Playing in Paradise

Hello bloggers,

I am thrilled to be this week's Paradise Player over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Playing in Paradise Challenge.  This week's challenge is an inspiration challenge.  Ally has chosen this amazing picture for us.  It is just full of possibilities:

I loved the branches and little pink flowers, so I chose to make a card using those as my inspiration.  In keeping with the bedroom theme, I used a sleeping kitty stamp from Inkadinkado. 

Now I know that there isn't a cat in the photo, but I am convinced that it is only because the giant bird flying through the wall scared it away:).  Any bed that looks as comfortable as that one would find itself home to a drowsy kitty.  I love that this kitty has flowers all over it, tying in to the flowers in the photo.  The kitty was stamped in vintage photo distress ink on cream colored paper from the Happy Together line by Fancy Pants.  The edges were distressed and inked with vintage photo.  The cardstock is brown Bazzill and the remainder of the beautiful papers, including the pink flowers are from the Curio line by Basic Grey.  I used scalloped edge scissors from Fiskars and the flourished branch was from my Straight From the Nest Cricut cartridge.  The large flower was from this same cartridge and the smaller ones are a small Fiskars punch.  The petals were all curled with a toothpick and the flowers were shaped using the end of a paintbrush to give them dimension.  A small rhinestone for the centre finished them off.  As this card is not yet purposed, I left some blank space at the top of the cream paper where I can stamp a sentiment later on.

I hope the beautiful photo, my card and the rest of the talented design team's projects inspire you to play along with us this week over at Scrapbooker's paradise.  I am looking forward to seeing all your crafty creations!

Hugs,

Dawn

Put on your shades ladies...

Hello bloggers,

Hope everyone is well.  While I was putting the finishing touches on this card, my bright Ott Lite caught all the glitter at just the right angle and it actually made my eyes hurt for a second.  There is a lot of glitter on this card!  I managed to catch a photo of it radiating all its brilliance, but decided I wouldn't do that to your eyes.

For this card I used my favorite Christmas Magnolia stamp - Silent Night Tilda.  I stamped her on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper in a two step process.  First I taped off everything but the flurries, which I inked up with embossing ink and embossed in silver.  It occurred to me that I could have saved some time if I would have used a Versa Mark marker to colour in the parts I wanted to emboss, but unfortunately I do not have such a marker.  It is one of the many items on my wish list.  Then I inked up everything but the flurries with black Stazon.  She is painted with Distress inks (boots - pumice stone and walnut stain, coat and mittens- black soot and milled lavender, dress, buttons and stockings - milled lavender, cheeks - tattered rose, hair - antique linen and walnut stain, poinsettias and ribbon- fired brick, leaves - forest moss, sky - black soot and weathered wood) and her skin was painted with a watercolour pencil.  I added Star Dust Stickles to the trim on her coat and the centers of the flowers and glued on some glitter for the snow at her feet.  The edges of the watercolour paper are inked with walnut stain and distressed with a distressing tool.  A little bling was added to each corner to finish off the image portion of the card.  It was matted and adhered with foam dots.

The glittered lavender paper is from the Black and White Butterfly stack from Me & My Big Ideas.  As the name implies, most of the stack is black and white, so this was the only lavender paper in the entire stack.  I didn't have anything to match, so I ended up making my own matching paper for the strip on the bottom half.  I started with white shimmery paper and used the Bo Bunny Midnight Frost stamp set.  The stamps in this set are absolutely beautiful - however they are not photo polymer and do not stamp well.  To ensure a good image, rub the stamp with a pink eraser prior to inking it up.  I stamped the flourish and text stamps with embossing ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder so they would stay white.  I then stamped several snow flakes in faded jeans and again embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then used an ink blending tool to colour in the paper with weathered wood and milled lavender.  I added a strip of lace and topped it off with silver cord.  The white cardstock is Bazzill and the metallic 'sparkling merlot' card is from Creative Collection.

