Arianna Blooms Bird Haven

Happy Wednesday. My Heartfelt Creations project today is over the moon. Seriously, it brought me a great deal of joy in the making and I would encourage you to be brave and give a project that stretches you from where you are at now! This one really stretched me.

This is a gorgeous little frame from Ikea that costs a mere $10. Got to love that!! It's a nice, deep shadow box frame, which I personally have a hard time finding for a reasonable price. These frames come in black and white - nice and generic and perfect for altering.

I almost gave up on this project several times. There were so many parts that I cut out and that almost did me in. I have a wee touch of tendinitis, and cranking the handle on my Big Shot was brutal. Don't cry for me though - it's from having bad typing and texting technique. My bad!! I should have taken a picture of all the flower parts when they were laying out on my desk. That almost did me in too, because it was almost overwhelming - all the little bits and pieces and hoping the dogs didn't wag their tails too hard and blow everything off the desk.. Oy!! And then moulding the flower and leaf parts. It took a few sessions to get it done which almost made me quit.

And tipping everything with the copper painty pen! What was I thinking!! And then the dumb thing quit when I wasn't quite half way through, so I got my attitude in check and then went and got another one and, by the weight of the new pen compared to the old, I had emptied the old pen. D'Oh!!!

On the bright side, I just splurged on a new Spellbinders die, Feathers on the Wind, and just had to use it on this project - it was too perfect to pass up! And really, as I began assembling my vision for this project, I became buoyed and started to find the joy in being stretched.

As the flowers started coming together, I felt better about this project because the completed flowers were more manageable that all the little bits. In fact, as I started playing with the foliage placement, it became a lot of fun to play around with these paper blooms.

I have to tell you that I am really enjoying stamping and colouring on the Heartfelt Creations paper. It holds up really well to copic ink. I find I need a light hand with the ink because the Heartfelt Creations paper absorbs ink faster than blending cardstock. For me, it means that I don't have to work quite as hard at blending the ink. And I really love the printed texture that shows through the copic ink, giving the image more character that I didn't have to work for. DIVINE!!!

For many of my coloured images, I stamp them on lighter, more neutral coloured Heartfelt Creations paper. I don't find that the surface of the paper pills, just that I need to be very aware of the ink bleeding beyond the lines of the image. I'll be experimenting with ink bleeding in the future, so stay tuned...

And now, a little depth perception. This 9" square image has been built up to approximately 2" deep in several places. It's one of those projects that when I finished it, all I could think is, "Did I really do this?!!" It is officially one of my top ten favourites, and I want to recreate something similar for myself that goes with my home decor more than this project. I was so flattered when one of my kids said I should hang this one on the wall because we have so little art on our walls and they loved this one.

I have instructions on the Heartfelt Creations blog to make this project along with much stunning inspiration by the rest of the design team.

stamps;HCPC 3608 Arianna Blooms, HCPC 3611 Arianna Bird Haven (heartfelt creations)
ink; black memento ink (tsukineko)
paper; Timeless Amour Collection Paper (heartfelt creations), Java, Amsterdam (bazzill)
accessories; HCD 747 Arianna Lace Die, HCD 748 Arianna Blooms Die, HCD 736 Classic Leaf Die (heartfelt creations), Paper Shaping Tools (McGill), Captivating Squares, Marvelous Squares, Sm Classic Squares, Feathers on the Wind, Lotus, Create a Flake I (spellbinders), beetle black brads (bazzill), brown satin ribbon (offray), green picot edge trim, copper brads (making memories), copper painty pen (zig), Copic markers used; E04/07/29/53/55/57/59/70/71/84/87, YG91/95/99

Baby Girl

This turned out to be a very swag blinged up baby card! Sometimes what I have in my sketch and what the final project ends up being are only loosely related. This project is one of those since I just kept adding bling and layers until it felt done. It is truly fit for a princess.

