Thankful Poppies - Final Teacher Appreciation

This week has been a lot of teacher appreciation!  But they deserve it - I'm not sure I could teach a class of 20 elementary students every day.  I volunteered for 30 minutes in the lunch room last week and that was quite overwhelming!!!!

My card today uses a new Hero Arts stamp that I bought with my Christmas money from my sweet husband.  I had seen a card online using this Poppy stamp and I loved it so much I had to go and find it!  Fortunately my local stamping store has a great Hero Arts section so I was able to find it easily.  It is a solid block image which I stamped using blue chalk ink and then colored in with Prismacolor pencils.  My red background was created using a Stampin'Up! swirl stamp (from a set I forget the name of!) using Versamark for a watermark effect.

The only other detail I added was a couple of green gems either side of the sentiment - otherwise it is quite simple so your attention is drawn to the poppies.

I promise I'm done with teacher appreciation cards now!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps: Hero Arts (poppies), SU! (sentiment)
Paper : PTI Smooth White, SU! Brilliant Blue and Ruby Red
Ink : Versacolor chalk ink (sky blue), SU! Night of Navy
Accessories : TCP Green gems, SU! Oval punch

Pink Baby Bunny

This sweet pink creation was for a good friend of mine that just had her fourth child (and 3rd girl!).  The bunny is an old image from Stampin'Up! but I still use it a lot on baby cards - it works perfectly and it is a great image to color in.  I used my Prismacolors again and enjoyed choosing the colors based on the chart I've created in my reference binder.  It  helps to hold the patterned paper I'm using as a background against the chart to choose just the right shade.  Now I need some new blending stumps - I've been using the same ones for over two years and they are looking very worn and some of them are in really bad shape.  I remember though, that Paula Williamson, from Paper Possibilities, told me to only buy blending stumps make in Taiwan and not China.  I learned that lesson the hard way when I was first experimenting with colored pencils!

Has anyone else been coloring images using Prismacolors recently?  If so, send me a link to your blog - I'd love to see your work!

Stamps : Bunny and Sentiment from Stampin'Up!
Paper : SU! Rose Romance (retired?), PTI Smooth White and Basic Grey DP, 
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Kaisercraft pearls (colored with Copics to match color scheme), Ruffled Ribbon from Archivers, Prismacolor pencils

Niece's Birthday Cake

This cute design was a card I created for my niece in Canada.  She is 16 this year (hard to believe!) but I think she still likes pink!  I don't have too many birthday specific stamps (must buy more stamps... must buy more stamps.... as if I need an excuse!) but I found a Whipper Snapper set from a couple of years ago that had the right kind of birthday cake image.

I added color to the cake using my Prismacolor pencils.  They really are my medium of choice right now - I just can't seem to get Copic coloring right.  What I really need is a Copic class in the Alabama area, but I don't think they have ever come this far south - I'd probably have to go to Atlanta.

I hope you've had a good start to your week?

Stamps : Whipper Snapper (cake), Stampin'Up! (sentiment)
Paper : Basic Grey DP, SU! Certainly Celery and Rose Romance, PTI Vintage Cream
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Hero arts small gem, pink ribbon from Michaels, SU! Scallop border punch

Sunshine Hummingbird

When I created this card at the weekend I was not sure how it would eventually turn out.  I had so many different colors of blue cardstock on my desk at some point I was getting frustrated.  It took a long time to find just the right combination.  I like blue and yellow as a color combination - they seem to look really fresh on a bright white background.  My mother-in-law so liked this one she wanted to take it home with her!  She didn't take it though because she wanted a different sentiment on the front.  I guess I will just have to make another one now.....

Hope you are having a great week!




Stamps : Stampin'Up! (Hummingbird, Flowers and sentiment)
Paper : SU! Ballet Blue and Brilliant Blue (retired I think)
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Brilliant Blue
Accessories : Prismacolor pencils, EK Success Scallop border punch, Hero Hues blue gems

Marigold Butterfly

At the weekend I finally got to go to the only Stamping Store here in Birmingham, Sir-Stamps-a-Lot.  It was great to finally see new stamps sets in real life rather than looking at everything online.  I was inspired by a lot of Hero Arts sets and also their layering papers.  I had some Christmas money that my sweet husband said I could spend on supplies so I took a long time in the store making up my mind exactly what I wanted to purchase.  After more than an hour I had finally made up my mind.  I could probably have stayed longer!  That night I ended up creating five different cards inspired by my purchases and all the samples that I saw on the Hero Arts website.  This is a CASE of a card that I saw and thought that I could create something similar.  I had so much fun that I created three more cards the next day.  Wow!  That's eight cards in under 24 hours.  I must have found my Mojo again!  Thank goodness......

