PSX Lupine Card

I tried another of my older stamps today.

This one is Lupine by PSX. During June, our island is blanketed in these lovely flowers. They grow wild all over the island, and just about everyone has them in their yards. We have so many that we have an annual Lupine Festival, so I thought I should make a card with them.

The lupine on this card appears darker in the photograph than it is in person. It is actually a closer shade of pink to the background, but as usual, my phone's camera picked up the red pigments in the ink.

It is stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Superfine Detail Gold. The paper is my favorite Core'dinations pearl paper in white and pink. The flowers are colored with Copics and look shimmery because of the paper.

The lacy background was cut with a Spellbinders die. I had to die cut two frames and put them together to fit the stamp. The stamp is on a separate sheet and mounted onto the lacy piece to hide the seam, then outlined with PenTouch Gold.

I outlined the whole outside of the card with gold and added Liquid Pearls to finish it.

Tomorrow morning we are headed off for the weekend, I hope everyone who has a long weekend has a great time!

Rose Card

I was looking over some of my older stamps, and decided to try this one from Stampendous. I really like coloring with Copics on Core'dinations Pearl papers, so I stamped it with VersaMark, and embossed it with Superfine Detail Gold, then colored it. The pearl paper gives the Copics a shimmer that I really like.

I used Spellbinders Grand Labels Four, and cut the design out, then outlined it with PenTouch Gold, and mounted it onto a brighter pink, and cut out around that. Next, I used gold mirror card, (although the mirror card doesn't look like gold in the photo), and cut around that. Next, I used a larger die and cut some pink Core'dinations Gemstones out to form the card itself, and mounted everything on that. I used Queen & Co half pearls, but added more than I should have, but it looked too blank before I added them. I think I should have tried something different, instead of the pearls, but once they're on, it's too late to change them. I tried adding a bow, and that drew some attention away from all of those pearls and made it look better. The outside of the card was also outlined with PenTouch Gold.

I wish the gold mirror card showed up in the photo. I took it outdoors in bright sun, and I think the gold must have reflected the clear blue sky above.

Flower Soft Bouquet Card

Today I wanted to try making one of those floral bouquets with Flower Soft. I had originally planned on it looking different than it does. Instead, it ended up looking very much like one of the examples in the Flower Soft instructions. I guess they knew better than me, what looks good on a card! :-)

I'm still not really happy with this card, it looks kind of plain, but at least I've finally made a bouquet.

The paper is Core'dinations Pearl, in pink and white, and the diecut is a Marianne Creatables. The cone is from one of the sheets in Flower Soft's Floral Card Making Starter Kit. The kit is great because it contains a lot of examples from their other kits, and gives you an idea of what is in each kit, as well as three colors of Flower Soft. The color I used for the flowers is from the Flower Soft - Bouquet Colour Selection Box on the same page.

The "pearls" are Liquid Pearls.

My Exciting News

I haven't posted as much since I got back from Vacation partly because my internet connection has been either terribly slow, or non existent since I got back, partly because I am trying to catch up with all of your blogs on this bad connection, and partly because I have been working on projects for Our Daily Bread Designs.

I was so excited when the sweet and talented Challenge Team Coordinator Chris Olsen, asked me to be guest designer for the challenges for the month of September!

I have always loved ODBD's stamps, with their beautiful designs and wonderful messages, and began getting their stamps and entering their challenges last spring. Not only are their stamps wonderful, but Kelley and the design team members are so nice. (As well as very talented)!

Anyway, I've wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to make my examples, and try to do as good a job as Sherry Kushibab and Linda Lucas who preceded me, so I've mainly been working on examples for the September challenges early. That way, if I mess up, I've still got plenty of time to make a new example. :-)

I feel very honored to have been asked to be a guest designer for such a wonderful company. Thank you so much to Chris, Kelley, and the others who chose me!

Blue Iris Card

This card was made using JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners, and cut with their Nested Oval Medallion Labels and Nested Medallion Labels custom Dies. I stamped the designs with white ink, and embossed them also in white.

I cut the blue background using Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles, and mounted that onto white CS. Then I traced the inside of the die with a white Jellyroll pen, and went around the edges of the white card with a blue stamp pad, and blended the blue in as far as the outside edges of the blue die cut. The card actually is wedgewood blue, and all the blue matches. My phone's camera picks up the ink pigments differently than the paper pigments, and makes them look different. Also, it is pure white inside the lacy part of the die cut, even though it looks blue in the photo.

The stamped motifs were mounted dimensionally, then I added white pearls to the corners and a bow to the iris.

Still Catching up from Vacation

I'm still catching up from vacation. If I haven't visited your blogs yet, it's because my internet is barely working, so it's taking me a long time to catch up.

I have been working on some cards, but I can't show the ones I've been doing yet. Next week I'll be able to tell you why. :-) Instead, I'll talk about some of my new goodies I got at Michael's last week.

