LOTV - Love Across the Miles...

TGIF....happy Friday! I have a bright and sassy card using some of the pretty new papers from Lili of the Valley to share with you today - so pull out your sunglasses, and get ready to chase those winter-weather blues away for just a little while! :)

The new One Birdie Lane paper pad has some wonderful brightly-colored papers, and I couldn't resist pairing some orange, pink, and yellow patterns together for a sunshine-y card.

I laid the sentiment from Set 25, Handwritten Phrases onto the acrylic block in a wavy pattern before stamping onto cardstock, then freehand cut along the wave to make a sentiment banner that was adhered to the card with the use of a couple layers of foam tape...

The lacy square diecut accenting the floral paper was colored with Distress Inks to complement the colors in the papers, and attached with more foam tape...

Small mulberry roses in pink and yellow lead down to the largest flower in the lower corner...

Supplies:

LOTV Patterned Papers:   One Birdie Lane

LOTV Sentiment Stamps:  Set 25, Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Spellbinders Lace Doily Motifs,  Classic Squares Small,  Grans Peony Creations;

Sizzix Flowers, Branches, and Leaves

Small roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearls:   Recollections           Crystal flower stems:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth,  Distress Inks (Marmalade and Worm Lipstick)

Thanks so much for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

LOTV - It Is Not In The Stars...But In Ourselves...

Happy Fourth of July!

image courtesy us-days.com

Today's card is a summery-soft and shabby card with an inspirational sentiment as its focus (and I thought it was a fun fit for the history of today). I used a dark orchid background paper from LOTV's Promises Solids paper pad, topped it with three softer-toned papers from the Timeless Victorian pad, and added a sentiment from Set 63, Quotables/Go For It as the focal point...

Here are a few close-ups, starting with the cheesecloth peeking out of the lower corner...

The rose at the center of the floral cluster was made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies and white cardstock, sprayed with a mist made of Weathered Wood Distress Ink refill and distilled water...

The jeweled butterfly used to be a brad, until it met with my wire cutters... :)

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  LOTV Promises Solids (background purple);  Timeless Victorian (all others)

Stamps:   LOTV Set 63, Quotables/Go For It

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels Two, and Rose Creations;   Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background

Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Jeweled butterfly:   Creative Imaginations          Clay corner:   Martha Stewart mold and air-dry clay

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, white twine

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...have a wonderful weekend!

Same Image...Different Seasons...

Happy Wednesday, everyone. I didn't get back to creating as quickly as I had hoped, but it's all for good reasons. This year, my birthday fell on a Friday. Friday birthdays have a way of turning into "birthday weekends" and that's how it went this year - celebrating with a friend who's birthday is exactly one week before mine, then a couple celebrations with family - lots of fun!  Hmmm...maybe I should make this a yearly thing! LOL

Today I'm sharing three cards that all used the same stamp for the background image. It's been quite a while since I played with this stamp, and I wanted to try something new (to me).  I changed the colors/hues I used, and ended up with three cards that "represent" spring, summer, and autumn. And once again, I played with watercolors, so the cards are a bit more clean-and-simple than my usual style. But a change now and then is a good thing!

I made a watercolor wash in the background, then used watercolor markers on the stamp, spritzed it with water, and applied the stamp to the watercolor paper for the background.

Here's "spring" - bright and fun colors with a medium sky-blue background wash...

I did double-stamp the large dandelion on the left side...the orange appeared too strong, so I added a bit more water to the orange and let it run together more. After the watercolor stamping was dry, I added another layer of only the plum color, stamping it dry (no water spritz prior to stamping) to show the details and turn the original orange stamping to the background shadow. The only embellishments I added were a single punched butterfly, and a sprig of spring-like stems and leaves from the top of a craft-store flower stem...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp "Touch the Sky"

Butterfly punch:   Martha Stewart          Pearls:   Recollections          Florals:  local craft store

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Marvy LePlume markers, Ranger Stickles

Here's "summer."  There's a paler background wash, more bright yellow and green in the background, and just a bit lighter overall with just a few extra-bright areas of orange. The stamped sentiment and three butterflies were added as the only embellishments...

Here are some closeup detail shots...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamps:   Papertrey Ink "Mega Mixed Messages," "Botanical Silhouettes"

Butterfly punches:   Martha Stewart          Mini pearls:  Queen & Co.

