Cards - Jan 2010

Just wanted to share a card that was published in the January 2010 issue of CARDS. :) Lots of great inspiration as usual!

Relax

Ok, the other thing I can't stop doing with Furnishing Fun set from Schlosser Designs is using a comb to create a wooden look. Just can't help it! Maybe I need to stamp a non-wood color chair and that'll break the habit! :)
Hope everyone's haveing a good week so far! And hope that snow finally clears out! Man, I feel like we've had snow every day this year! I love snow but I've had enough already to last me a lifetime!

Ok, onto cards! For this one, I cut out a little pear and put it on the chair. Just a perfect resting spot. :) I don't put my pears on chairs but in this house, it'd get sat on.

I scored three lines underneath the sentiment to help ground it a little. And I took a little scrap piece to punch a border on the bottom. :) Simple and fun!

St. Patrick's Day

Now that lovey dovey day and fatty tuesday is over, we can celebrate the Irish! :) It's almost March so I think I can start posting lovely green cards now! Not to mention, I'm sick of seeing white white white white white everywhere I look. BRING on the green!

This is a card using Celtic Heritage from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I really liked how this turn out... nice and simple. Haha. I'm such a simple girl at heart.

I think you'll start to see in some of my cards that I've really enjoyed popping out the base of the card and having my image sort inside (rather than cutting a square and popping it out). Gotta give my punches some loving!

I took the clover and stamped it with versamark then with my hybrid ink. This gave me time to emboss the clover with clear embossing powder. Although its not easy to tell in person or in the photo, I like my heat gun.

Not sure what else there is to say... I think it's pretty self explanatory. The card is mainly scraps. I don't think I really cut anything -- except to punch my square. The nice little thin strip above my ribbon is a piece leftover after punching a border. I like saving them for occasions like this. *Smile*

Hope everyone's having a good week. And may the snow end soon!

WMS Blog Hop

Welcome to the first WMS customer blog hop! :) If you happened upon my blog, be sure to check out everyone else's LOVELY creations!

See Claire's blog for the full list.

I decided that I hadn't used my FAVORITE swirl in ages so it was time to pull it out again. Haha!

Since we were going with a spring theme, I pulled out Earth Angel. I love the girl from that set and so I inked her up again and paper pieced her press. A simple mask on her dress meant that her dress could have a swirl as well. :)

And if you've paid attention to my latest creations, you'll note that I really love insetting my images these days. So I did it again, this time with a partial circle cut from my nesties.

Next up is Kelly Schirmer, go check out the great creation she made!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Oh happy day! It's Friday! :) I sat down earlier and just wanted to play a little with Celtic Heritage from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

I've been seeing lots of fun emboss resist cards out there so I figured I'd try my hand at it. I've never done it before because I'm a "neat" stamper. I don't like unfinished edges. Even distressing stresses me out a little. Haha. But everyone's gotta live a little, right?

The clover is embossed in white and then sponged over with some spring moss pigment ink. I've learned a few things though through my trials... (1) A paper towel works so much better than expensive sponges and (2) Definitely ink off first to avoid ugly splotches of ink and harsh lines.

Other tip, don't try paper piercing once the darn sentiment piece is already adhered with dimensional adhesive... I had a scrap piece of paper that I used to cover my oopsies. Thankfully it works ok, I think... ;-)

enjoy relax live

This little card went to CHA. I'm sure it'll have lots of stories to tell. :) I'm hoping to be able to go to CHA Chicago -- anyone want to get me a ticket into the tradeshow? I'll love you forever! *Smile* I'll even provide housing (as long as you don't mind meeting my mom). Haha!

Again, this is a fun card using Furnishing Fun set from Schlosser Designs.Have I mentioned that I like stamping my own backgrounds? :) This is using the flower stamp for a fun bg. I love love love that image.

Did you notice the base? That's using the shelf from Furnishing Fun. Haha, I think that poor shelf is sick of just being a background set!

What's your favorite stamp to use for something it wasn't designed for?

Compose a Card 3 with Becky

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Yesterday was Chinese New Year, and being the horrible Asian that I am, I forgot it until reminded by a phone call from home. So no fish or dumplings in this household. :-P In any case, nian nian yo yu to all (basically "may you have plenty every year" or yu is a synonym for fish so "may you have fish every year").

Ok, the colors of Becky's Compose a Card 3 scared me to pieces. I like terracotta with spring rain and I like raspberry fizz. But now you want me to put them TOGETHER? Well, I figure I don't get many chances to make cards, so I might as well take the crazy challenges. Hah.

