Tuesday Trigger

Hey There,

Just wanted to stop by and share a card for this week's Tuesday Trigger Challenge over the Moxie Fab World Blog.  Here's our inspiration photo:  

Isn't it pretty?  Here's my card: 

(*Quick, Mom, avert your eyes!*... you may be seeing this card again...)  

I used the Hero Arts background stamp "Large Flower Background" to create this card.  I stamped and embossed the image in white and then colored it in with my Inktense pencils.  I love the subtle watercolor look that can be achieved with these pencils!  After I finished coloring, I added antique linen distress ink to help the white pop off the page a bit.  Lastly, I added a few finishing touches: green satin ribbon, my sentiment, and a lace edge. 

Thanks for visiting :) 

-Lizzy

Elegant Emerald

Hey There, 

I just wanted to pop in to share a card for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger Challenge: Elegant Emerald.  Here is our inspiration: 

Gorgeous, right?  Here's my take on it: 

I started by inking the background panel with distress inks and then stamping one of my Hero Arts background stamps (leaf and floral) over it.  I then added some vellum and stamped the Hero Arts envelop pattern in navy to resemble the model's veil.  Next came the  sentiment (PTI's Bountiful Banners), which is stamped in navy.  I surrounded the sentiment strip with gold striped washi tape as a nod to the model's pretty gold belt.  I think the butterfly is self-explanatory :)  It's a memory box die. 

 

I also want to enter it into the current A Blog Named Hero Challenge: Free Style.  And since butterflies come back in Spring, I'll also enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Easter/Spring.  And I'll add it to Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday: Inked Backgrounds.

Thanks for stopping by today!  

-Lizzy 

YCU Challenge #17

Hi Everyone,

Just dropping in for a quick hello and to share my card for the Young Crafters Unite Challenge #17: Something Sweet. 

I don't really have any stamps of sweet foods like ice cream or cookies, so I improvised a bit. Here's my card: 

I started by stamping the Hero Arts Snow Dots background in pumpkin pie ink (SU) and punched a hole out of the panel.  I then used a scallop die to make a frame around the circle with some patterned paper from American Crafts.  The sweet little girl and sentiment are both from Eat Cake Graphics, which has a bunch of great stamps and clever sentiments.  I thought the little girl and the sentiment would count for "something sweet."  I colored the girl with copics, cut her out, and mounted her with foam tape in the center of the circle.  I then cut out of the sentiment and also mounted it with foam.  Because I couldn't stop there, I added some stickles to her bow and socks and some glass effects gel to her shoes to look like patent leather. 

Lastly, I rounded the left top and bottom corners to help balance the card.

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope you're having a relaxing weekend! 

-Lizzy 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

I hope everyone is enjoying New Years Day!  I'm enjoying my time off of work and school today, and thought I would play with my stamps a little. 

Todays card is for the Paper Smooches Challenge: Anything Goes. 

I thought I would have some fun with some new dies and my new big shot that I got for Christmas :) 

For this card I started with the Hero Arts Clouds background stamp, which is inked up with Baja Breeze (SU).  I then die cut some patterned paper with a wave die (MFT).  The clouds (PTI) are made from white felt for a little extra texture.  I then used copic markers to color several images from the Surf and Turf stamp set from Paper Smooches, which has a bunch of cute images!  Lastly, I used a banner edge die (PTI) to stamp the sentiment and distressed the edge with antique linen distress ink to help it stand out a bit.  

The theme "anything goes" seems to be a popular one currently, so I'll be entering it into the Simon Says Stamp challenge too. 

Thanks for visiting today!  Hope you have a relaxing day! 

-Lizzy 

Stamping with Water & Distress Inks

Happy Weekend! 

I've had a bit of free time today, so, naturally, I made a card :)  I know we haven't even made it through Thanksgiving, but I couldn't resist making another Christmas card.  Here it is: 

I used a hero arts snowflake background stamp and inked it up with several distress inks.  I then spritzed the stamp with water before stamping it on some very vanilla cardstock.  This technique creates a pretty watercolor effect.  It's super simple to do-- here's how I did it: 

All you need are some distress inks, a water mister, and a background stamp.  I used shaded lilac, milled lavender, seedless preserves, and dusty concord inks.  My water mister is an Inkssentials tool, but any mister will do.  I've never tried doing this with any other types of ink, but I do know it will work with water color markers.  After gathering the supplies, randomly ink up the stamp starting with the lightest color and working towards the darkest.  

After the stamp has been inked, lightly mist it with water.  You'll see the ink bead up: 

Then it's time for stamping! 

