Spring-y Pastels. . .

LOOKIE!  A card- seems like forever since I've posted a card.  This little number boasts some of my favorite things - glitter, gem stickers, machine stitching, dry embossing and a handmade nest made of wire and pearls. 

Stamps and embellishments from A Muse Studio; background paper is from Prima Marketing; wire/pearls from my stash.

Linking to Paper Crafts Connection April Gallery Challenge.

OLW118 - Snowflakes

Haven't done a One Layer Wednesday in so very long but couldn't resist the theme of SNOWFLAKES.  This very clean and simple card features one of my oldest stamps from PSX and a retired A Muse sentiment.  Gradient color has been really popular in paper crafting the past several months and it is a look easily achieved with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers.  

Use painters tape to block off an area for your paint.  Applying the darkest color on the bottom and the lightest color on top first makes it easy to blend in your middle color for a gradual change of hue without obvious "color blocks".  I love these paint dabbers cause there is nothing to clean up!!

Heat embossing the snowflake adds a bit of shimmer to this very simple card.  This stamp is special to me since it was used on the very first card I ever had published.

Back in 2007 this card appeared in The Stamper's Sample Catch-Up issue.  Such a thrill to see my name in print

FTL212, LIM89, Embellish Magazine Paint Challenge

Looky!  I made a card!!  Go figure. . .

Sketch from Clean & Simple Stamping (FTL212).  Colors and use of paint from Embellish magazine.  The theme of WINGS comes from Less is More.

FROGTAPE leaves a clean edge for painting.  A bit of Smash tape along the bottom adds fun polka-dots.

Sentiment and embossed butterfly were made with supplies from A Muse.

Less is More - GOLD

Hadn't made a card in a while and couldn't resist this week's Less is More Challenge to use Gold on a clean and simple card.  Back when I first started stamping several years back, heat embossing was all the rage.  To this day it packs a WOW factor for anyone seeing it for the first time and remains a favorite technique of mine although I seem to rarely use it.

It can be tricky to photograph things that are embossed because from one angle the embossed item looks dark - if you can capture the gleam your card tends to be washed out - The embossing powder I used is Old Glory from Stampin' Up! (an old bottle - not sure if they still make that color or not) - The stamped image and sentiment are my old wood mounted A Muse stamps.  The background was stamped with my handcarved chevron stamps.  

Check out my crazy fingernails!  I rarely (never) polish my nails but I saw some Sally Hanson nail stickers the other day that called out my name - they look like pen and ink drawings in my favorite colors of black and beige (remember - color scares me) - In fact, I currently have on khaki capris and a black shirt so my nails match perfectly!!  This is pretty wild for me although my rebel toes are sporting dark brown polish. Never any purple, blue or green nail polish for me!!

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger: Man-Tastic!

Hadn't made a card or played along with my favorite challenge blogs in too long so I thought I'd remedy that with this card made for my husband.  He definitely works hard to support his family and I am truly thankful for all he does for us.

The inspiration comes from the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger pictured above that was simulated with an A Muse stamp (masked and inked) from the Friend to Friend set in Eucalyptus, Ocean, French Roast and Cranberry inks.

This card is also for the One Layer Wednesday #90 - Dudes Rule challenge.  Hope you've had a great weekend - sure has been beautiful here!

PDCC128, CFC49, Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger: Watercolor Butterflies

Time for a Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger Challenge - I haven't done one of these challenges in what seems like forever.  At first I was definitely stumped with the trigger image - while I love the loose water colored look it was a little too loose for me.

I splish-splashed some orange and pink watercolors and then used the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die to cut out some blooms.   This way I could enjoy the watercolor look in a more graphic, contained way.

This card also fits the requirements for the Play Date Cafe Challenge and loosely matches the sketch challenge from CAS-ual Fridays.

Sentiment, embossing plate and pearls from A Muse Studios.

CFC48, LIM63, OLW85 - Silhouette

Did I wake you up with the bright colors??  This is a very vibrant card for me but the colors were dictated by the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge to choose two colors from the opposite sides of the color spectrum.  Apparently brown, taupe, black, white and grey aren't on their color spectrum even though they figure prominently in mine.

This card also meets the requirements for the April Paper Crafts Connection Gallery challenge of Silhouettes, the One Layer Wednesday challenge to use no sentiment and the Less is More challenge of doodling.  At least I thought it met the Less is More challenge until I looked again and realized that it was a One Layer Challenge -

Never fear!  This card was quickly replicated as one layer.  I particularly enjoy her doodled shoes. . . The turquoise cardstock is cut with the Quickutz Trellis Die and the silhouette stamps are from Stampendous.

Happy Anniversary, Dave and Roni!!!  Hope you had a great weekend!

PDCC125 - Jane Davies Inspired

This week's Play Date Cafe Challenge (PDCC125) is to use Black/White with a splash of Brown!!  Was there ever a challenge more "Michelle"??!!  It stated on the Play Date blog that, "it's the first time we've ever done another 'neutral' as our splash".  That may be very true for them but when I saw the challenge online I was sporting - wait for it - a shirt that was black/white with a splash of taupe!!  YUP - I'm fashionable that way!

