Hope Feathers

I took a quick peek at Mona's colors this morning and her card and they both were fabulous! So of course I pulled out my supplies before church and started playing around. Mind you nothing on this card was what I started with this morning. :) Mona's color challenge CR84FN4 this week is light purple, purple and grey.

Here is where my card ended up.

And here is the yummy inspiration photo:

The flowers were made from tissue  paper that came in my daughter's shoes. It had such a fun pattern that I pulled it and set it aside for future use.

I love this verse from Verses Rubber Stamps called: Hope Feathers QQ1007-D. The verse is:

Hope is the thing with feathers

that perches on the soul,

that sings a tune without words

and never stops at all. 

Emily Dickinson

And since I have a few bird stamps this comes in handy and is great to send to someone needing a little hope. The music notes is Hero Arts Cling stamp, the birds are Inkadinkado Dawn Houser. Inks: Hero Arts Lilac Shadow Ink, Memento London Fog, and Versafine Imperial Purple.   Other supplies: May Arts Silk Ribbon, Spellbinders Die Cuts Ovals, Labels 10, Doily. 

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

Suzz

Pink, Light Pink and Light Green

 Love the color combination of pinks and greens or pink and any color. :) I happened to have made up a butterfly previously and he has been floating around waiting for a card to land on. When I saw Mona's colors for her challenge this week CR84FN4 I decided to make that card.

Products: Stampin Up Bingo stamp, Ranunculus Field - Stampendous, Verses - How Do I Love Thee, Memento Pear Tart, Hero Arts (sentiment, butterfly, window screen), Versafine Vintage Sepia, Memory Box Paper.

Here is the beautiful inspiration photo:

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Suzz

Wedding Card

Caardvarks current challenge is to create a wedding card. The prize is an opportunity to be published in the CARDS magazine.

I like to switch up my style sometimes and do something more clean. (Very hard for me to keep it simple) But I was really pleased with the way this turned out of course with the embellishment I chose I had my big design element.

I have the fantastic Verses Stamp which is the poem "How do I love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barret Browning. I knew I wanted to use it on this card and when I was rummaging through my odds and ends drawer of embellishments I found these earrings which I had snuck out of the dress up box. These were hand me downs from Great grandmas junk jewelry box and are clip ons. So when the kids would try to wear them they really hurt the ears! (Didn't stop them from trying to wear them tho!)

Very simple card but I liked how the earring provided such a beautiful accent.

Products:

• Verses - How Do I Love Thee
• Versafine - Dove Grey
• Inkadinkado - Weddings Clear Set
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
• Hat Pin
• Vintage Jewelry
• McGill Tag Punch
• Silk Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by..

Suzz

Moxie Fab World - Tuesday Trigger

The Tuesday Trigger on the Moxie Fab world was selected by Maren B. Here is her inspiration picture from Pottery Barn.

Now you would think.... that if you had 3 porcelain plates purchased at a discount store with the intent of stamping on them..... that you would have had an Ah Ha moment when you saw the trigger....

Unfortunately some of us take a little longer. :) I love these plates I picked up and just this morning did I remember that they were sitting there and that they would look lovely with a similar idea.

The best part is I have had this poem from Verses which works perfectly with the image.

The hardest part about this project was finding something to put my cling stamps on that fit in the center of the plate. It only took me 5 failed attempts before I decided to look for a circle surface for my cling stamps. (glass jar top)

I stamped using my StaZon ink which takes nicely on the surface. If you make mistakes you can wipe it off using the StaZon cleaner. I don't have a sealant over my stamped image, so this will be a decoration only.

The verse in case you can't see it clearly is as follows:

Hope is the thing with feathers

that perches on the soul,

that sings a tune without words

and never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson

Products:

• Stampers Anonymous collection - Artful Flight
• Inkadinkado - 98170-K
• Verses - QQ1007-D Hope Feathers
• StaZon - Timber Brown

Off to Church and then cleaning up the Christmas decorations. The house always feels so bare after the holidays.

Hope you have a blessed Sunday!

Suzz

Wings of Dreams

Just playing around with my new Hero Arts Designblock Silhouette Grass.

I had a labels 8 die cut shape from white cardstock sitting on my desk from another project and decided to create a background.

