Patriotic Sparkle Thanks

Something I did with these Make a wish candles and the string of star's  I was thinking they could double as fire crackers for an Independence day type thing at the time when I was making them and then, I received that say yes to sprinkles 2 set in the mail and thought, Oh, this could work as a fun little thank-you note too. The string of stars and candles were stamped on Neenah solar white with Versafine onyx black ink, I did you flip the block around every time I stamped the stars over the each candle so that each one would be a little bit different. I did not mask off the strings just chose to use Navy blue as the main color of the body and then went over the stars with red or white with some pit pens, gels pens & zig clean brush markers. The sentiment was heat embossed with Ranger liquid platinum powder on Vellum cardstock and diecut with an MFT jumbo fishtail die. the teeny red brads are from Recollections and the solar white frame ( die cut twice with SSS stitched rectangle dies) is up on pop dots over the fancy pants corrugate base. This one is A-6 in real life.

WOYWW # 369 {happy mail & a card}

 So, the disclaimer is... this is a mug shot from last saturday afternoon... the good news is tonight I have human feeling thoughts again. (maybe Im on the downhill side of this bug now) seriously, I have not been upstairs since the weekend. I did unpack the mail and then made the coffee card ( previous post) and this one below from scraps on the table. the thing I am curious about is that lawn fawn cleaning cloth. it says on the wrapper just get it wet then wipe the stamps. I am thinking it will have no fuzzy stuff left behind on the stamps but, what I am not sure about is if you take it to a sink and get it wet every time you stamp or if you toss it in the wash or something (between stamping) so, it has not come down stairs yet to get "wet"

the heart is a low profile (looks like faux glass) sticker from Micheal's recollections line. the sentiment is from darkroom door.

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 Jan's blog where the link up is at while Julia recovers. thanks for stopping by,

Spill the beans

This came about inspired by two different challenges last weekend. The Inspiration challenge heads to a Pinterest board with Tim Holtz styled art. and I found this pin. which lead me to watch this video. ( and I had no time to play) and then on Sunday I found this card in Kendra's featured stamper gallery and though... do it, it's a sign..
lol so the coffee rings were stamped with Distress Vintage Photo and the sentiment was done in Versafine vintage sepia and the bean was stamped twice with Avery Elle kraft ink. ( so, both of those things would not react with the water and the distress) I did mask off a spot for the sentiment and then I deliberately drug the water through that space for a "spill" Its a A-2 sized card the white is some more Smooth  Bristol paper and the base is Baked brown sugar. All of these stamps are from the Darkroom Door set called coffee talk.

A catch up post

 Something I did messing around while I was trying to come up with Fathers Day cards... didnt send this to anyone but, it did make me laugh. ( sentiment is from Taylored Expressions and the kitty is from Eureka! stamps

 very nearly the same card, colored with slightly different pencils and a Dutch Bro's altered lid for the sentiment.

 This is what happens to soft wool felt in the wild rose studios bunny love die... ( its a solid image) the sentiments from Ellen Hutson.

 Something Leigh Anne rak'd to me years ago ( that IO image, I colored it and it sat and sat and sat)  Sentiments are from Paper Smoochies.

 These tulips are water colored ( Darkroom Door) and up on pop dots over teh SU mellow moss lace background.

 The sentiment is from Hero Arts and an "evening flower" from Impression Obsession.

 made this sometime last feburary because the SSS sentiment had come in the mail and so, the laptop is from GKD and the congrats is Stampendous .
I had been messing around coloring laptops after doing one ( seen below) for J's birthday in march)

 for laughs, the sentiment is from Two Lips Stamps & the stack of books is from Darkroom door and the bookshelf background is from Impression Obsession.

 What I ended up sending to J.
The red cardbase is all sparkly and the laptop is watercolored and up on pop dots.

 the centers of these dogwood blooms have Prills in them.

