LOTV-Happy Birthday...

Happy Wednesday, everyone...I hope your week is going well.

When I received some of the new papers from the latest Lili of the Valley release, I knew that Snow Princess and the coordinating Snow Princess Solids would be among the first new papers I'd play with-I can't resist those aquas and purples!

(I seem to be on a bit of a "purple binge" lately...but it's almost over. LOL) Today I'm sharing a wintery birthday card made with a few of the purple papers in the two Snow Princess pads - accented only with white, and including a sprinkling of Glistening Snow-Tex to add to the wintery feel...

The sentiment is short and sweet, from Set 25, Handwritten Phrases, stamped onto a banner die cut, and  edged with a bit of the Snow-Tex...

Normally, when I used a pearl spray, it ends up at the top or the side of the floral cluster, so I went the opposite direction this time, and used the spray at the bottom, to accentuate the sentiment banner...

The largest flower is made up of several smaller Prima flowers, with texture paste and Snow-Tex adding some dimension. It's surrounded with smaller roses and a single large white leaf, with tiny branch accents as "fillers"...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   LOTV Snow Princess and Snow Princess Solids

Stamps:   LOTV Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Prima Eyelet #1 doily;   Tim Holtz Tattered Banners

Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch           Large flower & leaf:   Prima

Mini roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Braided trim, pearl spray, stamens:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   white twine, white thread

Thanks so much for visiting today!

You Are Awesome...

Happy Monday! I'm starting the week with a short and sweet post sharing a clean and simple watercolor card (well, as close to clean and simple as I can get...LOL).

As soon as I saw this stamp, I knew I had to have it. I was so taken with the long, vertical sentiment - it opens up so many design options. For this 4" x 6" card, I used the flower stamp that came with the sentiment, and added a different stamp, and die cut, for the accompanying sentiment at the bottom. I realize I might have jeopardized the true "CAS" label with the tear-outs and cheesecloth inserts, but I fell to the temptation once again...

Here are a few closeup shots around the front...

Supplies:

Image stamp:   Unity Stamp Co., "Bloom & Simplify"

Sentiment stamps:   Unity Stamp Co./"Bloom & Simplify";   Winnie & Walter/"The Big, The Bold, and You"

Sentiment die:   Simon Says Stamp ("you")

Stencil:    Tim Holtz Speckles            Gems:   Kaisercraft

Miscellaneous:   Sakura Koi watercolors, Uni Posca white pen, Studio 490 Translucent Embossing Paste, 

cheesecloth, drywall tape

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

The Twinery - You Are So Sweet...

Good Friday morning, everyone! I'm so pleased to announce that I was invited to be a Guest Designer over on The Twinery blog for August! When Julie first invited me, the ideas started flowing immediately. I've been playing with different styles lately - shabby chic, mixed media, watercolor - and I knew incorporating their wide selection of beautiful twines into these would be a fun experience!

So today, I'm starting off with a "fully loaded shabby chic mixed media" card, in some of my favorite colors...

The background starts off on a piece of 140# cold press watercolor paper. I floated bright shades of purple, pink, green, and aqua watercolors, and when they dried, added some pieces from an old dress pattern. Next, I used modeling paste with a chickenwire stencil to add just a hint of texture to the left side (it's barely visible in the photo, but it's there). Finally, I used gesso to adhere some twisted pieces of cheesecloth, and sprayed the cheesecloth with purple sprays, adding a final touch of Diamond Stickles to brighten it up a bit.

The chipboard dress form was painted white first (you can see that I left it white under the skirt). I "distressed" the base and top with black, cream, and bronze acrylic paints to give them an aged look. The bodice is a scrap of patterned paper. The skirt was the fun part...a layer of cheesecloth, then tulle accented with Diamond Stickles, and finally, pretty accents of Lilac Solid and Lilac Stripe twines...

The sentiment block is tucked into the florals with the use of a painted memo pin...

And finally, Gold Shimmer twine added just the right amount of sparkly accent to the lower corner of the card as big bows tucked under the florals...

Supplies:

Twines:   The Twinery - Gold Shimmer,  Lilac Solid,  Lilac Stripe

Dress form:   Maya Road            Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Stencil:   The Crafters Workshop/Mini Chickenwire            Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Die:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves          Pearls:   Recollections            Tim Holtz Memo Pin

Sentiments:   Winnie & Walter/The Big, The Bold, and You;   Simon Says Stamps Handwritten Greetings

Mixed media supplies:   Sakura Koi watercolors,  sewing pattern pieces,  modelling paste,  Distress Inks,

cheesecloth,  Diamond Stickles

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

LOTV - A Time For Giving...

Good Wednesday morning, everyone! Before I share today's card, there are a couple sale offers going on over at Lili of the Valley on the new stamps...and there's still time for you to take advantage of them!