The background is created by smearing tattered rose on my craft mat and spritzing water on the ink until it beads. Then use your finger to mix up the ink into swirls on the craft mat. Drag your white card stock through it until completely covered. Let dry with something on it to keep it flat.
Stamp the grass using versamark. Stamp the sentiment and birds using a brown pigment ink. Heat emboss using a clear embossing powder.

Sponge over the bottom half of the card with brown dye ink and top half with Ranger Distress Ink Tattered Rose.

Sponge the edges with brown dye ink and around the tops of the grass to give them a shadow.

Tie some twine around attach a button and you are done. :)

Products:

• Hero Arts - Silhouette Grass
• Hero Arts - Old Letter Writing
• Memento - Rich Cocoa
• Versafine - Vintage Sepia
• Ranger Distress Inks - Tattered Rose
• B Line Design Cube - Birds
• Verses - QQ0841-3 Wings of your Dreams
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - labels 8

I forgot to mention my new header. I enjoyed pulling out some of my vintage goodies for my holiday header that I thought I would go rummaging again. The cards leaning up in the background actually have a price tag from Woolworth's on them with 30 cents! I loved Woolworth's when we were growing up, you could always get a great deal. The other set of cards says it is the property of the churches woman's club that my Great-Aunt belonged to. Don't know how my mother ended up with them but glad I have them. My favorite is that little dog and his rug. My mother loved that dog and he always had a spot of honor on her shelf in the kitchen.

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

Trees in Moonlight

We had the biggest orange moon the other night... My DD and I were admiring it as we ran to a meeting together.


It looked very similar to this:

Of course the sky was a little darker here than I put in this card. :) The sentiment on this was something I ordered. Usually I buy stamps when I see them, but my LSS was having a special on Verses stamps and I love their stamps. So I went through the catalogue and ordered this one. I have so many birds stamps and make so many scenes I knew this would work well.

The trees are from Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz Reindeer Flight. (I actually have the wood block but wish I had bought the set.)

The sentiment is from Verses and the rest is Ranger Distress Inks Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Broken China. I stamped the trees with Versafine Olympia Green.

My favorite birds are from the B Line Birds Cube.

Have a fabulous day. I am off to clean.. aack!

Suzz

Silver Anniversary...

This is for the CPS Challenge this week and in honor of my BIL & SIL silver anniversary! I remember the first time I met them as it was the first time I went to a family event with my new boyfriend at their house.


They were expecting thier first child at that time and now she is a junior in college. Time passes so quickly.


Here is the silvery card... Very difficult to photgraph because of the reflective surface. Hence the outside shot.

I was so happy to find this quote from Browning in a Verses stamp. The background is embossed using a QuicKutz Embossing folder. The other background is embossed using silver embossing powder.

Products:

• Rubber Stampede - Wild Rose Background
• QuicKutz Embossing Folder
• Silver Embossing Powder
• Silver White Sheer Ribbon
• Verses - Grow Old
• Pearls
• Spellbinders Nestabilities

Have a wonderful day!

Suzz

Sorry it has been so long...

I have been busy with work and been trying to create a video. We ran into technical difficulties making the video but I still have plans to create a few videos. Stay tuned for those.

I have also been busy stamping... Just didn't get a chance to post them

I created two different projects for the Hero Arts blog Challenge: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/09/14/in-celebration-of-learning/ The challenge this week is about learning. Looking at cards from when we first started and what we have learned along the way.

The second challenge is from Louise's blog. http://kardkrazy.blogspot.com/2009/09/tag-challenge-16-grid-tag.html She hosts a Tuesday challenge and this week's challenge is grid tags.

For me the tag was a new area that I had never explored and was learned along the way along with the uses of scraps, embellishments and even grid cards... So this encompasses alot of things I have learned along the way in my stamping journey.


This was made from some beautiful scraps sent to me from Jacqueline. Thanks Jacqueline!

The second card is a thing I am still learning... How to use white effectively or negative space in my cards. I do tend to like my colors.. :)




So this was a little challenge for myself to keep my card in the whites/ivories...

Card Products:

• QuicKutz Embossing Folder - Diamonds and Dots
• Versamark
• Clear Embossing Flowers
• Clay Flowers
• Sheer Ivory Ribbon
• Hero Arts - Old Letter Writing
• Hero Arts - Real Salvia
• Hero Arts - Everyday Sayings

Tag Products:

• Ranger Distress Inks - Peeled Paint
• Memento - Rich Cocoa
• Versafine - Vintage Sepia
• Hero Arts - Monarch Butterfly
• Hero Arts - Purple Wash
• Penny Black - berry branch
• Hero Arts - Artistic Windows
• B Line Design - Bird Silhouettes
• Verses Rubber Stamps - Grow Old
• Inkadinkado - 96127 - CC
• Hero Arts - Old Letter Writing
• Hero Arts - Raindrop Background
• Hero Arts - Flower Word
  
  Thanks for stopping by...
  
