Spring Time?

February 2016 Blog Hop Challenge

I used Papertrey Ink's inspiration photo as a starting point for creating this "Spring Time" card.  Having just stamped pears on a previous project, I opted for my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp set of all time (pun intended!) and used clocks instead of fruit, decorative vines instead of ferns & roses,  and splatter in place of little petals.  I kept ribbon, circles and the beautiful spring colors from the original design.

Supplies:  Papertrey Ink Hands of Time, All Night Media Splatter Pattern, Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs, Pear Pizzazz & Pretty in Pink ink and card stock, Soft Suede ribbon, Spare Parts embellishment, MFT die-namics paint brushes, foam tape, and clear embossing powder.

 

Watercolor Pears

I have seen so many great posts and videos about watercolor on cards lately (many of my favorites on K Werner Designs) that I spent some time this past weekend trying the technique.  Watercoloring definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed the challenge and am mostly happy with this project overall.

I initially chose pears as the focal image since my son's birthday is coming up and pears are his favorite fruit.  He often encourages me to work on my "mom blog" so I thought he'd appreciate something out of the ordinary technique-wise.  I got a little carried away flicking my toothbrush to add some fun splatter to what I felt was a very serious looking card, yet I think it's still too adult in style for a teenager.  So back to the drawing board on his 15th b-day greeting!  C'est la vie!

Supplies used:  MFT Celebrate You greeting (one "happy" for each of the pears!), Stampin' Up Infinite Goodness, Strathmore watercolor paper,  black cardstock, Versamark, white & black embossing powders, Reeves watercolor set, paintbrushes and an old toothbrush. 

Housewarming wishes

Make It Monday #239: Customizing Patterned Paper

I used this week's Papertrey Ink challenge to create a card for my friend, Sarah, who recently moved into a new house in the country.  Neither of us are likely to sew much more than a loose button these days, but the Stitched with Love stamp set seems "homey"and the faux needle and thread evoke some sentimentality in me . . .  thinking of my best friend from high school!

I customized the patterned paper by adding vertical orange stripes to the horizontal ones and used a subtle background pattern to create some visual texture on the Melon Berry card stock base.    I also went for a bit of a rustic look by liberally smudging around the edges of the card and sentiment piece.

Supplies:  Papertrey Ink Stitched with Love & Road Trip stamp sets, Melon Berry  & Road Trip card stock, Fine Linen ink, My Favorite Things Stitched with Love Die-namics &  Candy Stripes, Stampin' Up Sincere Salutations, Sage Shadow card stock, ink, and marker, Pumpkin Pie ink, Versamark, clear embossing powder,  kitchen twine, Scotch foam mounting tape and silver card stock from my scraps.

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/make-it-monday/ 

 

Do Opposites Attract?

I'm quiet, my husband's talkative.  I like the house neat, he tends to be messy.  I like my  tea lightly steeped while he prefers a dark roast coffee, so this sentiment seemed appropriate for us!  Somehow we've stayed together 25 years, so I guess those differences largely balance out.  On this Valentine, I used vellum, stamping one cup on the back and one on the front to get the two opposites side by side, then colored them in with Copic markers.

Supplies:  Fiskars Latte Love, Nestablities Oval & Circle dies , Copics, red dotted paper from Michaels, SU! Early Espresso, Natural cardstock, grosgrain ribbon, Gelly Roll star gel pen (steam) and pop dots.

Fabulous Flamingos

Here's another card I'll probably send my daughter who never ceases to amaze me with how successful she's doing in college.  I like this set because it came with a flamingo die, sparing me from any meticulous fussy cutting!  It came as a Valentine's Day stamp set and I did subtly stamp and emboss "love" in the background, but I don't see why it couldn't be used year round.  The pink flamingo has become an iconic pop culture symbol, one I don't care to display on my lawn, but don't mind having in my craft collection.  Should I look for garden gnome stamps next?  Hmmm, that's an idea!

Supplies:  Recollections Valentine's Day stamp set, Versamark, Stampin' Up! Oval and Scalloped Oval punches, Melon Mambo and Whisper White.