Decorative Tapes

I've got a few younger cousins that are just about at the marrying stage and this card would be for one of them. Lots of patterns that are fresh, funky and fun. Not a lot of fuss, to the point.

The colors for this card came from the inspiration photo collection at the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge.

I've been loving decorative tapes lately. Actually, a few things I've used lately that I thought I'd share quickly with you, if you are interested in knowing.
1. Decorative Tapes: Straight lines every time, no adhesive required. Bold or petite patterns.
2. Glimmer Mists: Love the effect. Still working hard at mastering it. A bit of a mess but cool results.
3. Rustic Twine: Love the color. Love the thickness. Not too crazy about the little hairy things all over it.
4. Ranger Craft Mat: This thing is what they say it is. You can ink, heat, glue, drool on it if you want too. Anything wipes off.
5. Antique Linen Distress Ink: Possibly thee best distress color-not too light, not to dark.
6. Uniball Signo White Gel Pen: Hands down the best white pen. Nice thick coverage. Not too thick of a line. Need about ten more of these.
7. Birds: Digital birds, stamped birds. Graphic birds. Realistic birds. Just anything birds. I think they are cool.

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific Patterned Paper: (Green Hills from Earth Love Collection) Cosmo Cricket (Pink Polka Dots from Just Chillin Girls Collection) Making Memories Stamps: (Mega Mixed Messages) PTI Ink: (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress) Ranger Other: (Striped Decorative Tape) 7Gypsies Tools: (Labels 4 Nestabilities) Spellbinders (Cirlce Punch) McGill

A Set of Owls

So now I can finally post that it is Amy's Birthday and I'm sending her some well wishes today! (I screwed up with my pre-posting yesterday, ugh!)  Happy Birthday Miss Amy!

 

Amy Tsuruta was one of the first designers I followed when I started my blogging journey. She's got such a kind soul and has left encouraging comments for me time and time again, and I can't thank her enough! Amy caught my attention with her use of patterned paper, and she still amazes me to this day of the wonders she creates-both in cards and scrapbook layouts. Fabulous eye for patterns, colors, sewing, embellishments, the list goes on! Pop on over to her blog Tsuruta Designs and wish her well today!

 

Still trying out and practicing with the new Glimmer Mists that I purchased from Practicing Creativity Designs. I decided to make two owl birthday cards because, well, I still wanted to surprise Amy (the surprise being which one is actually sent to her!). The pink card was inspired by this pendant at Cathy Walter's Etsy Shop for the Etsy Inspired Challenge.

I have the great honor to be on the Schlosser Design Team with with Amy, as well as Laurel, who is having some awesome blog candy right now!

Supplies Used Pink Owl: Cardstock: (Very Vanilla) SU Stamps: (Mega Mixed Messages) PTI (Woodgrain Background) SU (Owl Digital Stamp) Hero Arts Ink: (Chestnut Roan Chalk) Colorbox (Rose Red Pigment) SU Other: (Sugar Maple Glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels (Blender Pens) SU (Brown Rhinestones)

Supplies Used Blue Owl: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific Stamps: (Sentiment from Chatterbox) Practicing Creativity Designs (Owl Digital Stamp) Hero Arts Ink: (Charcoal Gray Chalk) Colorbox (Certainly Celery Pigment) SU Other: (Dragonfly Glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels (Blender Pens) SU (Blue Rhinestones) (Colored Pencils) Prisma (Yarn and Thread recycled from packaging at Lawn Fawn) Tools: (Corner Round Punch) SU

Rays of Sunshine

Rays of sunshine can take on many forms. Like my little boys, my husband, my family. Like new puppies, or a nice gesture by a complete stranger, a comment left on my blog or forgiveness for an honest mistake. It can be a hug from a grandparent, or a good meal shared over raspberry lemonade with a good friend. What's your ray of sunshine?

Just a quick card using two Practicing Creativity Design sets-You're Dandy and The Whole Cycle. I created a mini field of flowers with the tire and spoke stamps, and used the wagon wheel for the stems.

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (Lime Green) Recollections (White) Georgia Pacific Stamps: (The Whole Cycle, You're Dandy) Practicing Creativity Designs (Hello from Mega Mixed Messages) PTI Ink: (Blue, Purple, Green Chalk Ink) Colorbox Ribbon: (Black Twill) May Arts (which can be purchased at the Practicing Creativity Designs store too!) Other: (Black Marker) Pilot, Thread Tool: (Corner Round Punch) Fiskars

Bluebirds

Bluebirds. Peace consumes me when I see the bright glint of their blue wings flirting with the sunlight or when I am privy to see the couple sharing an afternoon rest on a telephone pole together. Yes, bluebirds are very special to me indeed. I rather think of them as my guardian angels.