 I had done this for a stamping friend who lost her husband recently. The dogwood flowers are from Personal Stamp Exchanged and heat embossed in white on watercolor paper. (mind is blank on the sentiment) (probably SU)

 This bird is from Impression Obsession, and I had a really hard time deciding what colors it should be.. and all the birds in my yard are always chirping and such so, when this sentiment came in the mail ( the bird had been on the table for a long time) it looked like it was being "sung" haha

 My last VSN entry. Lee's challenge was to use the letters from the Olympic's motto. so, you need an C A F. so, I have a whippersnapper cow with a flower that is Framed and an Altenew sentiment... Oh, and this was a first time playing around with smooth bristol paper. ( I did watercolor on it) and that water moves really fast on the smooth surface. It did not pill the paper either ( yay) 

 This is what I did for last sunday's featured stamper as something for my Grandpa whose birthday was a few days ago. The printed paper is from Basic Grey and its 4X9 in real life. the gems came out of a Hero Arts monthly kit and the sentiment is from Altenew birthday greetings. and it was inspired by this cool card in Lisa's gallery seen here.

Last weekends Inspiration challenge headed to this store and I found this bottle and thought  the colors would make an awesome Christmas card and then while I was hunting for Christmas flowers I got side tracked by these recent Hero Arts monthy kit blooms. ( they dont name those kits so, its hard to say what to call them) anyways, this is three stampings of the same bloom and I cut them out with scissors rather than using the dies that came with them. ( mostly because, that is faster for me then hunting for the dies) The sentiment is from SSS.

(and this cleans out my to be uploaded file) now you know, I am one of those people who does not have that big of an ignore brain for the notification buttons. or too many things in this folder makes me say load them and start over. I really admire those people who can do one project at a time and post daily but, the lazy part of me just says lump them together and get it over with.

More VSN projects

 A couple more for VSN, Lydia's challenge is "hit the lights" so, the moon was a background stenciled with SSS bokeh stencils and distress ink so, the moon is paper pieced into the rest of the image. ( Impression Obsession Couple with a tree and the Sentiment is from Hero Arts Written in the stars) this one is A-6 in real life.

 Now this one I totally did not "get this" looking at the gallery uploads ( its a "waterfall" card) so Brenda suggested hunting up a Youtube video and watching it move. ( which I did I found this one and did not follow the measurement directions.) This card is A-6 in real life. So, one thing I did was flipped the waterfall to it's side and then I stamped the sentiment long ways on the scored strip (because, that was how it was done in the video ha ha) and so, that sentiment was cut out and glued to a new strip to be horizontal. ( see below the open look) now, this diecut word catches a little bit when you are sliding it back to closed because of the depth.

the pulled version, the sentiment is from Print works and the tree is from the Hero Arts color layer tree's set. ( so the fourth panel is just bare branches) so it follows the seasons across the card. There are a few handfuls of ink colors on this card as follows: Versafine Onyx Black, Vintage Sepia, Spanish Moss, Avery Elle Pixie, lemon grass, jungle, Memento Luxe Peanut Brittle, Adirondack Rust, Salmon, Shell Pink. The printed paper is from MME, the brown is baked brown sugar and the tan is Sahara Sand. This was done for Janet's Challenge seen here.

WOYWW #368 {after & before}

Welcome to the it's no longer a mess desk... If your wondering what this is all about you can find the details and the link up here at Jan's blog while she is hosting this hop as Julia Recovers. If you'd like to play along with us shoot a shot of your space. It's that simple.

 This was shot Tuesday evening after work. I had received a packed of New for July and some I can play with now stamps from Two Paper Diva's so, on Monday I had made another card for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog hop (going on now there are still a few days left to play if you are so inclined. There are some really cool projects being shown ( with opportunities to ha ha add to your collections too I'm sure)  That is coffee in the mug even though this was shot at 6 pm and the little pile of new rubber that needs the foam removed. I did get a laminate machine and some plastic sleeve things for it and I cleaned off three shelves of one of my book shelves to move unmounted stamps to it. ( this is a work in progress) I have to do the laminating downstairs I think the cord is too short to reach from the plug in to the table. ( fun fun ) plus I want to buy some cheaper cardstock to use for it.

