Cherish, Imagine, Discover

 Another look at the Sweet Blooms coordinated stencils and stamp set . . .

  . . . these coordinated sets make it so easy to do the coloring.  You can use sponges or brushes - your call - and you're done almost before you know it.  And staying inside the lines is easy, especially if you use Pixie spray on the backs of your stencils.  Made by Therm O Web, it's a low tack, repositionable spray that makes your stencil cling to the cardstock and prevents Ink Creep from sneaking under the stencil and ruining your project.  Neat stuff!

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Intense Yellow, Leapfrog  

Stamps:       PinkFresh Sweet Blooms, Starving Artistamps Positive

                     Words: Cherish, Imagine, Discover

Inks:             Hero Black, Distress Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Twisted

                     Citron, Mowed Lawn

Dies:            DieNamics Pierced Rectangle Frame, Hero Palm 

                     Fancy                   

Stencil:        PinkFresh Sweet Blooms

Doo Dads:    Nuvo Glitter Gloss, Inkssentials Enamel Accents Black          

Thank you

More fun with designer papers . . .

 

I punched out squares from designer papers and from chipboard and glued them together.  The chipboard provided some strength and dimension without adding too much bulk and when topped with some embroidery thread and a bow, they looked little presents - perfect for Christmas gift thank you notes, yes?

 

Cardstock:   Strathmore Ultimate White, Scrap Red, Assorted

                     Designer Papers  

Stamps:       DeNami “Thank you”

Inks:             Hero Unicorn

Emb Pwdr:  Hero White, Family Treasures Square punch

Dies:            White Lotus Metal Frame              

Doo Dads:    Embroidery thread Red, Nicole glitter Champagne      

Thanks

My ten year old former neighbor Justin loves to gift me with a poinsettia at Christmas time.  So naturally, it works to use a die cut poinsettia on his Thank You card . . .

 I propped up the leaves and petals with pop dots before arranging them on the musical background.  The flower centers were punched out of yellow cardstock before adding the yellow glitter.  I like to color-match the glitter in order to intensify the color and prevent show-through when the glitter is translucent.

 

Cardstock:   Marcos Jute, Beckett Candlelight, Scraps Red, Green 

Stamps:       Stamp Out Cute Music Background, Hero “Thanks so

                     much”

Inks:             Hero Black, Frost White

Emb Pwdr:  Hero White

Dies:            Ellentina Poinsettia Stackable Flower, Tim Holtz Labels,

                     Poppy Grosgrain Bow               

Doo Dads:    Yellow glitter

A Stitch in Time

My college roommate made me a beautiful quilted wall hanging for Christmas, so my thank you note to her included a bit of paper quilting . . .

 

The result was rather flat and it was hard to see the quilted look to the design.  So I cut another layer of the quilt outlines and glued it on top.  Voila - visible dimension!

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Lagoon, Purple Pizzazz, Strathmore Ultimate

                     White, Designer papers Purple, Aqua           

Emb Pwdr:  Stampendous Shabby White

Dies:            Spellbinders Classic Squares Large, Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2,

                     Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Rectangles, Simon Says Sketchy

                     Banner Greetings, Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Upper       

Doo Dads:    Embroidered eyelet edging, Inkssentials Enamel

                     Accents White     

Love

This endearing image is one of my favorites to use on an anniversary card . . .

 

The background hearts and dots are nice and sparkly although the camera is likely to be indifferent to their charms.   I think it's easy to see why these adorable bunnies are one of the most popular images in The Artful Stamper's collection . . .

 

 Cardstock:  Core’dinations Gray, Bazzill Light Rosy, Strathmore

                     #110 Bristol     

Stamps:       Artful Stamper Smooching

Inks:             Hero Black

Waterclrs:    Zig Clean Color Pale Gray, Cool Gray 1, Blush, Inktense

                     Neutral Grey

Dies:            Artful Stamper Smooching, Lil Inkers Stitched Mats

                     Rectangles, Impress Hearts, Avery Elle Peace, Love,

                     & Joy set: “Love”                 

Stencil:        Simon Says Falling Snow

Doo Dads:    Cosmic Shimmer Luna Paste Silver, Fun Flock Cotton

                     Ball White, Gelly Roll Clear         

Artful

 This card features the aftermath of a little surgery on the filigree die cut . . .   

The original design is square, but I wanted something that continued the length of the fold.  So I cut it in half!  That probably won't work for every design out there, but it sure did for this one . . .

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Light Rosey, Strathmore #100 Bristol, Neenah

                     Desert Storm, Velum          

Stamps:       Impression Obsession Swirl Background, Stamp Zia

                     “Artful”

Inks:             Distress Spun Sugar, Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick,

                     Plaid Liquid Chalk White, ColorBox Frost White

Emb Pwdr:  Stampendous Shabby White, Hero White

Dies:            Lil Inkers Stitched Mats Rectangles, Spellbinders

                     Grate Works, Tim Holtz Labels, Memory Box Butterflies:

                     Isabella, Pippi                   

Wonderful Day

 Every once in awhile I wake up and realize that I haven't used a beloved design element in awhile.  In this case, it's stripes . . .

 

I really love how they add some pizzaz and freshness to a layout.  It's time to break out my stash of stripe stamps and keep it handy . . .

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Kachina, Strathmore Ultimate White, Scrap Black       

Stamps:       Carabelle Texture in My Journal, My Favorite Things

                     Diagonal Stripes

Inks:             Hero Black

Waterclrs:    Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical Caribbean Blue, Merci

                     Beaucoup Mint

Dies:            Gina Small Stitched Rectangle, Sue Wilson Hope your

                     day is wonderful    

Doo Dads:    Queen & Co Pearls Teal, Judikins Diamond Dust Glitter        

Palm

This one definitely scores one hundred on the Glitz-O-Meter . . .

 . . . but I love gold, so I gave it free rein today.  I have no idea what the camera will do with it, but we'll soon find out.

 The idea was to showcase the original background piece which became a stitched frame.  My friend Carol and I took a wildly creative class from Fred Mullett a number of years ago and this gloriously colored piece was one of the results.  But the original die cut fern overlay I attempted was done in teal with gold embossed accents.  Looked awful.  So I went with the all gold look which, oddly enough, made the frame stand out more . . . exactly what I wanted.

The skimpy supply list below does not reflect the several hours it took to figure out how to put this together.  But that's the name of my game for sure.  Meanwhile, I've got two more artsy pieces from Fred's class to play with, so brace yourselves . . .

 

Cardstock:   Bazzill Lagoon, inked scrap from a Fred Mullett Class,

                     Hanko Echizen Gold       

Dies:            Impression Obsession Large Frame, Hero Palm Fancy,

                     Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Tiny Upper                   

Punch:         EK Success Scalloped Corners