Happy Embedding

This beautiful card follows a tutorial by Sandi McIver at Stamping and Blogging member area and uses SU Hello You Thinlit Dies, gold foil cardstock, and Stampin Up Stacked With Love designer Washi Tape collection on white cardstock.  The gold lines are stickers from PopUps etc  This card is a congratulatory card for dear  friends who just sold their business.  It's such a big day for them and we are SO happy for them. 

And this one, same technique is for DGS who is graduating from HS on June 4th.

A Cowgirl Birthday

This card was created for my friend with Cheery Lynn dieset called Arizona Cowboy (B517). The elements are cut f rom silver paper (but look  gold on the  post) The background and western cluster was designed by Susan Darter at Raspberry Road Designs in her kit called Denim and Diamonds  The word art is by Paulette at TLC Creations.  Font is: Brotherhood Script.

Butterfly_Nature Teacher

Come forth Into the Light of Things!  Let Nature Be Your Teacher 

(William Wordsworth)

This card is created with a  Cuttlebug EF, paper roses (from I Am Roses.com) lace and organza bows.  The paper is SU Natural White and Baja Breeze, and the Butterfly is a SU diecut from the Butterfly  Sizzlits set.

Flutterby, Butterfly Floating forever in the sky Kiss me with your petal wings Whisper secrets, tell of Spring

Congratulations New Driver

I made this card for our DGD who just got her learner's permit to drive.  We got her this little Angel clip for her visor so her Guardian Angel can always ride along!

The poem I made for her that is inside the card reads:

You’ve passed…..you’ve passed
You’re on the road for real….
You’ve done the test, you’ve made the grade
And now you’re behind the wheel!
Now learn and practice!  Remember all the rules,
In just days now, you’ll finally be able to cruise!
Always scan those mirrors, and watch the signs,
Don’t take your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road,
Be sure cellphone and purse in the back seat are stowed.
Drive defensively and focused and with an eagle’s eye
And
Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!

AlteNew Vintage Flowers

Today the newest stamps in my collection came in from  SimonSays, --it's the Altenew "Vintage Flowers" Stampset, a set that is a 43 piece set of multi layered flowers, and leaves, with available dies (out of stock right now).    I followed a tutorial for white pigment ink stamping presented by Jennifer McQuire.  Each card is finished with Prismacolor pencils.  The Just a Note card on the left has Elizabeth Crafts warm diamonds micro glitter centering the flowers.  The matting is Pretty in Pink (SU) and offset over a white cardstock.  Leaves are from SU Painted Petals (modified) 
The  card on the right uses Pretty Petites (SU) Thank you sentiment and punched and layered, and the leaves from the Simply Stems (SU) stampset.  3d Crystal accents embellish the center of the flower set and a little butterfly from a  Recollections embellishment pack finishes that card.  The Real Red matte is embossed with SU Spring flowers adhered to plain white cardstock.  I have stamped matching envelopes (a great way to test the positioning of the three (or four) stamps required for the element.

Lesson learned on the first attempt with these stamps!  Stamp the darkest layer first, then next lightest and then finally lightest.  I stamped backwards and it is very easy to "miss" the perfect placement unless you do it darkest (which is usually the center of the flower out).  (Not true for the white pigment ink technique though--the white ink gets stamped first and I used Hero Arts Unicorn this time for that "fullest" flower of that cherry-blossom type flower.

I came back with the four step Rose (and leaves) starting with the darkest and stamping through the stamps until the project was the way I wanted it.  I used a rather strange combination of browns, brown/roses and carmel inks for this one, and then finished the stamping with matching colored pencil detail and Wink of Stella brushed here and there and burnished the artpiece with Distress ink (gathered twigs). The little tag (with linen thread tie is by SU and is from the Pretty Petites collection.  Edging is with my rotary cutter, and the papers are SU natural and Old Olive. I love the vintage feel of this card, and am going to work on marking the stamps with a sharpie to make lining up each successive stamp a little easier.

The second go with the branches and white pigment ink stamping technique shows some additions of drops of 3d Crystal Glaze, tiny punched  leaves, some Embosslit Wonderful Wings (SU) butterflies, and a rhinestone here and there. The corner is sentiment stamped with a nearly matching ink to the paper from the beautiful Just Rite CR03885 Grand Sentiments set.  (Nice technique, needs smooth surfaced paper and to be stamped off, though to be more "watermarked" looking.  !)  

Spring Maid by JDufort

I wanted to practice  Prismacolor soft core pencil techniques on my first effort artists drawing since enrolling in the  Perfecting Pencils Class at Kit and Clowder  I love the class, the thoroughness of Alyce's lessons and the exceptional quality of her videos and tutorials.  I have a  LONG way to go with my blending and color choices, and will go back and work on the birds after I have received Alyce's critique in the classroom.  I finished this Spring Maid with Wink of Stella (clear) on parts of her headband and scarf, and with 3D Crystal glaze touching all the pearls (and the little butterfly.)   This is SO much fun, and I can't wait for practice to begin really perfecting these wax pencils!  Need instruction in Copics, Color Theory, etc?  ===get over to Kit and Clowder and enjoy the outstanding offerings.

