Love Card

Last month Stampin Chix met and we made some awesome cards. So far, the only pictures I have are of the card that I made. I was trying the new Paper Blossom punches from McGill. These punches are designed to make three dimensional flowers. They were a big hit with me and I expect that you will be seeing many more of them adorning my paper crafts in the near future!  The belly band was made with a Martha Stewart punch.

The word love was cut with a Cricut cartridge.

Quilled Birthday Balloons!

Celebrating birthdays with colorful balloons in the clouds today, completed Cuttlebug Embossing, with Pan Pastels, Provo Craft Stickout quilled balloons, and Nestabilities Labels #6 with pop dots.  Sentiment is Cameo Ovations from Fiskars.

Chasing Dreams

The Pan Pastels blend like a dream.  I've used Memento Inks for the rubber stamping.  One of the really nice effects that you can achieve are the mist of the clouds.  We are always discussing how to accomplish the misting in the Stampscapes groups, I think Pan Pastels are a viable option.

Ready, Set, Fire!

Today's card was created with stamps from Stampscapes and Gray Wolf Graphics.  Dyes are Distress Ink Pads used with Stipple Brushes and Copic Markers.  Distressing with Memory Makers tools. The Stamps are a perfect 4th of July scene, but the secret is that this card was created to celebrate my son's graduation from college.

Wobble Card !

My good friend Lisha gave me some Wobbles to try. Wobbles are little plastic springs that have adhesive to attach to your card and to an embellishment. When they are in place the embellishment wobbles sideways.

Here is my first wobbles card which is a Housemouse colored with Copic markers and Memento inks. I love this stamp as it is perfect for so many celebrations. I purchased it to make a theme card for "Celebrate Freedom!" Our camp theme this year, but I have already made that card and a Father's Day card and a graduation card. It is very versatile.

Remembering How Much I Love Embossing

The last Stampin Chix gathering we spent some time watercoloring embossed images.  This was the first time that I had used a watercolor brush....the kind that holds the water in the brush.  Marianne showed us how to use Distress Ink stamped onto a craft mat for our watercolor ink.  The bottom three cards were completed by Marianne.  Thanks for bringing me back to embossing, Marianne! This was SO MUCH FUN!  We discussed how it had been a long time since we had embossed and how it used to be so popular.  This technique is probably responsible more than any other for who started into a card making hobby.  I know that it is what hooked me.  There is something about the first time you see that image raised up before your eyes...and the thought rolling through your head of "I can do that?!"  Above is some of our finished work.  The images that we used to emboss are reverse images.  They are embossed in white.  Then the flowers are water-colored.  Did, I say that we had FUN doing this?  I can't wait to do some more!  The images are Hero Arts Clings, sold at Archivers

Love Card

Stampin Chix met for our monthly card and scrapbooking event and we worked on several different cards.  It was great to have new visitors from Malaysia!  Our three new friends embraced paper crafting with a lot of talent and energy.  Everyone enjoyed the day and had a great time.

I did more teaching than crafting on this particular day which was fun. 

I made a card for my husband, it has a flower made using the new Petal Blossom Punches from McGill.  These punches were a big hit and I expect to use them often.

Now and then, you get a paper combination that is just good enough to eat...I think this one could taste like black cherries!!!
The flower is coredinations gemstones pink diamond. Paper Pizazz Burgundy Suede and Pink Flouishes from Hot Off the Press.

The punches work best with two sided paper as the flowers are three dimensional and you can see the backside of the paper.  I want to try some patterened paper next!

 Family Camp will be coming in July and I am already thinking of fun projects for this year! Next post, I will announce the theme for camp and the speakers.  I'm truly excited about our morning speaker.  He is exceptional and I look forward to hearing him again.

The Great Family Adventure

The last two days of The Great Family Adventure Paper Crafting Activity were spent making embellished mini birdhouses and bookmarks.  I am always amazed at the creativity that God places within each one of us.  This year was no exception.  It was great to hear that some of my students went home last year and applied what they learned and made paper crafted gifts for their friends.  Time passes and sometimes good things must come to an end. Paintbrushes were cleaned, boxes were packed and the car was loaded with good memories, friendships built and little treasures to help us remember and look forward to coming back.  See you again next year.!

This card was created with Stampscapes, Tweety Jill and many other brands of stamps. I airbrushed the background with Copics, B02, B04 and B08. Greens are YG07 , YG 09 and Y 08. I used a little bottle cap to mask for the sun.

I have been on several excursions in the past couple of months some of which included a short jaunt to Dayton Ohio and another longer trip to Schaumburg Il. Of course when I travel I check out the local craft suppliers for Rubber Stamps, Cardstock and unusual items of interest.

While in Dayton, I made my first trip to Marco's Paper in the Kettering/Dayton area. I was interested in purchasing some Nina cardstock to use with the Copic markers alcohol ink.

Upon entering the store, I was pleasantly greeted by a display of Tweety Jill's Rubber Stamp Collection by TJ Designs. These are deeply etched red rubber stamps mounted on cling foam and made to use with acrylic blocks. These collections are sets of themed rubber stamps in clear cases. There are coordinating designed paper for each theme. The colors in these designs took my breath away. They are beautiful.

While on the Schaumburg trip I had a lot of free time in the evenings. I was very blessed on this trip as I was able to stay in a large room. The room was able to accomodate two banquet luncheon tables. I brought my stamping materials with me and so I was able to spend every evening and two weekends creating cards!

Loggin On

We needed to send some birthday wishes across several states and I found just the team to do it. On this Copic airbrushed Sunny day with blue skies and green grass these ants are Loggin On to Missouri with love in their hearts and special birthday greetings. Happy Birthday Samantha!