The inspiration picture at The Shabby Tea Room Challenge inspired me to pull out my new Glimmer Mists that I had purchased from Practicing Creativity Designs and I also wanted to try out this bluebird image from TiffanyDoodles. I really enjoyed the colors of the bird house and rather going with the house, I went with the bird. After printing the bird image, I sprayed it with the mist, colored him and cut him out. I adhered him onto a panel that had a bit less misting and finished the card with ribbon that had also been altered with the glimmer mist.


Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific (So Saffron) SU Stamps: (Mega Mixed Messages) PTI (Bluebird 3 Digital Stamp) TiffanyDoodles Ink: (Tea Dye Distress) Ranger Other: (Dragonfly, HoneyDew Glimmer Mist) Tattered Angels (White Satin Ribbon) Offray (Rustic Twine) PTI (Colored Pencils) Prisma

Jazzy Ornaments

Decorating the tree was always an exciting event when I was little. We always had a live tree (why oh why don't I do that now?) and it would take a bit of time to fill it full of decorations. Not the matchy-matchy ones but ones that had meaning. The best ones were saved for last and they were the beaded icicles, as we called them. We'd hang them by the little colorful lights and they would make the whole tree glimmer and shine.

Silver embossing adds a lot to a card but dang, it is hard to photograph. Let's overlook that part shall we? This card is based off the sketch and colors at Jazzy Paper Designs, in which Schlosser Designs is sponsoring! For this clean and graphic card, I started by stamping the smallest of the hexagons from Hexagon-A-Thon by Schlosser Designs with watermark ink and then silver embossed them. After punching holes in both the ornaments and card base, I strung them with red thread.

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific Stamps: (Hexagon-A-Thon) Schlosser Designs, (Joy from Mega Mixed Messages) Ink: (Versamark), (Onyx Black) Versafine PTI Other: (Silver Embossing Powder) SU, Thread

The Baby Ensemble

Sigh. There's just something about tricycles that make me think of babies, and makes me smile so. I instantly fell in love with the nostalgic tricycle image from The Whole Cycle and the combination of the two sentiments within Chatterbox are a perfect match. Whimsical dots from For the Love of Dots (a previous release from Practicing Creativity Designs) were added to both elements for dimension, and the color scheme reinforces my take on nostagia-the ensemble takes on an aged, vintage vibe. I think it would be most fun to use pink or blue tissue to specify the gender.

The Whole Cycle and Chatterbox will be available tonight at midnight (August 5th) along with some fabulous fabric tapes that Courtney now carries at Practicing Creativity Designs! Thank you for taking this journey with me as I help to release these two fabulous sets, I hope you've had fun. Please take a minute to check out the blogs of Dana, Paulina and Courtney for more creative ideas using the new releases!

***You can find my CAS-Tastic Wednesday post here.***

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (Very Vanilla) SU Stamps: (The Whole Cycle, Chatterbox, For the Love of Dots) Practicing Creativity Designs Ink: (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress) Ranger Other: (Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon) SU (Rustic Twine) PTI (Vintage Hardware) Making Memories, Kraft Gift Bag Tools: (Blender Pens) SU (Tag Corner Punch) SU

December Birthdays

It's my opinion that persons born in the last month of the year have it rough. (My little boy was welcomed into this world one day before Christmas). Here are a few things I've learned:  Wrap birthday presents in birthday wrapping paper and Christmas presents in holiday paper. It's important to have a birthday cake on the 24th and sing happy birthday, no matter how busy you are this day. My most favorite holiday song will forever be Happy Birthday.

 

When I saw this gorgeous pointsettia image from Jane's Doodles, our awesome sponser this week for the CAS-Tastic Wednesday Challenge, I knew I was going to create a birthday card. Something special for those December birthday people. Super simple to create-I just printed it twice in colored ink, added filler color lightly with blender pens, cut and layered and added some gems in the center.

This weeks challenge is to be inspired by a card from one of the design team members:
Angie
Deb
Maylee
Agata
You won't want to miss this challenge, as Jane has offered up some of her digital images and a set of her handmade buttons to one random participant!

***Please check my other post today featuring an altered item using the newest sets from Practicing Creativity Designs! They are being released tomorrow, August 5th!***

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (Very Vanilla) SU Stamps: (Mega Mixed Messages) PTI Digital Image: Pointsettia (Jane's Doodles) Ink: (Cranberry Crisp Pigment) SU Other: (Rhinestones) Tools: (Blender Pens) SU, (Corner Round Punch) Fiskars

Chatterboxes (& a Chance to Win!)

