Happy Birthday... or Bust!

Another card done up with my new Spectrum Noir markers (less bleeding on the balloon this time!)  I messed with the party hat a little too much, and that caused some bleeding, but I can accept that.  I need to find a way to have MORE light color on the balloon highlight...  And finally got to use some of those great corduroy buttons I picked up on clearance from Stampin'Up!  Last, but certainly not least, I used the upside down Spellbinder die as a stencil to ink around the edge of my cat for additional depth.

Papers are from scraps and a DCWV paper stack, corduroy buttons from Stampin Up,yellow ink from A|Muse Studio, curly label die cut from Spellbinders (cut with my Big Shot).   

Get Well Soon

This is one of the first completed cards I worked on with my new Spectrum Noir markers.  

 

Overall the markers performed well, and I liked the effect I added with the grey in the leaves.  I'm getting a little better at flowers already!  I want to find some images that are a little larger to try out my hand at foliage techniques, but that will come another day.

The doily die cut is from the Prickly Pear, crushed ribbon and verse stamp from A|Muse Studio, curly label die cut from Spellbinders, and textured green cardstock from Denami Designs.

Remembering Pita Scrapbook Page

This page still needs a title, but it hasn't come to me yet.  This was a page I created to help remember our family cat, who passed away this spring.

This is Pita (or Cameron... or The Black and White Cat... or Golden Eyes --- it really depends who you ask).  I used all paper from the Yellow Flowers DCWV set, and supplemented with some deep red/maroon.  The label is cut using Spellbinders Labels 4.  The Flowers are Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers Bigz dies (layered with some random paper flowers in silver/grey and dark metallic brads).  The lable is held in place by one of the little metal Tim Holtz picks.

Happy Easter!

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a pair of cards I made for family this Easter.  This has become a big of a tradition for me - featuring the lovely "Sprinkles" (the feline focus of many of The Cat's Pajamas stamps) in bunny ears!  I'm sure there's a stamp that already does this, but there's nothing quite like putting my own on there :)

Making the card itself was pretty easy, thanks to Spellbinders!  I used layered oval and scalloped ovals die cuts.  The white square I cut myself and used the "notched corner" Stampin' Up punch.  I inked the edge of the square, and used the upside-down oval die to stencil the color into the oval.  The ink was Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass.

The stamped verse is A|Muse studio and stamped in their Sky pigment ink.  The ribbon is Stampin' Up from their 'clearance rack.'  I layered this on A|Muse Studio's yellow gingham paper (LOVE their paper - the inside is already white and ready to write on!).

And of course - I hand-cut white ears from some scraps, and used a colored pencil to finish off the ears/nose/eyes of the kitty.   All in all it was pretty quick!

I'm actually gone this weekend on a stampin' and scrappin' retreat!  I'm really excited!  I'm planning a post about how to pack- and prep-for a multi-day retreat.  Wish me luck!

You are Fabulous!

Here's another card I made recently (this will be going to my lovely Grandma for her birthday)!  This one was a lot of fun to create as I was able to combine some techniques and products I've been wanting to use for a while!

First - that background.  I'm totally stealing the idea from the lovely Jennifer McGuire.  Its pretty simple: stamp a harlequin background, and use your ruler to evenly draw Argyle lines on top.  In this case I used a glitter pen.  Check out the original inspiration card here: http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2012/01/go-to-gal-product-challenge-a-muse-studios-with-giveaway.html

If you know me at all, I like getting messy.  So of course there are inked edges in here SOMEWHERE.

The card was easy breezy - stamp the A|Muse Studio Harlquin background and make it Argyle by using the glitter pen.  Die cut the shape from the Spellbinders Labels 4 set.  I leave my sewing machine out now in an attempt to use it more often, so I layered the white/turquoise paper and quickly added zig zag stitching.  I stamped the verse from the AMS Hand Scripted set and cut the paper to look like a banner.  I put the whole thing together with some dimensional foam tape, jewel stickers, and ribbon.  Voila!

You are Fabulous

I have to admit I was pretty excited to create this card.  I didn't know how it would end, but I knew I wanted to play with my octagon bunch - what a trend right now!!

This card was beyond easy - the punch was from Making Memories, and I used scraps.  It probably took me longer to play with the placement of those dang shapes than it did to put the darn card together!

I decided to use my new Chevrons stamp from A|Muse Studio - LOVE this new set, part of the 2012 catalog! The words "you are fabulous" are from the AMS Hand Scripted set, which green AMS ink and blue Distress Ink.  The white punch is Stampin' Up, the green shape is Spellbinders (probably my favorite of all of them) cut with my Big Shot.  I added blue sparklies and DONE.  BAM.

Colour Q 127 and Mojo Monday 231

Well, I was too late to be able to submit this for Colour Q 127, but I played along with the color palette anyway! 

This card was fun to create because it forced me out of my comfort zone - these are definitely not colors that I naturally would gravitate toward, but whatever!

I had some fun paper from an old 6x6 paper stack that used these colors and I was able to finally use it, as well as (you guessed it) other old scraps and papers from my scrap collection.  I also used my sewing machine to add some interest.

 

Supplies: Shapes cut with my Big Shot; Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Ovals Large and Classic Ovals Large sets; Spellbinder Labels 4; butterfly punches from Martha Stewart; stamp from Stampin' Up; Ink from A|Muse Studio; misc brads.

See below for the details on the two challenges: