Congratulations On Your Little Princess

My third card today was created for the Share Joy challenge over on the Taylored Expressions blog. I kept it pretty simple by starting with a white card base and layering some patterned papers from Studio Calico's Story Time 6x6 collection on top. Using my Hot Off The Press Stitched Border stamp set I stamped a zigzag along the edge of the two patterned papers using Memento tuxedo black ink. I die cut a rectangle stitched panel from white cardstock using a Gina Marie Design die and mounted it straight onto the card and the glued some white rickrack from Wright's 1/4 of the way down the panel. I created a small bow and attached it using some glue dots. I stamped the adorable onesie from Taylored Expressions Onesie Twosie stamp set onto some of the patterned paper as well as the little crown and fussy cut those out. After gluing the crown directly onto the onesie I mounted it up off of the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and then stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set. Love how sweet and simple this card is!

Happy Easter

I typically don't create a lot of Easter cards but I do always send one to my little granddaughter and wanted to get started on hers now. I started with a white card base and layered on a piece of patterned paper from Doodlbug Design Springtime 6x6 paper pack. Love their bright and whimsical patterns! I then die cut a white card panel using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs and die cut the grass using the same stitched rectangle for the bottom and a Paper Smooches die for the top and layered it onto my white panel. I stamped the adorable egg and chick images from The Alley Way Stamps Spring Has Sprung stamp set onto more of the Doodlebug patterned paper and the cloud from the Paper Smooches Spiffy Scooter stamp set onto some white cardstock. I fussy cut them out and edged them with my dual-tipped tuxedo black Memento marker to give them a nice clean edge. I stamped the sentiment onto some white cardstock and then die cut it out using the bottom edge of a tag from Paper Smooches and the Gina Marie Designs rectangle die. I did the same thing on more of the patterned paper to layer underneath the tag. I popped all of the adorable images up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and mounted them all onto the card. A scattered a few clear sequins in 6 mm and 4 mm from Pretty Pink Posh around the images and called this card done. I know Journey will love it...I hope you do too!

Confetti

Today's card was created for the CYCI color challenge. I love the bright and happy combo of white, yellow, and turquoise and had just picked up the perfect stamp set to combine with this happy trio.  I started my card with a piece of canary yellow textured cardstock from the Ki 6x6 bright cardstock paper pad, textured it with dotted embossing folder from Lifestyle Krafts, and mounted it to my card base. I die cut a piece of Canson cold-press watercolor paper using a stitched edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs and stamped the sentiment from Unity Stamp Company's Confetti Kindness using Versafine onyx black ink, covered it with some Zing clear embossing powder and heat embossed it. I got my watercolor panel good and wet and then covered it lightly with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in salty ocean for a nice wash. I dabbed a bit of extra color in the center just to darken it more and then heat set it. Once dry I misted the entire panel with Tsunkineko sheer shimmer mist for a pretty opalescent shine.  I scattered a few sequins from The Ton and Pretty Pink Posh in canary yellow, turquoise, and marshmallow in 6mm and 4mm sizes and then mounted my panel up off of the card base using some 3M foam tape. I just love this stamp set and think I will have to make some card sets in various colors using it. It's a cute but true statement! Anyway, I hope you like it!

Happy birthday to you

Today's card was created for the latest Unity {show & tell} Facebook group challenge. I had just gotten a ton of new Unity stamps in and have been inking them up like crazy! I needed a card for my aunt's birthday this weekend and the Maggie Girl stamp set seemed like the perfect place to start. I stamped the image using Memento tuxedo black ink onto some 110 lb white cardstock from Staples and colored it using Copic markers in greens, pinks, and purples. I cut my image down and matted it onto some black cardstock from Hobby Lobby and then popped it up using some 3M foam tape. I stamped the sentiment from the set masking the word "friend" off with some painter's tape. I die cut the sentiment using some Gina Marie decorative dies and colored the outer edges using a Copic marker. I added a few sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and then mounted the whole card onto a white card base covered with a piece of pretty patterned paper from the American Crafts Welcome Spring 6x6 paper pad. I hope you like it!

Sometimes

My card today was created for the latest Unity Photo Challenge over on the Unity (show & tell) Facebook group. I love the gorgeous pattern in the inspiration photo and knew I had some lovely patterned paper that was similar. Both the rust and blue dotted patterned paper and the funky floral paper are from the Little Yellow Bicycle Fern & Forest 6x6 paper pad, which I happened to pick up on sale for $2.99 at my local Tuesday Morning. I felt that the patterns and colors pretty closely matched the inspiration colors. I wanted to use the Unity Stamp Company stamp set Rebuild Herself because the image is just so stunning and the sentiments are so very beautiful. I inked both the image and the sentiment onto some Copic-friendly 110 lb white cardstock from Staples using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the beautiful image using my Copic markers in shades of brown and blue and did some highlighting around the lettering on the sentiment and colored in the heart using some rusty reds. Using my Pebbles chalks I added a bit of light blue around the image for a light background and added a few sequins from The Ton. I adhered a piece of black cardstock from Hobby Lobby onto my cardbase and layered my patterned papers on top. I matted my focal image and sentiment onto the same black cardstock and then popped them both up off of the card using some 3M foam tape. I just love how beautifully this turned out! 

