Blue Summer

Donna Phelan is guest hostessing at Stamp TV - hurray Donna! She requested a shabby chic creation, including decorating the interior of a card and the envelope.

Hi there friends ♥ I'll be honest and just say this took me all week to work on, and I hope many of you know what that's like. I cannot complete a card as quickly as most people so just call me SNAIL lol. For anyone who may have questions how I completed any of the parts of this card, I will need to break the card explanation out into sections so please bear with me. Feel free to skip all this :D

First, the sentiment:
I stamped the label with brown ink, then cut it out with SB Nesties Labels #14. I sponged some blue ink on the inside of the oval, then used Copic blues and tans to create a shabby transition color on the flourished scroll at the top and bottom of the label design.

I stamped the sentiment with brown ink, cut and embossed it with SB Fancy Tags, then sponged around the sentiment with the same blue as the background behind it. Then I added deep blue Copic color to plain pearls, then placed around the sentiment.

Second, the cut outs:
I stamped Melanie's flower, masked it, then stamped the leaves on both sides. I colored it with Copic markers and left a little white space for highlights. I used a Basic Grey gold glitter "Candy" button for the center of the flower. {fussy cut out and pop dotted}

Then I stamped the hummingbird with brown ink but colored it with some Perfect Pearls blue, gold and green, mixed with plain water paint brushed on. It really shimmers!!! I placed a tiny micro black rhinestone for his eye. {fussy cut out and pop dotted}

Third, the background:
The double bow in deep blue satin is centered with a beautiful vintage button by Tim Holtz Idea-ology "Accoutrements Fanciful." (Doesn't it look totally VINTAGE!!!)

The rhinestone fleur de lis in two corners are by Nina Brackett for Want2Scrap, "Mardi Gras."

Card base by Gina K. Designs, 120# Pure Luxury white.
Polka dot background in pale blue is from a cardmaking magazine that included some very adorable papers in it.

The final touch:
I took the Wink of Stella clear glitter brush and covered the blue flower and leaves, the brown/blue scrolled areas on the label, the pearls, and then the hummingbird and flower center on the envelope back. LOL -- this card shimmers 360 degrees!

Thank you kindly for stopping by!!!

I appreciate each and every one of you ♥

Always Butterflies

As summer ends, autumn begins, where do all the butterflies go? They used to cover San Juan Capistrano, but I heard recently they have not been there as much. We have them here year-round. They always seem to come back in spring and summer on the mainland, so I feel there's Always Butterflies.

This is another card that started out CAS and quickly turned into another "Oh, no" and shabby here we come. I had also tried a new technique in the background that (click link for simpler tutorial as well as video ==>) Lydia at Splitcoaststampers  taught via tutorial today. She calls it Bokeh. I called mine a failure LOL because I could not find a new pencil with a round eraser near me. So I used the next similar thing: the broken chop sticks I keep in my craft box for when they come in handy, like today, to stand in for the pencil erasers, which they could not possibly live up to. The paint didn't look like round circles, but rather like splotched messes.

Create the background:

Color gelatos onto your stamp. Using an Aqua brush or any paint brush with water, thin and blend the color on your stamp. Stamp the image onto cardstock.

Next you create the bokeh dots around the shadow image. Take your gelato color (I used the same blue) and color a small area on an acrylic block. Add a touch of water to thin, then dip your pencil eraser in. Tap gently around your image, first close to the image so that the most color is deposited around the image, and as you tap farther away, the dots get fainter. Keep doing this until you get a 'dreamy' dotted background all around the image.

Now for the main, to-be-fussy-cut image: I am using a butterfly by the way. Color your image with the colors you would like. I used yellow, green, medium and darker blue. Use your aqua brush to blend the colors to a wet, creamy consistency, then stamp onto a fresh piece of cardstock. You can add Gelato color directly to your image if you want it to be more vibrant, using your finger to blend. Time to cut this out. It will be adhered over the shadow that you created earlier.

I didn't like my shadow image background. so I tore off the edges and added sponging with yellows, greens and blues by Memento. Then I sprayed it with Shimmer Pearls (I make it), scrunched it up, then took a heat tool to it so it cried crumpled. I added some Glitterata Gold ink to the edges. Background done.

It really lacked pizzazz. Enter Prisma Glitter {grin} - ahh, just the right thing to doctor this up. First I painted the butterfly with Mod Podge, and laid it in a small container of glitter, spooning it over and over until it was all covered. I used a heat tool and heated it from underneath to set the glitter, and adhered with strips of foam adhesive to the shadow/bokeh/crumpled background.

The rest is pretty self explanatory, but please ask questions if you have any. My dh exclaimed, "It's as big as a 747!!!" which drew me down, including the corners of my mouth, into a frown. I will definitely be practicing bokeh more once I find a new pencil eraser :D

Thank you for looking!

Heart Happy

Dear friends,

You can see why I am exhausted. I am not used to making one card after another, and am quickly pooping out over at SCS DTGD challenges.

I got into an inky mess with this one, but it was lots of fun.

