Believe in Your Dreams...

Happy Halloween!  We have a busy day today...but we'll all be back in time for our annual "block party" Halloween pot luck dinner out on the cul-de-sac where we eat, socialize, enjoy whatever game is on tv (oh yes...there is actually a tv that's wheeled out onto the street and hooked up with all kinds of high-tech gadgets - Thursday night football will be the featured showing tonight), and most importantly, pass out candy to all the trick-or-treaters who come by. It's a fun tradition!

If you have a bit of extra time, and you love Lili of the Valley blog hops (and who doesn't?), there's a fun one going on right now. This time, part of the team is showing how they've used the same new image stamp - a fun new twist for this release! As always, there are fun prizes to be awarded for hopping and leaving comments, so be sure to head on over to the Ideas to Inspire blog to start the Oh-So-Girlie hop using the new "Getting Ready" stamp!

But today's card that I'm sharing with you *is not* part of the blog hop, and has nothing to do with Halloween or the holidays. It's a shabby friendship card with a message of encouragement for someone who might need a little pick-me-up while striving to reach a goal. It features several Lili of the Valley stamps, and of course, papers by LOTV, too...

The larger main sentiment comes from LOTV's Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate set, while the supporting sentiment on the small tag inside the memo pin can be found in Set 29, Vintage Sentiments/Just to Say set. The blue and white dotted paper (and the solid blue you can see peeking out from behind it) can be found in the new Winter Wishes paper pad...

Of course, I had to surround it all with a shabby floral cluster, complete with cheesecloth pieces, flowers, pearls, hemp bow, and other little bits of fun...

Instead of just placing some flowers on the upper corner, I tucked a cluster of rosebuds and leaves behind the top corner of the sentiment block and the stamped postcard piece that's from LOTV's Set 46, Background Bits/Notes set , and added another hemp bow behind one of the rosebuds...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Winter Wishes collection, NitWit Collections for Lili of the Valley (blue papers);   

Country Lady collection, NitWit Collections for Lili of the Valley (tan background paper)

Stamps:   LOTV Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate;   LOTV Set 29, Vintage Sentiments/Just to Say;  

 LOTV Set 46, Background Bits/Notes (postcard)

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts;  Prima;   local craft store          Stamens:  ChocolateLetters on Etsy ;  Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Tim Holtz Memo pin (embellished)

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, hemp cording, Stampendous Frantage embossing powder

Thanks so much for popping in for a visit today!

Thankful...

Happy autumn Monday to you! You can tell it's "officially fall" around here because the oak tree out front has finally started dropping leaves all over the front lawn. Sure do love that we have that beautiful big old tree in the front yard, but it sure does make a mess for a few weeks every year! :)

Today's card again has an autumn color scheme, and I'm not sure if it will be a "thank you" card, or a "thanksgiving" card...either way it has the colors of the season set against stark white and kraft tan...

Each cardstock layer has been attached using foam tape to add dimension...it's a bit easier to see from the side view...

The larger flowers are handmade using flat Prima flowers, shaping them with the round end of an embossing tool, then layering them on top of each other. I couldn't resist adding a nice bunch of stamens to the largest orange flower just for fun...

The large orange leaf came off a larger stem of leaves from the craft store...a little gold glitter was added in the spirit of the fall season..

I found a stem of seed pods left from a couple projects from last year...just the right colors for today's card...

Supplies:

Embossing folder:   Sizzix/Tim Holtz Texture Fades/Bricked & Woodgrain

Dies:   Spellbinders Foliage Two          Leaves, Pearls:   Recollections          Small roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Large flowers:   Prima (altered)          Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Sentiment stamp:   Fiskars

Miscellaneous:   Wilton doily, large maple leaf, hemp cording, seed stems, cheesecloth

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Christmas? Why Not?...

Today's card didn't start out by design to be a Christmas card. I was pulling embellishments to add to the front of a card with a tan and black color scheme going, and the first item I pulled was a bright red rose. Then I pulled out the baggie of die cut leafy branches, and when I set the dark green branches next to the red rose, a Christmas card was born...

The largest rose is crafted using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies (by now you've probably realized I have a definite "addiction" to this die set, right?)...

The dark green leafy branches were dry-brushed with white acrylic paint for a wintery accent, and the pearl, silver, and red glass stick pin was placed to look like the branch the leaves rest upon...

