Leafy Thanks Card

Hi There!

I know it's not fall yet, but I recently saw the Autumn issue of Cardmaker magazine and couldn't resist the cover art. Oh so pretty! There are lots of fun techniques and card inside, too. I wanted to make that cover card!! So I did my best with what I had on hand.

(click to enlarge if you like)

I don't own the creative medium stuff that the cover card has on the background piece. I really do like how shiny and vibrant it looks, but didn't want to spend the money it would cost to get the stuff for possibly just one card. I got to work seeing if I could mimic the look with my crafty supplies. I tried some Perfect Pearls, but realized I don't have any fixative.  So, while it looked good, I couldn't "keep" the look from rubbing off. Darn. I tried blending some inks on white paper. Nope, no good. Hmmmmmm I found some Brilliance pigment pads from several years ago in Galaxy Gold and Cosmic Copper. So, I used those on black cardstock. It looked okay and still had a bit of sheen. Yay. I dried the first layer with my heat gun and blended another layer on top of that and dried it again. Good enough. I used a Darice woodgrain embossing folder to get the texture. 

The original piece used a tag, but I don't have any tag dies and I spent so much time working on the background piece, I didn't want to fuss with pulling out a die cutting machine and searching for a tag cut. So I opted for a Sizzix arched die. I cut that out of vellum and stamped the Lawn Fawn thanks (from the Happy Everything set) in Versafine black pigment ink and clear heat embossed that. Next, I cut a bunch of Lawn Fawn stitched leaves from various colors of cardstock(mostly DCWV, but also Ocean cardstock from Close To My Heart). I inked the edges with some Close To My Heart inks-Ocean, Vineyard Berry and Sunset. Then I hunted down my container of Waxy Flax from when I used to be a Close To My Heart consultant many, many moons ago. I also found some hemp. Tied some bows and adhered those down with glue. I wanted to add some sequins or something, but I don't have any in fall colors. I decided on some Dew Drops (remember those???).

All in all I am very satisfied with the end result. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day. 

Two CAS Cards using Stamplorations Stencils

Hi Friends!

I have a couple of cards to share today. Yay! A couple of weeks ago I commented on a new to me blog called After-Hours Ink & Flowers. Oh the beautiful work that Laura Jane produces. You should check it out. Her profile picture is so sweet! I adore her hat. She wears is beautifully. Anyway, I didn't pay attention to the part of the post that talked about a giveaway, I just wanted to comment on the lovely creation. Imagine my surprise when I got a comment from my friend Carol of Just Me:c saying I needed to contact the gal at Stamplorations as I had won some blog candy! What!?! Apparently my name was selected from the comments on that particular post. Whoo hoooo! Last weekend I ordered a couple of stencils and they arrived today. Yay! Fast shipping that arrived in plenty of time for me to play. :)

I ordered a stencil (or maybe it should be called a mask) called Shower of Flowers thanks to Carol. She completely inspired me with this card. I loved the colors! Here is my take using the stencil/mask, Ripe Persimmon and Tattered Rose distress inks. The sentiment is Avery Elle Oh Happy Day and I wasn't sure where to put it. I think it works. I added, though you can't really see it in the photo, some Wink of Stella all along the inside edges of  the white spaces on the butterflies for a little bit of sparkle. Thanks so much Carol, both for the heads up and the inspiration!!

The other stencil I ordered is called Leaf Prints and I chose to ink it with Twisted Citron and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks. The sentiment is from the same Avery Elle set. I added the Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins for a touch of bling. 

I could have added more layers to the cards, but I really wanted the stencils to shine this first time using them. These were so fun to play with. I think I will have a lot of fun trying out different color schemes and backgrounds with them. 

Thanks so very much for stopping by.  I hope you are having a great day. 

Floating Along...

