Love at First Sight

Good morning! I recently got my first set of Waffle Flower Crafts Stamps - called Monochrome, so the other night I sat down to play along with their monthly challenge. Here is what I came up with:

Here was the Inspiration Photo for the current challenge:

I loved the pink and navy color scheme, as well as the white space and sprinkling of elements. I used MFT inks - the background is particularly hard to see in the photos, but I stamped the mice in very soft gray for a background, then one of the heart elements from the stamp set. The mice are actually a darker navy than this photo shows, but it was the only way I could get the background mice to show at least a little bit! I used some American Crafts pattern paper, a couple of Lil' Inker's Dies, a few Pretty Pink Posh sequins, a bit of machine stitching, and some jute twine to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!

Make a wish - and Happy Birthday!

Good morning! I'm posting one final time this morning as guest designer for Unity Stamp Company for the month! It has been such a fun month for me - thank you so much for stopping by each week, and for the sweet comments you left me! I would love if you stop by there and say hi one last time! :)

Today I'm sharing a couple cards I made using the "smooshing" technique! I basically used a few different ink colors, smooshed them on my nonstick mat, misted with water, swirled together a bit with my fingers to smooth the edges, then smooshed my cardstock in there and allowed to dry before adding my images and sentiments. 

This first one, I used a soft color combo, then used Plenty of Pandas to add my image and sentiment. Oh how I love these sweet pandas! 

I added some pattern paper layers stitched together, some Glossy Accents and glitter, and a few sequins.

Next up - I went with a much bolder color combo:

I used this fun set that I just love, Far Better Things Ahead Grab Bag - LOVE the variety in this set!

Finished off by drawing a string in with a black pen, added a few wood veneer stars, and covered the balloon with Glossy Accents. Let me just tell you - that took FOREVER to dry! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by one more time to see me today! Have a wonderful day!!!

Crazy Birds

Good morning! Super excited to share a fun trio of cards I made with the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp set - these crack me up every time, and I absolutely LOVE playing with them! Here is a quick peek at all 3 cards - and then I have close ups of each one below:

I also made this for a few challenges - first up, the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. This actually worked for two days - the birds were all done one day, and I added the coloring under them the next day!

Simon Says Monday Challenge - One Stamp, Many Ways (I one stamp SET for the images, and one for the sentiments):

Also linking up with the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Challenge - Spring (what is more spring than birds? Even when they look this silly!):

And finally, joining in with the Simon Say's Flickr Challenge - also Springtime/Easter:

Now - here are close ups of each one! I paired them up with sentiments from Simon Says Stamp's Inside and Out Sentiments - although I used all the sentiments on the front.

I used Jennifer Mcguire's technique of coloring with pigment ink for these images. Love how it worked!

I used some Memento Luxe ink in a couple different color combos, and just dipped my finger in, and smeared it around. 

I then covered them with clear embossing powder and heat embossed for the same shine she had on her projects.

I fussy cut them out, and then paper pieced them onto my card base to make sure the legs and finer details showed up.

I re-stamped on white cardstock, and fussy cut out the eyes, then paper pieced those on so they were nice and clear and white - then covered them with a nice heavy and thick coat of Glossy Accents (then waited FOREVER for it to dry!) :)

Finally, I stamped my sentiments, then added some grounding under them with some Copic Markers (I actually did this the next day after everything had dried. Here are some close up pictures of each bird showing the texture from the embossing powder: 

So cute and fun! These are quickly becoming a new favorite!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!

Thank You Rose

Good evening! I had a bit of unexpected time to relax and hit my craft table this afternoon, and one of the challenges I thought I would play along with actually ends in a couple hours! So...I thought I better get this posted this evening! :)

I followed the sketch for this weeks Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge - such a fun sketch this week!

Also linking up with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

I actually used several of the fun goodies I got from Butterfly Reflections Ink - you may have seen that I am joining the Design Team over there! My term is from April to June! I'll be posting more about it on the 6th with my first post over there. 

I started off with Crate Paper's Kiss Kiss 6x6 paper pad, and used Paper Smooches Rose Die to cut out the flower - once in white, then again in a thin wood veneer from my stash. Some May Arts linen ribbon and lace all layered together with some machine stitching, and a sentiment from the coordinating Paper Smooches stamp set, Lovely Thoughts help finish this off. I used vellum for my banner, and couldn't resist a few enamel dots to finish it off!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful evening!

Floral Watercolors - and Photography Set Up

Good morning! Thought I'd drop by with a card this morning for a couple of challenges - and I have also gotten a lot of questions in the past about how I photograph my cards, so I thought I would share a few pictures of my set up in case it might help someone else! I enjoy photography almost as much as making cards - and love having crisp, clear photos to share. It has taken me quite a while to come up with a system I love, and that process will probably grow and change more as time goes on, but for now I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing.

