WATERCOLORED "INSIDE THE LINES"

I came to my table to clean up today and, when I opened the drawer where my designer paper is stored, one of the lovely floral prints in the Inside the Lines collection started yelling my name and screaming, "Use me! Use me!".  Can you see what I mean?

So I did what any responsible avid stamper would do . . . I cleared a tiny space in which to work, opened my Watercolor Pencils, dug under a lot of fun things to find my Blender Pen, and got busy.  Once I was finished coloring, I thought the small leaves could use a bit more vivid color, so I used an Aqua Painter and Old Olive ink to go over them.  I am finding this to be a "go to" trick when coloring with the pencils, and it seems to work whether I'm using cardstock, watercolor paper, or even designer paper as I learned today.  I'm usually really careful when using the Blender Pen since it can cause cardstock to pill/break down if overworked or if you don't keep the pen moving, but this paper held up very, very well to both coloring accoutrama.  

After the coloring was complete, I embossed the paper with the Elegant Dots embossing folder, added a few sequins, used a glitter brush on the bee's wings, and embossed the sentiment (which was stamped onto Vellum cardstock with black ink) with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  I should use this embossing powder more often--it's sooooooooo sparkly and pretty!

FROM TRASH TO TREASURE

We all know it’s good to recycle, but having a recycling bin in your house is just a reminder to take out the trash. However, those same items – empty bottles, cans, and packaging products – organized in a pretty basket labeled “Repurpose for Crafting”, are a springboard to creativity. As Earth Day approaches, dig into that “repurpose” basket. Pull out an empty can, some old catalogs or magazines, and some brown paper and Styrofoam packaging to create a lovely floral bouquet and coordinating note card. In this tutorial, you’ll learn three versions of a Faux Cloisonné technique, and you’ll quickly age and rust that vegetable can from last night’s dinner. After all, the center of “earth” is “art”, so let’s create something beautiful while we protect our planet. Bonus: Many steps in this project are perfect for children. While they may need help with some of the cutting and embossing, most of it is “kid-friendly”. What a great way to help our children learn to appreciate our resources by repurposing trash and turning garbage into art.

 

The tutorial for this clever project, which was designed by Buffy Cooper, can be found at Craft Project Central.

 

"SPECIAL REASON"

Today I needed to make a cheery card and wanted to use a brand new stamp set, Special Reason.  The images in this set are so pretty, and I was anxious to use the coordinating dies.  Most of the time, dies will cut the outline of an image, but the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies that coordinate with the stamp set have dies that make detail cuts as well.  They are beautiful!  Since I had not yet used this gorgeous product bundle, I visited Pinterest for inspiration and found the perfect card made by Juana Ambida to [shamelessly] CASE with just a couple of minor changes.  ;-)  

I don't know if I used the exact colors that she used, but following are the Stampin' Up! colors that I used:  Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Watermelon Wonder, Peach Parfait, Emerald Envy, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black Archival, and Pacific Point.  

A SILLY DAISY BITTYBLOOM FOR BETTY

The title of this post rolls off the tongue in a fun kind of way, huh?  While cleaning off my table and putting things away, I came across a cute Stamping Bella stamp that has hardly been used--maybe never, so I stopped the work in progress (isn't that what every good procrastinator would do) and made this card for aunt Betty:

I thought and thought and thought of what kind of sentiment I could use, and what caused so much thinking was the fact that Daisy Bittybloom is covering her mouth with her hands--as if she's said or done something sneaky or naughty or just sort of ha-ha.  I found this quote by Bert Williams, "I named all my children after flowers.  There's Lillie and Rose and my son, Artificial." but wanted to tweak it a bit to include a daisy, of course, and flowers that are favorites of aunt Betty's.  This seemed like a fun quote that will put a smile on her face.  In keeping with the quirky fun, I cut the card smaller than usual and finished it by adding twine tied in a bow and three sequins--because sequins are always fun!

ALL YEAR CHEER DECOR ENSEMBLE

Cheer up your home all year long with the All Year Cheer Décor Ensemble! Brighten up your mantle, a table or shelf with this classic HOME décor piece that includes interchangeable elements for each month of the year! And why not make two? Keep one for yourself and give the other as a gift with the coordinating card. 

The tutorial for this fun and clever project, which was designed by Julie, can be found at Craft Project Central.

