Angel Cards Set 2 of 3

Yesterday I posted the first set of cards for Paola's Angel Card Swap.  Here is the second set that I made for her:

 The stained glass image is one from a set of three in a retired SU set.  It's stamped with Memento onto clear vellum, then the reverse side was colored with SU markers.

CS is from SU: Pale Plum and Perfect Plum.  The darker CS was embossed and then misted with A Muse's Shimmer Mist to give it a pretty shimmer (love that stuff!)

Nesties Label die was used to cut out the vellum image and the window on the darker plum CS.  Deckle scissors were used to trim the corners, then it was all mounted onto the lighter plum CS, using pale violet half pearls for accents.

It's my first time trying the stained glass technique and it was fun. If you haven't tried it before, give it a whirl, you'll be glad that you did!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Angel Cards Set 1 of 3

Now don't faint!  Yes, I am actually posting to my bitty blog again this week!

My sweet friend Paola is hosting an angel card swap over on Split Coast, and I did something that I've never done before.  I took three - count them - three spots!  Oh my.  But, in my defense, I have so many angel stamps that have been waiting patiently for their turn at ink.

So I thought that I'd share pictures of the three sets that are on their way across the continent from me to Paola.

I apologize in advance for the photos of this card - I used shimmery black cardstock, DP that had copper accents, and then shimmery copper cardstock to black emboss the angels.  It is very striking IRL, but waaaay beyond my ability to photograph without glare.  The photos have been doctored quite a bit with my software at-hand, but this is the best that I could produce.

I have no idea who made the stamp, it was an eBay find many years ago and has absolutely no markings on it.  The inside of the card has this wonderful DP made by DCWV from "The Natural" stack.  Lovely, thick black paper with a copper grid and constellations in copper.

The angels and sentiment are embossed onto DCWV's Shimmer stack, a copper paper.  This card is a real departure from my usual style, so I hope that others enjoy them.

Thanks for stopping by & I hope to post Set #2 tomorrow.  Have a great day!

Dueling Darlings April Challenge - At Last!

Well, it certainly has taken me a while, but here is my April 15th card for the Dueling Darlings group on SCS.  This month's kit was amazing!  Terry sent us our kit and I was so excited when it came! (Then life got in the way and I am late posting, but not because I didn't LOVE her kit!)

The stamps Terry used were from SU's "On the Fly".  I just love this set and can't believe that I don't own it, ha ha!  She was very generous with her kit, including many swatches of DP, ribbon, brads, metal rings & dots, etc. So many great items to work with, how fun!

The base CS is black glimmer from American Crafts, and I used some of the striped DP that Terry included in the kit to frame the image.  The image is colored with Prismas and Derwent's Colour Soft pencils.

The fish is colored with Prismas and accented with Stardust Stickles painted on with a paint brush.  I was going for the fish scale affect, but my photographs don't show it too well.

The ribbon is attached through dark brass eyelets and twisted a couple of times (although it's a little off center in the photo)














Here's a close up of the fish which was cut out and popped out from the base of the card to give it some dimension.

  

Lastly, we were to tell of a special man in our life.  I am fortunate to have had many.  My mother is one of 7 children, only one of which was a brother.  He was my Godfather.  Several of his friends from High School married his sisters.  So I grew up in a family where all of my uncles and aunts had a long history together, and, for the most part, really enjoyed each other!

Special men in my life include my father, my Godfather, several uncles, my younger brother, my husband and my sons. Each are very different, but each contributes to who I am today.  I grew up camping, fishing, climbing trees, making forts, and fixing cars in my Dad's auto shop.  It was great, and taught me a wealth of things that keep me strong today. Every success that has come my way can be traced back to what I learned from my Dad and my uncles. I owe them a lot!

Thank you Terry for such a great kit and my apologies for being so tardy!

Happy Little Duckie!

Just look at this cutie!

 My dear friend Barb on Split Coast Stampers has started a new group of swappers, the Unidentified Image Swappers - here's how it works:

We all take turns being the hostess, Barb is the first hostess.  As such, she selects an image for all of us to work with and stamps off sets of the image and sends the sets with any instructions to everyone in the swap.

All swap members make 4 cards with her image and following her instructions, sending the cards to her by the due date.  The hostess swaps out the cards, returning 3 to each participant and keeping one for herself.

We are not to reveal (in our gallery or on our blog) what we made until after the due date.  It's loads of fun and utterly amazing how differently we all create using the same image!

Barb chose Gina K's Spring Has Sprung and this cute duckie from that stamp set for us to work with.  I just love him. He's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Classic Crest Avon Brilliant White CS.  What a DELIGHT it was to color on that CS!  Smooth as glass, everything just glides when blending!  I digress.

The duck is colored with various watercolor pencils and blender pens.  The green handle of the umbrella is with a SU marker, the pink trim on the umbrella is also with watercolor pencil and blender pen. I paper pieced the green polka dot paper onto the rest of the umbrella.  (The minute that I saw the image I just knew that I wanted to paper piece the umbrella)

I used chalk to color the water and sky behind him.  SU's Crystal Effects is painted onto his beak, eyes, the water & umbrella handle to give it some extra pop.

We were free to add any sentiment.  I decided to go for a baby card and heat embossed (clear) the "Adorable", added the bow and strips of DP from DCWV's "Nana's Nursery, Baby Girl" paper stack.  They are also glossy and glittery, although you can't tell from my picture here.