I love my flower stamps but I also like making my own flowers. So I figured for this challenge, that's what I'd do. I punched some 3 inch circles (give or take) and embossed some polka dots. The great thing is that since I was going to cut it up a little, the embossing didn't have to be perfect. :)

I took the circles and cut spirals and rolled them tightly. Once I finished rolling them, I let go and since I had rolled so tightly, they didn't give too much. I applied some glue to the base and now I had these cute little paper roses.

The frame is stamped with Very Vintage Labels No 4 from WMS. I adore that set. Can't put it down. I opted to cut a frame this time to give it a fun look as well. A few pink gems, swirly gems and a sentiment later, I called it a day. :)

celebrate

Happy St. Valentine's Day! :) Sorry I've been so bad about blogging. The business trips have been tiring me out -- just ask the hubs. He doesn't seem to understand why I take a nap at 6pm - 8pm and still go to bed at like 11pm. Yeah, traveling is not all its cut out to be. ;-)

I just wanted to share a quicky with you. I actually had all these posts in draft mode but I never got around to typing the rest of the post so I never posted them. Le sigh.

Anyhoo, this is a fun card with Furnishing Fun set from Schlosser Designs. I used the shelf stamp for a shelf! Shocker of shockers! ;-) It was a fun and simple card to put together (all I have time for these days). Let me know if you have any questions!

Anyone have any fun plans for today? I plan on napping today. Hah.

Compse a Card with Becky

Ok, post 2 today because I really don't feel like watching the Super Bowl... make sure to scroll down for my other post!

Haha, I think I had a rough time with Compose a Card with Becky. Becky, you place a lot of restrictions on a girl! First off, we had colors to go with, secondly we had to follow a cutting list. If this isn't all enough there's scoring and flowers involved! Talk about challenges!

And depending on how you squint, this is the same layout as this week's CPS sketch as well. :)

So I figured I'd try out Becky's challenge once and see what I felt (after all, she did sing to me so I feel like I owe it to her to try!). Let me tell ya, this card took me FOREVER to make. I don't know what it was... I like flowers, I like scoring, I like twine, I even like the colors... Maybe its just because it's Becky's challenge. ;-)

Ok, so onwards... I stamped the flowers from Friends til the End in Hibiscus. I own no flower punches -- that needs to be remedied but I tend to prioritize stamps over punches... I decided that I didn't want to score the 5 lines only 1/4 inch away from each other (gasp.... it's not in my nature to follow any challenge to the T - what fun is that?) so I scored them on a diagonal and 1 inch apart. I didn't go all the way... I drew a light line in pencil on the back so I'd stop about 1/3 of the way down.

I found a scrap piece of thin paper that was just barely wider than the ribbon and I felt like that helped to offset the scoring more than just the ribbon. Glued my scrap paper down and spent a little time fiddling with my ribbon.

I stamped just "Friend" originally but then after playing some more decided that I needed just a little more so I very carefully stamped the bottom. I know it doesn't photo well since my light source is coming from the top...

Ok, Becky, bring on the next one! This was fun - I'll have to play again! And knowing me, I won't do such a good job following instructions next time... it's rough following instructions!

WMS Blog Hop!

It's blog hop time! If you didn't come here from Bonnie's blog, then head over to Lynn's blog to join in on the fun!

Two of the new release stamp sets are up for grabs as prizes... one will be drawn from the comments left on one of the DT's blogs (and we're not telling you who's so be sure to leave a comment on all the blogs on the hop). The other will be drawn from all the comments left on the Claire's blog. The deadline for commenting and entering for the prizes will be 11:59 pm on Sunday, February 7th, and the winners will be announced on Monday!

I'm showcasing Spring Baskets again. Today I wanted to show you that you could use the other aspects (not just the baskets) to add more versatility to the set! I love using the side pieces of the sets to create patterns.

The first card I used a fun flower image (probably my favorite from the set) and colored it with my copics. A simple sentiment and some simple patterened paper, and a card is born!

This flower would make a lovely bg as well! I'm sure you'll be seeing it used like that in the future!

The second card I wanted to use the fun sentiments in the set. I paper pieced some eggs and adhered them to some paper. I then stamped the sentiment and attached it to the card with a button and some twine. So fun!

Isn't it a fun card to just give someone to show that you care?

Ok, I think I've hogged enough of your time and you're eager to see more inspiration!

Head over to Anya's blog -- she's got something "eggs"-ellent up her sleeve!