  Suzz

Ferns and Flowers

This card actually inspired my card I shared yesterday. As I was sponging on this I had a little scrap that faded the green to ivory and the circle card started from that idea.


Nothing to difficult here... Just stamped, clear embossed and sponged to my heart's content. I actually stamped with versamark first, pigment ink for the ferns and then clear embossed the entire surface. Then I sponged with my green dye ink.

Products:

• Ranger Distress Inks - Shabby Shutters
• Versafine - Vintage Sepia
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Brads, Ribbon - Unknown
• Hero Arts - Three Ferns
• Hero Arts - Black and White Flowers
• Verses

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

National Scrapbooking Day

Two Pea's is hosting challenges all weekend for National Scrapbooking Day http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/nsd2009/. I created this card for a few of the challenges...




I was at my favorite LSS and they were offering 30% off on everything. I picked up this awesome template/stencil from The Crafter's Workshop. I traced it to make the shape of the card and the circles around the inside I sponged using this template.

The Sentiment was a new verses stamp. I thought the sentiment was a lovely expression and unfortunately I have needed several sympathy cards.

Products:

• Memento - Bamboo Leaves
• Ranger Distress Inks - Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Brown Corduroy
• The Crafters Workshop - Orchid Template
• Stampendous - Angathapus Cluster
• Cornish Heritage Farm - Dotted Diamonds
• Hero Arts - Soft Sand Shadow Ink
• Verses - Gently, Lovingly

Thanks for stopping by... Hope you get to play today for NSD!

Suzz

50th Anniversary...

We are invited to a 50th wedding anniversary... They are my MIL's cousin and his wife. I am so happy that we can go and celebrate this with them and their family. I find one of the hardest things with getting older is losing our loved ones. I am happy that they have 50 wonderful years together and are going strong.

I asked for some ideas, suggestions and inspirations over at the Flickr group and got some wonderful ideas which inspired me to create this card:

Products:

• Hero Arts Design Block - Wavy Leaf Pattern
• Verses - Love Bears All
• Ranger Embossing Powder - Queens Bee
• Ribbon, Flowers - Unknown
• DCWV - Patterned Paper. (I have had this forever and multiple sheets, not sure why I purchased them but it looks lovely behind the vellum)

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

KWerner Challenge # 42

Kristina's Color Challenge http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=701 this week reminds me of butterscotch..


I looked at the colors and thought of my alcohol inks. Butterscotch, Rust and Lettuce. I have used these colors together before and liked the effect. So I pulled them out to create a beautiful background color. (Side note: There are new colors out in the acohol inks from Ranger and they are on my list to get!)



Since I have done a card with similar colors I wanted to do something different for the flowers. I use a light yellow embossing powder and was really pleased with the effect.

Products:

• Ranger Alcohol Inks - Butterscotch, Lettuce, Rust
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Light Yellow Embossing Powder
• Magenta - 09150M
• Verses - Kiss of the Sun
• Martha Stewart Ribbon
• K&Company & Kaisers Gemstones

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

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Flowers and Wood Grain

This week challenge on Hero Arts is to use your favorite stamps from Hero Arts. I actually have a few I like to use repeatedly. This card pulls a couple of them into one card.

Products:

• Hero Arts - Coneflower
• Hero Arts - Wood Grain
• Hero Arts - Real Field Wildflower
• Hero Arts - Wild Fairy Lily
• Hero Arts - Soft Sand Ink Pad
• StazOn - Olive Green
• Watercolor Markers
• Color Pencils
• Pebbles Inc. Pearlescent Chalks
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Acetate
• Clear Embossing Powder
• American Craft - Ribbon
• Hero Arts - French Script

I love their wildflowers and wood grain stamp and used both in this card. Sorry about the picture we are in a dense fog advisory this morning and I had to take my picture indoors. On my to do list is to set up a space to take better pictures. :)

Speaking of spaces my youngest took a snapshot of my craft space. I decided to share it with you. (Very cluttered) My craft space has moved multiple times and is transitional so my storage is all about plastic drawers.

The desk is a desk my husband made in high school wood working class. This tells you how talented he is in woodworking. He made me my ink pad storage which is in the picture to the left and it works wonderfully. Although this looks very messy I know where everything is and can pull it out very quickly as I need it.

Thanks for stopping by...

Suzz

Nature prints...

I have been playing with leaves. I was walking my daughter home from the bus and some beautiful yellow leaves were laying on the ground. We picked up 4 or 5 and she thought it was great fun.

I decided to stamp my leaves. Here are some pictures of my experience.

Here are some of the supplies I used to create the background.

Here is my first background:

Mini-Recipe:

1. Lay leaf on a scrap piece of paper. Ink leave with pigment ink.
2. Lay leaf with ink face down on white cardstock. Lay another piece of scrap over the leaf and brayer the leaf several times.
3. Lift leaf up and oohh and ahh over the detail you stamped.. :)
4. Cover with clear embossing powder and heat emboss.
5. Sponge golden yellow ink. Sponge brown ink around the edges.

Here is my second background:

I also used a poinsetta flower petal which provided the most detail. The poinsetta flower petal was gorgeous. I didn't end up putting it on a card because it was too large when I finished with it.

Here is the card I put together using the tree leaves.
Products:

• Versafine - Olympia Green
• Memento - Rich Cocoa
• Memories - Honey
• Verses - Apache Blessing
• Ribbon - Unknown
• Kaisers - Gems
  

Thanks for stopping by...

Wax Paper Embossing

For the Resist This! challenge on SOF... I took some regular wax paper that you use in the kitchen to do a resist on glossy paper. I took the wax paper on some of the pieces and ran them through the Cuttlebug embossing folder. After I finished using the embossed wax paper for the resist I thought the embossed wax paper looked like vellum.

I decided to use two of the embossed wax paper sheets. I colored on the reverse side in the embossed surface on one. On the other I tried to brush my versamark ink pad on the raised surface and heat emboss.

I am sharing a card I made from the heat emboss technique.


The recipe on this was so simple. I did cuttlebug emboss the wax paper and the brown carstock it is mounted on. I heat embossed with enchanted gold embossing powder after I smeared versamark on the ridges. I also heat embossed my butterfly to match.

Products:

• Verses - Sentiment
• Gems - K and CO
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Textured Textile
• Blue Moon - Lost Charms
• Ribbon - Michael's

TFL!

Fat Book Page Challenge...

Andi who has a great blog: http://www.andisperfectgravy.blogspot.com/ is hosting a challenge for Stamptoberfest. Her challenge is for Fat Book Pages. http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2661702 I have never created these before and thought it would be fun to try.


This is the front of my page.


Andi suggested putting something on the back of the page and highlighting who created it and for what.

I just thought I would highlight it was for stamptoberfest 2008.










Recipe:

1. Cut 2 squares 4 x 4". I actually created my background previously and was able to just cut the green squares. To create the green background I mixed Zemon Lest Glimmer Mist with Olive Green Glimmer Mist. The Olive Green Glimmer Mist has a ton of gold shimmer in it.
2. On the front I stamped my tree banch with versamark and embossed it with Copper emobssing powder.
3. I then versamarked my sentiment just below the branch and embossed it with a slate blue.
4. I then stamped the hummingbird and embossed it on light blue paper with the same slate blue embossing powder and cut it out. I really wanted a black crow but I didn't have anything the right size. :(
5. I then embossed the buttons and the charm to match the embossing done previously. The buttons tend to move and the charm will get hot, I used a stylus with a metal tip that I could stick in the button hole and hold it in place.
6. I assembled all the pieces. On the back I embossed the berries and stamped the letters used the same string from the front and added a bird charm.

Products:

• JudiKins Copper Embossing Powder
• Versmark Watermark Ink Pad
• Versafine Blue Lagoon Ink Pad
• Stampendous Pearlustre - Sapphire Embossing Powder
• Inkadinkado - 97982-K Hummingbird
• The Artful Stamper - (Berries on the back)
• Penny Black 3886J - berry branch
• Verses Rubber Stamps - QQ0838-F Apache Blessing
• EK Success - Ribbon
• Charm - Michaels, brand unknown
• Bird Charm - Blue Moon Lost Charms

Thanks for Looking!