Make a Wish { Two Paper Diva's}

As soon as I seen these candles in the new Make a Wish set from Two Paper Diva's I knew what I wanted to do with them ( paper piecing) and I started with a 6" sheet of random dotted pattern thinking it would be easier on the eyes when it was finished not having something that was not perfectly lined up. I was able to get 19 candles from that single sheet of paper and so I did knowing that I had two birthdays in April & May I needed cards for. this top one went to a Man and the one below went to a woman. the wood grain paper (also my minds eye) was cut with an spellbinders adorning squares die and the outer edge was raised up on pop dots. that allowed me to wrap the vintage lace around the candle cluster.

 Both of these cards are 6" square in real life and finally been opened by the recipients so, they became safe to post haha. The base printed paper is from fancy pants called park bench. the base it self is bazzill. The sentiment on this one is from the banners one set cut with a memory box primo label die. with some Kaiser craft pearls on the ends. The diecut printed paper is a subtle looking lace one from Authentique. The candle bodies are glued to these background diecuts but, not the flames so the flames do have some dimension to them being layered and stacked and not adhered flat. but, the frame being up on pop dots should protect them from being mangled.

One of the things I did to each of these candles ( they were all stamped twice, once on the printed paper and once again on white neenah smooth cardstock) was after paper piecing the print to the smooth and coloring the flames I did line the edge of all the wicks with a grey maker so that it takes away from your eye that bits of white that are between the wick and the top of the candles. ( its a very slim piece of cardstock cutting that) so, this leaves some paper along the edge in those corners for some stability but, it makes that paper not as visible. so the candles on the right the wicks have been edged and the ones on the left have not. and then I had to laugh at my self because, I added the shimmery blue gel pen to the wicks not the tips of the flames. such is life I tend to chalk that kind of goof up to artistic flair and call it good. after this photo was shot I then went over the tops of all the flames with an yellow spectrum noir glitter pen. it did blend the yellow & orange and give it a solid sparkle too.

WOYWW #360 {coloring}

Happy Wednesday Ladies, If you'd like to play along with us shoot a shot of what you are doing and link it up here at our hostess Julia's blog. 

 

So, this is the sofa table that has become a sit down coloring station in a spare room downstairs in the house. ( my big plastic table you see most of the time is in a finished room over the garage that hubs and I share the space as a hobby room. ) Some of these things have been being colored for weeks now. ( not continuously) The lilac's surrounding our house are blooming right now and excuse me Aaaachoooo. I am not getting as much done as I would like to. so, I have been reading more than creating. and creating in binges here and there. That thing that looks like a big pill box was found at Joann's fabrics a while back and is what I have started using for water to watercolor because, then I can have a red well and a green well etc etc. ( its easier to carry it to a sink then multiple pots too) I did "test" the Daniel smith watercolors samples that came with that hero arts kit a few weeks ago but, not colored anything with them as of yet. ( I was just eyeballing the colors to see if they were anything radically different than what I already have because, more color is always my thing but, to my eye they do not look much different, so I guess what I have for what I like to color is still working OK in that dept.) I also tried doing some thing with those glitter pastes and a stencil last weekend but, it has no dimension to it, it dries flat so, the look I wanted to find with a stencil did not work for me, I am going to have to use something under the glitter paste for dimension ( like paste of some kind with some body to it) and then do the glitter over the top I think. So, there are not any photos of that yet.

 So... It's still wed at my house, this was shot wet but, I was using a small paint brush ( the same one I use for all the liquid glues) to daub on some of the clear glitter paste. I did do the second wreath after this was shot. but, hopefully it gives you the idea. its kind of gloopy but dries flat.

another denim sneaker

I did put together one of the extra sneakers I cut when I made the other card a couple of weekends ago, and this version there are 1/16" teeny eyelets in the holes instead of using the paper ones the die cuts. the paper hole reinforcer's end up looking like 1/8" sized eyelets once they are glued on but, the hole is not actually big enough for the shank of a 1/8" eyelet to go into without cutting all new holes into the die cut. ( which might work better for a sneaker cut from cardstock but, my brain said if you have to cut 10 new holes to fit the metal ones don't use them, this was an attempt to save some time.) also wound the scrappers floss through the holes like they were really on a shoe. so I am thinking this one looks a little more real. not sure I like the denim ribbon much either, its soft enough to work with but, it also frays too.