I got one of those multi colored 10 drawer rolling carts so I would have more storage. They were on sale. I'm glad I didn't pay full price, because there were a few screws missing even though everything was sealed. Since the kit would have been over $60 at regular price, I would have thought they would have had a few extra screws in there rather than too few. Also, the drawers don't fit very tightly and come out of their tracks easily. I don't hate it, it's very useful and I'm glad I bought it, but it wouldn't be worth $60. If you get one, don't expect to store anything like punches or large amounts of paper in the drawers, because it won't support them. It's great for things like stamp pads and bottles of Stickles and other light things though.

I also got one of those plastic storage boxes that have all the little containers for 4x6 photos. That was on sale too. I bought it to sort and hold all those beautiful K&Co dimensional stickers, as well as to sort some of my scraps in.

I also got one of the five piece sets of distress markers. I got the small set because I'm still building my collection of Copics, (I got some more of those too), and I wasn't sure I needed to start a collection of another brand of marker.

I finally found the Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles in stock, so I got those. Spellbinders has really been making some beautiful dies lately, and my wish list is getting too long!

I also got some of those plastic tubes you put ink into and a nib onto to make your own marker. I forgot what they are called, as well as some blending stump things. I can't remember what those are called either. (All my stuff is at my shop, so I can't look at the names of them).

Then I got more Liquid Pearls, more distress stamp pads, more memento dewdrops, more ribbon, more tape for my ATG, and some K&Co Christmas dimensional stickers.

I also finally found the MS Punch with three hydrangeas, and the one with three small butterflies, and the sand dollar and starfish one.

It was a really fun shopping trip!

Back from Vacation

We got back last night. Had a great time with the kids, and took a side trip to Thousand Islands (Wellesley Island) on the way home. Got to catch a glimpse of my Uncle's house while there. I loved that house while he was still alive, but it has been sold to some rich dude and is surrounded by a fence and a lot of trees, so I couldn't see it very well. Also, it is surrounded by a new development.

We used to have to go up a long driveway with canals and poplar trees on either side of the driveway, and no houses near it. It was beautiful in those days. I suppose after 40 years, things were bound to change. It was really good to see it anyway.

We also got to see Boldt Castle. They are doing an amazing job restoring it.

Got to Michael's but not Hobby Lobby while in Rochester, and picked up some really nice stuff. :-)

Spent today catching up on everything that needed to be done, and started a card project.

I will be gone for a week or so

Our nephew is getting married in Rochester, NY on Sunday, so we are leaving tomorrow. Since our son and his family also live there, we will be staying with them for the week.

Anyway, if I don't post to your blogs, that is why. I'll be back to visit you all on the 19th or 20th!

Morning Glory and Psalm ODBDSLC118 Scripture

I made this card for the challenge ODBDSLC118 Scripture at Our Daily Bread Designs. For the central motif, I used ODBD's Flower Border, cut with Spellbinders Labels Eighteen and colored it with sparkly Jellyroll pens, then outlined it with Krylon 18K gold. I mounted that onto some sparkly light blue paper which I cut around with scissors and also outline that in gold. Then I stamped a Psalm from ODBD's Faith Set using Brilliance Sky Blue, and cut that with a die two sizes smaller. I went around that with gold as well, and traced inside the die with a Jellyroll pen. I mounted that onto the sparkly blue paper, then mounted it dimensionally onto the frame.

The background paper is from K&Co. It is outlined and mounted onto the same sparkly blue, which is layered onto a white card. I made the bow, and added the ribbon before mounting the background to the card.

I decided the background paper needed a bit of sparkle so I used a gold Jellyroll on the flower stamens, then added some blue Stickles to everything, and some gold Stickles to the ribbon.

Lighthouse at Sunset

This card isn't as bright as this in person, but both my camera and my phone really like to enhance reds.

For this card I used a photo I had taken of a sunset printed out to 5.5 x 4.25 inches. Then I stamped Our Daily Bread Designs Keep My Lamp Burning using VersaFine Onyx Black onto the photo once, and onto a piece of ivory CS twice. I trimmed around the stamped image on the photo, and cut out the lighthouse and compass from one of the stampings on the ivory, and just the compass from the other.

I shaded the lighthouse and compass with a mix of Distress antique linen, and several shades of chalk, trying to get just a tint of the colors in the sunset. Then I added copics to the lantern room of the lighthouse to reflect the sunset, and to the compass.

The lighthouse is mounted dimensionally over the lighthouse in the photo, then the compass is mounted dimensionally on top of that. I layered the completed design onto some yellow CS, and two shades of antique copper CS, and then onto an ivory card. The brads in the corner are from Recollections.

I have 26 different sky images sized to 5.5 x 4.25 that I have zipped up to put on Etsy, but so far, even zipped, the file size is huge. Too big to upload. I really don't want to lower the quality too much, so I've got to figure out how to make them smaller. Sooner or later, I hope to get this background and the other 25 uploaded for anyone who is interested in downloading them to stamp on.