It started out as a CAS card, then I tore up the lovely floral paper when applying monoadhesive, and 'had to' turn it into a vintage shabby chic card (rats) :D :D :D

I loved applying the Darice Falling Leaves embossing folder onto the floral Anna Griffin pattern paper! Using Memento inks (Bamboo Leaves, Sahara Sand and Angel Pink) I got busy distressing up the whole card. I added a strip of distressed pattern paper to the top of the inside of the card too, and cut the border with a Fiskar's pinking-type edge scissors.

A dear friend in Canada (Hi Shari) sent me the sentiment tag, so I am not sure which company makes the die. It covered another hole I tore into the pattern paper nicely :/

To finish up, I sprayed Perfect Pearls shimmer spray in Pearl all over the place, even on my face (by accident).

Enjoy - make your boo boos into wow wow's!!!!

Thank you so much for looking!!!

Peachy Paint Chips

Hi friends!

Bruce brought home some paint chips from where he works, so I tried to make a CAS card with one of them (LOL), not.

The circles and butterflies are darker peach (bottom), medium peach (center), lightest peach (top). I used Dried Marigold Distress Ink to sponge around everything. The background is a JustRite stamp "Elegant Fronds." The sentiment and little stamped butterflies are from Theresa Momber's sets, "Mountain Wilderness" {I LOVE VERTICAL SENTIMENTS!!!}, and "Sending Sunshine" which has two tiny butterfly stamps in it.

I cut out 3 smaller circles from an embossed white card to place on top of the peach circles. Then distressed the edges of the layer, used a Fiskar's corner punch on two corners of the same layer, and added rhinestones to butterflies and one corner. Touched up the butterflies and circles with Perfect Pearls pearl with water. I do like shimmer and sparkle!

It's so very hard for me to do CAS anything. So, it turned out more shabby chic :D  The inside top flap is stamped with same background stamp in same ink, with two small butterflies on the main inner layer.

Thank you for stopping by to peek!

 

Thank you for coming by!!!!

 

A "Golden Hello"

{The recipe follows after photograph}
I cut two die cut layers from white card stock. I used VersaMark to stamp the small flower from "Grand Sentiments" all over the main panel, sprinkled with Gold embossing powder and then heat until shiny.

I colored in all the flowers with some Copic markers from the tan group. Cut the oval out of tan card, popped up with two layers of adhesive foam dots, added four small pearls. Cut the white oval, sponged inside then stamped with Hello and curly horse shoe kind of design, both from "Lace Medallion Labels" and added the six tax rhinestones. Used double layer adhesive pop dots under the white oval.

I took some gold shiny tulle, laced it through the sides of the deco label, and tied a bow. I spread the bow into a circle shape.

Cut three round layers out of white card, sprayed it with water and scrunched up tightly and let dry. Opened, sponged with tan colors, painted edges with gold. Added large gold brad to center and made into flower. Glued onto tulle flower.

Used three premade paper flowers, and after coloring and painting with gold, placing them to upper right of focal image. Painted gold into centers of all background flowers.

Final step: Cut scallop, and applied two layers of gold embossing powder, heat set. Placed just under gold tulle to meet the Flourish Challenge this week :)

Entered into:    JustRite Challenge #099
                       Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #225
                      Through the Craftroom Door

 

It took me three days to make this. I can only do so much at a time.

Thank you SO MUCH for looking!

Recipe:

Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles, Opulent Ovals, Classic Oval and Scalloped Borders Dies

EK Success 2-1/4" scallop punch

Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury 80# white card stock

Stamps by JustRite Stamps

Bazzill tan card stock

PSX detail gold embossing powder

VersaMark embossing pad

Perfect Pearls gold, silver

Memento VersaMagic inks in Pixi Dust, Sahara Sand, Toffee Crunch & Brilliant Galaxy Gold

Copics, Cropadile, Brad, pearls, rhinestones, tulle, three small paper roses

 

Special Day

Finally, I made the belated anniversary card for our son and daughter in law. I feel badly that I just haven't had the strength to make everything I've wanted to, but life and health do that sometimes.

It's shabby chic. I used white cardstock from Gina K. Designs, and tan cardstock by Bazzill. I stamped the Irish Blessing verses (Stampin' Up) onto the white cardstock in Sahara Sand Memento ink. I also used same ink and Memento Rich Cocoa for depth while sponging.

Spellbinders layers - I love them! If you want the exact names of what I've used here, contact me. For easy WOW factor, add clear glitter pen onto lettering, flower centers and stems. I also outlined some of the layers and champagne glasses/bubbles with them (Spica at You clear glitter pen, and Sakura clear glitter pen).

Sentiment on front of card "Arranged with Love" by Melanie Muenchinger (available at Gina K. Designs). Sentiment on inside right of card "Toss the Bouquet" by Fiskars. Champagne Glass embossing folder by Darice. Both embossing folders on front by Stampin' Up (Manhattan Rose and Big Shot Square Lattice).

Entered Into:      Outlawz Paper ala Mode Challenge

Front:

 

Inside:

 

Thank you so much for looking!