LIbrary Pockets

 The congratulations is from Mama Elephant and the elephant is from Hero Arts ( as it's matching die) the Library Pocket die is from Sizzix and the Scalloped mat I lined some of these library cards with is from the Waffle Flower set called lacy layers dies. the mat under the congratulations is a PTI double ended banner and that very long tag comes with the Library pocket along with the hole reinforcer piece.

 This one the happy birthday is Hero Arts and the bird is from Judi Kins. that bird was colored with pencils real quick. The straight edge stitched rectangle dies are from Our Daily Bread Designs and or MFT. ( both of them were on the table when these pockets were going together.)

 I think this thank you is Hero Arts. the problem with unmounting your stamps is... haha they end up being just a piece of rubber.

 The best wishes ( I have to look up) the Happy 29th again I think is AI but, will check. The lacy layer diecut under the 29th birthday is from one of the Newer ODBD sets. the felt flowers were a gift to me a few years ago from a lady playing along inside wish rak. and the lace under that is vintage.

 I have to check on that from me to you, ( I have them from both SU & Unity) so, its one or the other. the Welcome little one is from Avery Elle.

 The Congratulations is from Mama Elephant and the elephant is from Hero Arts. The plaid paper on this one is really old from maybe K & Co. ( it's not marked on the back side of it)

This version the sentiment is from Two Paper Diva's cut with a MFT jumbo fishtail die and the gingham printed paper is from Pebbles.

Little Balloon notes

I kept looking at this balloon from the new feel better set thinking you know this could stand alone on a card so, I tried it. Each of the balloons on these cards were paper pieced from scraps of prints in my scraps bin. so, the mfg info of those are unknown.

 

 This particular card is an A-7 in real life, the balloon panel was stamped with Versafine onyx black and die cut with an Spellbinders long rectangle die, and so was its frame so they are taped back together on the back sides and up on pop dots. because, I like how embedded die cuts look. There is also a little bit of white gel pen into the detail of the balloon where the light would hit on each of them. The sentiment on this one is from the every day sentiments set.

Now these are only 3" square notes in real life, so the balloons string was stamped off the edge of these fronts and the sentiments are also from the feel better set. the one in the center that has the hearts those were the scraps of a die cut done with mirror paper from a precious mobile die from Memory box and I thought they just might be use able ( that piece that cuts out of a frame) so, they happened to be sitting on the table while I was poking around in the scraps bin for things with a small enough scale to suit these balloons so, I don't know how visible it is but, that red balloon has Love words all over it.
These are just that size that works for lunch boxes or purse's or tucking into a coat pocket, you have enough room to write a quick note on the inside but, its not a labor intensive scale. either decorating the front or writing a novel on the inside. I think that makes the 3" size just fun to play with that way.
There are still a few more days left to play along with the color challenge this month and have a chance to win a shopping gift card to the store. you can find the details for that here.

WOYWW #359 bits and pieces

 Lets see, this last tuesday evening finds my desk as a dumping ground. ( Saturday I had made the denim sneaker card and while I had the die out I continued to cut more pieces for future cards but, I ran out of time before I got the new piece glued together, sunday and monday we were not home so, monday night I had happy mail from two paper diva's and tuesday this art from Susie Williams arrive all the way from Australia and the two big sizzix dies came from Amazon. the trio of stamps and pots of glitter paste followed me home on monday.

 a closer look at that. I do have one of the glitter pastes now I think mine is a copper that looks pink in the jar so this time I picked up gold and clear. My husband picked out the buzzard AI stamp, he wants me to make a card for his dad's birthday next year with it...
the dies make a camera shaped folding card and a library pocket ( big enough to hold a gift card I think) hopefully I will have time to play today after work and find out.

now this is something I never would have expected so, it was like winning the lottery when I found the envelope in my mail box. ( don't you just love that when that happens?) the cardstock to the side is the same kind she uses for the squish squirts backgrounds with all the waters and such. This card has the most amazing depth of color and layers of color that I know this snap shot does not do it justice.
anyways, that is what is going on here, if you'd like to play along with us shoot a shot of the state of your piles ( or lack of them if you are cleaning as you go) and link it up here at our hostess Julia's blog and say hey. :) thanks for stopping by.

