LOTV - It Is Not In The Stars...But In Ourselves...

Happy Fourth of July!

image courtesy us-days.com

Today's card is a summery-soft and shabby card with an inspirational sentiment as its focus (and I thought it was a fun fit for the history of today). I used a dark orchid background paper from LOTV's Promises Solids paper pad, topped it with three softer-toned papers from the Timeless Victorian pad, and added a sentiment from Set 63, Quotables/Go For It as the focal point...

Here are a few close-ups, starting with the cheesecloth peeking out of the lower corner...

The rose at the center of the floral cluster was made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies and white cardstock, sprayed with a mist made of Weathered Wood Distress Ink refill and distilled water...

The jeweled butterfly used to be a brad, until it met with my wire cutters... :)

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  LOTV Promises Solids (background purple);  Timeless Victorian (all others)

Stamps:   LOTV Set 63, Quotables/Go For It

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels Two, and Rose Creations;   Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background

Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Jeweled butterfly:   Creative Imaginations          Clay corner:   Martha Stewart mold and air-dry clay

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, white twine

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...have a wonderful weekend!

Same Image...Different Seasons...

Happy Wednesday, everyone. I didn't get back to creating as quickly as I had hoped, but it's all for good reasons. This year, my birthday fell on a Friday. Friday birthdays have a way of turning into "birthday weekends" and that's how it went this year - celebrating with a friend who's birthday is exactly one week before mine, then a couple celebrations with family - lots of fun!  Hmmm...maybe I should make this a yearly thing! LOL

Today I'm sharing three cards that all used the same stamp for the background image. It's been quite a while since I played with this stamp, and I wanted to try something new (to me).  I changed the colors/hues I used, and ended up with three cards that "represent" spring, summer, and autumn. And once again, I played with watercolors, so the cards are a bit more clean-and-simple than my usual style. But a change now and then is a good thing!

I made a watercolor wash in the background, then used watercolor markers on the stamp, spritzed it with water, and applied the stamp to the watercolor paper for the background.

Here's "spring" - bright and fun colors with a medium sky-blue background wash...

I did double-stamp the large dandelion on the left side...the orange appeared too strong, so I added a bit more water to the orange and let it run together more. After the watercolor stamping was dry, I added another layer of only the plum color, stamping it dry (no water spritz prior to stamping) to show the details and turn the original orange stamping to the background shadow. The only embellishments I added were a single punched butterfly, and a sprig of spring-like stems and leaves from the top of a craft-store flower stem...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp "Touch the Sky"

Butterfly punch:   Martha Stewart          Pearls:   Recollections          Florals:  local craft store

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Marvy LePlume markers, Ranger Stickles

Here's "summer."  There's a paler background wash, more bright yellow and green in the background, and just a bit lighter overall with just a few extra-bright areas of orange. The stamped sentiment and three butterflies were added as the only embellishments...

Here are some closeup detail shots...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamps:   Papertrey Ink "Mega Mixed Messages," "Botanical Silhouettes"

Butterfly punches:   Martha Stewart          Mini pearls:  Queen & Co.

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors,  Marvy LePlume markers, vellum, Ranger Stickles

And finally, here's "autumn."  The colors are richer, deeper, more traditionally autumnal (and you can see that just by the difference in contrast between this photo and the pastel colors of the other two cards). There's a twine wrap and bow accented with a raffia bow, a piece of a seed stem, and a simple stamped sentiment...

Here are a couple detail shots...

Supplies:

Background stamp:   Hero Arts "Dandelion Frame"

Sentiment stamp:   Winnie & Walter "The Big, The Bold, The Happy"

Seed stem:   Petaloo         

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Marvy LePlume markers, jute twine, raffia, seed spiral

Here's a side-by-side shot of all three cards for easy comparison...

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Soft and Sweet Shabby Square...

Hey, hey, hey....happy Hump Day! (I've often wondered - those of you not in the U.S., do you call Wednesdays/mid week "hump day," too?)

While Monday's card was bright with summer colors, today's card is very softly shaded in subdued mauve/pinks and beiges, with only the green leaves and a single deep plum flower to break the monochromatic feel of it all...

It's very subtle, but there's an area on the top right, and another along the left side of the cluster, where I've applied some texture using modeling paste and a chickenwire stencil. 

Here are some close-ups around the front...

There's a twine "wreath," surrounding a small die cut doily, that anchors the floral cluster...

The die cut to the right of the cluster is the top only of a larger frame die...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Stencil:   The Crafters Workshop Mini Chickenwire Reversed

Dies:   Memory Box Woven Circle;   My Favorite Things Leaf-Filled Flourish;

Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags & Accents

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com (tea-dyed)          Flowers & stamen cluster:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:  Recollections          Miscellaneous:   modeling paste, jute twine

Thank you for visiting today!

A Little of This, A Little of That...

Happy day, all! Today's card is a shabby chic eclectic combination of materials, from corrugated cardboard to pearls. :)  I've left off any sentiment...I seem to want to do that more often these days, to leave the possibilities open-ended for later use. Instead of patterned paper as a base, I took a small piece of corrugated cardboard, and dry-brushed on some dark cream and rose pink craft paint. I did the same with the wavy-corrugated cardboard used to die cut the hearts...

A side view shows a bit more how the cheesecloth falls off the edges on both sides...

Here are some close-ups of the florals and embellishments that sit on top of the two die-cut corrugated hearts (although the smaller of the two hearts is pretty much covered with flowers)...