Last but not least is the poinsettia.  For this, I have to give credit to Tim Holtz.  He gives detailed step by step instructions for making your own poinsettia on his blog here.  For my card, I have used cardstock instead of the grunge/canvas mix he used.  I also only used the two smaller flowers and made only two layers instead of the three he used.  I added an extra petal to the inner layer (he only used 5 petals) and I used an antique silver brad from Stampin' Up in the centre.  The leaves are from Magnolia and the flourish is from the Straight from the Nest Cricut cartridge.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club Challenge - sketch with lavender and lace
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Seasonal Silver
Winter Wonderland - Embossing
Bah! Humbug! - Metallic

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I look forward to your comments and I hope you enjoyed my Christmas card!

Hugs,

Dawn

Got Carrots?

Hello bloggers,

Carrots are a great way to add color and visual appeal to a dinner plate, but who would have thought to put them on a card?  Flowers would have looked beautiful, but I always like to try and be a little different.  So, in keeping with the rabbit theme, this card got curled paper carrots. 

The moment I saw Tilda with Hanging Rabbit I thought she would be absolutely perfect for my little niece.  She has a little stuffed rabbit that she is very fond of and this image immediately reminded me of her.  This card will be for her birthday - just like MDUC, she will also be turning two.  I colored Tilda with a combination of Distress inks and watercolor pencils (hair - antique linen and stained walnut, cheeks, rabbit's nose and inner ears - tattered rose, dress - forest moss, black soot and orange watercolor pencil, rabbit - tea stain, boots - forest moss and walnut stain, skin - skin colored watercolor pencil).  I shaded around the image with orange watercolour pencil, but it is quite faint and I do not think it shows up very well in the pictures.  Here is a close up of the lovely Tilda:

I framed the image with some lace from a local scrapbook store.  The filigree circle is from my Straight from the Nest Cricut Cartridge.  The papers are old from my stash and unfortunately, I do not recall who they were made by.  The border punch is from Martha Stewart and the buttons are from Stampin' Up.  The carrots were made from thin strips of cardstock which were curled and shaped. 

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Magnolia Down Under - Two (carrots, designer papers and buttons)

Magnolia-Licious - Green

Just Magnolia - A wonderful sketch

Simon Says Stamp - Happy Birthday (I know it looks like an Easter card, but it is for my niece's birthday, I promise!)

I hope you enjoyed my card and my crazy curled paper carrots!  Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I really enjoy reading your thoughts on my projects.  A huge thank you to the gals who started following my blog - I am so glad to have you along.  I'm off to link up and get some much needed zzzz's.

Hugs,

Dawn

Call the Cat

Hello everyone,

Hope all is well.  Another week; another card.  I often wonder where artists get their ideas when drawing up new designs for stamps.  Often, I imagine they are inspired by life events and people who are close to them.  However, with this adorable image from Stampavie, I can only conclude that Laurence took the phrase 'call the cat' literally. 

I stamped the image on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper with black StazOn ink.  I coloured it with Distress inks (phone - pine needles and black soot, cat - pumice stone and antique linen, ears/nose/cheeks - tattered rose).  A close up of the cute kitty:

The mat was cut with a SVG file from SVG Cuts.  Delightful, as it can be sized to the exact dimensions needed.  The papers are from My Mind's Eye (Stella and Rose) and Fancy Pants Designs (English Garden) and were distressed with a distressing tool.  The border punch is by Martha Stewart.  The shimmery cream ribbon and lace are from a local scrapbook store.  The thin cream ribbon layered over the lace is recycled from a clothing tag.  I keep and (eventually) reuse ribbons and other trinkets whenever the opportunity arises.  I think I am being thrifty and environmentally friendly.  My husband has another word for it - hoarding.  He claims that my stuff spreads like a virus and needs containment!  In a completely unrelated note that has absolutely nothing to do with my stuff or organizational skills, I will probably never post a photo of my crafting workspace.  The beautiful vintage brad is from Stampin' Up and the little spiral embellishment (I have no idea what these are called - anyone?) is from Magnolia.  I have to admit I included it because it reminds me of an old spiral telephone cord.  The final product:

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Vintage/Shabby
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Stamp Something - Cream and Green
Scrapbooker's Paradise - Sketch
Creative Belli Blog - animals

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoyed my card.  As always, I love reading your comments and it gives me a chance to pop on over to your blog and discover your crafty creations too!  A big thank you to the gals who have signed up to follow my blog - I really appreciate the support and am thrilled that you enjoy my work.

