Eiffel Tower at Sunset

Being laid up this summer with my foot surgery made me stir-crazy.  Lying about sounds good to someone who is too busy, and needs a rest.  (I remember uttering those words before surgery.)  But when you HAVE to lie down, for weeks on end, the grass is greener...yada yada.  I longed to have my life back to 'normal' and be busy...but not an overwrought kind of busy.

Well.

Feels like I went from 0 to 60 in about 2 seconds.  Though my foot still needs physical therapy a couple of times a week, I'm back in the saddle and then some.  Aye yi yi!  I'm soooooo glad I have lots of cards to share that were created before the busy-ness of life took over again.  Here's a publication-reject:

I could have sworn I put this on my blog before, but I must have been dreaming.  The card base has subtle stamping from Elements of Style (SU).  The center panel is a collage of stamps from Our Craft Lounge's Vintage Traveler.  I used different inks to create a sunset kind of effect.   A corduroy button -- topped with a little text sticker -- anchors a corner.

A bird from Elements of Style and my signature pearls topped off the upper portion of the panel.

One of my readers left a question about how I get my Liquid Pearls to look perfectly rounded (though there are none on this card).  Gee.  I never gave it a thought, but the next time I use that product, I will try to pay close attention to the way I do it.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!



Stamps: Vintage Traveler - Our Craft Lounge; Elements of Style - SU Paper: white naturals, Whisper White - SU Ink: Crumb Cake, Orchid Opulence, Pretty In Pink, Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace - SU; Walnut Stain - Ranger; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko Accessories & Tools: corduroy button - SU; text sticker - DCWV; pearls - Queen & Co.

Inspired By Stamping November Sneak Peeks - Garden Seed Packets

This is one of two posts today.  For the Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop, click HERE.

Hello there!  It's our last day of sneak peeks for the November release at Inspired By Stamping.  Today, we bring to you Garden Seed Packets.  (links for new items will work beginning on November 10th)

I created an ornament/decoration for a special friend.  She is so dear to me, and our friendship has indeed bloomed over the few years I've known her.

Using a couple of flower images from the stamp set, I created my own patterned paper.  Look how bright that red was before I toned it down!

A wooden heart from the craft store is the base of the project.  I simply traced its shape onto the patterned paper, trimmed and glued onto the heart.

To subdue that red, I used the dry-brushing technique with white paint, then coated it with high-gloss sealer when it was dry.

I glued pleated ribbon behind the heart....looked a bit too plain without it.  There are dots of liquid pearls along the border, too.  The banner and sentiment are from Garden Seed Packets, too.  A Red Flower and some punched greenery (and pearls; always, the pearls) topped it off.  Ta da!

The rest of our team has goodness to share with you:

Joanna - Irit - Leah - Shea - Grace - Rebecca - Vicki - Tina - Rose - Calypso   

Stuff To Know Before You Go:  
Save on the November release bundle!  10% discount until Dec 1st. -- Special Shipping prices!  Check Joanna's blog for more info.  -- PRIZE ALERT!! Joanna is giving away prizes every day during the sneak peeks.  Head over to her blog for your chance to win!

Tomorrow we can show you the November release in its entirety.  See you then!

"Moxie Fab Thanks!" Blog Hop

This is one of two posts today.  Please click HERE for the Inspired By Stamping November release post.  Thanks!

Our well-loved epicenter of the papercrafting community, Moxie Fab World, is sadly closing its doors.  Its creator and hostess extraordinaire, Cath Edvalson, is moving on to other things in life.  To show our appreciation for everything she has done for the crafty world, we're having a MAJOR, MAJOR blog hop.  I'm tickled pink that I could be part of this amazing outpouring of gratitude and affection.

You should have arrived here from Niki G's blog.  If you would like to start at the beginning, click HERE.  

I pondered a while, trying to decide how best to honor Cath.  I know the kinds of cards she is drawn to, as evidenced by her Pinterest board, "Cards I Just Love" (I am still so very proud that one of my creations made it onto that board.).  My style doesn't necessarily lean toward the super clean and simple, and often contains vintage touches.  I remembered that Cath likes roosters (check out her Pinterest board called,  "I'm Stricken With Chickens.") and it just so happens I recently bought some pretty chicken paper.  Voila!  An idea was born.