See how it looks water-color-ish?  You can keep misting the stamp with water without applying additional ink and it will create lighter gradients of color, which is nice for filling in the paper.  And that's it!  Easy as pie! 

I embossed a hero arts sentiment in black and then created a frame with scor tape and prisma glitter around the sentiment.  And because the more glitter you add, the better the card is (duh...!), I added more tape around the outside of the card.  ....And then I added diamond stickles to the center of the snowflakes...ha!  [aka. best card E.V.E.R. ;) ] 

I'm entering it in this months Hero Arts contest: Bring on the Bling. 

Here's a close up of all that sparkly glitter: 

And one more of the whole card: 

That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by! 

-Lizzy 

Lawnscaping Challenge #45

Hello out there! 

It seems like such a long time since I've had the opportunity to sit down and make a card!  I think I'm going through withdrawal... ha!  I've been pretty busy with school work lately-- I'm currently in graduate school in a nurse practitioner program.  I love it, but it sure does make a dent in my card-making-time!  Anyways, enough about that boring stuff and on to the important stuff ;) 

 Todays card is for the latest Lawnscaping Challenge: Dust 'em off.

 The challenge objective is to use something in your stash that hasn't been used in a while...enter "Frosty Friends."  

I started with the background and inked up some white cardstock with distress inks.  I then used the Hero Arts "Snow dots" background stamp and spritzed it with water and stamped it onto the inked background.  I saw a tutorial a while back by Shari Caroll, I believe, using this same technique, but can't seem to find the link-- sorry!  After I used the background stamp, I used some snowflakes from the Frosty Friends set and stamped them in white to finish the snowy background.  Next came some fussy-cutting and paper-piecing so the snowmen could be properly dressed for winter.  I then cut out the hills, stamped the sentiment (let it snow stamp set), and added Perfect Pearls Mist to both for a little extra shine.  I also thought the hills could use some stickles so I added some along the edges.  I then assembled everything on the card and finished with some red baker's twine. 

And that's my card for the Lawnscaping Challenge!  Thanks for stopping by today! 

-Lizzy

Another Happy Birthday!

Today's posting is for a very special person to me-- my only favorite baby sister, Kelly, turns 18!  Woo-hoo!  She loves pattern and bright colors and I think her birthday card is perfect for her. 

I had such a fun time creating this card!  When I saw this washi tape, I couldn't help but think of Kelly.  It had such a fun assortment of colors and provided the inspiration for the colors used in the card.  I started by embossing the background (Hero Arts Snow Dots) with JudiKins egyptian gold embossing powder (a glittery gold powder).  Since it was stamped on white paper and, in hindsight, thought it would have looked better with vanilla paper, I used antique linen distress ink to tone down the white cardstock.  I then stamped the sentiment background with "Belinda's Borders" from Lawn Fawn and then embossed the sentiment (Lawn Fawn Sophie's sentiments) with black embossing powder.  The heart is also from Sophie's sentiments and it was embossed in black and colored with copics.  I couldn't resist adding a little glass effects gel-- see: 

Lastly, the front was mounted on pumpkin pie cardstock from Stampin' Up!.  

And there's another birthday card!  Thanks for visiting today!  Happy 18th Birthday, Kelly! 

-Lizzy 

Godzuki

Hi Everyone!

Today's card is a fun and simple Christmas card.  I used the tree in the "Believe" stamp set  and a sentiment from "Think Big Favorites #20" stamp set by Papertrey ink.  

I first stamped a background stamp (Hero Arts Snow Dots) in versamark ink on Kraft cardstock to create a subtle tone-on-tone look.  I then stamped the tree with memento tuxedo black ink and colored it with copics.  Next, I stamped a little star from the same stamp set and  colored it with copics too.  I then embossed the sentiment with black embossing powder on vellum.  In order to cover up the pesky glue dots holding the vellum down, I added some pretty red rhinestones, making it both practical and pretty!  And then to continue to the *sparkle* theme, I added stickles to the berries and a gold glitter pen to the star.  Lastly, I added some red baker's twine in line with the shape of the tree.  

As you can imagine, a simple card needed a simple photo shoot.  Our Director of Quality Control had other ideas, however.  Today we'll call him Godzuki.  

After he inspected my card, he needed to inspect the lights to ensure top-quality photos. 

Unfortunately, it seems today's card wasn't up-to-snuff, so Godzuki took it upon himself to take the place of my card... and model/take a nap.  

And yes-- in case you were wondering-- my nursing textbooks are clearly being put to excellent use. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  

-Lizzy