When we get our returns back there will be a set of images and instructions included from the next round's hostess and we'll begin the process all over again!  It's a great way to swap!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for leaving your comments!  You are all so considerate to do so!

My CASE of Shelly's CAS

Hello!  I am fortunate to belong to a group of blogging buddies on Split Coast Stampers called Stamp Addicts.  You can visit each member's blog by clicking the link in my sidebar.  About a month ago it was our turn to CASE one of our member's cards - Shelly.

Let me tell you, this was a daunting prospect!!  Just visit her blog My Creative Rumblings and check out her creative work.  You will see what I mean!  So intricately made and wonderfully embellished, never overdoing it - well, I was wondering how on earth I could possibly do any of her work justice!

Then I spied this CAS (Clean and Simple) card of hers and thought, surely I can work something up using this beauty.  Here's Shelly's handiwork:

Isn't this pretty? I love the soft coloring and subtle accents that the embossed background provides.



Well, after a brief debate, I decided that an Easter card was my choice and the colors would be purple and yellow.  Of course, the obvious choice for a stamp image was my favorite flower: a daffodil.








This was my first time attempting to use twine on a card. I always admire it so when others use it, so using Shelly's inspiration I gave it a go.

The purple panel was embossed and then sprayed with A Muse's Shimmer Mist, giving it a pearlescent shimmer.











My second take on Shelly's card is shown below.  I used a delicate embossed background on Certainly Celery CS, a MS border punch for the panel, and SU markers directly onto the rubber image.  It's finished with a shimmery white ribbon from a local store.

Thanks for looking and to Shelly & the rest of the Stamp Addicts gang: sorry that I am behind in my CASing!  Next up: some of Marilynn's cards-oh boy!

W is For: Woodgrain, Window, Welcome

My good friend Barb (barbaralynn on Split Coast) hosts great swaps.  This time she has come up with a new one:  "What's in a Letter?"  We are to take the first letter of our first or last name and create a card using items beginning with that letter.

My last name begins with a W, and I thought that it might be more challenging than using
D from my first name.  Here's what I came up with:

CS is Sage Shadow from SU, the DP is SU's Springtime Vintage.  I used a MS border punch on the reverse side for the lacy trim, and wrapped some sheer ribbon (Michael's or AC Moore) around it.  The half pearls are a lighter yellow IRL than they appear here.

The stamp set is also from SU: Window Dressing.  Isn't she just the cutest little girl looking at the little bird outside her window?  I tried a new technique and purposely left bits of the shutters uncolored.  I thought that maybe it agreed with the whimsical feel of the drawing.

Here's a side view to show how everything is popped up to give it some dimension.  I also added a strip of the floral DP on the inside for a little trim.

The image is stamped with pigment ink from A Muse Studios, their French Roast color, then heat set with clear EP.  The image was colored with SU markers.

Oh, I almost forgot: I stamped the background CS with a wood grain stamp that I bought while on the West Coast visiting my family last October. I'm not sure who makes the stamp.

Well, that's my W card, hopefully it is worth waiting for.  (I am late with this but Barb graciously accommodates me!!)

It was good therapy, I needed to get inky this weekend to get the crabbies out of me.  Just ask my family.  Thanks for stopping by!

Paola's Punch Art Swap Cards

Last weekend I tackled my friend Paola's Punch Art Swap cards.  Known as Sama on SCS (or Sweet P as we've dubbed her) Paola has a swap coming due on Splitcoast and the theme or challenge is to create something using our punches.

Well, I only have a few (less than 10) punches, and this was new territory for me, so of course I just had to sign up (ha ha).  Paola gave us loads of inspiration, including galleries, web sites and blogs to visit for ideas.  Then it became "what to choose?" for me.

Here is the card that I CASED for my swap.  I found Susan Rowe's SU Website during my search and thought her clever use of SU's Ornament Punch made a great flower.  Please check out her blog because she has some really great things there!

So here is what I came up with.  The base is Wasau's Stardust, it has little flecks of color in it that I just love.  The orange panel was embossed with a swirly design from a Fiskars EP.

The Top Note panel is also the Wasau Stardust CS, stamped with a leafy vine wheel from SU (not sure of the name).

The flower petals are punched using the Christmas Ornament punch, edges have been lightly dragged across the ink pad to give a hint of color.  The paper has a bit of a design in darker orange, although it doesn't seem to show up much here in the blog editor.




A scallop circle in green, smaller circle and then part of SU's punch that has 3 blossoms (sorry I can't seem to find the name of it) completes the inner portion of the flower.
The little gem in the center is actually more iridescent than purple, as it shows here.  I think it was reflecting something else around it.

Here's a side view attempting to show the panels which are popped out.  The flower is also popped, with each petal curved by rolling it from the center. (I sure hope that they don't get too flattened by shipping!)

After these pictures were taken I also added an orange panel on the inside to give it more substance.  The Wasau CS was only 80# so it was a little thin for my taste.

Well I must say that this swap made me wade into new waters, so thank you Paola!!  I sure hope that my cards are up to everyone's standards, because I've seen what some of the others have made in their weekly challenge game and it is IMPRESSIVE!!

Off to play, I need to create a special card for our son's 25th birthday this week.  He's our youngest and I have to say: "How did he get this old????"  LOL  Thanks for stopping by and thanks also for all the love you leave here for me!  It's truly a bright spot for me!