I cut apart a larger acrylic sentiment stamp to get just the "Merry Christmas" part, and shaped it on my acrylic block so it would stamp around the edge of the doily piece...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Basic Grey Basics Manila collection;   Colorbok (dot)

Dies:   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Impression Obsession Bare Branch;   

Memory Box Woven Circle

Stencil:   Tim Holtz Splatters          Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Sentiment stamp:   Inkadinkado          Handcrafted stick pin

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, burlap

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Wishing You A Fabulous Day...

I love seeing and making white, ivory, and cream cards, but I must go on record saying photographing them does try my patience.  :)

I'm not a professional photographer (as you might be able to readily see), but I try to remember all the tips I've read about the best way to capture your work in a photo, the best lighting to use, etc. Still, with white and cream cards, I've never yet been successful in capturing the same hues and shading in my photos that the human eye can discern, whether I'm photographing them in natural light, or with lighting that simulates natural light, or via photo editing...and that's the trying part for me. Someday I'll get the magic combination figured out...I'm not ready to give up yet.

So please trust me when I say today's card is made in cream cardstock, and the dry embossing is shaded with a darker cream. Even with the contrast of the white pearls against the cream cardstock, the pale yellow hue of the cardstock still photographs more white than it is...

I wanted the card to be monochromatic with one single pop of color, so I chose to use one of my handcrafted orange roses to be that bright accent. It's surrounded with cream asters and brown roses, pieces of a bare branch die cut, golden brown leaf clusters, and pearl clusters...

The embossing folder incorporates the die shape which leaves a space for the sentiment, so I used some of the smaller sizes of the coordinating die set to add dimension to the sentiment block, adding a touch of clear German glass glitter for a very subtle sparkly accent...

Supplies:

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels 18;   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   Impression Obsession Bare Branch;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Embossing folder:   Spellbinders 3D M-Bossabilities Framed Labels 18

Sentiment stamp:   Papertrey Ink          Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, clear German glass glitter

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Give Thanks...

Happy Friday, all!  No "plum" on today's card...didn't want you to get "plum-tuckered." (groan...sorry for the bad pun.)

Today I have a Thanksgiving card, but not in all the traditional holiday colors. I paired deep gold tones with a patterned paper mixing roses in the same gold tones with pink and aqua. I guess you could say it's "traditional shabby chic colors" meets "traditional Thanksgiving colors."  (Random question - do those of you in countries in the southern hemisphere celebrate a Thanksgiving-themed holiday during your summer months or winter months...and do you have "traditional colors" that go along with it?)

After I added the lace strip between the two patterned papers on the front, it still looked like something was missing. So I die cut a scalloped trim, cut it in half lengthwise, and added 1/2 the strip to the top and bottom of the lace - now it looked substantial enough to support the heavy floral cluster that would sit above it...

I copied the rose pattern on the paper to the colors of the roses in the cluster that sits on top of a piece of scrunched pink cheesecloth and a diecut loopy doily...

then used a dark golden cardstock to cut the leafy stems, inking the edges heavily with dark brown to give them contrast and dimension...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Authentique Grace collection/"Delicate" (floral and pink), "Beauty" (gold damask)

Dies:   My Favorite Things Dizzy Border;   Memory Box Quinn Flourish;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Lace:   K&Company          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Sentiment Rub-on:   Melissa Frances          Miscellaneous:   white hemp cording, cheesecloth

Thanks for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Blessings...

I didn't start out to make this week "plum" week, but it looks like it's turning out that way so far, doesn't it? :)

Today I'm showing off some of the new  Lili of the Valley  holiday papers mixed with existing Christmas sentiment stamps. This holiday card features plum mixed with olive green, tan, and cream -  it's one of my favorite color mixes for Christmas cards. These are three of the papers from LOTV's new Woodland Wishes paper pad ...

There's lots of dimensional layering (i.e. foam tape) on this card, from the patterned papers on the base to the layers of the die cut trees and the deer die cut...you can see all the layers a bit better from a side view...

The plum and cream roses are dusted with clear coarse glitter and sit atop a diecut pine branch dusted with Shabby White Frantage embossing powder...

The pine tree die cuts are heavily coated with Shabby White Frantage, and the little deer poking his head out from the trees somehow found someone to attach a little pine bough and bell around his neck...heehee...

The sentiments on this card are from LOTV's Set 10, A5 Verses, and Set 35,Christmas Handwritten Phrases (the only change I made to "Christmas Blessings" was to cut the stamp between the two words so I could put them on separate lines in the sentiment square)...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Woodland Wishes collection, NitWit collections for Lili of the Valley

Sentiment stamps:  LOTV Set 10/A5 verses;    LOTV Set 35/ Christmas Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Spellbinders Classic Squares Large and Small;   Impression Obsession Deer Trio;   Cottage Cutz Pine Tree Forest

Paper roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts, and LayoutsFromTheHeart on Etsy          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   Hug Snug seam binding,  Stampendous Frantage Shabby White embossing powder, clear coarse glitter

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

For Our Blessings...