The small round frame was made with air-dry clay and a silicone mold...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Dies:   Xyron ShapeZ/Hearts;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Frame:   Martha Stewart mold and air-dry clay

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Recollections          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Miscellaneous:   twine, cheesecloth, corrugated cardboard, craft paint

Thanks for visiting today!

A Soft and Shabby Hello...

Today I'm taking a break from the bright and colorful cards I've been posting recently, and sharing a soft, muted, and shabby card.

When I was peeking at the current Tic-Tac-Toe challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room, I realized I had a half-finished card sitting on my work surface that could be a perfect fit for this challenge.. in fact, it completes the tic-tac-toe board in a couple different directions (pennants/pearls/gingham and pennants/ribbon/vintage trims). :) It's been much too long since I participated in a TSTR challenge...it was time to say hello again to one of the first challenge sites I participated in!

So I got to work adding a banner to the side of the floral cluster, and some ribbon beneath it, and I ended up with a design I liked even better than the original design I was going to go with...I hope you like it, too!

On the top piece of patterned paper, I used a stencil and some crackle texture paste, then stamped a speckled pattern around the piece.

To add contrast to the soft, muted shades of the patterned papers, I added roses in complementary shades, but deeper intensities, along with some bright white...

I added a double row of the same lace across the pennant, except that one piece is tea-dyed...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Dies:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves 

Stamps:   Winnie & Walter/The Big, The Bold, and The Happy ("hello");   Stampin Up! Gorgeous Grunge

Stencil:   Memory Box Honeycomb          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Ribbon:   local craft store          Clay frame:   Martha Stewart mold and air-dry clay

Miscellaneous:   Studio 490 Crackled Texture Paste

Thanks for visiting today!

It's a Shabby Vintage Kind of Day...

Happy Monday, everyone! Summer is still in full swing around here, and soft colors are still on my mind.

Today's card is definitely vintage-themed, with lots of shabby touches.  When I pulled the patterned paper that's at the front of the card, it had a little more contrast and color than I wanted.  So I softened it with a lightly watered-down coating of gesso, and a bit of gentle sanding.  After that, I used a stencil and applied modeling paste across the bottom to add the vintage text...a light tan chalk ink pad was dragged over the dried modeling paste to tint the text.

Here are a couple close-ups of the floral cluster...most of it sits down inside the chipboard frame that you see peeking out on the right side of the card.  It starts with a layer of cheesecloth, then a large fabric flower, a gathered lace layer, another smaller coral fabric flower that's been dusted with white acrylic paint to soften the tone, and finally the paper roses and aster daisies, with a stamen cluster in the upper corner. The dyed seam binding bows are tucked under the lace layer and glued down...

The chipboard frame was "vintaged," too.  It was inked and crackled painted, then a tan acrylic paint was dry-brushed around the edges...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Prima Nature Garden and Tea Thyme collections

Stencil:   The Crafters Workshop Mini Antiquities          Chipboard frame:   Tattered Angels

Dies:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Impression Obsession Mini Rectangle Tags

Paper roses, aster daisies:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Fabric flowers:   Bazzill

Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Pearls:   Recollections

Sentiment stamp:  Lili of the Valley/Christmas Handwritten Phrases, Set 35

Laces and pearl strands:   local craft store          Hug Snug seam binding          Tim Holtz memo pin (embellished)

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, Golden modeling paste, gesso, crackle medium

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

So Sweet of You...

Monday's card was pale and pastel...today's card is anything but!

It's been a while since I've participated in the weekly challenge at The Shabby Tea Room, and it's high time I fixed that.  And this week's Mojo Monday sketch looked like a lot of fun, so why not combine them both? So that's just what I did...

The Shabby Tea Room's "Vegetable Garden" inspiration photo is a wonderful vintage image, and the challenge was to feature fruits or vegetables, along with text, on our project. Since oranges and pears went together with my sentiments better than veggies, I chose to use those in the digital collage. And as you can see, I did make a few "tweaks" to my final design from the Mojo Monday sketch for this week - the card changed to square, the single banner turned into two on each side, and I moved the floral cluster just a bit...

  

Here are a couple close-ups of the floral cluster...

And a detail shot of the pearl and crystal stick pin that holds the little sentiment tag...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Dolled Up and Fiddlesticks collections;

Echo Park For the Record 2 Tailored collection (oranges)

Dies:   Cheery Lynn Designs Italian Flourish doily;   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Sentiment stamps:   Paper Sweeties "So Sweet of You," "You Make Me Smile," and "You Are Amazing" sets

Pearls:   Recollections          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, handcrafted stick pin

Digital collage elements:   Fruits, vintage label, aqua background paper:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Brown background paper:   AlteredBits.com

Thanks for visiting today!

You Make My World That Much Brighter...

Happy Monday!  I have a short and sweet post with a flowery friendship card to start the new week.

The pastel patterned papers get an extra added punch with the use of the dark purple cardstock mats and a few dark purple roses among the pale yellow and pink - the large purple rose is made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies...

I started embellishing a Maya Road heart stickpin, but once I finished, I decided I wanted a second pin to offset it, so I added another Maya Road pin, this time the one with three graduated pearls...

And a couple closeups of the small flower clusters surrounding the large rose...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Dolled Up collection (stripe);  

Fiddlesticks collection (floral & yellow dot)

Dies:   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork;   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch          Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Lace:   local craft store          Maya Road stick pins

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