Monday, September 28, 2015

Hope, Love, Peace, Joy

Blue Ribbon Winner #8:
The text pieces have been rearranged from the original image . . .


. . . by cutting them out and extending them beyond the border, they mimic the cross and help add dimension, which is always a worthy objective in my book!

Cardstock:   Generic textured Green, Beckett Iceberg, Bazzill White, Raven
Stamps:        The Stamp Barn Tulip Cross, Inkadinkado Leafy Cross
Inks:               ColorBox Black
Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black
Dies:              Imaginations punch Fern, Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles
Watercolors:   Twinkling H2O’s Sea Glass, Mallard Green
Doo Dads:    Gelly Roll pen Clear Star


Thursday, September 24, 2015

Inspire

Blue Ribbon Winner #7:
I went for subtle variations and gentle colors on this one . . .



. . . but couldn't resist adding a little quiet bling via some clear sequins

Cardstock:   Generic textured Taupe, Stampin’ Up Sahara Sand, Bazzill
                           Pear, Beckett Moonlight
Stamps:        Fiskars Mesh brayer, For the Birds set: image and text, Stampin’
                           Up Itty Bitty Background, CC Rubber Stamps Fibers
Inks:               Archival Jet Black, Distress Pumice Stone, Bundled Sage,
                           VersaColor Chateau Gray, Stampin’ Up Sahara Sand
Dies:              Wplus9 Banner Trio, Fiskars border punch Diamond, Family
                           Treasures corner punch
Emb Folder: Ellison Plaid           
Doo Dads:    Simon Says Assorted Moonshine sequins, Distress Stickles
                           Rock Candy


Monday, September 21, 2015

Discover

Blue Ribbon Winner #6:
While not a maker of jewelry, I do love to collect gorgeous beads to string as accents on some of my cards . . .



This is probably a little over the top and not so easy to mail, but so what:  I like it and hope the recipient will too . . .
  
Cardstock:   Generic textured Turquoise, The Paper Cut Watercolor paper,
                           Beckett Iceberg, Generic scrap Navy
Stamps:        Judikins Waves, Local King Chinese Flowers 2, Appaloosa
                           “Discover”, CC Rubber Stamps Fibers
Inks:               ColorBox Frost White, Ancient Page Deep Harbor, VersaFine
                           Majestic Blue, various Gelatos in Blues & Greens
Emb Powder:  Judikins Opaque White
Dies:              Local King Chinese Flowers 2, Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace
                           Pattern, Spellbinders Labels 20
Doo Dads:    Beads


Thursday, September 17, 2015

Meddle Not

Blue Ribbon Winner #5:
In my occasionally humble opinion, there's always room for some humor in just about any endeavor . . .


However, since it took four tries to get the text straight, the humor part began to wear a little thin during this project . . .

The dragon's wings are propped up with foam tape which looks pretty cool in real life.

Cardstock:   Bazzill Red Devil, Raven, Beckett Iceberg
Stamps:        Appaloosa Dragon Dreams: Resting Dragon, text, Just For
                           Fun Fractured Background
Inks:               Archival Jet Black, ColorBox Black, Frost White
Emb Powder:   Judikins Opaque White, Detail Black
Dies:              Wplus9 Label Layers 4
Colored Pencils:  Prisma Orange, Black, General Pencil Silver
Doo Dads:    Pilot Marker Silver, Antique Silver brads


Monday, September 14, 2015

New Arrival

Blue Ribbon Winner #4:
This image of a flower-faced baby went straight to my heart . . .


I fussy cut the baby and the large sunflower and it went quickly as all of the cuts were pretty much straight ones . . .
  
Cardstock:   Bazzill Rain Forest, Beckett Iceberg, Generic Pumpkin
Stamps:        Cat’s Life Press Baby Flower Face, Stamp La Jolla Bette’s
                           Sunflower, Stampin’ Up “On your new arrival”
Inks:               Hero Black, Distress Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed,
                           Peeled Paint
Dies:              Paper Shapers Label, DieNamics Grassy Edges
Emb Folder: Darice Basket Weave Background 
Doo Dads:    ¼ “ Green gingham ribbon

Thursday, September 10, 2015

America

Blue Ribbon Winner #3:
I had a little two-level fun with the background flag on this card . . .


 By cutting out the blue field and popping it up with foam dots, the flag has much more dimension.  With a little imagination, it actually appears to be caught in the middle of a gust of wind . . . 

Cardstock:   Beckett Iceberg
Stamps:        Eureka Flag, Statue of Liberty, Limited Edition text, Stampin’
                           Up border: All Scallops set, Era Graphics Spiral, Stampa
                           Barbara Crystal Vase
Inks:               Hero Black, Distress Chipped Sapphire, Festive Berries,
                           Encore Silver
Doo Dads:    Art Glittering System Silver, Fiskars punch Star


Monday, September 7, 2015

Happy Anniversary

Blue Ribbon Winner #2:
This layout was an update of a card I posted awhile ago.  I love using skeleton leaves because they take color well and they are so beautiful.  They are, however, a little bit on the fragile side and adhering them is difficult as there's so much open space that it's hard to hide the glue . . .


 My solution was to cut out leaf shapes from the same cardstock I used for the background.  Then I pressed these cardstock leaves against a sheet of Therm-O-Web's Sticky Dots to transfer the glue dots.  This was topped with the skeleton leaf which was pressed into place with a piece of non-stick release paper so that I wouldn't lose any of the tackiness of the glue dots.  I then sprinkled extra fine glitter over the two leaves and pressed this into place before tapping off the excess.  I was left with a sheer shimmer that I hope the camera is kind enough to pick up . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Dark Butter, Raven, The Paper Cut watercolor paper
Stamps:        Club Scrap Feather, Stamper Anonymous Skeleton Leaf
Inks:               Distress (ink pad and stain) Brushed Corduroy, Stampin’ Up
                           Always Artichoke, Archival Jet Black
Emb Powder:   Vippies Transcendence
Dies:              Tim Holtz Labels, Tattered Lace Everyday Sentiments:
                           “Happy Anniversary”
Doo Dads:    Past Time Stamps Ultra Fine Glitter, 3/8” Green ribbon,
                           1/8” Gold ribbon, skeleton leaves

.


Thursday, September 3, 2015

Same Direction

It's that thrilling time of the year yet again, folks – the annual New Jersey State Fair held in the sunny downtown North NJ township of Branchville!  I entered nine cards and will be posting all of them throughout the month.  While I've happily done very well over the previous six years, there was a new judge this year and this sort of change can always alter one's winning streak.  Thankfully, I still scored . . .



   . . . nine cards entered and nine blue ribbons won.  Well, I always was into excess!  Maybe I should consider retiring from competition?   Nah – I'm having too much fun to quit now!  Meanwhile, onto the first of this year's winners:

Blue Ribbon Winner #1:
I wanted some cheery colors for this card and what could be cheerier than going in rainbow order . . .


I consulted with my dear artsy BFF Mr ROY G BIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet) and I got the happy effect I was after . . . it's hard to be glum when you're playing with rainbows

Cardstock:   Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper
Stamps:        Hero Floating Hearts, Inkadinkado Exupery Quote
Inks:               ColorBox Black, Frost White, Ancient Page Leaf Green
Emb Powder:   Judikins Detail Black, Opaque White
Dies:              Spellbinders Labels 23, Lil Inker Stitched Mats: Rectangles,
                           Balloon String  
Watercolors:   Gansai Tambi Red, Orange, Mid-Green, Ocean Green,
                              Cobalt Blue, Purple
Doo Dads:    Perfect Pearls mist Silver, Fiskars corner punch Hearts