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors,  Marvy LePlume markers, vellum, Ranger Stickles

And finally, here's "autumn."  The colors are richer, deeper, more traditionally autumnal (and you can see that just by the difference in contrast between this photo and the pastel colors of the other two cards). There's a twine wrap and bow accented with a raffia bow, a piece of a seed stem, and a simple stamped sentiment...

Here are a couple detail shots...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamp:   Winnie & Walter "The Big, The Bold, The Happy"

Seed stem:   Petaloo         

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Marvy LePlume markers, jute twine, raffia, seed spiral

Here's a side-by-side shot of all three cards for easy comparison...

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope you're having a wonderful week!

A Little of This, A Little of That...

Happy day, all! Today's card is a shabby chic eclectic combination of materials, from corrugated cardboard to pearls. :)  I've left off any sentiment...I seem to want to do that more often these days, to leave the possibilities open-ended for later use. Instead of patterned paper as a base, I took a small piece of corrugated cardboard, and dry-brushed on some dark cream and rose pink craft paint. I did the same with the wavy-corrugated cardboard used to die cut the hearts...

A side view shows a bit more how the cheesecloth falls off the edges on both sides...

Here are some close-ups of the florals and embellishments that sit on top of the two die-cut corrugated hearts (although the smaller of the two hearts is pretty much covered with flowers)...

The small round frame was made with air-dry clay and a silicone mold...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Dies:   Xyron ShapeZ/Hearts;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Frame:   Martha Stewart mold and air-dry clay

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Recollections          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Miscellaneous:   twine, cheesecloth, corrugated cardboard, craft paint

Thanks for visiting today!

Shabby Meets Mixed Media...Just a Little Note...

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Lately my creative time has come in small increments...mostly because my creative mojo is intermittent. LOL  So I've been using this time to gather up a few new supplies and play with some new (to me) techniques...you know, the things you've seen around and said to yourself, "one of these days I'm going to play around with that." So, "these days" are here now. That's what's happened with the last two cards I've posted, and why they're a bit more technique-heavy than usual. It's easier to add techniques one on top of another when you're not doing every step at the same time - you have a little more time to consider alternatives and options.

Here's today's shabby-meets-mixed-media-and-spring card fun...

I didn't take in-progress photos with today's card as I did with last week's, but I can show you a similar piece that was the base of it. One night I played around with a couple new My Favorite Things Abstract Art stamps and Distress Inks, along with a small Maya Road ledger stamp, and made a couple pieces like this using a couple different color combos...they sat in a baggie for a few days until I got around to playing with them again:

(I lightly and randomly swiped a cotton rag on parts of the ledger stamp after inking it to get the uneven and faded areas and edges.)

The first step of the layering was to use gesso to adhere a small piece of cheesecloth in the center, and to spread the edges of the gesso out toward the edges and onto the ledger stamp to lighten the center. The nice thing about gesso is, with a single coat, it's not as heavy and opaque as acrylic paint, so it gives that lightened-color look without being too overly obvious.

Next, I grabbed a Crafters Workshop reverse chickenwire template, and applied modeling paste mixed with black acrylic paint over the left upper corner, partially covering some of the ledger stamp. After I applied the black accent, it looked a little too bold for the overall look I was going for, so out came the gesso again, and I lightly dry-brushed a little more gesso over the part of the chickenwire closest to the center...it gives it a bit of a shabbier look...

At the bottom of the piece, I used a Tim Holtz Measured template, and this time, applied the modeling paste straight out of the container, and let it dry. Can you see the fun effect this makes, all on its own?

The modeling paste seemingly "absorbs" the color of the inked area just beneath it, adding to the subtlety of the paste accent. You can see that the brown, blue, and pink inks from the base piece show through the ruler template lines of the paste right over them. (If I had wanted an opaque white appearance, mixing the paste with white acrylic paint would have done the trick...but this time, I wanted the ruler line to be understated, and just a bit of contrasting texture at the bottom of the card.)

Then it was time to add fun die-cuts, flowers, pearls, a snippet of crocheted lace, and a sweet little sentiment stamp. At the center of the florals is a two-toned gardenia, and it's surrounded with a couple lilies and roses...