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps : Hero Arts (butterfly and sunflower)

Paper : Hero Arts layering papers in Beige

Ink : Tim Holtz Wild Honey and Walnut Stain distress inks

Accessories : American Crafts dotted brown ribbon, SU! Organdy cream ribbon, SU! scallop border punch, Prismacolor pencils

Morning Glory

Well, I'm back!  It's been such a long time since I posted on here that I am not sure anyone will see this card today.  But you know what?  It doesn't matter because I create cards for the joy of it!

This card was a CASE of a card I saw originally on JustRite Stampers idea gallery by Debbie Olson (it's also on her blog.)  She is such a great artist and I always love her choice of colors and the beautiful images she uses on her cards.  Please be sure to check out her blog - I know she'd love you to visit.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend,

Stamps : Morning Glory (Stamping Bella), Background Lace (Frances Meyer), Swirl (from an SU! that I don't remember the name of!)

Paper : Fine Linen and Smooth White (PTI), Ballet Blue and Bliss Blue (SU!)

Ink  : Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories : Prismacolor pencils with Gamsol, Ribbon (Michaels), White pen (Sakura at SU!), Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida)

Cute Dragon

This sweet little dragon was something I created for my boys to give my husband for an early Father's Day. With moving so close to Father's Day I thought the gift I'd bought might go astray and so we decided to celebrate early. I used a stamp that I bought in Britain 2 years ago. It is from a company called 'Little Pink Gem' and has really cute clear stamps

I enjoyed using my Prismacolors again to color in the image and it was easy to find colors to match the Fancy Pants patterned paper that I found in Archivers a couple of week ago.

Hope you are having a great week,

Stamps : Little Pink Gem (Dragon)

Paper : PTI Smokey Shadow and Vintage Cream, Fancy Pants 'To the Moon' DP

Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories : TPC Studios Gems, Green Ribbon from Michaels, Prismacolor pencils and gamsol

Christmas on my mind!

During the last week I have begun to think about my Christmas card designs. I was thoroughly inspired when I visited Archivers last week and got some new goodies to begin experimenting with. This is my first attempt at using a stamp that I already have in my collection (and used on my cards a couple of years ago) but now want to make it look even better with new embellishments and papers. I used a combination of my Copic Markers and Prismacolors for the main image and then accented the stockings with gold stickles. Here a close up so you can get a better look :



I have another Christmas design that I have completed but I have not had chance to photograph it yet. I'll try to do that for tomorrow perhaps??

Hope you are having a great week?



Stamps : Stampenous (Stockings)
Paper : SU! Old Olive and More Mustard, PTI Vintage Cream, Graphic 45 Christmas Past DP
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Michaels Gold satin ribbon, Gold Stickles, Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, EKSuccess Small scallop border punch

Prima Baby Bunny

Today's card is for my cousin in England who just had a sweet little baby girl. This is definitely a week for working on my coloring techniques. Here I used my Prismacolor pencils again to add color to this sweet little bunny image from Stampin'Up! Let's take a close up of my coloring :



The papers I used are from the Jack and Jill collection from Prima Marketing and I added some fake lace using a border punch.

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps : Stampin'Up! (Bunny and sentiment)
Paper : SU! Close to Cocoa, PTI White, Prima Marketing Jack and Jill DP
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Prisamcolor pencils, Martha Stewart Lace Border punch, Michaels White satin ribbon, SU! small oval punch, Making Memories button

Fall Butterfly

Goodness gracious, it's been nearly a whole month since I made a card and posted here on my blog....!!! In September I was beginning to feel a slave to my blog and keeping it updated. I felt like I was just making cards to post here rather than creating because I enjoyed it - so I took a break. As a family we went to Toronto for two weeks and I set a couple of automatic posts while I was there, but apart from that I have not done anything even vaguely related to cards/stamping or crafts. Oh, apart from visiting Stamping Bella in Toronto - but who can resist visiting such a treasure trove!!!

My creation today is especially for a friend of mine who is currently suffering with back problems and is in a lot of pain. I wanted to create something light, airy and cheerful but still with some autumnal colors blended in. This Hero Arts butterfly stamp is one of my favorites and fit my requirements perfectly. Here is a close up of the main image :



The yellow spots are actually highlighted with a Spica Glitter marker, but unfortunately it does not show up on my camera. It's a beautiful, subtle effect that shimmers more than sparkles!

Hopefully my break from card making will produce many wonderful new creations in the coming weeks!

Thanks for coming back to visit!