 

This was Sunday afternoon, there is also a VSN (virtual stamp night) going on at Splitcoaststampers and there are 13 challenges for that, ( I have done 10 of them) and by the half way point I could not see the table anymore so, I had to take the time to clean up. We ( hubs and I ) I have been assuming that everyone who comes to the desk hop does not see the rest of the posts through the week have been fighting with allergies and a cold mixed in, so I didn't get much of anything done last week. including climbing the stairs to shoot a desk mug shot. ( sorry, am hoping to catch up today and tomorrow on what I missed) one interesting thing happened. a lady driving down the street got a glimpse of the garden ( the veggie part) and turned around and asked if we would consider being part of a garden tour in August. and after looking at their web site this week we have her and her boss coming back this next Saturday to look at it up close. ( they are a big promote organic gardening group) and the truth is... ( shhh bugs are sprayed in our yard, we are not home 24/7 to you know hand carry these bugs to the curb so they can cross the street and live at the school.) SO, after telling her that in an email she is dragging her boss by so they can ask questions because, I told her more than once we really do not have a lot growing this year ( they way we have in previous years) the Cold storage room is still full of Canned goods and then we just sold 20 sheep leaving us with 3 to start over as we still ( yes, ds has been gone from the nest for 2 years now) and we still  have 2 freezers full of meat. So. who knows. maybe I will be writing about adventures as a tour guide some day.

a Cup of Kindness

 

This is idea #2 from me for the Summer edition of the Coffee Lovers blog hop, (and I really did a coffee card this time) :)  You can do Coffee, Tea or Cocoa if you'd like to play along with us. There is an amazing list of Sponsors and side give-away's along the hop. Of which Two Paper Diva's is one of the Super Sponsors.

 

I had received this Coffee on the go cup set from Two Paper Diva's in the mail today and I was so excited about how big it is in real life ( hey, everyone knows size matters when it comes to coffee right?) that I had to stop what I was doing and go make a quick card with it. I paired it with a sentiment from the new June release A Cup of Kindness.

This card is A-6 in real life, the cup was stamped with versafine on some Neenah solar white (smooth) and the finger grip part was paper pieced from some Recollections Aqua screen print paper and the lid was done on some Papertrey ink Aqua Mist cardstock ( the lid is up on pop dots) The butterfly is an Petaloo sticker. The sentiment was heat embossed with some SU white powder on Kraft and cut with an Jumbo fishtail die from My Favorite things and the photo corners are really old ones from Heidi Swapp. The Base is from Bazzill and the summery colored printed paper is from the My Minds Eye line. Thanks for stopping by.

VSN Summer edition

 Kim has a challenge to create a card with a visual horizontal line and swirls... ( see the beans and steam?) the beans have diamond glaze on them. The sentiment is from the ton and the cup is from Impression Obsession and the beans are from ann-ticipations.

 Polly has a challenge that was to show something that jumps... so, the house mouse image is called the need for caffeine and the sentiment is from reverse confetti

 This is a closer look at the coloring of the magnolia, I had scribbled some pencil over the top of the watercoloring as you had to have 3 of a kind on the card some how so, the image color comes from white embossing powder, QoR watercolors and pencils.

 It' 6" square in real life, also 3 kinds of papers and 3 kinds of textiles. this was done for Merla's challenge seen here.

 Misti's challenge was to use a trio of colors off the target with a circle on the card.

 Carla's challenge was to include a bird, so this is scraps from the fathers day cards last week.

 Sharon's challenge was to use watercoloring with some gold.

 Jeanne's challenge was to use something that swims. (High hopes images stamped and colored years and years ago) I had to heat set that sentiment from Wplus9 over the top because of the wax bloom.

Melody's challenge was to include some fabric, the bunnies ( wild rose studio) were cut from stiff felt a while back when the die was new to me.

 Michelle's challenge was to include snow. and or a winter sport as a bonus.

 Jan's challenge was to use red, white and blue. so, this hedgie also came out of the precivously colored images tin. ( and I think it may have been one of the first attempts at copics's years ago)
I still have three left to complete so, we'll see how today goes.