I used Sweet Lullaby Sentiments and the Sweet Lullaby Paper Collection from the Heartfelt Creations June Release Sweet Lullaby Collection. Sweet Lullaby Sentiments was designed to be used with the Once Upon A Time Die and it works like a charm! I highly recommend it. However, for the way I stamp, I cut the Sweet Lullaby Sentiment stamp apart to create 12 individual sentiment stamps. I then cut the stamped sentiment out using Classic Circles Nestabilities Dies.

I know the Once Upon a Time die is a better fit for these sentiments than the circle nestabilities, so I'll tinker around with this die and see what I can come up with to make it more individual sentiment friendly.

I stamped this sentiment a second time on pink cardstock and cut the heart out by hand. To create a more unified and richer appearance to the card, I outlined the sentiment circles and the pink heart using my silver Zig Painty Pen. I am really impressed because this pen hasn't seen the light of day for more than 2 years and it worked like it was fresh and new!! So pleased.

I stacked 3 ribbon bows here. It was so tall already that I cut the shank off the button to allow it to lie more flat on the bows and not add much additional height to the bow. This Bazzill vintage button inspired all the bling that was added to this card.

I invite you to the Heartfelt Creations Blog for more inspiration.

stamps; sweet lullaby sentiments (heartfelt creations)
ink; slate adirondack (ranger)
paper; sweet lullaby paper collection (heartfelt creations), sweet pea, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; circles, scallop circles, floral doily accent (spellbinders),white satin, white grosgrain ribbon (offray), pink polka dot organza ribbon, clear adhesive rhinestones, vintage Juliette button (bazzill), silver painty pen (zig), swiss dots embossing folder (provocraft)

Congratulations!!

Today, I'm using cutting dies and a sentiment from the Sweet Lullaby Collection from Heartfelt Creations.

This is a darling little gift enclosure card which measures about 4" square. I used the largest scallop square nestabilities die to cut out the card base. The rest of the card was built upon that measurement using the Sweet Lullaby Paper Collection. The banner was cut and moulded by hand - no dies or templates involved. It arches beautifully over the flowers and adds to the dimension of the card.

All measurements and instructions to re-create this card are on the Heartfelt Creations Blog.  

This set of 3 flower dies from Sweet Lullaby Dies Collection are easily my favourite component of this release. I have used them several times in the project I have upcoming in the next few weeks. I really like how sturdy they are and as a result, they are very easy to manipulate and create with.

I really like the font on this sentiment from the Sweet Little One set because I think it is so classic and lovely that it would work for any occasion that requires a little congratulations. This card would be appropriate for any occasion simply by changing the patterned paper.

Enjoy the creations from the rest of the design team and be inspired!

stamps; sweet little one (heartfelt creations)
ink; pumice stone distress ink (ranger)
paper; sweet lullaby paper collection (heartfelt creations), coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; sweet lullaby dies collection (heartfelt creations), scallop square, classic square nestabiltiies (spellbinders) half pearl dew drops (the robin's nest)

Sweet Lullaby Collection

Happy Wednesday! I have several younger friends who are having babies in the next couple of months, so I was thrilled to learn that the Collection for May from Heartfelt Creations is baby themed. Please do check out the Heartfelt Creations Blog for specific instructions to create this card and for more beautiful inspiration.

My card for the launch is a boy birthday card using the Noah's Ark image from Precious Lullaby.

I had so much fun with this image!! I used glossy accents on both the water and the dolphins and it is a fantastic effect.

To finish off the card, I used this sentiment from Lullaby Darlings. Sweet Lullaby is such a lovely collection!

Have a blessed week!

stamps: Precious Lullaby, Sweet Lullaby Background, Lullaby Darlings (heartfelt creations)
paper; sweet lullaby collection paper (heartfelt creations), coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; black soot, tumbled glass distress inks (ranger)
accessories; marvellous squares, captivating squares, small and large classic squares, tags 5 (spellbinders), button (basic grey), ribbon (offray), copic markers

Hooked on Digis

I admit it. I adore the immediacy of the internet. I sign in at my public library (6th busiest in North America) and I can download audio books directly onto my ipod or EPUB books into my Adobe Digital Reader and eventually onto an e-reader (don't pop my dream bubble - I would love to have one!).