Happy Easter

This card was stamped on natural white paper by SU and matted with Rich Razzleberry.  It is a Lily of the Valley stamp that I have had several years, and just tried out with my colored pencils.  (BEFORE I started my online class with Kit and Clowder "Perfecting Pencils".) The sentiment is a digital stamp quotation that reads:  "It means so much at Easter time, To keep in touch with friends. To wish them happiness and cheer, and joy that never ends.   That's why this brings a warm "hello" especially for you, together with best wishes for a happy Springtime too." The sentiment is sponged with Tim Holtz Distress ink (weathered twigs), and cut from one of the dies in the SU window framelits collection.  It's created for special friends of mine in Florida.  Happy Easter S&L.

Beautiful Spring

The quotation on this card reads:  "A day comes in the springtime, When Earth puts fort her powers, Casts off the bonds of winter And lights him hence with flowers."  ~ Dora Read Goodale.

I used a deckled edge trimmer on the pink base cardstock. The artpiece is die cut with the beautiful Spellbinders S5-59, Gold Labels 4, matted on Rich Razzleberry (SU paper cut with Lifestyle Crafts rectangles (rounded), and embossed with "Dots #5" Sizzix 658285. The artpiece is colored with Prismacolor pencils, accented with Wink of Stella, and finished in Gamsol.  This image (by Jerimiah Ketner)  can be found to color at Coloriages.  

Since I created this card I have enrolled in the ABSOLUTELY AWESOME Perfecting Pencils online Course, taught at Kit and Clowder  by Alyce.  I will be adding to and modifying this work quite a bit before I can be happy with it.  Her class will teach me absolutely everything I need to know about working with Prismacolor Pencils. 

Thoughts And Prayers

This shape card was created using SU's Window Frames Framelits, and was inspired by a card created by Sandi MacIver in Stampin and Blogging, subscriber-member area. I have used SU Crumb Cake, and the beautiful embossed polka dots from Irresistibly Yours specialty papers collection.  The stamps are all embossed with gold EP and are from the Thoughts and Prayers (2) collection.   The tiny flowers are punched from Recollections daisy punch, and from G-Studio five petal tiny flower. The little heart is an Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy sticker. The gold and white textured paper is from my stash. (It is a fabric-paper, and quite textured).  Pearls and Linen Thread complete the side-fold card.
I had major trouble getting my cling stamp to hold onto my acrylic block.  It fell off, wet with versamark--and onto the designer paper, or the tree would have been stamped higher in the design area! I see why Sandi so often demonstrates using wood-blocked stamps! 

Spring Birthdays---Aries and Taurus

 For Spring  Birthdays falling, for Aries between March 21 and April 19, and for Taurus between April 20 and May 20, I have used some Zodiac Tilda's from the 2014 Tilda Zodiac collection. The green Aries is matted using Spellbinders S5-59, Gold Labels 4 and the  Taurus is matted onto SU's Embossed Spring Flowers, burnished with Tim Holtz Distressing Ink (Old Paper), and SU crumb cake card base.  The punched paper flowers are from Recollections. Both are colored with Prismacolor pencils and finished with gamsol.

Clar's adorable Punky Pots

Our Sun City Papers 'N Pixels Club project today was to create these adorable decoupaged flower pots.   We had steam-punk themed  elements and papers for the project, and a dozen members came up with two dozen amazing little pots.  They're filled with moss and styrofoam, so they can catch a pencil, or a bouquet of paper flowers.   So much fun, even peeling the ModPodge!

Mighty Bloom

The sensational Mighty Bloom die (coverplate die) from Papertrey Ink that my BF sent me for my birthday was used for this sensational card!  The glitter paper diecuts are inlaid back into the original cuts and Happy Birthday embossed on vellum is from SU's Sassy Salutations set.  Thank you Traci for this beautiful die for my collection and for the gorgeous card you made that showed me the possibilties with this kind of die.  

Get Well! Sharon

I made this for a friend who is ill and recovering.  Hope you feel better fast, Sharon. And we wish you a speedy recovery, we are thinking of you.