One lasts until tomorrow midnight (UK time)...

And one ends Friday, August 8, midnight (UK time)...

The card I'm sharing today uses one of the sentiments in the new Set 75, Christmas Wishes (the same one pictured in the graphic above), only I've used some of the beautiful new papers from the new Enchantment paper pad and an accent dark purple paper from the new Snow Princess Solids paper pad to make a card geared toward autumn and the season of Thanksgiving...

The clock peeking out behind the floral cluster is a stamp from Set 66, Grunge Elements, watercolored with Distress Inks...

The florals include a larger rust-colored fabric flower from Petaloo, topped with mulberry roses and asters in brown, cream, and purple, accented with golden pearls...

The little frame was created with air-dry clay, then rubbed with brown ink, and finally topped with Frayed Burlap Distress Stickles, for just a bit of vintage sparkle...

Next, the sentiment from the new Christmas Wishes set, stamped onto a banner and inked around the edges for a vintage feel..

The little tag tucked in at the top of the card pulls out to display a second sentiment from Set 58, Pretty Grungy/Good Times...the tag is topped with a spray of raffia with purple twine accents...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  LOTV Enchantment, and Snow Princess Solids

Stamps:   LOTV Set 75, Christmas Wishes;   Set 66, Grunge Elements;   Set 58, Pretty Grungy/Good Times

Dies:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Tim Holtz Tattered Banners

Edge punch:   Martha Stewart Swirling Lace          Frame:   Martha Stewart mold & air dry clay

Mulberry flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Fabric flower:  Petaloo            Pearls:  Recollections

Purple twine:   The Twinery

Miscellaneous:   hemp twine, Distress Stickles, Distress Inks, raffia

Thanks for visiting today!

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful...

Happy Monday, all! Today I'm sharing a shabby-chic little number with a sentiment that could be appropriate for any occasion when you want to send a little pick-me-up message. :)

I always find it a bit difficult to photograph cards using the colors used here...a very pale taupe - not white or cream, just very muted - with a dusty grey-green, and a dusty pink.  And I always wonder how it looks on different monitors...LOL  So here it is...

Inside the white clay frame I added a piece from another patterned paper with basically the same colors, and put a cluster of pearls in the corner...

The flower cluster is also made up of dusty pastels...pink, grey, green...with just a couple brighter pink roses for fun...

The sentiment is stamped onto a small piece of the mauve patterned paper, treated with a punched edge...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Die:   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves            Frame:   Martha Stewart mold & air dry clay

Flowers & stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearls:   Recollections

Twine:   The Twinery/Natural Solid            Punch:   Martha Stewart Beaded Ruffle

Sentiment stamp:   Unity Stamp Co. / Imperfection is Beauty

Miscellaneous:   Wilton doily, ribbon

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

Cardabilities Sketch #104 - Thanks For All You Do...

TGIF! This week I had one of those "it's late at night, but the idea is hot and I'm going for it!" nights. While cruising some of the blogs in my feed yesterday afternoon, I came across the new Cardabilities sketch challenge, and I had a few ideas I jotted down. Last night, I changed my mind on a couple of those ideas, and decided to get to work on them before I lost momentum. Needless to say, it was late when I finished (drying time accounted for much of the time spent into the wee hours...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! heehee). Here's the finished card....

Here's the new sketch challenge that the design is based on...

For the background, I started with a piece of solid colored paper, and used matte medium to paste it to a base of 140 lb. watercolor paper. I knew I'd be using wet mediums on top of the paper, and wanted it to have a heavy base that could absorb the wet mediums without buckling. Then I gesso'd on several pieces of cheesecloth as the start of the textured base. 

Once the gesso was dry, I used a combination of sprays and Distress Inks applied with foam applicators to add spots of color over some of the gesso'd areas, leaving the rest of the gesso spots white. The final step was to fingerpaint (yep...I fingerpainted it on...it was fun! LOL)  Distress Stickles in Spun Sugar, Broken China, and Frayed Burlap over the front, to add more spots of color and texture, and just a subtle hint of sparkle.

Here's a closeup of a piece of the front that shows all the ingredients in one place...

There's a diecut doily under the sentiment block, and a twine wreath in addition that sits on top of the horizontal sentiment block. Each on their own didn't look substantial enough, but together, they counter the weight of the heavily textured background and the wider sentiment block...

The sentiment itself is stamped onto a piece of a diecut tattered banner...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs Vintage Summer Basics

Dies:   Spellbinders Scalloped Borders One;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Lifestyle Crafts Antique Doily;

Tim Holtz Tattered Banners

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Punch:   EK Success Round Binding Edge

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Sentiment stamp:   Simon Says Stamp/Friendship Messages

Pearls:   Recollections          Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, gesso, Distress Inks, Distress Stickles

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