Dotty Trees and Paper Smooches

Yesterday I tried using the tree stamp from Paper Smooches' Warm Hearts set to create a look inspired by this card created by Jennifer McGuire. I'd love to have that stencil, but until I pull the trigger and order it, I am trying to figure out how to get the same type of look on my own. My first attempt yesterday ended up in the garbage can. I decided to try again this afternoon. If at first you don't succeed and all that. My friend Kay's inspiration helped as well. Thanks again, Kay! I'm happier with my second attempt and maybe you will like it as well.

To create the look, I stamped the trees onto a piece of scrap cardstock. You could probably use a glossy cardstock, but I didn't have any close by. I used a craft knife to cut out the insides of the trees and used the image with the cutout openings as a stencil. I used four green inks. CTMH's Garden Green, Olive, New England Ivy and Ponderosa Pine. The dot stamps are from Papertrey Ink sets, Polka Dot Basics and Floral Frenzy. I decided to go ahead and stamp the tree image over the dots so that there was more line definition. I went back and restamped some of the dots to hide any missed spots. Then I used some colored pencils to fill in the tree trunks. I outlined the entire image with a Grey Copic Marker (I have just a few for this purpose). I used a snowflake stamp from Warm Hearts(and CTMH's Heavenly Blue ink) and added a glittery dot to the center. To fill in a little better I added some dot trios. Again, I drew a glittery line to anchor the trees.

That's it from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. *Ü*

Doodlebug Trees

I have recently become a big fan of Paper Smooches stamps. They are adorable and just my style. It doesn't hurt that Archiver's recently started carrying some of their stamps and I've discovered a new scrapbook store that carries many of the sets. I recently picked up Warm Hearts and had kind of drawn a blank as to what to do with all the cute images. My friend Kay gave me some inspiration today and I put my own twist on her idea. Thanks, Kay! Hope you like what I came up with.

I used the tree stamp in Warm Hearts and paper pieced them with some some fun Halloween Doodlebug paper. I added a bit of sparkle with a stardust pen. I drew a line with the same pen to anchor the trees. The stars got some sparkle too. I realized today, after a thorough search of my stamps, that I don't own any cute "happy halloween" sentiments. So, I resorted to an old CTMH Seasonal Thoughts stamp set. A bow with Doodlebug twine completed the look. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are having a happy day!

Hello Card

One can always count on Pinterest for eye candy when one has a few minutes to browse. I saw this card and wanted to recreate it using products I had on hand. Here's what I came up with. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I cut the window with my Cricut and the Creative Cards cartridge. In hindsight, I would probably make the window a little bit larger, but it's not too bad. 

I bought the trees stamp a while ago. It's even a woodie! Wow, huh? I stamped it in Cocoa ink (CTMH) and then sponged some Tim Holtz distress inks. I've popped up the window on foam dots. I punched the leaves with a Martha Stewart punch and used a Spellbinders die for the sentiment. The Hello is from Hello Blooms (CTMH) and is stamped in Garnet ink. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the bottom "wallpaper" and some Simple Stories Harvest paper for the top piece. The button was in my stash. 

I appreciate the inspiration I find out there on Pinterest and in blogland. 

That's it from me!

Hope you have a great start to your weekend.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hello! Owl and Dotty Birthday Cards

This first card has been sitting on my desk for a week or so. I got it done and took a picture, but didn't take the time to edit it until today. Then I saw there was a small scrap of paper laying right on top of the background paper. Ooops. Had to take a new photo. Looks better. 

Anyway, saw this design on Pinterest here and thought it was adorable.

Here's my take on it. Using Doodlebug Happy Harvest with a smidge of kraft paper. The pearls are from Michaels if I remember correctly. Those owls sure are cute!

Then I saw this card on Pinterest as well and had to create my own stamped version. I showed Jessica and she thought the dots were a paper, not stamped. Awwww, thanks honey. 

CTMH ink(Watermelon, Sunflower and Orange), cardstock and a bit of Bo Bunny Double Dots paper with some CTMH sparkle gems and some pink gems from Michaels (most likely). I also used a ribbon banner stamp from a stamp set that comes with the Artiste cartridge. The labels are cut with the Artiste cartridge. 

I used dot stamps from Papertrey Ink's Dot Basics set...have had that one for a lonnnnng time. Happy Birthday is from PTI's Birthday Basics set. 

Gosh it was fun to stamp the dots.

*Ü*

Thanks for stopping by. 

I've got one more to share in a new post. 

The "feel" of the card is less cutesy, so I decided to post it separately.

Knitted Lace With a Twist Cowl(s)

Ahhhh...I am loving the arrival of football season and the cool, crisp air that invites one to snuggle on the couch and work on handwork.  I've been really into knitting these days. I found a booklet at Hobby Lobby and fell in love with the cover project. Only, I couldn't find the yarn in the stores I frequent. So, I first made the project, a knitted Lace with a Twist cowl, with some multicolored  Loops and Threads yarn (a Michaels brand of yarn) called Seaside. While the colors are very nice and will coordinate well with my coat, I still pined for the yarn used on the front cover of the booklet.

I took advantage of an essentially free shipping promotion at Joann.com and bought the Red Heart Boutique Midnight yarn in the color Harvest Moon. I finished knitting the cowl the other night and just finished sewing it together. Gah...I love those colors. The camera hasn't picked it up, but there are strands of gold thread throughout the yarn that give it just a slight sparkle. 

Oh and I discovered that a different Michaels, one a little further away, does carry this yarn...in several colors. May have to pick some up sometime!

I'm currently working on knitting a hat for Amy. In purple, her favorite color. Will share when it's finished.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

 I have some more projects (cards) to share. 

It's feast or famine with me, I guess.

 *Ü*