I Hope You Feel Beautiful

Today's card was created for this week's Unity Sketch Challenge on Facebook. This is the first ever Unity challenge I've ever participated in, which is crazy since I own tons of their stamps! I recently picked up quite a few of the Angie girl stamp sets on the recent sale over on their site so decided to showcase one of the newest ones I got. I started by stamping out the beautiful Angie girl from the I Hope You Feel Beautiful stamp set onto some Copic friendly white 110 lb paper and colored the image in using my Copic markers in blues and greens. I stamped the sentiment onto a smaller white panel and colored over it with a very light blue Copic for a bit of highlight. I cut each of the panels down and mounted them onto some pretty blue patterned paper from the Heidi Grace Sunshowers 6x6 paper pad and popped them up using some 3M foam tape for added dimension and interest. I added some clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the hat and sweater for some shimmer. I covered my card panel with the same blue patterned paper and then trimmed down some light green patterned paper from the same paper pack and adhered that on. I stamped the butterfly image from the Go Get It Girl stamp set, also by Unity Stamp Company, and fussy cut it out and popped it up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I added it to my top panel and added some more clear Wink of Stella glitter for some shine. I think it turned out beautifully! 

You Have A Pizza My Heart

For my second card today I had to use a new stamp and die set I recently picked up after seeing this adorable card by Audrey Tokach and Kristina Werner. If you're not familiar with these two incredibly talented ladies check them out. I've been a fan of both of them for years and have learned a lot about technique from reading their blogs. I decided to try and case Audrey's card after picking up the sweet American Crafts Heartland Farm 6x6 paper pad from Tuesday Morning on sale for only $2.99. It had the most adorable red and white check paper in it that I thought would make a great table cloth. I stamped the heart-shaped pizza, two of the slices, the pizza box, and the pizza slicer out onto some 110 lb white cardstock from Staples, colored the images using Copic markers and used the coordinating dies to die cut the images. I added the toppings to the pizza and slices using Memento dew drop inks in various colors. I used some more white card stock and using a round blending tool I inked part of the panel using some Tim Holtz salty ocean distress ink. I adhered a strip of the red and white patterned paper to the bottom of the inked panel and then die cut it using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. Using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals I popped all of the images up except the pizza cutter, which I adhered straight onto the focal panel. I cut the sentiment apart using some sharp scissors so I could stagger it and use different color inks. I added a few pretty little hearts and called this card done. I hope you like it!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today's card was created for my daughter to give to my granddaughter Journey for Valentine's Day. The child absolutely loves purple and is addicted to My Little Pony. I saw the adorable Magical Friends stamp set by The Greeting Farm Stamp company featured on the Marker Pop blog two weeks ago and knew I had to get it! I started with some Canson cold pressed watercolor paper and an inexpensive watercolor palette I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby this weekend. I laid down some water onto the paper and got it nice and wet and then slowly started to lay in my colors in a rainbow fashion until I got the color and saturation that I desired. I heat dried it with my heat gun and then misted the paper with Tsukineko frost shimmer spritz to give a gorgeous allover shimmer. I cut the whole panel using a rectangle stitched die from Gina Marie Designs and mounted it onto some dark purple textured cardstock from The Paper Studio and adhered it onto my white card base. I die cut a small pierced edge circle with dies from My Favorite Things from the same purple cardstock and then punched some little hearts using my Stampin' UP owl builder punch and adhered those onto my card. I stamped the adorable little unicorn from The Greeting Farm stamp set and colored her in using Copics in cool grays, purples, and a little pink for the cheeks. I fussy cut the image out and popped it up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and adhered it to the card. For the final touch I added a bit of clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to the mane and tail. This card turned out so adorably and I'm so glad I snagged this stamp set. I see getting a lot of use out of it!

Don't Wait For The Storn To Pass

Today's card was created for an old friend that is going through a rough patch with losing her job of 20 years. Her company downsized and she has found herself unemployed. I wanted to send her some happy mail to let her know I'm thinking about her during this rough period but to remind her that life is what we make it. She's a smart and tough lady and I know she will bounce back from this better and stronger but a little reminder never hurts, right? 

I started with some coldpress watercolor paper from The Artist's Gallery and stamped the beautiful image from Unity Stamp Company's Harmony Girl using Versafine onyx black ink. I heat set it using some Zing clear embossing powder to make it all waterproof. Using Tim Holtz distress inks in black soot, firehouse brick, faded jeans, salty ocean, spun sugar, scattered straw, and antique linen I painted my image and then zapped it with my heat tool to dry it. Once dry I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set using the same embossing process. Once heat set I sprinkled some water droplets all over to give it a nice mottled look and then mounted the image onto my white card base. Love how pretty it turned out! I hope it brightens my friend's day too!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today's card was created for the latest Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge. I started with a clean white card base and layered on some cocoa cardstock from Hobby Lobby. I die cut some hearts using a Paper Smooches die and some of the gorgeous patterned papers from the Echo Park This & That 6x6 paper pack and layered them onto my card. I stamped the sentiment from Hampton Arts using Versamark ink and heat embossed it using Recollections snow detail embossing powder. I added a few blush sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and added some white dashed lines around the outer edge of the card to mimic the lines on the felt sachets. I hope you like it!