I attempted to include a sentiment on the front somehow, but it just didn't work aesthetically for me.  It was going to say "Good luck", and as roosters are a sign of good luck in a kitchen, it would have been appropriate.

Cath, I will miss you and MFW.  It kind of feels like our crafting world is bit more 'untethered' now.  Thank you for every lesson you taught, each lovely challenge, every smile you brought to our faces, the moxie-fab prizes you offered, and every crafter you highlighted in Moxie Fabber of the Week (thank you for letting me be one of the lucky ones).

If you are continuing on the hop, your next stop is Sharyn Tormanen.

Thanks for your visit today!

Paper: kraft - PTI; cream; Chocolate Chip, Old Olive - SU; hens - Michaels Fibers: linen thread - SU Accessories & Tools: crochet flower, button, large round scallop die - SU;  Branch punch - Martha Stewart; Bisque Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Chicken Wire die - MFT Die-namics

Inspired By Stamping Sneak Peeks - Vintage Dress Form

Welcome to Day Three of November sneak peeks for Inspired By Stamping!  Today's feature set is Vintage Dress Form. (links to all new items will work beginning on November 10th)

What I like about this set:  not only do you get this darling little dress form, but also three sentiments and several options to 'dress up' your dress form, as I did here --

I went with a pale blue scheme, basing my color choices on this AWESOME patterned paper from the Vintage Digital Paper pack.  After adding a sentiment from Vintage Dress Form, it needed something else.  The fleur de lis from one of my favorite IBS sets, Paris, was a no-brainer for me, with the Eiffel Tower already on the patterned paper.  I added some threaded vintage buttons for balance.

Isn't she pretty?  Had to add some liquid pearls to doll up my dress form.  And see what I mean about options to decorate the form?  This fancy bustier/corset makes me happy.  :-)

Want to see what the rest of the gals did with this set?

Joanna - Irit - Leah - Shea - Rebecca - Calypso - Tina - Rose - Vicki 

Stuff To Know Before You Go:  
All stamp sets will be offered at a 10% discount until Dec 1st. -- Special Shipping prices!  Check Joanna's blog for more info.  -- PRIZE ALERT!! Joanna is giving away prizes every day during the sneak peeks.  Head over to her blog for your chance to win!

See you tomorrow with one more sneak peek!

Inspired By Stamping November Sneak Peeks - Vintage PIeces

Welcome to Day Two of November sneak peeks at Inspired By Stamping!  Today we are showcasing Vintage Pieces (links for new items will work beginning November 10th).

There are so many neat images in this set, and I had a hard time choosing one for this card.  :-)  A good dilemma to have!  I love the spray of flowers and scrolled sentiment.  It gave me a great excuse to break out my markers. It was stamped on a Fancy Labels 2 die cut, and a pale cream ink was sponged all around the image while the paper was still in the die.

One of the Vintage Digital Papers is this pale minty blue pattern with doilies all over it.  Pairing it with pale lavender cardstock ties in the colors of my stamped image. The gorgeous Colonial Rose Satin Ribbon gives a pop of color to ground everything. I added some 'oomph' to my White Daisy Flower by layering a Paper Flower underneath, and I distressed it with some kraft ink.

Check out our design team's creations, too:

Joanna - Shea - Leah - Irit - Vicki - Rebecca - Tina - Rose - Grace

Stuff To Know Before You Go:  
All stamp sets will be offered at a 10% discount until Dec 1st. -- Special Shipping prices!  Check Joanna's blog for more info.  -- PRIZE ALERT!! Joanna is giving away prizes every day during the sneak peeks.  Head over to her blog for your chance to win!

Have a wonderful day, and thank you for coming by!

Inspired By Stamping November Sneak Peeks - Just Because & Vintage Thread

This is one of two posts today!  Please click HERE for my tutorial, "Colleen's Bows."  Thanks!

Welcome to Day One of November sneak peeks at Inspired By Stamping!  The releases this month -- stamps and digital papers, too -- are all in a vintage style.  SO up my alley!  Today, we are featuring two sets:  Just Because & Vintage Thread.  (Links to new sets will work beginning November 10th, when they are available for purchase)

I'm sharing a card made with Vintage Thread...a really cool little set!