There are several reasons I love digital images; They come without postage and are relatively inexpensive. I love the immediate gratification of placing my order with any number of digital image companies and my images are in my inbox within the hour and occasionally within 24hours. They don't take up room on my overflowing stamp shelves. A key factor is that it feeds the anal control freak in me that doesn't get to surface very often - I can re-size the images to fit my creative vision. I adore that!

The down side is that I only know how to print in black or tones of black. There's no pink, red, blue or green. I only print on white card stock because my printer sucks and doesn't print in colour anymore, even with brand new cyan, cadmium, and magenta cartridges.

I don't use digital paper designs because I haven't advanced technologically beyond black and white. I don't digi scrapbook either because it's really too technical for me. I find a place of great calm and peace as I copy and paste digi images from my computer files into a word document and then fiddle with the size until it is so perfect, I can hardly stand it!

This darling image is A Special Flower from A Day For Daisies. My colours are all from an older Basic Grey paper, Sultry. I do love that pink and green combination!

This card is very thick and I doubt it would make it safely through the mail. There is something that appeals to me in making a card that is so decadently thick that it has to be delivered by hand with some for real face to face time!

I used my Spiral Blossom 1 die from Spellbinders to create the pink part of this flower. This die cuts a flower so much bigger than I had imagined it would be! My fault, not the die's fault. I cut it, rolled it, became alarmed with it's size, squished it, then cut off the smallest third of the length from the center. Then, I grabbed a mulberry floral embellishment and re-curled the spiral blossom around my pre-made flower. I worked the pink petals a bit to create some additional texture, and let a little sigh of happiness escape from my happy place. I ran a narrow bead of glue around the petal edges and dipped it in glitter. While the final product is bigger than the original die cut flower, it isn't as thick - it's a much flatter flower which works better with my card.

I love this little sentiment. It's from tlc Creations in their word art section. I have several pages of their sentiments printed and ready to go should the urge jump up and grab me. And I can re-size it to fit whatever die I want to use to cut it out! *DIVINE*

As with the flower, I ran a bead of glue around the pink Labels 16 layer and dipped it in my glitter. I coloured my image with copic markers and added a little magic to her background using stardust stickles.

copics used today; E000/01/11/74/77/79, B0000/00/01/02, YG01/05/07/09, RV11/13/17, YR 01/02/04, colorless blender, 100 special black

stamps; a special flower (adfd), sentiment (tlc creations)
paper; sultry (basic grey), slipper dotted swiss, green tea, maltball, white canvas (bazzill), x-press it blending card stock (copic)
accessories; lg classic square nestabilities, label tag trio, spiral blossom 1, eyelet squares, labels 16 (spellbinders), sultry button (basic grey), crystal ultrafine glitter (art institute), mulberry floral embellishments (recollections), old olive striped and pink pirouette taffeta ribbons (SU!), stardust stickles (ranger)

colour create - pink and green
paper crafting journey - floral
my mum's craft shop - flowers
my time to craft - favourite embellishment (ribbon)
cardmadfairy's - ribbon and bows
papertake weekly - happy highlights
stamping with the dragon - anything goes
sew many challenges - circles
whoopsie daisy challenge - let's bling it
AUD sentiments - inspiration challenge (love)
crazy4 challenges - lots of layers (c4c121)

Love Ya!

I haven't coloured in almost a month and I was starting to suffer a little withdrawal, so I set aside the books to do something a little more creative today.

I took my main inspiration from this week's Deconstructed Sketch and the colour challenge from Splitcoast. The rest of my challenge inspiration is listed at the end of this post. There is a long list of inspiration which I'm thankful for, since my creativity needed a little jump start after being abandoned by the side of the road for the last month.