Denim Chucks

 

 So, last Week the how to use it challenge was to be inspired by ad's... and I have not subscribed to a printed magazine in a long long time. ( I pick them up once in a while when I drive 80+ miles to visit barnes and nobels in person but, I don't watch much tv either so, I popped over to pinterest and typed in ad art. ( oh wow talk about a lot of inspiration) I found one that was for converse sneakers that I liked but, it had a lot of colors on it and alot of graphic oh whats the word, the style would be very high tech contrast type of a thing) so, I waited until I had more time last Saturday and typed in just converse ads... and I came across the one posted below. So, changes were to make the sneaker themselves out of denim and to switch the sentiment from inspirational/encouraging to more of a birthday vibe. ( its blank inside)

 The denim is paper backed denim in a 12" pad from die cuts with a view and it was cut with the My Favorite things hightop all star sneakers die  the textured white is bazzill and the smooth is neenah. (all those hole reinforcers are paper die cuts in a 1/8" ish size so, its a little time consuming to glue these together. )  I did use a small round paintbrush and liquid mono glue.I threaded some karen fosters scrappers floss through the shoe lace holes and taped them the ends on the back side.  the sentiment is also from MFT. the base is some fancy pants corrugate and its A-6 in real life.

The ad I knew I could tinker with.

March Quota Christmas Cards

 I signed up for 4 Christmas cards a month for that challenge at scs... these top two were made this morning based on some bird colors I seen here on pinterest this morning for the IC challenge. I had colored these red poinsettias a while back and I was kinda eh, about them so they sat and they sat. and then I spied those birds and thought, OK, if you cut off the pale water color blue backgrounds and give it some Brilliant blue pops... you could have some patriotic-ish Christmas cards. and so I did.

 These poinsettia's are from Penny black stamped on Strathmore watercolor paper colored with QoR watercolors and then this morning I scribbled some pencil over the top for depth.
the print on this one is from Bo Bunny. the sentiment is from A Muse ( I think) its one of those things that got unmounted recently. The frame is up on pop dots and the edges of the outer petals were snipped so I could curl the petals under for some depth on this.

 This one the sentiment is from the Ornamental Pines set from SU and is more flat.

  This snowman is from an older 2003 SU set called A Beautiful Season, and the denim ribbon was a Christmas thing and the lace is vintage. I am guessing the gingham print may be Graphic45 but, not sure about that anymore ( its been a whiles since I made this one its been sitting in the upload it some day file)

 This one, I am not sure about the printed paper anymore but, I do remember it has some bling to it. that sentiment I want to say is IO but, I could be wrong. the card below is smaller like a gift card enclosure size and both the blingy poinsettia's are from the tim holtz die using glitter paper.

The sentiment on this one was from Unity Stamps ( I think) the print was a scrap from something I made previously using this as a circle so, it was one of those papers I only bought one so I kept every scrap lol.

 These the elves were colored and cut out months and months ago so, some of them became 3" cards last weekend.

Ballet Birthday Cards

 

 Do you all remember when I was doing those custom birthday cards for a man's grandchildren? Yes? so, when he seen the first batch of them he thought the kraft cards I had made were "for a boy" and I stuck my foot in my mouth and said well I Do, have one more ballerina stamp in the mail on its way to me I could do you something different for Olivia ( in Pink because, he was pretty sure girls should get pink) ( she is graduating from high school soon)
fast forward to happy mail arriving from Serendipity stamps. ( the is the gal she is tying her ribbons on her leg) It's also been so long since I made them the nitty gritty details are fading. but, I am pretty sure the wishing you joy is from Gina K and the happy birthday is from SU. this is 6" in real life.

 

 A closer look at the gal, I had stamped her twice on cream Neenah and colored and paper pieced the cut out second image onto the first for some depth. This particular card went into the booth sale container. that flower is some lumpy ( hard) resin? not sure the material, but it was from Martha Stewart I think.