Stamps : Hero Arts (Butterfly), Stampin'Up! (sentiment)
Paper : PTI White, SU! Designer Paper
Ink : VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaMagic Chalk ink in Pumpkin Spice
Accessories : PrismaColor pencils, American Crafts ribbon, Martha Stewart Lace border punch, Cricut Lacy Labels cartridge, TPC Studios fall gems

Heartfelt Fall Flowers

Good afternoon everyone (late afternoon that is!). I have been meaning to post this card all day but then 'things' kept coming up. One being that my garage door broke and my car was nearly stuck in the garage permanently! I wondered what the loud explosion-type noise was that I heard earlier this morning but I did not discover the problem until lunchtime when I needed to be somewhere..... Turns out that the spring broke in two and the steel cables snapped too. Oh well, hopefully the repair guys can fix it for me. This happening two days after I had to get my car fixed because the 'check engine' light kept coming on. They say bad things happen in threes - just wondering what's next.....!!!!!

Anyway - on to my card.....
This beautiful floral stamp set is from Heartfelt Creations - another of my purchases from the Creating Keepsakes convention on Saturday. I tried to recreate one of the beautiful cards that I saw in the Heartfelt Creations booth at the Vendor Faire, but there is no way I can match up to their amazing standards. I was blown away by the creativity and intricate, delicate details on all the cards that I saw. If you are are interested in their stamps, check out their website Heartfelt Creations. There is also an idea gallery for inspiration.

Hope you are having a great week,



Stamps : Heartfelt Creations (flowers), Stampin'Up! (sentiment and background flourish)
Paper : SU! Chocolate Chip, PTI Vintage Cream
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Quickutz Label Die, Spica Glitter Marker, PrismaColor Pencils

Little Pumpkin (Mojo 152)

On Saturday I went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte and had so much fun! I have been wanting to go for 5 years now but there was always something conflicting with the date.

I got those beautiful fall papers from the vendor faire at the convention. They are 'Apple Cider' designer papers from Imaginese. The pumpkin stamp is also from the same company. Although it is a long way from fall here in NC, it is my favorite season of the year and I can't wait for colder weather. I'll probably have to wait until the end of October at least!!! : (

My design is based on Mojo Monday this week. Here's a look at the sketch :



Thanks for dropping in!



Stamps : Imaginese (Pumpkin), Sentiment - ?
Paper : SU! Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Real Rust, PTI Vintage Cream, Imaginese Apple Cider DP
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMagic Chalk Pumpkin Spice and Spanish Olive
Accessories : Cricut Machine (for ovals), Spellbinders Label Die, Fiskars Border punch, PrismaColor pencils

Hello Neighbor

I am loving these gorgeous colorful papers from My Mind's Eye. I don't normally use orange, but this shade was just calling out to me to be used in large quantities! It is slightly glittered but unfortunately the photo doesn't show it too well.

The little house stamp is from a Whipper Snapper Designs set called 'Hello Neighbor'. I paper pieced the image together by cutting out the house and mounting it with pop dots on a circle cut of blue and green patterned paper. The green dotted paper is cut in slits across the top to make it look a little more like grass - I then tried to rough up the edges a little to make it look more natural. Here is a close up of the the main image :



I am getting back into the practice of coloring in my images this week and I enjoyed using my Prismacolors again with this card.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!



Stamps : Whipper Snapper Designs (Hello Neighbor), Stampin'Up! (sentiment)
Paper : PTI Enchanted Evening and White, My Mind's Eye New Home DP
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Night of Navy
Accessories : Kaiserkraft green square rhinestones, Sizzix Scallop Circle Die, Marvy Large Circle Punch, SU! Oval punch, Prismacolor pencils

Cute Little Bug

Good morning all!

This sweet little butterfly is from a wonderful company called Stamping Bella in Canada. They have some fantastic images. You should be sure to check out the Stamping Bella website to see the full range.

I enjoyed getting back into the swing of coloring using my Prismacolors after a long absence from them! Recently I have been using a lot of text only stamps and I thought it was time to use a more detailed image.

Hope you are are having a great start to your week?



Stamps : Butterfly from Stamping Bella
Paper : PTI White and Enchanted Evening, DCWV Sweet Stack
Ink : VersaFine Onyx Black
Accessories : Spellbinders Label Die, Chalks, SU! Small Oval punch, Prismacolor pencils, Copic markers

Birthday Boat

This is another card based on a Viva La Verve sketch from June. I used my pad of Stampin'Up! designer papers in Night of Navy and Ruby Red along with a cute little image from their Toy Box stamp set (from about 5 years ago!).