I have had this 'Love Ya' image by Mo Manning printed since last June. It has been sitting in my printed and stamped image file along with some images that were printed more than a year ago. Time sure can get away from me when I'm not looking!!! I used Stardust stickles on the background and I do love that darling, magical sparkle.

I have seen paper buttons on various cards, and it was a technique challenge on SCS awhile ago, and I'm thrilled I had a chance to give it a try today! I die cut 6 identical hearts using the Hearts Nestabilities die from Spellbinders and glued them together. I punched 2 holes with my crop-a-dile and gave it a good coating of Glossy Accents by Ranger. Note to self, grab a little patience and wait until the glossy accents is completely dry before touching;

That is such a clear fingerprint that it could be used by the police for identification purposes!!! I tied a bit of Brown Sugar Divine Twine and stuck a little floral embellishment on it.

I saw this sentiment and promptly typed it out and enlarged it for this image. It pixellated when I printed it, making it look a little fuzzy, because I am really not a digital designer. Looks pretty good in the photo though. And it is so perfect with this image.

Copics used today; W00/0/1/2, E000/01/11/43/44/71, YR000/20/21/24, R000, RV00/21/23, colorless blender

stamps; love ya (mo manning)
paper; bittersweet (basic grey), brown, canvas white, pirouette dotted swiss (bazzill), x-press it blending card stock (copic from ihp)
accessories; lg & sm classic circle, lg scallop circle, heart nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), brown sugar twine (divine twine by ihp), stardust stickles, glossy accents (ranger from ihp), floral embellishment (recollections), crop-a-dile (memory keepers)

colour challenge scs - pretty pink rose with dessert option button & heart (cc358)
technique challenge - paper buttons (tlc325)
technique challenge - twine it up (tlc360)
deconstructed sketch - #35 
pile it on - fuzzy friends
stampin for the weekend - out with the old
anything goes - anything goes
poodles parlous - valentines/love
memories of time - be mine bingo (glitter, heart, glossy accents)

BLD Merry Christmas, Lollipop Amy

As a style statement, this card couldn't be any more different that my previous post today;

This darling girl, Lollipop Amy, has been Christmasified! She is also beautiful for Easter, First Communion, Flower Girl, Tea Party or birthday. I paired her with one of the gorgeous Christmas Sentiments.

I adore her little dress!!! I've made similar dresses for my girls since it's always so much fun to dress up little girls. Now that my girls are almost grown, I'm not sure if it's more or less fun to shop for them. I'm so thankful they like my fashion ideas for them.

copics for this image;
E0000/00/01/42/44/47/49, YG0000/00/21/61/63, R37/39/59/89, T1/3/5, colourless blender

Stay tuned, I'll have more puppy pictures and stories over the next little while. Lots has been going on behind the scenes with rescue dogs in our house. Some is wonderful and some is heartbreaking, which is really why I haven't done any AARCS posts in awhile.

Have a wonderful week and do peek at the rest of the By Lori Designs team inspiration.

stamps; lollipop amy, christmas sentiments (by lori designs)
paper; eskimo kisses (basic grey), riding hood red (su!), coconut swirl (bazzill), x-press it blending stock (copic)
accessories; labels trio, sm, lg classic squares, sm scallop squares nestabilities (spellbinders), white brad (unknown), candy apple, parakeet brads (bazzill)

BLD - Rockin' Around the Tree!

Good morning! I've used Puddle Jumper Winter Hannah today. I love her fun nordic hat. My own Hannah has just taken to wearing a hat much like this over her mass of red curls, and I can't image a more adorable wintery sight.

I guess these colours and papers are a little more 'Christmassy' than I seem to lean towards typically. The pattern papers are from Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey and I'm not sure it's available anymore. I love it! I love the large ironworks motif pendant (spellbinders) that I cut in half to ornament the card in a bigger way. To that I added some blue rhinestones.