 

 This is the card he received. the Happy in burgundy is from Stampendous, the scripty looking happy birthday is from the Altenew birthday greetings set and the Olivia was spelled out with an Lawn Fawn alphabet set. this uses the other piece of the embossed panel with the music notes and on this version she was stamped on white cardstock and also colored with copic and pencils and I added in some bitty recollections pearls for texture.

This is a single layer image on this one. Just cleaning out the to be uploaded folder. ( yes, there are still things I have not shown you guys yet) :)

Hugs and Kisses

 

Hello, I have been playing with the newest release sets from Two Paper Diva's last weekend and this is one the results. The band aids from the new feel better set and blooms from the funky flowers set were paper pieced into this design.  These were all stamped with Memento Lux peanut brittle ink on Neenah classic cream and colored with some blush blossom, creamy caramel, crisp cantaloupe & really rust markers. The get well is also from the feel better set and the top sentiment is from the tea cups set. The other colors of cardstock are Neenah solar white, SU creamy Caramel & Blush Blossom. this card is A-6 in real life. 

Did you see the April color combo challenge that went live on monday? ( it's still open until April 24th and someone will be gifted with a shopping card for the two paper diva's store, so what are you waiting for? go make something & link it up) :)

WOYWW # 358

So, I have not been out side as much as I had hoped to be but, I have also not been making things daily either. It's been more of a big push on the weekends while hubs is running around the woods looking for wild turkey. ( he has never shot one with something not a camera ha ha) but, it does give me a big chunk of time to craft in alone. So, I think we both look forward to hunting seasons.

 Hmm, Trying to remember what is different from last week. off to the right is a pile of die cut words from the pile of ODBD loot that arrived last week, stamped them on Sunday afternoon and left them out to dry till tuesday and then die cut them all. assembled a couple of quick cards from water colored PSX flowers that have been sitting on the table a while and last Sunday afternoon hubs needed to go to the outdoor store to buy turkey hunting stuff. and so, I went into Micheals, they had all that spring colored lace you see on the old bobbin and new clothes pin 40% off ( they have them on these really modern fake thick wood spools that just lack the character of the old stuff so, I pulled them all off those spools and got most of them onto one bobbin. there is probably only a yard of each color. the horse stamp to the left of that also followed me home sunday. on top of the misti is still all the dies I have been playing with lately and the hero arts oh what do they call it? ( kit of the moment?) the one with the flower and all the dies and the sample dots of some watercolor tubes I don't have. (that sheet is downstairs on the desk where I color)

 

A closer view of the piles. So, really not that much different. If you'd like to play along with us, shoot a shot of what you are pushing around in your space and link it up here at our hostess Julia's blog.

 What those cards laying look like standing, an old PSX holly hocks botanical stamp heat embossed in white on watercolor paper colored with QoR watercolors ( this is A-2 in real life.) The praying for your healing sentiment is from ODBD.

 Hibiscus on some Strawberry SU cardstock and this one is A-6 in real life. the hello is from Stampendous and paper pieced over the hibiscus words.

Flippin' Awesome ~ Two Paper Diva's color challenge

Good Morning and Welcome to the Two Paper Diva's Color Challenge for April. You can find all the details and the link up to play here on the Store blog. This will be open for 2 weeks and one lucky winner will win a $20.00 gift certificate to shop with.

 When I first seen the photo I knew I wanted to use these flip flops because, they are just so cheerful in my mind the same way the colors are in the photo below. So, these were stamped three times and water colored with some Zig clean brush markers and then I did add some texture dots to the third pair on the right. The white frame was cut with the Our Daily Bread Designs double stitched rectangle dies (twice) you cut the inside first from a sheet, then cut it again with a larger die to get the stitching on both sides of a frame. This printed paper is an older one from Basic Grey from the Hello Lucious line. The sentiment was cut with an Lawn Fawn banner die and is up on pop dots over the shoes. both of these stamps are from the Life is better in flip flops set The base is from Bazzill and this one is A-6 in real life.

There will be a random drawing done from the entries after the April 24th deadline and you do not have to use Two Paper Diva's stamps to play along but, we would love it if you do.