I started with a pale peachy pink cardstock base, and stamped a thread notion design all over it, adding a little 25 cent stamp (from the upcoming Garden Seeds Packet set) to each one.  Then I stamped the same image on pretty dotted patterned paper from the Vintage Digital Paper package with brown ink, trimmed and distressed the edges with kraft ink.  The other thread notion design is a solid stamp, so I used a creamy brown to stamp it on white.  That one got a bit of genuine vintage thread (!), a lovely pearl stick pin and a 25 cent stamp.

The Scallop Border Crochet Trim,  White Curly Flower, Tiny Green Leaves and  Pale Peach Two-Tone Flowers seemed perfect accessories on this card, don't you think?

Our team has created many beautiful things to share, too:

Joanna - Leah  - Tina - Calypso  - Vicki - Irit - Shea - Rose - Rebecca 

Stuff To Know Before You Go:  
All stamp sets will be offered at a 10% discount until Dec 1st. -- Special Shipping prices!  Check Joanna's blog for more info.  -- PRIZE ALERT!! Joanna is giving away prizes every day during the sneak peeks.  Head over to her blog for your chance to win!

Thanks for your visit today!

A Bevy of Birds

This quartet of bird cards started way back in the summer.  As I lay in bed after my major bunionectomy surgery, I felt like coloring.  I'd already had these birds from Stampin' Up!'s Touch of Nature in my box of uncolored images.  Then, I looked up bird images on the Internet, and found some that I could adapt to this generic bird stamp.  (I've linked to them so you can see my inspiration)  Coloring them was great therapy.  And once I made more and more trips to my attic studio, I found ways to incorporate these birds onto different cards.

I see a lot of robins here in the Northeast:

The black patterned paper is from Anna Griffin, and the rust one is from Stampin' Up!.  After coloring the bird image, I subtly shaded the areas around him with Antique Linen distress ink, but you cannot really tell in the photos.

I should have written down which stamps I used along the way, because now I forget where this sentiment came from!  The black thread is vintage, from a thrift shop in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  :-)

I've got finches around my home, too, but none in this pretty black and yellow combo:

This black standard double-faced satin ribbon from Michael's own brand is a dream to work with.

After placing the The Paper Studio's Harper's Boutique music note paper up against the yellow of DCWV's Lemon Flower, it needed something else.  The black and white stripe, also from Harper's Boutique, look like piano keys here!  Added some Liquid Pearls to dress it up further.

I've never laid eyes on a junco bird, but boy are they pretty.  Feathered in soothing shades of brown, gray, black and white, they look so very soft, and I want to touch them.

I tried to match the feel and colors of the bird with a Soft Stone (PTI) card base, and a beautiful damask paper from Graphic 45.

Not exactly sure where this brown satin ribbon came from, but what a statement it makes with this bow.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments.

Bluebirds are important in Native American folklore.  I found this bit of info on Wikipedia:

The Navajo identify the Mountain Bluebird as a spirit in animal form, associated with the rising sun. The Bluebird Song is sung to remind tribe members to wake at dawn and rise to greet the sun:

Bluebird said to me,

"Get up, my grandchild.

It is dawn," it said to me.

And many of us have heard the term "bluebird of happiness".  Wikipedia attributes its origins to a song:

A popular American song of 1934, "Bluebird of Happiness" by Sandor Harmati and Edward Heyman, was recorded twice by Jan Peerce and also by Art Mooney and His Orchestra. That song is probably the origin of the American phrase "the bluebird of happiness," which is also mentioned in the film K-Pax and alluded to in the song "Over The Rainbow" from the "Wizard of Oz."

A Brilliant Blue card base (remember that retired SU color?) was rather bold for my taste, but went well with the bird, so I tempered it with lots of white.  The sentiment is from Inspired By Stamping's Chalkboard Birthday.

If you have questions about any of the products I used, feel free to give me a shout.  There's a link on the sidebar near the top that says "Contact Me".    I've just run out of time, and there's an awful lot of products used on all these cards!

Plaid Anniversary Wishes

Happy November!  The anniversary card below definitely reminds me of the autumn and winter, with its warm colors and plaid design.

A very special couple in our family recently celebrated a milestone anniversary and we threw a surprise party for them.  I tried to tailor the card to their tastes, and they do love plaid.  Since I had no plaid patterned paper, I made my own with Inspired By Stamping's Background Basics Lines.  That was fun!  The cereal box-chipboard hearts were coated in champagne chunky glitter.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Best Wishes.