Today's card is a seasonal Thanksgiving card, but I switched colors up a bit and went with plum and rusty-orange. The kraft background of the card is actually a Maya Road square kraft envelope turned on its side, then covered with an inked doily and small snippets of fun papers. You can see the scalloped edge of the envelope flap on the right side of the card...

The largest rose is made with Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies, and it's surrounded with ready-made smaller mulberry roses...the fact that the colors all matched up so well is pure crafty-luck!

A spray of cream and taupe stamens between the rose and the punched maple leaves was added just for fun...

The chipboard fleur-de-lis piece was turned into a frame shape with the help of a circle die cut from the center...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Prima Nature Garden;   DCWV gauze paper

Dies:   Spellbinders Rose Creations,   Fleur de Lis Accents,   Standard Circles Large; 

Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork

Punch:   Marvy Uchida Large Maple Leaf          Mini roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Pearls:   Recollections          Miscellaneous:   Wilton doily

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

  

So Blessed to Call You Friend...

Happy Friday, everyone!

I'm ending the week with a decidedly shabby chic style card in what I consider "traditional" shabby chic colors.  It was another project where I just pulled some paper pieces left from previous projects, made a burlap rose for the centerpiece, and added fun pieces around it...

Using burlap paper, I cut a rose for the center of the card with Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies...

and surrounded it with a painted, inked, and glittered chipboard heart...

and a "baker's dozen" cluster of paper roses and aster daisies, accented with a lace bow applique, pearl clusters...

and a couple die cut cardstock flourishes and leaf stems...

Supplies

Patterned papers:   Bo Bunny Gabrielle collection (text);   Glitz Designs Pretty in Pink collection (stripe)

Dies:   Spellbinders Rose Creations and Foliage Two;   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork

Lace bow applique:   Jolee's Boutique          Chipboard heart:   Maya Road          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          

Pearls:   Recollections          Sentiment stamp:   Papertrey Ink          Miscellaneous:   hemp cording

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today...have a wonderful weekend!    

Just to Say...

Hi, everyone.  I have a short and sweet post for you today, with a vintage/shabby thank you card.

Today's card uses papers from two different Lili of the Valley paper sets,  Always and Forever and Antebellum, and sentiments from LOTV's Pretty Grungy/Good Times set...

The first part of the sentiment is nestled down inside the floral cluster...

and the last part of the sentiment is turned into a round tag that dangles off the side of the cluster. The light touch of sparkle around the edges comes from the Antique Linen Distress Stickles applied around them...

Dark rose pink and white flowers and stamens surround the two sentiment pieces, along with pearls on one side and a bit of cheesecloth for texture along the other...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Lili of the Valley Always and Forever collection and Antebellum collection

Sentiment stamps:   Lili of the Valley Set 58, Pretty Grungy/Good Times

Dies:   Spellbinders Foliage Two          Flowers:   The Paper Studio;  Wild Orchid Crafts

Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, hemp cording, Antique Linen Distress Stickles

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today! 

Autumn Wishes...

Happy Monday, everyone...hope you had a great weekend!

There's something about making seasonal cards that makes me want to stray from the usual, expected color combinations and make up projects in unexpected hues. I do this a lot with Christmas cards, and these days, with autumn cards. As much as I love the more conventional shades of oranges, deep reds, and browns, I like to find other colors that might also impart the same seasonal "feelings."

At the center of today's card is a die cut lacy heart doily. Pale aqua accents shades of kraft tan, taupe, and beige in the background. And rather than splatter ink spray or paint, I've used antique silver and gold distressed embossing powders for a similar splattered effect in the corners...

The first two detail photos show the finished effect of the distressed embossing powders on the heart doily, and on the corner of the card...mixed in with the gold and silver powders is a black powder that gives a tarnished look to the embossing when it's heated...

You can barely see the little tea-dyed lace layer beneath the three aqua roses...but it's there...

There are lots of pearl accents on the card, but I couldn't resist adding a couple embellished stick pins, too...

Supplies:

Patterned paper:   Prima Romantique collection (dot);    Prima IOD and Basic Grey (banners)

Dies:   Spellbinders Lacy Hearts and Foliage Two

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   handcrafted stick pins, hemp cord, tea dyed cotton laces, Stampendous Frantage embossing powders

Thanks for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!