Summer Coffee Lovers blog hop

 Funny true story, today the summer addition of the coffee lovers blog hop opens. and Two Paper Diva's is sponsoring one of the prizes. And somehow I made a tea card and I laughed and laughed. I also made a bunch of wine tags... and recently I seen something on someone's blog she had shot a project in her kitchen and she had a sign on the counter that reads "Life is what happens between coffee and wine" and I loved that, wouldn't it make a great stamp? but, in my life tea is what happens when we are sick. and hubs has hauled home germs. so, I am not as down for the count as he is and have not resorting to chugging tea yet either. but, I did kind of grin when I was putting this one together. One of those random side thoughts was well... at least you did it with red hot summer colors lol...

There is some Nuvo blizzard white glitter drops on this cup that was stamped with versafine and colored with a white gel pen on some really old Basic grey paper. This was shot while it was wet. The sentiment is from the new Keep calm and drink set seen here and the cup is from a Cup of Kindness set found here. This panel was cut with the simon says stamp stitched oval die and is up on pop dots. The floral print on this is from the Basic Grey Sweet Treats pad and the ribbon is unknown. This card is 5 1/2" square in real life.

You can find all the details for the hop here if you'd like to play along the sponsor list is amazing. Thanks for stopping by.

gift tags (Assorted)

 So, when I seen the June Hero Arts kit I was pretty excited about this folded tag die, which is why I bought it. and I had my fingers crossed it would be larger than the Sizzix tag card die I already own (on the right) the good news is, it IS larger, but, as you can see not by much. it is however a different shape at the top so, that will be fun to make them be a little different.

 esp. when you make them assembly line style from other bits and pieces made a while back.

 all of the Christmas things came out of that basket seen in this post here.

 

 The red glitter paper was also cut with the sizzix tag and its too flimsy to stand up so, I cut them in half and glued only one half to a white card base for some of them.

 

 I made these eons ago and came across the gift card photo in the post it someday file.

 Ditto for this one, the bird house is an very old SU one.

 Now these were done just messing around with some of the new cups from the June release from Two Paper Diva's the sentiment on the left is heat embossed and the one on the right is an repurposed coffee cup lid.

and these were done because, its good to have a stash of them when you give wine as gifts frequently. these did not however get metal charms but, I did find a pack of dress it up buttons in my stash so, those cork screws and cork are plastic buttons. I did remove the shanks from the corkscrews but, left it on the back of the cork to tie them on.

Kraft & Blacks

 I have been pulling my hair out for weeks trying to make a decision about fathers day cards this year, not really knowing what I wanted to do. so, I ended up poking around finding some highly detailed images and pairing them with the Versafine ink on the Recollections Kraft cardstock. ( which is more of a layering weight than anything else but, I bought it thinking it would work for sentiments and such) so, it has a cool texture to it, but still smooth enough to take the details and I did stamp every one of these images twice so, some became fathers day and some went other directions.
This decoy is from Impression Obsession and the sentiment is Hero Arts. the gingham paper is from K & Co. and its A-7 in real life.

 Same decoy with some SU textured (shiny) wood grain on kraft that was part of a paper share Leigh Ann did years ago, I am finally bringing my self to use some of it. The sentiment die cut is from Ellen Hutson. This one is 6" square in real life.

 The mallard is from ah, I already forgot embossing arts? ( I am sure its retired)

 This is a mix of of sentiments, the tiles are vintage scrabble game pieces, the middle sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp ( it was a mothers day set this year) and then I added the teeny tiny SU fathers day wish below it all. the textured cardstock is from My Minds Eye paired with the textured SU Kraft. this one is also 6" square in real life. ( and boxed this one is being hand delivered to hubs dad)

 The shells are from Inkadinkado on this one.

 The truck is from Impression Obsession.

The Map is from Inkadinkado

The sentiment on this one is from Unity Stamps and this one is 5 1/2" square in real life. I have had this sentiment stamped and diecut on the table for months and it just caught my eye when I was fingering the second map thinking. I am still working on using up that stack of dcwv premade card bases too so, the colors were a very close match that way. the big brad is from Eyelet outlet.
All the stitched rectangles were cut with a Simon Says Stamp die.