowering irl.

Thank you for stopping by. I have another card or two for tomorrow . . .

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Step Away From the Stamp!


Ok, I know it's time to move on to another stamp, but here is one more card using Wordsworth's "Love" set. The designer paper is from Luxe and the card stock is SU River Rock and a red scrap. The base card is a shimmery metallic brown from The Papercut. SU River Rock ribbon and punches were used, and the red ribbon was a scrap. Ranger Espresso ink, SU Blender pen, SU marker, Spica clear glitter pen and dimensionals complete the list of supplies. I'm very pleased with this card. I wish the shimmer of the base card was more visible . . . it is very sparkly irl. Which card do you prefer of the cards shared yesterday and this one? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Thank you for sharing part of your day with me by stopping by my blog.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Step Away From the Card!




No wonder it takes me so long to create a card! I have such a difficult time leaving well enough alone. Sometime that's good, but most of the time it is not. I need a sign above my work area that says "Step Away From The CARD!" LOL Here is a card in three stages of "finished". I used the Wordsworth clear "Love" set, SU Ruby Red, Groovy Guava and black cs; SEI dp, Copic Sketch and Spica clear glitter pens, black gingham ribbon, scallop punch, circle punch, a flower punch that I almost didn't buy and use a lot, Ruby Red classic ink and a white gel pen.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hugs,

Colleen

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Coluzzle Purse Card


After a particularly trying day of stamping (see post 2 down for my rant), I succeeded in making a card I like and apparently pacifying the stamping gremlin that causes you to cut wrong, spill embossing powder and basically create havoc and frustration instead of cards.

My daughter loves purses like I love shoes, and I bought this Coluzzle template with her in mind. I used the new Basic Grey Two Scoops papers from the 6"x6" pad of scaled down papers made for cards (LOVE these!!), my Nestabilities (how did I manage without these?!) and paper pieced the Coluzzle purse. Stampin' Up Groovy Guava and Blush Blossom are a perfect match to the BG. I couldn't be more pleased with the result, and it actually came together fairly quickly. I cased a card Beate sent me that I've have had on my desk for weeks. I wish the picture was a little clearer. It is very overcast today . . . again . . . so I apologize for the blurry picture.

Thanks for stopping by today. And, if you see that stamping gremlin, will you stick him in a box somewhere, please? I don't need him here . . . I can create my own messes, thank you =D

Happy Brrrthday!




Edited to add: This post is older than the one below. I tried to delete one of the pictures and failed, so having to re-post . . . but this one will have the better photo. Still gloomy and overcast, so not a great day for pictures if you need daylight.


It is so good to be stamping again and back to a normal routine . . . whatever that is. I bought this Savvy stamp with the intent of packaging marshmallows for "Snowman Soup" and thought this little guy looked like he was made from marshmallows, so a perfect choice, right? Well, I'm sure you know how this story goes . . . I never got the "soup" made but like the stamp and need birthday cards. I love this sentiment from Amuse for winter birthdays, and there's always next year for "Snowman Soup".


Both cards use Memory Box cards in Vanilla Bean and designer paper from American Crafts. Gosh, I wish AC made the scaled down versions of their papers like Basic Grey . . . but I digress. I used Copic Spicas in clear and black to add sparkle to the snowman and his hat is raised on pop dots. The shading is done using a tip from Debbie Olson to add light blue refill ink to a blender pen. Much easier than the watercolor brush method, though I still need more practice. The second card is my failed attempt to participate in SCS SC158. I just couldn't make it work for me, and this is the result.


Thanks for stopping by my blog. I didn't make a resolution to be a better blogger or I'd be doomed to fail, so I'll just say "thank you" and see you soon. Hugs all!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Snow Blossom SC158


I never want to see this card again . . . seriously. Stamping days like today help me understand why taking a hiatus from crafting is not a good idea for me. I need practice to stay on top of my game. You'll have to tell me if this card is any good or not, because I cannot be objective when looking at it.

Anyway, I've been wanting to try this "Ribbon Blossom" since I saw it on Pam's blog Indigo Studio. Any idea that includes ribbon instantly has my attention, and Pam's ribbon blossoms are too stinkin' cute for words! I wanted to use it as a snowflake and decided to incorporate it in a "kickstand" card for the SCS Sketch Challenge. For directions, see Pam's great tutorial. In fact, I'm going to go back and re-read it myself. I may actually try this again . . . . in 2009 >wink<


Thanks for stopping by today!

Edited to add: I will re-take this picture and the first snowman card in daylight tomorrow. Both of these use the same Vanilla Bean Memory Box card and AC dp as in the second snowman card . . . hard to believe, huh? Okie, dokie, new pic is added (the new one is on top). I just wish I knew how to remove the other one . . .