Creatables Front Pop Out Card

When I was making my front pop out cards, I kept wanting to try this Marianne Creatables die, but since it is only one size, I used Spellbinders instead. I really liked the depth I could create by using several sizes. Today I gave in and tried one with this die. I'm thinking now that I wish I had made the center part wider, but it really is quite pretty in person.

The blue paper is pearlescent and is from a stack I bought quite a few years ago. I think it was probably from DCWV. The white is Core'dinations pearl.

The flowers are some old Prima ones, and the ribbon is very old from Wright's Trim. The Stickles are Crystal.

Whale Birthday Card

My mother had a birthday a few days ago, and she likes nautical cards. She also likes the simple ones without a lot of bling, so I made this one for her a few days before her birthday.

It uses ivory CS, antique copper metallic CS, and a whale from a sheet of K&Co CS. I antiqued the edges of the K&Co CS, and added a JustRite birthday banner to it so it framed the whale's spout. Lastly, I added Bisque Liquid Pearls, and colored over them with a brown Copic. It made them sort of resemble rusty studs.

It was a very quick and easy card.

Very Cool Carousel Exploding Box

I just found the neatest exploding box made into a carousel on one of the blogs in my sidebar and had to share it with you. It is on the blog Hand made by Wisnia. I hope you enjoy seeing it!

Iris Pop Out Front Card

I decided to make another card I call a front pop out card. This was made from a tutorial by Marianne Skjelstad.

For this card, I used some peach pearlescent CS mounted onto a textured white CS. All the cutting on the DP was done with Spellbinder Labels Four, and Grand Labels Four, and with scissors on the white CS, so I could cut a narrow border. All parts were outlined with Krylon 18K gold.

The stamping was done using JustRite's Botanical Medallions & Banners-Clear. It was stamped with VersaMark, and embossed with Superfine Detail Gold.

I stamped the background, and cut it with Labels Four rather than the custom die which was made for these stamps, so it would match the card. The iris was colored with copics, and is stamped on Core'dinations pearl paper, to match the pearlescent background paper. The darker red in the irises isn't really dark in person, I think it just reflected differently when I took the photograph. I used shades of pink and yellow to make the peachy color, which matches the DP. To add the irises, I traced the inside of the frame stamp, and cut the oval with scissors. The irises, frame, and layer beneath it are all mounted dimensionally, which gives a lot of depth to the card.

The top photo shows the card closed, and the bottom photo shows it open.

PSX Fish Shack

I made this card using one of my old PSX stamps. I colored it mostly with Copics, but since I have so few of them, I also used some colored pencils. I wish I had colored the boat red, because it isn't colorful enough to suit me. The colors are so vintage looking that it reminds me of an old engraving I have from the 1800's though, so I don't mind it. The netting on this card is more of the 100 year old seining twine from the weir that used to be in the cove where my shop is.

The image is stamped onto ivory CS with VersaFine Onyx Black and cut with a Spellbinders Grand Calibur die. I mounted that onto green CS and cut around it to mat the image.

The card is also cut with the same die set. I cut the mottled blue CS with a larger die, then cut the ivory card larger than the background paper. The ivory card and center motif were distressed with Antique Linen.

The stamped motif and netting are mounted dimensionally onto the card.

More flowers I made from Prima flower parts

A few months ago, I showed some flowers I made from those containers of inexpensive flower parts from Prima.You can see that post here.

I mentioned then, that sometimes I like to take the time to make a bunch of flowers, so they will be ready for cards. I also mentioned that some of the flower parts weren't exactly beautiful, but when added to other parts, or having a stamp pad rubbed over them, I could make some really interesting flowers.

If you have some of these parts that you don't know what to do with, try playing with them. It's really fun!

Violet Floral Card odbdslc117

I made another card for the Our Daily Bread Designs ODBDSLC117 Sketch Challenge. For this card, I layered violet paper, gold mirror card and an Anna Griffin DP from my stash onto a white card. Before adding the DP, I ran a piece of wide ribbon down the center, and adhered it to the back of the DP, then I mounted that onto the mirror card.

All the center motifs were done on Core'dinations Pearl paper and mounted dimensionally. They were all also outlined with a Krylon 18K pen.

The bottom layer of the center motif is stamped with ODBD's Flower Border using VersaMark and Superfine Detail Gold EP. I cut it out with Spellbinders Labels Eighteen, and colored it with Copics.

The top layer was stamped using VersaMark and the same EP, for the frame, and Distress Peeled Paint for the sentiment. This layer is from the ODBD Eternity Set. It was cut with the ODBD Custom Die - Elegant Ovals. Last, I added a bow made from a narrower version of the same ribbon as the piece on the DP, and added Queen & Co pearls to the corners.