you're good for me.

Soooo, we have this lovely valentine's day inspiration photo for the current lawnscaping challenge, and what do I do?  Create something that seemingly has nothing to do with the aforementioned inspiration photo:



See, peeps, if we're really gonna be friends, I think you should be understanding a little of my creative process.  Here's a hint: it's riddled with crazy.  This is an exaggerated version of how it went down:

o, look at that pretty inspiration board.  mmmm....sweets.... i would like to eat them.  no!  i shouldn't.  i should eat something healthy instead.  hmmm.... veggies... naw, not veggies.  they make my jaw hurt.  how 'bout fruit.  yes, fruit.  still sweet, although not like the sweets in the photo... but good for me... sucks.  i'll make a card about the fruit i should be eating and then sneak another chocolate afterwards...



So there you have it.

I used images from "silly valentine" to create this punny valentine's day card.  The sentiment was custom-created via my computer.

Hope you like it!  This current challenge is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp.  Join in and you could win a gift certificate to their online store.

 

Gradient knits {saturday creations}

A little two-fer today.

I'm stamping a little assignment for the Clean and Simple card-making class...

...and getting some help from Precious Remembrance to make it happen.

The assignment on day 3 was to use 3 ink pads to stamp a gradient pattern:

I used 3 different hero arts ink pads: raspberry jam, bubble gum, and soft pink.

Starting at the bottom, I stamped in the raspberry jam, and, without wiping the stamp clean, I added some bubble gum ink before stamping down again.  The idea is to create "in between colors" and have a whole spectrum of different shades, all with 3 ink pads.  

By the way, I actually own a similar sweater :)  Just a Saturday morning fun-fact.  A few more, about the card:

- I stamped onto a vintage white cardstock, so that there are fleckles all over.  All of my knits have lint and pilled fibers all over, so I thought my stamped version should too.

- once I finished the stamping, I embossed a very subtle texture onto the sweater, to make it look more like a soft fabric.

- the sweater is a die (from Papertrey Ink) and I could have die-cut the sweater as the base layer of my card, but I liked the look of sticking it onto a card-base.  Plus, there was less stress involved in trying out this new technique: if I messed up, only half the amount of cardstock was wasted.  And I did waste one sweater in the process, ha.

- I added the super cute Precious Remembrance sentiment, from our Thanks stamp set, in a dark brown ink, and added another wood veneer heart.  I'm pretty sure I'll be using them all up at the rate I'm going *wink*

Happy weekend, all!

festive fridays - guest designer

Hi peeps!

I'm helping my friend Meredith kick off the first challenge over at Festive Fridays (where you can make your Christmas cards all year long to beat the rush!)

Here is the inspiration photo and color scheme for this week's challenge:

And, to kick things off, here's what I came up with:



I started out with a piece of CSS silver cardstock (swoon!  it's so pretty!) and white-heat embossed a damask background (from Wplus9) over the entire card base.  I then die-cut 2 tags (PTI's tag sale 4): one in red and one in white.  I also cut into the one in white with a tree die, and layered them one over the over.



Since I didn't want to detract from the damask background, I stamped my sentiment in 2 sections, and onto vellum.

If you have some time this week, you should join in the fun.  You have until February 13th to add your entry, and there is a prize up from grabs.

Happy Friday, all!

an ivy-league valentine & some fawnie news

News first, or card first?  Card first or news first?  *grin*




hee hee.  I've been waiting awhile to share that I've joined the lawn fawn design team!  woot!  I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Kelly Marie and the rest of the very talented group.  (I'm trying to play it cool here, kids, but I am pretty sure I've died and gone straight to crafty heaven.)

We're sharing some valentine's day inspiration this week, and I thought I'd use a few non-valentine sets to create this ivy league-inspired card.

I started out with a kraft base, and stamped the notebook image (from "schoolhouse backdrops") in white ink.  Next, I stamped the library card image onto white cardstock and created a custom sentiment (using "smitty's ABCs").



I then created a pocket for the library card out of red cardstock, and stamped the apple from "silly valentine" and the leafy images from "blissful botanicals" around it (or, around him?  the apple has a face, so I think it should be a "him." or "her." whatever.)



For fun, I stamped the elements first in versamark ink, and then shadow-stamped them again in a darker ink.  Just a little something extra.

Hope you like my card!

you balance me out.

Just a super quick post, because I wanted to play around with today's card class assignment: creating one-layer cards.

I slipped tiny little hearts into Libra's balances (from Mama Elephant's "cosmic stars" set) by way of - what else? - masking.  I then stamped a custom sentiment around her, and colored the letters in with copics.

I sewed on some washi tape (wow, that sounds weird) and added a little banner that I found in my scrap pile.  It pays to keep things :)

Thanks for popping by!

Love notes {bee mine}

Because smaller is definitely cuter.



I stamped the bee, then masked the bee and the bottom half of the tiny card, and sponged blue ink over the top.  Some pink accents, a matching sentiment, and glittery wings.  Done.



Hand-stamped enveloped sealed the deal.  Stripes inside, hexes out.



Actually, smaller-bee stickers sealed the deal.  For reals.

Check out more love-note-inspiration: Kim ♥ Laurie ♥ Lori ♥ Audrey  ♥ Laura ♥ Tracy ♥ CSS


Supplies:
stamps: (from Clear and Simple stamps) taglines: critters, background basics 1, designer lines
ink: tumbled glass distress ink, melon (fresh ink)
paper: a blanc check (clear and simple)
misc: mini tri-fold 2 die

new house thank you {Saturday Creations}

***this is my second post of the day.  If you're looking for the new CSS release post, scroll down, or click here***



Even though I haven't moved, don't plan to move, hate the thought of moving, I created a thank you card for the newly-relocated, recently-gifted person.  A new house thank you card.

I used PTI's barn die to create my folded card, but chopped the barn roof so it looked like a regular house roof instead.

I embossed the home with a striped embossing folder - I thought it looked a little cottag-y that way, like wood planks all across the front.

The roof was the only tedious part of the project:  I cut strips of paper with a scallop paper punch, and adhered them, starting at the base of the roof and working my way up.  Before adhering them, I sponged all of the edges - I love the dimension that gives the paper.



The Precious Remembrance sentiment is one big panel - isn't it cute?  I colored in all of the squares (thank you for... the gift, being you, everything) but I added glossy accents to the square that reads: everything.  It's much more obvious in real life, and a cute touch.

I hope you like it!  Have a great weekend - we'll be driving across the border for an American breakfast with the kids, just for fun, and to celebrate that I made it through the week as a single mum.  Husbands should never have to travel for work - our family isn't the same without him!  (Actually, I overheard the kids talking about it and it was hilarious: "when daddy comes home, I'm gonna hug him and then put him in time out, because that's what happens when you do something wrong.  Daddy will have to promise never to go away again.")