Gifts of the Earth Card

This is design 2 of 4 from the workshop at Beth H.'s today. For this design, I used the SU! stamp set "Gifts of the Earth" (fabulous Fall images in this set!) from the current Holiday Mini Catalog, along with the jumbo wheel "Bright Blessings".

I pulled out the old favorite Watercolor Pencils - one of the first products I bought, along with the Stampin' Pastels. The Watercolor Pencil colors mix wonderfully with the added touch of the Blender Pen. See the watering can in the focal image? It looks like I had a Bermuda Bay pencil doesn't it? I mixed two colors and it cam eout almost an exact match! Woohoo!

I love using the tone-on-tone technique to create subtle backgrounds, like I did here using Dusty Durango ink and card stock - both for the wheel image AND for the suede texture on the top half using a crumpled piece of plastic wrap (first tapped on the ink pad, then onto the card stock, repeating as necessary.) The suede texture was also added to the Dusty Durango Photo Corner Punch that embellishs the focal image.

I think Dusty Durango is my favorite In Color right now - and look how beautifully it goes with the Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede! A strip of Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, polka dot side down), the Photo Corner Punch and a couple of gold brads finish off our lovely Thanksgiving/Fall design. ENJOY!

Christmas Roses

I adore the floral images in SU!'s set "Fifth Avenue Floral"! They are just so beautiful, whether you color them with shading techniques or just leave them as is like in this sample. This is the first of four designs that we are making at a totally hands on (THO) workshop today. (ALL my workshops are THO - so call me to book yours!) This is one of the Christmas designs, though I chose a sentiment from the "Heard from the Heart" set so I could use this is a card for my parents whose anniversary is a few days after Christmas. This is also the first time I have tried my hand at using the hat pin embellishments that are part of the "Pretties Kit" (Awesome kit! Dyeable white flowers in several sizes, full and half pearl sin white and ivory, hat pins and clear plastic crystal-cut beads...)

STAMPS: Fifth Avenue Floral, Heard from the Heart
CARD STOCK: Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla
INK: Bravo Burgundy Classic Ink, Very Vanilla CRAFT Ink
ACCESSORIES: Pretties Kit, 5/8" Bravo Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots
ENJOY!

More Altered Notebooks

Here is another altered composition notebook. I made many, many of these - in pairs with different colored main layers. This one uses Basic Gray as the main layer. Other colors used (but not pictured) included Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, and Kraft. All pairs used the same Real Red and YoYo Yellow accents. Images and sentiments used are a mix of Stampin' Up! and GinaK Designs, as well as the Worldwide Marriage Encounter stamp. I hope the recipients of these dialogue notebooks ENJOY them! Our friends had a wonderful idea for using these as gifts for their support team.

Altered Composition Notebook

This is one of a pair of my latest altered composition notebooks made for Marriage Encounter friends. I used the current set "Enjoy Every Moment", retired set "Coast to Coast" and a Marriage Encounter stamp. I used the colors Old Olive, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry and Very Vanilla. I stamped off the Old Olive "enjoy", and stamped the lighthouse in Soft Suede. To add a little tone on tone texture, I used plastic wrap tapped on the Soft Suede ink pad and then tapped onto the card stock. A few SU vintage brads add the final touch. ENJOY!

A "Love"-ly Design

I feel like I am on a roll! I cleaned off my stamping table this week, and have been using up 'left overs' that I've been keeping - you know the ones, those scraps and extra Big Shot cut outs you are *sure* you'll use so you don't throw them away? Okay - so my pile of these is waaay bigger than what I've used up so far, but hey, a girl can feel good about what she does use, right?! :)

I immediately loved this sketch when I saw it on GinaK's blog. I never would have thought to slide a layer between layered cut outs - but I really like the effect. I am going to try this layout for some altered notebooks I want to get done. I think it will be really pretty. For more inspiration for this sketch, check out GinaK's blog or StampTV - as this is actually one of two sketches - a simple one and a step-it-up one.

I'm not sure what occasion I will use this card for yet - possibly a Christmas card for my honey, or a support letter for a Marriage Encounter Team Couple, or maybe it will even last until February to be a St. Valentine's Day card for my honey (probably the most likely! heehee)

Both the image and the sentiment come from the GinaK set "Hand-in-Hand". In case you go check out this fun stamp set - I drew the fingernails in by hand with my Basic Black Stampin'Write Journaling Marker. I used Basic Black, Real Red and Very Vanilla. I paper-pieced in the dress sleeve with some Real Red patterened DSP I had left over, then used my Glue Pen on the polka dots, to create the bracelet on her wrist, his cuff link and edges of the scalloped heart to add some red glitter. The Ticket Corner Punch leaves a wonderful little nook to place some gold brads, and a stamping sponge with Real Red ink finishes off the edges of this design. I hope the up close shot helps you to see the glitter detail better! ENJOY!

Gifts of the Earth Card

I hosted another Chat & Challenge over at the demonstrator only website - Sudsol. I got this awesome sketch from Taylored Expressions. It is quite different than my usual style, so I played along to get me out of my box a bit more.

I really like the "Gifts of the Earth" set in the current SU! Holiday Mini. the images are lovely, and all have wonderful coloring potential. This time around, I water-colored using my Blender Pen and ink pads. In Colors Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango along with some Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP and Very Vanilla. To add some texture, I used a bit of plastic wrap touched on the Dusty Durango ink pad for a tone-on-tone suede-look, plus a little metal gleam with the gold brads. The sentiment is from the set "Thank You Kindly", and was punched using the Oval Punch and layered onto the Scallop Oval Punch. One more accent - the Photo Corner Punch on the focal image to balance the Bermuda Bay. I added the "Give" by hand - because I wanted a Thanksgiving card. ENJOY!

Cinema Saturday #56 - "Legally Blonde"

The Cinema Saturday Movie this week is "Legally Blonde" with an added challenge of making your project 'inspirational'. As you can imagine, there are LOTS of pink projects out there! :) I chose a but brighter, darker pink in SU!'s Melon Mambo. The sentiment is my 'inspiration' point, "One person can make such a difference and that person is you!" Both the Iridescent Ice embossed butterfly and the sentiment are from SU!'s Flight of the Butterfly Set. Even the set name points to the character of Elle - who definitely finds her wings and shows how one person can make a difference. Her personality sparkles, as does that of several other of the supporting characters, so I *had* to use the sparkle of Iridescent Ice and rhinestone bling! The dry embossed flowers is a Textured Impressions folder from SU! called 'Elegant Bouquet'. I love that these folders are slightly larger to cover the front of a standard size card, without needing to layer - and of course, I am always thrilled for another reason to play with my Big Shot! (Have I told you lately how much I have been adoring my Big Shot? One of my best purchases this year!)

If you haven't played along with Cinema Saturday yet - why not?! Start this week! There will be a new challenge on Saturday morning, with sneak peeks beginning on Friday. ENJOY!