I've got a secret... on this card, that is!

Remember this cute Christmas tree card?  I want to share with you a little secret about it.  It has a Washi Tape secret.

I started with a piece of Whisper White CS, covered it with Washi Tape (diagonally) and then...
I embossed it!!!  I love how it changes the look of it all.  I used our square lattice embossing folder.  After that, I attached it to another layer of Whisper White, then a layer of Old Olive.  I attached it all to the Cherry Cobbler card base.

I used our oval framelits for the Christmas tree layer and a Cherry Cobbler mat behind it.  I topped it all off with a cute little bow.  You must give this technique a try.  I made it up myself and want to share it.  Now, go try it and see what you think.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

You Silly Goose ... a Nice Masculine Card in 2 Versions

I love this goose!  It makes a great manly card.  It's from a favorite new set --- Wetlands.  This is the last card from my Friday Night Cards class.  I made 2 cards, actually, to experiment with color stories.  This first one is the one we made at my class.  

The sea oats on the envelope are from this same stamp set.  I used the Aquapainter with ink pads to lightly color the goose and the grasses.  My color story is Island Indigo, Baked Brown Sugar and Soft Suede.  You can see the other cards from our Friday Night Cards class by clicking here.  It will have a couple of links to the earlier cards, as well.  I don't want you to miss anything:)

In my next post, I'll show you the second version.  Be sure to check back to see it.  Also, Christmas is coming --- classes, anyway --- so stay tuned to see what's in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Another Beautiful Card by Lynn

Today's post features a beautiful card that Lynn shared with us at our last Team Meeting.  Enjoy!

This card is a good reminder of Spring, in case we forgot.  We have had a dose of cool weather lately.  This card is also a good example of stamping onto designer papers.  It adds a lot to your card.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Sketch Template Series, Part 2

Are you up for another great sketch template?  Here we go for today's sketch #2 of our Team project.

I have several cards today, using this template.  You may notice that we are keeping these simple.  Our goal is to share that you can make great cards without them being overly complicated.  While it's fun to make a super fancy card with all the bells and whistles, the reality is that we don't have time to make every card be this way.  You may also notice that it is incredibly fun to make a simple card that looks really great.  It is very rewarding.

Sketch #2 has a border down the front, rather than covering all the front of the card.  Notice how Jenn used a cute little scallop border tucked into one side of the card.  This card showcases the pinwheel die, which works so well with the Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP.

This is a card I made from the Dude, You're Welcome Kit.  I'll be sharing more of these cards soon.  I also used the little 'speckled' stamp from the Paper Pumpkin Welcome Kit.  I just love that stamp!

This card showcases the Tea for Two DSP and the Oh, Hello stamp set.  I stamped over the En Francais background and then cut the layers out with our framelits.

I cut the embossed layer a little shorter for this card, to show how you can vary the design.  You could also change the card to a landscape orientation. 

So there you have it.  Some great cards that look great and feel great to make!  Have you tried a template sketch yet to jump-start your creativity?  Get going now and have a super day!

Shimmer Painting Tutorial

Get ready for a super fun tutorial today.  I am in love with this technique! 
We made the Calypso Coral version at my workshop last week.

I made 2 versions of each card --- horizontal and vertical.  

Aren't the flowers gorgeous? 

Here's how you do it:

• Stamp your flowers (Secret Garden stamp set) with VersaMark ink.
• Heat emboss with white embossing powder.
• Gather some old containers from brads, buttons or embossing powders.
• Mix reinker (in the color of your choice) with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (a few drops).
• Using an Aqua Painter,  stir it up and paint on the mixture of reinker/shimmer paint.  The embossing helps to keep the reinker inside the line, making it super easy to paint them.
• Let the ink/paint mixture dry.
• Cut out the flowers using our framelits, for a quick and easy way to have perfect cuts every time.
• Now create your card, using your beautiful flowers.

NOTE:
Be sure to really clean your Aqua Painter, to get out all the Shimmer Paint.

I used Wisteria Wonder on my first card --- reinker AND card stock.
I used Calypso Coral and Regal Rose reinkers on the coral cards, with Calypso Coral card stock.