This sentiment is from Christmas Sentiments and I decided to have a little fun with it. If I had a do over, I would center the sentiment around the image more evenly. I really love Winter Hannah's outfit and wish I had this exact ensemble for my youngest daughter. She would be in heaven!!!

Copics I used today; B0000/000/00/02/04/52, R37/59, YG91/93/97/99, C2, E0000/00/01/55/57/59, colorless blender

There are more beautiful samples on Lori's blog, and I invite you to go take a peek and be inspired.

stamps; puddle jumper winter hannah, christmas sentiments (by lori designs)
paper; figgy pudding (basic grey), vintage collection (core'dinations), java, coconut swirl (bazzill), x-press it (copic from ihp)
ink; peeled paint distress ink (ranger)
accessories; sm oval, labels 18, iron works motif (spellbinders), ice blue rhinestones (kaiser from ihp), brown satin ribbon (offray)

2 sisters challenge - anything goes
digital tuesday - christmas
pile it on - christmas
wags n whiskers - christmas
totally gorjuss - christmas
daisy doodle - anything goes with a digi
crafter's companion - let it snow
crafty catz - digi
floweret stamplar - christmas

Lollipop Bella

Lori has released several more darling images this month. Today I am using Lollipop Bella.

I surfed challenges for some inspiration for this card, and they are listed below! More of the By Lori Designs design team have made other sweet projects for your inspiration and they are on the By Lori Blog - ENJOY!

copics used;
skin; E01/11/13
hair; E11/13/15/18
clothes; B12/14/16, Y21/26, N1/2/4
flower; R21/24
ground; N0/1/2/4, E11/13/15/18
background; B0000/000/01

stamps; lollipop bella (by lori designs), warmest regards (su!)

paper; journey (authentique from ihp), kraft, java (bazzill), x-press it (copic from ihp)

ink; tea dye distress ink (ranger from ihp), rich cocoa memento (tsukineko from ihp)

accessories; ivory crochet trim, blue satin ribbon (may arts from ihp), sm & lg petite oval, labels 20 nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), ice blue rhinestones basics (kaiser from ihp), butterfly trio punch (martha stewart), barely banana ribbon (su!), silver bells dew drops (the robin's nest), copic markers (from IHP)

CASE #60 - birthday card, butterfly, butterfly
CCEE - Favourite colour combo and a half circle (upper and lower 1/4 circle = 1/2 *grin*)
one stop craft challenge - anything goes
abc challenge - anything goes
penny's paper crafty challenge - anything goes
ribbon carousel - anything goes
one stop craft challenge - anything goes
inspire me fridays - anything goes 
anything goes - dies/punches
fab n funky - dies/punches
papertake weekly - get in shape
crafts & me - use a digi
truly scrumptious - distressing ( I used distress ink and sponging)
terrifically thrilling thursday - something sweet

Blog Hop; Swimming for Katie

 

From October 10-12 some of the best stampers are joining together to support and encourage our friend and fellow stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling inoperable gastric cancer.  If you're not familiar with her, Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year.  This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight.  A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer.  Her first post about it is here.  The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.

This exclusive stamp used in my sample, designed by Becky Oehlers is available as a clear stamp, as well as a digis or a dig and SVG cut file.  100% of the profits go to Katie's fund to help her and her young family.  Her husband Kevin and her three young children need our help and support.  In addition to the Keep Swimming Octopus, Marianne Walker and True =D Doodle Designs both also donated digis that are for sale.  Direct donations are also being accepted.  Information central is HERE.  This is a permanent page that will stay active at i {heart} papers with current information and the full 3 day blog hop listing, as well as the donation button.  

Here are all the items available for sale.