 

"DAY AT THE BEACH" - SKETCH CHALLENGE #68

Two days ago, I posted Craft Project Central's Creating Pretty Cards - Card Challenge #68, and today I'm sharing the card that I created for the challenge:

I had so much fun with this card!  It was the first time that I have used the Day at the Beach stamp set, and this month's card challenge seemed like a perfect design for the three images that I chose.  The Whisper White card was sponged with Crumb Cake and Pacific Point ink, and then the two clouds were adhered to the front of the card.  BTW, I used the Tree Builder punch and Whisper White cardstock for the clouds.  The vellum layer was assembled separately so that I could place adhesive on the back of the frame and behind the sun, sand bucket, and beach ball images, which were colored with Watercolor Pencils and an Aqua Painter.  Foam Adhesive Strips were used to adhere the frame to the front of the vellum.  The sentiment that I chose is from the Glamper Greetings stamp set.  All Stampin' Up! products used to create this card are as follows:

Stamp Sets:  Day at the Beach, Glamper Greetings

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Vellum

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Pacific Point

Sizzix:  Layering Squares

Punch:  Tree Builder

Accessories:  Whisper White Baker's Twine, Watercolor Pencils, Aqua Painter, Foam Adhesive Strips, Stamping Sponges, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Snips

FREE TUTORIAL!!!!  If you click THIS LINK, you will be directed to a FREE tutorial of this month's Creating Pretty Cards - Card Challenge #68.  If you create a card and upload it at THIS LINK, then your name will be entered in the drawing for a FREE one-month subscription to the awesome tutorials at Craft Project Central!!!!  That's a fantastic give-away, and getting entered in the drawing is really easy.  For every 10 cards that are submitted for the card challenge, a winning name will be drawn!

CREATING PRETTY CARDS - CARD CHALLENGE #68

It's a new month, and that means there's a new Creating Pretty Cards - Card Challenge at Craft Project Central.  This is what Card Challenge #68 looks like:

This month's sketch was designed by Monika Davis, and you can follow her tutorial (HERE) to create a card.  Did you know that when you create a card for the challenge and upload it HERE, your name will be entered in a drawing for a FREE one-month subscription to Craft Project Central?  For every 10 cards that are uploaded for the challenge, there will be a winner!  Below is the card that Monika created:

"SENDING LOVE" VALENTINE/LOVE SAMPLER

Today begins a brand new month of awesome project tutorials at Craft Project Central, and I'm excited to have the bonus project tutorial that will be featured closer to the end of the month. The first February project is this stunning home décor piece that will fit into a 5” x 7” frame.  Using the products from the Sending Love Suite from Stampin’ Up!’s 2017 Occasions Catalog, you will learn how to make each of the sampler squares and then to assemble into the frame.

The tutorial for this lovely project, which was designed by Cindy Mitchell-Clark, can be found at Craft Project Central.  Today is a great time to get your subscription started so you won't miss out on anything!  By the way, I know most of my blog subscribers will be happy that full project photos are again being shared, which makes it so much easier to know more about each project at a glance. 

MY WOOLY WEEKEND

Whenever my mother talks to my great-nephew about his day, he always begins by saying, "Well, I got up", and I'll begin this post by saying that I got up early yesterday morning (really early for me) so that I could meet my parents and sister in Statesville, NC to attend the Quilting and Needle Art Extravaganza.  I was quite excited to go and to spend time with my family, but I had only allowed myself four hours of sleep.  When I stepped out of the shower at 2:00 a.m., I seriously considered just staying up until 7:00 a.m. but knew that wasn't really a good idea.  This was my second time attending this particular quilt show, and I knew there would be vendors there with wool and flannel and, of course, fabric.  I haven't dabbled much with fabric, but I'm always drawn to the beautiful colors and patterns.  It's sort of like designer paper for me, and I have started a small collection of it.  When we walked through the double doors, Auntie Ju's was staring us in the face.  Ahhhhhh.  And so I spent a considerable amount of time in their booth . . . and $$$.  There were other vendors of particular interest to me, one of which was the Dragonfly Quilt Shop. They have such a nice selection of flannel (and wool, patterns, etc.), so I felt compelled to lay down some $$$ there.  When I got home, I laid out the wool and flannel haul, and this is what it looked like:

Being around so much crafty goodness yesterday inspired me to pick up a needle last night and complete a project that I had started the night before.  The design is Buttermilk Basin's Live Each Season, which is the name of their free Block of the Month this year, and this is what the January pattern looks like:

Yesterday was such a fun day!  Daddy didn't attend the show, but he didn't seem to mind driving us there or waiting while we shopped. 

TWIST & POP-UP and BENDY CARD SWAPS

I have a class each month and normally plan three cards and one non-card project.  Several of the ladies who regularly attend my classes have been doing so for years and have become friends first, customers second.  They are a fantastic group, and I enjoy the time with them very much!  Each month, we decide on a swap theme for the next month's class.  Since we made a Twist and Pop-Up card and a Bendy card at the last class, it was decided that our January swap would be a choice of those two types of cards.  I can't believe that I didn't take a photo of my card, but I wanted to share the awesome swaps that my friends made.  I am so proud of them!!!  Not everyone participates in the swaps, but one of the highlights of each class is seeing what everyone made.  There are two photos of each (Twist and Pop-Up) card--the first photo is the card front, and the second photo shows the inside of the card:

 

Terry really loves us because she fussy cut the flowers on the front and

also on the first, third, and fourth panels of the pop-up.

Last, but certainly not least, is Jane's gorgeous Bendy card:

Didn't these ladies do a great job?!?!  Both of the card styles from which they had to choose can be challenging and definitely take time and commitment to make, and I am so pleased with their creations and proud of them!  I think these ladies should take turns leading our class!  ;-)