You're So Special

Hello and happy Sunday! Not sure what's going on with Mother Nature lately but it's late April and my region is still getting chilly, winter weather but I need to mow my lawn. Go figure! Anyway, on to crafty things. My card today was created for the latest Just Us Girls card challenge. To create my card I started by stamping the Hero Arts Leaf & Floral Background stamp onto some white cardstock with Versamagic and heat embossed with clear embossing powder by Zing. I heat set the panel and then inked it using my Tim Holtz round blending tool and ocean mist and edible eggplant inks from Gina K Designs. I wiped the panel down with a clean tissue to ensure that none of the ink was left standing on the embossed areas and then mounted up off of my white A2 card base using some fun foam from Hobby Lobby. I stamped the sentiment and the peacock from the Hero Arts Beautiful Peacocks stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and then colored the peacock using my alcohol markers and the inspiration colors. I die cut the image using a pierced edge oval die from My Favorite Things and adhered it directly onto the background panel. For a little sparkle and shine I added some shimmer to the peacock using my Spectrum Noir clear shimmer pen and added a few Recollections clear rhinestones around the sentiment. Thank you for popping by my blog today.  

Thanks-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello and happy Sunday! For the April Coffee and Cards Collaboration Debra and thought it would fun to use a stenciled background. I won't lie, this was a bit out of my wheelhouse. I'm more of a patterned paper girl but my good friend Becky has a ton of stencils and background stamps and is in love with the idea of making her own patterns and backgrounds. She inked this panel up sometime ago using the Hero Arts Glorious Petal stencil and Tim Holtz distress ink in picked raspberry and gave it to me. I have been hoarding it since before Christmas and decided it was time to use it. To compliment the panel I mounted it onto some black Stampin' UP cardstock and adhered it directly onto my white A2 card base. I then die cut a butterfly using a My Favorite Things two part die and inked the top layer in the same distress ink to match the panel. I die cut the sentiment using a Lil' Inkers Thanks die and some more of the same black cardstock twice and glued them together. I adhered the butterfly down to the card base by using some Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares on the back of the wings and some glue dots on the center of the body to give it some nice dimension. To finish my card off I glued the sentiment to the center of the butterfly and added some clear sequins in 4mm and 6mm around the card base. 

As for my coffee selection this month I opted for a nice toasty pistachio latte from Gloria Jeans. It was beyond delicious! Now be sure to pop on over to Deb's blog and see what she created this month and be sure to leave a comment if you like what you see. I appreciate them and I know Deb does too!

Shake, Rattle, & Roll

Hello and thank you for popping by my blog today! Today's card was created for the latest The Paper Players card challenge. To create my card I started by debossing a pierced edge circle into my focal panel using a My Favorite Things circle die. I then die cut a smaller circle using a Spellbinders circle die and some pretty patterned paper from the Authentique Delightful 6x6 paper pad and paper pieced it into the center of the circle. I stamped the sentiment from The Cat's Pajama's Shake, Rattle, & Roll stamp set underneath using Versafine onyx black ink. I stamped the sentiment again onto some patterned paper from the same paper pad and paper pieced the scroll onto the sentiment. I then stamped the sweet baby bunny from the same stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and colored it in using my warm grey alcohol markers. I paper pieced the bunny's diaper, nose, and rattle from the same patterned paper pad and adhered those onto the bunny.  I fussy cut the bunny out, mounted it onto the focal circle using some Scrapbook Adhesive foam squares and added some sweet pastel Simon Says Stamp Gelato confetti around the panel for some added interest and color. To complete the card I popped the entire panel up off of the card using some inexpensive fun foam I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I hope you like my card!

Celebrate

Today's card was created for my good friend Freda's upcoming birthday. I will be entering this card into the Cards 4 Galz card challenge. To create my card I started with some gorgeous patterned papers from the American Crafts Stay Colorful 6x6 paper pad, and layered them onto my A2 white card base by cutting them down using a stitched curved edge die from Paper Smooches and added a lacy border using a Simon Says Stamp eyelet border die. I then stamped the beautiful girl image from the Stamping Bella Uptown Girl Posh Has A Present stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and colored her in using my alcohol markers in colors that coordinated with the papers. I fussy cut the image out using my detail scissors and popped her up onto my card using some Scrapbook Adhesives foam dimensionals. To finish my card off I rounded the bottom corners using my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, stamped the sentiment from the Stampers Anonymous Crazy Talk stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink, and added a few turquoise sequins from The Ton around the card. Love how beautifully this card turned out. I know my friend will like it.  

Merry Christmas Upcycling

Hello and happy Monday! Today's card was created for the latest Jingle Belles card challenge. The challenge this month is to upcycle, recycle, etc. I have been doing this with Christmas cards for years. Each year before I recycle my holiday things I go through each of my cards and select the ones that can be re-used in one form or another. This beautiful card was just too easy. All I had to do was die cut a panel out of the main image using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. Stamp a sentiment from the Papertrey Ink Winter Snow Globe stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink onto the panel and add a few red sequins from Craft Medley the front. I mounted the entire panel onto some inexpensive fun foam from Hobby Lobby and popped it up onto an A2 white card base covered in some real red cardstock from Stampin' UP and this card was done. I love when I can re-use an item that would have ended up in the trash and it helps me get a leg up on my Christmas cards for the upcoming holiday season. Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Some People Strengthen Others

Hello and welcome to the March Words 2 Craft By Challenge. Our inspiration word quote is "All the best heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary." Gerard Way. My card completely embodies that sentiment with a simple statement, so I chose to keep it simple and let the sentiment be the star. I chose some pretty vintage rose patterned paper from Authentique's 6x6 Essentials Collection paper pad and cut a rectangle out of the center. I adhered the panel down to my white A2 card base and then stamped the sentiment from the Stampabilities Some People stamp set directly onto the cardstock using my Mini Misti for good placement and ink coverage. Using my Copic markers I highlighted some of the words to match the paper and then added some shimmer using my Spectrum Noir clear shimmer pen. To finish my card I added some clear rhinestones from Recollections, a pink satin bow from my ribbon collection, and some dashed black lines around the outside of the card using my Memento tuxedo black dual tip marker.