Hugs,

Dawn

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Hello everyone,

I wish I could finish that sentence off with spring, but it is still looking a lot like Christmas - well at least winter.  Being a newcomer to blogland, I was most excited to discover challenges that get you to create Christmas cards all year long!  This means that I will have at least one Christmas card done before December :o).

For this card, I used a cute little Penny Johnson image from Stampavie.  I love how quick and easy this image is to colour.  I stamped it on 300g watercolour paper and coloured it with Distress Inks (forest moss, fired brick, black soot, snow-black soot and weathered wood, sky - black soot, weathered wood and broken china) except for the nose which is a watercolour pencil.  I colored in the trim on the 'toque' and highlighted the snow with Star Dust Stickles.  The shape was cut with my cricut Songbird cartridge (again, I know - next time I'll use a different shape).  Here is a closeup of the image:

The snow flakes were punched out with a Martha Stewart punch.  I then covered their entire surface with embossing ink and sprinkled with Stampin' Up iridescent ice embossing powder.  Heat to set and repeat for a brilliant shine.  Place a rhinestone in the centre to finish them off.  The sentiment is from Stampendous and was embossed in black.  The ribbon is from the My Mind's Eye Lush collection and the paper is from the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas line.

 I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Winter wonderland - Snowflakes
ABC Christmas Challenge - E is for embossing (snowflakes and sentiment) and embellishments (snowflakes, rhinestones and ribbon)
Diecut Dreams Christmas Club Challenge - Inspired by a Christmas song (I was inspired by Frosty the Snowman)

*I have just learned about Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge, which has an embossing challenge this week, so I would love to also submit my card to Hazel's challenge.  Thanks Hazel!

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you have the time to leave a comment so that I may visit your blog as well.

Hugs,

Dawn

Sweet Little Angel

Hello bloggers,

Happy weekend!  It seems that the arrival of spring and warmer weather has been a common theme on fellow crafter's blogs.  While I'm delighted that you are all enjoying your lovely mild climates, here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada it snowed 5 days out of the last 7.  Yes, I've had to take time away from my crafts and bundle up to go outside in the freezing cold and remove the snow from our walkways.  On the first day of this spring-like snowfall, my husband sprained his ankle.  It is a work of art - swollen and shades of blues, purples, reds and now yellows.  I knew he was sick of winter and all the snow - we all are, but some people will do just about anything to get out of their share of the winter chores;).

Today I am sharing a card that I made to welcome a new little baby girl into the world.

For this card, I used sweet little Angel Tilda.  She was part of a Christmas release, but has proven herself to be quite versatile.  I stamped her on 300g watercolour paper using black StazOn.  I have colored her using my Staedtler watercolour pencils (dress 25 and 11, skin 43, hair 76, cheeks tattered rose distress inks).  Her wings were left white and covered with Distress Stickles in rock candy.  The image and mat were cut with my cricut (Songbird cartridge).  The sentiment was computer generated.  Both the image and sentiment were outlined with Star Dust Stickles for a little sparkle.  A close up of the image:

The designer papers are from Stampin' Up and the cardstock is from Bazzill.  The edge punch is from Martha Stewart and the ribbons were from a local scrapbook store.  I added some flat back pearls and altered a little safety pin for some embellishments.  For the pin, I started with an old safety pin and  I snipped off the top with some metal cutters.  I pierced the sentiment and passed one side through.  I then adhered a little heart, cut with a mini Fiskars punch.  To finish it off, I added Glossy Accents to the heart to give it a little shine.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Magnolia-Licious: pink/brown and/or baby
Mojo Monday for the sketch
Papertake Weekly: anything goes with the option of using something old (safety pin)
Simon Says Stamp: no-cook recipe (1 image, 2DP, 3 types of embellies - I used ribbons, pearls & pin)
Just Magnolia: anything goes with the option of glitter (Stickles)

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my card!  Please leave me a comment so I can stop by your blog too!

Hugs,

Dawn