The image is colored in using Copic Markers and PrismaColor pencils and I accented the card with some faux stitching using a white gel pen along with a tiny red button on some satin ribbon just to add a little extra interest.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps : Stampin,Up! Boat from Toybox
Paper : SU! Chocolate Chip, PTI White, SU! Designer papers in Ruby Red and Night of Navy
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : Marvy Circle Punch, White gel pen, Copic Markers, PrismaColor pencils, Fiskars border punch, Making memories button, White satin ribbon from Michaels

A Happy Heart

Last week at our church VBS the music leaders were always making sure that the children had happy hearts that showed cheerful faces. I knew that I had to use this stamp to create a card for them at the end of the week!

The cheerful paper is Basic Grey's Sugar Rush and the cute little sun stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs. I wanted to dress the card up a little as the design is fairly basic and so I added my favorite border punch (again! - I'll try and stop using it soon...) and some cute tiny Making Memories buttons.

Hope you have a happy day!



Stamps : Whipper Snapper (Sunshine), Inkyantics (Verse)
Paper : SU! Real Red, PTI White, Basic Grey Sugar Rush DP
Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : PrismaColor pencils, Copic Markers, Making Memories buttons, Fiskars Sunburst Border punch, SU! Basic Black marker

Friends and Coffee

Andrea Ewen inspired my card today - check out her beautiful creation on her blog, Ewen Style. I rotated her design 90 degrees and changed all the colors. I had to play with the main image because I didn't have a die similar that I could use.

The papers are from the Basic Grey 'Max and Whiskers' collection. I love the colors in this set but I was having trouble finding a ribbon to match until I came across some EKSuccess 'Adornments' fibers that were at least 6 years old from when I started papercrafting - and right there in the middle was the perfect ribbon that matched the color scheme in every way.... it's amazing what I find in my stash if I just look hard enough!

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps : Hero Arts (What's Perking?)
Paper : PTI White, SU! Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Max and Whiskers DP
Ink : VersaMagic Chalk ink Jumbo Java, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories : PrismaColor Pencils, Making Memories Antique Brads, EKSuccess Adornments Fibers (ribbon), Fiskars Border punch

Cuckoo Smiles

This is stamp is from a Hero Arts set that my wonderful husband gave me for Mother's Day. It is such a sweet set. It was in my wish list ever since I saw a card on Amy Sheffer's blog, Pickled Paper Designs, using the same image. Make sure to visit her blog - it's amazing!

My patterned paper (from Deja Views) inspired the colors I used for the clock and I thought a Spellbinders Label Die was perfect for this layout.

I did try and finish my Mojo Monday card last night, but after trying for 3 days I have not yet been successful.... maybe later today??!!

Have a good Thursday!



Stamps : Hero Arts
Paper : PTI (Charcoal and White), Deja Views Plum DP
Ink : VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Basic Black
Accessories : Spellbinders Label Die, American Crafts Brads, PrismaColor pencils

Bo Bunny Love Bug

I have had this Stampin'Up Love Bug set for quite some time but was nervous about coloring such a small image. In the end I went with lighter colors and used a few darker colors very sparingly. My Prismacolor pencils were my coloring method of choice (because I only have 9 Copics at the moment...... : ( !!!) and I blended them with baby oil because I still have yet to figure out how to open the Gamsol container!!!

The patterned paper I used is from the Bo Bunny set 'Sugared' (not quite sure if that is the right name, but it was the collection that came out near Valentine's Day) and this inspired the cardstock colors.

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!



Stamps : SU! (Love Bug)
Paper : Bo Bunny Sugared DP, SU! (Garden Green, Pink Pirouette), PTI White
Ink : VersaFine Onyx Black
Accessories : SU! Scallop Flower Punch, Marvy Scallop Circle Punch, SU! small oval punch, PrismaColor Pencils

Elzybells Baby Moon

Oh my - two posts in one day... I must be obsessed with stamping (go figure....)

I just saw a challenge over on the CCEE Stampers Blog to create a baby card. I knew I had created one but had not uploaded it on my blog - so here it is!

We have had plenty of babies born at our church recently and I made two of these cards for baby boys born within the last month. I started out with this adorable stamp from Elzybells and paired it with paper from My Little Yellow Bicycle and Night of Navy cardstock.

I think that's it for today, but I can't promise!



Stamps : Elzybells Baby Moon, SU! (sentiment)
Paper : Night of Navy, Whisper White, My Little Yellow Bicycle Sharon Ann DP
Ink : Staz-on Black. SU! Basic Black
Accessories : SU! Sizzix Scallop Circle die, Marvy Circle Punch, SU! Scallop border punch, White ribbon from Michaels, PrismaColor Pencils