Hello

Isn't she precious? I borrowed "a few" stamps from Sherry last week. They were mostly of this little girl but doing various poses. I stamped a bunch of different images and had a morning of coloring her in different outfits. This particular one I wanted to make sunny and cheery. She is colored in my trusty Copic Markers but now that I am experimenting with Distress Inks I am quite liking the coloring effects you can create on watercolor paper (but that I will show you on another day!).

There is really not much to this card with the exception of some scrap paper  (I dug deep into the scrap bin for that yellow piece with the white dots and the pink flowers. That has to be one of my favorite pattern papers and I am a complete loss for the supplier or name of the line. If you know it, please let me know so I can try and get more!

The black words are actually a transparency that I laid over the patterned paper. She is then matted on a few colors and a little black Enamel Accents make some quick "pearls" along the page. The sentiment is one from a Hero Arts collection and it is matted on pink paper and popped off the page with a few pop up dots. I don't know what her name is...but she is some darn cute!

Oh Marci, Marci, Marci!

I seriously think I am going to put this card in an envelope and put MY address on the card and send it to myself. I am loving how this card turned out...
...Introducing my new little friend, Marci. Marci is a new rubber stamp at SHABBY SHUTTERS from a product line called "lalalandcrafts" and I think she is just adorable. I was a little intimidated to color her at first but eventually the Copics took over and little Marci ended up in a little yellow and purple dress. Go Marci! I had a fence stamp sitting in my stash so decided to mask Marci and make her sit on the fence (good thinking Sherry!!). I wanted to use my Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut Marci out but upon further revelation I discovered she did not fit in the damn template...ok, move on to plan #2. I had never cut out an image on the Nestibilities where part of the image was sticking out of the template. If there was a time it had to work for me, it was NOW! The image was already colored and if I ruined her and cut half her head off you would have heard some "no so nice" words come out of my craft room....
....insert exacto knife here...
It worked! I was so pleased with myself. Pat on the back to Darly! Ok...moving on....
I decided to put some pop up dots behind her head and her balloon. Oh yes, Marci only carries ONE balloon originally. I decided to stamp another few balloons on scrap paper and add another balloon (one is such a lonely number) The balloon on the left side is added and stamped by using Alcohol Inks. I used a little black marker and drew in her string from the second balloon.
I added the sentiment "Just for you" as the inside of the card has a little pocket that holds a gift card. A few black (fake) pearls with some Enamel Accents and a little purple twine pretty much completes the card. Oh Marci, Marci, Marci...what color will I make you wear next?
Here is a close up of the core of the card...

Quick card

This was such a quick card to put together and the inspiration hit me out of nowhere! I was in the middle of working on getting my card kits put together for tomorrows class and came across this piece of patterned paper that I recently bought. Boom! Grabbed a piece of pink, purple and grey cardstock and a simple sentiment and voila! I thought it needed a simple "pop" afterwards so I punched out 3 circles off the patterned paper and popped them off the page with a pop dot. A simple "Hope you have a special day" and the card was done...all in about 5 minutes. Gotta like when inspiration hits you like that.
(and this purple cardstock that I used to make the base of the card....I am not sure where I bought it but the weight of the paper is perfect for cardmaking....love the heaviness of it!!)
So...lets see what you can do in 5 minutes and some extra pretty paper!

Tweet Thang notecard kit

6 notecards, 6 envelopes and one holder

I wanted to make a project where it would be just pure fun to play, and that is exactly what this little project was. I made a series of notecards all stamped with the same image. The skinny little 1/2'' strip of paper is where I took my inspiration to use all the colors within the strip. I was going to color the little birds but then decided that they had enough color on each one.

The outside of the kit

I then decided to go one step further and made a little holder for the notecards, as well as the little envelopes that go with the notecards. I added some canvas ribbon (stamped with the saying "Tweet Thang") and then added a strip of valentine tape on the inside of the kit. Nothing fancy but a nice change  to just create without thinking.

The inside of the kit

Last nights creation

I don't even know where the inspiration for this card came from! I find it is a mish-mash of lots of little elements and part of me likes it and part of me doesn't.
The card base is a basic piece of purple cardstock. Patterned paper is something I hauled out of my scraps of paper. The purple piece of paper underneath the bear is actually an alcohol inked piece of glossy cardstock that ended up in the trash pile because I had 'screwed up' the stamped image on it. Nobody would ever know the wiser that there is a stamped image under the bear...(except I did tell you, so now you DO know!)
The little bear is a stamp that I purchased some time ago but I think he is just adorable. I stamped him out on some 'simply smooth' white cardstock (perfect card stock for using Copics on!). I colored the little bugger with my Copic Markers and then put a little 'flock' on his belly. I just wanted to make him look soft and cuddly.
I used my trusty little exacto knife and slit above the heart and then inserted a special little message.

A FREE HUG COUPON! How cute is that? This was another stamp I found in my stash and cut it out and adhered it to another piece of card stock to make it a little more sturdier.
The sentiment is a simple "I miss you" using the "V" cut out on the end to give it a little more 'wow'.

I am loving these new twine packs I got the other night at SHABBY SHUTTERS while teaching my class and so therefore had to add the twine to this card as well.

Naturally, I had to add my doodles to the end of the card...just to give it that Darly touch!

There you have it. Not sure how I feel about it but I figure if I look at it long enough I will learn to like it and then you never know...it just may go in the mailbox towards you!

Happy Crafting where ever you are!

Peek into my craft space

 We recently moved into this house so I am still in the process of changing my craft space around pretty much on a weekly basis. My husband is always saying, "I've never seen anybody move stuff around as much as you!". I always have to explain to him that it is such a new space for me that I am trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work. I have the entire half of the loft so it is a nice cozy space to be creating in for sure.