Keep Swimming Octopus Peachy Clear stamp $5.50 with free shipping

Keep Swimming Octopus DIGIstamp $3.00 with instant download

Keep Swimming Octopus DIGIstamp with SVG cut file $3.50 with instant download

Keep Swimming Mermaid DIGIstamp $3.50 with instant download

Keep Swimming Ribbon Fish DIGIstamp and DIGIpapers $5.00 with instant download

I hope you will join me in supporting Katie through a purchase or donation.  The following is a list of everyone who has projects posted today.  I hope you will be inspired by them and moved to purchase or donate.  If you would like to send Katie a card, her mailing address is:

Katie Renz
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

Thank you!

Here is my project for the hop today!

Katie and her family have been going through so much for almost a year now that I am inspired to honour their courage in this way. Purple and scarlet together feels like such a rich and royal colour combination which it fitting for Katie's stamina, battle weariness and humanity. To undergo such a situation, I would hope to have as much grace and dignity as Katie has shown.

The light, watery background is sparkly. Yup, it's just that simple. Besides, every girl needs a little sparkle in their life!!

There is oodles of dimension here since I printed 3 of my image to cut and paste it. The pen I used to edge bled a little when I applied stickles so, her darling crown is a little tarnished...

The copics list;

octopus; V20/25
crown; Y21
sign; R000/11
background; B0000/000/01

As was already mentioned, this blog hop will span 3 days with 125 designers so it is not like a normal blog hop. Below, you will find a list of links to the designers who are participating today and we invite you to take your time and enjoy all the projects designed for 'Swimming for Katie'. Each day of Swimming for Katie, I will have the current blog hop list posted for you here (because I want to see what everyone is up to!) and it will also be posted on the i {heart} papers blog. Now, go hop and enjoy!

AJ Otto
Beate 
Carolyn Mustopa
Dawn Burnworth
Deb Felts 
Gretchen Belknap
Heather Jensen 
Jen del Muro
Julie Ranae
Kate - i {heart} papers
Kendra Wietstock
Lisa Johnson
Loretta Lock
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mercurio
Marianne Walker
Michele Gross
Stacy aka Twinshappy
Tracy Schultz
Debbie Olson
Cindy Lawrence
Cindy Haffner 
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Tammy Hershberger
Danielle Kennedy
Barbara Anders
Makiko Jones
Ashley N Newell
Shannan Teubner
Taylor Usry
Jen Tapler
Jenn Balcer
Jenny Chesnick
Jess Larsen
Jessica Knutsen
Jimmi Mayo
Joan Bardee
Joan Ervin
Julia Aston
Julie Day
Julie Ebersole

stamps; keep swimming octopus digi stamp 
paper; picket fence (lily bee design from IHP), pomegranate, white canvas (bazzill), x-press it (copic from ihp)
accessories; fancy tags, sm & lg classic circles, sm scallop circles (spellbinders from IHP), white sheer tinsel ribbon (may arts from IHP), stardust stickles (ranger from IHP), large white dew drops (the robin's nest), copic markers (from IHP)

Christmas Place Cards

I think beautifully set Christmas tables are one of the most wonderful elements Christmas celebrations. There isn't much that can compare to food and fellowship around a common table at Christmas. For my Heartfelt Creations project this week, I've made Christmas Place Cards which might adorn the most traditional table.

I created a set of 4 place cards using Poinsettia Ornament 2 and Petite Poinsettia Sets and these card were created in the same manner as the place cards I made in this blog post.

I stamped the poinsettias and ornaments on coordinating red pattern paper from the Noel Collection by Bo Bunny - their traditional Christmas paper collection from last year. I love the mottled look of this paper!

I used the Decorative Window Die for the place card base and cut the name 'plate' using petite oval nestabilities. Further instructions are available on the Heartfelt Creations blog along with many other inspired projects by the rest of the Heartfelt Creations design team!


stamps; poinsettia ornament 2, petite poinsettia (heartfelt creations)
paper; noel collection (bo bunny), raven (bazzill)
ink; versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; sm petite ovals, layered poinsettia, heirloom ornament 2011 (spellbinders), decorative window die (heartfelt creations), gold superfine embossing powder, peeled paint stickles (ranger), gold brads (making memories)