Supplies:

Stamps:   My Favorite Things DC Abstract Art;   My Favorite Things Jumbo DC Abstract Art;   Maya Road Ledger;

Papertrey Ink Mat Stack 2 Collection ("just a little note")

Dies:   Memory Box Chloe Stem;   My Favorite Things Leaf-Filled Flourish

Templates:   Tim Holtz Measured;   The Crafters Workshop Chickenwire Reversed

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   Maya Road leaf stick pin (embellished), Distress Inks, cheesecloth, gesso, modeling paste

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I hope your week started with a smile!

LOTV New Paper Peek - Happy for You...

Good morning, all! Lili of the Valley has *six* new paper pads about to release on the 24th of this month, and they're all real beauties! If you caught our own Dawny P on Create and Craft yesterday, and you acted quickly, you were able to order some of these before the shop release, since they're exclusive to C&C until then. There are still a few available at C&C, but many of them sold out quickly. :)  Don't fret, however...there will be plenty restocked to the shop by February 24! I can't pick a favorite...they're all really so pretty.

Today I'm sharing a card that features the "Baskets & Bunnies" collection. Don't let the name mislead you...there are no basket or bunny papers here...just gorgeous spring colors and patterns that are truly a joy to work with. In fact, I used six (yes, you read that right...6!) different papers from this collection on today's card - these papers really deserve to get all the attention...

I used sentiment words from LOTV's Stamp F, Words for Tags and split them between a tag (from Set 14, A5 Tags) and the inside of the small air-dry clay frame next to the flower cluster. It's very subtle, but in the upper left corner, framing the "happy" tag, is a stamped corner from the newly released Set 68, Corners set - it's stamped and heat embossed with white ink and powder...

The floral cluster is centered with a pink and yellow gardenia that's surrounded with cream lilies, and small cream aster daisies, with lots of pearls and pearl trim...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  LOTV *new* Baskets & Bunnies collection

Stamps:   LOTV Set 68/Corners;   Set 14/A5 Tags;   Stamp F/Words for Tags

Dies:   Spellbinders Foliage Two           Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearl trim:   local craft store

Frame:   Martha Stewart air dry clay and clay mold          Crocheted lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Pearls:   Recollections          Tim Holtz Memo Pin          Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week started with a smile!

No One Like You...

Hello, all. Remember the clean/purge/reorg project I told you about Monday? It's going along pretty well, with just a few hiccups....of my own making. :)  If you've ever seen the movie "Up" and remember the dog in the movie who gets distracted easily by a "squirrel!"....that's me while I'm reorganizing...haha.

I happened to come across a small baggie of leftover pieces from a previous project, and then a bag of die cut hearts, and while I had them all out on the table sorting which pieces to keep, I happened to notice a few pieces that would go together pretty nicely together on a new card. Sooooo...guess who stopped cleaning, cleared a spot to work, and put together a new card? Yep..."squirrel!" I haven't photographed it yet, but I hope to have it ready to show you next week.

I'm now waiting for some freshly spray-painted storage containers and racks to cure completely so I can reload them, and make more room on my work surface. It will be nice not to have to sort on the floor anymore!

In the meantime, here's another little number that I made up last week. Funny thing is that this card is also made with some pieces of background paper that I originally cut for another project, then changed my mind and went a different direction. When I went back and pulled them out again, I had a whole new idea for them. It's almost spring-like with its pale yellows and greens, so if you're one of those dealing with frigid temps and snow right now, I hope it helps you think of warmer days ahead...

I found this gathered muslin and pearl trim at the craft store a while back, hidden at the bottom of a clearance bin. I wish I could have found more than the two pieces I did find...it's just my style...

I could only find some cream lilies in my stash...but remembered that originally in that batch were some lilies with brown edge accents, so I recreated some with dark brown ink along the edges of the cream lilies...

I had fun with the lace trim and flower cluster. They started out straight and vertical side-by-side, but once I started playing with the line of the fabric/pearl trim, the arrangement of the flowers just seemed to happen naturally...

The sentiment tag is nestled among the flowers in the lower corner, backed with lightweight chipboard and popped up just a bit with foam tape...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Authentique Peaceful collection

Dies:   Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags Two;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Sentiment stamp:   Hero Arts          Pearl/muslin trim, pearls:   Recollections          Lilies:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Back "into the fray" I go...I know I'll be glad when this cleanup is done again, but it sure is a mess while it's happening. LOL. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!