Decided to get artsy with this challenge - very fancy materials were used in the construction of these two cards.  I'll wait for you to get a pen/paper to write down this extensive list:

Black India ink, brown acrylic paint and a straw - yes, a straw.  It becomes an invaluable tool in moving the India ink around your paper before it dries.

This isn't the first time I've used this technique - back in early February Kim and I had a waxy good time but I never got around to posting pics of what I worked on until now.

Jane Davies is a collage artist from Vermont who posted a great video on doing Ink Doodles.  These were my first attempt at trying my hand at it.

The first layer is a collage of torn patterned papers that are then covered with a layer of gesso to tone it down.   Then comes the fun - squirt some random ink on your paper and blow, blow, blow with that straw! Yes - it can give you a headache but the most wispy feathery marks are the ones that look the best to me despite the dizzy aftereffects!  Geometric shapes were added with watercolor paint and then

a layer of beeswax added more dimension that I spent a great deal of time buffing up with a soft cloth to get that fabulous gleam!  Definitely a fun technique to try!
Linking to:  Artists in Blogland - Show and Tell Saturday #22 and Balzer Designs - Art Journal Every Day

PDCC122, OLW82: Swirly Fun

One Layer Wednesday and this week Susan has challenged us to use a Swirl on our one-layer card.  The colors are courtesy of the Play Date Cafe Challenge pictured below.

 My older son kindly pointed out that my card's swirls appear "more orange than yellow, mom".  AARRGGH - The ink is Squash from A Muse Studios and always appeared to be more of a mustard yellow than a mustard orange to me.

The swirl comes from the A Muse Studio Ornate Elements stamp set and it makes such an elegant frame for your sentiment when it is stamped twice.  While the swirl appears asymmetrical when stamped alone, once you turn it around and stamp it again the whole thing becomes aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

A tiny strip of Smokey Shadow fulfilled the color requirement for the PDCC but then disqualified for the OLW challenge.  No worries, this design is quick and easy to replicate!
Linked to 52 Card Pick Up - Week 10 and CAS-Fridays - For Sentimental Reasons.

LIM57 - Neutral Ginkgo

As a big lover of all things neutral (or as my mom puts it, "you like everything the color of dirt" -  is that a problem?) I could not let the Simply Less is More Challenge #57 pass me by.

Roni kindly let me use her Harvest Berry PTI stamp set (am I the only one that thinks this set was seriously misnamed - wouldn't Ginkgo Leaves have been a better name?) and I have big plans to make lots of cards for my MIL and SIL as gifts when we visit them in April.  No matter what color you stamp them in they are gorgeous!!  Sentiment is retired A Muse Artstamps.

OLW82 - Cream, Black and Bling plus faces. . .

This week's One Layer Wednesday challenge is Cream, Black and Bling and retired products - Cornish Heritage Farms Backgrounders (Scalloped Tiles, Art Nouveau) and wood-mounted A Muse Artstamps sentiments.  BTW - I just made up the part about using retired products but feel free to if you want. . .

The bling comes from a strip of double-sided tape sprinkled with Martha Stewart Onyx glitter.  This combo makes a simple but elegant look. Guess what else I worked on?

I am taking Pam Carriker's Pursue Portraits class.  Funny, I never took an online class until last year but I've really been enjoying them lately.

I drew these faces after watching the first 8 minutes of Lesson One - I'm going to go watch more and learn about shading - WHOO HOO!  Can't wait to see what I can do after 6 lessons!!

In the past when I've tried to make faces the eyes were invariably too large and way too high on the face.  Good to finally learn the rules of symmetry for face drawing - maybe with practice, I will one day produce something that looks like a  real person. . .kinda sorta.

PDCC118, PTI Day 6

A papercrafter would have to be living under a rock in the deep recesses of a cave in the middle of a vast wilderness to not know that Papertrey Ink is celebrating its 5th anniversary with lots fabulous releases, challenges and huge giveaways!!

This card is made with sketch #2 from Papertrey Ink and the colors from the current Playdate Cafe Challenge.  Definitely colors that are out of my comfort zone but I've been trying lots of new things lately and, therefore, in the spirit of embracing "different" I decided to make my own background paper with oil pastels.

Cardstock, vellum and sentiment (LIFE from Poppy Prints) are from Papertrey.

My favorite cards from 2011 -

This is the time of the year when lots of bloggers are reminiscing about their favorite projects of the past year.  Karin Martin is hosting "A Year in Review" on her blog, so I thought I'd jump on that bandwagon with my favorite cards from 2011.

This bird makes me happy since he is from cardstock that was covered in washi tape stuck in a plaid pattern.

Colored with Copics, this card features a fun layout and a set from SU! that has been sadly neglected -

The flower on this card is a removable pin - a card and a gift all in one!!

Carved my own chevron stamps - boy, have I loved using these on lots of projects this year.

Patterned paper that matches any color combo you want is possible if you stamp your own.

Sometimes everything adds up just right - That's how I feel about this CAS butterfly card!

The colors, stamp set and "beachy" feeling of this card set makes me miss living in Florida.

A gorgeous coat in a Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger sparked this yellow paper rose on a pink damask background.

This is one of my favorite cards ever from last year.  All the vintage images (Graphics Fairy) were imported, resized and printed onto vellum.  I cracked myself up with the punny sentiment - 

YUP - those are my favorites from 2011 -