Chatterboxes. Yep, I've got two. Built right in and no way to pause them or turn down the volume. They say the funniest and most insightful things! Sometimes you can make them run longer by giving them sugar, and the only way to turn them off is when they go to bed. Yep, two little Chatterboxes, my two little boys. Sorry, these chatterboxes are not for sale, as I love my chatterboxes to pieces.

Chatterbox. Perfect name for the second stamp set being released this month by Practicing Creativity Designs! This stamp set has a ton of modern and classy large words and even more small supplement words. Trust me, this set fills a lot of gaps in the stamping world and you can mix and match and never get bored!

The first card shows a bit of the fun side that this set has to offer. This second card shows how the larger words are quite elegant and can stand alone. (The colors are inspired by the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge-I had to play this week, loving the colors!)

Please head on over to Dana's and Paulina's blogs for more eye candy, and then stop by Courtney's where she has a super great video and for a chance to win it!

Seriously Card: Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific (So Saffron) Stampin' Up! Patterned Paper: (Pink Polka, Orange Damask from Just Chillin Girls Collection) Making Memories (Yellow Berries and Argyle from Sweet Pea DSP) Stampin' Up! (Green Grass from Earth Love) Cosmo Cricket Stamps: (Chatterbox) Practicing Creativity Designs Ink: (So Saffron Pigment) Stampin' Up! Other: (Rustic Twine) PTI (Pewter Eyelet) Stampin' Up! (Pink Epoxy Heart) Cloud 9 Tools: (Labels 8 Nestabilities) Spellbinders
Congratulations Card: Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific (So Saffron) SU Patterned Paper: (Mat Stack 5) DCWV Stamps: (Chatterbox) Practicing Creativity Designs (Roses in Bloom) Waltzingmouse Stamps Ink: (So Saffron, Bashful Blue Pigment) SU Tools: (Scallop Trim Border Punch) SU, (Colored Pencils) Prisma Color (White Gel Pen) Uniball by Signo

Check (x 3)

Hello Day Two! (of Practicing Creativity Design's Stamp Sets Release)

Check All That Apply:
_ I like to get the most out of your stamps sets
_ I like to focus one stamp and transform it into something different, totally unexpected
_ I like to create your own patterned paper

I've checked them all because they are a few of my card making goals. Being able to do all of these is tons of fun, quite easy and quick with the newest release from Practicing Creativity Designs, seriously. For the background on this card, I used just two stamps (the outlined circle and the starburst/spokes) of The Whole Cylce, some ink and a solid sheet of plain white cardstock. To achieve the look, I started by turning the outlined circle stamp over and stamped with the backside and then with a different colored ink I stamped on the correct side. Then I stamped the spokes and gently sponged the lightest color of ink over the entire piece. As a final touch, I highlighted the center of each spoke with a dot of white gel pen.

I invite you to see what the other fabulous design team members have created with this set:
Dana
Paulina
and Courtney as well, who has even more details for you!


Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific Stamps: (The Whole Cycle, You're the Man, You're Dandy) Practicing Creativity Designs Ink: (Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal) Stampin' Up! Other: (Apricot Grosgrain Ribbon) Offray, (White Gel Pen) Uniball by Signo, Thread Tools: (Circle Cutting System) Creative Memories

Practicing Creativity!

I remember visiting Courtney's blog when I first started this card making adventure and being seriously inspired by her designs and kind soul. And then oh my! She started her very own stamp company and I have loved every single one of her releases! There are many reasons for me to adore her high quality, wonderfully designed and interactive stamp sets. I am filled with great pride to now be a part of her design team! Me? Yes, Me! (And no, we aren't related...)

Today I have a wee bit of a clue for you regarding the August release. Look carefully at the picture and then hop on over to the other Practicing Creativity's Design Team member's blogs of the talented Dana and Paulina for clues in their pictures. Finally, stop on over at Courtney's blog and place your guess on what the really awesome new release is all about for a chance to win it! Fun right? So, without further ado, here's my picture and following is a new quick and simple card I've created using my all time favorite PCD set, You're Dandy. (Although this new release might top that!...) The front of the card is cut a bit shorter than the back so that the front rests on the sun. I was really inspired by this card from Paulina.

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (White) Georgia Pacific (Barely Banana) Stampin' Up! (Kraft) Papertrey Ink Stamps: (Rays from You're Dandy) Practicing Creativity Designs (Sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages) Papertrey Ink Ink: (Antique Linen Distress) Ranger (Fresh Snow Craft) Papertrey Ink (French Blue, Ice Blue Chalk) Clearsnap Other: (Rustic Twine) Papertrey Ink (Colored Pencils) Prisma Color Tools: (Circle Punch), (Paper Piercing Kit) Stampin' Up!