Hello!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Things have been a little quiet here on the old blog recently. That is because my dad flew in for a week long visit. It's our summer ritual. One I'm very happy to be a part of. This year's visit was extra special as he celebrated his 85th birthday while here! Yay! My oldest brother was able to sneak away from where he lives in Idaho to be here as well. We had a little party for him and pampered him as much as he'd let us. To look at him, you would be hard pressed to believe he is 85. He is slowing down a bit, and suffers from diminishing eyesight due to macular degeneration, but he is always ready to go shopping! He lives in drought stricken southern California and aside from the joy he got from seeing his granddaughters, his next biggest joy was experiencing a few pretty loud thunderstorms. *Ü* He saw more rain in his week here than he has in a couple of years back home! Sure wish I could have sent some rain home with him, that is for sure.

Not long after he left, we got word that our good friend and neighbor took a fall and broke her ankle. :( Not only that, she messed up her big toe on the other foot! So not good! She's going to have a hard time getting around for the next month or two. I wanted to make her a card and thought this image might help her dream of where she'd like to be over where she has to be right now. I picked the image up at Tiddly Inks and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. My coloring is completely inspired by one of the samples shown with the digital stamp.

I was thinking if she could think about floating along on the water maybe she could imagine away any discomfort she is feeling. And while the drink may look like lemonade...it could have a little sumthin' sumthin' in it to help take away the pain, too, right? 

Anyway, that's it from me today. I hope you are having a great day!

Jane's Doodle Owl Watercolored ala Jennifer McGuire :)

Hi there!

On the 4th of July my local scrapbook/stamp store had a one day sale. Since we were in town I took some time to check it out. As I wandered the aisles I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked down toward the bottom of the section for owl stamps and goodies and saw the very same Jane's Doodle stamp set Jennifer McGuire used in her video on watercoloring and stamping here. That was last August and I've never quite been able to get that card out of my mind. I never expected to see it in this store! Lucky day for me!

Of course, when I got home I wanted to play with it, but had to wait. It was a holiday after all. :)

So, I got to work on it Sunday. Yes, this is a shameless CASE of Jennifer's card. I even used some Peerless watercolors. Not the ones she did as I don't have the same set, but who I liked the colors I had. I even added Perfect Pearls to get the shimmer. I took my time and let it dry over night. Then with bated breath, I cut through one wing. Ohhhh that hurt just a bit. In the end though, I did it because I just adored the card Jennifer had made. 

Here's how mine came out:

Tried to angle so you can see the shimmer.

He's a cutie!

(Feel free to click on any photo to enlarge it).

I even added Perfect Pearls to the background color. It's quite shimmery and I like it! 

Big smiles at how this one came out. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

I hope you are having a happy day. 

Hugs,

Jeanne

Twofer :)

Hi Friends!

Hope you had a great weekend. My family met up with some friends and took a very enjoyable walk to a city park and watched fireworks burst almost right above us. It was pretty cool. When we got home and went to bed, we couldn't sleep. Someone in the neighborhood decided to host their own show for a couple of hours(!) and it was way loud. Not so cool. 

But they finally stopped around 1:30 am or so.

Thank goodness.

Anyway, I got a couple of cards made. Which are inspired (okay, cased) by cards I saw online. 

This first one was inspired by this one.  I really liked the blue and the orange. I did tweak it a bit. :)

I don't have any diagonal stripes! Oh my! But I did have some old Close To My Heart pattern paper that worked. I also chose to random stamp the bubble stamp all over the large strip to give additional interest. The images are colored with pencil and blended with odorless mineral spirits. 

And here's the other part of the twofer...

I have been following a blog called Just Me: c and Carol is one of the nicest bloggers around. Her blog is simply a delight and so is she. She's also a pretty good enabler, so be forewarned if you've never been to her blog before. :) I just bought Ripe Persimmon distress ink thanks to her wonderful use of that color.

Anyway, the minute I saw this card I was smitten. I had a Spellbinders die that is so similar to the one Carol used, I knew I could case her card once I got delivery of Ripe Persimmon. Here's my version. Thanks for the inspiration, Carol!!

I used a Hero Arts butterfly die and Lawn Fawn hugs die. (I'm working on adding a few single word dies to my stash). 

That's it from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great week.

Happy 4th of July!

To my friends in the USA

Hope you have a fun and safe day celebrating. 

*Ü*

Jessica has been having some fun painting her toenails this summer. 

Hugs,

Jeanne