Lullaby and Goodnight

Shhh....can't you see the baby is sleeping?

How precious is this stamp set from Newton's Nook Designs. ?  So stinkin' cute.  But what set from NND isn't adorable?

Lot's of fun techniques going on in this card.  First, I used my water color paints to make the background. Then I stenciled on the stars using modeling paste which I mixed with Gelatos and glitter.  I stamped the image on a separate piece of  paper, colored it with my water colored pencils and then cut it out. The final step was to stamp the sentiment and the grass from the same great stamp set.

Isn't it "dreamy"?

Happy Memorial Day!

Today, this Memorial Day, I decided to take part in Operation Write Home's sketch challenge #226 and make a card to send to one of our heroes protecting our freedom. While I know that technically Memorial Day is the day to honor our fallen heroes, I decided the best way for me to do that was to support our current heroes. 

Between the festivities of this weekend, I've spent a lot of time on Operation Write Home's website and have decided to take the plunge and start making cards to send to our troops.  It's a great cause and kudos to Sandy Allnock for not only founding OWH but also for her tireless work with this great organization!

So here was the sketch to work with:

And here was my take:

I have a couple different techniques going on with this card.  I took a large background stamp from CTMH and inked it up with two different colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Fired Brick and Broken China).  I then used the same two inks to create the water color background in the main panel.  Loved how this all pulled together!

So go on over the OWH's website and check it out.  Join me and make some cards for a great cause!

Life is Better with Friends

What a true statement!  I don't know where I'd be without my friends.  Throughout my life I have been fortunate enough to have a great circle of friends.  I can always count on my friends to give me what I need, whether it be a should her cry on, a sound word of advice, or a good belly laugh.  Quite frankly, my friends are the BEST.

So I dedicate this card to all my friends, near and far.  You all know who you are.

The stamp set is from Close to My Heart's Ivy Lane Cardmaking Kit.  I loved the chevron stamp that came in the set and immediately thought it would make a great background. It's a pretty basic card, but says a lot!

Excitement

I was thrilled this morning to see that my Mother’s Day Box Card had been picked a favorite over at Newton’s Nook Designs.  What an incredible honor. It’s easy to create with their stamp sets since they are all just too stinkin’ cute!  I am also happy to report that my mom LOVED the card and has placed it on her nightstand so she can admire it. 

I guess I caught the creative bug last week since I got 4 cards done.  Here’s one I did on Saturday.  This one has a lot of stamping on it and uses the Oodles of Doodles stamp set from Close to my heart.  I used some pretty blue, green and yellow shades of ink as well as silver shimmer trim from Close to My Heart. I would tell you the shades I used, but the green and blue shades are retired.  Pick any trio of colors  you want, as long as you have a dark tone, a medium tone and a light tone it will work.  I am quite happy with how it turned out. 

Could I be a stalker?

I want to share another card here, but I'm afraid if I do people might start to think I'm a stalker.

Why, you ask? Because once again I am using a Newton's Nook Designs stamp.  So I figure at this point I either need a 12 step program or I am a stalker.  I think it's the latter since I don't want to do any harm to any of the folks at Newton's Nook, or Newton himself!

I've seen videos from two of my favorite card makers, Amy Rysavy and Jennifer McGuire showcasing this technique of coloring on kraft cardstock. I love the look and, if you recall, I dabbled a bit with it in yesterday's card.  However, I decided to take the plunge and did way more stamping and coloring. I couldn't be happier with the results.  I used Newton's Nook Designs Versatile Vases stamp set and my Prismacolor pencils and a small piece of pattern paper from Fancy Pants Design's It's the Little Things paper pack.  I actually had not planned to use any pattern paper at all, but alas, I wasn't happy with the "hello" I stamped on the card and I kept playing with it to make it perfect, which made it anything but!  So I put my OCD to the side, covered it up with the pattern paper and stamped on a separate piece of craft cardstock.  Surprisingly I only had to stamp the "hello" once and I called it done.

I think I'll go dig through my stamps and find something else to play with before someone calls the police!!

Why are men so difficult?

It's the age old question - why are men so difficult?  I have such a hard time when it comes to creating masculine cards.  All sorts of things run through my mind.  Can I use the color pink?  Can I use ribbon?  Is it taboo to put flowers on a masculine card?

So last night I had the duty of creating a masculine card for my co-worker's birthday.  I was stumped.  I spent quite some time going through my stamps and other sundry supplies trying to figure out what I was going to do.  He's a hunter, should I use my beagle stamp? He likes to fish, do I have fish stamps?  So after about 30 minutes of driving myself crazy it hit me - KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!  So I dd.

The Happy Birthday stamp is from Close to my Heart which I stamped directly onto the craft cardstock and then colored in with my Prismacolor Pencils.  I cut a few strips of pattern paper from My Minds Eye Moments 6 X 6 paper pack.  I then spent another 30 minutes trying to find my twine.  When it became apparent I wasn't going to find it, I decided on the yellow ribbon, which in the end provided the little splash of color the card needed.

Simple, but yet masculine!

Has it really been a month?

Has it really been a month?  Seems like every day I have good intentions of getting something created and up on my blog.  Oh well, what is the saying about a road being paved with good intentions? Never mind, that would not be appropriate here now would it?

So I've been watching YouTube videos and reading tutorials on these box cards that seem to be the craze.  I watched intently, but never seemed to get motivated to jump in and try my hands at one.  Then it happened.  I was fortunate enough to win the $25.00 giveaway a few weeks back from Newton's Nook Designs.  I no sooner got the e-mail when I jumped online and acquired three of their new stamp sets! OK, I had to buy some too, but seriously this stuff is so cute - I find it hard to resist.

Fast forward about a week later and viola, I was dancing at my mailbox!

So I fondled my new stamps for awhile, waiting for just the perfect project to use them on.  Then I read Newton's Inky Paws challenge #9 and I jumped into action.  OK, I didn't really jump, but the ideas started flowing and next thing you know, I decided to make a box card for my mom for Mother's Day.  I had lots of fun stamping, embossing, coloring, and paper piecing the beautiful flowers from the Love Grows stamp set.  I am thrilled with how my first attempt at the box card came out and I am sure my mom will be too!