Some recent Challenge cards

 Last weekends Featured Stamper was Simone who posted this most awesome baby card I have seen in a while. ( I loved every detail so much I promptly looked at frantic stamper to see if they had one, and mine landed in my mailbox on Wednesday. ( so this was done very late) Changes were to add layers and such. the framed white layer is from the ODBD recent loot lavish layers die, the sentiment is from the Mama Elephant labeled messages set. the Memory Box Precious Mobile die was cut with both MM Silver Mirror Paper and some pink shimmer to do embedded dies on the hearts that cut as frames. these are all up on pop dots. that sheer ribbon is unknown and the print paper is from My Minds eye.

 Now this is inspired by a wedding cake seen on this blog here. That rose die cut is from Heidi Swapp. (it feels like very thin wood veneer in person but, its packaging says its paper) ( well paper is made from wood but, you know what I mean) Its one of those multi packs where there are 2 each of 4 different designs. ( I found it at Joanns a month or so ago when Hubs needed foam for his gun safe remodel) The base on this is Blush Blossom and its 5X7 in real life. the sentiment is from Savvy Stamps cut with a justrite Vintage sentiment tag die.

 A closer look the center, the prima and wild orchid crafts blooms are layered. the pearls are from Prima also.

 Isn't that just amazing, while I was looking at all the cakes my head said OH My Gosh can you imagine how much time that took and wanting to cry when it was cut into. ( but, then I always think that when I see amazing cakes) (and I did click through to see the stencil they used and was really glad I just buy stencils for paper crafting and not food after seeing the price tag (sticker shock)

 Now this was done inspired by Cheryl's gallery This is not based on any one thing but, I totally LOVED these tea cups. and here and here. ( I have not clue what die she used for these they look like tea cup shaped gift holders to me)
I also really loved all the shabby chic cards with this awesome stitching on the edges like this card here. So, my card is kinda a mix of all that inspiration. It's 6" square in real life, the sentiment is from the Two Paper Diva's banners 1 sentiment set and the Tea Cup is from the Sizzix Tim Holtz tea time die, the white frilly layer is from the Our Daily Bread Designs Filigree Frames die, the lace and ric rac is vintage. the blooms are from wild orchid crafts ( because, as much as I love lumpy flowers on things I really don't like to make them which is just something I learned a long the way after buying a few rolled roses dies)

The cup body is up on pop dots over the saucer. and there is one tucked under the edge of the banner die with the sentiment too. The textured purple paper is from a multi pack that came from big lots many years ago when they first opened a store in this town. The print below that is from Basic Grey. I did use some bitty staples to attach the lumpy thick ric rac to this. ( which I added in mostly to cover up the backing up and locking of the stitches on those corners of the prints that were sewn. for a first time trying this stitch setting it does not look too bad but, I think the tension was just too loose to get it the tight look that Cheryl's have on her cards.?? ( not really sure that is just a best guess)

A few more blooms

 This is a 6" square card in real life. ( that is how big this Penny Black poppies stamp is) the sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs Healing Prayers set with  second one on the inside.

 Nearly the same card with slightly different colors. the sentiments on this one were stamped on scraps of the Strathmore watercolor cardstock and diecut.
this shows what is on the insides of them before this one was glued together. The frilly die on the inside is from the ODBD set called Lavish Layers. both of these the flowers were colored with QoR watercolors.

 This the Penny Black stamp has heart shaped petals in real life. this had scribbled distress marker on the rubber that was misted with water before stamping (and I did not use the whole cluster of the bloom to do this, just inked this section) That sentiment is from the ODBD set called Grace's hope.
These are one layer cards that are A-2 in real life.

 This was something I did as round two during VSN thinking about Brenda's challenge to create a symetrical sun shape with not a sun stamp... and then after I got all these sprigs in here to fill the space I die cut it into a flat edge circle and laughed and laughed. ( it probably would have worked better with a round sentiment in the center too. (Hero Arts stamps)

I had been going through the black paper pads recently because, one of my nieces who had a birthday a couple of weeks ago that is her favorite color and while I was flipping through them I looked at this sheet and thought really its cool all on its own just stick a sentiment on it some time. ( and so I did) that sentiment is from two lips stamps and makes me smile. the lace is vintage.