Part of my ribbon collection. Only the spools that fit on the holder are displayed here. The rest are in a few totes scattered thru out the craft space.

This is my least favorite space. I find it looks so cluttered and it is not what I had pictured when I look at other crafters blogs. Everybody elses looks so pretty...I just find mine looks so cluttered! It does hold a lot of storage mind you, but still not an overall pleasing view. This space holds everything from my Cuttlebug and all its accessories, my many many collections of pens, markers, paints, alcohol inks, cards and envelopes. Punches, more stamps, inks, stickles, pictures and the list goes on and on and on!

We had a chair left over from the living room set we purchased because my husband had to add a "man chair" to the set. This chair had no little home so I thought I would add a nice little reading corner to be able to cozy up in. I like that it faces the TV as well that is on the other side of the loft. My black glass shelves hold some of my wooden stamps and the 3 drawers hold most of my adhesives of every shape and size. The cube on the top of the drawers holds some recent bought papers to keep close at hand for inspiration. The big green tote holds card stock of every color. 

Looks a little cluttered again! Here is a view from behind my craft table.   There are a lot of items that still need homes! The wire hanging basket is one that was in the kitchen when we moved in. I hung it from the beams and it now holds some of my every day essentials. The wicker rack is a magazine rack I had bought at Wicker Emporium a long long time ago and so I repurposed that and organized some of my favorite patterned papers. The white cabinet in behind holds some crafts that I make for consignment and then the armoire next to that holds LOTS of junk and all the boxes and manuals for my cameras. My clip it is on the floor next to that and an old repurposed CD shelf holds some recent made cards and some of my favorite pictures of my Mama. A basket of acrylic stamps sits on the floor for now (until I find a home for them!). There are doors in behind a homemade magnet board and that extra storage is a life saver hiding all the crafts I don't use on a day to day basis. 

A general overall view from "the other side" of the loft. Underneath my table is a few baskets so I can separate my paper and plastics to make it easier for garbage day! There is also an old wire rack that I bought at a yard sale and repainted it a basic grey. That holds most of my products that I use on a day to day basis...inks, punches, adhesive and pop-up dots. 

I hope you enjoyed having a peek into my space. Happy crafting!

Love

This is one of four cards that I taught at my first class at Shabby Shutters. The main feature on this card is that the heart is made out of plumbers tape! Yes, you read that right! I took a scrap piece of kraft paper and covered it in plumbers tape and ran it through a heart shaped die cut on the Cuttlebug. I embossed it on the Cuttlebug as well but not with any one particular embossing folder. I just wanted it to look all cut up so that when the light hit it, it would be more shiny in spots (at least this was the idea that I had in my head!) The entire heart was then covered in a few different shades of Alcohol Ink.
I also made the background pattern for the heart by using a few different shades of the Alcohol Inks as well. Instead of 'pouncing' the Alcohol Inks I put stripes of Alcohol Ink on my applicator and just ran it across the page. The rest of the card is just matted in pink and white card stock and then a few doodles around the card and I wrote out the word "love". You could use a stamp to get the same effect. I find it faster just writing it out.
I can't get enough of working with these Alcohol Inks. (and then the plumbers tape well...that just opened more doors). Its tape, meaing it has the sticky back so that you can stick it to anything! Can you imagine taking a boring box and covering it in plumbers tape and then inking the entire thing? ...I see it on my list of "To Do's"...

Aged to perfection...

Once again, I made a trip to ( www.shabbyshutters.ca )"Shabby Shutters" in Antigonish....and just my luck, Sherry had moved everything around making everything old, "new" again. I kept going around asking if products were new and Sherrys response every time was "nope, just moved things around". So, I spotted this little wine stamp set and I knew that I would love coloring them with my Copics. The patterned paper I absolutely adore and know I will be getting more of that one. Layered on a simple deep purple 5.75" x 5.75" card and matted in a lighter purple. A touch of ribbon finished off this simple card.
Now, I wonder who I will send it to....

Germany bound

Sometimes the mail brings a nice surprise. Yesterdays mail was one of those days. The people that we actually bought the house from had sent us a Christmas card. It was a little late getting here and the fact that I could not understand a word on the front of the card (they are German) made no difference what so ever. I thought it was a really nice gesture and immediately got to my craft table to see what I could make to send back to them.

I assumed that they liked yellow as all the curtains in the house were yellow. Many artificial greenery surrounded the interior of the house so I took it upon myself to assume they also liked green. Thus the inspiration for a yellow and green card. A very simple yet elegant card...or so I think.

Ink Shakes anyone?

What do you get when you cross Alcohol Inks and a Straw? An ink shake?? ( I know, stick to the crafts not the jokes eh?) These little creations are unique in themselves and no two creations will EVER be the same. They are messy little buggers to play with, but with a craft mat underneath it sure helps keep the mess somewhat in order. I have also discovered that the mess on the craft mat afterwards ends up being another creation in itself. All one has to do is add Alcohol Ink Remover to the mat and "swoosh" a glossy piece of card stock (face side down) thru the Inks and Remover. I'm getting ahead of myself though....
This card is simply "blown ink" :) All you need is a piece of glossy card stock, Alcohol Inks of different colors and a straw. Only add one or two dots of Alcohol Ink at a time (it dries extremely fast!) and then blow thru the straw to create different shapes. I have tried long straws and also cut some into very short straws just to see if it would create different shapes. The shorter the straw the more powerful the "spread out" tends to me...or that is what I think.
Once I was satisfied with the amount of colors and the distribution on the card then I simply picked out my other card stock colors and created a simple card. After all, the Alcohol Inks are the star. Don't you think?