I added a unique wooden button from the stash my aunt gave me, lovingly collected over many years, tied off with genuine vintage thread.

I do hope our relatives liked this, as it was made with lots of thought and attention to personalized detail.  It's a rather unexpected design for an anniversary card...what do you think of it?



Stamps: Best Wishes - Hero Arts; Background Basics Lines - Inspired By Stamping Paper: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White - SU Ink: Riding Hood Red, Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip - SU; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko Fibers: vintage thread Accessories & Tools: Scalloped Rectangle die - Spellbinders; vintage button; Full Heart, Heart-to-Heart punches, champagne chunky glitter - SU

Happy Halloween

It's Halloween today!  And it's my turn to be featured on the social media sites at Inspired By Stamping, so I created something seasonally appropriate.

These pumpkins were stamped on patterned papers using Pumpkin Faces (minus the facial parts ;).  After inking the edges, I stamped on some spiders and cobwebs from Halloween Tags, and a big spider from A Spooky Halloween.  A bit of twine stands in for vine tendrils.

I used a label from Halloween Labels as my sentiment.  It was heat embossed in black, then I got inky with a sponge and shades of purples.  The moon was colored with Copic markers.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!  Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate it.  :-)

Stamps: Halloween Labels, Pumpkin Faces, Halloween Tags, A Spooky Halloween  - IBS Paper: Pumpkin Pie, orange patterns - SU; black & white - The Paper Studio; white Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; various purples, orange Fibers: black ribbon - Michaels; Pea Pod twine - The Twinery Accessories & Tools: black embossing powder; Copic markers; Labels Four die - Spellbinders

Spooky!

It's just one day until Halloween here in the U.S., and we are all set for our trick-or-treaters.  My kids are old enough now to go on their own (with other friends), so it looks like I'll be home to hand out the candy.
I've got a picture of my older daughter in her costume further down this post, but first, a Halloween card.

Though it's been a while since I bought a $1.00 Scrap Bag from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I still have so many wonderful things from those bags.  This entire 'card kit' was in one of them.  Absolutely everything you see on this card was put together in a clear envelope, right down to the snippet of ribbon and stamped, punched image.  The bats were already glittered, paper panels already trimmed.  All I had to do was put the pieces together!

There are black-embossed spider webs on the black panel...can you see them in the photo below?  

I know the witch's feet come from the set Wicked Cool, but I am not sure about the sentiment.  Do you mind if I skip the Stamping Supplies section I usually include in my posts?

Here is my "Couture Clown":

The cuffs, neck collar and tutu were all no-sew projects, using nothing more than tulle and ribbon.  I used THIS tutorial to help me out.  The directions are for one adult-size tutu, but I simply adapted them for the cuffs and collar using a narrower ribbon and strips of tulle.  And, in case you are going to do this too, please know that I did not sew the ribbons as the blogger described.  I'm not really sure why she went to the trouble.  I used a long length of ribbon as the 'waistband' and added all those tulle strips, no sewing needed.

The hat was made with a dollar-store party hat, covered with three coats of white craft paint.  Three different sizes of Styrofoam balls were cut in half, painted black and covered with black glitter, then glued to the hat with a hot glue gun.

I think we spent less than $8 for this costume (unless you count the black leggings and black bodysuit; then it's over $25) because I used ribbon I had on hand.

See you tomorrow with another Halloween card, one I really love.  :-)

Love Sweet Love Engagement

My sister-in-law got engaged not too long ago, and I made a special card to express our excitement for the happy couple.

These Vintage Blue stamps are by Glitz Designs, and I was so excited when I found them at Hobby Lobby a year ago.   Love the shabby chic, vintage vibe of them.

My SIL is very much into fleur-de-lis images, so I made sure to include a couple of those on here.

Thanks for popping in today!

Stamps: Vintage Blue - Glitz Design; Paper: Crumb Cake, Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla, pattern - SU Ink: Crumb Cake, Bordering Blue - SU; Antique Linen - Ranger Fibers: white seam binding - Hug Snug; twill - SU Accessories & Tools: doily - Wilton; pearls - Recollections; corner round punch - Fiskars; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Floral Oval die - Spellbinders