This card is created with designer paper from the  SU series Stacked With Love and is a slightly modified Tri-Fold-Shutter Card  The You are Amazingly Amazing stamp is from SU "Painted Petals" stamp set, and so is the tiny bud on the leaf sprig. That is from  Close to My Heart "Happiness" stampset.  The Lotus stamp (triple stamp style in Real Red SU) is from SU, and the get well stamp in the middle  is from "Thoughts and Prayers" by SU. The Thinking of You stamp is from Just Rite "Grand Sentiments" collection.  This card is created from a 12" x 5 1/2" sheet of black cardstock,   S&F at 2,  4, 8 and 10, only through the top- 1 1/2" and then again at 4" to the bottom at 2, 4, 8 and 10".  The center long cut is from the 2" fold to the 10" fold, with middle section S&F at 4 and 8"mark. The folds for top and bottom are M-V-M-V and for the center are M&V.  Designer paper is cut to measure 1/8" smaller than the base on all sides, and the art pieces are cut 3 7/8 X 2 3/8.  I cut four of those so that the center section of the back of the card could contain a personal note to the recipient. This card closes for mailing to A2 size. 

Watering the Flowers

This card was created with Lili of the Valley Rubber stamp called "Watering the Flowers"  I colored the Black Memento inked stamp image with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. The little Butterflies are Butterfly Wings embosslits from Stampin Up, The blue shimmer paper is from my stash and the  Very Vanilla base (and mat) for the card is embossed with SU' Spring Flowers  EF.  A touch of Sakura of Japan's Glaze pens, and some sponging with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Ink finishes the cardfront.  Inside sentiment is TBD and some additional shimmer paper butterflies are ready for the inside.

Garden Gate Birthday Wishes

Instead of a layout, my first project was a quick and pretty Birthday card, using  Round Robin Week 2 kit---Garden Gate  by Mel Designs and Snickerdoodle Designs my Karen at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio.  I printed Specialty Paper #6,  some stones and the adorable little sprite on glossy photo paper, created a flower with coordinating inks and designer paper, and punched some fir and leaf accents.  These are edged in 3d Galaxy Gloss, and mounted on Stampin Up basic grey, and smoky slate paper.  The Birthday sentiment stamps are from a Just  Right Grand Sentiments  collection, stamped in versamark (not ink) on smoky slate paper.

This second card is for my husband and uses the same specialty paper #6 from Karen Schulz, Garden Gate kit, together with  the very wonderful graphic called MyHusband1 by Trina Clark Walker, who will be taking a respite from designing for a while.  I treasure each and every one of the wonderful graphics of hers I have enjoyed over the past fifteen years.  Thank you Trina, and best of luck and good wishes. May all your dreams come true.  

Lotus Birthday

These two wonderful monochromatic birthday cards are created with SU Lotus Blossom using Close to Cocoa, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip inks and papers. The crocheted ribbon is by SU. The "warmest wishes" sentiment is from SU Blooming with Kindness.  The EF is a Happpy Birthday by Cuttlebug, and the wishing you happiness was inspired by  TLC Creations. The text mat is cut from discarded old dictionary pages. 

Embossed Border Thank you

I created this card inspired by a StampTV's Gina K. tutorial for using partial embossing techniques.  I used Cuttlebug's Musical Flourish 2001030 for the embossed border. I used Bermuda Bay papers and Ink (SU, the Thank you sentiment from  SU Perfectly Penned.  A beautiful butterfly flower embossed with clear embossing powder (creator unknown), the Monarch Butterfly die and wings by Frantic Stamper (FRA-DIE=09155 and 09163) that I purchased at Joan's Gardens.  The leaf and stem are from the Happiness clearstamp set C1310 by  Close to my Heart stamps.

Stampin Up Spring Workshop

Today friends of mine and I went to a big Stampin Up Workshop where we got to play with the SU Sale-A-Bration, Special Occasions, and newest spring specials for stampers and paper crafters.  Jill Olsen (St. George Demonstrator) and her team presented 14 projects, and showed us how to do many others.  These were projected on big screens as selected demonstrators shared special techniques and tips.  Kathy Legan, a SU demonstrator who lives next door to me, showed the group of 100 crafters how to create gorgeous flowers.   Here are some of the pretty flowers she showed us how to create

Here are some of my own projects using new stamps, dies, papers, and ribbons for some outstanding gift cards, special occasion cards, and other projects.

The workshop was held in the ballroom of a St. George Hotel, and included a delicious lunch, fun give-aways, and master crafters from cities as far away as Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

This is a photo of just a half a dozen of the stations where we tried out the projects.

Faux Papier Tole

I created this card following the Wednesday, March 4 Technique Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers by Dina Kowal.  I used Maya  CL559  Stamp flower (Impression Obsession), Tim Holtz Distress Markers on  watercolor paper, Spellbinders S2-123 Fancy Label Tags 4, and DP by C&K Company.  

Butterfly Birthday

For a special friend I used  SU papers, pearls, and Recollections gold foil cardstock with Les Papillons (Spellbinders S4-395) and SU Butterfly Embosslits dies.The inside sentiment Happy Birthday (vertical) sticker is from Pop Ups Etc.