I used Daffodil Delight reinker for all the flower centers.

I tried really hard to get a close-up of the flowers so you could see how much they actually shimmer.  In real life, they are gorgeous.

So, what do you think?  Can you think of any other stamped images that would look pretty using my Shimmer Painting technique?  Let me hear from you!  Now, go try this!!!  You'll love it.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

1 More Leafy Fall Card

Here's yet another leafy Fall card I made with Orchard Harvest DSP.

I actually used the spider web embossing folder to emboss the veins in the leafs.  I cut 1 from champagne glimmer paper.  I added a Fall apple as the focal piece, to pull in the background paper.  Notice that I even embossed the background DSP, for added texture.  All the colors are pulled from the designer papers.

Stay tuned for more inspirational ideas for Fall and Christmas.  Coming soon... Friday 3-4-5 Sneak Peek and more tutorials and lots more Christmas and...just plain fun!

An apple a day...

I don't know if the old saying really works, but an apple is a thing of joy, especially this time of year.  Here's a card that, while it may not keep the doctor away, it will surely bring joy to the lucky recipient.

This card is an apple version of the pear card we made at my Team Meeting.

The raspberry ripple/crumb cake color scheme works well for this card.  I added squares to the background and embossed the entire layer with the square lattice embossing folder, to give added texture and the feeling of a warm quilt.  As you can see, I'm getting into the mood for cooler weather.

Hoop La La

I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch, before chemo did some damage to my hands.  I loved doing it.  So... when this stamp set came out, it was calling my name.  Here's one of the cards I made with it.  We actually made this one at one of my Friday 3-4-5 classes.

I embossed the top layer of the card and the 'hoop' piece, using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and it makes it look like the Aida cloth that you use for counted cross stitch.

I have a busy day today.  I'm putting up a couple of shelves and doing some additional tweaking to my booth at the Harristown Depot Antiques, running some errands, getting ready for my class tonight and then going to my youngest grandson's class.  It's grandparents day and I get to read to his kindergarten class.  It should be fun!  If there's any extra time in this busy day, I'll be sneaking in some more stamping.

Dad...Dad...Dad...

I still hear their little voices echoing in my head as my children called
"Dad, Dad, Dad..."
                   over and over until he would answer them.

Sometimes, it took a while to get his attention because they said it so much that he kind of became immune to hearing it:)  I can't help thinking of the memories when I see this 'Dad' stamp.  Don't you just love the argyle design?

Today, I wanted to make a big and masculine card, so I chose to create one that is a 5 1/4" square when closed.

When I think of a masculine card, I think of the rich colors in the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP and I think of lots of layers and texture --- a manly kind of thing.

My colors are Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Soft Suede, Early Espresso and a touch of Very Vanilla.  After I took the photo below, I went back and slightly curled up the ends of the flags, using my bone folder, so it now has even more dimension.

Compare the photo above with the one below.  That's the difference you can make in layering, just by gently curling the 'flags' with your bone folder.

I certainly prefer the additional texture after the curling:)

I used the Scallop Edge Border Punch to create the edge on the left side of the Soft Suede layer.  The focal piece is created with the oval frame from the Designer Frames embossing folder set.  I used our distressing tool to rough up the edges and then sponged them lightly.  I also sponged lightly over the embossed oval, to make it stand out more and have even more texture.  I stamped 'Dad' with the stamp from the Loved Ones stamp set.  This is a darling set and covers all your relatives!  After I stamped the 'Dad' stamp, I punched it out with our large oval punch, lightly sponged the edges, and attached it inside the embossed oval.

I used the 1" square punch to create the v-shape at the ends of the 'flag' strips.  I added more texture by using the Square Lattice embossing folder on the Early Espresso layer.

After finishing it, I realized that it qualifies for two blog challenges --- a sketch challenge and creating a masculine card challenge.  I feel like I'm stretching my creativity by trying new challenges and coming up with how I will create them.  I hope you enjoyed today's post.  Now, go stamp something!