That info is at the bottom of this post - but first, here is the card I made:

And, the challenges! First up - inspiration from the Altenew March Challenge - From Places Abroad:

This stamp set from Altenew was brand new just landed in my mailbox the day I started this - so perfect for the Never Before Used Schtuff Challenge:

Also linking up with this weeks Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

And finally - this took me a couple days to complete, so counts for a couple days of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I've lost track of what day I'm on - but as far as I know I only missed a day over the weekend when my hubby and I went away to celebrate our 15th anniversary:

I used the lovely (new to me!) Altenew set called Persion Motifs, and stamped a pattern with Versamark ink on the smoother side of some Ranger watercolor paper. I used some MFT dye inks to watercolor this - they work perfectly if you just smoosh them on your nonstick mat and add water! The sentiment was heat embossed in gold on a strip of black cardstock, I added some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in gold flicked on the watercolor paper, and finished off with a couple of Pretty Pink Posh gold sequins.

Okie Dokie - now the photography! Here is my set up:

I have 3 pieces of foam core board - the top two are taped on the back with Washi Tape, so I can fold them up and put them away, and I have a couple pieces of 12x12 pattern paper that I prop up inside. The whole thing sits on a tall stool that I can set next to the window in my craft room to catch the natural light during the day.

I angle it whatever way I need to, depending on the time of day, to catch the best light. The foam core board is a new addition - but I found that it helps so much with eliminating the shadows from the back and left side of my cards - the white bounces the light back and reflects it on the side of the card not facing the window. 

I shoot with a Nikon D7100 right now - with a 50 mm lense. I always shoot in RAW format - I find that it gives me the most adjustments. Up until just a month or two ago I had a Canon DSLR, but I am so in love with my new Nikon! I edit my photos in Adobe Photoshop, and use a photo editing plug-in called Rad Lab (you can check it out HERE) that I love! It gives me the ability to edit my photos and see exactly what they look like as each change is applied. 

Anyway - if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I would love to answer anything you might be wondering about - and I hope this gives you new ideas on photographing your projects as well! Would also love to see what other people use, so if you have a blog post, feel free to link up in the comments so I can check it out! 

Thanks so much! Have a wonderful day!!!

Love Brings You Home - Unity FWF

Good morning! Excited to be stopping by this morning with a card for Unity Friends with Flair! I played around with a technique called "Ink Smooshing" - and I LOVE the effect it gave!

I used some MFT dye inks, smooshed them on my non-stick mat, misted with water, and then used my fingers to soften the edges a bit before smooshing my cardstock into it. Once it dried, I stamped my image and sentiment from the wonderful Love Brings You Home set. Finished off with some coordinating MFT cardstock, some enamel dots, and a wood veneer heart that I colored with Copics to match my enamel dots, and covered with Glossy Accents for some shine.

Have a wonderful day!!!

The Man. The Myth. The Legend

Good morning! Dropping by this morning with a card I made a little while back with a stamp set I had been eyeing for quite some time and finally got my hands on - I used it to make a Father's Day Card!

Since I had never used this - I thought I would link it up with the Never Before Used Schtuff Challenge:

The stamp set is from Avery Elle called The Man - and I used some MFT ink and cardstock on my card, a few enamel dots, a couple tiny Tim Holtz staples, and a tiny bit of MME woodgrain paper.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Love from head tomatoes...

Good morning! Just a quick card with some of my Wplus 9 goodies today! I am playing along with their Throwback Thursday Challenge - as I have mentioned before, I am pretty new to Wplus9, so not a lot of truly older stuff, but this is the first set I got from Wplus9, so I figure it qualifies! :)

I used Punny Produce: Tomatoes - this sentiment cracks me up every time! Pretty straightforward card - a bit of masking, some Pretty Pink Posh sequins, some Basic Grey and MME pattern paper, and a bit of jute twine!

Also joining in with this weeks Simon Says Monday Challenge - Anything Goes:

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great day!

Thanks for your Kindness

Good morning! Stopping by rather last minute for a couple of My Favorite Things Challenges, combined into one card! Here is what I made:

First up, I used the current Color Combination - SOOOO pretty!

And I also used this weeks Sketch Challenge:

I used some October Afternoon and My Mind's Eye pattern paper that matched the color combination - and used a circle of vellum for some softness. I used MFT Petal Circles stencil for the background on the coral paper with some Sweet Tooth pigment ink, and heat embossed my sentiment from LJD Words of Inspiration. Used some Silver Pretty Pink Posh sequins - that I just noticed MFT is carrying! Woohoo!!! To get the silver dusting, I sprinkled on some silver embossing powder, and heat embossed from underneath the card so it didn't blow off. Kind of a fun glitter effect!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day!

My God is so BIG!

Good afternoon! Just popping in with a quick catch up card from last year - another Dirty Dozen card! I always loved this Sunday School song, and was so excited to see a stamp set from Neat and Tangled featuring this song, and many others - called (appropriately!) Sunday School Songs.

For this card, I used a die cut vellum shape to stamp my sentiment, then sewed it to my pattern paper with some sequins tucked inside - to make a sort of shaker card! Kind of a fun effect!

Also linking up with the current Little Tangles Challenge that ends today - Anything Goes (You still have a couple hours to play - run!):

Thanks for dropping by! hope you are having a wonderful day!